Going through the front door, Lulu slipped her feet into white trainers, attached Mabel’s lead, stepped off the drive onto the pavement, and looked up at the rapidly fading sky as dusk began to fall all over Pretty Beach.
Walking along Seafolly Passage with Mabel sniffing every tree she came to, they were bathed in pools of light as the old-fashioned street lights turned on and the darkness fell all around.
Lulu strolled contentedly along the laneway peering in the windows of the shops, noticing the busy throng of people coming in and out of Pretty Beach Fish and Chips, and as she got towards the end, the smell of Indian spices and lovely cooking from the curry house filled the air.
A few minutes later, Lulu was passing the Boat House lit up by fairy lights and made her way through Mermaids and into the Old Town. She stopped to look at a house with a pale pink front door and wondered if she could do a similar look on Seafolly House. As she passed, she smiled at Roy Johnson who she remembered from the old days who was getting out of his car with supermarket shopping bags.
Turning into a narrow road with Georgian townhouses, Lulu noticed a removals van with two wheels bumped up on the kerb. The back doors were open and three men walked out of a house, their arms laden with moving blankets. Mabel stopped to sniff a tree trunk and as Lulu watched the men piling the blankets into the back of the van and shutting the doors, all of a sudden, the penny dropped.
Georgian townhouse, moving van, Old Town.
Ollie had shown her the pictures of his new house and she hadn’t thought much more about it at all. She must have inadvertently stumbled upon it as she was out walking with Mabel.
After waiting for Mabel to finish and strolling further along the pavement, the removal men got in the van’s cab, started the engine, and trundled off into the evening. Just as Lulu, lit up by the streetlight above, was passing the black railings and pretending not to look in the open front door, Ollie came hustling out with a pile of empty cardboard moving boxes in his arms.
‘Oh, hi! What are you doing over this side?’ he called out from the step.
Lulu smiled. ‘Just on an evening stroll with Mabel. Fancy bumping into you here. You’ve moved in today, have you?’
‘I have. Nightmare, actually. There was a problem with the van. It broke down on the motorway with all my stuff in it! They were brilliant but it caused a huge delay so I’m only just in now and to be quite honest, it’s chaos in there,’ Ollie said putting the empty boxes down on the path and walking over towards the gate. Lulu peered in at the brightly lit house looking for evidence of anyone else. There didn’t seem to be any movement from inside at all.
‘Want to come in and have a look around?’ Ollie asked.
I’d like to come in and do more than look around, Mr Ollie Cavendish. Trust me on that.
Lulu and Mabel stood in the hallway after a guided tour of Ollie's new house. It was a lovely three-storey old building that had been immaculately renovated with a well-kept garden, gorgeous old conservatory, and garage backing onto a tiny lane. Nearly derelict, like Seafolly House, it most certainly was not.
Ollie ran his fingers through his hair as he rested on the bannister. ‘God, I’m starving. I can’t even remember what time I last had something to eat! What a crazy day. I’ve not had time to think, let alone eat.’
Lulu smiled. ‘Ahh, the joys of moving day. I do not want to relive the day I moved into Seafolly House. I can tell you that for certain.’
‘Yeah, it’s been a long old day. And I’ve another big couple of days coming up. I’m away on a training course for the next few days, so it’s all go. Have you eaten? Fancy joining me for fish and chips?’
Lulu had eaten more than enough but pretended she was in precisely the same boat. ‘Ahh. I’m hungry too! I’ve been up to my eyes in gardening and the house all day, and I thought that if I didn’t get Mabel out for a walk before dinner I wouldn’t do it,’ Lulu lied through her teeth and crossed her fingers in her pocket that she wouldn’t be struck down from above for elaborating on the truth.
‘I just need to hop in the shower,’ Ollie said holding up his hands and looking down at his old clothes. ‘Then we could stroll up there or I can pop up in the car and get a takeaway? What do you think?’
‘How about I leave Mabel here with you and walk around there while you’re in the shower?’ Lulu replied trying to keep her voice casual.
‘Sounds like a plan,’ Ollie replied and held his hand out for Mabel’s lead. ‘Come on, darling Mabel,’ Ollie said as he took Mabel’s lead and Mabel did a tiny happy bark in response.
‘What would you like?’ Lulu asked.
‘Anything right now would be good! A large cod and chips would be lovely.’ Ollie laughed. ‘Oh and a buttered roll. Actually, make that two.’
Lulu smiled and, leaving Mabel with Ollie, she turned and stepped out the open front door and could not quite wipe the beaming smile from her face as she walked along the pavement in the direction of the laneway.
Lulu sat on the bench beside the war memorial. Thank goodness she had, at all times about her person, an illuminating concealer, lip balm, and tiny little vial of perfume. You never knew when you were going to need it. That's what she had quickly learnt in life and walking Mabel after dinner was precisely one of those occasions.
Turning her phone camera around, she dotted the concealer pen under her eyes, dabbed a bit over her cheeks for good measure, added the lip balm, and sprayed the Chanel behind her ears. Taking a deep breath in she smiled. She hadn’t seen this coming when she had left Seafolly House for a stroll. A random fish and chips event with Ollie. The same Ollie that she was doing very well at concealing the temptation to rip off her clothes and run off into the sunset with him.
Caution! He’s a friend asking you to get a takeaway fish and chips. Beware! It’s nothing more than that.
Lulu made her way to Pretty Beach Fish and Chips, smiled and chatted to the owner Jessica who Willow knew from school, and with the cod and chips and rolls in a white paper bag, she made her way back to Ollie’s.
Pushing open the black gate to the path, Mabel came bounding to the front door. ‘I’m back, Mabel. I didn't leave you,’ Lulu said as Ollie, fresh out of the shower with wet hair and bare feet, stuck his head around a door at the end of the hallway.
‘In the kitchen,’ Ollie called out. Lulu walked down the hallway, put the fish and chips on a small round table with two chairs, and sat down.
‘I’ve found the essentials box with the kettle and tea bags and the cool box with butter, cheese and a six-pack of beers.’ Ollie laughed. ‘No wine, I’m afraid. Can I interest you in a very fancy can of craft beer?’
Lulu smiled. ‘Of course. I love a beer with fish and chips,’ she said as Ollie opened the fridge, pulled out a beer, and pulled off the ring.
‘There you go. This is going to be the best meal you’ve ever had. Ha! Fish and chips and a cold beer. Right, I managed to dig out two plates and I’ve worked out how to turn the oven on. I’ll pop them in there for a few minutes so they’re piping hot,’ Ollie said as he took the fish and chips from the side.
They sat there sipping on the beer chatting about the hotel, discussed Ollie’s move, and he mentioned how he was more than ready to get back to his old job once his dad had fully recovered. As the oven whirred and Ollie chatted easily, Lulu heard the Pretty Beach ferry horn sound way off in the distance and thought how lucky she was to be there and away from the nightmare Fenton had created.
Five minutes later, Ollie slid the white boxes onto the table and dished their food up onto the two lone plates, Ollie got a couple more beers out of the fridge and sat back down. Lulu topped up her glass and trying to ignore her previous meal she tucked into the chips and took another sip of her beer.
‘Woah. This stuff is quite strong,’ Lulu said, turning around the can. ‘What! You didn’t tell me that. It’s really strong and I’ve just downed it like it was lemonade.’ Lulu giggled.
‘Sorry! I assumed you knew,�
�� Ollie replied.
‘I do now!’
Five minutes later, the fish and chips were long gone, Ollie had opened another beer and Lulu sat back in her chair.
‘Cheers, Lulu. It’s been nice.’
‘What’s been nice?’
‘It’s been nice getting to know you. Nice knowing a true-blue Pretty Beach-er as it were. It’s not easy fitting in down here.’
‘Ditto, Ollie. It’s been nice to chat to you and thanks for all the, err, help,’ Lulu said clinking her beer glass with Ollie’s.
The two beers, the second dinner, the chatting and pretending she was airy, nonchalant, and casual made Lulu chuckle to herself as she sat staring at the midnight blue sky outside Ollie’s kitchen window. Casual and nonchalant was the last thing she felt. She was finding it difficult to breathe.
‘Lulu? Are you still with us?’ Ollie joked as Lulu’s mind wandered and the sea air from walking Mabel, the two strong beers, and the vision in front of her made her forget where she was for a moment. Lost in thought about everything going on in her life and her new start in Pretty Beach.
‘Lulu? Hello?’ Ollie laughed.
‘Sorry, yes. I’m suddenly shattered, Ollie. I've been working all hours and sitting here with a takeaway and a few beers everything seems to have all at once decompressed. Well, it's just really very nice after everything that’s happened.’
‘Same here. Yeah, it’s a big old deal moving house when you’re on your own. It’s been a very long day. So, we’d better get you home then if you’re shattered,’ Ollie said looking at the time on his phone.
On your own? Yippee. Hooray! Get the streamers out! He’s on his own.
‘No! Don’t be silly! You don’t need to walk me home. I’ll be fine with Mabel. We walked here with no problems,’ Lulu said, attempting to sound impassive whilst wishing that he had actually asked her for a sleepover. A sleepover in his bed. A sleepover that lasted for a week. Even better, a year.
‘True. But it was much earlier then and I’m not prepared to have that on my conscience along with the injuries. I’ll get my shoes,’ Ollie replied.
‘Okay. I’ll just pop to the loo if that’s okay?’ Lulu asked.
After using the downstairs cloakroom, Lulu walked into the hallway and pulled Mabel’s lead from the hooks by the door. Just after she’d turned around to find Mabel, she was suddenly up close and personal with the honey and the eyes.
Lulu, as she had the first time she had seen him, felt as if the world had stopped turning as Ollie stood ever-so-close and she tried to remember how to breathe. Surely this Ollie Cavendish could see that she was close to the point of needing resuscitation?
As she looked up at Ollie he bent down and, taking her right hand in his he kissed her gently. Lulu moved closer feeling his skin against hers, breathing in his smell, wondering if she was ever going to be able to breathe unaided again.
And then, all of a sudden, she was closer, in deeper, kissing him back, touching the back of his neck, her other hand limp by her side just about hanging onto Mabel’s lead. Lost in a world of honey and green, a world that she’d never stepped into before and never, ever wanted to step out of again.
26
In cream crepe trousers, a flowing silk scarf, fitted cashmere sweater, and a perfect gold necklace with a tiny love heart charm, Lulu hastily walked through the hallway of Seafolly House to the kitchen. Holding her phone out in front of her, she chatted to Willow who was sitting on the balcony of her holiday home in St Barts with a coffee, flickering candlelight all around her. Willow squinted suspiciously into the camera.
‘You’re being weird, Lulu. What’s happened? Is your hand okay?’ Willow asked.
‘I’m not being weird. I’m just running late and you know I hate being late.’
‘That’s why you're weird because you're late. You are never late. Something must have made you late.’
Yup! Dreaming about a rather nice man on the other side of Pretty Beach.
‘I’m not actually late yet. But I’m not early either,’ Lulu said with her laptop in her right hand and her bag under her arm as she opened the boot room door for Mabel and shoved two pieces of bread into the toaster.
‘How about I call you later? Will you be free when I get up?’ Willow asked.
‘You’re joking. Today is not good. I’ve got a full day, a front of house group staff meeting, and apparently, I have been earmarked to go back to Pettacombe to liaise with the security for you know who.’
‘What? You're going to be promoted before you know it.’
Lulu laughed as her toast pinged up from the toaster. ‘Who knows? Not that I’d really want that. The part-time income is just enough and then I really want to concentrate on Lovely Little Things,’ Lulu said as she propped her phone up on the kitchen windowsill and spread butter thickly onto the two slices of toast.
‘Good work. I’m so glad you’ve decided to do that. It will make a huge difference.’ Willow smiled.
Lulu dunked her tea bag in her mug, bit into a slice of toast, and looked back at the phone, ‘Now I’ve got an income I feel a bit better about everything,’ she said, shoving another bit of toast in her mouth and dunking the tea bag again.
Willow moved closer to the screen as if trying to see better. ‘Oh my god! Are you making tea in a mug? No teapot! Right. What is wrong with you? You hate tea made in the mug.’
‘I told you I’m in a rush.’
‘In all our life, I have never seen you knowingly drink a cup of tea made in a mug. What are you up to?’
Lulu couldn’t stop a small smile forming at the edges of her mouth.
‘I knew it! What? Tell me! I can’t stand it! You’re different. You’ve got your sparkle back!’
‘Nothing. Nothing. Nothing.’ Lulu laughed back.
‘Tell me. Or I’m going to pester you all day long,’ Willow said with her eyebrows raised in enquiry.
‘There may have been a kiss occurrence last night.’
Willow swore and looked into the camera with huge wide eyes.
‘A kiss! What sort of a kiss? Who with? I can’t believe this! We don’t speak for what, like a few days, and you’ve kissed someone. In Pretty Beach! You’ve been back in Pretty Beach for two minutes and you’re fraternising with the locals already.’
Lulu started laughing as she gulped her tea, went to the back door, called Mabel in, and heard Willow shouting from the phone.
‘James! Jesus Christ, you kissed James from the Smugglers. I don’t believe it! He’s fancied you for years! Since school.’
Lulu ran back into the kitchen and snapped the phone off the windowsill. ‘James! How many times have I told you about that! Why does everyone think he fancies me? No way!’
‘Who then? I didn't know you had randoms lining up to kiss you.’
‘Ollie.’
‘What?’ Willow exclaimed. ‘The Ollie from the hotel?’
‘Yes, the Ollie. How many other Ollies do you think I know?’
‘Ollie Cavendish! Noooooooo! Lulu, you can’t be serious!’
Lulu beamed. ‘I am deadly serious.’
‘You mean he kissed you on the cheek or something?’
‘No, he very much did more than kiss me on the cheek. It was amazing.’
‘Oh! Goodness! I’m gobsmacked,’ Willow shrieked.
‘Wills, I thought you would be happy for me.’
‘Lulu, you’re freshly out of a shocking divorce, in a new town and Ollie Cavendish is...’
‘Is what?’
Willow coughed. ‘Lulu, There are rumours that he’s a bit of a lad. I thought you realised that?’
Lulu stopped as she was bringing her tea up to her mouth. ‘Don’t spoil it, Wills! I don’t care. I don’t care if he’s snogged every woman from here to Pettacombe. I know you said he might be a player. But stuff it! What have I got to lose? I’m no spring chicken and divorced and a tasty man kissed me. Bring that right on.’
‘Lulu. Please. As I said I’ve seen th
is look about you twice before. In fact, this time you’re, I don’t know, even more wobbly and dreamy. Neither time ended well. Remember Steven Bartholemew? Need I say more?’
‘I don’t care, Wills. I really, really, really don’t care! I was in that sham of a marriage for years, couldn’t have a family, or maybe that was a lie too, and so the way I look at it, I have nothing to lose. So, stuff it! I'm diving in headfirst. If it’s a flash in the pan so be it. I can’t control myself. He’s gorgeous and I love this feeling. It’s sooooooo exciting. I have never felt like this before.’
Willow was slowly shaking her head from left to right. ‘Please tell me you didn’t stay the night.’
Lulu looked back into the viewfinder. ‘You’re ruining this like you always do. You’re not mum, you know,’ Lulu said with a stony face.
‘Sorry, I’m not trying to ruin it. I’m just trying to warn you after all that you’ve been through.’
‘You are. You always do. Blimey, Wills, just be enthusiastic for once. We can’t all have perfect little lives like you.’
‘I’m not saying my life is perfect, just be careful. Remember what happened with Steven Bartholemew? The staying in under the quilt for weeks and needing personal deliveries of ice cream.’
Lulu’s face cracked. ‘Yeah, there was that. I suppose I didn’t handle that so well...’
‘Just take it easy. He’s part of that big London scene. We both know what it’s like. Crikey, that’s half the reason I pulled the plug on working up there. I couldn’t deal with all that society schmoozing all the time. A complete load of utter you know what.’
Lulu nodded. ‘I do get you, but Wills, sorry but I don’t care. I really, really don’t care.’
Lovely Little Things in Pretty Beach : A magical feel-good romance book to escape with in summer 2021. Page 17