‘The Maldives,’ Ash says with a low whistle. ‘Fancy.’
Lissa glances at him. ‘Surprised you’ve never been. Didn’t fancy working from there for a year, then?’
He grins. ‘Well, sure. If I could find a way to stay there without selling my spleen.’
‘Bone marrow would probably get you more on the black market,’ she says, offhand.
He huffs out a laugh. ‘It’s scary that you know that.’
There’s an array of bottles and little cans of Fever Tree on the table as they reach the kitchen, and Nicole adds the damson gin to the selection. The sliding door is open to the patio, where several dozen people mill around. Lissa had no idea her dad had this many friends – she recognises literally none of them.
‘Apparently they have great diving,’ Ash says, and Lissa frowns at him, not following the thread. ‘In the Maldives,’ he expands.
Nicole’s smile immediately becomes more sincere. ‘Oh, you dive?’
‘Yep. Learnt on my gap year.’
‘Of course you had a gap year,’ Lissa mutters. From the way his mouth crooks up, she knows he heard her.
‘It’s wonderful, isn’t it?’ Nicole says.
‘Youdive?’ Lissa can’t help the incredulity, something that causes both Ash and Nicole to look at her. ‘Sorry,’ she says quickly. ‘I mean … you dive?’ She tries to make it more casual, sees Ash give her a sarcastic thumbs-up behind Nicole’s back.
‘Oh yes. It’s why I wanted to go. Your dad doesn’t, but he could do a DSD, and I think Elsie wouldloveit.’
Lissa has no idea what a DSD is – and she can’t really imagine anything worse than being trapped underwater in a neoprene suit – but she nods along as Ash and Nicole start exchanging stories of their best dives. She squints at Nicole, trying to picture her in a mask. But she just can’t imagine her tidy interior-designer stepmum in all the scuba gear.
‘Sorry, Lissa,’ Nicole says, when several minutes have passed with Lissa attempting to look politely interested.
‘No,’ she says quickly. ‘It sounds very … fishtastic.’
Ash’s lips twitch at her lame attempt at a joke. ‘You should try it. I’ll take you.’ The way he says it, like it’s the most natural thing in the world, does something interesting – and a little unnerving – to her insides.
She sees the way Nicole’s eyes flick to her, then away, down to the kitchen tiles, like she doesn’t want to look directly at her.
‘Not my thing,’ she says lightly. ‘I don’t really swim.’ He gives her one of those looks – like he understands more than what she’s saying – and Nicole, thankfully, clears her throat.
‘Well, what can I get you both to drink?’
‘She seems nice,’ Ash says, when they are outside with drinks in their hands, hovering at the edge of the patio.
‘Yeah.’ Lissa takes a sip of her Prosecco – it’s a party after all. ‘I guess she is.’
‘You guess?’
‘I don’t know her all that well.’
‘Have you tried to get to know her?’
It’s a genuine question, no judgement in his tone, but still, it pulls her up short. She’s not used to people asking her stuff like that so directly. ‘I guess not,’ she says after a beat.
‘There she is!’ Lissa turns at the sound of her dad’s voice to see him crossing the patio towards them, beaming. He switches the spatula he’s holding to his left hand, holds out his right as he nears. ‘And you must be Asher.’ And of course, he has extended Ash’s name for absolutely no reason at all.
Ash raises one eyebrow at Lissa, who shrugs, trying to convey that it has nothing to do with her.
‘Thanks for letting me gatecrash,’ Ash says as they shake hands.
‘No! Thrilled to have you here!’ Dad does in fact sound thrilled – over the top, maybe, but still thrilled. ‘Maybe don’t crash the actual gate, though, Nicole will have a fit.’
