<p>We should have protected her…</p><p><strong>They’d left their daughter with us, their only child, and we hadn’t protected her. That was all they would see when they looked at us—that we had failed them.</strong></p><p>I count down the days until we can leave the city behind and return to the beach house. Where <strong>James </strong>and <strong>Katie</strong> can roam free over the dunes, like they did as children, and <strong>Peter</strong> will swap his 6 a.m. starts for the stacks of fluffy pancakes he lovingly serves up for our family breakfasts. These sun-drenched, golden days, just the four of us, are what I hold on to all year long.</p><p>But this summer Katie’s best friend will be coming with us. I tell myself the girls will have fun together, pushing aside the doubts I have about this uninvited guest. <strong>Isa</strong>. With her corn-silk hair and luminous skin, who manages to overshadow my daughter at every turn. Who has been dumped on us