Clover smiled, glad it wasn’t obvious she was also feeling pushed to her limits. She had to maintain the illusion of composure; she couldn’t react. Cory, without meaning to, had schooled her in how to deal with Kit Foley and right now, it was Kit who was angry and losing control. That meant she had the upper hand . . .

Clover allowed her gaze to roam over the landscape. Lake Zell wasn’t visible from here; they were cupped in a jagged bowl, almost three thousand metres above sea level. According to the piste map, the snowpark was a couple of chairs away to the right, out of sight from here. The run they were on was marked blue; nice to warm up on, it was wide and not too steep. She was going to need several practice runs to find her ski legs after so many years of not skiing, and she felt a frisson of nerves as she felt her skis want to run down the slope.

She realized her friends were watching her.

‘Well? What are we waiting for?’ Matty asked, her head tipped to the side, hands held up questioningly. She was facing them uphill and beginning to ski backwards. She looked like she’d been skiing her entire life. ‘Last one to the lifts buys drinks.’

Immediately forgetting her nerves, Clover poled off; she was spending quite enough money on this trip as it was. Johnny and Matty both assumed Liam was still backing them and she didn’t want them knowing otherwise. She believed in this project, even if their producer didn’t. It was all about demonstrating confidence and leading from the front. As long as she had a film to submit for the Cannes deadline, she could make this work. They were here and now all she had to do was get Kit Foley to talk.

‘Hey!’ Matty shrieked, unprepared for Clover’s sudden flight and chasing after her. Johnny was only a few metres behind them, his board slicing through the snow in loud carves that told the girls exactly where he was, making them scream.

Matty, for all her verve and long legs, lost the race to the lifts, but no one cared. They were off, skiing with abandon, whooping and laughing as they tried one run after another, cruising along with the sun in their faces, arms outstretched or crouched low into tucks. Matty and Clover completed one run alternately skiing between each other’s legs, Johnny showing off around them with dramatic carving turns that showered them in snow. They did little jumps and spins, short turn races, trying to kick up moguls. After all the tension leading up to coming out here and yesterday’s frustrations – not to mention this morning’s shocking confrontation – it felt good to blow off steam.