impossible to forget about him.
‘Are you looking forward to dinner tonight?’ Sofia asked her as they sat at the hairdresser together. The official party that had originally been planned to celebrate the anniversary had been replaced with a small dinner for the immediate family due to George’s surgery. The big celebration would now take place in two weeks’ time but Sofia had decided that a family dinner was enough of an occasion to warrant a trip to the beautician and the hair salon.
Georgie looked across at her mother. Today was such a special occasion for her that she would have to try, at least, to pretend to be happy. ‘Of course.’
‘Are you sure you don’t want to invite Michael? You know he’s welcome.’
‘I’m positive. It will be nice to have dinner with just the family. I feel like I still haven’t caught up with all the boys properly since I got home from Cairns,’ Georgie said, making excuses. ‘Michael doesn’t need to come.’
She could feel her mother’s watchful gaze on her but she avoided eye contact. ‘How are things going with him?’
‘Fine.’
‘What does that mean exactly?’
Georgie didn’t need to look at her mother to know she’d raised her eyebrows and was giving her a questioning look. ‘Fine means fine. It means there are no problems, no dramas. There’s no anything really.’ She sighed.
There was a brief silence and Georgie knew her mother was weighing up her next words. ‘Can I ask you a question? When you picture your own fortieth wedding anniversary, who do you see by your side?’
Georgie didn’t respond. She didn’t know what to say. How honest to be.
Sofia didn’t wait for an answer. ‘It’s not Michael, is it?’
Georgie shook her head.
‘Is it Josh?’ Sofia asked.
She risked a glance at her mother. ‘Why do you ask?’
‘For the twenty-seven years that I’ve been lucky enough to be your mother I’ve never seen you look like you do when Josh is around. You glow from within, as though something about him gives you an extra boost, makes you complete. Are you in love with him?’
Georgie swallowed hard. ‘It doesn’t matter if I am. We don’t have a future together.’
‘What makes you say that?’
‘He doesn’t want to get married. He doesn’t want a relationship. His future is about his career.’ Hot tears gathered in her eyes as she remembered that Josh hadn’t chosen her. ‘His dream is to be head of the emergency team at Brisbane General. His dream isn’t me.’
‘Have you heard from him?’
Georgie shook her head.
‘It’s going to make it difficult for you to find someone while you’re still in love with Josh.’
‘I’ll get over him.’ She was not going to admit to her mother that she was right. It wasn’t going to do her any good to acknowledge her feelings. She wished she was brave enough to admit she loved him, but the confidence that Josh had seen in her, the confidence he believed she had, seemed to have forsaken her. Somehow he’d helped her believe in herself. ‘I don’t want to spend the rest of my life alone. I’m sure you and Dad can find someone for me, seeing as I haven’t done a very good job of that myself. Maybe an arranged marriage isn’t such a bad idea. It worked for you.’
‘Ours was a slightly different proposition.’
Georgie frowned. ‘What do you mean?’
‘Our families came to Australia from the same village in Greece. Your father and I practically grew up together, but when we fell in love we decided the best way to ensure that we were able to get married was to let your grandparents believe they were arranging our marriage.’
‘You fell in love and then got married?’ This version of the story was different from the one Georgie had grown up hearing.
Sofia was nodding. ‘Your father sowed the seeds of the idea and then we let our parents work it out. That arrangement suited everybody. We all got what we wanted. Your grandparents believed they had final approval and your dad and I got each other. Your father wants to see you settled and happy but we don’t want you getting married because we think it’s the right thing for you to do. We would never encourage you to marry someone you don’t love. We want you to be happy.’
Georgie wanted to be happy again too, but right now she was miserable. She wanted to feel complete but she knew that was impossible. She’d gone to Cairns on a mission to find herself. The irony