Tina manned the guest welcome. She didn’t even bother with our name badges.

‘Wow—just wow!’ she exclaimed, taking in our little trio. ‘You sure do wash up fine.’

‘Most people do with just the right application of a credit card,’ smiled Sal y.

‘And your shoes!’

‘Don’t mention the shoes,’ Sal y hissed.

‘What’s that?’ said Simon.

‘Nothing, darling.’

‘Do you need any help?’ I asked hopeful y, wondering if I could be spared the painful smal talk and sit out here with Tina for the evening.

She flapped me away. ‘Don’t you dare, Sky!

Anyway, my shift’s almost over. I’l come find you.’

Simon had already moved on, in pursuit of a waiter with a tray of drinks. He snagged me a sparkling water and took two glasses of white for Sal y and himself.

I lost my parents two minutes later. Sal y got cornered by the local arts reporter from Aspen and Simon forgot his dislike of such events in a detailed discussion of Hockney with an earnest young student from Denver. At a loose end, I drifted, exchanging a few words with friends but not settling anywhere.

‘Now there’s a sight worth seeing!’ exclaimed Zoe, licking sauce off her fingers. She nudged me towards the door. ‘The whole Benedict clan has turned up—not a common event.’

So here were the fabled Benedict boys. Now, smartened up for the evening, I saw why people thought they could be trouble: they looked like a team of superheroes, though the jury was stil out on whether they were on the side of good or evil. My eyes zeroed in on Zed first, who was looking real y great in a black shirt and matching trousers.

Pants. The correction came through in my mind with the impression of a smile.

I don’t want to know about those.

Don’t you?

How could he make me blush from across the room? In fact, how could he even be talking to me?

Get out of my head.

I can’t cut it out now I’ve started. Has anyone told you that you could stop traffic in that dress?

Is that good or bad? I was mad replying to a disembodied voice.

It’s good. Very, very good.

Oblivious to our conversation, Zoe giggled. ‘Oh my, Zed’s looking at you as if he’s going to eat you!

Be stil my beating heart!’

I angled my shoulder to him, trying to regain some semblance of calm. ‘He’s not.’

‘It’s not me he’s looking at, more’s the pity. Then again, that stil leaves Trace, Uriel, Victor, Wil , Xavier, and my Yves to enjoy. Aren’t they just—’ She twirled her hand, lost for words.

‘Which is which?’

‘Xavier’s the tal est. Just graduated. He’s real y serious about skiing. Got a chance at the Olympic slalom team if he keeps at it. Trace’s a cop in Denver, I think. He’s the cool, capable one who looks like he could eat razor blades without flinching.

Uriel’s at col ege, doing post-grad in forensic science. Wil ’s the big, broad-shouldered guy, also at col ege, not sure what course he’s taking. He’s a bit of a joker and has a longer fuse than the rest of them. Hmm, who’s left?’

‘Victor.’

Zoe patted her chest. ‘Oh, Victor. Real y mysterious.

Recently left town but no one knows what he’s up to. Rumour has it he lives with Trace in the city, but I’m not so sure. I think he’s a spy or something.’

‘How do you remember who’s who?’

‘Easy: Trace, tough; Uriel, ultra intel igent; Victor

… um … very mysterious …’

‘Cheat.’

Zoe grinned. ‘Wil , wacky; Xav, X-treme sports; Yves, yummy—and I’l leave you to figure out Zed.’

She hummed the alphabet song. ‘If they used the Benedicts to teach letters, us girls would pay way more attention.’

I laughed. ‘I wonder why they’re al back this weekend?’

‘A family birthday? Mr and Mrs Benedict are real y nice—a bit weird at times, but always kind if you drop by the house.’ She took a sip of her drink.

‘I met Mr Benedict at the river.’

‘Great, isn’t he? Only strange thing is why anyone as clever as Mr Benedict would want to spend his life running the ski lift. You should see their bookshelves, crammed ful of the kind of things my sister’s reading at col ege, philosophy and stuff.’

‘Perhaps they’re outdoors kind of people.’

‘Maybe.’ She nudged me. ‘But here’s someone who doesn’t want to be outdoors right now.’

Zed had left his brothers and was heading straight for us. ‘Hi, Zoe, Sky.’ He grinned at us both.

‘Zed.’ Zoe waved at Yves who was watching her across the room. ‘Everyone home?’

‘We had a bit of family business. You both look great.’

Zoe was reading the body language and, being the star that she is, decided to make tracks. She swung her long hair over her shoulder, her bracelets jingling.

‘Thanks, Zed. You don’t look so bad yourself. I’m just gonna go and catch up with Yves. See you.’

She slipped away, leaving us alone in our corner of the crowd. Zed stood in front of me, obscuring my view of the rest of the room so it felt as if it was just him and me.

‘Hi, there,’ he said in a low voice.

‘I thought we’d said hel o already.’ Wow, this boy was sending out heat.

‘I said hi to both you and Zoe before. That one was just for you.’

‘Oh.’ I bit my lip to stop my laugh. ‘Hi.’

‘I wasn’t joking when I said you look amazing.’ He reached over and brushed a loose curl back behind my ear. ‘Where did al this come from?’

‘I keep it tied back at school. It can be a nuisance.’

‘I like it like this.’

‘Wel , you don’t have to brush the tangles out each night.’

‘I’m more than happy to volunteer.’

‘Oh.’

‘Yeah, oh.’ He laughed and slid his arm around my shoulders. ‘Shal we go mingle?’

‘Do we have to?’

‘Yep. I want you to meet my mom and dad.’

‘Have you told them?’ I didn’t believe al this soulfinder talk, but if he did, I wondered what he’d done about it.

‘No, I want you to be happy with the idea when we let them know. They’l be unbearable when I break the news.’

Was that the real reason, or was he just playing me, spinning a yarn to hook me in? I didn’t know if I could trust my instincts when it came to him.

‘What about your brothers? Can I meet them?’

‘You can meet Yves as you know him already and the damage is done, but I want you to keep wel away from the others.’

‘Why? Wouldn’t they like me?’

‘How can anyone not like you?’ He stroked my arm, sending goosepimples along the bare skin. ‘It’s not that. It’s just that they’l tel you al the most embarrassing stories about me and you’l never speak to me again.’

‘I don’t think that’s very likely.’

He looked down at me, his smile tender. ‘No, I don’t think so either.’

We paused by Mr Keneal y, joining in the applause as he finished his set on the piano. Mr Keneal y acknowledged his audience then frowned when he saw Zed was my escort.

‘Would you like to play, Sky?’ he asked, obviously thinking it a good way to separate us.

‘No thanks, sir. Not tonight.’

Zed increased his grip on my shoulder. ‘Would you like me to get you a drink, sir?’

Mr Keneal y did a double take. ‘That’s very kind of you.’ He reassessed our pairing. ‘Glad to see she’s a good influence on you.’

‘Early days yet,’ I murmured.

‘I’l have a soda—a Coke.’

‘Be right back.’ Zed dropped his hold on me and dipped into the crowd to catch a waiter. It was almost funny the way he was trying to impress on me that he could be polite when he put his mind to it.

Mr Keneal y was obviously trying to think of how to broach a difficult subject. He shuffled the music.

‘Settling in OK, Sky?’

‘Yes, thank you.’

‘Everyone looking after you?’

‘Yes, sir.’

‘If you have any … er … problems with anyone, you know there’s a school counsel or, don’t you?’