And since she had no messages on her phone alerting her to a visit or asking for a place to crash, that narrowed things down even further. Ninety percent chance it was one specific visitor. It wasn’t that her other friends or family didn’t ever show up unannounced—but only one person in her life always turned up without warning and with no regard to the time.

“Hi, Dad,” she said when she opened the door.

Clive River smiled that big and slightly goofy smile that went perfectly with his mop of silvery-blond hair and square-jawed face. His shirt was sage green, open slightly at the throat and tucked into faded blue jeans that hung on lean hips. He looked like an aging surfer dude—but one who’d aged well, complete with a flat belly, muscled arms, silver that glinted in his hair, and lines that flared out from around the edges of his eyes.

Not a man who’d fought the march of time—both because he didn’t have to and because Clive wasn’t vain. Strange how of all she knew of him, that had always surprised her the most. Or maybe it was no surprise—why be vain when you’d been genetically blessed?

One of her friends had recently called him a “silver fox,” and while everyone else had laughed and told the friend to shut it before Catie threw up, all Catie had felt was a bone-deep sadness. Picking up younger women was just up Clive’s alley—he’d see no problem with hooking up with a friend of Catie’s should the opportunity come up.

“My Kit-Cat,” he said and hauled her into a huge hug.

Her eyes prickled because at this moment, she could almost believe he was the father she’d always needed. A man with strong arms to hold her tight against the ravages of the world, protect her in his warmth.

She’d blinked back that emotion by the time they drew apart. That single second of weakness was all she ever allowed herself around Clive. She knew him too well to permit any other vulnerability.

“I didn’t know you were in the city.” Half the time, she didn’t even know which country he was in.

“Yeah, Gloria and I are in town tonight. I thought I’d take my baby girl out for dinner.” Another huge smile filled with Clive’s brand of love. “What do you say, Kit-Cat? Date with your old dad?”

Danny’s flight wouldn’t land for an hour yet; after that, he’d have to go through customs and immigration. It might be two hours before he called her… if he remembered. She wouldn’t blame him if he didn’t; he’d traveled a lot, but this was different. It was the start of an adventure.