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Tara watched as Amelia stepped out of the bathroom, now dressed in another selection of incredible knitwear. ‘That’s better,’ she said and sat back down to finish her food.

Tara took a bite of her food, studying Amelia in the morning light. She was starting to reassess the woman.

There was nothing overly polished about Amelia, yet something was striking in her simplicity. Her beauty was an effortless one, the kind that didn’t need any embellishment or attention. Her pale skin, a bit flushed from the warmth of the morning, seemed to glow without trying. Her lips, slightly parted as she sniffed the sandwich box auspiciously, held a natural softness, and her eyes, dark and wide, had a quiet intensity.

Looking at her now, Tara thought it was good she’d gotten to her before that creep who robbed her had tried to take something worse than an envelope. And he’d have only been first in line. A woman like that was going to end up getting a lot of attention from people. Tara wasn’t sure how she’d have handled that.

Tara told herself that she was the lesser evil. She only wanted the contents of Amelia’s mind. She had been waiting for her to open up, to let slip just a little more than she’d already shared. But it was clear that Amelia wasn’t ready yet. Tara’s efforts, though subtler now, were getting her no further. She was far too quietly astute.

‘Look, I was thinking… Finding the hotel was a bust, but it doesn’t much matter,’ Tara began.

‘It doesn’t?’ Amelia asked, surprised.

‘Tell me more about the negotiations,’ Tara said, her tone warm but probing. ‘I mean, I know it’s about the land, but can you be more specific?’

‘Why?’

‘Because if I understand what you’re here to do, I can probably lead you to where you’re supposed to be,’ Tara explained.

Amelia shifted in her seat. ‘But I didn’t have a name.’

‘You don’t need one. I’m trying to understand what department you’d be dealing with. It’s local government, right?’

Amelia shrugged. ‘You’d know more than me.’

‘They didn’t prep you at Solhaven?’ Tara asked.

‘The letter was supposed to tell me everything I needed to know,’ she said with a world-weary sigh.

‘A bit irresponsible to hand you a letter that could be lost,’ Tara couldn’t help but note.

‘I guess they didn’t expect me to be quite so calamitous,’ Amelia said glumly.

Tara was starting to feel oddly pissed off at these Elders. ‘Amelia… Don’t start spiralling again. This was their mistake.’

‘For underestimating quite how clumsy I was?’

‘For not making room for normal error. No redundancy plan at all? No discussion about what to expect or what you needed to know—just, “Everything is in this fragile little letter”? That’s poor planning. You didn’t need a mugger to mess it up; a gust of wind could have unravelled this.’

‘There was money too,’ Amelia said.

‘Wait… So even if we found the hotel, you couldn’t pay for it?’ Tara asked, mildly stunned.

‘I was sort of hoping they’d help if I explained,’ Amelia said meekly.

Tara had to force herself not to laugh. ‘They wouldn’t have done that. People don’t help strangers on the mainland.’

‘But you helped me,’ Amelia frowned.

Tara was suddenly not amused. ‘Yeah, well…’

‘So people do help people.’

Tara didn’t know what to say to that. ‘That’s…’

Something happened then that, at first, seemed like a gift. There was a knock at the door. Thank god, Tara thought. She didn’t like the direction they were headed. Because for the first time, Tara was starting to feel some guilt about her deception.

‘Hold on a second,’ she said to Amelia.

Amelia nodded and ate a bit of hash brown. Tara heard Amelia mutter, ‘Good lord!’ as she headed for the door. Tara couldn’t tell if it was positive or negative.

That made Tara smile to herself as she got to the door, expecting Amazon or something. But then the door unlocked. Tara froze as it swung open. Paige was standing in the hallway holding the key Tara had given her after a fight to assuage her.

‘So you are home,’ she snapped.

She was a bottle blonde with a gym body. Tara had thought her a looker in that bar a few years ago, but she couldn’t see that anymore. The green eyes that had once fascinated her were lustreless and dim now. Not to mention, ready for a fight.

‘Paige…’

‘You gonna let me in, or are we doing this in the hallway?’ Paige asked bullishly.

Before Tara could answer, ‘Neither,’ maybe even close the door, Paige brushed past her.

‘Fuck’s sake,’ Tara muttered to herself, following her in.

Amelia, still eating in the living room, gave Paige a polite but slightly confused smile.

‘Oh!’ Paige said, her tone immediately shifting as her eyes landed on Amelia. ‘Tara, are you serious? You’re dating?’

Tara blinked, caught off guard. ‘What? No—’

‘Don’t bother lying,’ Paige cut in, her voice rising.

Amelia frowned, glancing nervously between them. ‘I’m sorry, I think there’s been a misunderstanding—’

‘No misunderstanding,’ Paige snapped, examining Amelia. ‘Changed your type? Thought you liked ‘em a bit more...’

Tara wasn’t letting that sentence get any further. ‘Paige, stop,’ she hissed, the heat rising to her face. ‘You’ve got it wrong.’

‘I’m not an idiot,’ Paige challenged, her arms crossing tighter. ‘You’re just embarrassed that I caught you out.’

‘It wouldn’t matter if you were right, which you’re not. I can move on at any speed I choose. Because I’m single now.’

Amelia’s eyes widened and Tara could see the exact moment realisation dawned on her, her brow furrowing as she looked between them with new understanding.

‘Oh,’ Amelia said softly, almost to herself. ‘You two were…’ she left the sentence hanging.

‘Are,’ Paige corrected Amelia.

‘Were,’ Tara corrected Paige.

‘I guess she didn’t tell you about me?’ Paige demanded.

‘Why would she tell me about you?’ Amelia asked, still missing half of Paige’s problem. Misplaced jealousy.

‘Like I don’t matter?’ Paige demanded, stepping in the direction of Amelia.

‘No, I’m, I’m sure you do,’ Amelia assured her, baffled.

‘Don’t patronise me!’ Paige said, slapping the remainder of Amelia’s hash brown out of her hand. It hit the wall with a splat.

‘Oh!’ Amelia exclaimed.

Tara exhaled sharply. This was spiralling fast.

‘Cut the shit!’ Tara said, her voice steely now as she squared up to Paige. ‘You don’t get to come here and do this. I don’t owe you anything.’

But Paige didn’t back down. ‘You owe me plenty, Tara. Half of that ballroom deposit for a start.’

‘That you would imagine that I owe you money… I’d laugh if it wasn’t so bloody sad.’

Paige ignored that. ‘If we’re not using it…’ she began, and Tara thought she was going to start crying. But then her mouth set into a hard line. ‘I could sue. Get it out of you that way.’

Tara was confused about what Paige even wanted out of her anymore. Was it reconciliation or recompense?

‘Do it. You won’t win. It’ll end up costing you money,’ Tara assured her.

‘Paige, would you perhaps like a cup of tea?’ Amelia asked suddenly. ‘I always think everything looks better over a warm cuppa.’

Tara turned to Amelia in amazement. ‘Read the room, Amelia,’ she said with a sigh.

‘Bloody hell, where did you find this little angel?’ Paige asked, amazed.

‘I’m from Solhaven,’ Amelia answered.

‘Solhaven?’ Paige repeated, looking back and forth between Tara and Amelia. Something clicked. ‘Wait, is this about—’

‘PAIGE!’ Tara barked. ‘Get the hell out!’

‘I thought I was getting a cup of tea?’ she said snarkily.

Tara sighed. ‘Amelia, would you please go into the kitchen so I can deal with this.’

Amelia nodded. ‘Very well.’ She stood. And then paused. ‘So, how exactly does the kettle work?’

‘You don’t need to actually make tea,’ Tara said.

Amelia nodded and left.

‘So, finally got your teeth into Solhaven?’ Paige asked.

‘Yes, if you must know. And keep your voice down.’

‘How deep, though? That’s the question,’ Paige said, her jealousy abruptly reignited.

‘Oh, for fuck’s sake,’ Tara muttered to herself.