It was the last thing she’d expected and she felt tears well in her eyes. Her voice came out choked. ‘I’d like that.’ She walked into his outstretched arms, feeling as if everything around her had faded, as if for a few moments there were only the two of them in the whole universe.

They didn’t speak, but he held her in the same way Millie held her beloved teddy bear, close, heads touching. No one had held her like that since her granddad died.

When her father moved back slightly, she didn’t pull away but stood within his arms looking up at him. Not as far up as she’d expected. She was nearly as tall as him. To her surprise there were tears on his cheeks as well as hers. Without thinking she reached out to brush them away.

‘Men aren’t supposed to cry,’ he said in a husky voice. ‘But I have a lot of hugging to make up for. I never expected the joy of having another child.’

She gulped. Joy! he’d said. ‘I never expected to have a real father.’ She was shaking, couldn’t stop, so he kept his arm round her and guided her to the old, lumpy sofa. As he sat down beside her, he took her hand.

‘I want to be a real father from now on, Janey, if you’ll let me. But I don’t want to come between you and your mother. I think that will mean me spending some time in England.’

‘Can you do that? Don’t you have a job to go back to?’

‘Yes, I can stay here if I want. I’ve taken a year off for starters, then we’ll all work out what to do next. If I decide not to go back, I have dual nationality so I can stay and get a job. It’ll partly depend on what Gemma decides to do. If she goes to university here, it’ll be a no-brainer that I settle here for a few years at least.’

‘I like her.’

‘She’s easy to love. But I haven’t been able to spend as much time as I’d like with her during the past few years.’

‘She said her mother didn’t encourage much contact.’

‘To put it mildly. I won’t go into that, not now. As to my work, I didn’t really fit into academic life anyway, though it was a prestigious job and I learnt a lot. I prefer doing things rather than writing about them or giving lectures. And trying to get articles published in professional journals is a real bore.’

‘Has Gemma any idea what she wants to do?’

‘We did wonder if she might get a place in Oxford, or some other good university in England. It’d be good for her to get away. She and I both need to build a new life.’

It was out before Janey could stop herself. ‘I wish I had the choice of studying at university.’

‘You will have now, I’ll make sure of that.’