Obediently, Belinda did as she was told and five minutes later she was sitting up in bed nursing the mug and sipping the rich drink. Sadly, despite the fact she felt emotionally exhausted, sleep didn’t come when she turned off the light and snuggled down under the duvet. Everything Anouk had told her was going round and round in her head, throwing up new questions. Did it matter that her parents had never married? No. Had her dad loved her? Yes, she was sure he did. But why hadn’t he kept in touch with her? Why hadn’t he divorced Helena? Surely the five-year separation rule came into force here? Why had her mum turned on her dad and run away? Why? Why? Why? The questions kept coming. It was 3 a.m. when Belinda admitted to herself that if she wanted answers to at least some of her questions, as selfish as it probably was, she needed to visit her father before it was too late.

The smell of coffee woke her Sunday morning from the fitful sleep she’d finally sunk into and Belinda dragged herself out of bed at eight o’clock, feeling drained. A quick glance in the bathroom mirror confirmed she looked as bad as she felt. A hot shower went someway to making her feel better and a careful application of foundation and eye make-up managed to camouflage the worst of the lack of sleep damage to her face.

Alain was in the kitchen when she went downstairs and poured her a cup of coffee. ‘Croissant?’ he said, pointing to the plate on the table.

Belinda pulled a chair out and sat at the table before helping herself to one. ‘Thanks.’ She took a mouthful of coffee. ‘Thank you for last night too,’ she said. ‘You make a mean hot chocolate.’ She smothered a yawn. ‘Sorry, I didn’t get a lot of sleep. What time can we expect the hordes to arrive?’

‘Hervé should be here any time soon and people wanting to set up in about twenty minutes.’ Alain looked at her. ‘You okay? You prefer to stay ’ere? ’Ave a day off?’

Belinda shook her head. ‘Thanks, but I prefer to be doing something.’

A car door slammed outside and a minute later Hervé knocked on the door. ‘Bonjour à vous. Ready for a fun day?’

‘Oui. Allons-y. Belinda will follow us later,’ and to Belinda’s relief, Alain ushered Hervé away before he came into the kitchen. She needed the caffeine to kick in before she was up to meeting and greeting people properly.

It was half an hour later, after two cups of coffee, before she felt ready to face the busy day ahead. Checking she had some money in her pocket and clipping BB’s lead on before locking the cottage door behind her, she ventured outside to find the campsite bustling with activity.