A Summer Scandal: The perfect summer read by the author of One Day in December. Kat French

Чтение книги онлайн.

СКАЧАТЬ baby years, all inscribed beneath with dates and captions. The day we brought our beautiful baby girl home, written beneath a photograph of them on the steps of the Lido, the shawled baby cradled in Monica’s arms. Della’s first tooth! underneath a shot of a laughing, pink-cheeked baby proudly displaying one tiny white bottom tooth. A homemade chocolate cake iced with Della’s name; it didn’t really need the Della is one! to place it in time, but the flurry of tiny coloured hearts beside it made Violet’s heart hurt. Snapshot after snapshot. Della can walk! Della’s first word – Dadda, of course!

      Violet closed the album and laid it with the others beside a box of tickets and faded receipts from high days and holidays. Monica had probably kept them with the intention of scrapbooking them, but for one reason and another they’d never got that far. They were precious, and they painted a picture of the woman her grandmother had been. Someone who loved her husband and her daughter, someone who – if the pictures were any gauge – laughed often, someone who dripped creativity from her fingertips. Vi found herself feeling more and more protective of Monica with every new thing she learned, and in turn determined to protect her legacy here in Swallow Beach. Her grandparents had been happy here for a while; she was going to do them both proud and try to be happy here too.

      Across the landing in the Lido, Cal immersed himself in his work to stop himself from wondering what his new neighbour was doing. He was far too used to having the top floor to himself, it was taking some getting used to knowing that there was a blue-haired mermaid girl living just across the hall from him.

      Running the leather collar he’d just finished through his fingers, he methodically checked the stitching, the precision of the buckle, the correct positioning of the studs. Every piece he produced was handmade to order, and his reputation was growing with every satisfied customer, much to his mother’s irritation.

      Checking his watch, he realised he was already cutting it fine if he was going to make his hastily rearranged date from last night. Clara would be pissed if he cancelled twice, and she was way too attractive to bother waiting around for a third attempt. He’d met her the week before at a convention and they’d hit it off, arranging to meet for dinner in Hastings.

      She ticked all of his usual boxes: forthright, striking, not looking for anything serious. He’d done serious and come out not so much with his fingers burned as with his fingerprints incinerated off – these days he chose his female company carefully to avoid complications. Which brought him back to Violet. She didn’t tick any of his boxes. Or else she did, in that she was definitely striking, but she was also his neighbour, and more than that, she seemed like someone who needed a friend while she was here. So, regretfully, he’d relegated himself to the friend zone, which was a novel and not all that pleasant place to find himself. Still. It’d be okay, he told himself. There were plenty of fish in the sea. Just not many mermaids.

      After an afternoon spent arranging her temporary workspace and a rather unglamorous dinner of cheese on toast, Violet decided to call it quits and have an early night. She’d called her mum, replied to a text from Simon and tomorrow she planned to get stuck into her next work order. Her whole world seemed to have flipped on its axis since she’d received the letter from her grandpa; she found the idea of getting her teeth into work familiar and soothing.

      Turning out the lights, she headed for the bathroom to brush her teeth, and then paused, surprised by the sight of a note pushed underneath her door.

      Конец ознакомительного фрагмента.

      Текст предоставлен ООО «ЛитРес».

      Прочитайте эту книгу целиком, купив полную легальную версию на ЛитРес.

      Безопасно оплатить книгу можно банковской картой Visa, MasterCard, Maestro, со счета мобильного телефона, с платежного терминала, в салоне МТС или Связной, через PayPal, WebMoney, Яндекс.Деньги, QIWI Кошелек, бонусными картами или другим удобным Вам способом.

/9j/4AAQSkZJRgABAQEBLAEsAAD/7SWoUGhvdG9zaG9wIDMuMAA4QklNBAQAAAAAAB8cAVoAAxsl RxwBWgADGyVHHAFaAAMbJUccAgAAAgAAADhCSU0EJQAAAAAAENPJn0s9jeoohUg1aoQVnCs4QklN BDoAAAAAAQEAAAAQAAAAAQAAAAAAC3ByaW50T3V0cHV0AAAABgAAAABDbHJTZW51bQAAAABDbHJT AAAAAFJHQkMAAAAASW50ZWVudW0AAAAASW50ZQAAAABDbHJtAAAAAE1wQmxib29sAQAAAA9wcmlu dFNpeHRlZW5CaXRib29sAAAAAAtwcmludGVyTmFtZVRFWFQAAAABAAAAAAAPcHJpbnRQcm9vZlNl dHVwT2JqYwAAAAwAUAByAG8AbwBmACAAUwBlAHQAdQBwAAAAAAAKcHJvb2ZTZXR1cAAAAAEAAAAA Qmx0bmVudW0AAAAMYnVpbHRpblByb29mAAAACXByb29mQ01ZSwA4QklNBDsAAAAAAi0AAAAQAAAA AQAAAAAAEnByaW50T3V0cHV0T3B0aW9ucwAAABcAAAAAQ3B0bmJvb2wAAAAAAENsYnJib29sAAAA AABSZ3NNYm9vbAAAAAAAQ3JuQ2Jvb2wAAAAAAENudENib29sAAAAAABMYmxzYm9vbAAAAAAATmd0 dmJvb2wAAAAAAEVtbERib29sAAAAAABJbnRyYm9vbAAAAAAAQmNrZ09iamMAAAABAAAAAAAAUkdC QwAAAAMAAAAAUmQgIGRvdWJAb+AAAAAAAAAAAABHcm4gZG91YkBv4AAAAAAAAAAAAEJsICBkb3Vi QG/gAAAAAAAAAAAAQnJkVFVudEYjUmx0AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAQmxkIFVudEYjUmx0AAAAAAAAAAAA AAAAUnNsdFVudEYjUHhsQHLAAAAAAAAAAAAKdmVjdG9yRGF0YWJvb2wBAAAAAFBnUHNlbnVtAAAA AFBnUHMAAAAAUGdQQwAAAABMZWZ0VW50RiNSbHQAAAAAAAAAAAAAAABUb3AgVW50RiNSbHQAAAAA AAAAAAAAAABTY2wgVW50RiNQcmNAWQAAAAAAAAAAABBjcm9wV2hlblByaW50aW5nYm9vbAAAAAAO Y3JvcFJlY3RCb3R0b21sb25nAAAAAAAAAAxjcm9wUmVjdExlZnRsb25nAAAAAAAAAA1jcm9wUmVj dFJpZ2h0bG9uZwAAAAAAAAALY3JvcFJlY3RUb3Bsb25nAAAAAAA4QklNA+0AAAAAABABLAAAAAEA AgEsAAAAAQACOEJJTQQmAAAAAAAOAAAAAAAAAAAAAD+AAAA4QklNA/IAAAAAAAoAAP///////wAA OEJJTQQNAAAAAAAEAAAAeDhCSU0EGQAAAAAABAAAAB44QklNA/MAAAAAAAkAAAAAAAAAAAEAOEJJ TScQAAAAAAAKAAEAAAAAAAAAAjhCSU0D9QAAAAAASAAvZmYAAQBsZmYABgAAAAAAAQAvZmYAAQCh mZoABgAAAAAAAQAyAAAAAQBaAAAABgAAAAAAAQA1AAAAAQAtAAAABgAAAAAAAThCSU0D+AAAAAAA cAAA/////////////////////////////wPoAAAAAP////////////////////////////8D6AAA AAD/////////////////////////////A+gAAAAA/////////////////////////////wPoAAA4 QklNBAgAAAAAABAAAAABAAACQAAAAkAAAAAAOEJJTQQeAAAAAAAEAAAAADhCSU0EGgAAAAADSQAA AAYAAAAAAAAAAAAABkAAAAQMAAAACgAxADYANwAyADYANwAtAEYAQwBUAAAAAQAAAAAAAAAAAAAA AAAAAAAAAAABAAAAAAAAAAAAAAQMAAAGQAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAABAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA AAAAABAAAAABAAAAAAAAbnVsbAAAAAIAAAAGYm91bmRzT2JqYwAAAAEAAAAAAABSY3QxAAAABAAA AABUb3AgbG9uZwAAAAAAAAAATGVmdGxvbmcAAAAAAAAAAEJ0b21sb25nAAAGQAAAAABSZ2h0bG9u ZwAABAwAAAAGc2xpY2VzVmxMcwAAAAFPYmpjAAAAAQAAAAAABXNsaWNlAAAAEgAAAAdzbGljZUlE bG9uZwAAAAAAAAAHZ3JvdXBJRGxvbmcAAAAAAAAABm9yaWdpbmVudW0AAAAMRVNsaWNlT3JpZ2lu AAAADWF1dG9HZW5lcmF0ZWQAAAAAVHlwZWVudW0AAAAKRVNsaWNlVHlwZQAAAABJbWcgAAAABmJv dW5kc09iamMAAAABAAAAAAAAUmN0MQAAAAQAAAAAVG9wIGxvbmcAAAAAAAAAAExlZnRsb25nAAAA AAAAAABCdG9tbG9uZwAABkAAAAAAUmdodGxvbmcAAAQMAAAAA3VybFRFWFQAAAABAAAAAAAAbnVs bFRFWFQAAAABAAAAAAAATXNnZVRFWFQAAAABAAAAAAAGYWx0VGFnVEVYVAAAAAEAAAAAAA5jZWxs VGV4dElzSFRNTGJvb2wBAAAACGNlbGxUZXh0VEVYVAAAAAEAAAAAAAlob3J6QWxpZ25lbnVtAAAA D0VTbGljZUhvcnpBbGlnbgAAAAdkZWZhdWx0AAAACXZlcnRBbGlnbmVudW0AAAAPRVNsaWNlVmVy dEFsaWduAAAAB2RlZmF1bHQAAAALYmdDb2xvclR5cGVlbnVtAAAAEUVTbGljZUJHQ29sb3JUeXBl AAAAAE5vbmUAAAAJdG9wT3V0c2V0bG9uZwAAAAAAAAAKbGVmdE91dHNldGxvbmcAAAAAAAAADGJv dHRvbU91dHNldGxvbmcAAAAAAAAAC3JpZ2h0T3V0c2V0bG9uZwAAAAAAOEJJTQQoAAAAAAAMAAAA Aj/wAAAAAAAAOEJJTQQUAAAAAAAEAAAAAzhCSU0EDAAAAAAbSgAAAAEAAABoAAAAoAAAATgAAMMA AAAbLgAYAAH/2P/tAAxBZG9iZV9DTQAB/+4ADkFkb2JlAGSAAAAAAf/bAIQADAgICAkIDAkJDBEL CgsRFQ8MDA8VGBMTFRMTGBEMDAwMDAwRDAwMDAwMDAwMDAwMDAwMDAwMDAwMDAwMDAwMDAENCwsN Dg0QDg4QFA4ODhQUDg4ODhQRDAwMDAwREQwMDAwMDBEMDAwMDAwMDAwMDAwMDAwMDAwMDAwMDAw

СКАЧАТЬ