Mimi held out her hand. She was beaming, and Sive didn’t think she’d ever seen her sister so completely and simply happy.
‘Oh, it’s beautiful,’ Sive breathed taking Mimi’s hand to examine the ring. It was chunky, a large rectangular emerald flanked on all sides by sparkling diamond clusters, and it was nothing like the standard engagement rings that filled the windows of every jewellery store in the city. It was so Mimi, and it was perfect.
‘Gorgeous,’ Aoife said. ‘Vintage?’
‘Of course. Art deco.’
‘This is a bit sudden, isn’t it?’ Aoife said.
‘Hardly,’ Mimi said with a laugh. ‘I mean, give or take four years, we’ve been together since we started acting school. And we’ve agreed we’re not mentioning those four years ever again. They’re wiped from the record.’
‘Understood,’ Aoife said.
‘And when you know, you know,’ Rocco said happily, turning to join them.
‘I mean, it’s not as if either of us was going to marry anyone else, is it?’ Mimi said. ‘We want to be together and have a family, so why not get on with it?’
Sive gasped at the mention of having a family. ‘You’re not—’
Mimi laughed. ‘Calm down. No, I’m not pregnant. We’re not movingthatfast.’
‘But watch this space,’ Rocco said with a grin.
‘Golly! This is … wow!’ Lost for words, Sive grinned at them, but she felt her face crumbling and her eyes welling up. She didn’t know why she felt so emotional, but she was suddenly overwhelmed. At least they’d be written off as happy tears – but she knew they weren’t, at least not entirely, and she couldn’t fathom why. She was genuinely thrilled for them. She adored Rocco, and she loved seeing her sister so happy.
‘Sorry,’ she said, swiping at her eyes. ‘I’m just …’
Aoife threw an arm around her.
She was grateful when Mimi’s attention was drawn away by another wave of well-wishers. She never thought she’d be so glad to see Andrea.
‘Congratulations!’ Andrea beamed, taking Mimi’s hand and peering at the ring on her finger. ‘I’m so happy for you both.’ She threw an arm around Mimi and pulled her into a brief hug.
‘Thanks.’
‘I can’t help feeling I had a little part to play in this.’ Her eyes darted coyly between Mimi and Rocco.
‘Oh?’ Mimi raised her eyebrows. ‘Can’t you?’
‘Well, if a certain someone hadn’t given you a nudge …’ Andrea gave Mimi a conspiratorial smile.
Sive could tell Mimi was seething, but she plastered on a closed-mouth smile.
‘I saw this coming from the start, didn’t I?’
Big deal, Sive thought. You’d want to have the sensitivity of a sledgehammer not to see that Rocco and Mimi belonged together.
‘I know I gave you a bit of a run for your money for a while there,’ Andrea said in a low voice as Rocco moved away. ‘But the better woman won. No hard feelings.’ She gave Mimi’s arm a friendly rub.
‘That’s really big of you, Andrea.’
Andrea drifted off to join the group around Rocco, congratulating him.
‘Ugh, that girl!’ Mimi said through clenched teeth when she was out of earshot.
‘She’s unbelievable,’ Sive laughed. ‘Earlier she was being mean to Sam and implying he only got a part inA Christmas Carolbecause he used to go out with you.’
‘What?’
