hurt, in some strange way she'd chosen not to investigate further.
But he was still on a crash course in fatherhood, wasn't he? She hadn't known herself what parenting meant before she had Lizzie, and she was still learning, every day. Even so, the reasoning astounded her. By buying her expensive gifts—granting Lizzie everything her heart desired—did he honestly believe he could get her to love him more?
'So everything she mentions she'd like, you're going to get for her? Just like that? Kane—' Her voice softened a little on his name, as if she was trying to convey that she understood why he was trying that method of inducement, even when it was the wrong way to go.
He frowned hard. 'So now I can't buy my own daughter presents?'
If it was at all possible, he stood a little taller, towering over her in a way that once again made his presence imposing and domineering. He fell back on that method a lot these days. And Rhiannon would bet that not too many people crossed him because of it.
But she didn't back down; instead, as usual, lifting her chin the extra inch to compensate. After all, they'd been making the effort to get on better of late, and if he remembered as much about her as he claimed to...
'That's not what I meant and you know it isn't. It's just better if she continues falling for you because of you rather than for what you can get for her, don't you think?'
Heaven alone knew it was why she'd ended up with him herself. And there were still the very odd moments when she was reminded of that while he was around.
The nod was very brief, his eyes warming a little as he studied her, before he glanced to one side and Rhiannon was momentarily distracted by the faintest breeze that lifted the finer hair against his forehead.
It was becoming an obsession, that hair of his. Again. She had used to love touching his hair, and it was probably why her fingers had itched that day in the office. Always, when they had sat in front of a computer screen or watching television, her hand had inevitably ended up at the nape of his neck, her fingertips absentmindedly moving from the shorter, coarser strands that touched his warm skin, to the slightly longer, smoother strands against the back of his head, where they would thread into the thickness.
It had been the simplest of physical contact really. But when he was tired, he would lean back into that touch, his lips would part as he sighed in relaxed contentment. Sometimes his head would turn and when his firm mouth moved across hers her fingers would thread deeper into his hair, willing him closer.
How had she forgotten that? Maybe, simply because she hadn't wanted to remember.
He took a deep breath. 'I still feel like I have ten years' worth of presents to make up for—Christmases, birthdays, all that. A pony and a dog don't seem to me to be that much in the great scheme of things. I'm not trying to buy her affection.'
When he turned away Rhiannon felt a bubble of disappointment grow in the pit of her stomach; it felt as if they had just taken a step backwards. And she really didn't want that to happen.
It left her floundering for a way back to where they had only just tentatively managed to get. And only one question came into her mind—the one that had been causing her the most headaches of late from trying to find an answer on her own.
Because there'd been a catalyst for her reactions all those years ago; that initial action that had driven her to make the choices she had, even though she now knew they hadn't been the right ones. And the guilt she now carried drove her to want to understand why he had disappeared when he had. The need to know growing exponentially, day by day, to almost consume her as she got to know him all over again.
And there was only one way to find an answer, wasn't there? So the question jumped out.
'Why did you disappear?'
Kane stopped suddenly. As if an invisible wall had appeared in front of him. Then his head turned and he looked
But he was still on a crash course in fatherhood, wasn't he? She hadn't known herself what parenting meant before she had Lizzie, and she was still learning, every day. Even so, the reasoning astounded her. By buying her expensive gifts—granting Lizzie everything her heart desired—did he honestly believe he could get her to love him more?
'So everything she mentions she'd like, you're going to get for her? Just like that? Kane—' Her voice softened a little on his name, as if she was trying to convey that she understood why he was trying that method of inducement, even when it was the wrong way to go.
He frowned hard. 'So now I can't buy my own daughter presents?'
If it was at all possible, he stood a little taller, towering over her in a way that once again made his presence imposing and domineering. He fell back on that method a lot these days. And Rhiannon would bet that not too many people crossed him because of it.
But she didn't back down; instead, as usual, lifting her chin the extra inch to compensate. After all, they'd been making the effort to get on better of late, and if he remembered as much about her as he claimed to...
'That's not what I meant and you know it isn't. It's just better if she continues falling for you because of you rather than for what you can get for her, don't you think?'
Heaven alone knew it was why she'd ended up with him herself. And there were still the very odd moments when she was reminded of that while he was around.
The nod was very brief, his eyes warming a little as he studied her, before he glanced to one side and Rhiannon was momentarily distracted by the faintest breeze that lifted the finer hair against his forehead.
It was becoming an obsession, that hair of his. Again. She had used to love touching his hair, and it was probably why her fingers had itched that day in the office. Always, when they had sat in front of a computer screen or watching television, her hand had inevitably ended up at the nape of his neck, her fingertips absentmindedly moving from the shorter, coarser strands that touched his warm skin, to the slightly longer, smoother strands against the back of his head, where they would thread into the thickness.
It had been the simplest of physical contact really. But when he was tired, he would lean back into that touch, his lips would part as he sighed in relaxed contentment. Sometimes his head would turn and when his firm mouth moved across hers her fingers would thread deeper into his hair, willing him closer.
How had she forgotten that? Maybe, simply because she hadn't wanted to remember.
He took a deep breath. 'I still feel like I have ten years' worth of presents to make up for—Christmases, birthdays, all that. A pony and a dog don't seem to me to be that much in the great scheme of things. I'm not trying to buy her affection.'
When he turned away Rhiannon felt a bubble of disappointment grow in the pit of her stomach; it felt as if they had just taken a step backwards. And she really didn't want that to happen.
It left her floundering for a way back to where they had only just tentatively managed to get. And only one question came into her mind—the one that had been causing her the most headaches of late from trying to find an answer on her own.
Because there'd been a catalyst for her reactions all those years ago; that initial action that had driven her to make the choices she had, even though she now knew they hadn't been the right ones. And the guilt she now carried drove her to want to understand why he had disappeared when he had. The need to know growing exponentially, day by day, to almost consume her as she got to know him all over again.
And there was only one way to find an answer, wasn't there? So the question jumped out.
'Why did you disappear?'
Kane stopped suddenly. As if an invisible wall had appeared in front of him. Then his head turned and he looked
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