Page 65 of Fix Them Up
Liam had a daughter. Liam had a daughter that he hadn’t mentioned. No one had mentioned it. Not Uncle Brian or Auntie Sandra. Not Lydia. We’d talked about grief and the house and all the baggage with my dad. I’d drunken kissed him, for god’s sake. But he’d never mentioned his own daughter.
I rubbed my chest, feeling the residual anxiety.
How often did he see her?
Oh my god.
What if Yasmin lived here? Had Liam pulled away last night because he was still seeing Yasmin? They hadn’t seemed very… happy, but that didn’t mean they weren’t together. Oh my god, I’d kissed a man in a relationship without knowing. Were they on some kind of Ross and Rachel-style break, and Liam hadn’t mentioned it because he was a huge dickhead?
Had I inadvertently become a homewrecker? Because if I were Yasmin, I’d be pissed too.
My head was swimming with possibilities, my hands becoming tingly from panic. I needed to get out. I’d take up Sandra and Brian’s offer to stay with them. In a trance, I had begun to pack my clothes into a bag when I heard Liam’s voice at the door of the annexe.
‘Kat?’ He called again, and I heard his footsteps closer. ‘Are you decent?’ Liam poked his head around the door, his eyes dropping to my bag on the bed. He frowned. ‘Where are you going?’
I gave a half-hearted laugh. ‘I figured I should get out your hair. I don’t want to cause any drama. I’ve already caused enough fuss as it is. I’ll go to Brian and Sandra’s.’
‘Don’t be ridiculous –’
‘I’m not being ridiculous. It was my fault. Last night, I mean. I didn’t know you were seeing someone or with someone. I mean, you might be engaged for all I know.’ I gave a hysterical snort. ‘Married even.’
I began shoving more clothes into my bag.
‘I should have asked. I’m such an idiot.’ Oh boy. My thought-to-mouth speed was becoming supersonic. ‘I mean, we did speak about loads of things, about my dad, about your mum. Your job, my job. The house. I mean’ – I gestured around – ‘I moved inhere. But throughout all of that, you never mentioned you had a wife and daughter. A family. I mean, they could live with you, for all I know.’ I lifted my hands.
Liam held a hand up. ‘Hang on, hang on. You’re jumping ahead. Yas is my ex. We haven’t been together in – god, it must be seven years now. And yes, Abigail does live with me, some of the time –’
‘And that’s not something you mention?’ I was floating above myself, watching my frustration and anger ripple through my body language, eyes, and hands, but I could not control it. ‘I mean, who does that? Who doesn’t speak about their daughter to anyone for weeks?’
Liam’s jaw clenched. ‘It’s complicated. I like to keep things private –’
‘What kind of dad does that?’
Liam’s eyes lit with anger. ‘You do not get to sling around accusations.’
‘Well, don’t you think it’s a bit weird?’
‘If you let me explain –’
‘Yeah, it’s fucking weird. Is she some secret daughter? Does anyone even know she exists?’
‘Of course people know she exists.’
‘I mean, do you know what that feels like? To have someone forget that you exist?’
‘Kat. I am not like your dad.’ He squeezed his eyes shut. ‘I have a relationship with my daughter. Don’t project his failings onto me.’
I recoiled, instantly defensive. ‘This has nothing to do with my dad.’
Oh fuck.
Was that what I was doing? It took one moment of introspection to realise – yes. That’s exactly what I’d done. I’d vented all my frustration and anger at my dad onto Liam. Shame sat heavyin my stomach. It was absolutely none of my business when or where Liam saw his daughter. I had overstepped and freaked out and it was all so fucking irrational.
Freud would have a field day.
The revelation must have shown on my face because Liam’s gaze softened an inch.
‘You’re right, I don’t have any right –’
