‘Well, all you have to do is murder someone and then there will be an investigation that the detectives can’t solve, but a wily group of internet sleuths can.’
‘If only it were that easy. I haven’t heard any more from Tia’s legal team, which is obviously a good thing, but part of me worries they’re taking time to make a case against me. Should I be worried, do you think?’
‘Honestly, I can’t see her taking it further. It’s a small industry and it wouldn’t look good for her if she took it that far. You admitted fault. Apologised. Deactivated your page.’
‘Yeah, I hope that’s enough for her.’
‘How’s it going there with sizzling-hot boss man?’ Lily switches topics like a pro.
I blush, glad this isn’t a video call so she can’t see my face. ‘Just how many romance novels have you devoured?’
‘A lot! Wish I’d started reading them sooner.’
I laugh. ‘I only had a whole review page dedicated to romance novels, Lily. Sheesh.’
‘What can I say, I’m always behind the times. So how is he then?’
‘We just had a meeting about an author event.’
‘So early in the morning? Riiiight. You sound almost breathless whenever I mention his name. What’s that about?’
‘Oh, come on, Poirot. I do not. He’s an early riser who likes to have meetings before breakfast, which is clearly a sign of an overachiever and someone who doesn’t stay up late reading and has a healthy respect for the coming workday.’
‘Opposites attract! Why is your voice all wobbly? Has there been a development I should know about? A kiss per chance?’
‘Per chance? Since when do you speak like that?’
‘Since reading romance!’
I can only smile. ‘There was a kiss not five minutes ago, but it was an accident.’
Her gasp rings out. ‘What! How does an accident like that happen?’
‘Dropped books, the clashing of heads, a lingering gaze or two, and voilà, an accidental kiss.’
‘You sly thing! So how was it?’
‘On a scale of one to ten, an eleven.’
‘Ooh. Tell me everything,’ she says. ‘Who initiated it?’
‘Me.’
‘You?’
‘Yes! And now I wish I hadn’t.’
‘Why?’ It’s like an interrogation. She’s peppering me with questions so fast I can’t answer quick enough before she shoots the next one my way.
‘Well, it’s not like I’m staying here long term, is it? I barely know the guy. I don’t want another Caleb situation where I’m disregarded and ghosted like I’m nothing. Xavier broke off the kiss. I got the sense that he regretted it.’
She clucks her tongue like a mother hen. ‘No! Don’t let Caleb intrude on what could be the makings of something special, Harper.’
‘Xavier is one of those supremely confident types, and really I’m looking for a golden retriever hero this time. Safer, right? I’m wary after Caleb. This job is a temporary measure until I can come crawling back to London, so what’s the point?’
As I say it, my heart squeezes at the thought of leaving the Last Chance Resort. I’ve never really found home, never really found my place; could this be it? How do you know when you’ve found home? Lily’s lucky in a sense; home for her is a moveable feast, literally. It’s wherever the Zhous are, who sweep their adult babies under their wings and surround them with love and lectures, spicy dumplings and eccentricity. For me, I thought I’d found a version of home on Bookstagram, but that connection was so easily severed, and so it’s like I’m floating, in a holding pattern, unsure of where I fit or belong. The Zhous have always welcomed me into the fold but I am not their daughter. I want to find where I fit in the world, where I belong.
‘Why not just roll with it, and if it fizzles out, it fizzles out. Nothing wrong with a fling, is there, if that’s all it turns out to be. You don’t always need to choose a guy with marriage-material shoulders, you know.’
