‘I’d stay in it,’ Grace said, her gaze still soaking up the beautiful grounds. ‘He’s convinced our film is going to be a hit.’

‘Hope so! Well, I’m off,’ Steve said, standing up. ‘I have a meeting with the location manager then I can do school duty. See you later.’

She leaned forward and took his hand. ‘Thanks for collecting Daisy. She’ll be excited to see you – her favourite person in Bali! Is anyone coming back for dinner?’

The villa they now shared as a couple had become a popular drop-in hub for their many friends linked to the Kamasan, the crew, and their lead actors.

‘Nope. Just us tonight.’

‘Okay. I told Mum I’d call. She’s having Andy over for dinner. He wants to hear how things are going with us over here.’

‘How’s his mother?’

‘Doing okay. She likes having him around. So does my mum! Andy does miss Bali, though. He said he might come over next month to check on things. Johnny has made him a kind of visiting specialist here.’

‘Pierre does a great job running F & B. But he doesn’t have Andy’s pizzazz,’ said Steve.

‘True. I’ve noticed lots of changes in the time we were away. Even Johnny seems less “out there”, but in a nice way.’

‘Do you think Mel has calmed him down?’ Steve said.

‘Don’t say that to Mel. She’d think it makes her sound too safe and staid!’ Grace laughed. ‘She loves coming up here. Did I tell you they’re rolling out the numeracy program through the whole country now, not just in Bali?’

‘Really? That’s fantastic,’ said Steve, and he pulled Grace up next to him. He pressed his lips to hers and their kiss lingered.

Grace hadn’t told Steve all her news today as yet. She would tonight. Johnny had swung by earlier to tell her the latest gossip.

‘I hear mutterings about Lawrence and Alicia down under,’ he’d said. ‘Her family put him up as the front man of one of their companies, and it looks like Lawrence was set up to take the fall if anything went wrong. Which seems to have happened.’

‘I’m not surprised and I’m not sympathetic.’ Grace had shaken her head. ‘No matter what happens to him, where he goes, I’ll never feel free of him, because of Daisy. But at least now I feel liberated and proud of myself that I stood up to him.’ She’d looked at Johnny and said, ‘It just worries me that there are so many women – bright, confident, clever women – who are under the control of men like Lawrence. I was lucky I had my mum’s support and such good friends, and found myself in a place like this.’

‘Don’t underestimate what you did, Grace. I’m proud of you too,’ Johnny had said. ‘And . . . you’re a free woman now.’