‘There are a few things I need to sort out.’

‘Are they to do with Skye and your dad? Because I reckon it’s better if we don’t talk about that, man.’

‘More than happy to leave that subject alone.’

‘Good. You need to get back before February if you want to run KD. Otherwise we should give it to Ketut and Made.’

‘Why would we –?’

‘We’re staying in Brisbane, Charlie,’ Sal says flatly, and though the music has cranked up and a car with a hole in its muffler roars down the street, I hear her as clear as a bell. ‘It’s over in Bali.’ She ignores the waitress when she places the fresh coffee on the table.

‘You don’t mean that. You just said Brisbane was boring. Why would you want to live here?’

‘I told you at the pub. I said we were checking out houses,’ Sal says.

‘That’s Alan Nolan from the co-op.’ Ryan knocks on the window. The man on the footpath, twenty-something, tall, lanky and thin, is wearing loose patched jeans and a dark green t-shirt. He smiles at Ryan, waves to Sal.

‘Back in a sec,’ Ryan says.

Sal makes no move but smiles at Alan.

‘What are you doing?’ I say. ‘I thought we were going to convince him not to stay here.’

‘He wants to come home.’ She makes a what-are-you-going-to-do shrug.

‘You can’t stay in Brisbane. You’ll be miserable.’

She sips her coffee, pushes the half-full cup away from her.

‘Do you want to go back to the place you first met Finn and –? Is that what you want? Or Byron? We could go to Byron.’

‘There’s no “we”. Ryan and I need to do our own thing. You can’t follow us around all the time, Charlie.’

I pull my head back in surprise.

‘First of all, I didn’t follow you to Bali, you invited me. And second, you’re saying now we’re back in Brisbane we’re not friends?’

She watches Ryan talk to Alan Nolan. ‘I’ll treasure our time in Bali forever. But we’re done there. Ryan and I need to make a new life and it won’t work if you’re hanging around telling us to go back to Kuta.’ I open my mouth to speak but she cuts me off, turns steely eyes towards me. ‘You’re going to have a lot more trouble letting go of Bali than we are. We need to get some space from you. I need some space from you.’

‘What’s that supposed to mean?’

She rubs a smudge of something off her thumb. ‘You think Ryan doesn’t notice the way you look at me?’

‘Get over yourself.’

‘I love Ryan and I would never –’

‘Never run your fingers up my arm, never kiss me?’

She laughs and tips her head back. ‘Oh, cute. You thought I’d leave Ryan for you?’

‘You’re such a bitch.’

‘Hey, cut it out.’ Ryan walks towards the table. ‘I could hear you from the doorway.’

‘Then you know what he said.’