“Ah, so not a thing. Are we both vying for your hand?” Meredith said.

“Neither one of you is vying for anything. I’m not interested, Meredith. I thought I had made that clear. And you.” Lou looked at Mia, who had taken a step back. “Just… don’t.”

“Fine.” Meredith rose, the feet of her chair scraping loudly against the floor. “Your loss,” she mumbled and made her way out of the Pink Bean.

They both watched her skulk off. Then Mia said, “I’m sorry. I was out of line.”

Lou sighed. “Oh, it’s fine. It’s just, well, you know.”

“A little bit ironic given our history,” Mia said.

Was she really going to go there?

“Quite.” Lou didn’t know what to say.

“Now that we’re, uh, talking…” Mia shuffled her weight around. “I know I haven’t gotten back to you about Annie’s. I’m working on something, but I’d like to talk to Kristin about it in private first. Then we can discuss it further with you and Jo. I hope that’s all right.”

“Yeah, sure. I haven’t been able to come up with any brilliant plans myself so… all our hopes rest on you.” Lou actually felt compelled to smile at Mia.

Mia smiled back. “No pressure then.”

“None.”

“Micky tells me you’re responsible for all those new people turning up in my classes. I, er, really appreciate your help. So does Amber.”

“It’s just a few ads.” Mia waved her comment away. “It’s really nothing.”

“I just wanted you to know that your efforts are appreciated.”

“That’s nice to hear.” Another smile. “I’ll leave you to it now.” Mia started walking off.

“Mia…” Lou suddenly thought it wholly unfair that she was the reason Mia was barely allowed into Glow.

“Yes?” Mia turned around and slid her hands into her jeans pockets.

“If you want to take some classes at Glow, please feel free to come.”

Mia sent her a crooked grin. “That’s okay. I’m not that much of a yoga person, anyway. But thanks for offering.” Mia slunk off, looking like she had shrunk a few centimetres since she had stood towering over the table, trying to scare off Meredith.

Lou watched her and wondered if this was perhaps equally hard on Mia. To come face-to-face with a part of her past that must be difficult to reconcile with the person she had become. Because if there was one thing shining through as time progressed, it was that Mia Miller was a good person now. Either that, or she had half the population of Darlinghurst fooled—Lou included.

Chapter Fourteen