Nina frowned. ‘What do you mean?’
‘Well, you said you wanted simple and easy, and I don’t really care. We could just go to the registry office and come back to Lovely for chowder, not some big elaborate meal with caterers and everything. It really would be as simple as that. Just a party, really.’
Nina mulled it over for a second as she looked around at the beautiful scene around her. ‘It would work, yep. It wouldn’t costus much money and the setup would be easy. We could even ask Colin to help and maybe get the jazz guys to play, too.’
Robby nodded. ‘Exactly. We just pay a few people to serve drinks and sort the chowder out. There are enough people in Lovely Bay who know how to do that, and it would all hook back to our first date.’
Nina giggled. ‘That wasn’t really a date.’
Robby shook his head. ‘I’m calling it the first date. I saw you there, I asked you to come in there with me, and you said yes. Is that not a date?’
Nina chuckled again. ‘I’mnotcalling that a date.’
‘Okay then, whatever. But what do you reckon? Do you reckon it would be good to have something like this? It’s what you said right from the word go. When you came back from that wedding shop, you said it was awful, and you wanted something different. Everything would be simple.’
Nina nodded. ‘I wouldn’t have to worry about anything. The wildflowers would be in bloom...’
‘Think about it,’ Robby said as Nina finished the rest of her chowder.
As the event went on, shedidthink about it,a lot. One of the things that was putting her off the whole marriage thing, in inverted commas, was that it reminded her of Andrew, and she felt so different now from her life that was Andrew. Everything about her felt different, and she kind of wanted her wedding to be different, too. She didn’t want it to be in a church in a traditional way surrounded by all the things that people always did. She’d even thought about going for a curry after the marriage ceremony – but that hadn’t ticked enough of anybody else’s boxes; when she’d mentioned it to her mum and sister, her mum had looked as if she was going to faint.
But what Robby had suggested would work. It would mean that she wasn’t so much doing the big white wedding thingagain as she had the first time; it would mean that she was doing exactly what she wanted in her new life in Lovely Bay. It wouldn’t cause her any stress, which was the most important thing. She certainly wouldn’t have to go back to another one of those hideous wedding shops, stand on a podium with a massive bulldog clip behind her back, and worry about what people were thinking.
Nina thought about it for ages, and the more it filled her mind, the more she realised it was exactly what she wanted. In her head, she went over the email that Jill had sent her. She had been fine with using The Summer Hotel for a reception, so she couldn’t see any problem there. The only real issue would be the weather, and even that, they could probably get around somehow. She sat lost in thought for ages as she finished off her drink and took in the surroundings of the beautiful house. Robby tapped her on the hand. ‘Penny for them? You’re miles away.’
Nina smiled. ‘Am I?’
Robby nodded. ‘Yes, you are. What have you been thinking about?’
Nina smiled. ‘I’ve been thinking about exactly what you said. Wildflowers, chowder, a Lovely Bay garden, The Summer Hotel, where it all started off. It would tick all my boxes.’
Robby nodded. ‘Works for me.’
Nina also nodded. ‘Definitely works for me.’
Robby smiled. ‘Let’s make it happen, then.’
‘Let’s.’
21
Nina jogged along the pavement beside Lovely Bay beach following the instructions from the voice coming through her earphones. She felt as if the voice was now her friend even though she’d never even seen the voice and probably didn’t ever want to. The voice had been with her since her early days in Lovely Bay and had seen her through a few things.
‘Don’t forget to breathe and have fun. Tall, soft, breath, fun,’ the voice said. Nina had heard the same thing from the voice many times.
She chuckled to herself at how far she’d come in her running endeavours as she reflected on how long she’d been using the app. She recalled the first day when she’d tied on her trainers and taken to the path alongside the river, determined to at least give running a go. That first day had been a struggle and she’d barely been able to jog for the required minute in between the sessions of walking. As she’d plodded her way through, by the end of it, she’d actually felt as if she might collapse and have to get a random passerby to call someone to bring her some oxygen.
Now, though nowhere close to being an expert and still considering herself an amateur jogger, she looked forward toher running sessions and made sure she completed them rain or shine. How far she had come.
‘Remind yourself why you’re here. You have the ability to run a long way. Feel the power of your body. Your body is an asset. It worksforyou andwithyou. It can do anything you tell it to.’
Nina’s journey with running had been a rewarding one. In the first few weeks, she hadn’t thought that, though, as she’d gritted and finished a sweaty mess, having wobbled in places she didn’t know could wobble. These days, she still had her moments of doubt, but she could now run for vast stretches without gasping for breath and feeling as if she might combust. In actual fact, running had become more than just physical exercise; it was a way to clear her mind, let her brain empty out, and find peace in what was now quite a busy little life. Couldn’t argue with that.
‘Last run session coming up. Give it your best shot!’
As she approached the end of the bay that curved around towards the town, she took a turn and headed towards the harbour. Arriving by the water, it was bustling with activity; people waited to board boats, families with buckets and spades appeared to be heading in the direction of the beach, and the pub on the corner had its doors flung open and its patrons were soaking up the sun outside.
Running past the rows of old harbour properties to her left, Nina waved at an owner cleaning his front door and called out hello to the woman behind the counter of the little hut that sold fresh fish. Approaching her own property, she slowed to a cool-down walk and made her way over to the water. While stretching her calves, she noticed Lindsay, the woman she'd seen outside the cottage and whom Birdie had not spoken nicely about, to her left. Nina quickly looked away, pulled her foot up behind her, and made a huge deal out of stretching her quads and pointedly looking in the other direction.
