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

a lot of the magic was the tree and the room size and the dome. I won’t have that luxury to work with in that space. I can’t transplant the dome...’

‘No, and it’s really hard to capture that whole feel anyway. If you walk through to the kitchen area the cupboards at the back have all the Christmas decor in there, and your garlands and stuff are packed away in there. Having a rifle through that might be a good idea. You might come across something you haven't thought of,’ Sallie said.

‘Yep. Good idea. Okay. Hang on. I’ll walk through there.’

Juliette wandered through the main room to the corridor and then stepped into the adjacent Fernery on her way to the kitchen area. She stopped dead in her tracks.

‘Of course! Duh,’ she said into the phone.

‘What? What have you spied?’

‘The Fernery and the Gin Room. That's exactly how I’ll do it. Remember how we styled it? The pom-poms. Yes. Thank goodness. I was really starting to panic about this,’ Juliette said sighing in relief.

‘Yeah, that was brilliant. Simple and effective and a lot of bang for the buck.’

‘Yes! It will be amazing. I can set the backdrop up as a bar with shelves, the dried herbs, the glasses and fruit crates etc and then use the pom-poms and tuck in the baubles all around.’

‘What about some of that faux snow on the floor?’

‘Absolutely. Thank you. I am so, so relieved, Sallie. I can’t even tell you how much this has been playing on my mind.’

Juliette sat down on an old chair in the Fernery and looked around. Yes, the window would be perfect styled in the Gin Room theme. Thank goodness for that.

‘Changing the subject rapidly. How is everything with Bella and the Jack thing? I haven’t had the update,’ Sallie asked.

‘Yeah, the Jack thing is really, really not good. He’s now announced that he wants to come to Pretty Beach. See where Bella grew up, the front of the man, and I’m meant to just suck it all up, take it on the chin, and welcome him with a smile on my face,’ Juliette declared.

‘Oh dear. That does not sound pleasant. The man who abandoned you rocking up in your little neck of the woods. Not nice at all.’

‘No, not at all. And it’s not long before the day now.’ Juliette replied with a sigh. ‘Though, I just want it over and done with.’

Chapter 49

The rain lashed down on the windows of the train as it pulled out of Pettacombe station. Every seat was taken, people stood holding onto handles in the aisles, and the air was humid and warm as if the air conditioning was fighting against the hot and bothered bodies inside.

Juliette had met Bella in Pettacombe for a check-up with the orthopaedic consultant and further x-rays so that the consultant could make her decision on the next surgery. Everything had gone well, the appointment had even run to schedule, and Juliette and Bella had made the train just before the skies had opened, and it had begun to pelt down with rain. Bella was coming back to Pretty Beach for the weekend to meet Jack in Pretty Beach.

Juliette sat opposite Bella on the train full of commuters and checked her phone. Texts from both Luke and Jeremy informed her that a huge summer storm was forecast to hit Pretty Beach that evening, and it was going to be bad. Jeremy’s message had also said that because of the rain and the forecast of thunder and lightning horse riding was cancelled, and he was instead going to take Maggie to the cinema if Bella didn’t mind not seeing him until the next day.

Juliette relayed the message over to Bella who replied that it suited her fine - she was exhausted from the journey and had lots of lectures to catch up with. Juliette texted Jeremy back and then read another text from Luke who was at work.

‘Luke has said we need to get the hanging baskets and all that sort of stuff in from outside.’

‘It’s going to be that bad, is it?’ Bella queried.

‘Yep, according to this, Pretty Beach is going to be hit by the worst summer storm it has seen in years. The council have put a warning on their website, and Pretty Beach radio issued a newsflash.’

‘Typical, the weekend I come down. Drama though, we always like a bit of Pretty Beach drama... There’ll probably be a town meeting about it next week,’ Bella said giggling.

‘We do. I don’t think there'll be many picnics in Pretty Beach tomorrow, I can tell you that. And bang goes our walk up to the lighthouse. Blooming weather.’

Bella tutted and raised her eyebrows, the train flew along and Juliette received a further text. This time from Daisy - another one with news of the storm.

Hey! How did it go at the hospital? Hope you two are on your way home now? There’s a huge storm coming through. I’ve just looked it up on the satellite map and it looks like a big one. It’s coming in right off the coast.

It went really well. The consultant was pleased with the progress and the next surgery should give her some more movement back.

Wow! So pleased to hear that! That is excellent news.

Me too. We’re so relieved. Yeah, we’re on the train. You're the third text I’ve had about the storm. It’s absolutely hammering down outside and the train is packed. You can’t put a pin between the people on here.

The wind has already started to pick up and I just heard on the radio that the ferries are cancelled for the rest of the day.

We’re going to get drenched getting home.

Is Luke not collecting you?

No, he’s working.

Okay I can be there if you want a lift?

Actually, I know it’s only a few minutes, but that would be lovely. What with the foot and everything.

Sweet. No probs. Text me when you’re five