Page 80 of The Honeymoon Affair

‘Cuter than cute,’ I say. ‘Happy New Year to you too. Where’s Dad?’

‘Helping Adrian in the barn. Well, I say helping. He’s probably getting in the way.’

I grin. Dad has a vision of himself as a handyman, but his approach to DIY is patchy at best. After a decent interval of living with his efforts, Mum usually gets ‘a man’ in to do a proper job.

‘Everything OK with you?’ she asks. ‘Was the party good?’

She’d been pleased to hear I was going to a New Year’s Eve party. She always complains that I volunteer to work at the end of December far too often.

‘It was excellent.’ My heart is beating more rapidly. ‘And . . . well . . .’

‘What?’

‘I’m starting the new year with a bang.’

‘How?’

I hold up my finger with the opal ring. She looks at it in puzzlement.

‘A gift?’

‘Temporary,’ I say. ‘It’s an engagement ring. I’m engaged.’

She’s silent for so long that I think the screen has frozen. It’s only Bo, Adrian and Cori’s adorable miniature dachshund, running around behind her that confirms we still have a connection.

Azaria coos at the dog and Mum resettles her on her lap. Only then does she look at the screen and at me. ‘Have you got back with Steve?’ she asks. ‘That’s not your proper ring.’

‘Not Steve,’ I reply. ‘I’m engaged to Charles.’

‘Who the hell is Charles?’

‘I told you about him. The writer I met in the Caribbean.’

‘Charles Miller?’ Mum can’t keep the shock out of her voice. ‘Charles Miller the author? Are you mad? He’s old enough to be your father.’

‘No he’s not. And I’m not mad either. I love him.’

‘Izzy. Iseult.’ She can’t keep the anxiety from her voice. ‘You hardly know the man. You met him on holiday. I don’t want to even think that you had a fling with him, but if you did, it was a holiday thing. You can’t possibly be serious about marrying him.’

‘Why not?’

‘You were there for a fortnight and you’re only back a few weeks. You’re on the rebound.’

‘I’m not.’

‘Izzy, please.’ Mum sounds really stressed. ‘Please tell me that at least you won’t rush into marrying him.’

‘We haven’t set a date yet.’

‘He was married before, wasn’t he?’

‘Yes. To his agent. She handled his business affairs and they became close and I’m sure they both thought that getting married was a good idea. Clearly it wasn’t.’

‘Did he tell you everything about it?’

‘We haven’t discussed it much.’

‘You should.’