Chapter 17
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Juliette was in the kitchen. She’d almost finished for the day after getting all her invoices paid and a few emails out to her clients.
The doors were open to the garden and, despite the weather breaking finally, it was still warm if overcast. She reckoned they might have another storm later that evening. It was so muggy.
Emily would have loved this garden. Juliette went over to the area that they had designated for her bench.
They’d commissioned an engraved plaque and they’d planted flowers and shrubs around the edge of a stone circle they had paved together.
There was a lantern so she could sit there at night too, and she’d ordered a few blankets and cushions to make it cosy.
It was going to look lovely once the bench was in place.
Danny had suggested opening a bottle of champagne and raising a toast to the future when everything was finished. It was a nice suggestion, but she’d said no. It seemed too final. Still, at least she’d have somewhere to come when she was missing Emily so much it hurt to breathe.
She thought back to the child she had seen in the garden next door.
Emily had worn a red dress last summer. Juliette remembered she’d chosen it herself for her friend Tilly’s birthday party.
She’d loved it so much that she’d wanted to sleep in it that night.
Worn out and tired, Juliette had compromised and allowed her to wear it the next day too.
It was a party dress for special occasions.
She had looked silly walking around the supermarket with her as they did the weekly shop, but Emily loved it. She said she felt like a princess.
Which begged the question, was she missing Emily so much she wanted to see a child next door?
She pressed a hand to her eyes as they began to leak again. Emily wouldn’t want her to be like this. She had to be brave for her little girl. And as horrible as it seemed, she had to be strong to ensure she became pregnant again.
Mentally, she had her fingers tightly crossed that Danny would get the job he’d been interviewed for.
He’d come back from the meeting excited and buoyed up about the future and his prospects.
His face had lit up as he’d talked her through it, saying he’d had a tour of the offices and met many of the staff he’d hopefully be working with.
She couldn’t believe how neither of them were missing their London lives.
Of course, Danny still had his to a degree, but he was a different man when she saw him at the weekends.
It had been a good move. Now all they needed was a new addition to the family.
And maybe a dog too, she laughed to herself.
Her head snapped to the right, alert to the sound of singing. It was coming from next door. Surely that couldn’t be a coincidence. She grabbed her phone and tiptoed over the grass towards the hedgerow. She peeped over, hoping to go unnoticed.
There. She could hear it again. But she couldn’t see the little girl. Then the noise stopped.
Juliette sat on the lawn for a moment, waiting. For what? She didn’t know. Was she so desperate for a child of her own that she would imagine seeing one next door? She wasn’t sure.
But then a child ran across the garden. She hadn’t been seeing things. Quickly, she took a photo, managing to capture the back of the little girl. She checked the image. She had something to show Danny now. Rather than send it to him, she decided to keep it for when he was back home.
She went to bed thinking about the little girl, and when she got up the next morning, she checked her phone.
There was no image of a child.
She scrolled through, wondering if it had disappeared from her screen but was available in the cloud. But it had gone. She groaned out loud.
Surely she hadn’t imagined it. Was she now hallucinating during the day, seeing someone who didn’t exist? She thought the photo would prove she wasn’t mistaken. Now the lack of it could seem that she very much was.