Winter at Pretty Beach

by Polly Babbington

  So sad, you poor thing.

  Ahh, well. Nothing I can do about it. Right got to go, it’s late here and I’m off to bed. Safe journey to Alaska. Send me some pics.

  Chapter 30

  Sallie walked out of the gate at the airport and there he was, Ben standing leaning over the barrier waiting for her to emerge - her lovely, handsome Ben, rugged up in his navy-blue wool reefer coat, beanie pulled down over his head, a thick scarf, jeans and boots.

  He pulled her into his arms and kissed her on the cheek, ‘I’ve missed you beautiful.’

  ‘I’ve missed you so much.’ She squeezed him hard, feeling his strong thick muscles under her hands and ran them down over his back underneath his coat.

  Ben stood back and looked at her, taking her in, up and down.

  ‘For someone who has just come off most of the day on a plane, you look fabulous.’

  ‘Ben, it was hardly arduous - I feel like I’ve been waited on hand and foot since I stepped off the train from Pretty Beach and I haven’t stopped being fed and offered copious amounts of alcohol,’ she said laughing as he took her case.

  ‘Well, you look amazing and you’re going to fall in love with the cabin, it’s lovely.’

  ‘If it’s as good as the pictures, I’m not going to want to go home.’

  ‘Oh, it’s so much better than the photos.’ Ben replied.

  ‘You’re well rugged up though, is it cold?’ She asked, taking in the scarf, hat and coat.

  ‘It’s not warm, Sals, we might have to buy you another coat if it continues to snow. It started a few days ago and it’s not showing any signs of slowing down at the moment.’

  He picked up her case, took hold of her hand and led her out of the airport. The automatic doors opened, icy air blasted into them, and sleet sheeted down as they hurried across the road and into the car park.

  Ben opened the boot of the car with the key fob, put her suitcase in the back and opened her door. Sallie climbed into the huge SUV and he jumped in the other side, turned on the engine and the radio came on.

  ‘Weather warning - huge snowfall for this time of year predicted over the next few days. Keep an eye on your weather charts folks, check your tyres and watch out for the snow.’

  Sallie looked at Ben with wide eyes. He took his eyes off the road and looked back at her, chuckling.

  ‘Well you do love snow, Sals, you brought it with you.’

  As she sat there beside him driving along the deserted road, Sallie remembered the day she had first been on a date with him and as it always did, it made her heart leap and little butterflies dance in her stomach. Driving along with him now on the way from the airport to the little cabin he’d rented, she felt almost overwhelmed with love. The whole journey had been amazing (who wouldn’t say no to being pampered in First Class?), but it was more the journey over the last few years that she felt grateful for as she sat next to him in the huge American car. The money was a fabulous little extra, but she’d done without it before and could again.

  Ben leant over the huge console and put his hand on her leg, aware of her brain ticking over.

  ‘What are you thinking about beautiful?’ He asked gently.

  ‘Oh, nothing really, you know just, well, all this and just us,’ Sallie replied, suddenly a lump in her throat and all of a sudden, a tear in the back of her eyes.

  She rarely cried - after the stillbirth she’d almost felt like she was all cried out, and had used up every tear she’d ever had. But now all of a sudden she was overcome with emotion, being in a completely different environment to Pretty Beach, the long, tiring journey, and then looking over at Ben Chalmers driving along with her. Who even was she? She thought.

  ‘Are you okay?’ He said, sensing her mood.

  ‘Yeah, yeah, sorry, just exhausted I suppose and well, I just love you.’

  ‘I hope so - you just married me... twice. I love you too beautiful. Think you might have had a little too much First Class wine - we need to get you to the cabin, a nice bath and tucked up in bed asleep.’

  ‘How come you always seem to know what I need?’ She looked back at him sitting there in the beanie looking gorgeous.

  Ben looked at her confused, as if wondering why she didn’t understand and replied simply, ‘Because I love you Sals, obviously.’

  She put her hand on top of his and smiled through the tears and swallowed the lump in her throat.

  ‘I can’t believe it all, Ben. I’ve just flown to another part of the world on my own, I have my own business, a national newspaper wants to follow my story and I have you. Like I am someone now, something, not just a nobody in a low-paid job and of no consequence. People actually value what I say, do and think. I felt like I was a nothing for so long after the divorce and now I am someone again. People like what I do, heck... they like me.’ She trailed off and looked out the window at the freezing cold scene outside whisking past the tinted window.

  ‘You certainly could never have been of no consequence, beautiful - it takes all the people to make the world go round,’ Ben replied and took hold of her hand and placed it on his leg leaving his hand on top of hers.

  They drove along in silence, the snow falling heavily, the whole landscape white, cold, the sky black, deep almost - she had thought the stars in Pretty Beach were impressive, but these were on another level. It was as if the road had had a deep, low, jet-black ceiling painted onto it with gold glittery stars stuck on as an afterthought... only it was real and it seemed to fall down and meet the edge of the earth.

  They turned off the motorway, pulling down onto a smaller road - it was just like the long, straight roads she’d seen on American movies, and by the looks of the destination signs lined up on the road it was a long way to anywhere. The Alaskan trees and cabins she’d seen online lined the road, huge snowy mountains sat back in the distance and it felt like she’d arrived in a whole new world.

  They passed small timber cabins sat on large lots with perfect lawns, huge SUVs and quaint post boxes at the end of each drive. They sped along past rows and rows of cabins until Ben slowed the car and pulled onto a driveway, put the car in park and switched off the engine. He looked over at Sallie who was sitting leaning forward peering through the windscreen with her mouth agape at the cabin, the mountains behind and the starry sky encasing it all. It was the most picture-perfect cabin she had ever seen - like someone had plucked it out of a children’s picture book and dropped it into a small road on the outskirts of an Alaskan town.

  The small A-frame log cabin was topped with a layer of snow and sat alongside a long row of cabins and chalets each covered in white powder and glistening under the early evening moonlight.

  A few minutes from the town yet it was like they were in the middle of nowhere, Ben had said it had taken ages to find somewhere that was just right and he’d done a fabulous job.

  Honey-coloured Adirondack chairs lit from above by a black coach lamp sat either side of a small door on a rustic front deck, and a cosy glow from tiny lamps on each of the dormer windows in the eaves greeted them warmly from inside. A row of tiny candles in the downstairs windows blinked out at them as the huge trees rustled in the wind.

  Ben got out and came around to her side of the car and they both stood there looking up at the tiny cabin surrounded by the jet black sky and stars.

  ‘Okay now?’ He asked and stroked her on the arm, a concerned look on his face.

  ‘I am now, seeing this place. No, honestly, I’m fine, just all a bit tiring I guess - and coming all that way on my own. I’ve never done anything like that really before - well, not that far anyway. Ben, this is absolutely magical!’

  ‘I thought you might prefer it to a hotel in town,’ he laughed.

  ‘Just a bit.’

  He took her luggage out of the car and Sallie walked up the few small timber steps to the front deck and peered through the timber paned window to inside. It was tiny - cosy sofas faced each other over a low timber coffee table piled with books. Thick,
wool throws were piled up in a huge log basket and a timber ladder came down into the room leading to what looked like a bedroom in the eaves. Little cafe curtains were pulled back at the tiny windows and thick, cosy rugs were layered under the coffee table and sofas.

  She turned to Ben as he was pulling her suitcase and bag up from the car and kissed him on the cheek.

  ‘It’s amazing - the ladder! Oh my, I have to do something like this at home, it’s divine.’

  ‘I knew you’d like that - I was video calling my mum a few days ago and she was like, it’s a bit small and basic, Ben, and I told her you would adore the ladder and the little bedroom in the eaves. I guess I was right.’

  ‘You certainly were; it was more than worth spending a day cooped up in a plane to be here.’

  The wind whistled around them, icy air biting through her coat and whipping her hair around her head.

  ‘About that coat...’

  Chapter 31

  Sallie carefully took the ladder in the tiny log cabin up to the bedroom in the eaves and walked over to the white bed, layered up with multiple pillows and cushions and stroked the soft fur of the thick electric throw neatly draped at the bottom. Compared to outside it was lovely and warm in the eaves as she opened the door to peer in at the bathroom - also tiny, and just fitting in the corner a lovely bath with a dormer window above looking directly up at the stars.

  With her clothes unpacked from her small suitcase, her toiletries in the bathroom and her pyjamas ready and waiting for her on the ledge of the bath, Sallie pulled the lever on the shower and stepped in. The tiny little bathroom reminded her of the cottage she had first stayed at in Pretty Beach - only this had clearly only recently been installed and there was no vintage window looking out to sea. Sallie peered up through the dormer window as she let the water gush over her, washing away the grime that had come with the long journey. As she stood there looking up she glimpsed the moon in the velvet night and could have sworn she saw a shooting star flit across the sky.

  She got out of the shower, wrapped herself in a huge, thick, luxury towel which was nearly as tall as she was and put on her pyjamas. She padded over to the window and marvelled at the little place. Outside a fire pit sat in a small undercover area, she could see a hot tub with a cover on under a timber gazebo and a long, narrow barn with beautiful old double timber doors was piled high with logs for the fire.

  As they had approached the cabin everything had looked like it had been perfectly placed as part of a scene from a book all under the towering canopy of the firs - it had made her take a breath in, but looking down on it all now from the eaves window, it was even more charming.

  She walked over to look out the window at the front: it was just as beautiful on the other side. Everything sparkled in the layer of icy snow, the street lights cast deep pools of golden light on the floor, and the tall trees stood proudly beside it all. A lone car drove past its full beam picking out the snowflakes as they fell onto the road and she could have sworn she saw a deer in the trees. The trees cast long shadows onto the whole scene and every now and then the moon dipped behind a cloud.

  Toasty and warm, and feeling the long journey in her bones and behind her eyes, she padded down the tiny ladder to the kitchen where Ben was taking the lid off a bottle of wine.

  ‘It’s like a dream come true to be here. It’s just so beautiful,’ she said hugging him.

  ‘You wait until we get out and explore in the daylight - it took my breath away, there’s so much stunning nature here.’

  He sat down at the kitchen table next to her.

  ‘It’s not hard to see why people love to live up this way. The scenery is nothing short of amazing.’ Ben stated.

  ‘I can totally see that,’ she replied looking out the kitchen window and up at the trees outside. ‘A bit different to Pretty Beach though... shall we start the Alaskan branch of Pretty Beach Enterprises or is it Seaplanes? Hmm, that has a nice ring to it,’ she laughed.

  Ben gave a low laugh and put his hand on hers. ‘I think it may just be a teensy bit remote for us, beautiful.’

  ‘So, what’s on the agenda then? Apart from lots of fabulous food - I want all the pancakes, Ben, all the fries, and all the coffee.’

  ‘Hmm, you mean apart from baby-making - after all, that’s the main reason you’re here, isn’t it?’ Ben replied.

  Sallie laughed and rolled her eyes.

  ‘We're going to the best diner in Alaska according to the crew for breakfast tomorrow morning - there will definitely be pancakes, and then I’ve a little surprise tomorrow afternoon.’

  Chapter 32

  Sallie smiled at Ben as she finished drying her hair in the bathroom mirror of the tiny cabin thinking about Tillie and Nina and the naming ceremony - she was really looking forward to dressing up and enjoying the day. As she was thinking about what to wear and wondering how it would go, a message came in from Lucian.

  Darling, you won’t believe it but I think we might have found the couple already - early days I know but they seem perfect. I’ve emailed you the details. No rush or anything. Don’t want to ruin your break but I think they are just what we are looking for. If you get a chance, have a read and let me know what you think.

  Sallie messaged back a thumbs up sign, opened up the email app and scrolled down through notifications from various places, plus a few messages about bookings for the Boat House, until she got to an email from Where the Heck is Pretty Beach?

  She opened it up and started to read. The application had come from a couple from the Yorkshire Dales who had been planning their wedding for years, but the bride had received a devastating cancer diagnosis and had spent the last few years in treatment for it. They’d had various places booked for the wedding but those times and dates had come and gone for a few reasons; one being that the bride wanted her own hair to grow and the other that the drugs had caused her face and limbs to bloat. She’d wanted to wait until those had improved and wait for the time when she felt like she had enough energy to walk down the aisle on her dad’s arm in the best state that she could. Just as that time had come around, her hair had grown and she’d felt better and she’d had the all clear, her dad had suddenly collapsed and passed away from a heart attack throwing the plans into disarray and the wedding to yet again be postponed.

  Katie, the young woman, was a nurse at the local hospital, and the groom was training to be a vet. They’d met through a mutual uni friend and had weathered all sorts of storms. Sallie clicked on the attachment of the picture of the bride. Short white blonde hair framed a beautiful face with deep brown eyes and honey-coloured skin. There were no signs of the harrowing years behind her other than the short haircut and maybe a hint of sadness about the eyes.

  The groom had added that Katie had always wanted to get married in the colder months of the year, loved the ocean and had pictures of the exact dress and head dress she wanted pinned to the side of the fridge.

  Sallie had to admit that this couple looked perfect - they were in England so it would mean the logistics of it all would be easy enough, they were ready to be married so it was not as if she would run once she’d seen the surprise and they even had a dress to go on.

  She messaged Lucian back.

  Looking good. Seems too good to be true though that we’ve found the right couple so quickly.

  I thought the same - but I guess we were never going to know at what point the winner would come in.

  True. OK. Let’s sit on it for a bit and then we’ll decide.

  Sallie could feel him nodding his head in agreement across the miles - it was so nice working with him and quite uncanny that they were so much on the same wavelength.

  Chapter 33

  Sallie leant forward into the footwell, took her scarf and hat out of her bag and put them on ready for the cold as they approached the dockyard for their boat trip. Huge barn-sized fresh fish shops lined the sides of the yard, tiny garlands of blue and red flags were strung between the stores and rows of hangi
ng fresh fish swayed in the wind.

  The large white boat stood at the dock ready for them as a few other passengers traipsed up the gangplank wrapped up in raincoats and scarves and the skipper stood at the top checking his charts.

  The trip promised an amazing fresh fish lunch, fjords, glaciers and natural areas full of wildlife. Ben had it on local knowledge that it was the best trip in the area and they’d just managed to book onto it as the season came to an end. When Sallie had seen the cosy menu, the afternoon tea and the fact that the cabin was fully heated she'd been really looking forward to it.

  They pulled around to a space in the car park and locked up the car. Ben took her hand and they strolled along in the cold air looking at the multitudes of blackboards and posters announcing the catch of the day and what was the freshest fish.

  Winter sunshine streamed through a few random clouds as they climbed aboard the boat and looked down into deep, dark blue water.

  ‘Bit different to the water in Pretty Beach - this is so blue and backed by white mountains, snow and wildlife,’ Ben commented as he helped her up on the deck.

  ‘I know. It really does feel different.’ Sallie replied looking down at the blue water.

  ‘I love it here Ben. You were right as usual.’

  ‘I obviously know you well,’ Ben said, laughing.

  ‘You obviously do...’

  They took their place at the front of the cabin as the boat was untied from the wharf and pulled steadily away out into the cold waters. The boat slowly moved out along the coast and they looked up in amazement at the lush forests, towering rocks and abundant wildlife, gliding past sea otters and puffins while eagles soared high above their heads.

  As the boat meandered in and out, and Sallie and Ben enjoyed the scenery they made their way to the tiny restaurant at the back of the boat. Six small tables dressed in royal blue checked table cloths and nautical decor greeted them. Tiny round portholes ran all the way along the sides and highly polished timber bench seats with thick padded cushions were available to sit and look out at the amazing scenery going past the window.