Page 3

Tommy Kekoa wasn’t above using fair means or foul, so Linc was in a difficult position. Thus, Linc had no hesitation in twisting the truth or he would find a wedding and a wife organised for him before he knew it.

The president’s brow furrowed. ‘Why did I not know about that?’

Linc had trouble keeping his expression bland. ‘She isn’t here yet. We have been corresponding for a couple of years, and we met when I was in Australia last Christmas. Love at first sight.’ He glanced at the president, wondering if he had gone too far.

‘That’s wonderful news. I will look forward to meeting this woman very much.’ David’s eyebrows lifted but Linc held his gaze steadily. ‘And soon, Lincoln.’

Linc kept his smile innocent as he shook the president’s hand. ‘I will bring her over to meet you as soon as she arrives.’

Hell, where was he going to find a woman to masquerade as his future wife? The island was small, and everyone knew everyone else’s business there anyway.

As he climbed out of the taxi at the airport an hour later, he was hailed by a familiar voice. ‘Linc!’

Linc turned and his bad mood dissolved when he spotted Johnny Tatua, one of his mates from the island. As much as Tommy might hate him being the police chief, Linc was a local; he’d been born and bred on Deception Island and he had earned the senior position through hard work and study.

‘Hey, Johnny. Are you my pilot today?’

‘I am, bro. What brings you over to the big island?’

‘I was summoned by our president.’

The two friends chatted as they walked into the small terminal, and Johnny laughed when Linc told him about his day.

‘We’d better find you a woman and fast,’ he said with his usual grin.

Linc looked at him feeling glum. ‘Easier said than done, mate.’

‘Come and we’ll grab a coffee. The Brisbane flight picked up a tail wind, so the next island hop’s been brought forward an hour.’ Johnny said. ‘That’ll only leave half an hour or so between my two flights this afternoon. I’ll just about pass myself coming back.’

‘Have we got a few tourists coming in?’ Linc looked at him hopefully.

‘The flight you’re on has only got one tourist booked, but the second jet coming in from Brisbane is full.’

‘Maybe there’s a single woman on it. Someone who’s happy to pretend to be my fiancée,’ Linc said.

Johnny tapped him on the shoulder. ‘I don’t like your chances, mate.’ His voice was full of mirth. ‘What’s wrong with one of the president’s nieces anyway?’

Linc rolled his eyes. ‘Where do I start?’

Chapter Three

Jane

When I’d changed the dates on the holiday package and my air tickets online on Friday night, I’d cancelled Brad’s ticket, and the extra two thousand dollars that had been credited to my account was all that was between me and starvation. I’d used my credit card to pay for the hotel room while I waited for Monday to arrive.

The holiday package was an expensive luxury charter and I’d booked the yacht for ten days and ordered the gold level food and drink provisioning. It had taken everything I’d had in my savings account.

Stuff it, I’d thought. I might as well keep that and have a good holiday, because when I came back home, I was going to have to find a job.

How stupid had I been to hand over the bulk of my savings to Bradley to put a deposit on our dream house last month? I guess I’d get that back eventually.

Gah. And how stupid had I been to quit my job to “prepare for the wedding”? My mother’s words, not mine. I’d loved my job teaching at the sailing club, but I had an excellent reputation and contacts, so I was sure I’d find something. Maybe I’d move further north. I didn’t have to stay in Brisbane.

‘Have a wonderful trip.’ The woman at the check-in counter smiled at me as she handed over my baggage receipt.

The knowledge that no one in the whole world knew where I was going to be for the next couple of weeks while I licked my wounds and figured out what I was going to do, filled me with a sense of unfamiliar freedom. A tentative smile tugged at my mouth as I slung my handbag over my shoulder and headed for the gate.

There were only four other passengers waiting in the lounge on the lower floor of Brisbane Airport. It looked like the two-hour flight to Columbus Island wasn’t going to be packed. A young couple sat there watching a small boy play with a car on the carpet at their feet; the woman looked up and smiled at me, and I nodded back. An older man in shorts and a khaki work shirt was engrossed in a newspaper and wasn’t even aware that I took the seat opposite him.