Page 93 of The Honeymoon Affair

‘Anyway, Iseult . . .’ Ariel settles back in her chair and sips her wine. ‘Tell me all about you and Charles. It was such a big surprise.’

‘Nothing to tell,’ I say. ‘We met, we fell in love, we’re getting married. As soon as you guys get divorced,’ I add. ‘Which from what he says won’t be an issue as you have the papers all ready to go.’

She flinches at that, and I can’t help smiling to myself at getting under her skin. And then I feel a spark of anxiety at the fact that she clearly cares.

‘Have you heard back yet?’ Charles asks her.

‘No, but you know yourself what it’s like over Christmas and New Year. I’ll give Sheedy a buzz next week and tell her to move it onto the priority list.’

‘Good,’ I say. ‘Because getting married is on mine.’

Charles laughs. Ariel smiles, but it’s a tight smile.

‘I’m happy for you,’ she says to him. ‘Truly. And I think you and Iseult make a lovely couple.’

‘Izzy,’ I say. ‘Everyone calls me Izzy. Except Charles, because he can’t help being pompous.’

There’s a sudden glimmer of amusement in Ariel’s eyes, but it disappears quickly.

‘I meant to say to you, Charles, that Graham is considering a slightly earlier publishing slot if you get the edits back in time.’ Her tone is suddenly brisk and businesslike.

‘This is a completely different process and I want to get it right,’ he tells her. ‘Izzy says that the worst thing in mysteries is the author taking the reader for granted. I don’t want to do that.’

‘You’re not,’ I assure him.

‘Thanks.’ He smiles at me, then opens another bottle of red and refills my glass. I didn’t realise it was empty.

‘I’m delighted you’re having such a good influence on him,’ says Ariel. ‘It was so nice that you were able to take a break at the White Sands. It’s lovely to get away to the sun in December.’

‘Yes.’

I can feel Charles watching me.

‘Izzy was due to get married there,’ he says, emphasising the ‘Izzy’ and smiling at me. ‘Thankfully, she didn’t.’

‘You left your fiancé at the altar!’ Ariel sounds both shocked and slightly impressed.

I’d like to let her think that’s what happened, but I admit that we’d split up before then and I went to the resort with my cousin instead.

‘I might pass that plot line to Lucy, if you don’t mind,’ she says.

‘Lucy?’

‘Conway. She’s my romance author. She’s always looking for new ideas.’

‘I’m not sure,’ I say. ‘There are plenty of couples who break it off.’

‘But not that many where the jilted bride-to-be jets off to the luxury resort where she was due to be married and gets engaged to a world-famous author there instead,’ she returns.

‘Please don’t let someone turn my life into a book,’ I beg her.

‘If you’re going to live with Charles, you’ll learn that he turns everything into a book,’ Ariel says. ‘Every little thing, no matter how trivial.’

‘No I don’t.’ Charles shoots her a dark look.

‘I’m giving her fair warning,’ she tells him. ‘Your first book was based on your own failed romance. Your second on our early relationship, and the third—’

‘You wrote books about being with Ariel?’ I interrupt her and stare at him.