Salt Girl (Seahouses Mystery Book 3) by Katherine Graham

Author:Katherine Graham [Graham, Katherine]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781838319564
Publisher: Quartz Books
Published: 2023-05-03T16:00:00+00:00

19

Izzy wiped away the mist on the mirror and considered her reflection.

She’d taken advantage of the fair weather over the past couple of weeks and had the faintest hint of a tan. As much of a tan as one might hope to get in Northumberland, at least.

It had been more than two years since she’d had a proper holiday. She closed her eyes and allowed her mind to wander, her imagination and the heat of the bathroom transporting her somewhere hot, somewhere she could swim in the sea without getting hypothermia. Somewhere the sun would warm the sand until it was too hot to walk on. A hotel with waiter service by the pool and daily fruit plates in the room and a turndown service before bed. Where the concierge carried your luggage everywhere and the bartender knew how to make a wicked martini.

That felt like a parallel universe.

She sighed, opening her eyes to the reality in front of her. The threaded web of creases at the edges of her eyes was deeper than ever, and she struggled to even remember the last time she’d had Botox.

Back in Hong Kong, she’d had a standing appointment at the hairdressers. Now her roots were showing, mousy-brown tips betraying her true colour to the world. As much as she wanted to, Izzy found she barely cared.

She looked good for her age, though. Thank god for all those preventative treatments she’d done while she’d still had the chance. Her fortieth birthday had slid by at the beginning of lockdown, celebrated with a modest takeaway for two, a glass of champagne, and a consolatory FaceTime with the kids. Although she regretted not marking the milestone in style, she liked that most people might struggle to guess how old she was.

She massaged a serum into her skin, her fingertips raking in slow, circular movements across her cheeks, just as the assistant had demonstrated at the beauty counter in some far-away brightly-lit department store. The bottle was almost empty, and she would have to go online to order another. Nowhere around here sold it.

The picture came to her again. Her wedding day. She held the image, playing with various elements of the photograph in her mind’s eye. No matter how many times she did this, something was always off. Never quite right. A church? Not St Cuthbert’s. A registry office, perhaps. A long white dress? She squirmed at how ridiculous she looked, and even the Izzy of her vision blushed, uncomfortable beneath layers of silk and boning, lace and stares. Something shorter? More discreet, low-key. Tailored? A suit?

She mentally erased the veil, the bouquet of flowers, the snowfall of confetti dusting the ground at her feet. All that remained was her and Jake, standing hand-in-hand.

Was she over-thinking this whole thing?

Anyway, they had to finish the house first. The police had written to confirm that their garden was officially theirs again, and the builders were coming next week to begin work on the orangery. She should get Finn back over to make a start on the kitchen.

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