The Complete Red-Hot Collection. Kelly Hunter

what happened?’ she asked through her aching throat.

      ‘A huge argument—which ended with Scott slugging Brodie. Brodie took off, leaving Scott and Chantal at the resort together…but not together. Not at all together. Looking back, it all seems so needlessly dramatic, given nothing actually happened between Chantal and Brodie. But Scott and Brodie haven’t spoken since.’

      Uh-oh. Awkward. ‘Actually, they…they have spoken,’ Kate said, and took a quick silent breath to steady her nerves for the inquisition.

      The three girls stared at her, waiting.

      Kate took a slow sip of her Manhattan. ‘I was having coffee with Scott, at the marina across the road from my place, on Sunday morning. And Brodie walked past. His boat’s moored there.’

      ‘Oh, my God!’ Amy squealed. ‘I don’t know what part to ask about first. Coffee with Scott? How did that come about?’

      ‘We’ve seen each other a couple of times since Willa’s party.’

      There was a long pregnant pause.

      ‘It’s nothing,’ Kate said.

      More silence.

      ‘Really nothing,’ she insisted. ‘There was an…an attraction there, and we wanted to see if there was anything worth exploring. That’s all.’

      ‘And is there?’ Jessica asked.

      Kate took another sip. ‘No. There really isn’t,’ she said, and felt the truth of that, the pang of it, pierce right through her heart. It took her a moment to recover from that certainty, to find her voice again. ‘Anyway, Sunday morning he was in the area, so—’

      Amy choked on her drink. ‘In the area? Are you sure there’s nothing worth exploring?’

      ‘Yes, in the area, and, no, there’s nothing worth exploring,’ Kate insisted, but she could feel the heat slash across her cheekbones. ‘He buzzed my apartment and I went down to meet him.’

      Very important to get the message out that he hadn’t stayed the night at her place. She was a little embarrassed about hiding what was a straightforward arrangement from her friends, but she couldn’t seem to up and confess. And it wasn’t only the confidentiality clause stopping her. It just felt too…painful, somehow, to share.

      ‘And what happened?’ Amy asked.

      ‘While we were sitting there drinking our coffee along came Brodie.’

      ‘And then…? Come on, Kate,’ Amy urged. ‘The suspense is killing me.’

      ‘All right. I’m just trying to remember it.’ As if she didn’t! ‘There was some…tension. Yes, now that I think back there was definitely tension between them to start with. But I left them talking while I went to order, and by the time I returned, it was all quite amicable between them.’

      ‘Thank God,’ Willa said. ‘They were so close, back in the day. Closer than brothers. It hasn’t felt right, their estrangement.’

      ‘So what happened next?’ Amy asked. ‘Is Brodie still here? I’d love to see him. And did they talk about Chantal?’

      Chantal. The name whipped through Kate’s bloodstream, breath-stealing.

      Jealous. She was jealous—of something that had happened eight years ago. Because one woman had sneaked past Scott’s defences, where she couldn’t go. Where she was resolutely blocked from going. She picked up her glass to take another sip of her cocktail, realised it was empty but had no recollection of drinking it. Too much, too fast.

      ‘I don’t know what happened then because I left them to it,’ she said. ‘I knew they hadn’t seen each other in a while, and I… I had work to finish. I haven’t spoken to Scott since.’

      Which wasn’t strictly correct…but was still true. Officer Cleary and Lorelei had spoken to Scott—not Kate.

      ‘Nobody was throwing punches, if that’s any comfort to you,’ Kate added. ‘And one thing I do know is that Brodie is still in Sydney, because he’s giving me a sailing lesson tomorrow.’

      ‘Oh! You are so lucky!’ Jessica said. ‘I’d love to learn to sail.’

      ‘Well, it’s only one lesson,’ Kate said. ‘All I can really expect is to find out if I’ve got what it takes or if it will be like the time I tried Tai Chi—nice idea, but not going to happen. Why don’t you come too, Jessica?’

      Jessica sighed. ‘Nah—I’ve got kickboxing tomorrow.’

      ‘Why don’t you ask Scott to teach you if you’re really interested, Jess?’ Amy suggested. ‘He’s the absolute best. Better than Brodie—even though Brodie’s the one who’s made it his career.’ She turned to Kate, looking quizzical. ‘In fact, Kate, I don’t know why you don’t ask Scott to teach you. At least he lives in Sydney, so you’ll get more than one lesson out of him.’

      Kate busied herself snagging a server and ordering more drinks. By the time she’d done that, she had her poker face on. ‘From what I’ve gathered, Scott doesn’t sail any more.’

      ‘That’s true,’ Willa said. ‘You know, Weeping Reef was so beautiful, and we were all so excited to be there, but a lot of things went wrong. Things that…that changed us, I guess.’

      ‘Ain’t that the truth,’ Amy murmured. And then she took a deep breath, seeming to shake off a thought. She smiled—very brightly. ‘But that was then and this is now, so let’s drink to moving on. Onwards and upwards, ladies. Onwards and upwards.’

      The girls clinked glasses, although Kate wondered if her empty glass actually counted.

      ‘The music is starting and they’re opening the bar off the dance floor,’ Jessica said. ‘The crowd should spread out soon.’ She looked at the packed bar area. ‘I wonder if there’s a rose-petal-sprinkler in amongst that lot who might be persuaded to ask me to dance.’

      And then Jessica gasped, her eyes wide as saucers.

      ‘Well, bite me!’ she said. ‘Maybe I will come along tomorrow, Kate. Because Brodie looks mighty hot.’

      ‘Huh?’ Amy swivelled in her seat and squealed.

      Willa was the next to look. ‘Oh, my God. I told Rob to join us here, but…but…how…?’

      Kate turned very, very slowly as a cold finger of dread trailed its nail down her back.

      Rob, Brodie…and Scott. Heading across the floor towards them.

       CHAPTER FOURTEEN

      ‘LOOK WHO I roped in!’ Rob said as the three men reached the table.

      And then everyone was standing, exclaiming, hugging, laughing. Even Jessica, who’d never met Brodie, was in there.

      Everyone except Kate, who stayed in her seat with a fixed smile on her face, watching the reunion.

      There was a general scrabbling for chairs while Brodie went off to the bar for beer and the next round of cocktails was delivered.

      Rob sat and drew Willa onto his lap. ‘Scott called to see if I wanted to go for a beer with him and Brodie, but I persuaded them to join us here instead,’ he explained.

      ‘I’m so glad you did,’ Amy said. ‘Because we were just talking about them.’

      Scott sent Kate a brooding look, which started her heart thudding.

      But all he said was, ‘I’ll go and find some extra chairs,’ before stalking off.

      Brodie