‘You want to walk past the pink villa on the way back to ours?’ Haydon asked as they approached the fields on the outskirts of town that separated it from their own accommodation. ‘You said yesterday you wanted to find out who lives there.’

‘Don’t we have to get our food back before it goes off?’

‘It wouldn’t take a minute. I’m sure the food could last that bit longer.’

Ella looked doubtful. ‘What if they come out?’

‘Then we’ll just say hello and be on our way. It’s no bother if you’ve changed your mind, though.’

Ella shook her head. ‘It’s fine – we can go.’

‘You’re sure?’

‘Yeah, but we won’t knock on the door or anything, will we?’

‘I thought you wanted to find a new friend and ditch me?’

‘Don’t start that again,’ Ella said, and for a startling moment Haydon could have closed his eyes and imagined that it was Janine chastising him. As Ella got older those moments happened more and more often.

‘OK,’ he said, his humour dampened, ‘I won’t.’

They veered off the path to their own villa and headed for the neighbouring house. It had seemed vivid from a distance but as they grew closer they could see the pink plaster was faded in places, even missing from some, and the wood of the veranda was sun-bleached and in need of fresh varnish. The garden was thick with wildflowers that almost obscured the path, and shrubs rambled and climbed every inch of available garden space the flowers had neglected. The air was thick with sweet floral scents and the drowsy hum of honeybees. Roof tiles had slipped here and there and a grey tabby lay stretched across a large swing seat strewn with cushions in the shade of the eaves. It was far from pristine and in need of some repair, but Haydon was struck by the perfect imperfection of it, by the overwhelming sense of contentment radiating from it. The place he shared with Ella was freshly and probably frequently painted and equipped with everything they needed, and it was a beautiful house, but this… this felt like someone’s home. He couldn’t help thinking that anyone who was welcomed into this house would immediately feel like they were home too.

He stood for a moment, perhaps ten feet away from the gates as he took the details in. And then he turned to Ella.

‘Seems pretty quiet,’ he said. ‘Maybe there’s nobody home.’

But then a long peal of laughter rolled out of an open window and voices followed – some speaking French and some English. Ella looked up at Haydon and seemed vaguely alarmed.

‘Maybe we should go back to ours.’

‘Maybe you’re right,’ Haydon agreed, and they turned to leave. But then a voice from behind them had them spinning around.

‘Bonjour!’

A slender woman of around sixty stood on the porch, smiling patiently. ‘Vous êtes perdu?’

‘Umm…’ Haydon glanced at Ella, who returned it with a look of the utmost trust and faith. She was counting on him to be in control at all times, but being caught on the doorstep of the house had thrown him off guard. And his stubborn brain refused to translate the simple question that the woman had asked, even though he knew that if he thought about it quietly for a moment he’d figure it out.

‘Parlez vous anglais?’ he asked, annoyed at himself for having to resort to the most obvious cop-out.

‘Yes,’ the woman replied, making her way down the path to them. She was tall and elegant, dressed in a simple linen shift dress, dark-haired and caramel-eyed. She was a woman who would have turned heads in her youth. ‘Can I help you?’

‘My daughter and I are on holiday,’ Haydon said as he walked back with Ella. ‘In the house over the fields. We were just on our way back and were… admiring your garden. We didn’t mean to disturb you.’

‘You do not disturb,’ the woman said. ‘The garden is not mine – it belongs to my aunt. I’m afraid she’s too old to keep it perfectly these days, but she tries.’

‘She does a lovely job. Sometimes perfect isn’t what’s attractive.’

The woman inclined her head in agreement. ‘So, you stay in Saint-Raphaël long?’

‘Just a week. Arrived yesterday. It’s beautiful – at least what we’ve seen so far is. Lovely people too.’

‘Perhaps you would like to meet my family…’ She looked at Ella. ‘We have an English girl staying with us – Molly. I think you may be good friends if you met – she is perhaps the same age as you? They are here for a week only too. For my aunt’s birthday celebrations. She is a hundred, you know.’

‘Wow,’ Haydon said.

Ella gave a shy smile but said nothing. It wasn’t often that she was this quiet, but she suddenly seemed overwhelmed.

‘Come…’ The woman beckoned them. ‘I will introduce you, and then you will have friends nearby.’

But Haydon hesitated and glanced at Ella, who seemed uncertain too. It wasn’t that he had any issue with making friends, but he didn’t want to intrude, and he felt he’d already done that to some extent.

‘We have fresh food in the bags here,’ he replied. ‘And it’s hot so we should probably get it back before it all spoils. Maybe another time?’

‘Tonight?’ the woman said. ‘We will have a family meal and you are more than welcome to join us. It will be good for the young people to meet. I have a great nephew too – Bastien. He is sixteen.’

‘Tonight?’ Haydon repeated.

‘You have another appointment?’

‘No, it’s not that, it’s…’

‘Well,’ the woman said. ‘It is there. If you wish to come, then come. If not, then that will be OK, and perhaps we will see you another time.’

Haydon nodded. ‘Thank you.’

‘Come at seven if you are going to,’ the woman called as she turned to go back to the house. And then Haydon and Ella watched as she disappeared beyond the front door, both wondering just how they were meant to feel about their impromptu and very surprising invite.

Ashley sat at the huge kitchen table trying to follow a half-French and half-English conversation between four new arrivals and the family members that had arrived the day before. Molly was faring better, having taken GCSE French at school, but even she was struggling to keep up with the pace of the discussion. Every so often she’d whisper a rough translation in Ashley’s ear, but some of it was so random that Ashley had to wonder if Molly was following it quite as well as she thought she was. At some point Nanette had decided to let a cricket that had found its way into the kitchen out into the garden and had disappeared, and although nobody else seemed concerned, Ashley couldn’t help but notice she’d been gone rather a long time for someone who’d just nipped out to give freedom to a bug. She was just about to bring it to the attention of the table at large when Nanette returned. She spoke briefly to Violette in French for a moment, who broke into a broad grin and nodded enthusiastically. Then she turned to Molly, who sat with Ashley at one side of her and Sue on the other.

‘You know the house across the field?’

Molly shook her head, but Nanette continued, unfazed by the negative response. ‘There is a young English girl staying there this week. Perhaps you will be friends.’

Ashley thought this was unlikely – you couldn’t just throw two teenagers together and assume they’d automatically become best friends simply because they were a similar age – but she thought better of saying so.

‘I have invited them to dinner tonight,’ Nanette added. ‘And Aunt Violette will be happy to meet them.’

‘Them?’ Maurice asked.

‘The girl and her father…’ She aimed a most disconcerting wink in Ashley’s direction. ‘The father is very handsome, and I think he is alone with his daughter… no wife.’

Ashley’s stomach dropped. The last thing she needed was matchmaking of any sort, but offending Maurice’s gregarious and well-intentioned family hadn’t featured on her to-do list either.

‘So we have more guests?’ Antoine, another of Maurice’s cousins, asked. ‘We have barely room for the family…’ He twisted to look at Ashley and offered an apologetic look. ‘I did not mean—’

‘I know,’ Ashley said.

‘Aunt Violette is happy,’ Nanette said defensively. ‘She is almost a hundred and she wants the world to celebrate with her! Perhaps you will want the world to see when you are a hundred!’

Antoine’s gaze flitted to Madame Dupont – also known as Aunt Violette or simply Violette, depending on where you featured in the family hierarchy – and it seemed she’d got the gist of the conversation because she nodded vehemently in agreement with Nanette. Antoine gave a vague shrug and turned back to his glass of lemonade.

‘So, it is settled,’ Nanette said. ‘We will set two extra places at seven, and we will show them how kind and happy a French family can be.’

‘Damn…’ Haydon set the shopping bags on the kitchen counter. Ella turned to him with a silent question.

‘We didn’t get any eggs.’

‘Can’t we live without eggs?’

‘I just thought we might have some in the morning.’

‘But I thought you got extra croissants from Audrey for the morning.’

‘Well, yes, but…’ Haydon tried to play it cool, but Audrey was the reason he wanted to go back to town, and a lack of eggs had been the first excuse he could come up with. It was crazy, but he couldn’t stop wondering how she might react to an invitation to join them for dinner. She’d almost certainly say no, but did it matter? It wasn’t like he had to see her again if she turned him down. Maybe Ella had been right to give him a nudge; maybe he’d spent too long moping over Janine and maybe it wasn’t healthy for any of them. The logistics of any kind of serious relationship with Audrey would be tricky, of course, but that didn’t stop them spending a pleasant few hours together, did it? Perhaps there wasn’t true love in it, but maybe there’d be enough fun there to rebuild his confidence and get him dating again once he got back home.

‘I don’t really care about having eggs.’

‘Still, I think we should dash down before the market closes up.’

Ella flopped into a chair. ‘But we just walked all the way up from town. And it’s miles!’

‘It’s not miles – it honestly won’t take more than half an hour. And then we can do whatever you want.’

‘I can stay here.’

‘You can’t.’

‘Why not?’

‘Because your mum would kill me if she found out I’d left you home alone.’

‘I’m old enough.’

‘I know, but that’s not the point. Please, Ella.’

‘You must really want those eggs,’ Ella muttered, pushing herself up.

‘I do,’ he said, already striding for the door. ‘Thank you.’

Ella followed, and he let the door swing closed behind them as they began the journey back to town. The ground shimmered in the afternoon heat and a couple of minutes saw beads of sweat trickling down Haydon’s back. He couldn’t decide whether it was down to the sun or his nerves, but it was probably a combination of both. It had been a long time since he’d asked a woman out, especially one as beautiful as Audrey, and when he’d done it in the past he’d invariably been drunk.

‘Slow down!’ Ella panted.

‘Sorry… just want to get there before the shops close.’

‘Don’t they close really late in the evening? Like, don’t they have a siesta in the day?’

‘I thought that was Spain.’

Ella shrugged. ‘I don’t think you have to worry, Dad. I saw some signs for a supermarket too – we could go there in the car.’

‘I’d rather get farm eggs from town. I noticed a stall selling farm goods.’

‘I didn’t see it,’ Ella said doubtfully.

‘It was close to Audrey’s stall.’

Ella didn’t reply, and when Haydon looked again he could have sworn she was biting back a grin.

‘What?’

‘Nothing. I wonder if Audrey’s still there.’

‘I expect she’s packed up and gone by now,’ Haydon replied.

‘I expect so. I expect all the market stalls have gone by now.’

‘We can try anyway. If not then I’ll have to head to the supermarket out of town after all.’

In record time they reached the old square. As Haydon had predicted, many of the stalls were already packed up and gone. He made his way to the place where he recalled Audrey’s being and saw that hers had gone too.

‘There’s the stall with eggs,’ Ella said, pointing to one nearby. ‘But we’d better hurry because it looks as if they’ll be gone soon.’

‘Right,’ Haydon said, disappointment visible in the slouch of his shoulders as they made their way over. He reached into his pocket for some money as Ella rushed ahead and placed the order. But then his attention was drawn to a lithe, elegant figure with caramel skin making her way across the square, nutmeg hair escaping a messy bun. Involuntarily, he gave a goofy smile as she set eyes on him and changed course.

‘We meet again,’ she said in sultry tones.

‘I’ve come for—’

‘Dad!’ Ella shouted from the produce stall. ‘Dad, I need some money!’

‘Right…’ Haydon looked helplessly from Ella, waiting to pay the man for eggs, and then at Audrey.

‘Don’t go anywhere for a second… please?’ he asked. He beckoned Ella over and shoved a ten-euro note into her hand. Ella grinned up at Audrey and then shot a knowing look at her dad before racing off with the money.

‘Yes,’ Audrey said as Haydon turned back to her.

‘What?’

‘You were going to ask me to dinner?’

‘I… How did you know?’

Audrey shrugged. ‘You look nervous.’

‘Oh.’

‘You did not want to ask me to dinner?’ Audrey said with a slight frown now.

‘Yes… oh, God yes! Would you? I mean, we’d have to have Ella with us because I couldn’t leave her, but I thought… well, it’s just as friends, you know?’

‘When?’

‘I don’t know… When is good for you?’

‘In two days, when I am in town again. After the market has ended. Would that be agreeable to you?’

‘Fantastic!’ Haydon grinned. ‘Two days, sounds brilliant. We should probably exchange numbers… you know.’

‘Bon.’ Audrey took out her phone. ‘I will see you in two days.’ She looked over to where Ella was making her way back and gave her a little wave. ‘I will let your papa tell you the plans!’ she said with a soft laugh as she walked away.

‘What plans?’ Ella asked, handing the eggs to Haydon. ‘You’re going on a date?’

‘We’re all going to dinner, that’s all. Nothing to get excited about.’

‘How are you supposed to have a date with me there?’

‘It’s not a date, and I’m not leaving you for a whole evening at the villa alone.’

‘I’d be fine,’ Ella pouted. ‘She likes you and it’ll be ruined if you turn up with me.’

‘Nothing will be ruined,’ Haydon said, gesturing for them to start walking. But Ella was right – having her there was hardly conducive to romance. Still, it couldn’t be helped, and as he’d reminded himself a thousand times that day, perhaps he shouldn’t be expecting romance in the form of Audrey, because circumstances were against it no matter how gorgeous she was.

Seven o’clock came and went. Ashley couldn’t say why but she was relieved when no handsome English neighbour with his teenage daughter turned up at their family meal. Her mood had gone from vague dread to relaxed joviality, and as the wine had flowed and the sublime food kept coming, she had forgotten all about them. Aunt Violette, with the help of Maurice and Nanette, served up tapenade followed by traditional fish stew and fresh fruit and local cheeses. Antoine had called it peasant food, though he’d helped to polish it off just the same, and Molly, who’d viewed everything with the deepest suspicion, had been persuaded to try a little of each course and even announced, to Maurice’s delight, that she’d always hated fish but his bouillabaisse wasn’t half bad. It had turned out to be a very enjoyable night and Ashley had gone to bed more than a little tipsy.

But when Nanette announced at breakfast the following day that she was going to call at their neighbour’s house to see if everything was OK and check if they needed anything, Ashley couldn’t help but wish that she would stop being quite such a busybody. Things were made worse by Molly’s agreement to go with her, along with Bastien, and then Ashley knew for sure that Nanette was trying to throw the kids together. Which would have been fine, if not for the fact that the kids getting to know each other would invariably mean that the adults would have to meet at some point too and Ashley had her hands full enough getting to know Maurice’s huge clan without a handsome English neighbour to worry about.

It wasn’t that she was against handsome neighbours per se, but she’d had her fingers burnt enough in the past to know that the handsome ones were usually trouble. In the end she couldn’t really argue with Sue’s agreement that if the little English girl at the neighbouring house of Bastide de la Mer was half as quiet and shy as Nanette said she was then Molly’s friendship would probably do her a lot of good. When Molly herself backed this up, seemingly taken with the idea of being some poor lonely teenager’s saviour, it looked as if the decision had been taken out of Ashley’s hands entirely.

Feeling more than a bit chuffed with himself, Haydon had left the eggs in the kitchen and joined Ella in the pool for a splash about. They’d swam until long shadows crept across the garden and Ella’s teeth had started to chatter, and it wasn’t until they’d both decided that they were starving and had quite forgotten to eat that the discovery was made.

‘Dad…’ Ella called from the kitchen as Haydon towelled himself off. ‘You know when you said earlier that you didn’t want the food to go off…’

Haydon wrapped himself in the towel and went inside. Ella grinned at him, angling her head at the shopping bags on the kitchen counter, eggs next to them.

‘Bugger,’ he said. ‘That’s chicken off the menu,’ he added, pulling a pack of breasts out and sniffing at them.

‘Are they bad?’ Ella asked.

‘I have no idea, but I daren’t cook them up now. How about we go and find a restaurant – and don’t worry,’ he added, seeing the look on her face, ‘I can drive this time.’

‘We could go to the house across the way – they did ask us.’

‘I think we’re a little bit late for a seven o’clock start,’ he said. ‘Did you really want to go?’

‘I had a good time here,’ Ella said. ‘It was just a thought.’

‘So you don’t mind we missed it?’

‘It might have been a bit weird I suppose, because we didn’t know them at all.’

‘My feelings exactly. So how about we find a pizza parlour or something? Sound good?’

Ella nodded. ‘I’ll go and get dressed!’

They’d found a cute little place on the coast road and they’d eaten to bursting, getting back late and falling into bed. In the morning, however, despite the lateness of their bedtime, Ella was up first and made so much noise clattering about that it was obvious she was keen for Haydon to get up too. But he was happy to oblige, in a great mood and enthusiastic for what the day might hold after their great start in Saint-Raphaël.

It was while they ate Audrey’s buttery croissants with apricot jam for breakfast that the knock echoed through the house. Haydon looked at Ella and she returned his puzzled expression. Visitors? Here?

‘It might be someone checking on the house,’ Ella offered.

‘Maybe,’ Haydon agreed, silently chiding himself for the vague sense of alarm. What he didn’t say to Ella was that maybe it was their over-familiar neighbour from the pink house across the fields. He was beginning to wish he’d never gone over to investigate and had stayed firmly on his own side of the grass. It had been enough of a trauma deciding whether to accept the invitation issued the night before and he’d tussled with the idea of not going long after he’d settled on it, certain that a huge room full of people they didn’t know wasn’t the most relaxing way to spend an evening, nice as Nanette seemed. So if it was her now then he faced the mortifying prospect of explaining to her why he hadn’t turned up. What if she’d come to express her deepest disgust at his no-show? Offending the neighbours hadn’t exactly been at the top of his to-do list this week. Then again, it would be a pretty weird thing to do if she had.

His thoughts were interrupted by another rap at the door. Glad that he’d decided to dress early, he got up from the breakfast table and went to get it, his worst suspicions confirmed as the woman they’d met the day before stood smiling at the doorway with two teenagers in tow.

‘Bonjour, Monsieur…’

‘Stokes,’ Haydon replied, forgetting that usually he would dispense with formalities and get people to use his first name.

‘Monsieur Stokes, bon. And here’ – she gestured to the teenagers – ‘Molly and Bastien. We are all here to celebrate my aunt’s birthday for one week only – I think I told you this last evening. But perhaps a week is a long time for the children, yes? You have only one daughter?’ Nanette asked, trying to see past him into the house.

‘Yes, just me and Ella.’

‘Ella – a beautiful name. We are going to the beach today. Would you like to come? Perhaps Ella would like to make new friends.’

Haydon wondered vaguely if this woman was some sort of self-appointed kids’ entertainer for the area or whether she was trying to collect them for some sinister project. But she looked harmless enough – in fact, more than charming – and perhaps she was just trying to be friendly after all. He had to stop this silly notion that somehow all of Ella’s time belonged to him alone. She’d have a much better holiday if she had some people her own age to socialise with and it didn’t mean he had to give her up for the whole week.

He turned to call her to the door and she arrived within seconds – clearly she’d been listening.

She gave the visitors a shy smile.

‘I am pleased to make your official acquaintance, Ella,’ Nanette said. ‘Here I have Molly and Bastien. We would love for you to come to the beach with us.’

Ella turned to Haydon as Molly and Bastien appeared to size her up. ‘Are you coming, Dad?’

‘But of course!’ Nanette cut in. ‘You are both invited!’

Haydon swallowed his doubts and nodded brightly. ‘Sounds like a good plan to me. Nanette obviously knows the area well and she can show us all the best bits we might have missed by ourselves.’

‘Then it is settled!’ Nanette clapped her hands. ‘What time shall we say to come back?’

‘Give us an hour to finish breakfast and clean up?’ Haydon said. ‘Does that sound OK?’

‘One hour and we will return,’ Nanette replied. ‘How wonderful,’ Haydon heard her add as they skirted the pool on their way to the gates. ‘You will have a charming new friend.’

Bloody hell, what had he got himself into now?