Freddie, with his large eyes shining, offered a cheeky smile exactly like his father’s, opened the door to her and shouted, ‘Briny! Come and see my animal park.’ He clasped her hand and tugged at it, leading her to the sitting room where Sean sat cross-legged on the carpet surrounded by hundreds of Lego bricks. He jumped to his feet and yelled for Melinda before wrapping warm arms around her. Melinda peered around the kitchen door and yelped.
‘What are you doing here? We were watching you on telly only an hour ago. The final show isn’t until tomorrow evening. You should be in France. Nothing serious has happened, has it?’
Bryony shook her head. ‘We’ve finished filming. It’s a recording tomorrow.’
Melinda surged forward and grabbed Bryony by both hands leading her to the settee.
‘Come on. Tell us, did you win?’
Bryony adopted the cheery look she’d practised on her way over. ‘No. We lost.’
‘Oh, what a shame! You were absolutely brilliant, wasn’t she, Sean?’
He nodded. ‘We were sure you’d ace it. Where’s Lewis? I suppose he’s unpacking or unconscious. Must be worn out after all those challenges. You really were fantastic. My goodness, we couldn’t stop laughing at that game on the inflatables. I thought he was going to strangle that wretched inflatable rodeo bull. Melinda’s recorded all the shows for you so you can watch them.’
Bryony gave a restrained grunt and was grateful when Freddie spoke.
‘Look, Briny. This is my animal park. The people are going on the train around the park.’ He chugged the train from the house to a squared-out area containing the bear. ‘Daddy and me made enclosures,’ he pronounced the new word with care, ‘for all the animals, and a special house for the snakes so they don’t get out.’ He pointed towards a small red-brick house. ‘And this is my dinosaur.’ He picked up a multicoloured stack of bricks and roared.
Bryony smiled at the boy and marvelled at the power of a child’s imagination. To an adult eye it was nothing more than a scattering of green bricks and houses but to Freddie it was a magical park where people could visit dinosaurs and snakes in a blue train.
Sean and Melinda exchanged glances. He leant across and ruffled his son’s hair. ‘Come on, champ. Time for bed. It’s very late. How about I read you a bedtime story while Bryony and Mum have a girlie chat?’
His son chuckled – a musical sound that filled the room. ‘They’re not girls,’ Freddie laughed.
‘Oh, they are. Trust me, son. They are. Come on.’
‘Night, Briny. Night, Mummy.’ He hugged both in turn. Melinda planted a kiss on his forehead. ‘Sleep well, love you.’
‘Love you too,’ He raced away. Sean winked at Bryony.
‘For what it’s worth, you were spectacularly good. I’ll let Melinda tell you what’s been happening while you’ve been away. It’s all pretty mind-blowing,’ he added.
Once he’d left the room, Melinda shifted closer to her friend.
‘It must have been a close contest. You should have won. The other contestants seemed nice though.’
‘They were. We got on really well.’
She studied her friend’s face and grinned. Words tumbled excitedly. ‘Come on, girlfriend, what was it really like? You looked fantastic all the time, by the way. I thought I’d just tell you that first. Apart from when you were screaming at Lewis to slow down in the furry car. Jeez, that was hilarious! You wait until you see it. I recorded everything although the best bits are on YouTube. Hang on. We need celebratory wine.’ She jumped to her feet and beetled off into the kitchen returning with two generous glasses. She passed one to Bryony and clinked hers against it. ‘Right, now you must tell me all about what really happened in la belle France. Oh first, have you checked your emails and blog yet?’
‘Not yet, I came straight here.’
‘Wait until you see what’s been happening. There’ve been YouTube clips and tweets about the show and the contestants. It’s mental. There have even been articles in the national newspapers about you all and you got an extra mention because of looking for Hannah. I’m surprised you haven’t been mobbed on your way here. It seems everyone online is looking for Hannah. Hashtag #SearchforHannah even trended on Twitter after Oscar mentioned it during his interview. You need to write a post for the blog cos people will probably go and look at it once the final results are announced tomorrow. It might be your last chance to get so many people interested now the show is almost over.’ She cocked her head. ‘I know. I’m talking too fast and giving you no time to digest it all. I’ll shut up.’
‘No. It’s just – amazing,’ said Bryony, tears springing to her eyes. ‘I should go home and see if Hannah has tried to contact me.’
‘You should but you look done in and you can’t leave here until you’ve told me all about it. Come on, dish the goss.’
Half an hour later, Melinda was looking as confused and glum as her friend actually felt. ‘So, let me get this straight: you flew in a private jet, made new friends, stayed in a remarkable château, drove about the French countryside having a good giggle, lost the quiz to two people you really liked and had dinner with the delicious, I-wouldn’t-kick-him-out-of-bed Professor Potts. I understand full well I’m an ex-policewoman who possesses extraordinary skills when it comes to detective work but even an idiot can see you are unhappy about something. You don’t fool me with your phoney enthusiasm,’ she remarked, leaning back in her chair to better study her friend’s reaction.
Bryony gave a deep sigh. ‘I knew I wouldn’t be able to hide anything from you. You’re like one of those sniffer dogs.’
Melinda pulled a face. ‘That’ll be my large nose that can snuffle out trouble.’
‘Hardly. It’s not large at all. You have great instinct.’ Bryony shoulders slumped. ‘Lewis has returned to his girlfriend. He’s gone back to London to make up and start again.’
‘Girlfriend? I thought he lived with Maxwell. Isn’t that a man’s name?’
‘It turns out Maxwell can be a girl’s name too. She was the person who cheered him with a personal message like you did for me.’
‘That was Maxwell!’ Melinda’s mouth dropped wide open for a second. ‘Oh fuck! I wondered who she was. Sean and I thought she was some relative or just a good friend. Shit, she’s a real hottie.’
‘That was his Maxwell, a woman that meant so much to him that even after she dumped him, wrecked his life and broke his heart, he took her back.’
Melinda’s eyes narrowed. ‘You’ve slept with him, haven’t you? Years of experience and I can spot the things that are left unsaid. Besides, you have that injured look in your eyes.’
‘I did sleep with him. It was wonderful and I thought I’d found my prince at last but I’m still plain, old, scar-faced, wonky-hipped Bryony, not a princess. Nor am I a glamorous television researcher who has the power to twist any man around my finger. Maxwell has convinced him with only one email and a telephone call to race back into her arms. He flew off to London immediately after the recording rather than catch the jet back with the rest of us.’
‘How did she contact him? I thought you were all banned from using phones and if anyone wanted to contact you we had to use an emergency number.’
‘He must have given her the number. He accessed his emails one evening and I suppose he replied to the one Maxwell sent. She phoned immediately before the final recording. Her timing couldn’t have been worse. It took the edge off the whole experience and, well, you know.’
Melinda reached out her hand and squeezed Bryony’s. ‘That sucks but look at it this way: you had a great time together and I’ve no doubt you had plenty of laughs too. From what you’ve told me it was a once-in-a-lifetime event. You got to race about Brittany in a proper French car, stay in a château of all places, be on television and you met the wonderful Professor David Potts.’
‘I’m about to pop that particular bubble too. Firstly, the professor’s not as good-looking as you might think – layers of make-up help make him look healthy and handsome. Secondly, he’s a bit smarmy and even rude at times. And thirdly, he isn’t one bit funny. And from what I gathered, he’s definitely not the sort of person you’d want to get involved with.’
‘No! That can’t be. You’ve shattered my illusions.’
‘Good thing you hadn’t made any plans to abandon Sean and run off with Professor Potts then.’
‘I’ll go unpack my bag immediately,’ Melinda said, chuckling. ‘You want another glass of wine?’
‘Thanks, but no thanks. I’d better get off. I came here directly from being dropped off at home. I needed to get it all off my chest.’
‘I’m glad you did. For what it’s worth, I wouldn’t worry about Lewis. You’ve got friends, a great job and family. You’re better off without him. It’s his loss and I hope Maxwell pisses him about again. Nobody gets to hurt my friend like that. I feel totally responsible for this. I introduced you to him and encouraged you to go on the show with him.’
‘You didn’t make me sleep with him.’
‘No, but it’s still a shame. Bloody Lewis! Wait until I see him again. He doesn’t get to mess with my bestie’s feelings like that. Look, forget about him for now. I know that’s easier said than done but you ought to see if anyone has contacted you about Hannah. That’s far more important.’ She paused to slug her wine then spoke again.
‘I’m going to say this, because you’re my friend and I think you need to hear it. I don’t want to upset you but if nothing comes of this, you’re going to have to accept you probably won’t find her. I don’t mean to be cruel but I’m starting to worry you’re becoming consumed with this quest to find Hannah for your father’s sake. Don’t let it take over. How about you come over one night in the week? Sean’s going to be away again and Freddie goes to bed at seven on a weekday. We can watch a film, eat crap, get drunk and gossip about things like we did in the old days when we shared the flat.’
Bryony decided that an evening together might be the medicine she needed to help get over Lewis. ‘Thanks. I’d love to come over. Now I’d better go. I need to lick my wounds and unpack my bag, and I should phone Mum to let her know how I got on.’
‘She’s been watching the show. I spoke to her yesterday. She’s so proud of you, Bryony. It doesn’t matter about winning or losing. We all know why you did this and you couldn’t have asked for a better platform for telling everyone about Hannah. I’d wear sunglasses when you go to the shops tomorrow. People will be clammering for your autograph.’ She beamed again. ‘Your face when Lewis was thrown from the inflatable bull. It was a picture. You’ll have to watch the show.’
‘Maybe when I feel up to it.’
‘Come and watch the last episode with us tomorrow.’
‘Yeah, maybe I’ll do that.’ Her words felt hollow. She wasn’t sure she could watch her and Lewis together on screen.
Melinda embraced her friend. ‘Get some sleep and replenish your energy levels and forget all about Lewis. Treat it as a one-off fun affair. There are plenty more fish in the sea.’
‘Always the voice of reason,’ Bryony replied with a tired smile.