I looked up at him, equally as surprised to see the amusement in his eyes as I was to hear him admit that he was even remotely aware of what he was like to live – and work – with.

‘It’s nothing short of a miracle,’ I told him. ‘However, it doesn’t alter the fact that you’re here now, does it? You clearly didn’t heed her words about leaving me alone for long.’

‘On the contrary,’ he swallowed. ‘She’s part of the reason that I’m here.’

‘Oh?’

‘When you called to say that you were staying away for even longer,’ he explained, ‘Joan told me she was surprised you’d done that and we both began to worry that you would never come back.’

‘I see.’

I don’t suppose I’d really thought about how my decision would impact on anyone else. I had simply done what felt right for me at the time.

‘I couldn’t bear the thought of losing my girl for good,’ Dad then said, his voice suddenly choked with emotion and, when I looked at him, I could see it in his eyes too, ‘and as there was no further word from you, I went . . .’ He stopped and bit his lip.

‘You went where?’ I asked, urging him on.

‘I went to your apartment,’ he said, letting out a long breath, ‘to see if I could find some clue that might help me track you down and,’ he added, shaking his head, ‘I found the trunk. Your mother’s trunk.’

He pulled a piece of paper out of his pocket and smoothed it out on the table. It was a page from Mum’s diary. A sheet I must have somehow missed in my haste to get away.

‘So, you know then,’ I said, looking from the paper and back to him. ‘You know what it was that finally tipped me over the edge and made me run away.’

No longer the self-assured boss who never let his confident façade falter, he looked far more human now and vulnerable. As he appeared to be finally facing up to what he had done, admitting that he had been an unfaithful and disloyal husband, I supposed that was only to be expected.

He nodded.

‘You know why I couldn’t bear the sight of you a moment longer . . .’ I choked, the bitter words catching in my throat as my eyes filled with tears.

The last thing I wanted to do was cry in front of him, but now we were here, with the awful evidence on the table between us, I couldn’t stop the sudden influx of emotions.

‘Me?’ Dad asked, the shocked tone of his voice making me look up again.