The Summer Getaway_A feel-good romance novel perfect for holiday reading

by Tilly Tennant

  ‘Janine would have phoned me if that was the case. She’d have taken great pleasure in telling me just what a useless dad I am, and she’d be right.’

  ‘You’ve been dealt a tough hand, that’s all.’

  ‘Perhaps I don’t deserve to be dealt any hand at all. Two daughters and I haven’t done right by either of them.’

  ‘Don’t say that.’

  ‘It’s true.’

  ‘You’re doing your best. It’s all any of us can do in the end.’

  Ashley reached for his hand but he recoiled and the action sent a spike of regret and shame to her heart. She only wanted to reassure him in his hour of need, to offer some comfort, but his rejection showed that he was not in a place to forgive her for the events that had led to this moment. Perhaps he never would be now.

  She fought the tears burning her eyes and tipped her face to the sky. If anyone was looking down right now, they had to hear her prayer, surely? She’d never asked for anything, had always strived to give of herself and never take, but she was asking now – begging – for one favour. Please let Ella be OK. Her mum was right – Molly had Bastien and together they’d stay safe. At least she had to believe that. But Ella…

  She dragged a hand across her eyes and pulled herself up to her full height. For Haydon’s sake, she would be strong – strong enough for both of them.

  ‘I know Violette was going to phone them, but let’s go and find the police station,’ she said. ‘We won’t leave until somebody agrees to do something, regardless of what the official rules are. We’re tourists and they’ll want to help when they find out how young Ella is.’

  ‘Do you know where it is?’

  ‘No, but I’m sure it will come up on Google Maps. Give me a minute and I’ll figure it out.’

  ‘Thank you, Ashley. And I mean that.’

  She looked up from her phone and gave him a wan smile. The sentiment was welcome but she didn’t think he meant it at all. Right now he was desperate and glad of help, regardless of the form it took. Right now he’d be showering his worst enemy with presents if he thought it would get Ella back, and she knew that because she’d have been doing the same if it had been Molly lost and alone.

  ‘Right,’ she said. ‘There seems to be more than one but I’m guessing one is like the coastguard because it mentions “maritime” in the name. Maybe this… the Police Municipale… maybe that’s the one.’

  ‘If it isn’t I’m sure they’ll direct us to the right place,’ Haydon replied in a flat voice. ‘I just hope someone speaks English when we get there.’

  ‘Of course they will,’ Ashley said, though she wasn’t so sure either. ‘If not we’ll get Maurice to come down.’

  ‘Perhaps we should get him to come down anyway? It makes sense.’

  ‘I suppose it does,’ Ashley said. ‘He’s had too much to drink to drive but we can call him and get him to walk down and meet us there.’

  ‘OK,’ Haydon said.

  ‘Will you try Janine?’

  ‘Maybe. Not until I absolutely have to.’

  ‘She’s going to find out about it sooner or later.’

  ‘I know, but I’d rather it be later. Preferably when Ella is back with me so it won’t seem like such a big deal as it does now.’

  Ashley didn’t comment on the fact that she thought Haydon owed Janine the full picture as soon as possible – as a mother herself she’d hate to think something like this was going on without her knowledge. But it wasn’t her place to put him right and it certainly wasn’t the time. Instead she dialled Maurice’s number and briefly told him their plan, to which he readily agreed, telling her he was leaving the house even as she ended the call. She glanced at Haydon as he strode beside her, his face turned to the road ahead and his jaw set and resolute. He looked like someone with purpose, with a plan, but she knew that was all show. If he didn’t force himself to look like that he might just collapse sobbing on the roadside. She knew it because she felt exactly the same and it didn’t matter that Ella wasn’t her daughter.

  ‘Was Molly back at the villa when you phoned?’ Haydon asked, never moving his eyes from the horizon.

  ‘No.’

  ‘You’re worried about her?’

  ‘I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t, but it doesn’t seem right to say so. Like everyone says – she has Bastien with her.’

  ‘If you’re worried then you’re worried. It’s only natural – you’re her mum.’

  ‘I know, but…’

  ‘I’m sorry. That wasn’t what I meant. It’s hard for me to remember… I don’t really know her. You understand?’

  ‘You don’t feel like her dad?’

  ‘I don’t know what I feel, only that I don’t really know who she is. It’s going to take time.’

  ‘For all of us, I expect. Ella too.’

  ‘Perhaps Ella will need the most help dealing with it. She never asked for any of this.’

  ‘Neither did Molly.’

  There was a pause. But Ashley never got to hear what his answer would be because her phone began to ring and, seeing it was her mum, she stabbed at the screen to take the call.

  ‘You have news?’

  ‘You’d better get back here,’ Sue said. ‘The police have just arrived.’

  Chapter 20

  Ashley was clutching her side as they arrived back at Madame Dupont’s villa, stitch stabbing at her as she fought for breath. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d run that fast or that far and as she looked over to Haydon she was almost irked that he showed no signs of fatigue at all. The police car was parked a few feet away in a little passing place on the road but it was empty, the occupants presumably inside the house.

  As he yanked open the gate and strode up the path to the veranda and the main door, she followed, wiping sweat from her brow. Maurice and Nanette came out to greet them.

  ‘She’s OK?’ Haydon asked, bristling with tension that was almost palpable. No matter how he’d been reassured that physically Ella was fine, it was clear he wouldn’t be happy until he’d seen for himself.

  ‘She’s a little shaken,’ Nanette said. ‘But she is unharmed.’

  ‘And Molly…?’ Ashley hardly dared ask but she had to know.

  Nanette shook her head. ‘I’m sorry, but she and Bastien have not returned yet.’

  ‘They’re probably still looking for Ella,’ Haydon said, taking the steps up to the veranda two at a time.

  Ashley threw a look at the darkening sky before she followed Haydon inside. She’d make sure everything was OK with Ella and then she was going to have to turn her attention to looking for Molly regardless of whether Bastien was with her or not. In fact, she was surprised that Bastien’s family weren’t making more of a fuss about his absence, but none of them had seemed too concerned so far.

  Two gendarmes were sitting at Aunt Violette’s dining table. Each had a glass of wine in front of them and were chatting casually to some of her guests as if they were party guests themselves. Ella was sitting next to Sue, who had a protective arm around her shoulder, and she was letting out that peculiar hiccoughing sound that only comes when someone has been sobbing so uncontrollably that their diaphragm seems to go into overdrive. It pained Ashley to see Haydon’s youngest daughter so distressed and to know that a great deal of it was down to her. As her father entered the room Ella looked up and for a moment both froze, uncertainty written into their features. But then Haydon took the room in less than three strides and Ella threw herself into his arms and started to cry again.

  ‘I’m sorry, Dad,’ she wept. ‘I’m sorry I made you so worried.’

  ‘You have nothing to be sorry for,’ he said, kissing her head. ‘Nothing at all. If anyone’s sorry it should be me and I am, more than I can say.’ He pulled back and gave her a critical once-over. ‘You’re alright? You’re not hurt?’

  ‘She was lucky.’ One of the gendarmes cut in, not a bit fazed by the emotion of the scene unfolding before him. ‘If the driver had not bee
n looking she would have been under the lorry.’

  ‘A lorry!’ Haydon glanced from one policeman to the other. ‘Nobody said anything about a lorry! I thought…’ He looked at Maurice and Sue. ‘When you said a road accident I thought…’

  ‘We thought it was a car too,’ Sue said. ‘It doesn’t matter now – the main thing is the driver managed to avoid her and she’s safe.’

  Haydon pulled Ella into his arms again and held her tight. ‘Jesus, Ella… don’t ever do that to me again – I don’t think my heart could stand the strain.’

  ‘I’m sorry,’ Ella sobbed.

  ‘Don’t be – just promise me that when something upsets you in the future you’ll come and talk it over with me instead of reacting blindly to it. OK?’

  She nodded, sniffing and spluttering uncontrollably. ‘I will; I promise.’

  ‘Perhaps you two need some time alone?’ Sue asked, and Ashley’s heart went out to her mum, who looked about as mortified and guilt-plagued as she’d ever seen her. ‘I suppose you’ve got things to talk about.’

  ‘Come on… let’s go for a walk,’ he said, gently leading Ella to the doorway. Ashley watched them go and fresh tears filled her own eyes. She’d lost him now, she was sure of it.

  ‘You’re bearing up?’ Sue asked, and Ashley turned in response to the gentle hand her mother laid on her arm.

  ‘Yes,’ Ashley said, sniffing hard. Madame Dupont poured some wine into a glass and held it out to Ashley, and she didn’t know whether to laugh or cry at the kind but ultimately misguided gesture. The last thing she wanted right now was a glass of wine. But she forced a smile and took it.

  ‘I’ll go with Maurice and find Molly and Bastien,’ Sue said.

  Ashley glanced at the two policemen who were listening to the conversation with interest but didn’t seem overly concerned that two teenagers were still missing. In fact, they looked as if they were about ready to join the party. But then one of them seemed to realise that Ashley’s pleading look meant they were probably supposed to offer some sort of assistance.

  ‘We will alert our colleagues and we will soon find them,’ he said.

  ‘Thank you,’ Sue said.

  ‘We will need some details,’ he continued. ‘If you could assist…’

  ‘Of course,’ Sue said, going over with her phone and clicking onto her camera roll to give them photos of the two teens while Ashley watched, feeling all at sea and wondering how the hell she’d got here.

  The sky was indigo-washed as Haydon stepped out onto the road that led back to the villa he’d shared with Ella for the past week. Ella walked quietly by his side. She looked delicate, as if the wrong word might break her, and he was suddenly terrified that he might utter it.

  ‘Is it true?’ she asked in a small voice. ‘I thought… I thought Molly and Bastien might have been playing a trick on me.’

  ‘Yes, it’s true.’

  ‘But you never told anyone…’

  ‘I didn’t know, Ella, I swear. I found out literally ten minutes before you did.’

  ‘But you liked her so much. When you played your cello with her and you looked so happy, and then when Bastien said, I thought…’

  ‘That I must have known all along? God, no, Ella. I would never keep something so huge from you, and it doesn’t matter how much it looked as if I liked her, she will never come between you and me. Nobody will ever do that.’

  ‘But she’s your first kid.’

  ‘That doesn’t matter. You’re my daughter and I love you more than life itself. Molly will come to mean a great deal to me in time, I’m sure, but what we have will never change, even when that happens.’

  ‘You don’t love Molly more than me?’

  ‘How could you even think that for one second? I’ve been going out of my mind tonight when I thought I might never see you again!’

  ‘Molly’s lost too.’

  ‘She went out to look for you but Bastien is with her and I’m sure Ashley is sorting that out now. I don’t want you to worry about it.’

  ‘It’s my fault.’

  ‘The only person who isn’t at fault in all this is you. Sweetheart, you’ve done absolutely nothing wrong.’

  They lapsed into silence. Perhaps Ella was computing it all, and Haydon grasped for the right thing to say, something that would be an instant fix. But the fact was, such a thing didn’t exist and, if it did, it was certainly way out of his reach.

  ‘I suppose I always wanted a sister,’ Ella said quietly into the gap.

  He gave a half-smile, relief welling up in him. Ella was resilient; she’d had to be over the past couple of years, and perhaps she’d cope with this new shock better than he’d feared once they could move past it.

  ‘Was Mum really mad at you when she called?’ she continued.

  ‘You could say that. But I’ve put up with worse.’

  ‘Really?’

  ‘No, not really,’ he said with a laugh. ‘But it’s OK.’

  ‘Will Molly and Ashley move in with you?’

  ‘It’s too soon to think about things like that yet.’

  ‘But will they one day?’

  ‘Would it make you sad if they did? You like living with your mum and Kevin, don’t you?’

  ‘I suppose.’

  ‘And there’d be plenty of visits any time you liked.’

  ‘But they’d be with you all the time and I wouldn’t.’

  ‘It wouldn’t make me love Molly more than you if that’s what you’re thinking.’

  ‘I know,’ she said. But Haydon had to wonder if she really did know. He had a feeling that was something she’d take a long time to come to terms with.

  ‘That’s something that may or may not be in the future and I don’t want you to worry about it now.’

  ‘But you love Ashley?’

  Haydon fell to silence again as his gaze turned to the glow of the setting sun. Right now he didn’t know how he felt about Ashley. Part of him wanted to hate her for the secrets she’d kept and the trouble they’d caused, and part of him felt desperately sorry and sick with guilt for all the years she’d coped alone and all the years they could have had together. But of course, she was right about a lot of things and one of those was that if they hadn’t been forced apart by circumstances then he wouldn’t have met Janine and he wouldn’t have Ella.

  Did he love Ashley? The question had occurred to him earlier that night as he got ready for the party, his stomach flipping at the idea of spending time with her. He’d almost convinced himself that he’d always loved her, right from that first drink in Ibiza. But that was crazy, right? That didn’t happen in real life. He didn’t know what to think or say to Ella in reply to her question; he only knew that the thought of Ashley disappearing from his life now pained him more than he could comprehend. If that was love then yes, perhaps he did love her.

  ‘You can say it – I won’t freak out this time,’ Ella said.

  ‘I know.’ He looped an arm around her. ‘I just don’t know what to say. Love is… well it’s not often as straightforward as we’d like it to be. And being in love with someone doesn’t automatically mean you can be with them.’

  ‘Why not?’

  ‘Loads of reasons. Sometimes being in love with someone doesn’t even mean that being with them is the best thing for everyone involved.’

  ‘Like when you split up with Mum?’

  ‘Yeah, I guess so.’

  He looked down at Ella. So young and yet already so wise that she could see what he and Janine had both denied – they’d been in love even as they’d signed the divorce papers but they’d never been right for each other and ultimately their love couldn’t overcome that. Whatever happened, he knew that he and Janine would always care for each other even though they couldn’t be together. Was Ashley any different? If Janine had loved him and yet he’d still lost her, who was to say he wouldn’t lose Ashley too in the end, even if they decided to give it a go? When he thought about it now, what did he actually know
about her? They’d become so close so quickly and yet he didn’t really know her at all.

  ‘Will you have to give Molly money?’ Ella asked, breaking into his thoughts.

  ‘Straight for the practical considerations, eh? I would even if I didn’t have to. Remember she’s had no dad for sixteen years so it’s the least I can do.’

  ‘But it wasn’t your fault?’

  ‘It wasn’t really anyone’s fault – it just happened that way. I met Ashley on holiday and I didn’t know how to contact her when we both went back home. She didn’t know how to contact me either, so when she found out she was expecting Molly she couldn’t tell me. It’s only a crazy coincidence that means I know now. If we’d never come here perhaps I’d never have known. Weird, eh?’

  Ella let out a long breath and Haydon couldn’t help but detect a note of disapproval in it. Even he had to see the irony of that coming from his nearly fourteen-year-old.

  ‘It was all a bit stupid,’ he agreed with a wry smile. ‘There was no Facebook or Snapchat or anything back then, though, so it was easier to lose people than you might think.’

  ‘Did you miss her?’

  ‘Sometimes. But then I met your mum so I didn’t think about her so much after that.’

  ‘Do you wish you’d married Ashley instead of my mum?’

  ‘Never. I wouldn’t have you then, would I?’

  ‘But you wouldn’t have known that.’

  ‘I know it now. I’m not interested in what might have been, only what I’ve got now and the most important bit of that is you.’

  ‘Do you want to go back and see if they’ve found Molly?’

  ‘Do you?’

  Ella shrugged. ‘I’d feel bad if she was in trouble.’

  ‘I don’t think she’d be in trouble for long. I do need to talk to her at some point. You understand that, don’t you? I need to talk to her because we haven’t even discussed the fact that I’m her dad yet, and I don’t know how she’s feeling about it.’

  ‘Will you have to do a test?’

  ‘What sort of test?’