Alec was about to leave when his work mobile rang, hoping the garage were finally calling him back after he'd rung them when he'd got rid of Ellie earlier.

"Hardy," he answered and listened to the caller. "What do you mean there has been a delay? They've not delivered the radiator yet? Well get on to them, she has a young baby, she needs her car."

"We're doing our best," the gruff voice on the other end answered.

"Then do better, her car is needed for tomorrow afternoon, as agreed, there will be no delays, understood? You know who I am?"

The mechanic did indeed know who Hardy was – the hard-ass detective who took nothing from no-one, he'd gained a reputation and everyone had breathed a sigh of relief when he slipped quietly into the background but he had come back. The kid reporter had been in that morning to book his car in and they had been talking about him.

"So," Olly had said to 'Mac' the mechanic. "Can you fit my car in tomorrow? I'm having trouble starting it and my mum's going on at me about it."

"I dunno mate, we have a car with a bust radiator and we have to make it top priority, some woman needs it urgently – Hardy's instructions."

"Does it belong to a woman with a baby by any chance?" Olly asked, thinking he might not have to face the gruff detective after all.

"Yeah, the breakdown truck brought it in just before we closed last Thursday night and handed us Hardy's card. I told him we had to order the radiator but it's not turned up yet and I have to call him back and tell him, don't fancy doing that, I might get Jonesy to do it."

"Well rather you than me Mac, Hardy's already on my case and my boss wants me to do a story on him, which is where I should be right now. I'll call in tomorrow on the off-chance and good luck telling him."

So 'Mac' had decided to face the detective himself and wished he hadn't as Alec argued with him down the phone.

"Hey, Jonesy," Mac turned to a big guy who used to be a bouncer and 'security' guard to several celebrities before he'd taken a career turn. "Get onto that parts bloke and tell him that radiator for that Astra had better be here within the hour or I'm giving Hardy their number and they can tell him why his lady-friend's car has been delayed."

Olly had driven off, eventually and was now putting the pieces of a story together, maybe he wouldn't have to interview the detective after all, it was becoming clear Hardy had rescued the blonde, overseen the car recovery and was handling it. Then he'd offered her a place to stay and judging by the greeting he'd got on Saturday afternoon they were probably already shagging each other but where had she come from and where had she been heading before the car radiator had blown on her?

That piece of news though had put paid to the thought she and Hardy already knew each other, if he'd rescued her, he had moved in on her at lightning speed over the weekend.

On his way back he'd spied the hotel owner outside and pulled into the lay-by outside the newspaper's old offices and stopped to talk to her and five minutes later had established the blonde was called Rose, the baby was called Jack and she was indeed with Hardy, well so Becca reckoned and she wasn't usually wrong where gossip was concerned. He thought she had secretly once been in a popular Australian soap about a bunch of neighbours in a certain street.

He went back to the harbour, used his parking permit and instead of going back to the office, decided to see if the mysterious blonde was out with the baby again, not being able to tell either time he'd seen her how old the boy was. The baby looked around six or seven months and could still easily be Hardy's kid, that would tie-in with the detective coming to the town in time for the investigation into Danny's death and Hardy slipping into that blue chalet afterwards and keeping to himself but why hadn't the woman been seen around town before? No-one knew quite what the DI had been up to prior to his arrival except for that old case Hardy and his Aunt Ellie had just solved so he could have known the woman before.

He walked towards the police station and saw Rose, walking around with the stroller heading for the outdoor catering area but maybe he should heed his aunt's warning and back off until he established a few more facts though Maggie had sent him another message telling him to get a move on or she'd kick his ass. He saw her go to a stall and then sit down with a drink and see to the baby but had then seen her waving across the road to who could only be Hardy, so he got up and waited just across from the station.

He had to get more information than he'd just got before he was out of a job so he saw Alec come out of the station's front entrance and decided it was either the detective or Maggie who got the pleasure of kicking his ass.

"DI Hardy, got a minute?" Olly asked hopefully as Alec crossed the road.

"What do you want Stevens? I've got better things to do in my lunch break than talk to you."

"Such as meeting a blonde with a baby over there?" Olly gestured in Rose's general direction as she spoon-fed a hungry Jack.

"Why are you so interested in who I am meeting on my own time? If you bother her again, I am warning you, don't bother, there is no story, she is waiting for her car to be repaired."

"Yes, I know, up at 'Mac's', I was up there earlier. So will she be on her way when it's repaired?"

"How would I know?" Alec answered honestly. He could still blow all this somehow and she would still leave tomorrow or the day after.

Was he moving too fast for her? She'd said not and readily accepted his help and a lot more and they'd become lovers rather quickly but in the back of his mind, it was all too good to be true and the slightest thing could change her mind about running off to Exeter. He'd been doing some thinking, well inbetween Miller constantly interrupting him and arguing down the phone with the garage owner twice, the first time when he'd been given several excuses for the delay of the radiator arriving and the second time, he'd told the man her car would be ready or he'd be up there himself.

"So who is she then? Everyone has seen her walking around, Becca Fisher was talking to her a while ago."

Alec shook his head, if Becca Fisher had indeed talked to Rose, the whole town would know and it would be on the local six o'clock news grapevine.

"Get out of my way Stevens, if I have anything to say, I will come to the office, if you are in."

"My mother said you called there on Saturday, was that to warn me off?"

"Yes," was Alec's gruff reply. "Leave her alone, she does not need you reporting her every move. Back off Stevens, I'm telling you as a police officer. I helped her when her car broke down, we have become friends, whilst she is in the town, let's just leave it at that for now."

"Really? Is that why you took the baby off her on Saturday then? She came from the direction you live in."

"So what? Don't make a big deal out of it. I told you, if I have anything to say, I'll not be interviewed in the middle of the street."

"Then come to the office later and give me the story."

"There is no story. Look, I know where this is going, I am not that baby's father so right, go print that. I met her on Thursday night when her car broke down and if you have talked to Becca Fisher, you will already know hers and the baby's names and that we are friends."

That was all he was prepared to say for now, he wanted to get to Rose and Jack and spend some time with them, that was all that mattered now, she had become an important part of his life, along with Jack, who had already accepted him.

"So can I quote you on that then?" Olly insisted.

"Yes, fine, ok, print that but you add any speculation to it, I will personally throw you in the river, got it?"

Olly grinned. "Got it."

Rose had seen the two of them talking, seeing it was the reporter, Ellie's nephew and hoping Alec was now setting the record straight. She didn't like being the centre of attention, at least though she'd told James about her and Alec, though it hadn't gone down well. Alec got away and went to Rose's table, Jack just finishing his food and wanting his milk.

"Hi, been having fun?" Rose asked him as he went to get Jack out of the stroller and reached for his bottle.

"That was the annoying reporter, sorry love but I had to tell him something or he would have gone after you again. How was your morning?" he asked, putting his free hand on hers, holding Jack on his knee and supporting him while he happily drank his milk, Alec holding the bottom with his little finger.

Rose thought he looked well practised and surmised he used to do it when his daughter was a baby. To say he was a natural father was an understatement, James had admitted he'd never taken to it.

"Fine, I got sorted, you'll be happy to know."

"Really? That's the best news I have heard all morning, well except you got Jack into the baby clinic, Miller said she took her son there. There has been a delay getting the radiator for your car, I told them to light a rocket under the suppliers."

"Yeah?" Rose laughed as Jack stopped for a rest, displaying his latest trick to Alec, which was dribbling his milk while blowing a raspberry.

"When did he start doing that?" Alec smiled, wiping Jack's chin and his wet shirt sleeve with the cloth Rose handed him.

"Just now it seems. We stopped just down the esplanade, he'd made a mess with the rusk I gave him but he didn't want his milk then. I think he was waiting for you. I'll go order lunch, if you two have finished?"

Alec finished giving Jack his bottle while Rose went to get lunch ordered. She was liking this, subtlety showing the town they were together so people got used to seeing them out as a family and she was happy he'd set the record straight with the reporter but her mother would surely get to know she was parading her relationship all over the media.

After kissing Rose and Jack goodbye, Rose getting the baby to wave to him, he went back to work, happy that they could relax without the town's nosy reporter taking pictures of them after promising to email him a photo they had taken the previous morning down the coast.

Olly had got back in double-time and quickly tapped out his 'interview' with Hardy on his pad and rushed upstairs, his mother wondering what was wrong with him.

"Well did you get me a story?" his editor asked him.

"Yes, I got you a story, here, read this."

When Rose got Jack home, he was asleep in his stroller so she left him while she put the laundry on the airer in the garden and looked online for a changing unit, seeing a few reasonably priced ones and made a note of them for Alec to approve. It would make things a lot easier and eventually there would be room for Jack to play. Alec hadn't mentioned getting a bigger place since the other day, she didn't want him to have to move just for them when he'd only been in the cottage for a short time.

After selecting a photo from his phone of himself and Rose holding Jack between them to Olly via the newspaper, Alec decided to finish early again, it was up to him how many hours he put in and he wanted to spend some time with his new family. He had to let his daughter know, in case she turned up on his doorstep on a whim but he was about to be in for a shock as Daisy was just arriving at the harbour bus stop and followed his directions to the police station, walking up to the front desk.

Daisy Hardy had a training day off and had spent a couple of hours on a bus to Southampton then a coach to Broadchurch and was debating whether to surprise her dad or warn him but had decided if she warned him, he'd try to put her off. He couldn't very well ignore her if she just turned up, with a few things stuffed in her fabric shoulder bag. She planned on getting him to drive her back home later that evening or call her mother to tell the school she was off sick.

The desk sergeant looked up as he saw the teenager enter and walk towards him, thinking she was lost.

"Can I help you Miss?"

"Yeah, I'm here to see Alec Hardy."

"Is he expecting you?"

"Probably not, I'm his daughter."

The desk sergeant put his pen down and looked at her. There had been rumours going around since Saturday that the DI had been seen with a young blonde and a baby across the other side of the river but here was a teenage girl claiming to be his daughter.

"I'll just call him for you."

Daisy sat down and got her phone out of her pocket, thinking of saving him a job.

"DI Hardy, Sir, someone is here to see you," he told Alec when he'd picked up his desk phone after putting his jacket on, ready to leave.

It was only three thirty but he'd had enough of the stares from the other officers.

"Well who is it then?" he asked, hoping it was Rose but not with the news she was leaving, she wouldn't come and tell him at work, would she?

"The young lady says she's your daughter."

"What? Keep her there, I am on my way down."

Opening his office door, Ellie saw him.

"Sir, is something wrong? You know you're not supposed to go out on your own."

"I have something to attend to that does not require a babysitter Miller. By the way, you've not done a very good job keeping those rumours at bay, have you?"

Ellie got up to follow him as he walked off.

"Sir, with all due respect, people will talk if you don't confirm or deny you have a girlfriend with a young baby."

"Really? Right, you lot," he turned back to get their attention, not that it wasn't already on him at this point. "I am only going to say this once. Yes, I have a friend with a young baby and that friend and I have been seen around the harbour together. You can read about it in the next edition of the paper, I'll not repeat it twice. Now get back to work."

"Yeah," Ellie scoffed. "Like that's going to stop them. Just admit it."

"You tell them then. Miller, she still might leave when her car is fixed."

"Why would she do that? Can't you see she's totally gone on you, poor thing. She loves you, anyone can see that. I don't think you have any need to worry she'll leave when her car is ready tomorrow."

"You don't? Well my teenage daughter is waiting for me downstairs, how is Rose going to take that?"

"What? She arrived without any warning?"

"I told her to come down, any time, seems she took my invitation quite literally. If this does not drive Rose away, I don't know what will."

On his way downstairs, he thought it also could set things even further back with Daisy and he might well lose both of them. Rose couldn't leave town until tomorrow and if she left him, how would she pay for the car repairs? She had told him James would be giving her a cheque when he came to visit but she'd never said how much it would be for, though he doubted it would be enough so see her through another month if she had to pay for the car and find a place to stay.

He emerged from the stairwell and saw Daisy sitting with her earphones stuck in and messing around with her phone.

"Hi Dad," she greeted him, getting up and kissing his cheek. "You said any time, well here I am. Can I get something to eat, passing those food stalls made me hungry. I guessed knowing you, you'd be at work when mum told me you were supposed to take it easy."

Alec was waiting for her to finish.

"What are you doing here? You should have called me."

"Nice to see you too Dad. I should have known you didn't mean it."

She took her other earphone out and shoved them in her shoulder bag, Alec noticing it looked full.

"Guess I'll just get the next bus back home then?" she added, turning towards the door.

Alec saw the desk sergeant watching them with interest. As if the rumours he had a girlfriend with a baby weren't enough.

"Wait, don't go off like that, you came all this way."

"Yeah, I can see you're glad I did that. You said to come down, Dad, why say that if you didn't mean it?"

"I did mean it, it's just now is not a good time."

"When is it ever a good time with you? Mum was right, you've not changed much."

"Look, I'll get you something to eat from one of the food stalls, then we can talk but there's something you need to know."

"That you've got another important case you have to deal with, one that's more important than me and mum?"

"No, that's not it. I'm not allowed to take major cases on my own. Come on, I'll tell you on the way."

"Why can't we just go opposite or don't you want to be seen with me?"

"That's not true Daisy and you know it. If that's what you want fine but I have a call to make."

"To mum? She knows I'm here, I'm old enough to come and see you on my own Dad. I'm not a little kid any more you know? She expects you to have me home tonight at some point."

"Daisy, it's almost four, what are you playing at, coming here at this time?"

"I missed a bus and missed the coach, there was a queue for tickets. So are you going to take me back?"

He dreaded to think of how long it would take to get to just outside Sandbrook and back, even if he waited for the traffic to die down. When he and Miller had gone to visit, they'd stayed overnight, embarrassingly in the same room and sharing a bed and he hoped Miller wouldn't tell Rose it was the day after the affair accusations. Rose might believe there had never been such an affair but sharing a room, after what had happened between them that first fairly innocent night, might be a bit harder for her to swallow.

As they crossed the road, Alec silently prayed Olly Stevens had got his story and was holed up somewhere, preferably out of town. Daisy ordered some food when he gave her some money, telling her to get him some tea, though he could have done with something a bit stronger. What was he going to tell Rose and how was he going to tell Daisy he had a new girlfriend, with a seven month old baby that wasn't his?

Rose answered the phone, she'd changed the ringtone for Alec's number and put his picture on, one from the day before.

"Watcha Alec, miss me already?"

"Sure love, I miss you. I'm on my way home."

"Great. What's the special occasion lover? That morning after pill only works in the mornings, I think."

Alec smiled at her enthusiasm. "Sorry darlin' but we will have to put that on hold. Daisy just turned up at the station, without any warning."

There, he'd told her and she would be packed when he got there with Daisy. There was no easy way of telling her his teenage daughter was now heading towards the table he had sat at earlier, giving Jack his bottle and laughing with Rose at the baby's latest trick.

"Rose, are you still there love?" he asked, trying to keep his voice low as Daisy made her way through the tables.

"Who are you talking to Dad? Is that mum? Tell her I missed the coach thanks to her fussing. I swear she did it on purpose."

He put his hand over the phone.

"No, it's not your mum, I have someone staying with me."

"Oh. Male or female?" Daisy smirked, picking up her soda can and slurping with the straw she had conned the stallholder out of and passing a carton of tea with a black plastic lid on it across the table to him.

Rose hadn't been expecting his daughter to just turn up but what could she say? She couldn't tell him to send her back on the next bus or coach back to where she lived. It was going to be give and take in their new relationship, Alec had accepted Jack and the fact his father would be seeing him on Sunday. The least she could do was accept his daughter and meet her, even if the teenager didn't like her.

"Yeah Alec, I'm still here. Well you half expected it, didn't you? Bring her back, I'll tidy Jack's things away. Is she staying?"

Alec thought it would be the easiest thing, to send her back on the coach the next day, if she'd thought about getting a return ticket.

"I don't know yet. I've just got her something to eat, we'll be back soon."

He hung up without indicating to Daisy who he'd been talking to and she looked across at him, then got up when her order was called.

Eating her burger and chips, Alec observed her, he'd missed a lot the last few years yet he'd been given another chance, to watch Jack growing up and he was damned if anything was going to stop that. He would have to discuss things with Rose but if she and Daisy got on, there was no reason to shut Daisy out of their new family, if she wanted to be part of it.

"Daisy, there is someone I want you to meet but don't tell your mum, I have to tell her myself."

The teenager stopped mid-bite of her burger.

"You're living with someone? How could you Dad?" she asked him, putting her bag on her shoulder and getting up, Alec grabbing her arm. "Get off me Dad, I'm going home right now. You said we had some making up to do, you never said anything about a girlfriend," the angry teenager told him as he tried to get her to sit down.

"Listen Daisy, your mum has someone else, why should I not have anyone? I want you to meet her, her name is Rose and she has a seven month old son called Jack."