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

tied in between a pompom tinkled as she got down from the table. It popped against the greenery and rustic feel of the fernery.

‘Run some lights under there and then weave this all the way through, the contrast of the softness with all the plants and greenery in here... I think it really pops.’

‘It certainly does. How much will they cost though? There’s a lot of ground to cover to go all the way around. They’re gorgeous Juliette.’ Sallie replied, as Holly looked up at the little pompom garlands and smiled at how lovely they looked.

‘Hmm, well the good news is they’ll cost you nothing, the bad news is I made them myself and to make enough length to get around this room, will be days of constructing a lot of pompoms.’ She raised her eyebrows at Sallie and Hollie, held up her hands and laughed. Sallie touched one of the pompoms and one of the tiny little bells tinkled.

‘I’ve got all the supplies - I’ve been meaning to do them for years, but since the thing we don’t mention,’ she pointed down to Maggie, ‘I just haven’t had time and it does take a while to get them done - you get sick of the sight of white wool! I’ve sold them in the shop when I have managed to do them and they go like hotcakes. People love them’

‘Right, so I just need to recruit some Pretty Beach pompom makers then, do I? We'll make enough for me and some extras for the shop,’ Sallie replied chuckling.

‘I’ll get my mum on it and the girls in the shop.’ Holly said, standing there with her hands on her hips as if ready to get to action.

‘For this amount, yes, I think you do and with the amount of wool and ribbon I’ve got, I’ve enough to supply all the way to Seafolly Bay.’ Juliette said, laughing.

Chapter 47

Sallie finished poking the last of the sparkly gold baubles into the garland, and carefully stood back and evaluated her work. Ben had done a great job with getting the three garlands to drape exactly as she’d envisioned it in her mind, and even though she’d have liked it to be larger, it was good enough.

The oasis was now all in place tucked and tied in at intervals, filled with fresh greenery she’d picked from the garden at the Boat House and the fir trees that lined Holly’s garden. Vintage, faded gold baubles and the metallic gold baubles Juliette had recommended weaved all the way through and huge bows were tied to either end. She’d copied the idea from a picture online from a very high-end department store in London - she’d taken the idea and done her version on a budget scouring the internet for Christmas garlands, the baubles from Juliette and foraging the fresh greenery where she could. The result was lovely, the woods-y, Christmas scent even better.

Tillie was fast asleep in the corner in the pram. Sallie tiptoed over, pulled back the muslin and looked in - she was out cold and not looking near waking up. They probably had about an hour.

She walked all the way through the Orangery, across the tessellated floor, through the fernery and into the back where the old troughs were now a kitchen. Sallie filled the kettle with water, took out a caddy of teabags and popped three into the teapot. Just as she’d made the tea she heard a few gentle taps on the front door and rushed back through hoping that Tillie wouldn’t wake up.

Lucian was standing outside, wrapped up in a big black coat, neck muffler, tan leather gloves and hat. She opened the door and he crept in bringing with him a cloud of expensive aftershave. Kissing her on both cheeks he whispered hello in her ear.

‘Darling, it’s fabulous! Much better than I thought. When you were explaining the garlands I was thinking to myself this could be disastrous, it’s fair to say I didn't like the sound of faux garlands at all. Should have known better, right?’

Sallie smiled and they turned around to look at the tree. Sitting in the corner in the tin planter it filled the room and complemented the hanging baskets full of Christmas decor and gold baubles. It very nearly touched the domed roof at the top and she had been right that it needed to be unusually wide to make any impact on the vastness of the room. It was completely devoid of any decoration, but twinkled and sparkled as if it was alive.

After seeing a tree with lots of lights and very few decorations bar a few snowflakes in a shop in Newport Reef, she’d taken it one step further for the ‘undressed’ tree she’d taken inspiration from online. A supplier of Juliette’s did the same cluster lights the high-end boutiques were selling for a fortune for half the price, and Sallie and Ben had spent hours winding set after set of them around the tree first in the inside branches, then outside and then vertically up and down until the whole thing glittered and shimmered as if it had taken on a life of its own.

‘It’s so, soooo good darling! You’ve outdone yourself. I guess it’s even better in the late afternoon as it gets dark? Right when the wedding party will be coming in.’ Lucian said clapping his hands together in glee.

‘Absolutely - it really does look magical at that time of day in here.’ Sallie smiled - she was over the moon with how it had all turned out. The excruciatingly long days on her hands and knees cleaning the floor and the juggling of looking after Tillie with the setting up the decor were now all beginning to feel like they were worth it.

‘I’ll go and get the tea and we’ll sit over there,’ she whispered and pointed to one of the old trestle tables. She went and got the tea and the mugs and came back to Lucian