Sam grinned. ‘I did. And you were right. I think they were relieved to spend some one-on-one time with their son, and I relaxed at the house and cooked for them all. I don’t think his mother had ever had someone do that for her, and we got along brilliantly after that.’
‘Well, I’m pleased to hear it.’
‘You might also like to see this,’ Sam whispered, holding out her left hand.
Georgia’s eyes widened as she looked at the diamond nestled on her friend’s finger. ‘He proposed and you didn’t tell me?’
‘I wanted to show you,’ Sam said. ‘And ask if you’d be my maid of honour. We’re going to get married next summer.’
‘You know the answer is yes.’ Georgia opened her arms, her tears replaced with happiness. ‘I’m so happy for you, Sam. This is wonderful news.’
‘But you know I’m not going to be barefoot and pregnant once we’re married, right?’ she said. ‘If you want to talk new business concepts, or start-ups we could invest in…’
‘You know what,’ Georgia said. ‘I’m confused about a lot of things right now, but the one thing I’m certain of is that I want to start another company from the ground up. I’ve realised that’s what makes me happy, only this time I don’t want to start it with a sale in mind.’
‘What are you thinking?’
‘I want to grow something that we keep,’ she said. ‘I want to retain ownership, grow something long term. I’ve been thinking about our last business, whether I should have said yes to staying on as a creative director, but I’ve realised that wouldn’t have made me happy, either.’
‘Well, I’m in,’ Sam said. ‘There’s no one else I’d rather be in business with.’
‘The question is, what?’ Georgia said. ‘I wanted to come back from my trip re-energised and with some new ideas, but I don’t have anything yet.’
‘Perhaps you need to take some more time off and travel. Let yourself be open to new concepts.’
Georgia raised her eyebrows at Sam.
‘No, I’m not pushing you back to Switzerland, although I’m all for that decision if you want to take a sabbatical there. But, honestly, why not travel? You’ve always wanted to, and maybe it’s what you need?’
‘That’s not your worst idea,’ Georgia said. ‘I’ll think about it.’
‘But can you promise me that you might stop in Geneva atsomepoint in your travels?’
Georgia ignored Sam completely and reached for one of the paper bags. ‘You said you had croissants?’
Sam snatched the bag from her. ‘Only if you start at the very beginning and tell me all about Luca,’ she said. ‘I want every last detail.’
Georgia rolled her eyes, but this time Sam didn’t stop her from taking the bag.
‘Oh, and where’s the sapphire?’ Sam asked.
‘It’s a very long story,’ Georgia replied, breaking off a piece off the flaky croissant and savouring the buttery taste. But as soon as she swallowed, all she could think about was Luca, andthe breakfast they’d shared that morning on the way to the museum.
‘You’re thinking about him, aren’t you?’
Georgia took another bite, not wanting to answer Sam’s question. Perhaps going back to Geneva in the near future wasn’t such a bad plan after all. Perhaps she should have stayed longer in Switzerland, should have made more of an effort to connect with the descendants of her great-grandmother. If she had family out there in the world, shouldn’t she at least try to meet them?
‘Before you tell me the story about the sapphire, can you promise me one thing?’
Georgia waited, taking a sip of coffee as she studied the earnest expression on her friend’s face.
‘Just promise me that you’ll be open to love. With Luca. Or any other man, for that matter,’ Sam said. ‘You deserve love, G. No matter what happened in the past, or how afraid you are of losing someone else you care about. Please don’t push him away for the wrong reasons.’
‘You’re presuming that Luca feels the same way about me as I do about him,’ Georgia said, taking another bite of croissant and sinking back into the cushions. ‘He’s a handsome man who had fun with a woman who was only in town for a week or so. I hardly think he had love in mind.’
‘Didn’t he take you to meet his mother?’
‘It was business. She knew about the sapphire. Like I said, it’s a long story.’
