Once Nina and Robby had decided on chowder for their wedding reception, they had worked hard to make the details happen. They'd muscled to get everything arranged to ensure that they met the deadline for the appearance of the wildflowers and nice weather at The Summer Hotel. The best thing they’d done was to apply for the marriage licence right away as soon as Robby’d proposed. After that, there wasn’t really that much that couldn’t be sorted out. The wheels had been put in motion for a party in a garden in Lovely Bay with a jazz band, a few bowls of chowder and a prayer for good weather topping it all.
The Summer Hotel as the venue had gone down well with Sophie, who had clapped her hands and been over the moon. Nina’s sister hadn’t looked too impressed but asked what alcohol would be available, and Nina’s mum, in the end, hadn’t seemed too bothered at all. Everything had worked out well.
The most startling thing to Nina was that Robby had shown a very different side to him once he’d been on a mission to get things sorted. Since they’d met, Nina had been quite smug about how organised she was. She’d thought that she was the one who liked all her ducks in a row, but Robby had matched her andthen some. Seeing the working side of Robby made her fall for him even more. He’d set up spreadsheets, taken everything on board, and more or less told Nina that all she needed to worry about was turning up. That was the sort of husband she could deal with any day of the week. Nina had laughed and teased him, saying that he would have to wait and see on the day if she showed up and followed through.
Not long after they’d got the go-ahead from Jill, a lot of the things to sort were done and dusted; they had a team organised who would be serving drinks, they’d bought a job lot of all-weather proof market umbrellas, trestle tables had been bagged from the church where June did the flowers, and Nancy would be providing vintage tablecloths and old English china from her mum’s attic.
Things had quickly come together and Nina had let out a huge sigh of relief. The only thing left to decide waswhoin Lovely Bay was actually going to be in charge of the chowder. So many people had put their hands up and offered it had become a little bit awkward, and Robby and Nina had been unsure what to do for the best.
Nina mulled it all over as she strolled along on her way to help out at the deli. It was a beautiful day in Lovely Bay – the sun was shining, the sky was blue, and Nina was loving the warm weather. There wasn’t a Lovely Bay striped coat to be seen anywhere as far as the eye could see.
As soon as she got to the back of the deli, she knew that Birdie was in residence. Even though Birdie had said she might not make it because she wasn’t feeling well, Nina could hear the Shipping Forecast from the alleyway as she made her way through the gate and into the back kitchen. The kitchen, as usual, smelt fabulous, and as it normally was, it was immaculate. The whole place ran like clockwork via the systems that Birdie, followed through by Alice, had put in place, which meantthat everything went smoothly for whoever was working. The dishwashers were humming away to themselves, three gigantic pots of chowder stood on the stove, and it looked as if things were ready for the speakeasy that evening.
Birdie bustled into the room. ‘Neens, hello! Thanks for helping out. I’m so glad you’re here.’
‘No problem at all. How are you feeling?’
Birdie shook her head. ‘I’m not too bad. Being a pharmacist helps when you don’t feel well,’ she laughed. ‘I can dose myself up left, right, and centre.’
‘Yeah, you don’t look great,’ Nina admitted. ‘What do you think you’ve got?’
‘No idea. I’ll be fine,’ Birdie replied as the Shipping Forecast played away from the speaker on a shelf to the left of them.
Nina shook her head and gestured to the door. ‘Honestly, just go home. I can cope with everything here. Most of it looks as if it’s been done anyway.’ She turned around and looked around the small kitchen. ‘What time is Alice getting here?’
Birdie turned her wrist over and looked at her watch. ‘She said the train was running late, but she shouldn’t be too long.’
‘Where’s she been?’ Nina asked.
‘She went up to see a school for one of her children and it ran a bit late. She’s juggling so much at the moment. She does loads for me here, and I didn’t want her to worry.’
Nina put her handbag in the cupboard not far away from the dishwasher, took a clean apron from a pile of them in a basket by the fridge, put the apron over her head, and tied it at her waist. ‘So, really, it’s just prepping by the looks of this,’ she said.
‘Yep.’
‘Too easy. I can do it with my eyes shut these days.’
‘Okay, well, I might stay for a bit, and then I’ll go. By the way,’ she said, ‘have you decided what you’re going to do about the chowder yet?
‘I've had so many offers.’
‘I know. Trust me, I’ve heard. What are you going to do?’
Nina shook her head. ‘I’m not really sure yet.’
‘Right, okay. Well, it wouldn’t be a problem for us to do it. I’m offering again.’
‘I know. The thing is, I want you there as aguest, not working.’
Birdie chuckled. ‘Half of Lovely Bay wants to be there. I can assure you I can get a team together to make sure everything runs smoothly. I won’t actually be working myself.’
Nina wasn’t sure that was true. If Alice was out of the picture, Nina had been called in many times to help and save the day. She tilted her head to the side and considered for a second. ‘You know what then let’s do it.’
Birdie clapped her hands together and jumped up and down on the spot. ‘Fabulous! I’m so happy. I really wanted to do this. Yes! I win! Points to me.’
Nina laughed. ‘You’re funny. Thank you. It’s going to be the best chowder ever in Lovely Bay and the best wedding, of course.’
‘Too easy. I will start to get the word out and get everything organised. It won’t take much. We’ve done enough chowder events in our time in this town.’
