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‘Ari … I’d rather you came home drunk than not at all,’ he said.

‘You say that now, but you would have been furious!’ Her eyes flashed and her father said, ‘OK, OK, let’s not argue already.’

‘I saw the boat in the harbour, and that was when I came up with the idea of going to the boathouse. You remember how I used to curl up and sleep in the boats when I was little, when you used to bring me out here while you were building your boat? I wanted to feel the way I did then … safe, loved.’

As she spoke, she pointed to the boat Demetrios had built, and Shauna saw the name on the bow: Beauty. She remembered his promise to build a boat and name it for her. Her heart soared.

Demetrios held his daughter tightly as she continued: ‘When I woke up, it was ages later, the speedboat was gone. I can’t have tied it up properly. I took a path up the hill, trying to find somewhere I could get a view of the coast and see if it had washed up somewhere, but it was nowhere in sight. Then it took me forever to find my way back down again. Grace heard me calling for help and came to find me.’

‘But, Grace, how did you get here?’

‘I saw Christian at the harbour just after I said goodbye to Roxy. He was going out to join the search for Ariana and I asked if I could help.’ She fiddled nervously with her hands. ‘I felt guilty about not doing more to help her last night, and I realized I couldn’t leave Ithos without making sure she was OK. When we got to Fengari, there didn’t seem to be anyone searching the beach, so I suggested that I take a look around while he went back out and made the most of what light was left to search the bay.’

‘Where is he now?’

‘Still out there searching. He was going to come in when it was too dark to see any more. We were planning to stay the night—’ She stopped, suddenly embarrassed.

‘It’s OK,’ said Ariana. ‘I know he doesn’t want me, not in that way. He likes you.’ She shrugged. ‘I’m over it.’

‘No, it wasn’t like that at all. If we hadn’t found you, we were planning to start searching again at first light. I was going to sleep in the hammock and he was planning to sleep on the floor,’ she added primly.

‘Grace,’ said Demetrios, letting go of his daughter and taking a step towards her, ‘I owe you an apology. I lashed out in anger, which was inexcusable. I am sorry. Will you forgive me?’

Grace nodded, and Roxy moved across the boathouse, pulling the passport out of her handbag. ‘Grace, honey, you left this behind at the taverna.’

‘Oh, my passport,’ she laughed. ‘I wouldn’t have got very far without that.’

Roxy opened the passport and removed the postcard. ‘I know this is going to sound odd, but where did you get the postcard?’

Grace frowned. ‘My postcard? Why would you be interested in that?’

Shauna took a step forward, her hands visibly shaking, her voice unsteady. ‘Please, Grace, tell us how you came to have it.’

Grace blinked. ‘I’m not sure why you want to know, but when I was eighteen I wrote to the agency that arranged my adoption, asking for information about my birth parents. They sent me a letter from my mother. And with it was this postcard.’

Demetrios let out a gasp.

Trembling, Shauna asked, ‘What did the letter from your mother say?’

Looking more perplexed than ever, she told them. ‘She wished me a happy birthday, and said she wanted me to know that I was born in love and that she hadn’t wanted me to feel like I was a guilty secret.’ The words were so familiar she could recite them by heart: ‘“I hope that your life is full of kindness, laughter and opportunity, and that the years to come bring you joy and love. Live a happy and fulfilling life, Grace – you deserve it …”’

Shauna took a step forward, and finished for her: ‘“… I will never, ever forget you, and if one day you want to find me, I’ll be waiting.”’ Her voice was filled with emotion. ‘It’s true, Grace, I never did forget you. Every day I have kept you in my heart, but I never dreamed that I would see you again.’

Grace backed away, shaking her head. ‘You’re my mother? It can’t be.’

Demetrios moved to stand alongside Shauna. ‘Grace, I know this is hard for you to understand – and for you, too, Ariana,’ he added, looking at his daughter. ‘But twenty years ago, Shauna and I … we fell in love.’ He looked into Shauna’s eyes as he continued: ‘I was a young man who was weak. I should have tried harder – if I had, things would have been different.’

Ariana stepped across to look at the postcard in Grace’s hand. ‘When you showed it to me last night, I knew there was something about it that bothered me, but I couldn’t work it out. Now I know.’ She pointed to the swirl of the d in darling. ‘That’s how my papa writes his ds.’ The two girls stood together, and looked to Demetrios. Shauna was struck by the similarities between them, their soft hazel eyes with just a hint of gold, like their father’s; their long dark hair, almost the same height.

Grace shook her head again, clearly distressed. ‘No, you can’t be my father … this is too much, I don’t believe you.’ Then her voice broke and a sob escaped her.

Roxy stepped in and put her arm around Grace. ‘Give her some space, it’s a lot for her to take in.’

Shauna’s heart contracted, knowing that Roxy was right, but all she wanted to do was take Grace in her arms, the way she had dreamed of doing so many times. Now she felt as though she had come so close to realizing her dream only to feel it all slipping away from her.

They heard the noise of a speedboat outside and a moment later Christian came into the boathouse. ‘Ari! We’ve been looking for you everywhere.’

‘She’s been found,’ said Demetrios. ‘As you can see.’