Juliette had been musing and planning the bauble in her head for years, and here it was right in front of her. She hadn’t really known how the baubles would turn out and had taken a gamble on them - using the idea she had envisaged in her mind for a long time for her collaboration with Lellery. She walked over to the other side of the unit and flicked on the switch of the fairy lights she kept there to test things out, and held up the bauble. It flickered and almost appeared to dance as the sparkles caught the light. Hanging from a white velvet ribbon, she watched it spin and catch the light. It was perfect. Classy, elegant with an old-fashioned feel and full of festive promise.
Juliette turned over the bauble and examined the bottom. A Christmas Sparkle and the date were carefully etched into the bottom of the glass. She couldn't quite believe it, it felt as if it wasn’t actually true. How had she ended up sitting in a storage unit in the industrial area of Seafolly perched on a little camping chair examining a bauble she’d had produced for Lellery? Not that she was complaining in any shape or form.
She sat there with her hand on her chin and pondered it all. Her life in the past year had been on some wild twists and turns with lots of ups and downs, but this one, the one where a top department store wanted to do a collaboration with her, she really hadn’t seen that one coming even in her wildest dreams. She didn’t mind a twist like this - it was absolutely on the nice end of the life spectrum and was certainly better than the other end. The end where her beautiful daughter very nearly lost a toe.
Juliette took her laptop out of her bag, opened it, and sent an email to Victoria with pictures attached of the bauble. She then took one of the boxes of samples and got the box ready to send up to Victoria for final approval and then all that there would be left to do was get the things produced and get everything ready for Christmas.
Juliette closed and locked the door to her unit, put her tote bag on her shoulder, and strolled along the corridor and back out into the reception.
‘All good?’ the receptionist, Michael, asked.
‘Yeah. They’ve turned out brilliantly. I’m so relieved to be quite honest - I wasn’t sure how they were going to look.’
Juliette put her bag down and took out an envelope and passed it over the counter to Michael.
Michael frowned, put on his glasses, and read the front of the envelope. ‘What’s this, then?’
‘Just a little something to say thank you for what you did for me when Bella had the accident,’ Juliette stated, smiling.
‘Don’t be silly! I don’t need a gift. I was glad to be of assistance,’ Michael said as he opened up the envelope for a gift card for Tackle Direct, the fishing shop he could regularly be seen browsing with a cup of tea as he sat behind the desk. ‘Well, that’s just perfect and I know exactly what I’ll be spending it on. I’ve had my eye on a new fishing rod for months,’ Michael said looking up and smiling.
‘There you go, I thought there might be something in there to tickle your fancy. Thank you again, Michael. I really appreciate it and so does Luke.’
‘It really wasn’t much.’
‘Yes, it was, Michael. Having you go in there and pull out the correct products for Luke saved my bacon.’
‘Ach. Anytime. How are you and Luke getting on, by the way? It must have been tough with all that stress going on? I remember when my mum was sick - it really put a strain on us. I was miserable to be around, truth be told.’
‘Yeah, it was very stressful. Luke was absolutely brilliant though, Michael. Everyone has been, to be honest, even Mr Sparkles has been amazing,’ Juliette said, raising her eyes up.
‘They say you can tell a person’s true colours by the way they behave in a crisis.’
‘They do, and Luke was a trooper. A kind, capable and lovely trooper.’
‘Well, my lovely, you need to keep hold of him then, show him how much you appreciate him, don’t you? Make sure he’s going to stick around.’
Juliette picked up her bag and nodded, pursing her lips together in agreement. ‘You know, Michael, I actually really do. And I have something in mind to do just that.’
Chapter 45
Juliette closed the app she and Bella shared for late night chatting, dropped the phone into her lap, and groaned. Why could Jack Fitzgeralde not leave well alone? He’d kept away for long enough when it suited him, but now he’d decided he wanted to put his hat in the ring for dad of the year. Juliette wasn’t sure what described how she was feeling better; furious or indignant. Actually, it was both with a whole lot of other things thrown in.
She had stupidly thought to herself that Jack's surprise debut at the funeral and then the lunch he’d had with Bella in Oxford would be the last they would see of him. She’d actually secretly thought to herself, and hoped too, that he would get bored. But no, he’d persisted, and he really did seem to be demonstrating that he wanted to be part of Bella’s life.
Juliette pulled the pale blue linen duvet back, slipped her feet into her slippers and put on her dressing gown. Luke was away on a training course and Maggie, who had a friend from school over for a sleepover, was tucked up in bed, and both the girls were long into the land of nod.
Juliette padded quietly down the stairs, stepped into the hallway, and flicked on the fairy lights in the kitchen.
