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Sandra was pleased when Graysen took the seat beside her at the dining room table. She must tell him later that she valued his friendship. She’d ignore the little sparks of attraction that fired every time she was near him; she was too old for that sort of thing. But she knew he’d make a good friend.

Seeing Maggie come on to him in the bar had sent a spurt of jealousy surfacing, and she’d been taken aback at the strength of the feeling. Maggie was almost as difficult as Paul in her own way; she wanted to be the centre of attention. Sandra was sick of hearing how rich she was.

Maggie had taken the seat between Zed and Miska while Zed had slipped outside for a moment. She was in full flight to anyone who’d listen.

‘I’m supposed to be meeting Alan in Darwin after the trek, but it’s not a city that appeals to me. More of a country town from what I’ve heard.’

Sandra bit her lip; she wasn’t impressed hearing her home town disparaged.

‘He wants to buy a couple of hotels.’ She turned to Sandra on the other side of the table. ‘You’re from Darwin aren’t you, Sandy?’

‘I am.’

‘What do you think are the best places there, in terms of going to restaurants or upmarket bars? Alan can’t buy anything without my approval—it’s my money—so I want to be well informed.’

‘I’m sorry I can’t help you there. I don’t go out much.’

‘My God! What do you do at night?’

‘My apartment complex has a pool, and some social activities at night, plus I spend a lot of time with my girls.’

‘God, darling, you’re too young for that. With a bit of help in the makeup and clothes department, you could easily hook yourself a rich fella.’

Sandra didn’t know what to say, but when Miska winked at her across the table, she stifled a laugh that came out half between a snort and a cough.

‘Thank you, Maggie. I’ll keep that in mind,’ she said demurely.

The pressure of Graysen’s thigh against hers surprised Sandra, and when she looked up at him, he leaned down and whispered in her ear.

‘You’re perfectly fine as you are. Don’t let her bother you.’

Sandra’s smile was wide as she whispered back. ‘She’s not.’

‘Good.’

Graysen’s leg stayed against hers as two young waitresses brought their entrees out. Sandra’s heart thumped and she reached for her water.

‘So, I think we need to get to know each other a bit more tonight.’ Maggie seemed to have taken on the role of host, and talked over the quiet conversations taking place around the large table. ‘We heard everyone’s brief background back at the resort the other night, but now we’ve got to know each other a bit better, we’ll have a question-and-answer session. I’ll ask the questions. I’m good at this sort of thing.’

No one objected, but Sandra suspected it was because surprise had kicked in. Maggie started before anyone could say no.

‘Zed and Miska, we’ll start with you. Where do you live and what jobs do you do?’

Miska’s face coloured and she looked to Zed.

‘At the moment we’re in Aberdeen in Scotland. We’re both doctors and we do locum work around the United Kingdom. We move often,’ he said.

‘We lived in Aberdeen for a while.’ Clive’s voice boomed around the table. ‘I did a research year in the engineering faculty at the university. Where do you live?’

‘Um, we haven’t found anywhere yet,’ Miska said. ‘We’re starting work after our honeymoon.’

‘We had university accommodation. You might be able to get some of that. The hospital is a university hospital, or it was when we were there.’

‘Thirty years ago,’ Jenny added drily.

Zed and Miska looked at each other and smiled. ‘We’ll be fine.’