"I'm selfish, okay?" "Not you." "And I am so lucky to have you." "There's been a most terrible accident." "I'm afraid she's dead." "My sweetest, dearest friend and she's just gone." "It's brutal." "I miss her every moment." " Half-sisters only get half a vote." " What did you say?" "You're not my dad." "No, I'm not." "I want my dad." "I want my dad and I'm going to find him." "Lucy's run off." "It's Lucy, she's run off." "I can't do this." "I can't do this without Rita." "I miss her," "I miss her so much." "You're a great dad." "And you're not going to be on your own." "I should..." "Sarah's here?" "Are you all right?" "Just wondered if you needed a hand looking for Lucy?" " No, thanks, we've found her." " Good." "She went to Beatty's, to her gran's." "Great." "So she's on her way back." "Sarah, it's Matt!" "Matt's here, Sarah!" "I'm coming!" "She's in the bathroom." " Come in." " Shall I bring the bike in?" " Dad, Ewan's got food." " What did you let the dog go for?" " We couldn't hear!" " He was barking!" "The door was open, he's in the street!" "You know we can't let him out." "He was watching the film, he wants to be Bolt!" " Give me them back." " For the dog, come and help!" "Now!" "Dad, Boy's under the car." " You'll make him run, come on." " Dad, he's really scared." " Car coming." " Matt." "It's Anna and Robin." "Right, come on, out the road." "Lucy, Boy got out!" "Evie!" "Just leave her." "Don't think I wanted to come back." "I didn't!" "Can I have a word?" "Sure, hold on." "Say your goodbyes, back inside." "See you later." "See you in the morning." "We'd better shove off." "Thanks for coming over." "Sorry for spoiling your evening." "No, it's fine." "Come on." "Just like her mother when she was 15!" "Just like Rita, full stop." "That's the trouble." "She only lets you know what she wants you to know, she's so secretive." "It's all well and good to have your friends over but what are you doing, letting her out dressed like that, and on a night you discover that she's not going to school?" "She doesn't even have a phone so that you can call her." "It's ridiculous because let me tell you." "Rita was sleeping with boys at Lucy's age." "Be quiet, I'm helping." "It's like mother, like daughter." "Do you see what I'm saying?" "If you're not careful she's going to be pregnant before you know it." " This is not about boys." " Dave, I'm a woman!" "She wants to find her father, find her dad, it's got nothing to do with boys." "Her dad?" "How's she going to do that?" "Nobody knows who he is!" "Right." "Definitely watch out cos the next best thing's older boys, or her teacher, which was Rita's speciality." "Thanks for bringing her home." "You're welcome..." "Sorry." "You'll thank me for saying this!" "We're all very grateful." "Dave, we probably need to speak in the next few days." "So maybe you should actually return his call this time!" "Enough!" "Sorry." "I'm not tired!" " It's 10.45, brush your teeth." " You said we could watch a movie." "In three seconds I'm going to Frisbee that DVD out over the garden." "Three..." "Two..." "You can watch the rest tomorrow." "Dad, Mum doesn't even like us watching those films!" "I'm fed up of saying your name today, do your teeth!" "Can we change Boy's name to Bolt?" "Come on." "Not you, bed!" "Paul, get in your own room." "Goodnight." "Night." "That was good!" "It was good that you came over." "Just offering my services." "Coming back in?" "No, I'm all done." "In case you're hungry." "I'm not." "Don't try and make everything all right." "Cos it's not, okay?" "I just want to say I know what you're feeling." "And I promise" "I'll do everything I can to find your dad for you." "He was a one night stand." "Mum didn't even know his name!" "She told me the same." "But I don't think your mum ever had a one night stand." "Not with anyone." "What d'you mean?" "How do you know?" "I don't." "I just know Rita..." "I just..." "Let's say she'd told you she knew who your dad is, would you have wanted to meet him?" " Course." " Right." "I can imagine Rita not wanting you to, come under someone else's influence until she'd finished bringing you up." "That's the Rita I know." "She might have told me one day?" "I don't know, maybe." "You're going for the control-freak angle?" "If you want me to go to school tomorrow I need to get to sleep." "Can you go, please?" "Night." "Dad, can we watch the movie straight after school?" "From the beginning?" "Great!" "See you later, Dad." "See you." "Right, okay." "Come on, I've got to get into line." " There you go, you run on." " You're not allowed to drop me off." " I'm not dropping you off, I'm just..." " Dad!" "Do you homework?" "It's Tanya, I've got to take this." "Give us a kiss." "Good girl, see you later." "Hi, Tanya." "I'll call you back in two minutes?" "Thanks, bye." "Sure." "Quickly." "Listen, I better..." "I don't think so." " Hi, Dad!" " Hi, sorry about that." "How's it going?" "I'm fine." "You?" "I never asked about the museum shoot..." "How did it go?" "It's looking good." "I just need to pop over to Beatty's first." "I'll be in," " in about an hour and a half?" " Yeah, all right." "Dave, we weren't in touch with Rita then." "No contact, nothing." "Cos she'd got this thing about being adopted." "I'm just wondering if she mentioned anyone from college." "She got pregnant in her final year, you see." "She never talked about that time." "I always got the feeling that when she met you she wanted a clean slate, wanted to move on." "The thing is, Beatty, all the kids have lost their mum, but Evie, Ewan and Paul still have me." "Lucy's still got you!" "Come on, Beatty, I know you understand this." "Lucy wants a connection which none of us can give her, so I'm no good, she wants her dad." "And she's retreating from us, backing away, which worries me, cos girls her age..." "I don't know anything about them, I missed Tanya being a teenager, but they do things, they run off." "So I can't not try." "Don't worry cos all I've got is this birth certificate, the father's blank." "It just tells us" "Lucy's born five months after Rita leaves college and she's still living in Edinburgh." "Actually, I could write to this address." "Long time ago, but someone might remember something." "Right." "Rita never told us whether she got her degree or not, but I did find out, because they publish it in the papers." "There." "There's Rita." "These ones are the people who are on her course?" "She got a third, she told me she got a 2:2!" "This is something, there's all these "find your old friends" sites." "This is good." "And what if you find him?" "That's good too, is it?" "She's too young for this." "Beatty, if she's asking, she's exactly the right age." "She's also the same age that Tanya was when she got pregnant." "And when she runs off like she did last night, I get worried." "Lucy did not run off last night." "She came to me, she came here." "I do know about teenage girls." "Rita never turned to anyone." "Rita would go to her room, she'd write in her diaries, and she'd shut herself off." "Beatty, Rita's diaries." "Sarah?" "It's Evie's dad." "He hasn't returned his parents' evening form." "I've tried calling but can't reach him so I've slotted him in for four o'clock," "I've arranged for Evie and her brothers to go to after-school club." "All right?" "This isn't..." "It's a warning..." "It's not a warning, it's..." "To re-record your message, press 1." "To delete, press 2." "Message deleted." "Hi, Dave, it's Sarah." "Sorry, I forgot, it's parents' evening and they've booked you in for four o'clock, so I'll see you later." "Dad, there's nothing to eat and the kitchen's disgusting." " Where is everyone?" " What d'you mean?" "What's the time?" "Quarter to four." "What're you doing in here?" "Can you go and get Evie and the boys for me?" "What?" "Go in the car and get some food!" "You haven't seen Evie, have you?" "She's in the play centre with Paul and Ewan, I did call." " Sorry." "Thank you." " You're in here seeing Sarah." "It's parents' evening." "You didn't send the form back but I've slipped you in." "Come on, you're next, just take a seat." "I can give you extra course work, anyway, for that." "You can do it at home, it's just verbs." "Any questions?" "Good, have a good holiday." "Come in, shut the door." "So you got my message?" "I left a message on your mobile," "I called you, you didn't get it?" "I thought you were just..." "So you didn't even know about this?" "I tried to warn you." "Thanks." "You should sit down." " Last night, I'm really..." " Don't." "I'm really sorry." "What?" "We both know what happened." "I've been thinking about it and obviously..." "Dave, it's all right." "It came out of what we're going through and what we're feeling." "You know, we're close..." "Friends..." "And we just needed to be close." "It's understandable." "I'm not sure someone walking in on that would find..." "When Matt came..." "No, he wouldn't understand, but we don't have to worry about that." "This is about us..." "This mustn't make..." "This mustn't make us awkward with each other cos it was just innocent." " Mr Sutanter?" " Yes, I'm the 4.10." "Could you wait outside?" "It's 4.11..." "It's 4.11." " You're down for 5.20." " I buy the 4.10 from Miriam's mother." "I think Ahmed is not learning enough." "What do you do all day?" "Could you wait we're finished?" " He doesn't mind me waiting." " But I do, and this is my classroom." "I can tell kids off in 13 languages and that was Punjabi." " What did you say?" " Don't be rude." " What did he say?" " I don't know, I just got lucky!" "I can also say:" ""I'll tell your parents."" "But I don't think that would have worked." "Are we going to be okay?" "Good." "So how's things with Lucy?" "She went to school today!" "She still wants to find her dad?" "And I found Rita's college diaries from when she got pregnant with Lucy" "and there's a few names which get mentioned around the right time." "She put their initials." "I assume they're initials." "But I've got a list of who she was at college with." "The Head's looking in..." "You put the initials with the names?" "Then try and trace them on web sites." "I don't want Lucy knowing about it yet, so it's a late night job." "Do it at your studio." "Studio!" "What?" "Nothing, sorry, I was meant... to see Tanya today." "I'll call her later." "Do it at the studio." "She's really bright... and we're going to keep a watchful eye on her, she's coping well, but on the whole, she's really happy at school." "She is, yeah." "Thanks for that." "Evie's a credit to you." "How are Paul and Ewan?" "How are you?" "We all have our moments." "Early days." "Your time's up." "You better go." "Do I have to go to his study?" " 40 lashes." " I'll see you later." "Right, thanks," " I'll see you later on." " Bye." " I've got a Nokia, what've you got?" " Vodaphone." "They're all different so you can tell whose is whose." " Does mine work?" " Let me show you." "On my way now." "What the hell's going on!" " I'm going to Holly's." " What?" "I'm going to Holly's." "Don't worry, they're feeding me." "It's all arranged." "Thanks for this!" "Welcome." "It's me, it's Evie!" "Where are you?" " I'm in here." " Are you?" " See you soon." " Bye." "Dad, I'm going to watch the film, right?" "Can I talk to you downstairs?" "Look at me, Anna." "Look at me." "I am virtually speechless." "How dare you go behind my back and buy them mobile phones." "Rita is gone, you can't be everywhere." "Anna, Rita hated mobile phones for kids, you know that." " You know it." " All right." "Even though she's gone it's still just all about her." "Just like it ever was." "Even when she's wrong, and she is wrong about this!" "She wasn't always right, she wasn't!" "God, I miss her!" "I miss her and I bet she doesn't miss me!" "Listen, she loved you." "And she made decisions on stuff like the phones, for the kids' own good, for the family," "I trust that." "But Dave, really..." "Everything has changed and if you don't change..." "It's crazy." "What if they need you, what if there's an emergency?" "You all right?" "What's all this?" "!" "Anna bought us new phones." "It's great." "Hi, Samuel." "Is it okay if I leave Samuel with you?" "Cos it's easier, isn't it?" "Him and Evie play together." "And I've got to meet someone." "Actually no, cos I'm out." "I'm not going to be here." "Who's baby-sitting then?" " We'll do it, if you need someone." " Till?" "Seven." "But then you'll need to take over." "Brilliant, seven's brilliant, great!" " Bye, Mummy." " See you babe!" "Tanya, sorry I didn't get to look at that brochure." "I will, but I got tied up." "No worries, whenever!" "I'll be back at seven to baby-sit." "Take it, I don't want it." "Keep it." "Go on." "You don't have to use it, but... in case." "All right, come on, you." "Once around the block." "Do you want us to do that?" "I'd quite like to walk the dog." "Go on." " Where have you got to get to?" " Just the studio." "Go on, go!" "I did as you said and gave the police a figure, and this is their offer of an interim payment without prejudice." "Right, who's coming for a walk?" " Should we get our coats?" " Coats, go on." " Who's coming for a walk?" " I think everyone's coming." "Where's the dog?" "Paul, give us the ball." " I'm Samuel's auntie." " Yes, that's right." "You are." "But I'm only two and a half years older than him." " That's strange, isn't it?" " Why?" "You can't have children, can you?" "There are some things you don't speak about, young lady." "Like what?" "What sort of things?" "Come on, then." "Are you all right?" "Don't encourage him, he's fine." "He's such an attention-seeker." "You all right, you two?" "Right." "Robin, you bring the dog." "Come on, Boy." "It's time to go home." "You all right?" "Come on, limpy." "I did say it very clearly." "I said 7 P.M." "We can only do it till seven." "That Tanya, such a fly by night, you see." "She's not trustworthy." " There you are, right on the dot." " I'll get it." "Substitute baby-sitter." "Tanya was with her mates, seemed a shame to spoil her fun." "Hello, kids!" "Have you got any treats for me, Grandma?" "What have I got?" "A bloody nerve." "I'll help with the baby-sitting, dear." "Course you will, yeah..." "And then he'll get back and it'll be:" ""Shall we have a drink?"" "Then there's that goodnight kiss." "Would you care to tone it down a bit?" "She's only after what she lost, and more." "She knows what he's worth." "She's a gold-digger, that one." " What's up with you, big guy?" " I've hurt my ankle." "It's nothing." "He's pretending." "I'm not, it hurts!" "Let me see it, here." "No, I'm fine." "There is nothing to see!" "Bye, everyone." "Thanks, see you." " Let me see." " No, please." "Dave, it's Sarah." "I was out running and I was close enough by to see how you're getting on." "If that's okay?" "Yeah, of course." "Please." "Sorry." "I wasn't sure that you'd be here." "How you getting on?" "Good, I think." "Three lots of initials keep cropping up." "RL, DB and SQ, which match seven men and three women who graduated that year, none of them on her course." "Does that matter?" "Except maybe they weren't in her year or even at the university." "I've sent out this round robin e-mail to all of them on this student reunion site." "Where is it?" ""If anyone remembers Rita Morris from 1995," ""can you contact Dave on this e-mail address?"" "Don't frighten the horses." "It's tricky." "But you've just got to wait and see what happens." "Can you..." "Do you want a drink?" "We've got beer or beer." "Beer." "Good." "I got these sofas on eBay, they're a bit..." "I like it." "Sorry." "Sorry." "Looked good in the photo." "On eBay, the sofas." "You know, this is..." "It's just full of code." "Some people want their diaries to be read, and some people do that." "And some people... burn them." "Shouldn't you get that?" "Somebody wants you." "Hi, it's Michelle." "It's not too bad." " But I am down at hospital with Ewan." " What?" "He's hurt his ankle." "They think it's broken." " How?" " Playing football with Paul." "Where's Tanya?" "She's with her friends, I was baby-sitting." "I'm leaving now." "Bye." "And thank you." "Bye." "Ewan's in casualty." "He's broken his ankle playing football." "Someone's replied about Rita." ""Hello, I'm Stuart, sitting in LAX." ""I knew Rita well and your message sounds ominous, or am I mistaken?"" "Stuart Quinlan, from what course?" "Law school." "LAX is what?" "LA airport." ""Hello, Stuart." ""You're not mistaken." ""It's very sad." "Rita died" ""in a road accident ten weeks ago?"" " Shall I give you a lift?" " No, I'm out running." "You go." "I'll turn everything off." "Dad, I'm having an X-ray." "Are you coming?" "Course I am, I'm coming now." "Is it hurting?" "Yeah, a lot." "I'm leaving now, I'm coming now, okay?" "Dave, I'm reeling." ""This is dreadful news." ""Forgive me, but can I ask who you are?"" "I know you weren't..." ""Rita and I were married and we've got four children"?" "Go." "Thanks." " I'll call you." " Thank you." "Ewan Tiler, nine years old." " You're just in time." " Dad!" "How are you doing?" " I'm getting crutches for it." " Are you the father?" "Yeah." "How is he?" "There's no break, but it is badly bruised." "It's not your fault." "Trust me, it's not." "How's it not my fault?" "I did it!" "An accident." "He'll live." "But, I'm afraid there's not much we can do." "Crutches, though!" "But we'll keep the weight off it for a day or two." "You can't take that it in here." "Two seconds." "Sorry, it's urgent." "Dave, how is he?" "He's fine." "There's one more e-mail." "He gets into Glasgow Airport tomorrow and he's left you a flight number." "I'm just going to say that you'll be in touch, yeah?" "Great." "Thank you." "Thanks, really." "I'm sorry, I've got to get home, but..." "Don't worry." "Just run safely, yeah?" "Dad, how is he?" "Is he okay?" "Where have you been?" "With friends." "You were supposed to baby-sit." "Mum offered." "Did she take the museum photos too?" "Cos sure as hell a photographer didn't." "What's so urgent, the call?" "I'll tell you later." "Tanya's here." "There's Mummy." "Dave, I haven't spoken to Lucy by the way." " You had a go yet?" " Can we go?" "We'll do that outside." "That helmet suits you." "Where did you get that from?" "Right, come on!" "It's nice, that is." "Charming." "I leave you a note asking you out and you go for a run." "I had parents evening." "I was fit to scream, scream, or run." "And I'm away till Monday." "Doing what?" " The field trip." " That's next week." "This week." "I go in the morning." "In that case, I'm sorry." "It's just I've been cooped up all day." "We'll go for a drink now, it's not too late." "I need one." "Come on, I'd love one." "I'll take you to a restaurant on me." "How's that?" " Night." " Goodnight, Dad." "I'll see you in the morning." "Will you come up later?" "I broke your little finger with a tackle from behind when you were six, so I know how you feel." "But look what I think about it now." "Night." "Will you come up later?" " Don't forget." " I won't." "Night night." "Goodnight, Dad, see you in the morning." " Night." " Night." "Go on then, what's going on?" "Lucy wants to find out who her dad is." "So, without her knowing," "I'm trying to contact people that Rita was at college with." "Without much success yet, but..." " Don't tell the kids." " Right." "And thanks again for tonight." "Any time," "I mean that." " Night night." " Bye." "In we go, nice and quiet." "Soldiers, Alex." "Soldiers." "Evie's a bit clingy today." "So, are you going to go and meet that man?" "Yeah, I'll have to." "But I'm going to get advice from Robin." " Good." " So someone else will pick Evie up?" " Great." " Thanks." "Mrs Phillips, have you got five minutes?" "Dad, I'm sorry about the photos." "What a waste of time." "When are they due in?" "Friday." "But I really don't know what's wrong with them." "You don't?" "It's a brochure." "People are meant to go:" ""That's interesting, let's go there", not: "That looks dull!" Look at them!" "Come on, Tanya, it's like you never learnt anything." "They're all flat on, there's no depth, there's no colour." "That place is a gift!" "I'm sorry." "It's a disappointment." "Can you pick Evie up from school today and have her till morning?" " Yeah, sure." " I've got a meeting later." "And my car's broken down." "Have you got the number for the garage?" "Call them out." "Are you sure about Evie?" " I said yes." " That's what you said yesterday too." " Mum offered!" " She called you, did she?" " He's very keen to meet, isn't he?" " That worried me a wee bit." "You're right to be cautious, but then again you did contact him." " What's his name, Stuart..." " Stuart Quinlan." "Stuart Quinlan?" "What, do you know him?" "There's an advocate in business law," "Edinburgh-based." "Where's his e-mail address?" "That's him, all right." "He's very reputable." "I suppose it wouldn't do any harm to meet him." "We really do need to talk... about the interim offer from the police." "No." "Sorry, I will look at that." "It needs to be soon 'cause I'm not happy with the offer, and we need to apply pressure to get near what we're looking for." "I will look at that." "But on this Stuart Quinlan," "Lucy doesn't know... that I've made any progress with finding her dad, and maybe I haven't, but..." "I called Anna to get Lucy's mobile number." "So you want me to tell her to put a sock in it?" "Pleasure." "Very nicely, though." "Cause she also..." "Sorry, more apologies, you're having the boys again tonight." " Good, good!" " No, they're staying overnight." "It's perfect opportunity to get the pool table out, excellent." "Thank you!" "Marvellous." "Can we also have the dog?" " Any time you like." " Great." " Cheers, thank you." "See you later." " Cheers." "Seen you." "So sorry to meet like this." " It's really too sad." " Thanks." " Shall we go somewhere we can talk?" " Sure." "I couldn't help noticing you e-mailed three other people with the same initials as me." "Rita kept diaries, and your initials, along with several others, cropped up during her last year at college." "Right, so you contacted us to say that Rita died." "Yeah, but also..." "Rita and I had three children together," " have three children." " Your e-mail said four." "Rita, when we first met..." "I'm sorry." "I apologise in advance" " if this any of this is..." " It's fine, go on." "Rita also has a 15-year-old daughter." "Born on the 8th December 1995." "Can I..." "If you just hit the arrow." "Are you telling me that you're her father?" "As far as I know, yeah." "I took all these." "Where did you get them from?" "Rita would send me one a year, and, for a while, we'd meet, so she could show me, as I knew her, Rebecca's work." " Meet where?" "When was this?" " In Edinburgh." "I work in Edinburgh." "This was between... from when Lucy was about five." " We'd have lunch, and then..." " What?" "Dave, why don't I just tell you what I know and we'll take it from there." "I met Rita in my final year, and she was... exceptional... in every way." "And she wanted a child." "No relationship, no ties, no future contact, she just wanted to be pregnant." "And three years later... she sent me that." "The next year she writes, would I like to see more photos?" "There's to be no contact with the child am I interested in hearing about her?" "And I was... so we meet occasionally, and I get to see video tapes and her school work." "Then one day I blow it by asking if I can financially contribute and meet..." "Sorry." "And that was it." "I was back to being sent one photo a year, and here we are." "Sorry." "I obviously asked if Lucy knew about me, but Rita was always adamant that she wouldn't tell her till she was 18." "Now that, you know, circumstances have changed..." "I may be jumping too far ahead for this but if I'm not, you need to run checks on me and take advice." "All I'm saying is that my wife knows about this," "I've two other daughters, and I'm happy to meet... and be as involved with Lucy as everybody wants." "If that's what you..." "Why you got in touch?" "Lucy wants." "I'm doing this for her." "Look, here's my card." "There's one thing that I should ask." "When you and Rita married," " did you adopt Lucy?" " We weren't married, no." " Did she say that we were?" " No, you did in your e-mail." "Rita never gave any details about anything other than Lucy." "You didn't know about me and the other kids, did you?" "No, I'm sorry." "Hiya, how did it go?" "Good, I think." "Any chance I can see you and tell you about it?" "Do you want to come over tonight?" "You probably can't, but..." "Yeah, I'd love to." "Great." "Great." "I'll see you later." "Good." "Bye, bye." "Tanya, where's my car?" "Where's the car?" "There's something in it I need." "Ring me, I'm at home." "And I'm assuming you've got Evie." "Hi." "Tanya didn't want me to do this." "She didn't want me to bring her back, but she's sickening." "She needs her daddy." " Can I come in?" " Yeah." "I'm actually going out." "Welcome to single parenting, Dave." "Welcome to what you want being bottom of the list, my friend." " Here." " I see, I see." "You were out last night!" "And while we're at it, don't take all this out on Tanya, she's not your whipping boy." "This I do not need." "Tanya screwed up." "So show her where she went wrong, cause she is your daughter." "All right." "Thanks very much." "Still a creep, Dave." "No more medicine for three hours." "Your car is in the garage, as you requested." "Sorry to spoil your evening." "Thanks." "See you." "Come on, sweetheart." "Come on." "Come in." "Very quiet." "Lucy and the boys are out for the night." "Come and see this." "Michelle brought her back earlier, she was poorly." "Poor thing." "She's completely out of it." "You know, I knew she was coming down with something." "So, how did it go?" "Good." "I'll tell you later." "Is this all right?" "Fuck." "I can't ask her to keep it a secret, can I?" "She's going to say something to someone at some point." " Hi." "Good to see you again." " And you, yeah." "You can't just find him and tell me nothing." "If we've made a mistake, then maybe it's best if we can't see each other." " Come in." " Thanks." "Pleased to meet you." "You are where?" "You're perfect." "I was putting her to bed and she says "I've got a secret"." "And I say: "What's that?"" "I'm saying maybe I haven't just found Lucy's dad." "I'm saying maybe I've found Paul's dad," "Ewan's dad and Evie's dad as well."