In A Pretty Beach Wish we delve back into the wonderful seaside town and as Pretty Beach gets warmer there are days on the beach, glorious afternoons in the garden and something Juliette had always wished for comes floating right on into her life. With her garden and love life blooming Juliette can hardly believe all her dreams really have come true.

 As the sun shines, the dahlias flourish, and the sea sparkles, Luke and Juliette's love story goes from strength to strength and everything is looking exceedingly rosy - that is until one fateful day when Juliette’s world is changed forever. 

If you love a fabulous love story, a gorgeous old Victorian house by the sea, all the lovely bits and pieces of Summer and sweet, funny romcoms you’ll love the next part in the Pretty Beach story. 

Chapter 1

Juliette Sparkles opened the back door of her house on Mermaid Lane and stepped out into the garden. The lawn was topped with a bright blue sky and butterflies fluttered over the old roses in the flower beds to the left. Beautiful, absolutely beautiful, she thought to herself, and lucky, very, very lucky. She then stopped again, shook her head, and changed her mind. Actually, no luck involved, just a lot of hard, exceedingly hard, work. 

Juliette walked all the way across the lawn to the small sitting area at the back. She and Luke had cleared out the small section of the garden by the back fence, levelled it off, and then landscaped it with tiny white stones her friend Sallie had left from the renovation of her Orangery.  

As Juliette walked down the path she looked at the small seating area in the suntrap and thought how incredibly pleased she was with how it had all turned out. She’d placed a couple of striped blue and white deck chairs and a side table in the middle with a huge white sun umbrella nestled over the top. Little terracotta pots she’d painted a pale pink full of lavender were grouped on top of the table, and a large lantern sat on the floor next to the deck chairs. Nestled up against the old stone Victorian wall, climbing roses laden with flowers dropped petals all over the white stones, and two huge grey pots with olive trees sat on either side of the deck chairs. Juliette had always fancied a couple of deck chairs and a white parasol in a little sun trap looking over a pretty garden full of flowers. Now, those wishes were no longer just that, now they were hers. Juliette Sparkles was living the dream.

Juliette, in a white linen frilled dress, slipped off her flip-flops, put a large glass jug of home-made lemonade down on the side table and sat back in one of the deck chairs. She looked all the way down the lawn to the back door and smiled at the sight greeting her. 

Luke, in a pair of navy-blue shorts, barefoot and shirtless strolled down through the garden in the sunshine. Juliette watched him from behind her sunglasses and smiled to herself. Was it possible that he was getting more gorgeous? Possible that she loved him more? It seemed quite preposterous that either of those things were true. But, since he’d moved in with her and her daughter Maggie to Mermaid Lane she definitely loved him more. And she wasn’t sure how he’d managed it, but he seemed to be even better looking now than when she’d first seen him in the car park of the hospital in Newport Reef. He’s getting better looking and I’m getting plumper, she thought to herself. 

‘What a day!’ Luke exclaimed, looking back towards the house and up at the deep blue sky. 

‘I know. What a day for an extended weekend off work more like. Four days of nothing. We couldn’t have picked it better. Who wants to be anywhere other than Pretty Beach when the sun is shining?’ 

‘Tell me about it. I had my doubts about not going away. I thought we might get a run of rain and drizzle, but by the looks of the forecast, it’s going to be nice all week. All the better for the day trips we’ve got planned.’ 

‘Absolutely. If the sun is out like this and it’s this glorious, I’m actually quite happy sitting here with my feet up to be honest. Not sure if days out are what I want. I could just potter and garden and doze here all day long.’ 

‘Yeah, maybe we’ll knock a couple of the days out on the head. Just saunter down the beach with a picnic and get fish and chips on the way home.’ 

‘Sounds good to me. I couldn’t ask for anything more - no work, no worries and a weekend off with you. Bliss.’ Juliette said, as from behind her sunglasses, she continued to feast her eyes on Luke and the abs as he sat down on the deck chair beside her.

‘I’ve made the booking for the kayaks tomorrow though, so we’ll keep that,’ Luke said taking a sip of the lemonade. ‘Oh wow, glad I didn’t plump for the beer now. This is delicious!’ 

‘Long-perfected recipe Luke. It’s taken years. Holly said I should bottle it and put it in the shop as a Locals Only thing.’ 

‘You should. It’s really, really good. I didn’t think I would say that, either.’ 

‘I know. Trust me, it’s even better in the evening when the sun’s going down with a dash of vodka and a few ice cubes in it.’ 

‘You don’t need to tell me - I can tell it’d be nice with something a bit stiffer.’ Luke said as he scrolled through the weather app on his phone. ‘Okay, sorted, that’s what we’ll do tomorrow then. According to the weather on here, it’s going to be full sun and warm all day - we’ll do the kayak hire, then a BBQ and a vodka and lemonade in the garden. Fancy that?’

‘I do, I certainly do. Will there be a nice ending too? You know, right at the end of the day,’ Juliette asked, giggling. 

‘Juliette Sparkles, what are you proposing? Next thing we know you’ll be asking me to get a room. Oh no, wait, you already did that when we hadn’t even been going out very long. You wined me and dined me, and whisked me up to a hotel room at the end of the night.’ 

Juliette swirled the straw and slices of lemon around in her glass and laughed. 

‘Has to be said Juliette, that night in the hotel is up there with one of the best nights of my life.’ 

‘Up there with? Not sure if I’m happy with that Luke. I thought that would have been the best night of your life.’ 

‘You’re kidding me! Have you forgotten the night I moved in here?’ 

Juliette smiled to herself. How could she have forgotten that night? The night when the trombones in her head had moved into a whole new league and entered the arena as a full-on all-singing, all-dancing marching band.