‘She said what?’

Haydon’s frown deepened as he let himself out of the gate that separated the main gardens of the house from the overgrown orchard beyond. It looked as if Madame Dupont had struggled to tend this over the years and if she had a gardener they certainly didn’t see to this bit. But it had its own sort of beauty in its wildness as the low sun blazed through the verdant space beneath the twisted branches and the long grass that whispered with the calls of crickets rustled around Haydon’s legs. At another time, perhaps he would have been in a better mood to appreciate his surroundings. But for now, Janine’s call had his brain tied in knots.

‘How the hell…? There’s no way she could know this!’

‘So it’s true?’ Janine asked, and there was no mistaking the sharpness in her tone.

‘It’s more complicated than that.’

‘How? It’s either true or it’s not.’

‘Well, yes, but—’

‘Yes?’ Janine cried. ‘I don’t believe I’m hearing this!’

‘Just let me explain—’

‘Yes, please,’ Janine cut in, ‘please do explain because my head feels as if the top is about to blow off! Please explain how this can be possible because I really, really want to hear it.’

‘You’re angry?’

‘What do you think?’

‘It was before I met you.’

‘That makes it worse! Did you know? How could you keep this from me all the time we were married?’

‘I didn’t keep anything from you because I didn’t know.’

‘But you never even mentioned this girl! Not once. If you can keep this a secret, God knows what else you’ve hidden from me.’

‘It’s not like that – calm down, Jannie, please.’

‘Don’t you dare call me Jannie! If ever there’s a time to drop that nickname it’s now. How could you do this to us? Not only have you kept this from me for fifteen years, but then you’re careless enough to let it slip so that I have a distraught Ella on the phone who doesn’t know what the hell to think! I am never letting you take her anywhere again! Are you getting that? Never!’

‘Please, just give me a minute and I’ll explain.’

‘Right. One minute, and it had better be good. Then I’m getting on the next flight to Nice and I’m taking Ella back with me.’

‘What’s the point in that?’ Haydon replied, his own temper flaring now. ‘We’re coming home tomorrow anyway. Calm down for pity’s sake and listen. God knows you’ve never bothered to listen to me in the past so it’ll be a novel experience.’

‘You think this is a time for jokes?’

‘Nobody’s joking here, Janine.’

There was a heartbeat of a pause. ‘OK. Tell me what’s going on.’

‘First off, I’ve only just discovered this myself – literally this evening. As far as I knew Molly didn’t even know—’

‘Molly?’

‘My…’ Haydon winced, aware of how this was going to sound to the mother of what they both had thought was his only child. ‘My daughter,’ he said. ‘The daughter I have with Ashley.’

‘So this girl you knew before me… Ashley. She’s told you Molly is yours? Tonight?’

‘Yes.’

‘Don’t you think that’s an odd thing to do?’

‘Not really.’

He heard a barely restrained sigh from Janine’s end of the line. ‘She’s been in Saint-Raphaël all week?’

‘Yes.’

‘And you’ve been friendly with her and her daughter all week?’

‘Yes.’

‘But she only just thought to tell you this news now – the night before you’re all due to go home? I think that’s an odd thing to do even if you don’t.’

‘What are you trying to say?’

‘Come on, Haydon, you’re not that naïve, surely?’

‘You think she’s lying? Why?’

‘Because she can get a daddy for her child, that’s why. All these years she’s never looked for you to tell you about this but suddenly, when she meets you on holiday, she tells you something this important?’

‘She doesn’t need to trap me if that’s what you’re getting at. We’re already seeing each other and we plan to see more of each other when we get back to England.’

‘Yes, but there’s no certainty in that. There’s no money in that.’

‘You think she’s telling me this for money?’

‘It’s the only reason that makes any sense of it.’

Haydon shook his head. ‘You’re wrong. Molly is mine – that’s what makes sense in all of this.’

The long, impatient sigh Janine had been holding back escaped now. ‘Believe what you want – at the end of the day it’s none of my business now. But when it upsets Ella it is my business. So if you’re saying Molly didn’t know, how come she’s telling Ella about it?’

‘I don’t know. Ashley says she’s never told Molly. She’s never told anyone who Molly’s father is until this week when she told…’

‘Who?’

‘Her mum. Who’s staying here at the villa with them. But she said… Bloody hell. Sue promised she hadn’t told Molly about it.’

‘Looks like the mother’s as big a liar as her daughter.’

‘Janine! Why are you being such a bitch about it?’

‘Why are you being such an idiot about it? Contrary to what you might believe, I still care about what happens to you and I can’t stand by and watch some freeloading tart turn you into her own personal bank account without saying something. And when it involves Ella as well then I’m doubly invested. If I have to fly over to that place myself and give her a good talking-to then I bloody well will!’

‘You won’t need to – I’ll sort it.’

‘Your record so far isn’t very impressive.’

‘I’ve only just found out! What do you want me to do? I’m still in shock and it’s not that easy to think it through when everyone else is shouting at me too!’ He pushed a hand through his hair and stared out towards the gardens. ‘I’d better find Ella,’ he said.

‘I meant what I said about flying over,’ Janine said. ‘I can’t have this messing Ella up, not after she’s come through our divorce so well.’

‘You keep saying that but I don’t think you really know what’s going on in her head. I think the reason you say that is more about guilt than what you really think. She hasn’t come through our divorce well at all and I wish you’d stop pretending.’

‘So all this is my fault now?’

‘No, but I’m sick of you being right about everything and me being the villain. You wanted the divorce and you put Ella through it.’

‘Well you’re making it worse,’ Janine fired back, the bitterness of her tone unmistakable. Had he hit a nerve? Maybe, but he was finally sick of trying to keep the peace, of trying to be reasonable and understanding, of taking responsibility for everyone’s mistakes and of everything being about what Janine wanted. She was wrong about Ashley and she had no right to lash out. He was Molly’s father and he knew it for sure, even if he couldn’t explain to Janine how. Now he had to be father to Molly and to Ella equally. Even if he hadn’t fallen for her, he would still have a duty to Ashley, who had struggled for so many years without him. He simply ground his teeth, unable and unwilling to respond to Janine’s accusations in a way that wouldn’t escalate into something they’d be unable to move past when it was over. But she was right about one thing – he needed to find Ella and put things right with her and he needed to do that before anything else.

‘I’ll get Ella to call you when I’ve had a chance to talk to her so at least you’ll know everything is sorted,’ he said.

‘Don’t screw this up.’

‘You mean don’t screw yet another thing up?’

‘I didn’t say that.’

‘I know. You didn’t have to.’

He wasn’t looking for another argument, despite his words, and it seemed Janine felt the same. She ended the call without acknowledging them. Haydon shoved his phone back in his pocket and faced the gate that separated the orchard from the garden, where the party was still in full swing. But then he realised something that hadn’t occurred to him before. The music had stopped. Not that it was particularly shocking, but the chat and laughter seemed to have stopped too. With a frown he started to pick his way through the grasses towards the gate. As his hand went towards it, Ashley appeared, her expression tense.

‘I don’t know how but Ella’s found out about Molly.’

‘I already know,’ he said. ‘She phoned Janine and Janine has just phoned me to give me a roasting,’ he added in answer to her silent question. ‘She says Molly told her. How did she know? Was it your mum?’

‘There’s no time for that now,’ Ashley said, opening the gate and beckoning him through. ‘Ella’s done a runner.’

‘What!’

‘I’ll have to tell you about it while we look for her.’

Haydon paused. ‘She’ll be upset. She’ll have run back to our villa.’

‘Bastien has already been to look and she’s not there.’

Hayden got his phone out but Ashley shook her head.

‘I doubt she’ll answer that either because she’s not answering to anyone else.’

‘She’ll pick up if it’s me,’ he said, dialling the number. But after a few moments it rang out and he had to admit defeat, along with a vague sense of building panic. ‘She can’t have got that far,’ he said uncertainly.

‘Maybe not. Maurice and my mum are out now and I told them to phone me if they find her. Bastien’s with Molly. She’s… well, let’s just say she’s not taking it very well. She feels just terrible about what happened.’

‘And what exactly did happen?’ he asked, striding around to the entrance of the house while Ashley jogged after him. ‘I thought your mum said she hadn’t told anyone.’

‘I think Bastien overheard us and went to Molly.’

‘Little shit!’ Haydon hissed.

‘You can hardly blame him,’ Ashley said. ‘He’s sixteen and he gets hold of a piece of news like that, what else is he going to do? If it makes you feel better he got his comeuppance.’

‘What does that mean?’

‘Ella pushed him into the swimming pool.’

‘Sounds like Ella,’ Haydon replied, his expression grim despite the humour in his comment. ‘She seems like an innocent little princess but you cross her at your peril. Gets that particular personality trait from her mother. She’s going to take some talking down from this now.’

‘Where do you think she might have gone?’

‘Not a clue. Best to check back at the villa first, just in case she was hiding from Bastien. Where did you say your mum was looking?’

‘Not sure where they are. Maurice mentioned going down the beach – said it was a suitably moody location for a teenager to have a crisis.’

‘Funny. Has anyone ever told him he’s not a comedian?’

‘I don’t think he meant anything by it – he’s as worried as everyone else but he’s just trying not to freak people out. Remember there’s still a birthday celebration going on and most of these guests don’t know you from Adam so we don’t want to get them all involved in our little drama – do we? Making a big fuss about it will do that so Maurice is just trying to play it cool.’

Haydon nodded as they made their way into the front gardens of the house.

‘Mum!’

They both turned to see Molly racing after them. Bastien followed, a towel pulled around his shoulders but otherwise dripping wet and looking as shamefaced as Haydon felt he ought to. Later, the boy who’d caused so much trouble was going to get a piece of his mind, but for now, he just wanted to make sure Ella was safe.

‘We want to help you look,’ Molly cried.

‘There’s no point in you wandering around the place,’ Ashley said. ‘It’ll be just what we need if you get lost too.’

‘I wouldn’t get lost because I have Bastien with me.’

Ashley glanced at him and shook her head. ‘I’m not risking it. Stay here. Hopefully we won’t be long.’

‘It’s better with more people,’ Molly insisted.

‘Your mum’s right,’ Haydon said, and now Molly looked at him as if she’d only just seen him for the first time. They had a lot to talk through too, and he knew she must have been feeling as confused as he was. But now wasn’t the time and he was grateful to see she understood that perfectly.

‘Is it true?’ was all she asked. And when he nodded she gave a small smile.

Ashley stepped forward and kissed her on the forehead. ‘We can talk about this later. Now, please… the best thing you can do to help is to stay here where we know you’re safe. OK?’

‘OK,’ Molly said, though the reluctance in her voice was obvious.

‘Come on,’ Ashley said, turning to Haydon now. ‘Let’s get across to your place and check it over.’

She cast a glance at the sky and Haydon understood what she was thinking because he’d been thinking it too. It was still bright, but the sun was slipping down towards the horizon and they had perhaps an hour before dark. Hopefully they’d find Ella sulking in her bedroom at the villa and all would be well. But if it came to scouring the surrounding countryside for her, he didn’t fancy their chances – or hers. This wasn’t an alien planet, but for all Ella knew about the countryside of Southern France it might as well have been. Then again, that probably went for all of them. Undoubtedly the rest of the party guests would have to get involved if it got to that point and the idea of things escalating even further didn’t bear thinking about. So he tried not to and instead he faced forward as they stepped out onto the path and headed for Bastide de la Mer.

---

Haydon continued to try Ella’s phone as they walked, but there was no reply. Either she didn’t want to talk to him or there was another, more worrying explanation for the phone silence. It didn’t matter what the reason was, the lack of contact was ramping up his stress levels exponentially with every second that passed.

‘I’m sorry,’ Ashley kept saying, and though he reassured her every time that he didn’t blame her, a small part of him did. It wasn’t something he would have admitted and it wasn’t a feeling he welcomed, but he was angry. Not about Molly, but about the fact that Ashley had kept it from him for so long. He could understand why, but if she’d come clean earlier it might have happened in a less dramatic fashion and they might not be faced with this mess now.

At the house a quick search revealed it to be empty. It didn’t look as if Ella had been back there at all. So where was she?

‘I’ll call my mum,’ Ashley said. ‘See if they’ve found her.’

It was pointless and they both knew it. If Sue had found Ella she would have called them already to tell them so. But he let Ashley make the call anyway because he didn’t know what else to do and doing something was better than doing nothing. So he listened, feeling increasingly helpless and anxious as she spoke to her mum. It was obvious from the half of the brief conversation he could hear that Sue and Maurice hadn’t found any sign of Ella either.

Having confirmed his suspicions, Haydon tried Ella’s phone again but now it went straight to voicemail. He could only assume she’d switched it off, not wanting to talk to him. Perhaps she thought that he might persuade her to come back to the villa – if that was the case then she was throwing one hell of a sulk, the likes of which he’d never known her to have. But then she’d never found out that she wasn’t his only child before. As revelations went, it was kind of a biggie.

It was tempting to try Janine to see if Ella had called her mother again since he’d last spoken to her and given a clue of her whereabouts, but doing that would mean admitting to Janine that he’d lost Ella. She’d already threatened to jump on a plane to take Ella home – if this incident came to light Haydon was quite sure that Janine would see him in court to stop him having any access at all.

As he rubbed a hand through his hair and gazed out over fields that were rapidly fading into twilight, a feeling of increasing helplessness washed over him. He couldn’t help but reflect ruefully that the events leading to this moment had been set in motion on a sultry night in Ibiza after one too many sangrias. Ashley could tell him that she wouldn’t have changed a thing but he wondered whether a little sobriety that night might have meant they weren’t in this mess right now.

‘What shall we do?’ Ashley asked, breaking into his thoughts. He looked at her, his frustration tinged with guilt. She’d suffered too. ‘She’ll be OK,’ Ashley added. ‘She won’t have got far and there’s no real danger hereabouts. She’s probably having a cry under a tree somewhere.’

Haydon nodded, but he wished he could feel encouragement from Ashley’s words. He didn’t really think Ashley believed them herself, though she was trying to be brave and optimistic.

‘Is it worth rechecking Madame Dupont’s house?’ he asked.

‘I’ll ask Nanette to do it,’ Ashley said, dialling the number.

‘We might have to tell people what’s going on so we can organise the other guests into a search party,’ Haydon continued. ‘We didn’t really want to involve every Tom, Dick and Harry in this but the alternative is to have Ella missing after dark and I don’t fancy that.’

‘Sure,’ Ashley said as she waited for Nanette to pick up. ‘I understand.’ After a moment she ended the call. ‘Nanette’s not answering. I could ask Molly to look. She wanted to help, after all.’

‘OK.’

But Ashley’s call to Molly went unanswered too.

‘For God’s sake,’ she muttered as she locked her phone.

‘Do you have a number for Bastien?’ Haydon asked.

Ashley shook her head. ‘Never imagined I’d need one. What now?’

‘We’ll have to walk back. I’m hoping that Ella’s got over whatever tantrum she’s having and has had the sense to head back there if she’s not here at our house. And if she’s not there then…’

‘The police?’ Ashley asked.

‘Let’s see what the rest of Maurice’s family have to say about it. We’re out in the middle of nowhere and I don’t imagine the police will be here quick. We might find her faster ourselves if we all pitch in.’

They started to stride in the direction of the Dupont home. Ashley had to jog to keep up but Haydon didn’t dare slow down for her. With every minute that Ella was missing his sense of panic rose and he just wanted to find her, to explain everything, to tell her that no matter what he was still her dad. He didn’t dare imagine what was going through her mind right now but the guilt was crushing. She was never going to be second best, but she must have felt like it, and the revelation couldn’t have come at a worse moment – just when she was already feeling vulnerable and inferior to Molly, this had happened to reinforce her fears.

As they got through the gates of Madame Dupont’s home they were greeted with sombre faces and a distinct lack of a party. Someone had spilled the beans already, perhaps, but maybe that was to be expected in the circumstances. Perhaps it didn’t matter because if they didn’t find Ella soon they were going to need all the help they could get and that would mean coming clean anyway.

‘No Ella?’ Ashley asked Nanette.

‘No.’

‘What about Maurice and my mum? Are they back?’

‘They’re still looking. They’re on their way to the beach.’

‘I don’t honestly think Ella has got that far already,’ Haydon said. ‘It’s a fair walk.’

‘We must look everywhere,’ Nanette said. ‘My cousins are going to try the vineyards and farms nearby. Aunt Violette will telephone everyone she knows to look.’

Haydon glanced at Ashley. Was that really necessary? But then he thought about how desperately he wanted Ella back and quickly decided it didn’t matter any more who knew.

‘I’m going to have a word with Molly,’ Ashley said. ‘Find out exactly what happened. It may help give us a clue.’

‘There is another problem,’ Nanette said, twisting her skirt in between a thumb and forefinger. ‘Molly and Bastien have gone too.’