Juliette slipped her phone into her pocket and walked back into the kitchen, opened the cupboard of the dresser, and took out a bottle of Pimms. She grabbed a vintage hobnail jug from the shelf and glugged the Pimms into the bottom of the jug. Jack Fitzgeralde in her little town? Her little town where she was contented and happy with Luke. Her little town where she’d settled and made a life for herself when he hadn’t wanted to know. Grrrr. Why couldn’t he just mind his own business?
Juliette chopped a chunk off a cucumber, finely sliced it into rings, cut a handful of strawberries in half and broke off mint leaves from a bunch she’d brought in from the garden. Jack flipping Fitzgeralde. She tore the mint into shreds, her mouth set in a grim line, and rammed the strawberries, cucumber, and mint into the jug, poured lemonade over the whole lot and put the jug into the fridge. Jack Fitzgeralde wanted to be involved now when he’d run off, and left her to fend for herself all those years ago. Left her alone with his baby. In a dreary, damp bedsit. Grrrr. She wished that Jack Fitzgeralde would go and take a running jump. Preferably under the nearest bus.
As Juliette slammed the fridge shut, she heard the key in the front door and the door open. Luke was home and she wasn’t going to let Jack Fitzgeralde and his antics ruin her night of making up for the last few months to Luke. As she listened to Luke’s footsteps cross the hallway, she tried to put Jack and his idea of visiting Pretty Beach to the back of her mind. She heard Luke put his bag on the hallway dresser and he strolled into the kitchen with a smile.
‘Wow, something smells nice!’ Luke exclaimed as Juliette stepped in from the utility room. ‘Oh, and you look fabulous! What’s the occasion? Have I forgotten something?’
‘The occasion is us, Luke. You and me in the garden with a roast chicken and a lovely evening. Celebrating us, and me saying sorry for the past few months.’ Juliette said with a smile.
‘Sounds good to me. This is a change of heart and I love it. So, what’s on the menu?’
‘All the things you like. Roast chicken and lemon meringue pie. I thought I’d go for the jugular and your favourites.’
‘My dinner of choice and my favourite dessert? Have you got something to tell me? Should I be concerned? Have you something to announce?’
‘Not at all. In fact, the opposite. A nice easy evening with nothing to worry about. No dramas and no complications. No announcements or accidents. Just you and me, the garden, and a nice big jug of Pimms.’
Juliette put her arms around Luke’s neck and inhaled. Inhaled the Luke smell she loved. It was the same as the roast chicken - like a comfort blanket in the form of scent.
‘I’ll go up and get showered. Get out of these clothes. I need it.’ Luke said.
‘Bad day?’
‘Not really. No different to all the others, just long and full-on.’
***
Juliette and Luke sat under the stars and the dancing lights in the jam jars hanging from the pergola roof at the bottom of the garden. The roast chicken was long gone and they’d both polished off large slices of Daisy's lemon meringue pie. They sat there in silence and Luke smiled as they heard the horn of the last ferry go past way off in the distance.
‘What a few months it’s been. What a ride,’ Luke said and patted Juliette on the leg.
‘It has.’
‘You are looking so much better, Juliette. I’ve been really worried about you. Everyone has, actually, especially Daisy. You seemed so drained and tired.’
‘I know. I didn’t expect to deal with the accident as I have. It’s like I was knocked for six by a dirty great cricket bat and didn’t know how to get up again.’
‘Hmm, it’s not easy to go through something like that. You’ve been so exhausted.’
‘I have, I’m sorry. It was like I’d lost all my energy.’
‘I don’t want to speak too soon, but you seem so much brighter tonight. And the meal and all this,’ Luke said, pointing up to the jam jars and down at the jug of flowers which was spilling rose petals onto the tablecloth. ‘You’ve got your spark back.’
‘That’s because I do feel better. I think I just needed time to process it all and recharge. It was all so exhausting.’
Luke nodded. ‘Yeah. The jam jars remind me of the night in Seapocket Lane. Remember that night? The night with the fondue. That was one amazing night.’
‘How could I forget that night? Anyway, I wanted to do all this to say thank you. To tell you how much I love you. To say sorry for how I’ve been so wrapped up in myself.’
‘I love you too, Juliette, and a few months of you being tired aren’t going to do anything to change that anytime soon. Though if you have a secret spouse in the cupboard, like I did, that might change somewhat,’ Luke said, and giggling Juliette went around the table to his chair and sat on his lap and he kissed her gently and pulled her closer to him.
‘Let’s finish this upstairs,’ Juliette said, getting up and pulling Luke up from his chair.
Chapter 44
Juliette sat on the little fold-up stool she kept in her storage unit and opened the box full of limited-edition baubles that had recently arrived via her supplier. She pulled one of the small cardboard boxes out and opened it up. Inside was a hand-blown glass bauble, covered in tiny
