There was no indication of how he felt about seeing her – though his delayed reply spoke volumes. He obviously wasn’t thrilled at the prospect.
‘I’m calling over to his house on Saturday morning,’ she told her sisters now.
Aoife gave her a sympathetic smile.
‘Yeah, I’m dreading it. But I also want to get it over with and know where I stand.’ She sighed. ‘I don’t think he’s exactly looking forward to it either. It took him ages to reply to my message – as if he was trying to think up an excuse not to see me.’
‘Guilty conscience,’ Mimi said with a sniff.
‘I even thought he might lie about being home.’
‘He could hardly risk it when you live right across the road.’
It wasn’t a consoling thought that Ben hadn’t lied to avoid seeing her only because he was afraid of getting caught out.
‘Well, let’s eat,’ Mimi said, getting up from the table. ‘I for one am starving.’
‘Me too,’ Sive said. ‘It smells great – and I need to start eating for two.’
‘We made extra specially,’ Aoife said with a smile.
‘Just put the Ben thing out of your mind for now,’ Mimi said as they set the table for dinner.
That was easier said than done. Sive knew she was going to be throwing a hand grenade into his life and she had no idea how he’d feel about it. She felt sheshouldknow – they’d been together so many years, surely she should be able to anticipate his reaction. But every time she tried to imagine it, she came up blank. He seemed so distant to her now, sometimes she felt she hardly knew him at all. Nevertheless, she tried to push it from her thoughts as they ate dinner.
‘There’s something else I’ve been wanting to talk to the two of you about,’ she said, winding tagliatelle onto her fork.
‘Okay.’
Aoife and Mimi looked at her expectantly.
‘It’s about this house.’ She hesitated and Mimi nodded for her to go on, a small frown between her brows. ‘You live with Rocco now, and you’ll be moving in with Jonathan once he gets his house back,’ she said, nodding to her sisters in turn. ‘So I was wondering … what we should do about the house?’
‘Do?’ Aoife frowned. ‘What do you mean?’
‘Well, I suppose we need to sell it.’
Mimi reared back in surprise, eyebrows raised, and Aoife frowned at her.
‘You don’t want to live here anymore?’ Mimi asked.
‘It’s not that. I love living here. But it’s not fair to you two. The house belongs to all of us, so I can’t go on living here on my own, rent-free.’ This had been preying on her mind since they’d gone up to the attic.
‘Why not?’ Mimi said. ‘I’ll be living rent-free in Rocco’s house.’
‘That’s different. You’re getting married, so it’ll be your house too.’
‘Jonathan doesn’t have a mortgage on his house, and I’m sure he won’t charge me rent.’
‘But that’s not the point. Mum and Dad left this house to the three of us. It was fine when we were all living here together, but now that we won’t be, you’re entitled to your share of it. And the only way you can get that is if we sell it.’
‘We don’t want our share, do we?’ Mimi looked to Aoife, who shook her head.
‘You’re having a baby,’ Aoife said, as if Sive could have forgotten that fact for a second. ‘You need the house, we don’t. Of course you should stay here.’
‘We’re not going to turn our niece or nephew out on the street.’
Aoife nodded. ‘That’s kind of the point of this house – it’s security for us. That’s why Mum and Dad left it to us.’
