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even a supposed sore throat couldn’t dampen. Once she saw the similarity it was so blaringly obvious she felt like a fool for not noticing it sooner.
    Her blood pounded so loudly in her ears her voice came out rather more flat than she would have liked when she said, ‘You’re Zach Jones’s daughter.’
    Ruby’s eyes flashed with the first spark of realenthusiasm and Meg knew she was right even before the girl said, ‘Do you know my dad?’
    Did she know Ruby’s dad? Not a jot.
    Zach Jones had a daughter. A daughter whose mother was gone.
    Hang on, he had a daughter with a mother Rylie hadn’t even known about and Rylie was such a proficient muckraker she probably already knew who really killed JFK and was awaiting the right moment to reveal all.
    He had a daughter who was at home sick, or pretending to be. And the only reason Meg saw that Ruby might not want him to know was in case he only proved to her he didn’t give enough of a damn about her to care.
    Meg’s fists clenched at her sides, a scene to end all scenes threatening to erupt from within.
    She’d seen it time and again listening to stories told by countless women at the Valley Women’s Shelter—men, focused on themselves, on their work, on their local bar, who blithely disregarded their children’s need to be loved. Hell, she’d seen it with her own eyes. She’d felt it with her own heart.
    Thankfully she’d taken measures in order for it never to happen to a child of her own. Conclusive measures. Unfortunately none of that helped her from feeling threadbare watching neglect happen to someone else.
    Her gaze cleared to find Ruby was still looking up at her with her father’s uncompromising gaze. And while she knew the second she’d found out who Ruby’s dad was she should have walked away, she still said, ‘As a matter of fact I met your dad only this morning.’
    ‘What did he say about me?’
    What did he say? Well, he was actually pretty darned arrogant. He said back off. He said lie low. He said…
    Meg’s fingers unfurled from her palms. He’d said he was determined that the privacy of all staying at the resort remained upheld.
    He was talking about himself. Him and his anonymous daughter. A daughter who no longer had a mum.
    She closed her eyes to hide the mortification that she had beamed her flirty little smile at a man who’d lost his…wife? Lover? Ex? What did it matter? He’d lost the mother of his child.
    Far too many adult-only concepts to share with a seven-and-a-half-year-old.
    Instead, she gathered up her cheeriest smile and said, ‘I’m such a yabberer I’m sure I didn’t let him get a word in edgewise. If he’d had the chance I’m sure he would have said plenty. How could he not? A daughter who lets her nanny make chocolate muffins even though she doesn’t like them but her dad does. You’re a gem!’
    Ruby tried for a smile herself, but her slight shoulders drooped, giving her away. Meg’s heart twitched far harder than she liked for the little girl. She couldn’t let herself get attached. There was no way it could end well.
    She opened her mouth to say her long-overdue goodbye when something out of the corner of Ruby’s eye had her springing from the rubber seat like a jack-in-the-box. ‘I have to go!’ she shrieked.
    Meg glanced up at one of the small detached rooms to see the wooden blinds snap shut. A flash of silver hair, not dark and curling, meant her heart didn’t stop, but it certainly thundered hard enough for her to know she’d pushed her luck far enough.
    Ruby took a last quick step forward. ‘You won’t tell my dad I was on the swings, will you?’
    Meg laughed. ‘Not a chance.’ Probably best for her continued health if she didn’t bring any of this up with the man at all.
    ‘I won’t tell him you were here either, okay?’ Ruby said.
    Meg laughed again. ‘That would be fine with me.’
    Ruby gave a quick, sweet, girlish wave, and then ran off towards the flickering blinds and