Kelly sawed at her steak, the tension from Daniel’s usual quip about quick-fix medication driving her hand like a piston. “It’s great to see families helped. That’s one reason I liked this job in the first place. It just seems that the focus is more on the fix, not the family.”

Daniel chuckled. “That sounds like any first appointment with a couple.”

Tick . . . tick . . . tick . . .

The silence descended again, and Daniel resumed his study of Milly.

Kelly watched the two most important people in her life in a silent marionette display. Her heart sank, along with the hope they could shake off this heavy tension. Placing her cell phone on the table, she raised a white flag to the hope of a deeper conversation and headed to familiar ground. “We should organize the rest of the week now that the funeral is out of the way.” The tension eased as they coordinated appointments, school, and work like air traffic controllers juggling a fleet of aircraft.

Kelly kept Milly in the corner of her eye. Her brows loosened as the conversation moved to the logistics of dance lessons and Homework Club. She even contributed a full sentence. Sometimes two.

Daniel placed his cutlery on his now-empty plate. “Hey, Mill, did any of your friends ever mention the great time they had at your birthday party?”

Kelly almost dropped her glass. Why was he pressing on this?

Milly’s mask was back, fixed in place by her knotted brow. “Why?”

Kelly tensed as Daniel leaned forward on his elbows. He had done everything but ask his daughter to lie down on a couch in his office. “We haven’t talked about it—with Gramps and everything—so I wanted to check in with you.”

The soft chime of the half hour floated out from the grandfather clock before it resumed its tutting.

“Because it’s hard to know if people have had a good time when you’re busy catering to everyone else—”

With a heavy sigh, Milly pushed away her plate and left the table, dragging her feet up the stairs.

Kelly’s grief bubbled to the surface in a wash with every other emotion she’d held back all afternoon. “What on earth was all that about?”

Daniel turned to her. “I thought I’d try another angle to work out what’s wrong with her.”

“Work out what’s wrong with her? We just buried Gramps! Why do you have to be a professional all the time? She doesn’t need you to be a counselor. She needs you to be her father.”

Daniel moved to answer, but stopped, catching his words before they came out.

Kelly continued. “All she needs is us at the moment. In fact, she needs me at home.”