A Pretty Beach Wish by Polly Babbington (scary books to read TXT) 📗

said with a false air of pleasantry.

Nicky Jenkin coughed and spluttered a bit. ‘Things move extremely fast in the investment property business.’

‘Yes, I know. That’s why I wanted this.’

‘If I remember correctly you were trying to do a deal with me outside of the estate agents.’

‘Of course. I was investing in a house in one of the fastest growing property markets in the country.’

And with that, Juliette flicked her hair over her shoulder, picked up her bags that she’d placed on the floor while she’d opened the gate, looked at Nicky Jenkin as if she was now dismissed, and put her phone to her ear to call Luke.

Chapter 21

Juliette finished her call to Luke who was working late for the fifth night in a row and put her phone back in her bag. She pushed open the door to the Marina Club, signed in at the front and made her way to the bar.

‘Hi Juliette. I haven’t seen you in here for a while. How are you getting on in Mermaid Lane?’ Dominic the barman asked.

‘Not too bad Dom, thanks. Yes, I’ve been really busy with it all, and so I’ve not been out much.’

‘Drinks with the girls though tonight, is it?’

‘Yep,’ Juliette said, pointing over to Holly, Xian, Lottie and Nel.

‘They’re well on their way,’ Dominic said laughing. ‘What can I get you?’

‘I don’t suppose there’s any of Lottie’s Locals Only elderflower wine?’

‘You’ll be lucky, and I know she didn’t bring any in with her. Hang on and I’ll go out the back and check.’

A few minutes later and Dom came back with a small bottle of the elderflower wine. ‘Last one, unless she’s got a few more in her bag,’ he said smiling and poured a glass of the wine for Juliette.

‘Thanks Dom. You’re a lifesaver. I love this stuff.’ Juliette said as she paid, picked up the wine and walked over to the table where Nel, Xian, Holly and Lottie were sitting.

‘Good evening everyone. Guess what I’ve got?’ Juliette asked.

‘Looks very much like my very own recipe,’ Lottie said giggling.

‘It’s the last one, apparently.’

‘Possibly. I’ve a stash of them at home in the cellar though,’ Lottie replied.

Nel in a skin-tight shiny pink one-shoulder top got up and kissed Juliette on the cheek. ‘How are you? How’s the luscious Luke and his abs?’

‘Ha, Nel, you’re funny. He’s good and I’m good.’

‘The new house? Settled in nicely?’ Nel asked.

‘We have. It’s weird, I feel like I’ve lived there forever already.’

‘What a lovely feeling to have,’ Nel observed.

‘You’ll never guess who stopped by outside it the other day. Talk about get one back on someone. I’m never normally one to hold a grudge but...’ Juliette trailed off and took a sip of the elderflower wine.

‘Oooh, you’re not. Sounds interesting. Who?’ Holly asked and put her chin on her hand and listened.

‘Nicky Jenkin!’

‘What? What was she doing back in Pretty Beach? I wonder if Shane Pence knows?’

‘Being nosey. It was so good. I pretended I didn't know who she was, and she was looking up at the house and couldn’t believe how different it looked.’

‘She went on about the property market in Pretty Beach and I replied by saying that all along I had been playing her. Looking for a deal and an investment. When in reality all I wanted was a forever house in Pretty Beach.’

‘Gold! I can’t believe you did that, Juliette,’ Holly replied. ‘That’s so unlike you!’

‘It was such a nice feeling. She made me feel terrible all those months ago before Christmas.’

They all chatted, got in another round of drinks and Nel had them all in stitches regaling her latest adventures in dating.

Holly leant forward to Juliette.

‘How are you getting on with the Lellery thing?’

‘Yes, really good. I’ve had a video meeting and been up there on the train to discuss the contracts and I’ve got a solicitor looking over it all. If it goes ahead, I’ll need to go up there and present to the marketing people too at some point.’

‘Wow. That’s brilliant Juliette. You must be over the moon.’

‘I am. Though I haven’t had too much of a chance to think about it all. It’s all gone so fast since I went on the podcast.’

‘Hmm. Yes. That podcast does some amazing things for Pretty Beach. Lucian mentioned my Christmas puddings last year. I couldn’t understand why they’d sold out nearly overnight until he came in for his cinnamon buns and told me he’d mentioned them on the show.’

‘Yeah. It’s massive, Holly. The power of the digital world is mind-blowing.’

‘So, when does the Lellery thing get going, then?’

‘I’ve got to get up there in a few weeks' time for the planning and then the styling installations nearer to Christmas.’

‘Wow. What a ride that will be.’

‘I know. I can’t wait. I’ve always wished I could do something like this with my Christmas stuff and all of a sudden, it’s happening. Like for real.’

‘Well, life does seem to be giving you an exciting old ride at the moment.’ Holly remarked.

‘I know, you’re not wrong. I only hope this is the last surprise life has for me for a while.’ Juliette replied. But in the back of her mind she had a funny little feeling that that statement wasn’t quite true. And she wasn’t wrong, life sure enough had another surprise for her yet.

Chapter 22

Bella had arrived in Pretty Beach for the weekend, and Maggie had said she didn’t want to go on the boat again because she wanted to look at bunnies with Jeremy. So, not wanting to force Maggie to have another day boating Juliette had driven over to Jeremy’s to drop Maggie off for the day.

Juliette said hello to one of Jeremy’s neighbours, walked down the path to his house with Maggie and Bella and pressed the bell on the front door. Two minutes later, Jeremy dressed in a white linen shirt, navy-blue shorts, and boat shoes, opened the door. He flashed the megawatt smile. All three of them were about to be Sparkled.

‘My three