Chapter 17
‘Sive, love,’ Bridget pulled Sive into a hug as soon as she was through the door.
‘I guess Ben’s told you my news, then?’ she said dryly.
‘He did.’ Releasing her, Bridget gripped Sive’s hands tightly in both of hers. ‘How are you feeling?’
‘I’m fine. I feel great.’
‘No morning sickness?’
‘Not so far.’
‘Well, we’re here if you need anything – lifts or someone to go with you to your appointments – anything at all, you’ll let us know, won’t you?’
Sive nodded and her eyes welled up, overwhelmed. ‘I will. Thank you.’
‘We’re just across the road.’
It was a nice thought that her child would have grandparents nearby.
‘Thanks, Bridget.’ She hugged her again. ‘I really appreciate it.’
‘Not at all.’ Bridget patted her back. ‘I can’t believe Cal and I are going to be grandparents!’ She beamed. Then she hesitated, biting her lip. ‘I mean, I hope you’ll want us to be.’
‘Of course I do.’ Sive frowned, puzzled Bridget could think otherwise. ‘You’re the only shot at having grandparents this child is going to have.’
‘I just wasn’t sure … we feel bad about the way things happened with Ben,’ Bridget said in a hushed voice.
‘Well, I’d love you to be involved, as much as you want to be.’
‘Be careful what you wish for,’ Bridget said with a mischievous smile. ‘Anyway, Ben’s in the living room.’ She waved to the door. ‘Go on in.’
‘Your mother didn’t kill you, then?’ Sive said to Ben as she entered. He was sitting on the sofa.
‘No.’ He smiled sheepishly. ‘She’s trying not to let on to me, but she’s secretly over the moon.’
This time Sive sat beside him on the sofa. ‘Why didn’t you just call over to my house instead of summoning me here? Scared of Mimi?’
Ben gave a crooked smile. ‘Of course I’m scared of Mimi. What man in his right mind wouldn’t be?’
‘That’s fair. How did the stag go? You’re back early.’
‘Yeah, well, this seemed more important. It was good, though.’ He fell silent and seemed awkward, fidgeting and shifting in his seat.
‘So … what are you thinking?’ she prompted him. Having called her over here to talk, he didn’t seem inclined to say anything.
He turned so he was facing her and cleared his throat. ‘I’ve been thinking and…’ He broke off, blushing.
‘Yes?’
‘Um … do you want to get married?’
Sive was speechless, her mouth flapping open and shut like a grounded fish.
She had not expected that. Was he actually serious?
She studied his face, that had broken out in a riot of discomfort as vivid as a rash.
She waited to see if there was more – would Ben produce a ring from his pocket maybe?
But no. Apparently, that was the entire proposal, if you could call it that.
‘Do you?’ She frowned. Not that she really needed to ask – the pained look on his face was almost comical.
Ben shrugged. ‘I mean … I don’t know. Maybe it’s the right thing to do?’
‘Right for who?’ It certainly didn’t feel right for her. And it didn’t look like it was right for Ben either. ‘What about …’ She tried to remember Anna Purna’s real name. ‘Your girlfriend?’ she finished.
‘We’d split up, obviously.’
‘Well, if you married me, I should certainly hope so.’ This conversation was taking on a surreal aspect. She felt like she was in some sixteenth century farce. ‘You haven’t split up with her already?’
‘Well, no. I mean, I didn’t know…’
Sive felt laughter bubbling up inside her. This was beyond ridiculous. She decided to have some fun with it and punish Ben a little for being such a prize idiot.
‘You really mean it?’ she asked, making her eyes wide and excited.
Ben shrugged. ‘If you want.’
Well, it wasn’t the most romantic proposal she could hope for.
‘Oh wow! Yes!’ she squealed, beaming at Ben. She struggled to stop herself laughing as he tried and failed to disguise the shock and horror that played across his features. ‘Yes!’ she cried, larding it on. ‘A thousand times yes!’ She threw her arms around him, burying her giggles in his shoulder.
‘Oh, really?’ Ben mumbled as she pulled back.
‘Yes! Of course I’ll marry you, Ben. What girl could resist such a proposal?’
Ben blushed, blinking at her silently and giving himself another neck rub. ‘I wouldn’t call it a proposal, exactly.’
Good, Sive thought. Neither would I.
‘I’m just, you know, throwing it out there.’
‘Throwing it out there – wow, this is so romantic! Well, I think it’s a brilliant idea.
So we’re getting married! Yay!’ Sive squealed, clapping her hands.
She didn’t even have to fake her grin. She was enjoying herself enormously.
‘It’s hard to believe, isn’t it? You seem almost as surprised as I am, and you’re the one who proposed. ’
‘Well, I suppose I wasn’t expecting—’
‘We should start planning the wedding as soon as possible,’ Sive babbled, interrupting.
‘Before I get too big. Not that there’s any shame in being a pregnant bride,’ she added quickly.
‘But planning a wedding is a lot of effort, and I’ll probably be too tired to deal with it all when I’m further along.
Plus there’s heartburn and swollen feet and all sorts of things to take into account.
’ Ben was looking more panicked by the second.
‘Mind you, non-alcoholic champagne is probably less acidic than the real thing, I imagine. But anyway, I think we should do it sooner rather than later. Had you any ideas? Anywhere in mind for the reception?’
‘Um, no. I hadn’t thought that far ahead.’
‘No, you hadn’t thought this through at all, had you?
Too excited at the thought of getting married, I suppose.
We should start making some lists.’ She dug into her bag and pulled out a notebook and pen.
‘There’s so much to organise. Flowers and cake and invitations.
’ She tapped the pen against her teeth. ‘I suppose I should start looking at dresses.’ She gasped, as if a thought had just occurred to her. ‘You didn’t even get me a ring!’
‘Well, I didn’t know if you’d want to…’
‘Right. Very sensible. Best not to go to the expense of springing for a ring when I might not even want to marry you.’ She paused for a beat. ‘Which I don’t, by the way,’ she said quietly, deciding he’d suffered enough and it was time to put him out of his misery.
‘Uh, what? You … don’t?’
‘No, of course not, you absolute chump!’ She laughed, giving his shoulder a gentle punch.
‘Really?’
‘Really, truly.’
Relief flooded his face. He was almost teary with it.
‘You are the last man on earth I could ever be prevailed upon to marry,’ she said loftily, even though she knew the Pride and Prejudice quote would be lost on Ben.
He frowned. ‘Why did you say yes, then?’
‘Sorry. I was just teasing.’
He gave her a shaky smile, his shoulders dropping. His whole body relaxed in a pantomime of relief. ‘I must say, I don’t miss your weird sense of humour.’
‘Sorry. But honestly, you deserve it.’ She pursed her lips at him. ‘I mean, what were you thinking? Because call me psychic, but something tells me you don’t want to marry me either.’
‘Well, I didn’t expect you to say yes,’ he admitted. ‘But I wanted to give you the option.’
‘Well, thanks for that … I guess. What would you have done if I’d said yes for real? I mean, what about Anna?’
‘Anna?’ He frowned in confusion.
‘Um … your girlfriend.’
‘Inez.’ He shrugged. ‘I’d have broken up with her, obviously.’
‘Well, that’s nice to know.’ While she was annoyed with him for being so daft, she couldn’t help being touched that he’d have gone through with it.
He’d stick by her and do the right thing, even if it was the last thing he really wanted.
‘Poor Inez, though. You didn’t think you should split up with your girlfriend before you propose to someone else? ’
‘Well, I was pretty sure you’d say no, to be honest.’
‘Ooh, that was a very high-stakes gamble. I must have really put the wind up, saying yes.’
‘It’s not like that. I was just trying to do the right thing. Mum said—’
Sive reared back in horror. ‘So your mum put you up to this? This bizarre proposal was her idea?’ She’d have credited Bridget with more sense.
‘No, she doesn’t know anything about it, and please don’t tell her. She just said I had to step up and be a proper dad – support you and all that.’
‘And this was what you came up with? You know you can still be a dad, even if we’re not together?’
‘And I want to be. I’ll do whatever.’ He raked a hand through his hair, appearing distraught. ‘I wish—’
She knew what he was thinking – she’d thought it herself so many times since she’d found out she was pregnant. This would all be so much easier if Anna had never happened, if they hadn’t split up. They’d be doing this together – as she’d always assumed they would one day.
‘You don’t, though,’ she said softly. ‘Not really. You’re happy with An—Inez.’
He sighed, silently acknowledging the truth of that.
‘There is one thing I want to ask you, though.’ It had been preying on her mind ever since they’d broken up, and even more so after she found out she was pregnant.
She’d been too blindsided at the time to ask, but she needed to know the answer.
Ben would be going back to Portugal tomorrow, and she may never have the nerve again to ask.
‘Yeah?’
‘When you came back from Nepal … why did you wait a week before breaking up with me?’ That felt like the biggest betrayal of all – that the last time they’d been together, he was thinking about someone else, and he hadn’t really been with her at all.
It was what hurt the most once she was over the initial shock of their break-up.
‘You must have known then that you wanted to be with Inez.’
He shrugged. ‘I wasn’t sure, I suppose. I thought maybe it was just a holiday thing, you know? That I was missing you, and once I was back here with you, everything would be the same as always and those feelings would go away.’
‘I suppose I get that. But it wasn’t very nice of you to sleep with me when you were thinking about someone else.’