Colin gestured to the water. ‘I feel like that about my job, too. There’s nothing like being out here on the water day in day out.’
Nina gazed at the passing scenery and the ripples on the top of the breezy river. ‘I have to admit, it feels good to take a break and be out on the water. It's peaceful. I always think it helps me reset on here, you know?’
‘Happy to provide the relief! My boat here has soothed many a frazzled soul over the years…’
They continued chatting amiably as the boat puttered along. Eventually, the jetty Nina was getting off at came into view. Colin expertly steered the boat alongside, threw a rope around a mooring post, and held out a hand to help Nina onto the weathered planks.
‘Thanks for the chat. I’ll let you know about using the jetty at the hotel. Such a kind offer, thanks.’
‘Of course. Best of luck getting that clutter at the shop under control. Don’t work too hard.’
Nina chuckled as she stepped onto the jetty. There was a fat chance of that. She was fully booked more or less right up to the day she stepped into the registry office. ‘I'll keep that in mind.’
She turned and gave a little wave as Colin released the rope and revved the engine, and watched as the boat slowly puttered off down the river, leaving a wake trailing along behind it. For a moment, she lingered and took in the river air and view on the nice day. The sun was shining, the breeze was nice, the river looked so pretty, and life for Nina Lavendar hadn’t felt as good for a very long time.
36
It was not that long after Nina had been to the tailor to sort out the fitting of her wedding dress. Faye, the tailor, had taken it in her stride and said that it wouldn’t take much at all to move the zip a tiny bit. The skirt fitted onto the bodice underneath, and so, with all being well Nina was more or less sorted. However, what wasn’t sorted quite yet was her new property. She waved to one of the neighbours as she walked along the harbour front, then proceeded around to the back, slid back the bolt on the gate, and made her way inside. The whole of the ground floor was finished. Rather than the filth, dirt, and fishing paraphernalia she had been faced with when she’d first moved in, things had vastly improved. Now, everything was painted in a neutral white, smelt fresh, and was aesthetically pleasing to the eye.
Making her way up to the second floor, she crossed over and then took the steep, ladder-like stairs up to the attic room, which was going to be her and Robby’s bedroom. To be frank, as far as she was concerned, the whole timing of Robby’s proposal probably hadn’t been ideal but she’d take it. She’d more or less had the property for five minutes when he’d decided to propose. They’d talked about his timing at length; he had suddenlyproposed because of Nancy’s friend with cancer, who had got married in hospital which had got him thinking of similar scenarios. Robby had told her Nancy’s friend’s situation had brought back all sorts for him, including when his partner had died in an accident years and years before. He’d said he had been determined that it wouldn’t happen again without him having his ducks in a row. The marriage proposal was his lining up of those ducks.
In a way, it was good that Nina had already bought the property by the harbour because when they’d discussed finances, houses, and suchlike, Nina had been adamant that she remain fairly independent. After a bit of toing and froing, Robby had decided that he didn’t really care less where he lived. So they’d decided to give the place on the harbour a go, which meant Nina had to get it sorted out, and fast.
Like the ground floor, the attic room was now clean. It had taken nearly a day just to remove the dust that had been left once the junk had been taken out and give it a good airing by opening the windows and doors at either end. Letting the sea breeze whizz through had done a better job than any air freshener from a supermarket ever could have dreamed about. Despite the sea air working its wonders, the actual ingrained lifelong dust had been stubborn and then some. Nina had spent a long time with an industrial vacuum on her back, hoovering the eaves, the floorboards, and everywhere else in between. Once it was dust-free, it had been painted with the spray painter in exactly the same few shades of coordinating white as the other floors and was good to go.
After seeing a picture on Pinterest of an attic room similar to the one at the top of her new property, she’d also decided to go with painting the floorboards white. Robby, Nancy, and Sophie had all thought she was mad, but now, as she stood at the top of the stairs looking over to the window on the other side of theroom, she knew that she’d made the right choice. Beautiful white floorboards looked back at her stretching endlessly to the far side of the room topped with the view of the harbour from the windows.
The bed she’d found on Marketplace took pride of place atop the white floorboards; a black Victorian frame in a simple heritage design with a touch of brass by way of its finials. According to the person she’d bought it from, it had been handmade in iron and brass by a small bespoke bedmaker in Norfolk. It had taken a lot of work, carrying it piece by piece, to get it up the stairs, but now it was there, it took pride of place. On either side of the bed, bedside tables held huge lamps topped with pretty white and blue pleated shades. By the window, she’d placed lush palms in huge white pots whose leaves danced in the breeze coming in from the sea. Beside the pots, oversized lanterns were filled with pillar candles nestled beside a fishing basket filled with blankets.
Nina walked over to the bed, smiled, touched the top of a brass finial, and remembered how the lady she’d bought the bed from had told her that the brass details were meticulously hand-finished. Now, as she stood looking at it, she could appreciate the beauty and workmanship of the bed she’d found for a song. Everything else about the room was simple; the clad walls painted in a soft white, the floor in a similar creamier shade, the huge windows contrasting in another shade of white again, and the little French door down at the end, leading onto the Juliet balcony, was open and blowing a breeze right through the centre of the room.
Nina was exponentially pleased with herself at how the funny-shaped attic room had turned out. It could have gone either way but the neutral whites and simple decor allowed it to sing. Well happy at a job well done, she started to pull off the plastic covering on an extremely expensive and evenmore sumptuous mattress that had recently arrived. It was large, plush, thick, absolutely gorgeous, and had been quite the nightmare to wedge inch by inch up the steep stairs. She couldn’t wait to have a good night's sleep on the new mattress at the top of the property with the sound of the sea whistling in her ears.
The small bathroom tucked under the eaves hadn’t been quite as easy to sort out. When she’d first looked at it, she’d almost given up hope as she’d examined a vast covering of green, grimy mould just about everywhere she’d looked. The shape of it wasn’t easy to work with either; eaves sloped down virtually towards the top of the toilet, and the old pedestal sink, which had seen better days, was wedged in under a beam. A strangely placed window in the back-facing wall, nearly on the floor, looked out over the rooftops towards Lovely Bay itself, and the bath, blocked in with pine cladding, seemed as if it faced the wrong way.
Nina stood and analysed the bathroom for a second. It had come a long, long way. With the beams, ceiling, and floor now painted white, it looked clean and fresh. New taps on the bath and sink were in place, and white, plush towels changed everything. The pine cladding that had surrounded the bath, the window, and encased the toilet was white and Nina had become well-versed in the correct chemicals to remove decades' worth of mould. She’d tried everything from non-toxic mould killer to a much stronger kettle of fish altogether. Everything she’d read had told her that white vinegar would be a fabulous alternative to more harmful chemical cleaners. White vinegar did absolutely nothing for the sort of mould she was dealing with. After trying everything and finally finding a solution via an industrial plumbing site, she’d parted with the cash on her credit card for some stuff that you shoved down the toilet and hoped for the best. After it had arrived she’d guiltily done just that with her fingers crossed and mask across her face. It had fizzed, and asshe wondered if she was doing the right thing, it had shifted the green and done just what it had said on the tin.
Nina stood by the window, gazing over the picturesque harbour below. Her phone buzzed and glancing at the screen, she saw Robby's name and answered with a smile. 'Hey, you.’
'Hey. How's the attic coming along? You sound happy. I take it everything’s good.'
Nina chuckled. ‘It's looking amazing. I’ve just finished taking off the plastic on the mattress. It's all come together beautifully.’
Nina walked over to the bed. She laughed. 'I'm standing in our bedroom, looking out at the view. It’s just so nice up here tucked away from the world.’
‘The start of a new chapter, eh? Plus, you get a new husband thrown into the mix.’
‘I’m a lucky duck,’ Nina joked. She was joking but underneath it all she was far from having a laugh. Never a truer word said in jest.
37
Nina sat opposite Sophie in the first café in Lovely Bay she'd ever been to. They were there for a quick bite to eat before going to see Faye for the final dress fitting. Nina ordered a chowder, Sophie ordered a chicken sandwich, and they then waited while Sophie chatted about the fact that her husband, Nick, was, as usual, away again. Sophie held her hand on top of the pram handle beside her and wiggled it back and forth as she spoke, completely oblivious to the fact that she was holding a conversation, pushing the pram, and taking a Tupperware pot out of her bag all at the same time.
'Look at you, multitasking.' Nina laughed.
'I know, right?' Sophie said as she jiggled the pram more. 'She really needs to drop off to sleep otherwise she's going to be a nightmare later.'
'I wish someone would tuck me up in a pram, push me back and forth, and let me drop off to sleep.' Nina chuckled. ‘I think I’d sleep for a year.’
