‘Oh,’ Maddy exclaimed. ‘That must have been why I couldn’t find it in the Minitel thing.’
The chef shrugged. ‘Perhaps.’
Maddy frowned. ‘Ludo was in town, you said? Had he moved from Paris?’
‘I believe he had.’
‘Where to?’ Maddy asked, a note of panic in her voice.
‘To Provence. Near Gordes. That’s all I know.’
‘Oh.’ Deflated, Maddy sat back. Her head swam. Why had Ludo moved to Provence? How would she find him now? ‘Gordes, you said. Have you any idea what he’s doing there?’
The chef shrugged. ‘No.’
‘And the uncle?’ she asked, sensing what the answer would be.
The chef looked sad. ‘He died shortly afterwards.’
‘How sad for Ludo. They were so close.’
‘So I understood.’
‘Did the uncle have any other relatives besides Ludo?’ Maddy asked.
‘I don’t think so. No wife in any case. And no children. Ludovic was like a son to him. And Ludo’s father died just a year before this.’
‘I see.’
The chef rose. ‘I’m sorry. I have to go. The late-night customers will arrive shortly.’ He held out his hand. ‘A pleasure to meet you, Maddy. I hope you find Ludo.’
Maddy shook his hand. ‘Thank you for talking to me.’
‘You’re welcome.’ He kissed her hand. ‘I hope you find him. Au revoir.’
Maddy stared at his departing back, her mind on Ludo. Why had he left Paris all those years ago? Why hadn’t he stayed and fulfilled his dream? What was he doing in Provence? The disappointment of her search finishing in a dead end hit Maddy like a sledgehammer. Was this getting too impossible? Should she give up now? With all these questions whirling around in her head, Maddy paid the bill and left the restaurant. As her footsteps echoed down the empty street, she shivered despite the warm breeze. Where to now? Then she knew. She would not give up. She had to follow the lead to Provence.
* * *
Maddy bumped into Leanne at the entrance to their hotel. Her head still full of what she had discovered, Maddy started to tell her story but stopped when she saw Leanne’s white face and eyes full of tears. She took Leanne’s hand. ‘What’s the matter? What happened? Was your dad mean to you?’
Leanne wiped her eyes with the back of her hand. ‘No.’ She sniffed, touching her nose. ‘Do you have a hanky? Why do I never have a tissue when I want to have a good cry?’
Maddy fished a crumpled tissue from her bag. ‘Here. I haven’t used it.’
Leanne wiped her eyes and blew her nose. ‘It smells of herbs. In fact, you smell of herbs and garlic. Where have you been?’
‘Long story. Have you had anything to eat?’
‘No. Don’t want anything.’
Maddy pulled at Leanne’s arm. ‘Of course you do. You haven’t eaten anything since the mussels in Brussels.’
Leanne giggled. ‘Mussels in Brussels.’
Maddy had to laugh. ‘Accidental rhyming. But come on, let’s get you some dinner. There’s a little restaurant on the corner.’
A little while later, Leanne tucked into steak and chips in the bistro while Maddy sipped a cup of camomile tea.
After devouring the entrecôte and the accompanying fries, Leanne put down her knife and fork. ‘Thank you. I needed that.’
‘Thought so.’ Maddy put down her cup. ‘You don’t have to tell me anything if you don’t want to. I just want to know where we go from here.’ She could see that Leanne was affected by whatever had just happened and she didn’t want to push her.
‘Where do you want to go?’
‘Provence. And you?’
Leanne sighed. ‘Yeah, that sounds great. I want to go to Nice. That’s where Dad’s business is. He wants me to see it.’
‘Do you?’
Leanne nodded. ‘Yes. I want to find out about him and his life. It was tough going there with him tonight. He told me some harsh things about my mother. And something I never knew.’
‘What?’ Maddy asked, despite her resolve not to pump Leanne for information.
‘They were never married.’
Maddy blinked and stared at Leanne. ‘Never married?’
‘Nope.’ Leanne smirked. ‘That makes me a bastard, doesn’t it?’
‘Of course not. How come they never married? Didn’t he want to?’
‘It was Mam who refused. They had lots of arguments about it. But she always said no. It was all about religion. She’s a Catholic, he’s a… nothing. Never wanted to go inside a church of any kind. Didn’t even believe in marriage, but when I arrived, he said he’d be prepared to go through a civil ceremony, but it had to be in Norway. She refused point blank. But she faked it by wearing a wedding ring. Then, when they split up, she made up that story about being a widow, so she wouldn’t be labelled as a single mother in her village or anywhere else. Instead, she was a widow trying to make ends meet raising her child, blah, blah.’ Leanne sighed, her shoulders slumped. ‘Of course, it meant she didn’t have to share me with him, despite him trying desperately to see me. He wrote to me often, but I never saw those letters. She must have thrown them away. And she never told me when he called or gave me his number. Then he went on about how manipulative and needy she is and a real control freak. As if I didn’t know. Jesus, those two. I wonder how they ever managed to produce a child. But of course, Mam was stunning when she was young. Must have been hard to resist if she came on to him. And he, what a looker. I’ve seen the photos.’
‘He’s still a very handsome man,’ Maddy remarked, remembering those luminous blue-green eyes.
Leanne smirked. ‘He got to you, did he? The silver-fox thing, right?’
Maddy blushed and looked away. ‘Not really.’
‘Yes, he did. I could tell. He hasn’t lost it.’
‘How old is he?’ Maddy asked.
‘Fifty-four. A bit younger than my mother. Maybe that was the problem, too? Or one of them?’ Leanne shrugged. ‘But whatever. Tell me what you’ve been up to. Did you find your man?’
‘No. But I know where he is. Roughly.’
Leanne smiled. ‘Oooh. I see. Provence, right? Is that why you want to go there?’
‘Yes. Somewhere near Gordes.’
‘Must look that up. But sure, it’s on the way to Nice, even if we have to do a little detour.’
‘I think it’ll be a nice trip too. That part of Provence is beautiful, they say.’
‘That’s okay.’ Leanne drank some wine and looked at Maddy. ‘Now, there’s something I want to tell you about the rest of the trip. Two things, actually.’
‘Okay.’
‘First, my dad is travelling down at the same time in his own car. So we’ll be meeting up with him along the way. You okay with that?’
‘Of course. But I thought you’d sorted everything with him?’
Leanne nodded. ‘Yes, some of it. We’ve opened the box, but now we need to sort out the contents, if you see what I mean. I need to get to know him. I need to find out who he is. And let him know who I really am. Does that make sense?’
Maddy looked into Leanne’s troubled eyes. ‘Yes. Perfect sense.’
‘Good. Okay. So then, number two. I think you’ll agree with that one too.’
‘Just tell me.’
‘We need to dump Horace.’
Maddy nodded and sighed. ‘Oh yeah. I can’t stand him. I thought he was kind of cute for a while, but then he turned nasty. He hasn’t stopped moaning. And he hates Bridget.’
‘And we want to hang on to her. She’s adorable. I got some messages from the website to say Bridget is a huge draw and they want more photos of her. She’s beginning to outshine us. We might have to rename the blog “Bridget’s great escape”.’
Maddy shivered. ‘Better not. Then someone might twig who she really is.’ She leant forward. ‘A royal dog. Do you realise that?’ she whispered. ‘We might end up in jail.’
Leanne giggled. ‘Wha
t a hoot. Could be safer to let Horace take her back, then.’
‘No, he can’t stand her. Let him go back on his own.’
‘How are we going to make him do that?’ Leanne enquired. ‘He’ll refuse point blank and threaten us again. He might even blow the whistle.’
‘Don’t look so worried. I’ve just had an excellent idea. Why didn’t we think of it before?’ Maddy took her phone from her bag.
‘What?’ Leanne hissed. ‘Tell me.’
Maddy went onto Google. ‘Just a minute. When I’ve finished, you might just find that Horace has magically decided to go home all by himself.’
Chapter Twenty
Maddy was right. The next morning, as they were enjoying breakfast in the dining room of their hotel, a flustered Horace suddenly appeared at their table.
Leanne smiled at him. ‘Good morning, Horace.’
‘Morning, ladies.’ He eyed the basket of fresh bread and croissants. ‘Er, would it be all right if I shared some of that? I checked out of my hotel and didn’t—’
‘Pay for breakfast?’ Maddy asked sweetly. She pushed the basket towards him. ‘Here. Help yourself. We’ll get you a pot of tea.’
‘So kind.’ Horace pulled a chair from an adjoining table and sat down. He grabbed a croissant and stuffed it into his mouth. ‘Rather nice,’ he mumbled through his mouthful.
‘They’re scrummy,’ Leanne agreed. ‘So, dear Horace, are you ready for the next leg of the journey? We thought we’d stop off in Chartres to see the cathedral and then lunch in Amboise. Interesting château there.’
Horace swallowed noisily. ‘Er, I’m afraid I have some bad news. I won’t be coming with you.’
Maddy adopted a sad expression. ‘Oh, that’s disappointing. We were beginning to enjoy your company. You’re not feeling ill, are you?’
Horace poured himself a cup of tea from the pot a waitress had just brought. ‘No. I’m fine. Just a little shaken from the shock, don’t you know?’
‘Shock?’ Leanne asked. ‘What’s happened? Did you get mugged or something?’
‘No, nothing like that.’ Horace slurped his tea. ‘I had a phone call from Alistair, our butler. One of the girls is sick.’
‘Your daughter?’ Maddy asked, fighting to keep a straight face.
‘No, one of my prize hens. Henrietta, the brood hen. One of the best. Worth thousands. She fell ill last night and hasn’t recovered. I must go back and see to her.’
‘Of course,’ Leanne soothed.
Horace brushed pastry flakes from his trousers. ‘There’s a train from Gare du Nord in an hour and a half. So, if you could drive me there, I’d be most grateful.’
Taken aback by his sad and worried face, Maddy smiled and patted his arm. ‘Of course. No problem, Horace. We can get on to the lovely Périférique from there and then onto the motorway. Right, Leanne? It’s your turn to drive.’
‘I know,’ Leanne muttered into her cup of café au lait. ‘So looking forward to that.’
Horace squeezed her on the shoulder. ‘You’ll be fine.’ He reached for another croissant. ‘So if you’re ready, maybe we should get going? I’ll wait here and finish breakfast while you girls go and pack up and get the animal.’
‘We’re ready,’ Maddy said. ‘Bridget is waiting in the car out front. Thought you might have seen her.’
‘No. I didn’t notice. So,’ Horace continued. ‘We say goodbye. Or maybe it’s au revoir. I wish you the best of luck. Sorry about that little contretemps yesterday. I was so anxious to keep going with you. But now that my girl needs me, I must depart.’
‘We understand,’ Leanne soothed. ‘And no hard feelings. The blackmail was a bit of a dirty trick, but you were desperate. In any case, if it hadn’t been for you, I wouldn’t have found – someone I was looking for. A happy accident.’
Horace turned to Leanne. ‘Really? You found someone because of me? Maybe I brought you luck? That’s terrific. Maybe I’ll come join you again once I’ve seen to my hens. How about it?’
‘Uh, thanks,’ Maddy said. ‘But we couldn’t put you to that trouble.’
‘No trouble, old thing.’ Horace winked. ‘I might not be able to get away, but I’ll be keeping an eye on you.’
* * *
Having deposited Horace at the Eurostar terminal, they continued up Rue de Rivoli, driving slowly, the top down, with Leanne humming the tune of ‘The Ballad of Lucy Jordan’ while she drove. ‘Oh, this is what I dreamed of,’ she said with a blissful smile. ‘I can die happy now.’
‘Thank God for that.’ Maddy managed to take a few shots of Leanne at the wheel with a backdrop of the shopfronts of Rue de Rivoli, and the Luxor Obelisk as they drove across Place de la Concorde. They continued up the Champs-Élysées, around Place Charles de Gaulle glancing up at the magnificent Arc de Triomphe while all around them traffic roared and car horns tooted.
‘Have you had enough warm wind in your hair yet?’ Maddy shouted, snapping away.
Leanne grabbed the steering wheel tighter, her face white. ‘Jesus, yes. We got to get outta here, fast!’
‘Hang on, take a left here so we can go down to Place Trocadero. We need a shot of the Eiffel Tower,’ Maddy ordered.
‘How? We’re six lanes away.’
‘Just drive across, you have right of way and they know it,’ Maddy shouted.
They managed to get across the messy knot of traffic without bumping into anyone and Leanne expertly turned into the relative calm of Avenue Victor-Hugo. They drove around Place du Trocadéro and parked illegally in front of Palais de Chaillot, raced across the terrace and, breathless and laughing, got a confused Japanese tourist to take a shot of the two of them with the Eiffel Tower in the background. That done, they drove through the back streets to
Avenue de la Grande Armée and down to Porte Maillot.
‘Okay,’ Leanne said, taking a deep breath. ‘It’s calmer here. But we’ll soon be hitting the dear old Périférique.’
‘It doesn’t look that bad,’ Maddy said as they reached the slip road. ‘Horace would be pleased.’
Leanne relaxed. ‘Yes, we might have hit it at the right time. But talking about Horace,
what the feck did he mean – keeping an eye on us? Oh God, it’s getting busy again.’
Maddy held Bridget in a tight grip. ‘No idea what he meant. Let’s get through this mess first and then we’ll talk. I have to hold on to Bridget so she won’t jump on top of you.’
‘Okay.’ Leanne swerved to avoid a truck trying to get ahead of her. ‘Bastard French drivers.’
‘That one was Italian.’
‘Same kind of bastard,’ Leanne said through clenched teeth.
They were quiet during the next tense half an hour and could finally breathe as they came out of the tunnel at Saint-Cloud and drove up the hill to the next junction. Leanne wiped the sweat off her forehead with the back of her hand. ‘Phew. Glad we’re out of that mess. The motorway will be easy after this.’
Maddy kissed the top of Bridget’s head. ‘You can lie down in the back seat now, Your Highness. Panic over.’
‘We’re meeting Dad in Chartres for lunch,’ Leanne cut in. ‘Is that okay with you?’
‘Yes. Fine. Might be a tense meal, though.’
Leanne shot her a glance. ‘I know. But there won’t be any aggro. He just wants to do a little sightseeing. He said he’s never visited the cathedral, and it’s supposed to be spectacular.’
‘But if he’s such an atheist, why does he want to see this monument to Christianity?’
‘No idea. Why don’t you ask him?’
‘I might just do that,’ Maddy mumbled.
‘But back to Horace,’ Leanne ordered. ‘What was that about keeping an eye on us? Was that another threat?’
‘I think he was just trying to scare us. Or just that he’ll be following the blog.’
‘Probably. But how did you manage to get him to go back home? Is that chicken really sick?’
‘Hen,’ Maddy corrected, bubbl
ing with laughter. ‘Can’t you guess? I phoned the house and got Alistair, the butler. I explained that, well, we needed to get rid of Horace, and he said it was a good idea. I think he was tired of poultry-sitting. So, we concocted this little lie between the two of us. And then, when Horace gets back, Henrietta will have had a miraculous recovery.’
‘Brilliant.’ Leanne’s shoulders relaxed as she drove. ‘Now we can enjoy the rest of the drive.’
‘Until we meet your dad,’ Maddy remarked.
Leanne shot her a glance. ‘What’s wrong? I thought you found him attractive.’
Maddy turned her head and looked out the window. ‘Yes, he is. Very attractive. And I’m so glad you found each other. But do we need him to be involved in our trip?’
‘We’re just having lunch. Why is that a big deal?’ Leanne wondered. ‘Are you still recovering from last night?’
‘Yes. It really shook me, to be honest. I’m still trying to get over what I found out about Ludo.’ Maddy looked back at Leanne. ‘I’m probably just being over sensitive. Ignore me, okay?’
‘I’ll do my best. You have your agenda, I have mine. Better not to mix them up.’
* * *
They spotted the cathedral about an hour later, its towers hovering above the golden wheat fields like a mirage in the distance.
‘How amazing,’ Leanne said.
‘Majestic,’ Maddy replied in awe. ‘Imagine what it was like in the middle ages? Must have been even more impressive to the true believers.’
Leanne glanced at Maddy. ‘You’re not one of them?’
Maddy thought for a moment. Did she believe in God? Yes, she did. In her own way. But… ‘I’m not sure about a lot of the stuff the Catholic Church wants us to follow. But yeah, there is someone up there looking at us and maybe shaking his head in despair. And I do believe in an afterlife. What about you?’
Leanne changed gears and turned into the main street of the town. ‘A bit like you. There is someone up there. Or something. But I’m more into the yoga-chakra kind of thinking. Spirituality is in nature and all things beautiful. And karma and stuff like that. It’s all a mystery, isn’t it? Trying to understand it just gives you a headache.’
The Road Trip_A feel-good romantic comedy that will make you laugh out loud! Page 14