Chapter 148

Barry took a big breath and curved his mouth into a smile, nodding to Becky to let her come in. Abby stepped into the room and gave him a big grin before moving her eyes to the woman sitting on the stool. Her eyebrows pulled together in a frown and her mouth turned down. “Mummy?” she asked hesitantly. Heather swiveled on her stool and looked at his daughter. “Abby sweetie, aren’t you going to come and give me a hug?” It broke his heart to see how unsure she was. Abby walked gingerly towards Heather and let herself be pulled into a hug while Heather chatted about all the presents she’d bought on her trip. Abby’s eyes looked at him and he wanted to reassure her that everything would be okay. He wanted her to know that he would not let her go, but he couldn’t say any of that, not until he knew what it was Heather wanted. Becky placed a double espresso in front of him and he shot it like tequila, needing the caffeine hit to get his brain in gear so he could deal with the Heather issue. Whe