“What?” Whatever she’d expected, it hadn’t been that. Abby hadn’t had direct contact with her father in years, and she knew deep down that she was still bitter about him and his ultimatum. She wasn’t sure she would ever forgive him. No way would she ever have considered an abortion, but if her mum hadn’t sided with her things would have been very difficult. “I didn’t even know you were seeing him.” Her mother had kept very quiet about that.
“I went to see him after I got the all clear from the cancer. It was weird, but I really wanted to see him before that, and I’d been thinking about it for a while, but I couldn’t do it while I was ill. Afterward…well, I thought, why not? Life’s too short to hold grudges, and I loved him. Still love him. What he did was wrong, but he thought he was doing the best thing for you.”
“And he’s asked you to go back to him?”
“He asked me straight away. I couldn’t leave you and Jenny then, but things are different now.”
“How are they different?”
“Well, you have Logan.”
“I do not have Logan.” Her head was pounding. She pulled out the pins that held her hair in place and ran her hands through it, pressing her scalp. “Jenny has Logan.”
“But he’s going to be there for you. You won’t have to shoulder everything alone. And he told me his lawyer is drawing up a maintenance agreement, so money will be easier.”
Something occurred to her. “Have you been wanting to go back to him all this time but stayed away because of me?”
“Honestly, I never thought about it. It wasn’t an option, and I was very angry with him for a long time.” She was silent for a minute, but Abby was aware there was more to come. “He wants to see you and Jenny.”
“Does he?”
“He knows he made a mistake, a huge mistake, but he’s sorry.”
“Really?”
“Don’t be cruel. He’s paid for that mistake. I won’t ask you to see him, but I would like you to. I’d like us to be a family again.”
Abby sipped her coffee and traced a pattern on the table with her fingertip. “This is such a surprise,” she said finally. “I knew nothing about it. Why didn’t you tell me?”
Her mum shrugged. “You had a lot going on, and I knew you’d…disapprove. You see everything in black and white, and you can be very unforgiving.”
That made her sound truly horrible. She didn’t want to be like that. “I’ll see him, and I’ll take Jenny.”
“You needn’t worry. I’ll still be around when you need me to look after Jenn. She can sleep over at the house when you’re working nights and she’s not at Logan’s. Or…”
“Or?” Abby prompted.
“Or you could move back with me. Both of you.”
She thought about it…for all of two seconds. While she was ready to let her father into their lives, no way was she going to live with him again. Just the thought of Jenny having to experience the stifling atmosphere she had grown up in made her shudder. “I don’t think that would work.”
Her mother smiled. “Maybe not.”
“You’ll be okay? You won’t let him bully you?”
“I’ll be fine. He’s changed. He missed us all.”
Could people change? Her mind flew back to Logan. The thing was, she didn’t want him to change. She liked him just the way he was. Liked him too much. That wasn’t the problem. No, the problem was that he would never fit into her life, and he would probably never want to. He wasn’t the settling down type, he was the lets-have-some-fun-and-say-good-bye type, and with Jenny in the picture that wasn’t an option.
So it was up to her to be the sensible one.
And she was so fed up with that.
It was his daughter’s first sleepover. Jenny had been so excited about her new bedroom. Logan had told her she could decorate it any way she liked and she’d been talking non-stop through dinner about her plans. Now she was tucked up in that bedroom, falling asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow.
As they closed the door behind her, he turned to Abby. She was staying over as well, and he’d had hopes that she wouldn’t be using the spare room he’d set up for her. He knew they needed to be discreet around Jennifer—no screaming—but he could manage to be discreet with the proper incentive.
What he didn’t think he could manage was another night without her. It was becoming increasingly obvious that he was addicted to his fantasies and his fantasy girl.
He slipped an arm around her waist, but she shrugged it off and walked down the hall, leaving him standing there, watching her go. A frown tugged his brows together.
He’d been distracted by Jenny’s excitement, but now that he thought about it, Abby had been distant all evening. She’d hardly spoken a word directly to him. His frown deepened and he rubbed a finger down his chin. He didn’t think he would ever understand what was going on inside her head. Maybe that was part of the attraction. Though he did wish he could get a glimpse of her thoughts right now.