Her father was looking at the photos Danny had printed out and left for her on the kitchen bench—a surprise she’d found when she returned home and one that had made the lump in her chest expand until it threatened to fill her. All the pics were either of the two of them… or just of her. Photos that made her look beautiful and strong and full of laughter.

Was that how Danny saw her?

“That’s one of Ísa’s brothers-in-law, right?” A sudden sharpness to Clive’s eyes. “You two hooking up?”

Taking the photos from him, she put them aside. “Too late to play the concerned father now, Dad.” She softened the rebuke with a kiss on his cheek. “Tell me more about Gloria. She sounds lovely.”

Chuckling, Clive allowed her to distract him, and they went off to join his latest paramour. It turned out that he and Gloria were staying at the hotel directly across from the Sky Tower, so Gloria met them in the lobby of the iconic tower that speared into Auckland’s night sky and was visible from all over the city.

“Oh, I’m so happy to meet Clive’s baby girl at last!” Gloria beamed.

Tiny and dark-haired with bronzed skin and bright eyes, Gloria looked surprisingly close to Clive in age. Her hug was as warm as her smile. Catie swallowed a sigh. Oh dear, she was one of the nice ones, the ones who believed in Clive’s spiel about finally finding “the one.”

He meant it every time; that was the thing of it. He conned everyone—including himself. In fact, Gloria was so nice and sweet through the ride up to the restaurant that Catie was seriously tempted to break her “no interference” rule when Clive left for the restroom after they’d been seated.

“You really love him,” she ventured as they looked at their menus.

Gloria gave her a soft glance. “So much.” A pause. “It’s all right, sweetheart. I know who and what he is.” Smile fading into a quiet sadness. “We used to date when we were younger. He broke my heart then too.”

Catie blinked, put down her menu. This was the one type of conversation she’d never had with one of her father’s girlfriends. “If you know, why would you subject yourself to this?”

A lopsided smile that put the sparkle back in Gloria’s eyes. “Love makes us stupid,” she said, then laughed. “I’m divorced now with two adult children. I got married to the son of a family friend at twenty-three, was a good, faithful, and loving wife—and my ex traded me in for a younger model who dresses him in purple shirts and tight jeans that make him look like an overstuffed eggplant.”

Catie was glad she hadn’t taken a sip of her water. She’d surely have snorted it all over the table. “That bad?”