Page 64 of Finding Love in Micklewick Bay

Stella didn’t answer. Instead, she strode out into the hall, returning with his coat, holding it out to him. ‘You can gather up your holdall as you leave.’

THIRTY-SIX

‘What’s going on? I demand to know what your mother has been saying about me.’ Johan got to his feet and headed towards her, hands raised in question. ‘She’s trying to poison your thoughts about me which I suspect from my cold reception is what she’s spent your whole life doing.’

He could demand all he jolly well liked, Stella wasn’t going to tell him anything. ‘Don’t talk about my mum like that.’ She pushed the coat at him. ‘Please leave now.’ Though she was shaking inside, she kept her voice calm, her gaze steady.

‘What? No, I’m not going anywhere. When you’ve had a minute to calm down, we can talk. I’ll give you my side of things.’ The laugh he gave had a patronising tone that did him no favours with Stella. ‘I know you don’t really want me to leave, you’re just acting in the heat of the moment. I’m your father.’

‘I think you’ll find I very much want you to leave.’ She looked him directly in the eye. ‘I know what you’ve done, I know the sort of person you are. I want you to go.’ She refrained from telling him it was a shame he hadn’t remembered he was her father when she’d been a little girl.

‘I’m afraid it’s not so easy for me to do that,’ he said casually, apparently reluctant to make eye contact with her.

‘Why not?’

‘I have no money.’ He shrugged, his eyes returning to hers. ‘If you want me to go, you’re going to have to give me some.’

Did this man have no shame? ‘Wait there!’ Seething, Stella headed to her bedroom, grabbing her purse from her handbag. ‘There, that’s all I have.’ She held out a handful of notes. ‘Now you can go.’

He snatched the money out of her hands, counting it quickly, shaking his head in disbelief. ‘That is all? What am I supposed to do with this? There’s not even enough for me to get a train to London.’

Was he for real? ‘No one carries much cash around these days. I’ve given you all I have on me.’

‘I noticed a bank on?—’

‘It’s a Bank Holiday, it’s closed.’

‘There’s an ATM.’

‘I won’t be making use of that,’ she said, unyielding. ‘Now you have to go.’

He leant towards her, the air around them filling with tension. ‘You’re no daughter of mine. You’re not what I expected at all.’ He spat the words out. ‘I thought you’d at least show some compassion; I’m your father, I’m ill. But no, you’re too wrapped up in your own life, your high-flying career. You’re just like your mother, bitter and twisted.’

‘I’d rather be like her than like you. Now just go.’ The steel-strong look in her eyes told him she’d brook no further argument.

He snatched his coat out of her hands, his face distorted with spite. ‘You’re a foolish woman. No man will ever want you, you’ll end up on your own, just like she has.’

That hit a nerve. She took a moment to reply, steadying herself. ‘She’s not on her own, she’s found someone wonderful,someone who treats her well and makes her happy,’ she said more calmly than she was feeling.

His words had landed like a knife to her heart, Alex looming in her mind. Battling the emotions that were swirling frantically inside her, Stella said calmly, ‘I’d like to say you’re not what I’d expected, but it turns out you are.’ She pushed past him and headed down the hallway, holding the door open for him to leave. She closed it firmly when he’d gone, her chest heaving as she blew out a breath of relief.

Back in the living room, her heart still pounding, she made for her desk and picked up her phone. When she’d taken the call from her mum, she’d noticed a slew of missed text messages. She must have been so focused on her conversation with Johan de Groote she hadn’t heard them arrive. Disappointment raced through her as it registered that none were from Alex. However, she noticed one was from Pim. She scanned it, her pulse thrumming in her ears. Just when she thought their father couldn’t scrape any lower in her opinion. Swiping the message shut – she’d reply to Pim later – she called her mum, wondering if she’d heard the news.

THIRTY-SEVEN

Pulling up outside number five Magnolia Gardens, Stella stilled the engine of her car and sat for a moment, bracing herself for the unabridged version of the story her mum had quickly given her on the phone. She felt a pinch of sympathy for her mum; her day out with Rhys that she’d been so looking forward to had been scuppered. He’d surprised Alice with tickets to go around Danskelfe Castle and its grounds over on the moors, and had booked a table in the restaurant of the legendary Sunne Inne at nearby Lytell Stangdale. She’d been bubbling with excitement about it ever since.

‘Oh, lovey, come in.’ Alice gathered her daughter into a tight hug as soon as Stella stepped into the hallway.

‘Hi, Mum, you okay?’ A hug from her mother always felt good, whatever the circumstances.

‘I’m fine, it’s you I’m worried about.’ Alice released her daughter from her embrace, her hands slipping to her shoulders while she scrutinised Stella’s face.

‘Oh don’t worry about me, I’m fine,’ Stella said, her light tone belying how she was really feeling; the cocktail of emotions still pulsing around her body had her senses on high alert.

Her mum’s smile told her she wasn’t convinced. ‘Come on through, Rhys has just made a pot of tea.’

She followed her mum to the kitchen where Rhys was pouring tea into a mug. He looked up, his face breaking into a smile. ‘Stella, my love, how are you?’

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