Replying with I owe you, Andee put the phone down and turned back to Graeme. He was checking his own phone now, scrolling through emails, deleting as he went or thumbing off quick replies, and as she watched him, she found herself feeling sorry there was so little time before she had to go out.

Looking up as she removed the mobile from his grasp and slipped her arms around his neck, Graeme drew her in close and murmured, “To what do I owe this pleasure?”

“It’s just for being you,” she replied, gazing suggestively into his eyes.

“So, I’m getting something right?”

“You always do, or almost always. Did you see Tom today, by any chance?”

“I didn’t.”

“Then he hasn’t told you that he’s asked Leanne to marry him?”

His eyebrows rose. “No, but I think we saw that coming, didn’t we?”

She nodded and after a moment said, “Can you do me a huge favor and not ask me? Just in case you were thinking of it, which you probably weren’t, but we’re OK as we are, aren’t we?”

His eyes moved curiously between hers. “If you say so,” he replied carefully.

She frowned. “Not quite the answer I was expecting.”

He smiled and kissed her. “You know,” he said, taking back his phone, “I think I’ll give Dan a call to see if he’s free for a bite, seeing as you’re now otherwise engaged.”

Chapter Eleven

“OK, so I need to give you a heads-up on everyone who’s coming tonight,” Jasmine declared as she slotted her neatly cased surfboard into a hall cupboard—this being one of her several new hobbies she’d taken up during the five months since settling here. “You know that Abby’s mum, Leanne, has a partner called Tom who owns the Tramonto Hotel on Kesterly Heights. Abby’s grandma is called Wilkie and she’s a blast, completely eccentric, and you’ll love her on sight, if she comes. Abby’s dad died, which is something else us two have in common besides all the other stuff, and the local theater is named after him, the Delaney. Oh, and she has a half sister who lives in the States called Kate.” She frowned irritably. “Is anyone listening to me?”

“Of course,” Claudia and Marcy answered in unison. They were in the kitchen laying out the canapés Marcy had picked up from M&S on her way back from the community center, while Claudia had rushed home to make sure there was champagne in the fridge and the flat was presentable.

“Good, so who’s Leanne’s partner?” Jasmine tested.

“Tom,” Claudia replied. “Now tell us what you know about Andee Lawrence.”

“Absolutely nothing.” Jasmine smiled sweetly, and taking the pile of hand-embroidered napkins she was being offered she began to fold them into the shapes her mother preferred.