Winter at Pretty Beach

by Polly Babbington

  They walked into Lucian’s tiny alcove office with the coffees, and Sallie sat down opposite Lucian while he checked the equipment.

  ‘I’ve had so many questions and comments already since the teasers,’ Lucian said as he tapped on the microphone and made sure it was working.

  ‘I saw loads of comments on the post - it’s amazing what interest there is in Pretty Beach.’ Sallie replied as she sipped on her coffee.

  ‘Tell me about it - I’ve analysed it many times since starting this podcast and I believe the interest is because it’s many people’s dream to live by the sea, surrounded by people they actually know and have a relationship with. They listen to the podcast and imagine themselves living here in Pretty Beach.’

  ‘Makes sense, I guess,’ Sallie replied and nervously picked at the side of the paper coffee cup.

  ‘So, once we’ve got this recorded, I’ll edit it and then you’ll jet off to the USA and be there just after it’s gone live - am I right?’

  ‘If you’re sure that’s definitely okay? I don’t want it to be like I’m running out at the most crucial point.’

  Lucian opened the timeline and replied as he read down, ‘It’s all here - you’ve got everything done that can be done at this point. The Orangery is ready, the decorations sourced and planned, Felicity is on standby for the flowers, caterers booked, alcohol chosen, the heating fixed and double-checked, the videographer scheduled and the ladies in Hong Kong ready and waiting. There’s nothing else we can do between this being recorded today and the entries coming in.’

  Lucian patted her on the leg, the perfectly gelled quiff at the top of his head nodding as if in agreement. She got a whiff of his exquisite, expensive-smelling aftershave as he leant forward - his attention to detail about everything was first-class in everything he did.

  Lucian gave her the headphones and pushed the microphone over and did a short test-run and then started recording. He’d sent her a brief run sheet for them to follow, but when they’d brainstormed it they’d decided they wanted it to be less old-school interview, more two relaxed Pretty Beach locals having a chat about an amazing Christmas wedding in a vintage building in their beautiful little town.

  They started with the story of how the weddings had come about at the marquee at the Boat House - Sallie described some of the beautiful weddings that had taken place there, how the setting was fabulous with the sea behind and then Lucian moved the conversation on to her finding the Orangery.

  He followed the brief as she continued to tell the story of finding the Orangery, the injury of her arm and her own weddings and then as they chatted they’d moved onto the renovation story. They talked about how she and Ben had crawled along on the floor scrubbing tiles, pulling down grapevines and making discoveries like the old Italian cider press.

  It all made for an inspiring story and just as planned they chatted around the loose plan on the run sheet, leading up slowly to the announcement of the competition.

  ‘I’d like to tell all you beautiful Where the Heck is Pretty Beach? lovelies an exciting little thing we’ve cooked up for Christmas, for the Orangery and for a very lucky bride and groom. Today we are announcing the Where the Heck is Pretty Beach? and Pretty Beach Boat House worldwide competition to find one lucky couple to have a Christmas Wedding in Pretty Beach. Darlings, it’s going to be fabulous!’

  They went on to talk about the competition, explain some of the requisites, direct listeners to the terms and conditions (one of Nina’s friends had drawn up and made watertight) and chatted about the Christmas setting, the tree, that it would all be a surprise for the bride including the dress, the venue and the reception and that they were looking for a very special, very deserving bride and groom.

  Chapter 28

  Sallie sat looking at the time on her phone. Everything was ready for her and lined up - she needed to board the train, a car would be waiting for her at the station to take her to the airport, then she needed to check in at the desk and get ready to board the flight. It felt surreal to be even considering a trip of this manner - she’d hardly been out of the country and now here she was travelling to the other side of America on her own. Ben’s mother’s assistant Charlie had sorted out the tickets and sent them to her phone. All she had to do was get there, flash the code on her phone and the next thing she would be arriving in Alaska.

  She had meticulously packed a small cabin bag and tote bag with thermal underwear, thick pyjamas, her snow boots and wool jumpers. She picked it up, stepped carefully down the apartment stairs, locked the barn doors to the Boat House and set the alarm on her phone. Everything was ready for her trip, though it was a long way to go to, hopefully, make a baby.

  Getting onto the train in her black cashmere crew neck jumper, black jeans, boots and blazer Sallie was warm but she was trying to layer her clothes up for the other end and not have to carry too much. She took off her blazer and hung it on the hook beside the seat, taking out her laptop. An hour later, finishing off the last of the scheduled posts for Pretty Beach Boat House social media accounts she got off the train, walked across the concourse and out to the taxi rank where a chauffeur in a fancy suit stood with a sign reading ‘Ms Broadchurch-Chalmers’. It felt strange as if she was looking down on the whole situation at someone else in her body - she was normally the one standing in line for the bus watching other people walk off the train and into a waiting car and here she was now one of those people.

  She beamed at the man in the suit and the sign and he took a step forward.

  ‘Ms Broadchurch-Chalmers. I’m Jim - here to take you to the airport.’

  ‘Yes, I’m Sallie thank you,’ she replied, pulling her case behind her.

  He held out his hand for the case, and she passed it over. They walked a few minutes to a dedicated car area, he held open the car door and she climbed into the back of the car. He leant in and smiled.

  ‘Shouldn’t be too long, thankfully the traffic is really quiet today - we’re lucky.’

  Twenty minutes later and they arrived at the airport. Jim pulled in, opened her door, handed her the luggage, wished her well and pulled away.

  Sallie looked up at the signs and headed to the check in area and walked straight to the desk - no long line in the economy queue to put up with, for the first time in her life she was travelling in Business. She smiled at the meticulously made-up woman behind the counter with immaculate hair scraped back into a glossy bun, a bright red tailored uniform with matching lipstick and handed over her phone. The woman scanned the phone, tapped away on the computer for quite a few minutes, frowned and then looked up.

  ‘Ms Broadchurch, I think you’re at the wrong desk - but not a problem I can check you in here,’ she said with a wide, friendly smile.

  ‘Oh, I thought this was the Business Class check-in - sorry, am I not in the right place?’

  ‘It doesn’t really matter and we’re really quiet anyway so you haven’t had to wait and yes this is the Business Class desk but you are booked into First Class, not Business Class.’ She indicated the ticket on Sallie’s phone and pointed over to the First Class check-in desk.

  Sallie smiled and replied, ‘I didn’t even really look at it properly, sorry, I just double-checked the time and the date was correct.’

  ‘Not a problem at all. Let’s get you on your way.’ The woman continued checking her in, ‘Only hand-luggage today?’

  ‘Yes, just this and this tote,’ she pointed to the oversized, tan leather bag on her shoulder.

  ‘Nice and quick for you then at the other end, no waiting around for baggage. Okay, all done here - you’ll just need this for the First Class lounge and your boarding card for the express lane for security.’

  How the other half live, thought Sallie. So this is how you travelled when you were part of the Chalmers family - staff were nice to you, doors were opened, people smiled at you and offered you help. It was a whole other world.

  She was whisked through security - no long lines behind people, no
surly staff with miserable faces. Sallie collected her things from the conveyor belt and followed the signs for the First Class lounge when her phone pinged. A man in a suit and top hat opened the door for her as she approached, smiling and welcoming her in.

  Hey beautiful, you must be at the airport by now, how are you getting on?

  Ben! I can’t believe I’m in First Class! You didn’t tell me that - I can’t believe it.

  I knew you’d protest, so I didn’t tell you, haha.

  Thank you so much!

  You’re worth it Mrs Broadchurch-Chalmers and I can't wait to make a baby with you.

  Is this how you’ve always travelled?

  Pretty much...

  Unbelievable - no buses and waiting in line for the Chalmers family then?

  I guess not. Can’t wait to see you - it’s quite chilly here though. Hope you’ve packed your thermals?

  Absolutely. I’ll be looking gorgeous in those. Look I’m going to go. Make the most of it in the lounge.

  Enjoy. See you at the other end of the day! Message me from the plane.

  She tucked her phone back into her bag and handed her boarding pass to the woman at the desk.

  ‘Welcome, Ms Broadchurch. You’re booked in for a neck and shoulder massage - correct?’

  ‘I am? My husband booked this for me so I’m not sure to be quite honest.’

  ‘Yes, you are - enjoy,’ The woman in the same red uniform and lipstick as the one on the desk said and smiled.

  Sallie walked in and looked around her, flabbergasted as she was greeted by buffets full of food, all sorts of different drinks, big comfy chairs, a quiet area, piles of newspapers and lots of men pulling little suitcases milling around in business suits. She tucked her hair into the bun at the nape of her neck and looked down at the huge diamond on her left finger - she was very glad she’d worn a blazer.

  Chapter 29

  The experience in First Class had been surreal to Sallie - from the moment the First Class passengers had been called to board first, to the exclusive walk onto the plane, to going upstairs, to the glass of champagne as she got settled into her seat and then the four-course dinner which looked like something from a fine dining magazine. At this end of the plane there were no grey trays with plastic food and grumpy cabin crew, but staff who seemed to genuinely want her to have a comfortable flight. She’d never experienced anything like it, and had loved every second of her strange new world.

  She’d decided after the massage in the lounge and working on her next social media posts that she would work the first few hours of the flight, then sit back, enjoy a movie with a glass of wine and then sleep if possible before she landed and she got on with the next leg of the trip to Alaska.

  She took her laptop out of the tote bag, sipped on the champagne which had been delivered to her seat when she got on and logged into the aircraft’s complimentary internet, sat back and started writing an update for the Orangery website. She’d documented its renovation and coming back to life story as part of the Pretty Beach Boat House Enterprises journey and it had been getting lots of interest, which in turn meant a lot of pins and shares, which in turn, meant more bookings. People loved seeing the pictures of how it looked before, what they had done and how it was looking now.

  As she sat there tapping away, cocooned in the privacy of the First Class suite the app notification on her dashboard pinged - Lucian had sent her a message. She clicked the little green button and read his message.

  Darling, you are NOT going to believe this!!!

  There was a dramatic pause - she didn’t reply, seeing the little ‘typing’ sign up in the corner.

  I’ve just had an email from The Daily Times, as in the national Daily Times - they only want to feature the wedding!

  What! You’re kidding me! Sallie typed back.

  I knew it. I’ve replied and I’m having a meeting later on this afternoon by video call. I know you’ll still be flying but depending on how it goes I’ll arrange another one for this week - just checking that’s good with you to do it from over there?

  Of course. Wow, a national newspaper, interested in our little competition in Pretty Beach! That’s amazing. You said this might happen and you were correct.

  Ahhh well yes, actually I’ve more listeners than their readership, but how times have changed darling - it’s the kudos that will be worth it to be featured in a newspaper if we decide to do it and reaching people that right now don’t go on social media or listen to podcasts.

  Amazing. Yep, that’s fine to arrange a meeting - we’ll just need to make sure the time difference works.

  No worries darling. OK, have a nice flight, I’ll be in touch when you get there and let you know.

  Sallie couldn’t believe it. She’d seen Lucian’s media kit and yes he definitely had a lot more listeners and followers than the national newspaper, but like he said it was the kudos - for the Orangery to get a spread in that paper would have been unheard of, almost impossible unless she had paid through the nose for it... and the newspaper had contacted them, not the other way round.

  She sat there thinking about it all as a cabin crew member came along and topped up her glass and she took a tiny tray of canapes that he handed to her. The more Sallie thought about it the more she thought that maybe they should get some advice - the newspaper had been super quick to get on it - maybe it would be better to wait and see what other offers they got. Or maybe, indeed, not to do that at all and keep it exclusive to both their brands - that was the beauty after all of social media and their combined reach. These days the old school media didn't have anywhere near as much power as they’d once had.

  She wondered what Ben would say - he was always super logical about anything business related and although he’d not started from the same place as she had, he had started a business from the ground up and it had given him invaluable experience and an appreciation of how small business worked and how each tiny decision was vitally important to everything - to cash flow, to branding, to reputation and marketing.

  About to get out her phone and text him, she decided she would wait until she got to Alaska. He would be really pleased as he knew how important the Orangery’s success was to her but not only that, since the burn he’d voiced his concerns that she had taken on too much, whether it was affecting their trying for a baby and he had been questioning whether she was doing the right thing. The project being successful would definitely mean that it was.

  ***

  Sallie looked out of the window as the plane bumped down and slid onto the tarmac, a blanket of grey clouds welcoming her to her first glimpse of America. She’d wanted to visit for ages, but time, money and life had always got in the way. In her wildest dreams she’d never thought that her first trip to the USA would be via the first-class cabin of a very large plane.

  She folded up her cashmere scarf and put it in her bag as phones pinged all around and hers went off with a message from Ben

  I’ve been tracking you on the internet - welcome to the United States.

  Thanks. I’m so excited! What a way to travel.

  Glad you enjoyed it. Better than a bumpy old ride in a seaplane right?

  Haha, you know what? I thought that. A few more luxuries up here lol.

  I’ll have to do my commercial license next.

  I could get used to travelling in style like this.

  It’s not bad ha.

  OK, just disembarking here and then waiting for the next one and then I’ll see you soon!!! Can’t wait to see Alaska.

  I can’t wait for you to be here beautiful - you’re going to love it. You’ve got the joys of customs to go through now though, thank God you can go through the express lane.

  Thanks OK, I’ll video you from the lounge before I get on...

  Picking up her bag, and taking her cabin case out of the overhead locker she waited for the doors to open and filed out behind the men in the business suits.

  ‘Thank you Ms Broadchurch, have a safe onward jour
ney. Thank you for flying with us,’ the elegant woman in red at the door of the plane said to her as she stepped off.

  Sallie nodded, smiled and said thank you back. They even remembered your name as you got off at this end of the plane.

  ***

  Sallie filed fairly quickly through border control, through the shopping area and made her way to the lounge to wait for the next leg of the flight with AirAlaska.

  She walked over to the bar, helped herself to sparkling water and went and found a free sofa and opened up her laptop. Only hours to go until the competition started and counting. Everything was set up and scheduled - the posts, Lucian’s Where the Heck is Pretty Beach? podcast was edited and ready to be broadcast and all the red-tape and conditions had been applied for and double-checked.

  Sallie opened up the app and checked her emails - there was one from Lucian to say everything was set, there were no problems and all they had to do now was wait for the applications to come in. By the time she landed in Alaska the podcast episode would have aired, the guidelines for entry would have been published, and the wheels would have started turning in their highly thought-out publicity campaign and Lucian’s spreadsheet would be put to full use.

  Her phone pinged from Nina.

  Are you alive and in the land of the USA?

  Yep, all good. You’ll never guess what happened when I got to the airport?

  Oh no, now what?

  I wasn’t in Business Class.

  Ahhhh, so you went all the way long haul in the back of the plane?

  No, the opposite. First! Ben didn’t tell me. OMG. FAB.

  Wow Sals.

  I know. Hello!

  I need to find myself a millionaire pilot you know, haha.

  Well I keep trying to fix you up with someone but you get bored.

  True.

  Sorry I forgot to ask how is your mum?

  Not so good - the dementia is so bad now she didn’t even recognise me, and going downhill fast. The nurses are wonderful though.