Lovely Little Things in Pretty Beach : A magical feel-good romance book to escape with in summer 2021.

by Polly Babbington

  ‘What a thing to be part of,’ Lulu said.

  ‘Yep. And now you’re in too.’

  Lulu nodded and sipped on her tea.

  Long may it last. She thought as William passed her over a slice of lemon cake and smiled.

  14

  After a couple of days of training at the hotel and coming home, stripping off her clothes in the hallway, putting her painting clothes on, and completing the final coats on the huge dresser in the kitchen, Lulu was exhausted. She was actually more than exhausted; she was in pain from her palms and her leg and could barely think straight.

  With the busy week, the brainpower of learning all sorts of new things, taking Mabel out for long walks and then painting into the night, Lulu had been looking forward to Friday night all week. Not only was it meticulously planned, it had been shopped for too.

  She might have the worst house in Pretty Beach, and to all who passed by the front she may indeed look like a squatter, but she did now have a clean kitchen, a half-mowed lawn, a scrubbed standalone bath, and the sea at the end of the garden. And with the addition of a bottle of wine that was a good enough Friday night for her.

  First of all, she had planned a long soak in the bath with her favourite bubble bath which she’d finally unpacked. This would be followed by her huge, white fluffy dressing gown and scheduled phone call to Ava in New York with a glass of wine. Next up, roast chicken leftovers from the night before with a huge bowl of mashed potato followed by her favourite ice cream. If she had any energy left, she was planning to stroll down to the end of the garden with Mabel, enjoy another glass of wine and sit under the stars.

  Lulu removed her name tag and pass, stripped out of her work clothes, dropped them into the washing basket in the corner of the room, and pulled on her dressing gown.

  Fetching a bottle of wine, a large glass, and after pouring hand-cut crisps into a little dish, she eyed the conservatory door suspiciously, put her ear to it and, after hearing nothing, decided that the pest control man had known what he was talking about and the rats were now gone.

  A few minutes later, after pouring in a generous dose of bubble bath, Lulu dragged over a little stool to the tub, placed her wine and crisps on it, let Mabel in the door, and waited as the bath filled with hot water.

  Once she was in and Mabel was softly snoring, Lulu laid back in the water and thought about the week. Everything in the hotel had gone okay. She hadn’t thought that she was brilliant at the job and she had got mixed up with the technology a few times, but William had said she was excellent at the customer service side of it and that was good enough for her.

  Then there was the house. She’d finally finished the dresser and once the last of the paint was dry, she had scrubbed the old floor tiles until they shone. The utility room had now also been whitewashed and the washing machine and tumble drier, which were both part of the care package from Willow, had now been plumbed in.

  With her bandaged hands hanging out of the sides of the bath, Lulu thought about what room to get started on next.

  A bedroom would be nice, with a real pair of curtains and an actual bed.

  As Lulu went through the rooms on the first floor she tried to ascertain which one would be the least work and after going round and round in circles, she’d settled on the one with the door to the bathroom she was in now. Though far from small, it really only needed the carpet removed, the Lincrusta wallpaper repaired, and a good dose of the rapidly diminishing white paint. It even had a tiny room with railings all around and shelving around the top that had obviously at some point been used as someone’s dressing room.

  Lulu nodded to herself as the warm water soaked into her bones and she sipped slowly on the glass of wine. Yes, bedroom next. Who needed a sitting room and a sofa anyway?

  An hour later with the glass of wine ready for a refill, Lulu got out of the bath and smothered herself in her favourite French body lotion and powder. Pulling on her dressing gown, she went down to the kitchen, poured herself another glass of wine and set up her phone against a vase of flowers. Mabel got comfy beside her on the floor and started snoring softly as Lulu sat down.

  She video called and waited for Ava to answer and smiled into her phone screen as she saw Ava sitting on her patio in the sunshine.

  ‘Hello, lovely. How are you?’ Ava asked.

  ‘Just had a really long soak in the bath with a glass of wine. Life could be worse,’ Lulu said with a smile. ‘How are you?’

  ‘Yep, not too bad. I’ve been out for a run with the dogs, cleaned the house and now I’m sitting in the sunshine,’ Ava replied. ‘How was the job?’

  ‘So far, so good. I’ve worked in worse places.’

  ‘That’s a good start, then. Speaking of work, what’s happened about Lovely Little Things? Has it gone back online yet?’

  ‘Ahh. No, it hasn’t. I’ve just been so busy with the house and getting straight here I put it on the back burner for a bit. I’m planning to go live again next week.’

  Ava nodded. ‘You need to do that, Lulu. You’ve such a talent for it and you have that loyal base of customers you built up. Don’t let that go.’

  ‘Thanks, Mum. I’ll put it on the very long and growing list of things to do.’ Lulu laughed.

  ‘Make it number one priority. The house can wait, surely?’ Ava said as she sipped her coffee.

  ‘Maybe you’re right,’ Lulu replied, nodding.

  ‘I am right. I know it was pretty small but you’ve done the hard yards on building those customers. Keep it trickling in, expand to around the area you’re now in, and it will grow. Lulu, this is not the old days of bricks and mortar. Look what happened to us!’

  Lulu nodded, knowing that Ava was right. Ava had grown a life coaching business she’d started in the bedroom of her tiny flat. Ten years later, and with the help of social media, she was turning over millions of dollars a year.

  ‘I don’t think I’m quite in your league, Ava,’ Lulu replied.

  ‘Pah! You’re way above me, girlfriend. You have the perfect eye for it all. Why do you think your pop-up shops sold out all the time? Remember when we did that boutique market in Chelsea? Those women were virtually fighting over those scarves you had made.’

  Lulu took another sip of her wine and giggled. ‘That was such a weird and funny day with all those well-bred women browsing those posh little stalls and stocking up on candles.’

  Ava laughed back down the screen. ‘Oh, it was! Those were the days.’

  ‘Yep. They were. Anyway, enough of me. When are you crossing the pond and coming to visit?’

  ‘My speaking tour is all set up. I’ll be on that train to Pretty Beach before we know it. Bring it on.’

  ‘Good. Hang on, I’ll just put you in my planner for painting and decorating the sitting room and I’ll get Dave on the front garden.’

  Ava laughed. ‘You know me, Lulu. I’m not workshy. Not sure how good I am with a paintbrush though these days.’

  ‘I’m sure you’ll pick it up quickly.’ Lulu chuckled.

  Ava laughed, they chatted and put the world to rights for another half an hour, and then as the call came to an end, Lulu started to put the roast chicken and big dish of steaming creamy mashed potato onto the table.

  Once she’d eaten, Lulu cleared up, opened the inner door to the garage, flicked on the light, and walked over to the other side where her boxes of bits and pieces for her online shop Lovely Little Things were neatly packed away.

  With her glass of wine by her side, she slowly and methodically went through the boxes and thanked her lucky stars that the business couldn't be touched by Fenton’s debts, and that she had taken the time to pack everything properly.

  As she opened the boxes of the candles she’d had handmade with her own special combination of scents, the smells made her smile. Beautiful white candles with essential oils poured over crystals with the Lovely Little Things pale blush pink logo on the front. Lavender, ylang-ylang, oud, patchouli, black raspberry, and an exclusive
vanilla she’d spent months researching.

  The next box contained soft cashmere scarves. Another with her signature bangles inlaid with delicate pearl and matching drop earrings. Handmade washed linen market totes and French market baskets with delicately patterned scarves tied to the handle were in the next few boxes. Her gorgeous bestsellers, the special body oils she’d had mixed with neroli, meadowfoam, apricot seed, bergamot, and prickly pear.

  Standing and rummaging through all the boxes and the lovely little things, Lulu nodded to herself. Ava was, as usual, correct. Everything was beautifully curated and lovingly pulled together and her customers loved them. It was time to get back on the horse.

  All she had to do was press the button for her shop to go live again, reinstate the Lovely Little Things social media pages, and the sales would, hopefully, start to very slowly trickle in.

  Lulu closed her eyes and repeated to herself how fortunate she was to have Seafolly House, a job in a boutique hotel, and her brand Lovely Little Things and a new start in Pretty Beach. And boy, was she going to take it by the balls and give it a good go.

  15

  Lulu, in a beautifully cut black shift dress, with sky-high nude pumps in her leather bag ready for when she got to work, and a pair of sparkly diamond earrings with a matching necklace strolled down to the station for the fast train. She’d already spent a few days at the Pettacombe hotel training with William and a few weeks in Pretty Beach and had taken a call from Helen the night before asking her if she wouldn’t mind doing an extra day and going there as one of the receptionists had called in with food poisoning.

  Lulu had been glad of an excuse to get away from painting in the bedroom on the first floor, had got her outfit and accessories ready the night before, and was pleased with the fact that the Cavendish Group already valued her enough to send her off to Pettacombe on her own.

  Lulu stood on the platform with all the other passengers waiting for the train, and as the tracks started to hiss she could hear it approaching from afar.

  Staring at the blue and yellow train as it inched its way into Pretty Beach station, she thought about how the train had changed everything in the area. In the old days before the station was renovated to accommodate the new train, the slow train had chugged its way up the coast and getting anywhere had seemed to take forever. Lulu remembered how there had been mixed feelings in the town about whether or not the train would be a good thing. As far as she had been concerned it was; it had meant getting to see Willow for the weekend was a million times easier.

  Now, back in Pretty Beach as a resident, and seeing all the commuters and what it had brought to the area Lulu was very glad the fast train had arrived. The only downside was the price of the ticket. When she’d lived in her nice little life in London with Fenton, oblivious to his dealings and debts, she hadn't even thought twice about how much the train cost. Now, even the return trip to Pettacombe took her breath away and she was glad that the Cavendish Group were footing the bill.

  Lulu stepped onto the fast train, squeezed her way along the aisle, raised her eyes as a man in a suit with too-short trousers, brown brogues, and no socks pushed his way past her to get the aisle seat. Accidentally on purpose knocking her bag with her laptop in it against his bare, hairy, ankle, she smiled sweetly as he winced and tutted as she tried to step over his outstretched legs.

  Taking her seat, Lulu listened to the beeping sound as the automatic doors closed, the speaker above announced the train’s destination, and the man beside her tried, and failed, to discreetly nudge her arm off the armrest.

  Lulu slipped her laptop out of its cover and turned it on. Today was the day earmarked for the relaunch of Lovely Little Things. All of her stock had been sorted and double-checked in the garage. She’d topped up postal envelopes and supplies and taken some photos for the social media accounts.

  As the train sped along, and after scrolling through to ensure everything was ready to go, Lulu pressed live on the site, posted a picture of one of her most popular candles with a note to her social media accounts that the shop was back, and hinted that a pop-up shop in Pretty Beach was coming very soon. Which it wasn’t, but she would cross that bridge when she came to it.

  Lulu watched as almost instantly a couple of comments came through wishing her all the best in her new area, and informing her that they were very glad to see her back. Lulu rested her head back against the chair and closed her eyes. It was done.

  She’d felt a bit strange about the shop going live again and she couldn’t really put her finger on why. Both Ava and Willow had told her to get on with it but something had kept her stalling. It was almost as if it was part of her old life and slightly tarnished. Part of something that used to be her. But as she now scrolled through the pictures on Instagram, she realised that it wasn’t tarnished at all. In fact, Lovely Little Things was about the only thing that Fenton’s deceit hadn’t been able to touch.

  Lulu departed the train at Pettacombe, walking along in her trainers until she got just near Pettacombe pier. Another place she had looked at in her teens without appreciating its beauty. She remembered sitting under the pier with Willow when her dad had left her mum. They’d scraped together a few pounds for a bag of chips and a can of soft drink and had sat eating the chips and watching the grey waves wash up onto the beach both wondering what was going to happen next.

  Today the sunshine was glinting off the sea, the sky was blue, and Pettacombe was looking as pretty as a picture. Just as Lulu was sitting on a bench looking out at the pier and undoing her trainers to put on her shoes her phone rang. She pulled it out of her bag and saw that it was Helen from the hotel.

  ‘Hi, Helen. What can I do for you? I’ve just walked up from the train.’

  ‘Hello, Lulu. All good here. Errr, we do have a slight issue today, though.’

  ‘Right. What’s that then?’

  ‘I’m sure you remember me telling you about the royalty and Pettacombe and sometimes they like to come down?’

  ‘Absolutely. I wouldn't have forgotten that.’

  ‘Well, we’ve just had a call and they are coming down for a couple of nights. It’s a last-minute thing. They’re arriving later on today.’

  Lulu blinked rapidly. What did this mean for her? She thought as she continued listening to Helen.

  ‘William normally deals with this but he’s gone back up to town to visit his mother, and the Pettacombe manager is away training to learn the new booking system! The other receptionist Lauren is really good, but she’s young and Atlanta doesn’t want her dealing with it.’

  ‘I’m sure I can manage it,’ Lulu replied, wondering if in actual fact she could.

  Helen continued, sounding rattled, ‘So, the security team will arrive ahead of them and check everything out. They will enter the building via the fire stairs. All you’ll need to do is make sure the keycards are ready to hand to security. The thing is, the rooms they use have different doors and different systems to the other rooms. I’ve lined up with William for him to call you and run through it with you.’

  ‘Right, okay. Not a problem. I am sure I can deal with it,’ Lulu replied.

  Helen sighed. ‘Oh, thank you so much, Lulu. I’m really sorry to throw you in at the deep end like this. I’ve been sorting this out all morning since I got the call from Atlanta.’

  ‘I’m fine this end. All good.’

  ‘William also normally goes up and double-checks everything is perfect in the rooms so I’ll need you to do that too.’

  ‘Okay. I can do that.’

  ‘Good. The other thing is one of the Cavendish sons will arrive later too. He’s been working in Pettacombe for the last few months temporarily, but he’s been up at the Cavendish house in Kensington this week. When I spoke to Atlanta about the guests, she sent him back down to make sure everything goes smoothly. She likes a member of the family to be there when they’re there. All part of the branding, and all that.’

  ‘Don’t worry. I’m fine with that. A li
ttle bit of royal blood doesn’t scare me.’ Lulu laughed.

  ‘Good. You probably won’t even see them but I just wanted to run that through with you first. You’ve only been with us a while. Quite a big thing in your first month!’

  ‘I’ll be fine,’ Lulu said, sounding more confident than she felt.

  ‘I knew you would. Thank you. I’ll pass on your professionalism to Atlanta.’

  ‘Excellent. Okay. I’ll get to it, then.’

  Lulu put her trainers in her bag, walked to the pedestrian crossing, waited for the lights to change, and in the sky-high nude shoes strolled confidently across the road.

  Little black dress, fabulous Italian shoes, perfectly coordinated accessories, impeccable hair, and bingo she was ready for anything. Even the Cavendish family and royalty.

  A few minutes later, Lulu walked around the front of the beautifully presented hotel, smiled and waved at the gardener who was sorting out huge pots of bay trees by the main door and held her pass over the staff entrance keypad.

  Walking through the hotel she made her way to the lobby, said hello to the other receptionist Lauren, patted her hair and adjusted her name badge, and turned on the computer with a lot more self-assurance on the outside than she felt.

  The morning flew by and before Lulu had time to catch her breath, she had gone through the key cards on the phone with William and was on her way up to the room to check everything was as it should be.

  Walking through to the private wing, Lulu’s heels sunk into a plushly carpeted corridor and as she passed, she checked her hair in the huge gilt-framed sparkling mirrors. Her hair had stayed in place, and her scarf was still tied neatly to the side just so.

  Passing three ginormous vases of fresh flowers, Lulu held the first key over a double door into an inner corridor until she got to another door to the suite of rooms.