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That was not to say he hadn’t travelled to London, but there were hundreds, if not thousands of security cameras all around London, and her dad’s campervan, which was painted yellow, wasn’t exactly something you drove around in if you wanted to stay under the radar.
Thea had asked her mum once why they hadn’t stayed in Suffolk. But of course she already knew the answer – her mum wanted to be in London, where she believed her husband had disappeared. Perhaps she thought she’d spot him one day, riding a Tube, or driving by in his campervan. Desperately in love with her husband, aching to have him back, it had seemed that she’d never give up looking.
At some point, as Thea got older, she had started to think that he was most likely dead. She knew her sister thought so too although Jenna had come up with another possibility; perhaps he’d had an affair and left them for someone else.
She wouldn’t ever share that thought with her mum, though. It would probably destroy her.
Her mother threw herself into teaching, to support her girls, and the years passed. They grew up, and she converted the house for them before taking early retirement and leaving London.
For a long time, she had spent her time walking around London, attending book fairs with his photo, asking if anyone remembered him. That all stopped when she retired. Thea knew she’d spent long enough, years, waiting, hoping she’d find him. And now she’d finally moved on.
Thea had a feeling that in Nepal, with the yoga, her mum had finally found something that gave her a reason to look to the future. Leaving London had enabled her to stop searching. It was the happiest news for Thea that her mum wanted to be a yoga teacher. For the first time since her husband had vanished, she was finally facing the future alone.
Thea sighed. If things had been different, if her father hadn’t disappeared, perhaps she wouldn’t be living in this flat. Perhaps her mum would have sold the house earlier and bought that cottage, and her parents would be living there now, growing old together, just as Thea had imagined they would when she was a child. Her dad, rather than Edward, would have walked her sister, Jenna, down the aisle. And her mum wouldn’t be on holiday in Nepal on her own, searching for something ever elusive, something missing from her life – her lost love.
Thea wiped a tear from her cheek. Although she hadn’t told her mum and sister, sometimes she walked the London streets on the lookout for her father too. But it had been twenty-five years. He would be an old man now, in his seventies; would she even recognise him? She doubted it. But it didn’t stop her looking, hoping, that one day he’d turn up, even though she knew in her heart he was most likely gone. After all, surely people didn’t just disappear into thin air.
Thea’s phoned beeped, reminding her that she was meant to be following Google Maps on foot to the hotel. She sighed and put her key away in her handbag, thinking of Miles and how it would be nice if they could meet up for a meal that evening. Thea wanted to ask him again if he might consider taking another position in his firm that meant he could spend more time in the UK – or preferably move back permanently. There was still no text, voicemail or phone call from him. She imagined there would be, though, as soon as he realised his wallet was missing.
Thea walked through Pimlico and along the Thames on her way to Hyde Park. She arrived at a rather nice-looking, imposing hotel near Lancaster Gate, overlooking the park. She walked through the swing doors into the large reception hall, which had wooden floors, comfortable wing-backed armchairs by the floor-to-ceiling windows, and a huge chandelier in the centre of the ceiling. It was all rather grand, and just the sort of place she expected Miles to stay in when he was in London; it certainly befitted his position as a top lawyer working in Hong Kong.
Miles said he much preferred to spend the evenings at her cosy flat rather than in his bland hotel room. She saw nothing bland about this hotel or the lovely room his company paid for. She had visited the hotel once before, ages ago. There had appeared to be no expense spared; he had a suite with amazing views of Hyde Park across the road. But she understood; he didn’t want to spend any more time in the hotel than he had to. It just reminded him of work.
She got his wallet out of her bag as she approached reception. ‘Hi. My boyfriend dropped his wallet. He is at work at the moment, and I don’t want to disturb him. May I leave it with you? If there’s somewhere safe you can store it, then you could give it to him with his hotel room key on his return.’
‘Of course, madam. That won’t be a problem. One moment while I check he is staying with us.’
‘Well, of course he is.’ Thea shook her head.What a silly thing to say, she thought.
The receptionist looked up and smiled. ‘Of course, madam. May I have his name?’
Thea got out his wallet and showed him Miles’s driver’s licence. ‘There, his name is Miles Bannon.’
‘Very good, madam. Do you know his room number?’
Thea shook her head.
The receptionist glanced at the driver’s licence, and then turned to his computer, typing on the keyboard. ‘Hmm.’
Thea stared at him. ‘Is there a problem?’
He handed the driver’s licence back. ‘I’m afraid he is not staying here.’
Thea frowned. Miles had mentioned this hotel, she was sure of it, and she’d found the card in his wallet.
‘Are you sure? Can you double-check?’
‘I have. He is not staying with us.’
Thea picked up the licence, feeling rather foolish. ‘Sorry,’ she mumbled.
The receptionist said, ‘I did notice an address on the licence.’
Thea looked up. She’d been in the process of tucking it back in the wallet. She slipped it out and took a look.
‘It’s a London address,’ the receptionist continued. ‘I recognise the postcode. It’s not that far from here.’
Thea stared at the address. Why hadn’t she thought to look herself? Because he was meant to be at the hotel. There was an explanation; he likely had his own property in London that he rented out. He’d never mentioned this before, but then she’d never asked. Why was that? In fact, when she really thought about it, she knew very little about him, his background, where he was from, who his parents were – were they even still alive?
