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

lifted the duvet off, walked over to the bathroom, went to the loo, and looked in the mirror. A grey, tired image looked back at her. She picked up Luke’s dressing gown which she’d dropped on the floor the night before and put it on as she walked down the stairs.

At least the house was quiet, at least she didn’t have to talk to anyone. She could laze around for as long as she wanted. Try to recharge her batteries.

She flicked the switch on the kettle and waiting for it to boil opened the door of her blue Smeg fridge and poked around looking for carbs. At least she had carbs. Carbs give you energy, she thought with a smile, and flicked through a few of her pink plastic containers in the fridge and found nothing even remotely appealing.

In the huge black dressing gown, she sauntered over to the bread bin and looked inside. A whole bag of vanilla buns sat there tightly sealed in a bag. The sight of them made her laugh to herself. A whole delivery of eight Locals Only vanilla buns. Pretty Beach had done its work and come up trumps. She smiled to herself and thought that she could probably sell the buns on eBay.

She took two buns out of the bag, didn’t bother doing it back up, left the bag out on the worktop, and started to stuff one in as she stood at the window of the kitchen looking out at the garden.

Her phone buzzed in the pocket of Luke’s dressing gown and she knew from the ringtone that it wasn’t Bella. She took it out to have a look just in case it was Jeremy with something about Maggie.

Her friend Leza, Dr Leza.

Heard you’re feeling shattered from it all. Not going to offer any advice. Come round in your pyjamas if you want. I’ve seen you looking your worst, remember? Share a wine like the old days. **** the wine let’s make that vodka. You need a recharge.

Stuffing another piece of vanilla bun in her mouth, Juliette smiled. Leza always made her laugh and she wasn’t one to fluff around with niceties. Juliette read the text again, didn’t send a message in reply, and slipped her phone back into the pocket of Luke’s dressing gown. There was no way she was going around to Leza’s, pyjamas or not. She just needed a few days of doing nothing and then she’d get her energy back.

Chapter 31

A few weeks or so later, Juliette finished tucking the edges of the quilt into Maggie’s white iron vintage-style bed and looked around the room. Not a bad place to grow up - a beautiful bedroom with stripped timber floors, an exquisite old fireplace now a very pale pink, and huge floor to ceiling shutters looking out over a back garden brimming with pretty flowers.

Maggie was sitting on her pink gingham chair by the window with her dolly Delilah and watching a movie on her tablet.

‘I’m just going to vacuum in here, darling. Can you just pop the teddies on the bed please and put your jacket in the wardrobe? After I’ve done a few jobs we’ll walk down to the bakery and get some treats, shall we?’

‘Yes please, Mummy. Hopefully, they’ll have some cinnamon buns left.’ Maggie replied as she got up and put the teddies onto her bed.

Juliette adjusted the little butterfly lights that weaved in and out of the head of Maggie’s bed, picked up one of Maggie’s school blouses and a pair of Maggie’s white ankle socks that had made their way under the bed, and put them in the washing basket at the door.

She opened the big old sash windows to let in some fresh air, turned on the Hoover, and started to push it back and forth over the room, the rhythmic movement calming her mind.

Juliette had been undecided all the way through Bella’s surgeries and recuperation as to what she was going to do with A Christmas Sparkle and Lellery. They’d been brilliant and had pretty much offered Juliette whatever she liked, and had said that they would wait to hear from her.

In the end, Victoria from Lellery had come up with an interim plan which involved Juliette’s vintage Christmas collection as part of a small concession of up and coming brands coming to the store for the festive season.

As the time had come for Juliette to be involved with Lellery, Bella was doing well and the only thing that was really holding Juliette back was her energy levels. Something about Bella’s accident had definitely affected her get up and go.

She’d survived being a single mum, a horrid divorce, the death of both her parents all quite well, but Bella’s accident had knocked her for six.

What was she going to do, though? Laze around and put her life on hold for months?

As she pushed the vacuum back and forth she knew what Bella would say if she even knew that Juliette was contemplating not doing the Lellery Christmas work. She would be mortified.

Juliette walked over to the socket, pulled out the plug and just as the lead was going back into the Hoover and she was closing the window she saw her friend Lottie walking down the cobbled lane at the back.

Wondering why Lottie was going the back way, she watched as Lottie stopped at a rose, put her nose in and sniffed. Then she took a pew on one of the benches a few doors down, picked a piece of what Juliette knew was lavender from a huge plant and inhaled that too.

Juliette stood there watching Lottie. Lottie would kill for an opportunity like Juliette had with Lellery. She knew what Lottie would say, she would tell her to suck it up and get on with it just like Lottie had had to do when her husband had died, leaving her alone with three young boys, no money, no real skills, and no serious support.

Lottie had picked herself up,