‘Lock stuff down. The harbour is going to be a mess if the winds are as high as they're saying they’re going to be.’
Nina pointed out towards the hanging baskets. ‘So, we need to get the baskets in and put things away.’
‘Yep, and we need to turn the garden furniture over and get the window boxes in. I can’t really think what else we need to do. Just look around for stuff that might get damaged. Let’s just hope the electricity doesn't go out this time.’
Nina rolled her eyes. ‘Fat chance of that. The electricity always goes out, doesn't it? It’s part of living in Lovely Bay. One of Lovely’s strange little things it does its own way.’
‘It sure does. Listen to you sounding like a Lovely. You’re used to it now and resigned to the fact.’
‘It's funny. The power outage when it rains was one of the first things I was told about Lovely Bay, and now I’m as resigned to it as everyone else.’
Robby frowned. ‘What do you mean?’
Nina raised her eyebrows. ‘The first day I arrived in Lovely Bay, there was a huge rainstorm forecast. On the boat, Colin told me that I needed to settle in and be prepared for a power outage. He was definitely right because that night, the electricity went off, and I was on my own in The Summer Hotel, wondering what on earth I had let myself in for. The rain poured and poured like nothing I’d ever seen, too.’
Robby's eyes went wide. ‘Yes, they’re still saying that it’s nothing to do with the weather, but we know differently, don't we?’
‘It seems like it. Whenever it rains, it happens. So, we'd better get all our power packs charging.’
Robby flicked his eyes over to the worktop, where the plug socket was located. ‘Already done, Neens.’
‘Look at you, Mr Organised!’
‘You’re lucky to have me. Don’t you forget that.’
‘Never.’ Nina pushed herself off her stool. ‘I’ll just go and plug in my laptop and iPad, too.’
‘We need to be charged and ready to sit out the storm.’
‘We do. Never knowingly underprepared.’
A few minutes later, Nina was back with her iPad. ‘It was fully charged anyway, so hopefully, if all goes well and the power doesn't go out and even if it does, we should be fine.’
‘Great. All good. Let’s hope we don’t get too battered.’
Nina shuddered. ‘Yikes, don’t tempt fate. From what everyone has been saying, I’m slightly concerned about this storm.’
‘Yeah, you never do know how a Lovely storm will turn out. Hopefully, this time, it won’t be too bad. Time will tell.’
2
Nina and Robby hopped off the riverboat and walked around the bay, doubled back a little, and headed in the direction of the marshes. Nina had fallen in love with the marshes on the far side of Lovely Bay when she’d first arrived in the little town by the sea. Now, she’d walked and been for runs in the marshes so many times she felt as if she knew the higgledy-piggledy boardwalks running through the reeds and water like the back of her hand.
She let out a huge exhale as they stopped for a minute or two and gazed at the view. The whole scene in front of them was a muddled mix of greens and blues, with little dabs of white here, there, and everywhere. The saturated colours topped a tangle of wooden boardwalks that felt as if they went on and on forever, somehow leading to another world. A nice, clean, fresh, safe little place tucked into one of the corners of Lovely Bay.
Nina breathed in the smell of nature, flowers, and the scent of the water flowing through the grasses and reeds as she held her face up to the sky for a bit and let the sun land on her cheeks. All of it warmed her cockles: the sound of water lapping under the boards, reeds rustling, sunshine warming and birds chirping. As she strolled along the boardwalk, she felt herselfslowly leave the real world behind and let Mother Nature take charge. Plants and grasses swayed in the wind, a heron swooped down and landed on a tree branch, and just in front of her, circles rippled gently across the shallow water.
As they made their way further into the marshes, Nina and Robby chatted about how pretty the landscape was in the sunshine, moved to talking about the birdlife, and then got onto Nina’s business, A Lovely Organised Life. Her small business had continued on in the same vein in which it had started, with slow and steady growth. It provided her with a nice little income doing something she loved. It was never going to make her millions as far as she could see, but she was in control of her destiny and enjoying the ride. Really, that was more than good enough for her.
As they strolled and talked, the conversation moved to discussing Robby’s business. He had been invited to tender a huge contract for a property company in Southeast Asia, namely an investment group in Singapore with fingers in many pies. He’d been scoping out contacts and working on it for all the time Nina had known him, and it had finally got to the stage where things were getting real. Nina nodded as Robby discussed the latest on the tender and the fact that if he won it, it would mean a lot of travel and would be a huge upturn in the success of his business. Nina wasn’t sure about him trotting off halfway around the globe willy-nilly, but she’d decided that she’d cross that bridge when she came to it. She wasn’t against broadening her horizons or hopping on planes, but a large part of her was only interested in putting down further roots and living out her life in Lovely Bay. What was not to love?
As they discussed the ins and outs of the Singapore tender, they wound their way out and away from the marshes and headed towards Lovely Bay itself. Walking over one of the many small greens, they stopped and peered at the names on thewar memorial, gazed up at the beautiful old, towering white lighthouse and then headed towards the High Street.
As they arrived at the top of the street, Nina took in the scene and smiled to herself: the pretty shops with their quaint awnings over the pavement, the trestle tables outside the hardware shop, the chocolate shop tucked down at the end, and Birdie's chemist with the door propped open onto the street. She loved it all, but especially the unique shell roofing tiles that made sure you knew you were in Lovely Bay.
On the pavement, people nipped here and there, ducking in and out of shops, and the Lovely coats with their striped hoods could be spied from every corner. Nina adored living in her new location by the sea. She was never going to get complacent about what Lovely had to offer. The fact that she was part of Lovely Bay and its community was not lost on her at all. She loved that she could mooch around, pop into a shop, chat with a few Lovelies, and go to the deli for a coffee with no plan as such and just enjoy herself. As far as she was concerned, Lovely Bay just simplynevergot old.
As they walked towards the chocolate shop, Nina stopped and chatted with Millie, who was untying bunting from underneath the awning going over the pavement. ‘Hey, how are you two?’ Millie asked with a smile on her face.
