Page 100 of The Missing Sister

‘I’m fine, thank you. You sound a bit breathless, is everything all right?’

‘Yes, I just wanted to know if you managed to locate Mrs McDougal’s son at thecave?’

‘I did. In fact, I sat next to him at dinner all night.’

‘Ooh! That’s fantastic, Ally. Did you find out anything about Mary-Kate’s birth parents?’

‘Nothing, I’m afraid. Although we did have a very open conversation about adoption. He said he just remembers his parents arriving home with Mary-Kate one afternoon, so he thought it was a local adoption. His mother doesn’t seem to have warned him to avoid anything to do with us D’Aplièse sisters, but he did say that Mary-Kate had mentioned CeCe and Chrissie’s visit to him when they last spoke on the phone. And that he thought she might want to find out more about her birth family. He was so friendly, I feel awful about not coming clean to him about why I’m here. What’s happened at that end? Has Merry run away again?’

‘We don’t think so, no. Orlando followed her yesterday to Clerkenwell – she was apparently headed for the records of births, marriages and deaths. He trailed her back to the hotel, then she disappeared into her room, and I got a call to my suite at around six p.m. to say she wasn’t feeling well and could we leave having dinner together. She said she was going to call back this morning to let us know how she felt and whether she could have lunch with us. The problem is, that a) I have to return to Kent to pick up Rory from school, and b) Orlando needs to get back to the bookshop. Obviously he’ll stay on if Merry agrees to lunch, but... oh, I don’t know, it just all feels wrong. Even Orlando is depressed, which he very rarely is. I just feel bad that she’s scared of us and we’re still pursuing her. I mean, it’s not the end of the world if Mary-Kate can’t be there for the laying of the wreath, is it, Ally? Having seen that ring with my own eyes, I do think it’s the same one as in the picture, but maybe we should just wait until poor Merry has enjoyed her world tour and is back home with her daughter. Then they can decide together whether Mary-Kate wants to meet us all.’

‘I know what you mean,’ Ally sighed. ‘Well, I’ll call you later if I bump into Jack again, but I’m not going to engineer it, Star.’

‘No. I totally understand. I’ve got to go now. Bye, Ally, speak soon.’

Ally came off the phone, like Orlando, feeling vaguely depressed by the whole situation. There was part of her that just wanted to forget all about her initial motivation, and simply enjoy the feeling of calm she’d woken up with. She was about to get up and take a walk up to the farmhouse to see if Ginette could point her in the direction of the local supermarket when Jack suddenly appeared from around the corner.

‘Morning. I’m not disturbing you, am I?’ He pointed to the mobile still cradled in Ally’s hands.

‘Not at all. Would you like to sit down?’

‘Sorry, I can’t. I’m actually here to ask whether you need any food supplies. François is out at meetings about the upcoming harvest, so when I’m at a loose end, Ginette sends me to the village to do some shopping for her. She says it’s good for my French,’ he grinned.

‘As a matter of fact, I was just about to go and ask her where the nearest supermarket was. And the localimmobilier, of course,’ she added quickly. ‘I should get registered there at least.’

‘Why don’t I give you a lift into Gigondas? We can kill two birds with one stone and you can help me out in the supermarket, so I don’t get myananasmixed up with myanis!’

‘Okay, but are you sure you don’t want me to follow you in my car? Otherwise you’ll have to wait for me to go to theimmobilieroffice.’

‘I don’t mind. While François is out, it’s either me sitting around, poring over a French dictionary to find out what a particular viticulture phrase means, or having a beer in the sun in beautiful Gigondas.’

‘You could always do both at the same time,’ Ally pointed out, and they chuckled.

‘Right, I’ll leave you to get whatever you need and meet you by the car in ten, okay?’

‘Okay, thanks, Jack.’

‘No problem.’

Arriving in the picturesque village of Gigondas, which Jack explained was one of the finestappellationsin the region, Ally saw it was crammed with tourists, keen to sample the wines on offer from localcaves. The cafés were humming with conversation, the diners seated at tables spilling out onto the pavements. They struggled to find a parking space for Ginette’s battered Citroën.

‘What a gorgeous little place this is,’ Ally commented as they walked down the hill in the bright sunshine.

‘It is, yeah. Right, let’s dive into the supermarket and get the stuff from Ginette’s list, shall we?’ said Jack, entering a narrow shop which was like a Tardis on the inside, stretching right back and packed to the gills with foodstuffs.

‘Okay, but I’m not going to help you,’ Ally told him firmly. ‘Making mistakes is the only way to learn languages.’

They each collected a basket and went their separate ways, before meeting at the till.

‘Could you at least check that the stuff I’ve got corresponds with what’s on the list?’ he asked her as they waited in the queue to pay.

Ally did a quick search of the basket and checked the products off the list. ‘Almost perfect, but she wantsdemi-écrémé, notentiermilk.’

‘Great, thanks,’ he said and whizzed off to exchange the carton.

After dumping the bags in the car, Jack walked her along the street until they stood in front of theimmobilieroffice. Ally tried the door, but it was firmly shut.

‘Damn! It’s literally one minute past midday and they’ve locked their door. Typical bloody French,’ Jack chuckled. ‘Lunch always comes first. Sorry – we’re speaking in English, so I keep forgetting that you’re actually French.’