She’d adored pottering in the cottage, nesting as she’d established herself and filled it with things found here and there. Facebook Marketplace, the hospice shop, and the Lovely Bay community page had become her new best friends. Late one night on Marketplace, she’d found a sweet, puffy, slip-covered sofa which had just about fit opposite the inglenook fireplace. Gorgeous antique striped linen curtains had been found on eBay, along with a Paisley rug. In the kitchen, she’d gathered plates from the hospice shop next to the chocolate shop,collected mugs and bits and bobs from all over the show, and in doing all of it, she’d had a thoroughly nice time. As if she was putting down roots at the same time as fixing up her heart.
In the small kitchen, she’d wedged in a tiny round table and chairs, dotted little vintage lamps wherever she could, and bought as many jugs as she could possibly find and popped them all over the place. As she’d pottered and gathered and moved in, Nina, along with the little cottage, had blossomed. Now, with the rental agreement coming to an end, the next part of her journey was on the horizon. She wondered quite where she would end up next.
Putting her key in the front door, she slipped her boots off, left them on the mat, and stepped straight into the living room. Fresh flowers sat in a pitcher on the coffee table in front of the inglenook fireplace, a double layer of jute rugs lay on the floor alongside the Paisley rug, and a geranium trailed from a prized wicker flower pot that sat on a tray on the coffee table. Nina had gone for cosy vibes good at healing grief-stricken hearts as her decorating goal and nailed it in one.
Walking into the kitchen, she smiled to herself; a gigantic jug of poppies made itself at home on the small scrubbed pine table, an old-fashioned plate rack on the wall displayed pretty finds from the charity shop, and a tall, skinny lamp with a vintage wicker shade was tucked into the corner ready to be turned on.
Nina took her phone out of her jeans pocket, plugged its charger in the socket, stuck the cable in her phone, and flicked on the kettle. Just as she was pouring a cup of tea, her phone rang with a call from her best friend, Sophie. Nina watched Sophie’s name across the screen and then tapped. As she held the phone to her ear, it crossed her mind how Sophie used to call her every Friday evening at the same time to check in on Nina and make sure she was okay. That had been in the days before Nina had knuckled down and got her life back on trackand moved to Lovely Bay. Then Sophie had been concerned about Nina’s welfare because Nina’s husband, Andrew, had died, Sophie’s regular Friday calls had been accompanied by what Nina had come to call the Pity Smile. These days the Pity Smile was toast. It had miraculously disappeared and made a new home somewhere else along with Nina’s broken heart. It had left the building at about the same time as Nina had arrived in Lovely Bay. She’d been ecstatic to see the back of it, truth be told.
‘Hiya,’ Nina said, her tone sprightly. ‘How are you? What are you up to?’
‘Yeah, not too bad. You?’
‘Good. I tried to call you earlier. Did you have your phone off? It went to voicemail.’
‘Ahh, yes, sorry. I was up to my eyes in it, what with everyone being poorly, so I turned my phone off and went for a nap for half an hour. It’s done wonders. I think I was up most of the night clearing up vomit and changing beds. Not fun.’ Sophie sounded tired and semi-stressed.
‘Oh dear, doesn’t sound pleasant at all. Do you want me to come and give you a hand?’
‘No, I’m fine.’
‘Is Nick still away? You said he might come back early.’
‘Yes, he’s still away, and no, he’s not coming back early.’
‘So, you’re on your own again?’ Nina clarified, tutted to herself and shook her head.
‘I am, but I’m fine. All good. Don’t worry about me.’
Ninadidworry about Sophie. ‘Honestly, I don’t mind coming over. I can muck in and do anything you want. It might take a bit of the pressure off.’
‘No, no, all good. To be honest, I’d rather just muddle through on my own, you know?’
‘Right, yeah, okay.’
‘What have you been up to? Oh, I almost forgot to mention those property pictures you sent me. What was all that about?’ Sophie asked, referring to a set of pictures Nina had been sent by Ella, an estate agent in Lovely Bay, of the property Nina was going to see the next day.
Nina perched on the edge of the kitchen chair, her phone cradled between her shoulder and ear. She gazed out the window at the little garden as she talked. ‘The estate agent sent them to me to see if I am interested. I’m going to go and have a look tomorrow. I’m not sure by the looks of it, but you never know.’
‘It looks like it might be what you’re looking for.’
‘It's a gorgeous old building not far from Robby down on the harbour there, but it’s not in the best state. I thought I might as well go along as Ella has been a pretty good judge about what I like so far.’
‘Looks like it, err, might need quite a bit of work.’
‘Yes, it does. I’ll be able to tell youhowmuch tomorrow. I won’t hold my breath, but it’s strange because I have a funny feeling about this one. Not that that really means anything. You know how you get that about things sometimes?’
Sophie's voice was enthusiastic. ‘Hopefully, it will be the one. You never know.’
Nina chuckled. ‘I hope so. The bottom floor is perfect for an office or a little shop or whatever, and the residential space upstairs has these large windows that look right out over the water. That’s all I know so far.’
‘Sounds like you could wake up to the sea every day,’ Sophie mused. ‘How nice would that be?’
‘Very nice. There's work to be done, though.’
‘It’s the best way; it means you can put your own mark on it. You won’t inherit someone else’s naff bathroom and kitchen.’
‘That’s one way of putting it. Anyway, we’ll see. It would be good to, you know, put my heart into something again. It would be a bit of a new chapter.’
