‘Well, I suppose it makes sense that Dad would bring us here for a treat,’ Hector said, his brain clearly working to piece the jigsaw together. ‘Although I can’t for the life of me think why you didn’t know about it, Mother. The canny old bugger must have bought the house as an investment and let it out to the holiday trade. Maybe he wanted a little bolt-hole away from us all.’

He laughed at the audacity of his idea and Grace felt sick to her stomach.

They bought ice creams from a kiosk on the promenade, an Orange Maid for Grace and 99s with raspberry sauce for Hector and Clio, and then headed down the sandy steps to the beach. The weather was nothing special and the beach wasn’t busy; a few joggers and one or two people walking dogs. A woman with two children, one tall and fair and the other short and dark, was standing near the water’s edge. Grace could see at once that it was Leah and she held her breath, hoping that she stayed where she was so that they could all pass by without her noticing. Those are my grandchildren she thought with an aching heart, although it wasn’t strictly true.

Hector set off towards the water like an Exocet missile but Grace held back, trailing after him more slowly. His path would take them to a spot about fifty yards to the left of Leah. If she kept her head down then hopefully Leah wouldn’t notice her, and the children had never even met her. Leah’s back was turned to them but even from here, Grace could see that a heaviness hung about her shoulders. Grace’s own son had done that to her. He had caused this worry to his half-sister without even being aware of who she was. Grace’s conscience was shouting so loudly in her head that the sound of it almost deafened her. This was an impossible position. She wanted desperately to protect Leah from what was coming, but what about her own children? She had spent over a decade burying what their father had done, keeping them safe from the hurt and scandal that the truth would bring with it. And now it looked as if that was all about to come crashing down around her.

But she could save the situation if she could just keep Hector far enough from Leah . . .

‘Clio!’ shouted a voice, small but filled to the brim with excitement.

Grace turned her head. The little boy with Leah had spotted Clio and was waving frantically at her. He tugged at Leah’s sleeve.

‘Mummy! Mummy! It’s Clio. There!’

Leah turned to see where he was pointing and when she saw Clio gave her a huge smile and raised her arm high overhead in an enthusiastic greeting.

‘Hi,’ she called, beaming broadly at Clio. ‘What are you doing here?’