‘Okay, this is the way I’m thinking. First things first, we lay these stones over this whole area, meaning the cracked pavers and all that grotty bit there will no longer be on show. Then we fill up the pots with soil and put the lovely new palms in them. We pop them on either side of the chairs. Then you spend some time sprucing up that shed while I get going on the raised beds,' Nina directed. ‘What do you think?’
‘Sounds good.’ Robby looked around. ‘Just tidying it up will make a difference, don’t you think?’
‘For sure. We should’ve done this ages ago,’ Nina mused, walking over to the two steps by the gate, which were a bit mossy. ‘We should’ve done it when we moved in, and thenmaybe I wouldn’t have fallen down on my wedding day in a huge white dress.’
‘Oh well, it made it a day to remember, that’s for sure.’
‘It just keeps getting put to the bottom of the pile.’
‘A couple of days and it will be done.’
‘At least we didn’t do it before that storm.’
‘True.’
By lunchtime, most of the white stones were covering the old cracked patio slabs. Almost instantly, as soon as they were down, the area was transformed. Nina had been in two minds about which stone to use and had spent way too much time overthinking and comparing what was called “sea pebble white” with “ocean grey”. Now, she was pleased with what she’d plumped for. She’d chosen the white and it had instantly brightened and sanitised the area just as she’d hoped.
Robby had filled the two huge terracotta pots with soil and planted the palms and put them and the chairs on the right-hand side, tucked in the spot where they’d worked out the sun liked to be. The two Adirondack coastal chairs had been jet-washed and spruced up, and the pots were now on either side. Nina stood with her hands in the small of her back and stretched her neck. ‘Wow, those stones did the job. It looks better already! I am so pleased I didn’t get the grey ones.’
‘You're not wrong,’ Robby replied as he pulled off his gardening gloves. ‘However, I, for one, need a sandwich and a tea break. I’m cream-crackered.’
‘Definitely works for me. I do, too.’
About ten minutes later, they were sitting on the chairs with a sandwich and a cup of tea, paying tribute to their work. Afterchatting about what they were going to do next, Robby turned the conversation to his work coming up in Singapore and the fact that after his job they were going away on holiday to Thailand.
‘I can’t wait to visit all the things we’ve read about in Bangkok,’ Robby said as he tucked into his sandwich.
‘Same here. There’s so much I want to see. The temples, the markets, and the landscapes. It’s going to be quite the adventure. I can’t wait.’
Robby nodded enthusiastically. ‘Definitely! I’m so looking forward to it.’
‘I’d love to visit those night markets we read about. The ones with lanterns, street performers and local crafts. I love a good market.’
‘Yeah, the night markets are supposed to be legendary. I think I read we’ll be there during a festival, so the streets will be buzzing.’
Nina’s eyes sparkled. ‘I’ve been reading about the Thai massages and the hotel spa. After all this work, I think we’ll both need a good massage by the time we get there.’
Robby laughed. ‘You read my mind. It’s going to be absolute bliss.’
‘We need to try as much local food as we can. The street food is meant to be out of this world.’
‘Absolutely. On the list.’
Nina smiled, leaning back in her chair, imagining Thailand. ‘It all sounds so good. I can’t wait. It’s going to be the trip of a lifetime.’
Robby tapped her leg. ‘If you want this to be finished when we get back, we’d better get a move on then.’
Nina heaved herself up off the chair. ‘Yep, let’s do this thing. I want to get back from Thailand to my own oasis right here in Lovely.’
15
It was midweek and a couple of days or so after the yard makeover. As Nina walked along the mostly deserted streets of Lovely Bay, a mist rolled in off the sea and sat right in front of her on the pavement. It wasn't often Nina rose at the crack of dawn, but whenever she did when she was around Lovely Bay, she loved the light and the quiet feel of the empty streets. As she crossed over Saint Lovely green, she then weaved in and out of roads until she came to the lighthouse. She stood for a moment, observing the massive whitewashed tower soaring above her, and wondered what had gone on within its walls in days gone by.
Looking up at the beautiful glass at the top she remembered Robby's proposal, how it had been a complete surprise, and how she hadn't seen it coming in any shape or form. Her mind zoomed back to when she’d taken the candlelit staircase all the way to the top and had been totally surprised to see Robby standing by the glass, with the view of Lovely Bay behind him. The proposal had come out of the blue as far as she’d been concerned, and at first, she had been quite taken aback.
When her first husband, Andrew, had passed away, marriage had been something that Nina Lavendar hadn't even thought about. As she’d flailed around in grief, marriage had only beenin her mind in the past tense, as if it was something that had been in her life that would never again come to be. But now, here she was, happily married for the second time and, not only that, hoping to start a family. As she looked up at the top of the lighthouse, with its glass glinting in the sunshine, she sent a million thank-yous towhoeverorwhateverit was that had looked down on her, changed the course of her life, and dropped her into the place that she now called home. Lovely Bay had brought good things.
As she got to the High Street, there were a few people coming out of the woodwork, albeit few and far between; a man on the other side of the road, wearing one of the navy blue Lovely coats tipped his head in greeting and a woman on the far side was turning a handle to wind out the awning in front of a shop. But mostly, the High Street was quiet and only just beginning to wake up. Nina took it all in as she walked past the chocolate shop, the deli, and the hardware store. She spied someone in the window of The Drunken Sailor, who was standing with a mug of coffee, and noted that not many other people were around at all.
