Nina saw the dots indicating that Lindsay was typing so her fingers flew over the screen so that she could get in first.
Nina:Yes, sorry, just organising my diary for after the wedding. I’ll get back to you soon.
Lindsay:Btw, while I’ve got you, I wanted to run something past you. Remember when I bumped into you that day when you were jogging, and you looked amazing?
Nina:Yes.
Nina gawped at her phone, wondering what was coming next.
Lindsay:I wanted to ask if you’d be so kind as to meet up and go through the ropes with me, please?
Nina raised her eyebrows and shook her head. There was no way she was going to help Lindsay. She felt herself frantically trying to think of a good excuse but couldn’t come up with anything straight away.
Nina:Look, sorry, Lindsay, I don’t really have time at the moment. I’m hardly running much myself.
Lindsay:Oh, what a shame!!! I saw you run past me the other day… You see, I really need to get fit! Are you sure you couldn’t just squeeze me in for a quick run????
Nina shook her head again. This woman had the skin of a rhino.
Nina:Nope. Sorry.
Lindsay:I wonder if you could maybe send me something then, perhaps some tips?
Nina found herself typing back, even though she wasn’t sure why.
Nina:I’ll see what I can do.
Nina had no intention of doing any such thing. She watched as another text landed on her phone and then another one. She clicked the button on the right, waited for her screen to go black, and put her phone on the desk.
There was no way she was getting into anything with this Lindsay person; from the word go, she’d had the wrong vibes from her, and something about her and the way she was conducting herself over the decluttering turned Nina off immensely.
Nina couldn’t quite fathom out what Lindsay’s objective was, but it was as if she somehow enjoyed the chase. She didn’t seem to realise that she was being given the cold shoulder. She just continued to send messages and try and bamboozle her way into a response.
If Nina had been in Lindsay’s shoes, she would have got the hint pretty quickly and left it at that. Lindsay, however, seemed to have other ideas. She’d continued to message Nina and tried different angles to get a reaction.
Nina narrowed her eyes and nodded. Lindsay could try all she liked. The door was closed. Whatever the reason she was trying to get in with Nina, it wasn’t going to work. Nina simply wasn’t interested in any shape or form.
Most of all, where bright-clothed Lindsay with the off-vibes was concerned, Nina Lavendar really, one hundred per cent, simply didn’t care.
31
Robby and Nina were standing at the back of The Summer Hotel after both having come straight from work to put the final plans in place for their wedding party. A light drizzle fell from a grey-white sky, and Nina was reminded of the day when she’d arrived in Lovely Bay when a fine rain had accompanied her journey ending up with her being wet through. Robby, in beige combat work trousers with straps, had an iPad in his hand and was looking around the garden. He tapped a few things and then looked up. 'You see, if the weather is like this we’ll get wet.’
Nina replied with a sigh. ‘I need to pray to the weather gods. Honestly, it all sounds good. But if it pours it’s going to more than ruin it.’
'If it’spouringwith rain, it just won’t work. We’ll get soaked even with those market umbrellas we’ve got – they’re weatherproof, not downpour-proof.' Robby winced, ‘I just don’t think they will be good enough.’
Nina nodded. 'Colin said something about there being old-fashioned tent marquees for the Lovely Bay fête. He said we could use those.'
'You’re happy with that?'
Nina shrugged and put her hands up in a gesture as if she had no idea. 'I guess so. We can’t control the weather, especially not here. It could be raining, snowing, or foggy, for all we know. We get everything in a day in Lovely, don’t we?'
Robby agreed, pointed towards the conservatory, and then down to the lawn. 'The trestle tables will run all the way through here and the conservatory will be open. If the forecast is for heavy rain the marquees will need to be set up over the top. That set-upshouldwork.’
‘Hopefully, heavy rainwon’tbe forecast.’
‘With any luck, but you never know in Lovely.’
