By the time the afternoon came, Mal realized he hadn’t seen Piper properly since they had first woken up that morning. With Therese and Boyd being at the house, they’d gone through all the plans, and she had disappeared. He wanted to see her before he went on stage, but he was finding it difficult to catch her on her own. He spotted her over by her booth, chatting with her brother, and began walking toward her.

“I never expected that you would have been able to pull off something like this.”

Mal recognized Cora’s voice instantly. “Why? Because I’m too self-absorbed and could never do it without help?” He turned to look at her and saw she was immaculately kitted out in white jeans, platform espadrilles, and a bright red-and-white-spotted top. Her long blond hair was glossy and freshly styled. It was typical that Cora would find an outfit that was about as far removed from the occasion as possible.

Cora laughed. “More to do with the amount of work involved. Probably not something you did on your own.”

Mal held up his hands. “You’re right. I had help. Piper and Becki have done a great job to pull this together in such a short space of time.”

“It was such a good idea to donate all the proceeds to the ticket holders that weren’t able to get refunds from your cancelled shows.”

“More out of necessity than choice.” Mal didn’t want to discuss that side of things with Cora—she didn’t need to know about his financial disasters.

Mal glanced over toward the park, where Cora’s footballer boyfriend was throwing a ball about with some kids. Judging by the way Cora was staring at him, there was no feeling remaining on her side toward Mal, just like there wasn’t on his. He was very much enjoying being with Piper and the less complicated relationship they had. He felt as if he were allowed to be himself and wasn’t expected to be something he wasn’t. It was also good to be able to eat steak without being guilted about it.

“I know you didn’t ask me here just to up the crowd numbers,” said Cora.

Sometimes she had a way of knowing that he wanted something even before he asked.

“Come with me,” he said. He took Cora’s hand and led her toward Piper’s booth. He was disappointed to find that Josh was manning it and there was no sign of Piper.

“Where’s your sister?” he asked.

Josh shrugged. “Said something about needing to talk to Bronte. Can I help you guys with something?” He tried to be casual around Cora, although the jiggling from foot to foot was giving him away.

“Thanks, we just want to take a look at the stock.” Mal held up a set of Piper’s earrings. “What do you think of these?”

Cora examined them and then the rings, bracelets, and necklaces that Mal pointed out to her. She turned them over in her hands, slipped them on her fingers, and held them up to her lobes, seeing how they looked on her in the mirror that hung from the lintel. “They’re pretty. Why do you think I’d be interested in them?”

Mal exhaled a sigh of relief. He was so pleased that Cora didn’t hate the range. “Piper designed and made them. I was wondering if you’d feature them on your blog, maybe get some of your friends to do the same?”

Her eyes narrowed as she turned back to Mal. “Ah, it’s starting to make sense now. Piper likes you and you think you need to do her a favor.”

The insinuation that Mal was only doing this for Piper because she had a crush on him made his blood boil. He and Cora had been over for a while now and she had already moved on. Just because he hadn’t hooked up with a Hollywood A-lister didn’t make his feelings for Piper any less real than Cora’s were for her new footballer boyfriend. “I’m not doing her a favor. I think she’s very talented and deserves a break.”

Realization crossed Cora’s face. “Oh, it’s more than that then. You have a crush on her.”

“We’re together.” As he spoke the words aloud, Mal’s heart swelled as he recognized the depth of the feelings he had for Piper. What had started out as an attraction, developed into more as they spent a greater amount of time together. “Whatever you think about me right now, I’m trying to do something nice for a woman I could very easily fall in love with.” He drew to a halt as he thought about what he’d just said.

Piper’s brother’s head whipped round. “What did you just say?”

Mal held up his hands. “Yes, it’s true; I think I’m in love with your sister.”

“Then you’d better hurry up and tell her. Because she’s all up for moving back in with me and”—Josh gestured to the contents of the booth—“there really isn’t enough room in Kismet Alley for all this stuff.”

He was right. Mal had to find Piper, and quickly. He scoured the immediate vicinity for any sign of her. Nothing. Just as he thought he spotted her at the entrance to one of the funfair rides, Therese and Becki came into his peripheral vision. Now there was a formidable duo.

“You’ve got about fifteen minutes before you go on,” said Therese. She consulted her phone, tapping back a reply to whoever had just messaged her.

“The crowd are really up for it.” Becki pointed to the swell around the front of the stage. People were swaying and dancing to the pre-gig music that was playing and for the first time in a long time, Mal got a rush of adrenaline. It was what he had been missing on the recent tour. He wondered how much of that was to do with Piper. If only he had chance to speak to her before his set.