A Pretty Beach Wish by Polly Babbington (funny books to read txt) 📕

house was surrounded by black railings, a steep set of steps led up to a huge double front door and an old magnolia tree dominated the front garden.

Juliette was surprised to see the house looking, as Lottie had already told her, a bit on the tatty side. Money had been tight for Lottie for a long time since her husband had passed away and with three boys and Lottie’s busy schedule, the upkeep of the house had proved to be quite the burden.

Juliette walked up the steps and rang on the doorbell. Nothing. She walked back down the steps, pulled open the tall black gate, walked back a few metres up the hill and around the house. As she strolled along she looked into the garden at the side. Every single space was filled with flowers and shrubs. Further down alongside were raised beds overflowing with produce - vegetables, herbs, and fruits.

Juliette peered in through the railings. The house might be a bit tatty with peeling white paint on the windowsills, but the garden was immaculate. Not a weed in sight. She squinted and looked all the way along - not a single weed or speck of anything, just beautifully mulched beds with an abundance of plants.

Juliette walked all the way around and the plants, vegetables, fruits, flowers, and herbs continued to greet her at every turn. She walked down to the back gate and called out, ‘Yoohoo!’ She could hear Lottie coming to the gate.

Lottie pulled open the gate. ‘Hi, wow you’re looking much better. Well done you.’

‘Thank you, I’m feeling it. I needed to get back to work properly.’

‘Come on then, let’s go down to the kitchen for some tea.’

Juliette followed Lottie all the way through the garden which she didn’t quite know how but seemed to get better with every step.

‘How do you keep this place going?’ Juliette said looking round in wonder. ‘It’s immaculate.’

‘I don’t have much time off from it. It really is as simple as that. I spend every waking hour here. Since the business took off it’s even busier than before.’

Juliette nodded and followed behind Lottie. How did this tiny, wisp of a thing manage all this, Juliette thought to herself. And it defied belief that Lottie had birthed the three strapping, over six foot boys who seemed to be getting bigger by the day. Lottie was like a human in miniature. Everything about her was tiny. Apart from what she had up top. There was nothing tiny about her mind.

Juliette walked into the kitchen, the familiar kitchen where they’d had multiple cups of tea on playdates, where she’d fed Maggie when she was a baby, and where she’d sat pouring her heart out when she had finally made the decision that she was going to leave Jeremy.

Lottie skipped over and put an old-fashioned kettle onto a huge old cream Aga. A Sheila Maid hung above it with impossibly tiny underwear drying and bundles of dried herbs hung from a shelf above.

‘Sorry about the mess. I’ve hardly been inside today.’

Juliette looked around at the creamy-white, hand-painted kitchen units and the butcher’s block worktop running all the way around the top. Everything was in its place as far as she could see. Hanging from hooks underneath every surface was Lottie’s vast collection of white jugs. There were jugs and pitchers of every size, shade of white and shape that you could think of. All mostly bought second-hand and all exceedingly carefully chosen by Lottie.

On the wall in front of Juliette, a long, wide open shelving unit held vintage plates and colour coordinated vintage china was precisely displayed. An old unit with tiny drawers underneath showcased meticulously lined up cookery books from all over the world.

A vintage plate rack held old French plates in different pastel patterns and a magnetic knife rack ran all the way along underneath with a collection of knives from all over the world. A shelf edged with beautiful old lace held tiny coffee cups from Italy.

Juliette sat at the heavily scrubbed, square stripped pine table in the middle of it all and almost felt her whole body exhale in pleasure. She was sitting in the kitchen of dreams. Someone else’s kitchen, which she didn't have to clean.

‘Not sure what mess you’re talking about,’ Juliette said.

‘Oh, you know me. Everything in its place and all that.’

Lottie took the kettle from the Aga, pulled a white teapot from the worktop and poured the boiling water in.

‘Anyway, what’s been going on with you and Luke? Is everything a bit brighter now you’re feeling better?’

‘Oh, everything is much brighter - in fact, I’ve a very special surprise coming up for Luke tomorrow, and it’s going to be out of this world. It’s going to change his world, actually. At least, I hope it is.’

Lottie turned around from the teapot as quick as a flash at the tone in Juliette’s voice.

‘Oh my, Jools! What are you going to do?’

Chapter 61

Juliette smoothed out her white tea dress as she closed the door and walked down the cobbled alley at the back of Mermaid Lane. She’d been approving the other stylist’s coordinating plans for the Christmas window with Lellery all afternoon, and she’d completely lost all track of time. When Juliette had realised that the afternoon had got away with her, she’d quickly showered, put on some body lotion and got dressed, pulling the white dress over her head and quickly doing her makeup. As she’d walked over the cobbles, she looked up at the pale blue sky dotted with fluffy white clouds as streams of sunshine peeped in and out of the haze and hugged her little secret to herself. Her little secret surprise for the day. It was going to be divine.

It was the perfect outfit choice for the warmth of the late afternoon - a floaty, linen tea dress with ruffles on the sleeves and her new sandals which tied up on the ankle with velvet ribbons. She’d decided to dress up a