‘Okay. Hop out here and then grab the wet bag from the front if you can. Then I’ll pull this up onto the beach.’
‘What, do I just hop out just like that?’ Juliette said and peered down into the water.
‘Yes. It’ll barely be up to your calves from here.’
Juliette looked down and felt dubious, but heaved herself out of the seat of the kayak and jumped into the water. Luke was spot on - the water came up to just below her knees. She grabbed the wet bag and picnic basket from the front of the kayak and started to wade the few steps out of the water and onto the shore. Luke jumped into the water and pushed the kayak up onto the narrow sandy beach. He picked up both the oars and laid them carefully inside the kayak.
As Juliette walked up the beach, she pulled two towels from her basket, and chose a place for them to set up. Then she flicked out the towels, laid them on the sand, and propped the wet bag behind them. She turned around and looked back to Pretty Beach, the cliffs and the lighthouse. She put her sunglasses on her head and gazed around.
‘Wow! I’ve lived here all these years and never made it to Darling Beach.’
‘Not easy to get to if you’re not on the water,’ Luke said, standing next to her and also looking out into the bay.
‘That would be why then. Not having a boat and all that,’ Juliette replied.
An hour later, Juliette and Luke had polished off two rounds of egg and cress sandwiches, two pork pies, and a bottle of Juliette’s homemade lemonade.
Juliette took her Kindle out of the wet bag, leant back on her elbows, and opened the first page of a new book. Half an hour later, she looked up from her book and out onto the water as Luke was scrolling through his phone.
‘Here we go, right here. Look at this,’ Luke said, passing Juliette over his phone.
Juliette frowned and looked down at the phone. She scrolled down to a For Sale listing of an old timber half-cabin boat with a bright yellow roof that had seen better days. Luke leant over and pointed to the picture.
‘That’d suit us. It’s here somewhere on the bay. Says it’s from a deceased estate.’
‘Luke, are you kidding?’ Juliette asked and frowned.
‘Definitely not, I've already sent a message.’
‘What? You’re joking!’
‘Ha, yep. What is it they say about living in Pretty Beach? Everyone gets a boat eventually - that’s what I was told when I first moved here.’
‘Oh my god. How exciting! All my wishes are coming true if we get a pink boat.’
‘Hopefully we will be getting a boat. It most definitely won’t be pink.’
Juliette slipped her sunglasses back on and smiled to herself. That’s what you think, she thought.
Chapter 3
The next day, after chatting with Maggie on a video call from her horse riding camp, Juliette was sitting on the balcony out the front of the house in Mermaid Lane. She sat there looking out over the rooftops of the houses on the other side of the road, with a cup of tea enjoying another marvellous day in Pretty Beach. She let out a lovely long sigh as she thought about how lucky she’d been to get the house and how everything was going swimmingly with Luke.
It had been a few months since Luke had moved in, and apart from a brief argument over the organisation of the fridge, and a very awkward moment with Jeremy when Luke had opened the door in boxer shorts, it was all going well.
She picked up her mug, pushed the cafe chair back under the tiny white table, and walked all the way down through the house to the kitchen.
‘I thought I heard you get up, that was some sleep in,’ Juliette said to Luke who was standing in the kitchen in pyjama bottoms waiting for the kettle to boil.
‘I know, I can’t believe it. All that sea air yesterday and not having to work. I’ve decompressed, I think. Decompressed so much I slept for about ten hours. I feel like I’ve been hit by a bus.’
‘You did. The few drinks in the garden after the sea air did it, I believe. Sitting out there finished me off. I haven’t slept like that in a long time. And what with Maggie being away it all worked together to make me sleep like a log.’
‘Same,’ Luke said as he popped two slices of bread in the toaster.
‘Okay, so what’s on the agenda for today? We’ve done the taking kayaks out on the water and come back and drink vodka with lemonade and a BBQ in the garden,’ Juliette asked as the two slices of toast popped up from the toaster, and Luke spread them with butter and a thick layer of Marmite.
‘We had a few things on the list. Potter around in the garden and then go out for the afternoon?’
‘Yes, perfect. I’m not up for a big day out after yesterday and I can barely move my shoulders. I fancy popping up to the lavender farm. It’ll be lovely up there this afternoon.’
‘The lavender farm it is then.’
Just as Juliette was tidying up the kitchen her phone pinged with a text from her daughter Bella in Oxford.
Hi Mum, how is your weekend off going?
It’s lovely, darling. We’re just pottering really.
Sounds wonderful.
What are you up to today then?
Just the usual - working and assignments and I’m going to try out the new library.
Won’t be long and you’ll be back here for a weekend.
I need it. I need some Pretty Beach in my veins. OK, love you loads. I’ll get back to my essay.
Love you sweetheart. I’ll message you later.
***
The morning entailed not a lot more than Juliette ambling around the garden in a sun hat, her gardening basket over her arm. While Juliette gardened, Luke sat in one of the deck chairs at the back looking at the latest swimming news via his online subscription to the Open Water Swimming Association. Once they’d had lunch, they locked up the house, got into Luke’s car, and made their way out of Pretty Beach, up Strawberry Hill and into the countryside surrounding Pretty Beach.
Juliette had called ahead to the lavender farm up in the hills behind Pretty Beach and booked them in for a Devonshire tea; having heard from nearly everyone at the surgery, Nel the bus driver, and Holly that it was the best in the area by a country mile, but never having actually made it up there for the Devonshire tea herself.
‘You know the story of the place do you, Luke? You know about Pretty Lavender Farm?’
‘Nope. I’d never heard of it until you said about it the other day. What’s the story then?’
‘There was a couple in the village who owned the petrol station. When the bypass over near Newport Reef opened, their income dipped massively. So, they sold up. They bought a little house on the new estate and an old farm on Strawberry Hill and redid it as a lavender farm. Libby, who owned the petrol station, loved lavender and so they researched different plants to suit the Pretty Beach climate and went for it. They planted all the fields behind with it and it boomed. Like super-boomed. You can’t get in there usually when it’s tourist season. I had to call in a favour when I phoned ahead.’
‘Wow, who would have thought? What a great story.’
‘It is,’ Juliette said, as they pulled onto the gravel driveway of Pretty Lavender Farm.
‘Woah, that’s some sight!’ Luke exclaimed as they drove all the way through the packed car park and looked up over the rolling hills behind. Row upon row of deep purple lavender reeled out in front of them, and as Juliette opened her window the lavender scent poured through into the car. It filled the air with its gorgeous fragrance and left a purple haze all around the farm.
‘Take in a deep breath of that. Gosh, I’d forgotten how much I adore it up here. Intoxicating and medicinal.’ Juliette exclaimed.
‘Medicinal - do you have the evidence-based research to back that up?’ Luke joked.
‘Only my own, but I’m sure it’s out there. I’m never knowingly without a bottle of Pretty Beach Lavender, and Bella too, and, in fact, Daisy. Daisy used to cart it back off to London with her, and inhale it when she got abandoned yet again by t
hat Matt she was having the affair with.’
‘It’s magical then too, is it? Good to treat cheating husbands?’
‘It absolutely is. When you inhale this stuff, Luke, wonderful things will happen to you.’
‘I already have amazing things happen to me with you, so I won’t really need it.’
‘Such a softie,’ Juliette replied, though the idea of doing magical things with Luke amused her and her face broke out into a smile.
‘What are you thinking about?’ Luke asked.
‘Oh, nothing. Nothing at all. Come on let’s get going. We’ll walk all the way to the top through the fields and then back down for the tea and scones. It’s meant to be the best clotted cream on the earth. You’ll have to decide for yourself. If we’re really lucky there might be some Locals Only stuff left.’ Juliette replied whilst thinking to herself about the magic she was going to create with Luke later and hoping for a display from the trombones.
Chapter 4
Juliette held onto Luke’s hand as they walked through the rolling fields of lavender, the hypnotic scent almost overpowering them. They wandered along taking photos and laughing, bending down every now and then to take in huge lungfuls of the intoxicating smell of the blooming lavender all around them.
They walked along through the fields and followed the old rustic signposts to the paddocks full of the different varieties of lavender moving away from the deep purples of the first few fields to the more unusual pinks and pale lilac varieties at the back. Juliette closed her eyes and took a deep breath in as she stood next to Luke right in the middle of a field. The whole area around them was a mixture of buzzing bees and gently swaying lavender. It felt magical and calming at the same time.
‘It’s been a long time since I’ve been up here. I’d forgotten how beautiful it is,’ Juliette said and smiled at Luke.
‘It really is amazing. The work that must have been involved to get all this going. It must have been massive. All these hundreds of rows of plants. There must be thousands of them actually, not hundreds.’
‘I know. A bit different to owning a petrol station, right?’ Juliette chuckled.
‘I should say. What a lovely story. Trading in a petrol station for a farm like this.’
‘Yeah, just so inspiring.’ Juliette said with a sigh, bent down and looked at one of the heads of an unusual pink lavender, ‘I’m going to plant a whole row of this at home in the front of that flower bed on the right - you know the one where we cleared all that overgrown box from? I think it would do well in that little spot.’
‘Yes, it would look nice there. It would smell nice too when you come out,’ Luke said leaning down and picking a head of the pink lavender.
‘So, you believe in the power of its smell now, do you, Luke?’
‘Ha! Juliette, I think I actually do. It really is quite amazing.’
‘It is. I can’t remember whether or not they sell the actual plants themselves in the shop. We’ll have a look when we go in.’
Juliette and Luke strolled hand in hand all the way through the fields at the top of the hill and back down towards the old farmhouse. They followed the signs for the cafe and walked through a wide gate onto a gravel and grass area laid out with picnic benches backing onto a huge old barn with cafe tables and a long counter made from vintage farm trolleys.
Luke went to the loo and Juliette walked up to the counter to find out which one was their table.
‘Jools! I haven’t seen you for ages! How the devil are you young lady?’ Libby the owner said walking around from behind the counter and hugging Juliette firmly.
‘Hello, lovely. I’m really well. Not so young these days!’
‘A little dickie bird may have told me that Mermaid Lane is going well too, very well,’ Libby said with a wink.
‘I’m not surprised you’ve heard, Libby. The Pretty Beach grapevine has had my love life on speed dial over the last few months.’
‘You’re not wrong there. Indeed, it has. Holly has been beside herself with it,’ Libby replied chuckling.
‘She’s a nightmare...’ Juliette trailed off giggling.
‘Rightio. Now, we didn't really have a space this afternoon, but there was no way I was saying no to seeing you up here. I’ve squeezed you in over there by the dresser,’ Libby said and lowering her voice continued, ‘And there is Locals Only jam out the back for you. Don’t publicise it though or I’ll be shot. I’ve told a lot of people we’re out of it when there was one pot left,’ Libby said with a chuckle.
Luke came strolling back into the cafe and Libby nudged Juliette, ‘Blimey! I can see why you moved him in pretty darn quick. Phew. That is one delightful sight right there in front of me. No wonder Holly was so excited - she did tell me he was divine. I make her right. So very right.’
‘You’re hilarious Libby! And you’re correct - he’s gorgeous. I can’t believe how lucky I am.’
‘Who’s lucky?’ Luke asked as he walked up to Juliette and Libby catching the end of the conversation.
‘Me! I’m so very lucky to have you, Luke,’ Juliette giggled. ‘This is Libby - lavender crazy Libby. And she may just have saved some of her Locals Only jam for us to have with our scones.’
‘Lovely to meet you, Libby,’ Luke said smiling and offered his hand out to Libby.
Libby beamed, basking in the delight of all that was Luke, shook his hand, and whispered to Juliette, ‘You need to keep this one Jools! Get a ring on his finger then lock him up and don’t let him out. Ever. He’s absolutely divine.’
Juliette laughed as she pointed out their table to Luke and they walked over. Maybe Libby has a point, maybe a ring on the finger might actually be rather nice, she thought as she pulled out the chair and sat down opposite Luke.
Chapter 5
A week or so later, Juliette sat at the little desk in the corner of the surgery in Pretty Beach and finished off the last of her paperwork. She couldn’t believe she’d at last caught up with her admin. Juliette checked the time on her phone. She had her lunch break to check up on her little online shop, A Christmas Sparkle’s orders, then the whole afternoon back-to-back with antenatal appointments, and then straight to school to pick up Maggie, then to horse riding. Sometimes she felt like her life was one long conveyor belt of work, school, extra-curricular activities, housework, rinse and repeat.
Juliette walked out of the consultation room to the staff room, made herself a cup of tea, took her little pink lunchbox with pasta salad out of the fridge, and walked back into her room. She logged into the website for A Christmas Sparkle and clicked on the sales and orders page. Strange, there were an unusually high number of orders for the time of year. She clicked on the traffic button to see if that would give her any answers. Nothing. She couldn’t work out what it was.
She pulled up Instagram on her phone and saw it straight away. A big Christmas influencer in the USA had tagged her Sparkle Up Your Christmas collection - her collection of very expensive, very exclusive vintage Christmas decorations she’d been collecting for years. Some of them even dated back to when her obsession with all things Christmas had started in her teens. In those days, she’d obsessively searched charity shops and jumble sales for any old Christmas things, but it was really when the internet opened up the world that her real collection had started to come together.
Juliette looked at the Instagram post and the comments below. The post showcased one of the pictures she’d taken in the Orangery way back and also showed one of her special Christmas Advent parcels. Unbeknownst to Juliette, she’d sent one of her parcels to the influencer back in December, and now here the person was, months later, sharing pictures of the parcel in the vintage Christmas space and hashtagging the life out of it.
It was amazing the amount of sales one single post on Instagram had generated. More importantly, it was the type of sale she loved getting. All the sales were for expensive one-off finds that she prided herself on; products that she hoped carried her brand and prompted the customer
to purchase more.
It was really good news for A Christmas Sparkle, and the more it continued to do well, the more she hoped she’d be able to cut a few shifts at work. All she had to do now was actually collate, pack, and send everything. Her phone pinged in her pocket with a text from Luke.
Hey, how are you getting on?
Good. I’ve finally caught up. Just A Christmas Sparkle to go now and then I’ll be set. What about you?
Good. I’ve been to see it.
?????
The boat.
OMG, I totally forgot about that. You really are serious about this!
I did tell you that last night.
I thought you were joking!!!! How was it then?
Perfect, and going for a song. Bloke who's selling it has had it thirty years and his wife’s told him it’s time to let it go. It’s not a deceased estate at all. I got that mixed up with another one. He’ll throw in the lot with it.
But what state is it in? It looked a bit of a mess in the photos.
Put it this way it’s not pink and there aren’t any polka dots... yet.
Chapter 6
Juliette got up from her chair next to Maggie at the table in the corner of Maisy’s cafe and kissed Holly on the cheek. The cafe was packed to the rafters with both locals and tourists alike, and Maggie and Juliette had popped in to meet Holly for a cup of tea.
‘Hello Maggie. How are you, sweetheart?’ Holly asked Maggie as Holly took her bag off her shoulder and rummaged around for her phone.
‘I’m good thank you. I’ve just had a chocolate cookie, it was delicious,’ Maggie replied with a huge smile on her face.
‘And what about you, Juliette? How are you? You couldn’t make the drinks at the Marina Club last week?’ Holly asked Juliette as they both sat down, and Juliette moved her bag under the table.
A Pretty Beach Wish Page 2
