Chloe laughed. “Hah! I knew it. Trying to be all cool like that. You’re into him.”

“I might be.”

“Well, to answer your question, no. Matt is like my brother. Actually, in some ways I’m closer to him than my brother.”

Chloe loved her younger brother, Drew, but he lived interstate and they only really caught up when he was visiting her parents. And he was seven years younger than her. His arrival had been a rude awakening, as it had meant she was no longer the only grandchild on both sides. She realised, half-tipsy on Christmas cake, that this may have been the reason they’d never really got close. How had she not thought of that before? She vowed right then to make more of an effort with Drew.

While Chloe was ruminating on what a terrible sister she was, Jules rested her head against the bedhead, savouring a moment of relief that Chloe and Matt had never been a thing—until her stomach plummeted. If Matt was single and he and Chloe had never hooked up, then she had a clear path. Did she want a clear path?

“So, Jules,” Lucy, uncertain what to make of the odd expressions on her friends’ faces, bravely leapt back into the conversation. “You said something about everyone liking your presents?”

“Oh, yeah,” replied Jules. Presents were a welcome break from thinking about her and Matt. “So, I’d brought this gorgeous snow globe for Callie and Thea, like beautiful. And when I got here, I found out this was their first Christmas as a married couple—”

“Hang on a minute,” Chloe interrupted, “You definitely knew that. You liked my photos of the wedding on Insta.” Why had she even bothered prepping Jules for her Aussie Christmas? Seriously, for an engineer, Jules was the most disorganised person.

Jules scoured her brain and realised Chloe was right. “Oh, right, sorry Chlo. Anyway, Ash helped me get it engraved with ‘Our first married Christmas’.”

“That sounds lovely!” chimed Lucy with far more enthusiasm than she felt.

“That was really sweet, Jules,” added Chloe. She could just imagine Callie gushing over that.

“Yeah, they thought it was awesome,” Jules humble-bragged. She had a sudden thought. “Hey, Chloe, what’s with Ash and Davo, and how come you never said they used to be a couple? Or wait, did you tell me?” Jules added, second-guessing herself.

“Actually, no, I didn’t. That was for Ash to tell you if she wanted to.” Jules nodded solemnly as she remembered how hard Ash had pretended to be cheerful throughout the day, even though Jules had caught her looking wistful on several occasions. “So, how are those two? Have they worked it out yet?” asked Chloe.

“That they still love each other?”

“Yeah,” Chloe replied.

“Well, Ash definitely has. And it seems like he’s pining for her, too, but they spent the whole day in ‘just friends’ mode.” She raised one finger in half-assed air quotes.

“They’ll get there eventually. I hope.”

“Yeah.” The conversation was getting far too morose for Jules. “Hey, so Matt got me the most awesome present,” she said, to brighten the mood. “I mean, so thoughtful. He’s taking me horseback riding in wine country on the weekend. Ash and I are going to his vineyard for a couple of days.”