‘You never would have thought Todd would been so happy to take a back seat from the business,’ Malie said to Zoe as Lily crossed her feet at her ankles and gently collapsed down onto the throw.

‘I love the way you do that,’ Zoe said, looking up with a beatific smile across her features.

‘Yoga,’ replied Henry, leaving only Lily able to recognize the wicked heat in his tone.

Smiling conspiratorially, Lily turned her attention back to Malie. ‘But Todd’s happy at Fun for All, right? I mean, the help he’s been able to give to so many now that the company is international is just incredible.’

‘Well, it’s only something he’s been able to do because of the help from Henry, Ollie and Finn.’

‘He would have got there eventually, I have no doubt. But for the Avery app, it was a no brainer. Together we can do so much to help create a safe space and support where it’s needed most,’ Henry said sincerely and Lily knew that Malie understood how important that was to Henry.

‘Gimme, gimme, gimme,’ Zoe said, hands outstretched and fingers wriggling towards Malie’s little girl, who she snuggled close to her the moment the precious bundle came into her arms. Zoe and Finn had made the decision not to have children, knowing that their lives were complete as they were and full of the love that they showered on every single child in the group.

‘I meant to ask,’ Lily said, looking to Malie, ‘how is your new instructor working out?’

‘Really well. Actually, we’ve just been put forward for a Centre of Excellence award.’

‘Malie! That’s amazing,’ Lily cried, Zoe giving a gentle ‘Whoop! Whoop!’, conscious of the little girl in her arms.

‘Thank you. We’ve been waiting so long to hear, but Mum and Dad are over the moon. I think they’re even more excited about the award than I am.’

‘Obviously. You know that the rating and the award was due at least two years ago,’ Victoria teased as she came in from where she’d been taking photos of the football match. Lily and Zoe smiled, knowing how right she was. Malie’s family’s surfing business had thrived in the last few years, not only with the help of her parents, but also the teachers who came from all over the world to train in the use of their specialist equipment.

‘True. True,’ Malie conceded.

‘This definitely deserves a toast,’ Victoria said, passing around the glasses that they’d brought from the house.

‘When will you hear?’ asked Zoe.

Malie accepted her non-alcoholic punch with mock sufferance. It was clear to everyone that she loved it. ‘A month, I think?’

‘Excellent. The revisions on my latest book should be finished by then, so we can have a celebratory dinner at Merrow’s Rest.’