Clover stared at him but she didn’t see him. She was remembering Kit’s face in the pool. That moment of brokenness. How just a minute later he was lifting her, his face in her hair . . . I hate you too.

‘. . . Sorry.’ She gave a smile, tried to regroup. She looked down at her notes to regain focus, aware that her pulse had quickened.

‘You okay?’ Johnny murmured, behind her.

‘Sure . . .’ She took a breath, looking back at Ari. ‘So, the estrangement with his father was never resolved. Do you know why they had no contact?’

Ari shrugged. ‘Divorce is ugly, right? He was a little kid at the time. I guess he felt it came down to picking a side. And he chose his mum.’

‘Is he close to her?’

‘Was. She died – cancer – two years ago. But he used to talk to her every few days, no matter where he was in the world.’

‘That’s really sad. He must miss her.’

‘Yeah. But . . .’ Ari sighed. ‘He just gets out on the board and works through it. It’s like with every turn, he’s slicing away at the pain and making it smaller.’

‘What about in his personal life? Has he ever had any serious relationships?’

‘No,’ Ari said quickly. Too quickly.

‘That seems surprising. He’s attractive. Successful. Financially independent . . .’

‘No time. He’s always on the road and tour life doesn’t work well with relationships.’

‘Doesn’t it? Plenty of other surfers make it work.’ Cory Allbright being one. ‘And tennis players, golfers . . .’

‘Well, he doesn’t want to lose focus, is the other thing. Relationships take too much energy. And I guess add all that in with being a child of divorce, you’ve got a guy who isn’t especially invested in true love and happy endings.’

‘Do you think he’s ever lonely?’

Ari laughed. ‘No. He lives a good life – he gets paid for doing what he loves. He’s got good friends. And he’s not stuck for company if he ever does get lonely.’

Clover knew what he was referring to – the groupies; the girl in the bar. But she was more interested in getting to Amy. Her name was on the tip of Clover’s tongue . . .

She swerved. ‘So his support system really is just you and his brother Beau?’

‘Yeah, but that’s solid. He and Beau, they’re . . .’ Ari pulled both hands into fists and bumped the knuckles together. ‘Tight. They look out for one another. Always have.’

‘Of course, Beau’s a top surfer in his own right too.’

‘Typical little brother, right? Does what his big bro does. If Kit was a rally driver, Beau would be as well.’

‘Do you think Kit would be able to accept it, if his little brother was to ever outshine him in a sport?’

‘Accept it?’