On the last night of the trip all the ladies were having dinner together on the hotel terrace. Large platters of seafood were placed in the middle of the two tables they occupied.

“Ouch,” Isabelle exclaimed. “I think this langoustine is still alive, it’s fighting so hard against being peeled.”

Diane laughed. “You’re just afraid of damaging your manicure.” That morning Isabelle had declared she’d had enough of playing golf, after three days of it, and she’d gone off for a day of pampering at the hotel spa.

“Of course I am,” Isabelle said. “Aren’t my nails pretty?” She held out her hands in front of Diane again.

“Yes, yes, dear.” Diane patted her arm. “For the fifth time, your nails look exquisite.”

The sound of a piece of cutlery being tapped against a glass interrupted their banter.

“Ladies,” Suzanna’s voice boomed from the other table. “As this is our last evening before we fly back to the UK, I have prepared a few words.”

“Here we go,” Isabelle muttered. “Let’s hope she keeps it briefer than her speech at last year’s season closing dinner.”

“Shush,” Diane scolded her. “Be nice.”

“I want to thank you all for coming on this fabulous trip,” Suzanna was saying. “I think we can all agree it was great to get away from the British weather and enjoy this wonderful sunshine…”

Isabelle nudged Diane. “Any second now, she’s going to thank Tamsin for improving her game.”

“I would like to give a special thank-you to Tamsin for helping us all improve our game.”

Diane snorted a laugh and took a mouthful of wine to cover it. Everyone else applauded in agreement.

“It was great to get to know our new pro in this beautiful setting. And now I think Tamsin would like to say a few words.” Suzanna turned towards Tamsin, who was sitting next to her.

Tamsin stood and towered over Suzanna by at least a head. She cleared her throat with a little cough. “First of all, I want to thank Suzanna for the great organisation and for taking such good care of all the logistics.” She paused as the ladies gave a polite applause.

Tamsin seemed at ease speaking in front of an audience. Diane could only admire this, as she herself was petrified just at the thought of it. She had declined the role of Lady Captain several times over the years, scared by the thought of having to give a speech after every Ladies’ Day competition.

“Most of all,” Tamsin continued, “I want to thank all of you ladies for being so friendly and welcoming to me. A few of you I met here for the first time, and some of you I had the pleasure of knowing already.” Tamsin looked straight at Diane as she said this. “It has been wonderful to spend this time with you, both on the golf course and off. I feel like I have made new friends, which will make settling into my new home so much easier.”

Diane’s eyes were locked on Tamsin’s as if they were tethered to each other.

The rest of the room faded away and Tamsin was speaking only to her. After a while Tamsin’s words barely even registered anymore as Diane sat staring at her. A feeling of want started in her gut and swelled with every second that passed.

“I could not have hoped for a better introduction to the RTGC and I hope to see you all often on the course.” Tamsin’s gaze went around the assembled ladies now and Diane’s awareness was brought back to the room. “And you know where to reach me to book a lesson.”

Everyone laughed and clapped their hands vigorously.

Tamsin sat down and Diane saw Suzanna pat her on the back, offering her own congratulations. She felt a pang of regret at not having been sat at the same table as Tamsin.

“What’s the matter with you?” Isabelle said. “You look like someone just ran over your bunny.”

“Sorry,” Diane answered, “I was lost in thought. And I don’t have a bunny.” She slapped Isabelle playfully on the shoulder. She smiled at her friend, but couldn’t shake the troubling thought that had dawned on her: could it be that the regret at not sitting next to Tamsin on this last evening was actually jealousy?

Diane tapped the ‘Check In’ button on the screen of her tablet. The flight back to London was at nine the next morning, and she wanted to just drop off her bags at the counter and head to the departure lounge. No waiting in line to check in for her.

She went through her carry-on bag to make sure she had everything she needed for the journey home. Her passport and purse were there, but she couldn’t find the book she was reading. She looked over to her bedside table, but the book wasn’t there either.

Diane had taken it down to dinner to show Judy. She could have sworn she had brought it back up again after the meal, but maybe she’d left it downstairs.

She knocked on the bathroom door and said, “I’m going down to the restaurant, I think I forgot my book.”

Isabelle came out of the bathroom. “I’ll probably be asleep by the time you get back, I’m exhausted.” She gave Diane a kiss on the cheek. “Sleep well.”

Diane took the stairs and went straight to the terrace, where her book was still lying on the table she’d been sitting at. As she walked through the lobby, she spotted Tamsin at a table in the hotel bar with a glass of wine in front of her.

Diane hesitated. She wanted to get enough sleep before her alarm went off at six tomorrow, but her feet seemed to be of a different mind and started to walk towards Tamsin.

“Having a night cap?” Diane found herself asking.

Tamsin looked up to Diane with a smile on her face. “I am indeed. Will you join me?” She didn’t seem at all surprised that Diane had showed up.

“I don’t want to disturb you if you’re enjoying a bit of time alone, after four days with a bunch of cackling women.” Diane made to walk away.

Tamsin waved off her comment. “Please, sit,” she insisted. “To be honest, I was kind of hoping you’d come back down again. I really enjoyed our bender on the first night. It’s only fitting we do it again on the last one.”

Tamsin’s smile reignited the want that had manifested itself in Diane earlier. She sat opposite Tamsin and gestured to the waiter to bring them two glasses of wine.

“I can’t argue with that,” Diane said, smiling back at Tamsin. “Although I could do without a hangover since we’re going to be stuck on a plane for three hours.”

“Then we’ll just have the one,” Tamsin said, as the waiter deposited their drinks on the table. She picked up her glass and held it up.

Diane did the same. “What should we drink to this time?”

Tamsin seemed to give this some thought, all the while keeping her green eyes trained on Diane. “To new beginnings,” she said simply.

Diane clinked her glass against Tamsin’s and took a sip. She assumed Tamsin was talking about her own new beginning at the RTGC, but she couldn’t help but feel there was something more to the toast.

“Did you have a nice time?” Diane usually wasn’t one for small-talk, but she found herself at a loss for more meaningful words.

Tamsin was still looking at her intently. “I had a lovely time. You ladies are a pretty nice bunch. I would be happy to go on another group trip with most of you.” Her smile turned cheeky at this comment.

“Most of us?” Diane was puzzled. “Who would you not want to go with?”

“What I meant was, there are a few of you—one of you especially—whom I wouldn’t mind going on a solo trip with.” Tamsin’s smile disappeared for a brief moment and her face turned anxious, as if she’d just realised that she’d said something inappropriate. “For more intensive coaching, I mean. It’s difficult to give everyone enough of my time and attention on these group outings.”

“Of course,” Diane said, regarding Tamsin. Did she just say what I think she said? Surely she wasn’t really talking about golf lessons?

Diane couldn’t be sure which “one” Tamsin was referring to. To her knowledge, she was the person with whom Tamsin had spent the most time outside of the group activities. A glow warmed her. She took a sip of wine to hide her flushed cheeks, but she didn’t want to drink too fast. She found herself wanting to make their one drink together last as long as she possibly could.

Why was that? Was Tamsin flirting? Did Diane want to flirt back? And if she did, what did it mean? It had been a long time since anyone had shown any romantic interest in her. She had loved Lawrence dearly, but even she had to admit that in the last few years of their marriage they had been more like friends than passionate lovers.

But the thing was, she did feel like flirting back at Tamsin. If indeed, that was what was happening.

“I, er,” Diane started, unsure of how to proceed. Then the words seemed to come to her of their own accord. “I wasn’t entirely honest with you the other night. When I said I had never had any romantic feelings for a woman.” She paused, trying to assess what Tamsin was thinking of this seemingly abrupt change of topic.

Tamsin’s lips formed into a smile again and she looked at Diane expectantly. “You weren’t?” Her voice was gentle.

“No,” Diane continued, encouraged by the look on Tamsin’s face. “After we talked the other night, I thought back some more to my time at boarding school. I realised that the girl I mentioned, the one I ‘practiced’ with”—she made air quotes with her fingers—“well, I was probably a little in love with her. After the kissing incident, she started spending a lot of time with another one of our classmates, and I felt completely cast aside. Until now, I always thought it was just the disappointment of losing a friend. But I really felt terrible for a long time, and I missed her so much. Looking back, I realise that what I was actually feeling was rejection and jealousy.”

Diane’s gaze had drifted to Tamsin’s mouth while she was talking and it was almost like she was hypnotised by Tamsin’s lips, by her smile.

“Interesting,” Tamsin said.

The words snapped Diane out of her trance-like state and she looked up at Tamsin’s eyes. Where before they had looked at her with only kindness, they now exuded something else. What it was, Diane wasn’t sure, but it caused a flurry of heat to spread throughout her body.

Diane couldn’t remember the last time she’d felt like this. Probably never. The unfamiliarity of it just increased her confusion. She knew it was her turn to say something, that she should probably expand on what she’d just revealed.

But no words came to her, so she said the only thing she could. “I should go up to my room.” She rose from her chair.

Tamsin stood as well. “Diane, wait.”

“Isabelle will be wondering where I am.” Diane started walking away. “I’ll see you tomorrow morning,” she said over her shoulder and almost ran to the stairs.

By the time she got to the first floor her mind was a whirlpool of questions and confusion. She was right back at boarding school, a bumbling teenage girl, overwhelmed by emotions she was not equipped to handle.

She reached her room but didn’t go in immediately. Instead, she leaned her back against the wall and closed her eyes, inhaling and exhaling deeply to try and steady herself. She had to regain her composure before entering the room, in case Isabelle was still awake. Her friend would know instantly that something was not right.

After a few deep breaths her mind seemed to settle somewhat; the questions that had been swirling around retreated to the background and the logical side of her brain took over again. What had she been thinking, trying to flirt with a much younger woman? It had just been a flash of temporary insanity, a silly whim brought on by too much wine. Diane kept repeating this over and over as she opened the door to the room. But even to herself she didn’t sound completely convincing.