Chapter 18
Juliette got out of the bath, pulled out the plug, and listened to the pipes crank and groan as the water made its way back down through the old house. She looked around at the funny old wonky bath and the hole in the floorboard where the pipe had leaked, and said six thousand silent thank-yous that she had listened to Sallie, Shane, and Luke, and gone ahead with the purchase of Mermaid Lane.
Nearly all the wishes she had been carrying around in the back of her mind since the days of the tiny bedsit and an even tinier Bella were coming true. A man who loved her for who she was, a beautiful old house by the sea, and a lovely little family unit of her own. There was the slight mar of Jeremy in the wings, but nowadays even he seemed to fit into it all quite nicely. Everything was going so well that she didn’t even want to acknowledge it, but there was something niggling her, an odd, unprocessed feeling, or thought in the back of her mind that there was something not quite as rosy around the corner.
She couldn't quite shake off the underlying thought and as she opened the wardrobe and stood there in her dressing gown peering in she told herself to stop being silly, and concentrate more on her outfit.
What did you wear to go and meet your partner for a date? She still got the butterflies when she even thought about Luke and the marching trombone band still played whenever they were in bed. She was so looking forward to meeting him for drinks and dinner in Seafolly after he finished work.
Rifling through her clothes, the frills, pretty dresses and ruffles, her mind suddenly plopped back to when she’d been standing in the toilets at work a few months before. What was it those nurses had said? Plump? No, it was frumpy. Maybe it was both. And that was right, they’d said they had thought she had really let herself go.
Juliette looked down at her stomach. Did being happier, more comfortable in her own skin and not constantly worrying about dieting and upkeep mean she had let herself go? She had definitely gained weight, even since then.
She pulled out a pale pink floaty top and put it over her head and turned sideways in the mirror and ran her hand over her stomach. Was she now frumpy? Would Luke with all these doctors and nurses who apparently were throwing themselves at him, suddenly also think, like those nurses in the toilet, that she had dropped her game?
Juliette did a quick shake of her head as if to banish the thoughts. Where was this coming from? All these weird doubting thoughts. Luke constantly told her how much he loved her, always complimented her, told her perpetually how much he loved her curves. Alongside he was always joking about her making an honest man of him. That wasn’t a man who thought she was frumpy, was it?
She needed to get a grip, remember how she’d actually felt on the inside when she was hungry all the time, constantly being primped and compare that to now, getting ready to go out with a man who loved her for who she was, all in.
She wondered what to wear, and after trying on a couple of things settled on the black floaty dress from the Christmas dance. It had done her very well that dress, and she’d dress it down with sparkly flat sandals and throw her denim jacket over the top.
She pulled on the dress, did up the tie at the side, doused herself in copious layers of perfume, smudged a thick black line on the top lid of her eyes, and fluffed on shimmering blusher.
She looked back in the mirror when she was ready to go. Plumper, yes, but dropped her game? Absolutely not. The Frump Police could go and take a running jump.
***
Juliette stood at the wharf and watched as the ferry came around the corner. The water glistened as the sun went down, and over on the beach people sat around on deck chairs outside their tiny little beach huts. The smell of barbecues and sea and that ever-so faint whiff of suntan lotion was in the air. Pretty Beach was positively revelling in the weather.
Juliette tapped her travel card onto the pad and made her way up the stairs on the packed ferry. She couldn’t wait to see Luke and go out for dinner. They’d both been busy with work and since the podcast she’d been even busier with the shop.
Juliette held onto the railing at the front of the ferry as it pulled into Seafolly and looked down. There he was, delicious, delectable Luke. Her Luke, who seemed to love her whether she was a frump or not. Luke waved as he saw her looking over at the front, her dress flapping about in the breeze coming in off the sea, her hair flailing out behind her. She went down the stairs and disembarked.
‘Hello, gorgeous. You look stunning in that dress,’ Luke said as she walked up to him.
‘Thank you, I didn’t feel it earlier.’
Luke looked back at Juliette confused. ‘You’re kidding me, right?’
‘Nope, I’m not.’
‘Juliette, I was nearly knocked over by all the men whose heads turned as you walked off the ferry.’
‘Don’t be ridiculous, Luke! Who would be looking at me?’
Luke shook his head to himself and didn’t say anything more and put his arm around Juliette’s shoulders as they walked down the wharf and over towards Seafolly. They strolled along for ten or so minutes and then walked into the restaurant where they’d booked a table.
‘Luke, it’s gorgeous,’ Juliette whispered as they walked over to a small table in the corner.
Juliette looked around at the dark green walls. The whole place was breathtaking. Multiple hanging baskets with trailing succulents hung from overhead and tall standard lamps with floral vintage lampshades were dotted in
