It took all her willpower not to strike him.
“Drunk driving is not a tragic accident. It’s a serious crime. And you had to face what you’d done every day, didn’t you? First we thought she was going to die, and then when she didn’tdie you had to face the fact that she was going to need long-term care and that shattered her because the life she’d known was over. And you were the one who had taken it from her.” And he’d taken it from her, too, because her childhood had ended on that night. “The least you could have done was stayed and cared and loved her despite everything—in sickness and in health, right? But you couldn’t stand it, could you? So you left.”
She was dimly aware of Abby putting an arm round her. Dimly aware that her daughter was holding her. Supporting her.
Normally she would have hated the idea that she needed support from anyone, but she knew she needed it now if she was to finish this.
And she needed to finish it.
She lifted her chin and looked her father in the eye. “You wrecked her life physically and then you walked out and wrecked her mentally. So don’t ever tell me that I owe you anything, and don’t try and pretend that we are anything other than two people who once had the misfortune to cross paths. Now get out of my hotel, and if you come near my daughter again, or near me, or any of my properties or the team who work here, I’ll be getting the police involved. And this time I won’t hesitate.”
Her father stepped forward but Edward moved quickly, inserting himself between the two of them, his broad shoulders blocking her view of the man who had cast such a long shadow over her life.
“The door is behind you,” he said. “And you’re going to walk through it.”
He gave her father no choice in the matter and then the man she hadn’t set eyes on for decades slunk out of the office without a backward glance, the same way he’d slunk away from her all those years before.
He hadn’t looked back then, either.
The door closed and Alexandra felt something wash out of her. Some long-held stress. There had been so many things unsaid but now they’d been said and she felt, finally, as if something ugly that had been trapped inside her had finally burned itself out.
“Mom, you need to sit down. Evie—can you grab a chair—” Abby was holding her, guiding her, and then she was sitting and Abby was on her knees beside her, chafing her hands.
“I’m sorry—” Alexandra forced the words out. “I didn’t want you to witness that.”
“Why? None of this is your fault.” There were tears on Abby’s cheeks. “I didn’t know. You didn’t tell me that he caused—”
“I didn’t want you to know. I didn’t want you to have to carry any of that.” Alexandra closed her eyes, trying to drag herself back from the past to the present. “I would appreciate a glass of water.”
One was pressed into her hand, and she took a shaky sip and then let her daughter take the glass.
“There’s a lot I haven’t told you.”
“Yes. And it’s okay. I know now, and—”
“No. There’s a lot I still haven’t told you.” And it was time. If she could summon the energy, then this was the right time.
“Oh—” Abby put the glass down on the desk. “You don’t have to tell me anything you don’t want to.”
“Yes, I do. I probably should have done it before. I thought I was protecting you, but maybe I was protecting myself. I’m not even sure anymore.” The room was swirling. “I’m not feeling too good. I didn’t sleep on the flight and I think maybe—”
“It’s okay, Mom. I’ve got you.” Abby’s arms came around her and held her tightly. “I’ve got you.”
19
Evie
Evie went in search of her father and found him helping a family of four with their bikes.
She felt shaken and unsettled, and not only because of the drama that had played out in her office.
She watched as her father patiently adjusted the seat for the youngest child in the group and helped her steady the bike as she got used to it.
“There you go,” he said. “You’re getting the hang of it. Well done.”
It stirred memories. Happy ones. She remembered him doing the same for her when she was six. She’d learned to ride in the grounds of the hotel, with half the staff ready and waiting to catch her if she fell. She thought about Abby, who had never had a father ready to catch her. Never had a father ready to put himself between his daughter and the rest of the world.
She waited as he waved them off on their trip. They werekitted out with puncture kits, picnics and big wide smiles. The happy family scene was the perfect antidote to the tension of the past few hours.
