We immerse ourselves back into the next part of Lulu’s story and catch up with her as she begins to find her feet in the town she grew up in.

Far from her life being over and ending up alone, Lulu’s life is ticking along very nicely and she settles into long, happy days in the sweet little seaside town. Her romance with Ollie Cavendish goes from strength to strength, her business potters along quite nicely and her new job is full of surprises.

But not everything is as simple as she thought, and when a blast from the past arrives in Pretty Beach, Lulu yet again wonders how her life seems to always end up so very complicated.

Get ready to fall in love again with the utterly delightful town nestled on the coast and Beautiful Little Things in Pretty Beach.

Chapter 1 

Lulu strolled along the promenade in white linen trousers, a fitted white top, and pale blue tennis shoes. As she looked to the left, she smiled at the sight of the busy beach. Families tucked up against the breakers, a group of young lads playing cricket, a row of old ladies sitting on stripy deckchairs. The very same Pretty Beach scenes playing out in front of her from when she was young. The ones that, in those days, she couldn’t wait to get away from. These days they made her smile and thank her lucky stars she’d ended up in the sweet little town by the sea. 

Walking by the side of the beach, along past Princess Pier and to the end, she took off her sunglasses and squinted down to the right and the beach huts. It had been a very long time since Lulu had been to the old huts lined up at the base of the cliff. As she looked along the row of pastel-coloured buildings fading away into the distance, all sorts of recollections flitted in and out of her mind. With Willow as youngsters playing on the beach, their mum sunbathing in a deckchair, going crabbing by the shore. Pretty Beach Radio playing from inside on the shelf in the corner. Sneaking into the hut when they were teenagers and weren’t supposed to be there. Spending the day there with Willow and her husband Jack when they were first married. So many memories of so many things in Pretty Beach. 

And then the sad memories hurtled in as quickly as the good ones had. When she, Willow, and their mum had sat tucked up inside their beach hut with cups of hot chocolate the weekend after their dad had left, and Lulu had tried her best not to cry. Lulu looked along the line of squat little sheds. The last time she could remember being in their hut was when they’d taken their mum there for the day when she hadn’t had long to go. Lulu hadn’t thought about the hut for years, and as far as she knew, Willow hadn’t been there for a long time either. 

As she strolled along the gravel path behind the huts, her huge basket over her arm, she looked at the old ‘Drinkwater Days’ hut - the family-owned hut of her childhood. It had definitely seen better days. Passing right along through all the gorgeous coloured timber buildings, she weaved her way through to the front row, all painted in the regulatory Pretty Beach colours. Looking along, her eyes settled on the five huts that had been bought for an extortionate price by the Cavendish Group and renovated by the Sandy Bay Hotel. 

Lulu spotted them right away, glistening in all their finery. Of course, they were beautifully presented. Each one in a different pastel stripe, matching deck chairs propped outside on the beach. On top of each, the Pretty Beach flag proudly displayed and flapping gently in the sea breeze. Above the doors, the huts showcased their names, and she could hear Pretty Beach Radio almost floating above her in the air. 

Lulu scanned along to Sandy Retreat and smiled as she saw the doors open, the barbecue wafting tiny billows of smoke on the left, the matching windbreaker wedged into the sand, and a sun lounger ready with a pillow and a coordinated towel. 

Looking up at the sky, Lulu crossed her fingers that the weather would hold for the rest of the day. With the previous week offering nothing but grey skies and gloomy pouring rain, the sunshine was a welcome change. Pretty Beach and its residents were making the most of the good weather, and everywhere was busy with people enjoying the sunshine. 

Lulu looked around for Ollie and as she walked towards the bottom step of the hut when he appeared with a bottle of beer and a pair of barbecue tongs in his hand. 

‘Hello! What a beautiful day for it after all the rain we’ve had,’ Ollie said from the doorway. ‘About time for some sunshine! I needed it.’

‘I know. The beach is really busy on the other side with this beautiful weather.’ Lulu smiled, taking in the gorgeous spectacle of Ollie in front of her and thinking that as far as she was concerned he didn’t need anything to make him better.

‘Yep. I bet it is. It was starting to get packed when I strolled down earlier. Thank goodness we don’t have to worry about parking on a day like this,’ Ollie said as he kissed Lulu and hugged her to him. ‘How was it at the hotel? I bet it was busy in there today.’ 

‘All good. I’m glad I was only on this morning, though. It’s fully booked, and that fancy wedding party is going to be full-on later, I believe. Good luck to Samantha with all of that.’ Lulu smiled. 

‘Yep. Rather her than me.’ Ollie chuckled.

‘William is there this afternoon though, so it will all run like clockwork I guess. There are no flies on that one,’ Lulu noted. 

‘Good. It will keep my mother off the warpath and up in London. That’s always a bonus.’ 

‘Ollie! You’re beginning to scare me with the stories of your mum. She can’t be that bad. She seemed perfectly cordial to me when I met her.’ 

‘She is perfectly cordial. As long as you do what she wants.’ Ollie laughed.  

‘Right. I see,’ Lulu said, her eyes wide.

‘If you veer off her path and want to be, something like I don’t know, a fireman, the cordiality wanes somewhat. She likes you to stay between her nicely defined lines.’ 

‘And what about when she has said fireman’s receptionist girlfriend over for dinner? What will she think of that?’ 

Ollie sucked in air as he opened the tiny mini-fridge and grabbed Lulu a beer. ‘I am sure that won’t be a problem as long as you play ball,’ he said as he popped the top off the ice-cold beer. ‘Okay. Ready for an afternoon doing nothing but lazing on that sun lounger and watching the sun go down? You can make yourself comfy on there and I will tend to your every need,’ Ollie asked as he nodded outside to the vintage timber lounger. 

‘I’m more than ready, thanks. Though I’m feeling a tad on the guilty side about all the things I have to do, and instead I’m lazing around here with not a care in the world. I have so many things on my list. In fact, I have a list of my lists.’

Ollie raised his eyebrows. ‘I don’t even know the last time you weren’t working. All rest and no play, as they say, Lulu.’

‘Are you trying to say I’m dull? I think you are. Noted,’ Lulu asked, grinning.

‘I didn’t want to offend you but...’ Ollie kidded.

Lulu laughed as she slipped off her shoes and looked at the inside of the beach hut.  

‘Goodness, what a great job they did on these. It’s like the boutique version of a beach hut. The Cavendish version. Our hut is, umm, rather, more ramshackle. Yes, that’s the word,’ she said as she looked at the all-white interior of the beach hut. ‘Not an old camping chair in sight in here then,’ she observed as she sat down in one of the old-fashioned, linen-covered director’s chairs and looked over towards the tiny, immaculate kitchen area. 

Little white jugs hung on hooks from a small shelf. An open cupboard held Emma Bridgewater mugs, a pile of blue and white Turkish towels were stacked up neatly on the right ready for the outdoor solar-heated shower, and a tiny little table held piles of impeccably arranged books all about life on the coast. 

In the corner, on the windowsill, three vintage glass bottles held posies of fresh flowers, and a striped curtain fluttered in the wind as Lulu sat back, took a swig of her beer, and let out a huge contented sigh. 

‘Ahh, this is the life. I think I could live in here. It’s so cosy and sheltered.’

Later on that afternoon, after barbecuing sausages for lunch and a long walk to the lighthouse, Lulu and Ollie sat outside the beach hut observing the goings-on on the beach. Day-trippers packed up their stuff, the tide went all the way out, and locals strolled along with their dogs. A glorious sunset topped the whole scene from the horizon and everything was tinged with a soft hazy light. 

Glorious, absolutely glorious, Lulu thought as she people-watched from behind her sunglasses.

Ollie got up, tapped Lulu on the leg and smiled. ‘Ready for me to get the barbecue going again?’ he asked. 

Lulu put her book down by her side and smiled. ‘I am. That walk has made me ravenous again. What’s on the menu?’ 

Ollie chuckled. ‘Charred courgette, also known as putting courgettes onto the grill, lemon and garlic chicken, glazed vegetable kebabs. How does that sound?’ 

‘Sounds delicious. I’m so pleased it’s not me doing the cooking, haha. I could get quite used to being served like this.’ 

‘Followed with rum and caramel bananas,’ Ollie added, laughing.

‘Goodness, Ollie. I didn’t know you were such a cook.’ Lulu laughed. ‘Have you hidden your vast culinary skills from me?’

‘I’m most definitely not, but I do know how to handle a few barbecue coals. My dad taught me well back in the day. I’ve done this lemon and garlic chicken dish four hundred times. I’m a pro.’ 

Sitting with the sun going down, a pink gin and tonic, and a plaid blanket on her legs, Lulu watched the colours in the sky turn from hazy blue to burnished orange and then wander into a smattering of pinks. Ollie pottered with the barbecue sipping on a bottle of beer, and Lulu smiled as the air filled with amazing scents of an evening by the sea. 

As the tide turned and began lapping back onto the beach, Ollie set up the folding table on the sand, pulled up the director’s chairs, and lit three candles inside lanterns. 

An hour or so later, they’d polished off the supper, Lulu had marvelled at the caramel bananas and, deciding against another drink, she had gone into the hut and made a cup of tea. 

As moonlight glistened off the water, fairy lights around the hut twinkled, and the lanterns lit up the space around the table, Lulu sat contentedly with her hands around the mug of steaming tea.

Ollie moved his chair over next to hers, put his hand on her leg, and coughed. ‘Err. Yes.’ 

Lulu frowned. ‘What are you doing?’

‘I got you this,’ he said and presented Lulu with a gold bag with black ribbon handles. 

‘What’s this? It’s not my birthday or anything?’ Lulu frowned.

‘I know. It’s just to say, I don’t know really. I just thought it was time to celebrate meeting you and all that.’ 

Lulu smiled. ‘You mean celebrate knocking me off my bike?’ 

Ollie started laughing. ‘Something like that. Losing a shoe on a train…’ 

Lulu pulled a long, rectangular box out of the gold gift bag and wondered what it was. 

‘I hope you’re going to like it,’ Ollie said and patted Lulu on the leg as she pulled silky black ribbon from the box and took off the lid.

‘Oh wow! It’s lovely!’

Ollie smiled as Lulu pulled a plaque reading ‘Seafolly House’ out of the box. ‘I thought that if you hadn’t moved to Seafolly House, we probably would never have met. So, it’s sort of symbolic.’ 

‘Ahh, that’s so sweet of you and I love it. It’s gorgeous. Just right.’ 

‘Phew, thank goodness. I know you’re, umm, a tad on the fussy side. I wasn’t sure if it hit the note or not.’ 

Lulu turned the plaque over and then back over to the front and looked at it more closely. Right in the corner, her eyes fell on a tiny engraving. 

The initials OC were engraved in the right-hand corner and then beside it a love heart, and then further initials reading LD.

Lulu gasped. ‘This is lovely. Thank you so much. OC loves LD.’ 

And as she looked up the honey was looking ever-so inviting.