Winter at Pretty Beach by Polly Babbington (inspirational books txt) 📕

‘Right, yes, well maybe I will get the ball rolling on it....’

‘You’ve nothing to lose. I do think though that this year has been so busy for you. Once that all calms down and you relax things might change on their own - not that I know anything.’ Holly said, passing Sallie over a cup of tea.

Sallie stirred her tea and felt better. Holly, like Xian, was wise and always seemed to know what to do and say. She didn’t sugar coat things and just say things were going to be alright - she was much more realistic than that, and she more gently gave her opinion formed from her experiences in life.

‘Nothing ever goes smoothly or as you think it will - that’s one of the best things I’ve learnt as I’ve got older. You think something will go one way, and then boom, something happens from completely out of the blue and you have to deal with it. In this case, it’s the not happening... the reality of dealing with the problems life throws up is horrible sometimes, especially when you’re desperate for something to go a certain way.’

‘Well I do have some good news,’ Sallie said and started to tell her more about the podcast and the wedding competition at the Orangery.

‘Another load of work for you though Sallie.’ Holly rolled her eyes and laughed.

‘You’re right, now I think about it, I’m hardly sitting around relaxing all day. Ben did say the same and I ignored him.’

‘No, you’re not, and with all that on your mind, relaxed isn’t something I would say you’ll be for the next few months.’

Sallie gazed out the window at the snow-covered garden. Holly, as usual, was right.

‘What about you, anything to report?’ Sallie looked over at her and asked.

‘Not really, my mum is still going with Drew - I didn’t see that coming and now they are totally an item.’

‘Who knew that would happen? I’m so pleased for her though.’ Sallie replied.

‘Me too. To be honest, I was shocked - especially meeting online! I mean, my mum!’

‘I’m told it’s the done thing these days. You should give it a go,’ Sallie laughed.

‘God no! That’s the last thing I want at the moment. Quite happy here with my quiet little life, thank you very much,’ Holly said, pouring a top up of tea into their cups.

‘I hear you. My life has definitely not been quiet since meeting Ben.’

‘You don’t need to tell me - I watched it all unfolding in front of my eyes. It was like watching a Hollywood blockbuster,’ Holly giggled.

‘A blockbuster with many further instalments,’ Sallie said and laughed back at Holly.

Chapter 21

Sallie tucked her scarf further into her coat, shoved her hands into her pockets and tucked her chin into her scarf as she walked down the laneway on her way to meet Lucian. They were meeting to discuss the timeline up to the competition and the subsequent wedding. They needed to ascertain who would be doing what and when they needed to do various things. Sallie had set up a shared online drive for them to both use and everything was starting to come together.

‘It certainly is cold,’ she said to herself as, head down, she hurried along the pavement. As she crossed over the road she could just see the rooftop of the Orangery peeking out behind the long line of fisherman’s cottage glistening with snow. She still couldn’t believe it was hers. It didn’t yet feel real. It had been her dream for so long to have her own property, but it had always been so up in the air and out of reach that now it had finally happened she had to keep reminding herself that it was actually real. She still found it difficult to grasp that she was doing it and doing it on her own.

A lamp glowed through the steamed-up window of Lucian’s tiny little house - she could see him sitting at his desk on his computer. She pressed the bell at the front door, he opened the door and let her in.

‘Darling, how are you?’ He said and ushered her in out of the cold. She banged her boots on the doormat and started to take them off.

‘Good, it’s so cold though. Think we are in for another snowfall tonight if it stays like this all day,’ She observed, taking off her coat and hanging it over the bannister. They walked into the living room and the tiny study alcove at the side - a book was lying open on the chair.

‘What are you reading?’ Sallie asked.

‘Well darling, I wish I wasn’t - it’s called ‘How to be Lucky in Love’ and I can tell you, I’ve tried the formula out and it just doesn't work!’ He laughed out loud.

‘I thought you had a steady thing going with Connor?’

‘So did I! Not only did he dump me - he dumped me by text darling. The cheek of it!’ He exclaimed.

‘Ooof, that’s pretty harsh, you poor thing.’

‘You know, I think it was a good thing. I wasn’t sure about him, so really it was more that he got in first. Just not nice to be on the end of someone telling you they don’t want to be with you, is it?’

‘Tell me about it. My ex-husband decided he liked our neighbour more than me and wanted me out, and her to move in,’ Sallie said laughing, ‘I can laugh now, but I wanted to slit my wrists at the time. Well, not quite, but you know what I mean.’

‘Gosh, and here I was feeling sorry for myself!’ Lucian chuckled and pulled out a chair for her by the computer. He pulled up a calendar on his tablet, opened a spreadsheet and they started to work on a timeline. The first thing was to set a date, then they would work back and both announce the competition on their social media accounts within a few days of