Sitting between Tina and Grace, Daisy snuggled up to her mother as Putu drove them out of the chaos of the airport. Daisy and Grace talked and giggled nonstop. Grace held her daughter’s hand, delighting in her excitement and her stories. Tina stared out the window and said to Grace that she was trying to spot anything that was familiar to the nineteen-year-old girl she’d been. So far, she said, it was all very new and different.

Sri was smiling a welcome as they arrived at the Villa Ramadewa and Putu carried their bags inside.

Tina exclaimed with amazement as they toured the pavilion rooms, and when Daisy ran through to the garden, she squealed as she saw the pool and the huge pink elephant inflatable bobbing in the middle.

After a quick swim, they showered and wrapped themselves in specially woven sarongs, which were samples of gifts for the future guests at the Kamasan. At a table by the pool, Kamsi had laid out a welcome lunch, a delicious chicken satay, nasi goreng and a fruit platter.

‘Oh, I remember this fruit!’ said Tina delightedly. ‘Mangosteens and rambutans – I lived on them when I was first here. There were trees in the losmen where I stayed; we just picked the fruit up as it dropped.’

Grace smiled at her mother, noticing how slim and fit she looked, and with wet hair and no make-up, she was even more energetic and youthful.

‘You look great, Mum. And you’re pretty damn hot in a swimsuit, too.’ She smiled at Daisy. ‘And you’re looking full of beans now, too! Shall we dress up and go out for a nice dinner tonight? I’m dying for you to see some of these ritzy high-end places, Mum.’

‘Sounds like a plan,’ replied Tina.

‘Yes, I want to dress up and go out,’ said Daisy firmly.

‘Right. We’re going. But it might be a good idea to take a nap this afternoon to adjust to local time. I have to do some work, but I’ll be back in a few hours. Sri can help you unpack and iron your clothes, if you ask her politely, and Kamsi can get you a snack or a drink if you feel like one.’

Daisy’s eyes looked ready to pop out of her head at the idea of all this indulgence, and she ran off to explore her room, whooping and clapping her hands, as Tina stretched out on a deckchair.

‘What luxury, how relaxing. Though you deserve it – I know you work hard, too. Is everything sorted out now with your job?’

‘Yes. Well, so far so good. I don’t want to take anything for granted, of course,’ Grace said, sitting down in the deckchair next to her mother. She had filled Tina in on everything that had happened with Spencer and Johnny as she knew her mother was worried about it.