I looked at Tina; she had her arms around our daughter as she leant against her with her legs across mine. Tina nodded that she thought we should be as honest as we could with what we knew. To try and hide this from Angie when she had heard what she did was stupid and would only harm the relationship that we had with her.

“Yes honey I think that is exactly what that means. But Andy told Katie in a way that she would understand without lying to her. Katie is innocent and just wants to help her new friend not to be sad.”

She looked at me and I could see her struggle with what she wanted to say, so I just waited for her to speak again, I have to admit I was somewhat shocked by what she said.

“But then if Rachel was raped then surely it is not her fault. But when we spoke about children today she told me that something bad had happened and Andy still blamed her. Surely if Andy wasn’t there to stop it and then they both did bad stuff after then it’s Andy’s fault not Rachel’s She didn’t ask to be umm you know hurt did she?”

I could see that Tina was just as taken aback at the way our daughter had managed to blame Andy for the rape of a woman who she clearly loved.

“Sweetie I don’t think that when something that terrible happens that anyone is to blame apart from the person who chooses to attack someone. And after that we have no idea what has happened but Andy and Rachel have stayed together so they must love each other deeply. Because of that you have to hold out hope that they can get back to a place where they are happy. I have a feeling that that is why they have come to L.A. So we should not question them on this but if they want people to talk to then we should listen.”

I looked at her once I finished and hoped that she could understand enough to know that she should let this issue rest until someone decided that they would talk to her outright. I watched her intently as she mulled over her thoughts and what had been said.