Athena chuckled happily and reached up to him with gooey hands. ‘Lexth, lexth—cuggle—’

Alex leaned down and dropped a kiss on her curly head, keeping a safe distance from her chubby hands. ‘I never cuddle my women while they’re covered in tomato sauce,’ he said dryly. ‘When your mother has hosed you down we’ll have a cuddle.’

He sat down next to Zoe.

‘Hi, there, Zoe. How are you doing?’

‘Good, Uncle Alex.’ The little girl smiled up at him. ‘Can we go to the beach?’

‘Sure.’ Alex glanced at Libby and lifted an eyebrow. ‘Is that OK with you?’

She beamed. ‘Definitely. We’ll all go. Or is that a problem for Daisy?’

‘Daisy loves the beach,’ Jenny said quickly. ‘She eats the sand.’

‘They all do at that age,’ Libby said sagely, and Alex rolled his eyes.

‘Athena still eats it. In fact, that girl eats everything.’

Jenny stood up. ‘I’ll make up a bottle for Daisy and heat up her food here.’ She bustled around the kitchen, preparing what she needed, clearing up as she went.

Libby stood up and lifted Athena off the chair. ‘Oh, yuck. I wonder if you actually ate anything. Most of it seems to be stuck to your bottom.’

‘Her aim is hopeless,’ Alex said mildly, observing the food stuck to the floor and the walls. ‘She has absolutely no idea where her mouth is.’

Libby laughed and reached for a cloth to wipe Athena’s face and hands. ‘She does when it’s chocolate. She never misses.’

‘Now, why doesn’t that surprise me?’ Alex rolled his eyes and reached into the fridge for some beer. Then he glanced at Jenny, his gaze gently mocking.

Jenny blushed and gave a shy smile. She knew that he was challenging her to scold him for drinking but she had no intention of doing any such thing. Instead, she reached out a hand to take the bottles of lager.

‘You can put those in Daisy’s bag,’ she said calmly, and he gave a reluctant smile.

‘Put one in for me,’ Libby said, turning Athena round to check she hadn’t missed any splodges of tomato. ‘There we are, you’re clean.’

‘Clean?’ Alex surveyed his niece and raised an eyebrow. ‘You seriously call that clean?’

‘It’s clean for Athena, Uncle Alex,’ Zoe said solemnly, and he laughed and swung her into his arms.

‘I suppose it is, sweetheart. Now, then, what are we going to do on the beach?’

‘Can we go over by the cliffs and play caves?’

Alex nodded. ‘Sounds good to me.’

He held onto her and Jenny watched them, a lump building in her throat.

How could he possibly think he wouldn’t make a good father? He was so lovely with his nieces. He would have made an absolutely wonderful father for Daisy. Except that he was determined to deny that she was his. She remembered his comments about contacting his lawyer and wondered whether he’d had any news during the day.

Presumably not or he would have mentioned it.