‘Easy for you to say.’
‘That’s fair.’ For all her forthright attitude, Mimi hadn’t been proactive about making the first move with Rocco.
‘Anyway, I’ve decided it’s a good thing if we just remain as friends.’
‘Have you gone off him?’ Mimi asked.
‘No, I just don’t think that’s a good idea.’
‘Why not?’
‘Because … We’re practically family now. He’s Jonathan’s brother and he works at Halfpenny Lane. It’d be so awkward if something happened and then we broke up. We’d still have to see each other all the time.’
Mimi frowned. ‘You can’t let that stop you. If it’s his working at Halfpenny Lane that’s the problem, we can always fire him.’ She took a bite of tortilla chip and raised her eyebrows as if it was a genuine offer.
Sive laughed. ‘He’d still be in our lives because he’s Jonathan’s brother.’
‘And I amnotsacking Jonathan,’ Aoife said with a grin.
‘Well, you could always have an amicable break-up,’ Mimi said. ‘Honestly, I can’t see the two of you having anything else. Besides, why would you break up anyway? You’re not the breaking up type, Sive. You’d probably still be with Ben if he hadn’t—’ She broke off and took a sip of sparkling water.
‘Gone off with Anna Purna,’ Sive finished. It hit her with a thud that Mimi could be right. She’d been content with Ben, drifting along in their little bubble, and she’d probably have continued that way, never questioning the relationship. It had been safe and familiar. But had she beenhappyin a deeper sense? Had there been joy? Excitement? Not for a long time, she realised now. Their relationship had been like an old sofa thatyou’d had for years, comfortable and cosy, but it was justthere, literally part of the furniture and you never questioned how much you really liked it and whether you’d still pick it out now, given the choice.
‘I’m just not sure it’s a good idea, me and Sam. I mean, he’s a really good friend. I don’t want to screw that up.’
‘Ben was your friend, wasn’t he? It didn’t stop you.’
‘And look how that turned out.’ She took a sip of margarita. ‘And Sam’s practically part of the family. He’s like a brother to me.’
‘Really?’ Mimi gazed at her, one sceptical eyebrow raised. ‘You seriously believe you’d be happy for Sam to treat you like his sister?’
‘Sure,’ Sive said with a shrug. ‘It’d be nice to have a brother.’
‘You don’t need a brother. You’ve got us. And how do you think you’d feel when Sam brought his girlfriend home to meet the folks?’ Mimi peered at Sive over the rim of the glass she had raised to her lips.
Sive’s heart lurched. She hadn’t thought of that. She already felt sick at the idea.
Mimi nodded. ‘That’s what I thought.’
‘But it isn’t just up to me, is it? And I don’t think he sees me like that, so—’
‘Oh, Sam sees you like that, believe me. Back me up here, Aoife.’
Aoife nodded. ‘Mimi’s right. He’s completely smitten.’
‘If you really like Sam, you should go for it,’ Mimi said. ‘Maybe it won’t work out, but don’t let that stop you taking a chance. Maybe it will. Look at me and Rocco.’
Sive reared back in shock. ‘But you broke up and you didn’t see each other forfour years. You were devastated.’ It had almost destroyed her sister when Rocco had left her to moveto LA. It had frightened Sive and Aoife how broken she’d been, sinking into a fugue state for months, a ghost of her former self.
‘Yes, but that just goes to show, doesn’t it?’
Sive raised an eyebrow, not sure what exactly it was supposed to show.
‘I didn’t lose him for good. He came back.’
‘Are you saying if it’s meant to be, it’ll happen? What’s for you won’t go by you?’
Mimi shrugged. ‘Maybe. But you know I don’t believe in that fated mates nonsense. It won’t just happen while you sit idly by. When Rocco came back into my life, I risked putting myself out there again. We both did. We could have hidden our feelings and settled for being friends, but we took a chance. And look at us now.’
