Winter at Pretty Beach by Polly Babbington (best affordable ebook reader TXT) 📗

stocktake of what I need where and how much I’ll need to get,’ Sallie said, wiggling the handle of the pram.

Juliette pulled another of the boxes out of the car. ‘I’ve just had a very nice shipment from Oklahoma of vintage bits. I’m going to do a shoot at the weekend - pop over if you like. Don’t suppose you’ll have time with all this on your plate though, will you?’

‘I’ll see, thanks, that sounds great. I’ll have a look through the website too.’

‘Yep ok, it’s A Christmas Sparkle - go to the main site, that’s the nicest to have a poke around.’ Juliette said as she looked over the top of a huge box and pressed the button to shut the boot on her car.

‘When will you know more on Nina?’ Juliette asked as they stood on the pavement.

‘They can’t say - she’s stable at the moment though. They think it may be some sort of virus that affects the respiratory system.’

‘Right - doesn’t sound good. Look give her my love. Sorry, I’ve got to rush in, I need to collect Maggie. Let me know if you want to come over at the weekend, or if you need a hand.’

‘Okay, will do. I’ll text you if I can make it.’ Sallie replied.

‘Great, and look, just shoot me a message if you need any help with Tillie and everything too.’

‘Thanks, I’ll let you know - see you at the weekend hopefully.’

Chapter 40

Sallie opened the gates to the Orangery, pushed the pram into the courtyard trying not to disturb Tillie and carefully walked down towards the doors. A furious dog barked a few houses down and Tillie shook her head as the barking stirred her, but her eyes stayed shut and Sallie crossed her fingers that she would stay asleep.

She pushed the heavy glass door of the Orangery open and was hit by the strong, earthy, sweet botanical aroma of the building - now that it was clear and spruced up, all the old musty rancid smells seemed to have evaporated and it was welcoming, luscious almost. It wasn’t warm though, even with some sun peeking through the heavy clouds. After the disaster with the first boiler engineer Sallie said a silent thank you for the plumber who had been brilliant utilizing some of the old piping Lucia’s dad had installed and designed a heating system which was never going to be budget, but was always going to be extremely effective. It was timed to run constantly to keep the place from getting too cold and stop anything from freezing up - all she had to do when there was a function or wedding was crank it up beforehand.

She pushed the pram in, ensured Ottilie was snug and warm under the hood of the pram and parked her right in the corner of the room next to the wall where it was most warm and most quiet. Tiptoeing past Tillie who was now snoring ever so gently, she took her tablet and planner out of her bag and opened up Lucian’s spreadsheet.

The decor would need to be sorted and ready for the first shoot which was going live on social media, she needed to double-check with the catering company that they’d re-tested the chicken recipe she’d brought back from her trip to Paris with Ben and she had to order the trees.

Sallie checked all the way down the list and started going through the list of Christmas tree farms within a 100-mile radius, opened up their websites and calculated the sizes and prices. After half an hour on the phone, one grumpy, not very Christmas-like tree shop owner and not feeling sure if she was going to get what she was after, she called another number.

‘Hi, I wonder if you can help me - I’m after a fairly large tree for a marketing shoot and then I’ll be looking for another two. I’m hoping for some which I know may sound quite odd, but that are quite wide.’

‘Hello, my lovely! Well if it’s a wide Christmas tree you’re wanting, I’m your man. I’ve got trees coming out of my ears this year - which is a welcome place to be in after the shortages and price rises of the last few years. Funnily enough, I have a very wide tree that I didn’t think I would ever be able to shift and it’s earmarked for my workshop but if you’re wanting it, I can do it.’

‘Ahh, thank you! I’ve a big space to fill - it’s a large sort of conservatory-greenhouse and we are hosting a Christmas wedding but it’s also for a competition - Where the Heck is Pretty Beach? the podcast, have you heard of it?’

‘My lovely, I certainly have - not that I listen to it very often but I’ve seen it come up in my podcast recommendations many times,’ the man on the end of the phone replied.

‘Well, I’m part of that and we’re doing a worldwide competition for a Christmas Wedding and so, yeah, obviously I’ll need a tree, in fact, I think I’m going to need three trees.’

‘If you need three, you’ll be needing a tidy old discount too, won’t you?’ He chuckled down the phone.

‘Oh, that’s fabulous - music to my ears, especially after a most disagreeable conversation with the last place. Strange way to run a small business when you’re rude to people who are your customers.’

‘Tell me about it my lovely! It’s what I tell my staff all the time - you never know who you’re speaking to down the end of the phone or on the end of an email. Just let me know what you want - I can send you pictures or you can come down or I can send you up a few and you can choose but obviously that will cost you more. Tell you what though, the weather’s a bit rough to go out looking at trees at the moment.’

‘Hmm, I would have said I’ll come