Midsummer Magic Read Online Free

didn’t?’
    ‘Yup, Harry just proposed!’ said Josie triumphantly. ‘Of course we need to get a proper ring, but this will do for now.’
    On closer inspection, Diana realised Josie was wearing the ring pull from a Coke can on her finger.
    ‘That’s, that’s – words fail me,’ Diana suddenly felt the urgent need to sit down, and slumped against the wall and slid down it. She wanted to say something more effusive, but somehow the words wouldn’t come.
    ‘I know,’ said Josie, sliding down to join her, ‘and it’s all down to you. You
are
going to be my bridesmaid, aren’t you?’
    Diana screamed in delight.
    ‘You’re getting married!’ she whooped, ‘and I’m going to be bridesmaid. That is fabulous!’
Fabulous
. That was the word she’d been searching for.
    ‘I know!’ said Josie, ‘isn’t it great?’
    Diana suddenly felt a sudden, sober chill. It was great, of course it was great, but drunken misery set in, ‘What about u-u-uss?’ she wailed. ‘You’re going off to get married and you’ll be shacked up and happy and I’ll be on my own and single for ever!’
    Great sloppy tears were running down her cheeks. Damn, that punch had been a serious mistake.
    ‘Oh, Di, don’t say that,’ said Josie, clutching her in panic, ‘you’re my best friend, I couldn’t live without you.’
    She was crying too.
    ‘You couldn’t?’ Diana paused and blew her nose, not very attractively. She hoped Philip didn’t choose that particular moment to look for her.
    ‘Of course not,’ said Josie, sobbing nearly as loudly as Di was, ‘you’re always going to be my best friend. What would I do without you?’
    ‘But it’s not going to be the sa-aa-me,’ hiccoughed Diana.
    ‘It will, it will,’ said Josie, ‘pinkie promise.’
    She linked her little finger in Diana’s, setting off a fresh round of wailing, ‘Oh, that’s so lovely,’ she wept, ‘I love you so much.’
    ‘And I love you too,’ howled Josie, hugging her tightly.
    ‘But you love Harry more,’ said Diana.
    ‘I do,’ said Josie, her eyes shining through her tears, ‘I really do.’
    Diana looked around her, suddenly surprised that they were sitting on the floor.
    ‘Then what are we doing sitting here?’ she said. ‘
You’re
getting married. That is
so
fantastic. C’me on, let’s dance!’
    She staggered up, dragging Josie after her, and went to find Harry who was sitting looking slightly dazed in the corner, ‘Woohoo, you two getting married, that is so brilliant! Listen up, everyone, Harry and Josie have just got engaged!’
    ‘This calls for champagne!’ someone shouted.
    ‘We don’t have any,’ laughed Josie, ‘we’ll have to make do with vodka.’
    ‘Vodka it is!’ said Diana. She busied herself filling people’s glasses, and then declared a toast, ‘To Harry and Josie!’ she said. ‘Harry and Josie!’ everyone said, raising their glasses and cheering, and the next half hour disappeared in a flurry of congratulations and back slapping. It was only as the party began to die to down that Diana remembered Philip. She looked round for him and couldn’t see him anywhere. Sneaky bastard. A bleep from her phone confirmed it.
Sorry, had to dash. Catch you soon?
This year, next year, sometime, never. She looked over at Josie caught in a romantic clinch with her future husband, and tried not to feel that she was getting left behind.
    In a bar in Australia, Anthony Lambert, known to his friends as Ant, opened his laptop and checked his emails. He’d sent a rude message to his best friend, Harry, the previous day in response to the dire (in Ant’s mind at least) news that he was settling down and moving in with his girlfriend, Josie, after a ridiculously whirlwind romance lasting a few short months. Ant had been horrified, not least because at twenty-eight the notion of settling down seemed as far removed as it had when he’d first met Harry at uni ten years ago, but also because Harry had already dated Josie