‘His mum was beside herself with it,’ Nina stated. ‘I think she’d given up on him ever settling down with anyone.’ She rolled her eyes. ‘Now she’s got me to contend with.’
Sophie patted Nina’s hand. ‘How lucky she is.’
‘I don’t know about that.’
Sophie sighed. ‘It's going to be so beautiful. Nina walking down the aisle, celebrating, and having a party. I'm getting teary just thinking about it!’
Nina laughed. ‘It feels unreal. I can’t believe we’re even sitting here discussing it, if I’m honest.’
Nancy sighed. ‘You knew nothing either. It all started because of my friend with cancer and their wedding.’
‘Yes, he said that was the reason he started thinking about it.’ Nina replied with a nod.
‘He had a right bee in his bonnet.’ Birdie added.
Nancy raised her glass again. ‘To Nina and Robby's wedding.’
They clinked glasses and Nina felt a surge of gratitude for the women around her at the table and for the place that had become her home. So much had happened to her in such a shorttime that part of it didn’t feel real. She knew one thing that was going to happen; she was never going to look back.
15
Nina kissed Robby on the cheek, stood on the pavement as he got in his work van, and waved as he drove away. She turned around, looked at The Summer Hotel, and shook her head at the For Sale sign swaying back and forth in the wind. The Summer Hotel still hadn’t sold. To be quite honest, Nina was amazed someone hadn’t snapped it up. Yes, it was a lot to take on. Yes, it had a fair amount of heritage red tape around it. And yes, it was, to all intents and purposes, a money pit. However, in her opinion, it was also oozing something money couldn’t really buy. She’d had quite a few conversations with Ella about it, and overall, the reason Ella believed no one had bought it was because no one had fallen in love with it enough. Plus, no one had been prepared to take a punt on whether or not, in the long run, it would actually be able to make money as a business.
Nina knew not a lot about the business of running a hotel, but she was sure it would be a success. Not that she was going to be taking it on anytime soon. She was still looking after it for Jill, who was still gallivanting around the globe on a jet plane, and she was invested in what happened to it.
Pushing open the gate, she smiled when she remembered kneeling on the ground and yanking out dead plants and weedsfor all she was worth. She recalled jumping back in fright at a nest of spiders and wondering how crawling around the garden of an old hotel had caused her to discover muscles she’d never actually known she owned. Now, via both her effort and her contracting work out to various people, the place was very different from when she’d arrived with her suitcase trailing behind her. If buildings could show emotion, it felt as if The Summer Hotel was now smiling a little bit at the same time as sighing as it stood patiently waiting to be loved.
She walked around the left-hand side of the building, passed the door to the kitchen garden, peered in the scullery as she walked past, and started to make her way through the garden. Loads of little things looked back at her, reminding her of the first few weeks she’d spent in Lovely Bay; a beautiful old weather vane, a bird table choking in ivy, a pretty bench with a slightly wonky leg.
She inhaled and held her head up to the sky for a minute and then stood right in the middle of the lawn and looked around. She loved the feel of it all; the house looking down from the right, the river down at the end, the sea in the distance, the buildings of Lovely poking up into the sky. Such a shame that no one else had felt the same way as she had and was interested in calling The Summer Hotel home.
As she checked a few things, deadheaded some flowers, and monitored how bad a leaking tap was down the side, she thought about getting married. Now Robby had proposed, even though it was completely out of the blue, she couldn’t really wait. The problem waswhereit was going to take place. At leasthewas easy, butshewasn’t. Not at all. In fact, she was adamant that it had to not only be right but perfect in every way. She couldn’t explain why, but it was something to do with Andrew. If she was going to be getting married again, if it was that special, that important, and that right for her, it had to tick all the boxes anddo all the things. The thing was, she wasn’t really sure what that entailed exactly.
Nina wasn’t tickled by any of what she felt were normal wedding-y things. Did she want a big white dress? Possibly or maybe not. Did she want to walk down an aisle? Not that bothered. Been there done that, hadn’t ended quite as she’d thought. Did she want a church and an organ? Neutral. A formal reception and a top table? Almost definitely not. Was it a spiritual thing for her? Not really. Did she want fancy cars and buttonholes? That would be a no.
She’d thought a lot about alternatives. A trip to the Caribbean to get married on a beach. An outdoor wedding and glamping had come up on a wedding site, and she’d found herself watching YouTube videos about weddings on a cruise. A fancy dress wedding in a castle in Scotland. None of them had grabbed her. Not even anywhere near close. In fact, every time she’d opened a wedding site, she found herself going a bit cold. It all seemed so fake, sobotheredand cheesy. Or was she just no longer in her twenties and not buying into the fairy tale anymore? Or maybe she was just bitter and twisted. Maybe years of grief had done that to her.
Nina muttered to herself as she walked down towards the river. Just as she was pulling open the gate, and letting her eyes run over the shells on the river beach, she heard a rustling. June, the neighbour and Robby’s aunt called over, ‘Hello. How are you?’
‘Good. You?’
‘Very well. What are you up to?’
‘I just came in to check on everything and see how the garden was. There’s a tap that needs fixing.’
June looked back towards The Summer Hotel. ‘Looking good, is it not? I’d buy it. I’d have a little empire down here then.’ June laughed at her own joke.
‘It is. I was just thinking that myself.’
June pointed over towards the river bank. ‘Won’t be long until the flowers are out down that way. I love it when they’re out and the days are long.’
Nina nodded. ‘I thought they might be. I remember last year. It was breathtaking out here, in the evenings especially. I love it down here with all the wildflowers and seashells.’
June looked upwards to where the sun peeked through clouds. ‘Make the most of it. It’s going to rain shortly.’
Nina glanced up at the sky, noting the darkening clouds on the horizon. ‘Yup, looks like we might get quite the downpour. Hopefully, it'll hold off a bit longer until I’m gone.’
June nodded, squinting up at the sky. ‘Yes, it's been threatening all morning. The garden's certainly not thirsty, though, what with all the rain we’ve had. It feels like it’s been raining cats and dogs for weeks.’
