And boy could that man kiss.

It complicated things with Josh, of course, but in my defence, we were in a “won’t they” slump at the time—and it was Josh’s doing. Only moments before James showed up, Josh had been extolling the virtues of a life of bachelorhood.

It also complicated things with me.

I DIDN’T WANT TO MEET ANYONE!

So, of course I had met two men—very different from each other, but in their own way, each making me feel … well, making me feel. I’d been sleepwalking through life for months after my break-up with Neil, but I had returned from Greece with a renewed verve for life, and both Josh and James had contributed to that. They’d affected me.

But now I was in the midst of a full-blown love triangle. It was like some terrible modern take on a Jane Austen novel—only it was my life.

“So, now what?” Cat asked as she got up from the couch, taking the empty bottle and glasses with her. She didn’t bother to stifle a loud yawn while she pottered around the kitchen tidying the detritus of our late-night, post-airport-pick-up snack. I didn’t take the yawn personally; it was well after midnight.

“Well, Josh asked me to meet him in Hawaii for New Year’s.”

“Wow, he moves fast.” She snorted a derisive laugh.

Geez, Cat, judgy much? “He just wanted to tee up some plans, to make sure we see each other again. Anyway, I like the idea. We both have time off over New Year’s, and Hawaii’s about halfway between us.”

“Hmm, fair,” she conceded. “And what about James?”

This is where the conversation got a little tricky.

It was early September and Cat, who was a teacher like me, had just started term one. She had begged her principal for a week off during my visit and, through some sort of miracle, she’d got a “yes”. And Cat had plans for us—serious plans that didn’t include a handsome art dealer.

I was going to have to tread lightly.

“Well, what I didn’t tell you was that James lives in London.”

“Oh, that’s brilliant,” she replied as she turned on the dishwasher. Then the penny dropped. “Oh, wait.” She faced me, her eyes narrowing. “So, what does that mean for us? You’re going to drop me to spend time with James, aren’t you?”

I would never have done that. Cat is my best friend in the world, and I only saw her in person every couple of years. Time with her was exceedingly precious to me.

But I did want to see James again before heading home to Australia.

“No, of course not. We can still do all the things you’ve planned—except I thought that, maybe on Tuesday night, instead of going to the pub quiz with you and your friends, I could see James. You’ll hardly even miss me and, besides, I’m not that good at trivia anyway.” We both knew that last part was a lie.