‘Stop that. I believe one hundred per cent that you’re a good man who made a tiny mistake with his pen and a drunken brain and you don’t need to say anything else about it. We’ve both made mistakes and throwing around blame won’t change any of that.’
‘But all those years we missed…’
Ashley smiled. ‘You wouldn’t have met Janine and you wouldn’t have Ella. Everything happens for a reason.’
‘When are we going to tell the kids?’
‘Perhaps we should pull them out of the party now? Go for a walk somewhere quiet so we can discuss it properly?’
He nodded. ‘Sounds like a sensible plan. They’ll know something’s up as soon as we suggest leaving, though.’
‘Probably, but they’ll think it’s something to do with us dating. And I don’t suppose it really matters that they guess something’s up or not as we’ll be telling them soon enough anyway.’
He grabbed her hand again. ‘I’ll admit to being nervous as hell.’
‘Me too.’
Together they stood up. Ashley brushed grass from her skirt and gave Haydon an awkward smile. He’d taken this news so well – better than she could ever have imagined. But while he appeared calm on the outside, was that really how he felt? Was this a delayed reaction, the calm before the storm? Would he go back to his villa later and the truth suddenly fall on him, crushing all reason? Would he see his new reality for what it was and freak out? The fear of losing him returned – sharper, colder, stealing her breath – and her smile, as uncertain as it had been, faded.
‘It’ll be OK,’ he said.
Ashley nodded, her mouth dry and a reply deserting her. Looking out from the secluded shade of their tree, she now saw her mother walking across the lawn towards them. She glanced at Haydon and there was no mistaking his reaction, even though he quickly wiped it away. Ashley guessed his thoughts were along the same lines as her own – how much more trouble could her mother stir up? Hadn’t she already done enough damage? Whatever she was on her way to say or do, Ashley needed to nip it in the bud before she made things even more difficult. She stepped out from the shade of the tree, Haydon at her side, and went to meet Sue halfway.
‘Mum…’ she began, but Sue got in first.
‘I’m sorry, love,’ she said.
Ashley blinked.
‘I was out of order back then,’ Sue continued. ‘I didn’t mean to blurt everything out like that – it wasn’t my place to interfere and I should have trusted that you were going about things in the way you thought best.’
‘The worst thing was the scene, Mum,’ Ashley said. ‘Everybody else didn’t need to know what was going on.’
‘They don’t,’ Sue said. ‘Nobody has realised exactly what it’s about so don’t worry about that.’
‘Maurice knows.’
‘I think we would have had to tell him sooner or later, love.’
Ashley pursed her lips, determined not to agree with her mother even though she would have to later.
‘I feel like such an idiot. Everyone was looking at us. Haydon feels like that too.’
‘I’m sorry,’ Sue said. ‘What more can I say than that?’
‘Your mum was just looking out for you,’ Haydon cut in. ‘It’s only what we’d do for our daughters.’
‘Speaking of which,’ Ashley said, turning to Sue again. ‘I suppose you’ve spilt the beans to Molly too?’
‘Of course not!’ Sue squeaked.
‘She probably overheard us anyway, the whole business was shouted so loud.’
‘Nobody heard us,’ Sue insisted. ‘I’m quite sure nobody’s any the wiser – they were all far too busy enjoying the party to listen to what we were going on about and half of them don’t speak English anyway.’
Before Ashley could answer, Haydon’s phone began to ring from his pocket. Pulling it out he frowned at the name on the screen.
‘Janine…’ he murmured before declining the call. But a second later it rang again. He gave Ashley and Sue an apologetic look. ‘She doesn’t normally call again like this unless it’s something really important. It might be some emergency back home…’
As if they didn’t already have an emergency of their own here. But Ashley could do nothing other than nod.
‘It’s OK, I know you wouldn’t say you needed to take the call unless you really had to,’ she said.
He clicked to unlock the phone and, after a brief greeting, he walked away to a secluded corner of Madame Dupont’s grounds, a deep frown creasing his brow as he went. Ashley was distracted for a moment as she watched him. Whatever that phone call was about, she already knew it wasn’t good just by the look on his face. It seemed about par for the course considering the sort of day they were having, but she just hoped it wasn’t something so awful that it would take him away from her before they’d had time to talk through all their new issues properly.
‘I’d better round up the kids,’ Ashley said. ‘I expect they’re still messing around on the old piano in the house,’ she added, shielding her eyes and scanning the garden to see that only the adults were out there, chatting in small groups or watching the band play as they sipped glasses of wine.
‘What for? Surely you’re not going to tell them now?’ Sue asked.
‘Better now coming from us than later from someone else.’
‘I told you nobody overheard anything.’
‘I don’t even want to take the risk. The way Haydon found out was bad enough but it would be ten times worse for the kids to—’
She stopped, mid-sentence, and exchanged a look of alarm with her mum. From across the grounds, out of their eyeline, there was shouting, followed by a loud scream and a splash. And then all hell broke loose.
Chapter 18
‘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 doe
s 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.
The Summer Getaway_A feel-good romance novel perfect for holiday reading Page 24
