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Megan’s heart sank. Of course Harry knew exactly what the set-up was here. He had staff to do almost everything for him, including keeping track of her.
‘He prefers Dr Perera.’
‘He’s a good contact for you to make, Megan. That young man’s making quite a name for himself.’
Harry was fishing. There was no way he could know how close she and Jaye had become as she’d told no one, not even her mother. Particularly not her mother, because things always seemed to filter back to Harry.
‘He’s a very good doctor. And a good boss, too.’
‘I’m sure he is.’ Harry beamed across at her. ‘I always knew you’d come good in the end.’
Megan pressed her lips together, suppressing the urge to tell him that there were some people who didn’t think she’d totally wasted her life up till now, and that one of them happened to be Jaye. There wasn’t any point, and it would be better if they got whatever Harry had to say over quickly.
‘What are you here for, Harry?’
‘You could call me Father.’ Harry looked around the office. ‘We’re alone here.’
‘We’ve been through that. If you want to keep it a secret that you’re my father, that’s fine. But if I can’t acknowledge you in public, then I don’t think it’s appropriate for me to acknowledge you in private.’
Harry chuckled. It was always the first thing he did when Megan said anything he didn’t much like. Pretend that it was just a laughable quirk on her part.
‘I suppose Dad’s out of the question as well, then.’
She didn’t have to take this any more. It was ten years since she’d called him Dad and then only under protest, because her mother had told her that they both depended on Harry, and that he could throw them out of the house they lived in on a whim.
‘Yes. It’s out of the question.’
The hurt look on Harry’s face was no surprise. If he couldn’t pretend that Megan was joking, he’d revert to the What did I do to deserve that look.
‘It’s a bitter pill for me to swallow, Megan. You’re all I have now, and I haven’t been well.’
The flash of concern she felt almost brought tears to Megan’s eyes. She couldn’t ignore this, however much she wanted Harry to just go away and leave her alone.
‘What’s the matter? Mum told me you’d had a pacemaker fitted six months ago but that you were doing really well.’
‘It was eight months. And it’s not right. I feel my heart thumping in my chest, and I’m sure there’s something wrong.’
‘Have you told your doctor?’ Atrial fibrillation wasn’t something that should be ignored.
‘He doesn’t take it seriously. He says my heart’s fine, but...’
Megan reached forward, laying her fingers over the pulse in Harry’s wrist. It was an automatic reaction, but the feeling that accompanied it was new to her. The feeling that Harry couldn’t die.
‘You care, Megan. No one else seems to.’
‘That’s not true, Harry, plenty of people care about you. So do I.’ However unexpected it was, it was the truth. And Megan had resolved to always tell Harry the truth, however uncomfortable it might be.
Harry’s heart followed the ticking of the second hand on her watch, a strong sixty per minute, regulated by the pacemaker. That didn’t mean that he wasn’t experiencing some irregularities, but it was something. Megan looked up at him.
‘What’s this all about, Harry?’
‘My wife left me. The boys have taken her side... Ungrateful kids...’
‘Like me? You always did say I was ungrateful.’
Harry puffed out a breath. ‘You were a lot like I was when I was young. I went my own way.’
Her mother had always told her that she was like her father, that she had his eyes and his determination. Megan let out an exasperated breath.
