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

bag, she crossed her fingers, looked up at the huge old Victorian house and said out loud to herself.

‘Please, please, please let her be mine.’

Then she turned around and carried on down to the bottom of the lane, turned right and headed to the hotel.

***

Katie was sitting in the window of the hotel foyer next to the huge, beautifully decorated, Christmas tree, a smile on her face with Sam sitting opposite her holding her hand. Sallie approached them and sat down on the sofas opposite.

‘Okay sweetie, you’re all ready for today? We’re going to pop into my friend Felicity’s shop to have a look at flowers and she will whip you up something magical - she’s brilliant at what she does.’

‘I’ve seen her flowers on some of the bridal websites and never did I think I would be able to have the actual owner do my flowers!’ Katie replied breathlessly. ‘I’m a bit daunted by it all, truth be told, you know, celebrity florist and all.’

Sallie leant forward across the small, squat coffee table.

‘Well there’s absolutely no need to be - Felicity Parnell is the most down to earth person I think I’ve ever met and that whole celebrity florist thing will seem a million miles away when we walk into her shop - it’s like walking into a flower grotto. She’ll spring out from the back room and before you know it you’ll be lost in her very floral world. The woman seems to be able to pluck out exactly what you were thinking in your head and turn it into a bouquet.’

‘Oh, that sounds even better than I’ve been imagining since Sam told me who the florist was - I just thought she might be a bit, you know... grand.’ Kate said, fiddling with her earring.

‘Not at all, and she’ll tell you herself if you ask her - all that celebrity stuff is nothing more than a very big lot of very hard work.’

Katie sat back on the sofa and Sallie continued to tell her about the afternoon of plans which would lead her up to the big day.

‘Then we’ll walk all the way along the beach to my friend Jessica - she’s a local makeup artist who also owns the Fish and Chip shop, and my other friend Holly will arrive with your mum and your sister. We’ll have some pastries and a few bubbles and then, well, hopefully, everything will be set.’

Chapter 57

Sallie, Juliette and Holly stood in front of the Orangery on the day before the wedding and Sallie all of a sudden got a flashback to the night Ben proposed when she was wet through from the weather, her boots squelching and hair freezing on her head. An image went through her mind of the two of them standing in the snow gazing at the lights of the palace.

She’d taken that scene in her head and based the entire Christmas decor of the Orangery on it. As she stood outside it now, the Orangery doused in a sprinkling of white powder, it wasn't quite up to the palace’s standards, but she'd done a very good job of it all.

Every line of the Orangery had been painstakingly tacked with white fairy lights and as she stood outside now in the cold, the vision in her head had come to life. The Orangery stood there magnificently against the dark skyline of Pretty Beach and perched over it all, a beautiful half-moon hung in the sky.

She walked over to the double gates, heading to the side to run through a last check of everything - the white pebble path was lined with lanterns, the bay trees either side of the arched door were placed just right and the huge fresh wreath on the door twinkled against the glass panes.

As the day had approached, she’d got more and more glum as the weather forecast had been for heavy rain and sleet - an open walk to the venue in driving rain would not a happy bride make. But as the week of the wedding arrived it had got colder and colder and all of a sudden the weather apps were talking about a cold front coming in, bringing with it the likelihood of snow. Sallie had looked up at the clouds and sky the day before, she hadn't needed to look at Ben’s app, she could feel it was going to snow.

And then that afternoon, just as she was finishing off the last of the prep inside with Holly and Juliette and double-checking the heating, the first few flurries had begun to fall. She’d phoned Ben, telling him his app was correct and not only had it started to fall, it had begun to settle.

As they stood out there looking back at it all, all Sallie now had to hope was that just the right amount of snow would fall overnight before the next day’s wedding.

‘Well, what do you think then?’ Juliette asked as Sallie stood back and Juliette finished tying the last white ribbon onto some greenery.

‘I think it’s just right - I mean I could pick holes in everything if I really wanted to, nothing anyone else would see, but I think it’s not a bad place to get married.’ Sallie smiled and winked at Juliette and Holly.

‘Yes, there are the things we can see that no one else can, like the bit where the garland fell on your head and we patched it back up, that sticks out like a sore thumb to me, but overall, I reckon it’s going to be beautiful on social media.’ Holly said, her head tilted back, gazing up at the domed roof.

‘I hope so, I really do.’ Sallie replied.

Chapter 58

Sallie stood outside the double gates of the Orangery holding a huge white umbrella, a thick wrap pulled over her black velvet dress. She peered out from under the umbrella - still no sign of the car, or the bride, or indeed anyone. They’d factored in a time delay