‘I bet they are.’
Robby laughed. ‘She’s getting to be a total expert and I have the tough job of testing new recipes.’
Colin leaned against the counter and grinned. ‘I’ve heard. So, when are you going to share your secret chowder recipe with the rest of us mere mortals?’
Nina laughed, shaking her head. ‘Come on, Col, you know I can't do that. Isn’t it Lovely's first rule not to divulge your secret ingredients? Plus, Birdie would have my head if I spilt the beans on anything remotely close to her recipe.’
Alice chimed in, ‘Maybe we should start a petition for you to start a speakeasy. We could get the whole town to sign it.’
Robby grinned. ‘I don't know if even a petition could sway our Nina. Stubborn comes to mind.’
‘Well, I suppose we'll just have to keep dreaming about Nina’s chowder.’ Colin laughed. ‘One day.’
‘Don't tempt me on the speakeasy thing. I might just do it to spite you lot and only invite the harbour side.’
Alice sighed dramatically. ‘Alas, I’ll have to put my house up for sale and move over there.’
The group laughed and Nina swooned inside about being part of the banter. It was one of the little moments that had made her fall in love with Lovely Bay—the quaint traditions and silly customs, the camaraderie and inside jokes. All of it amalgamated to give her a sense of belonging that had been sorely missing from her life before she’d arrived to house sit at The Summer Hotel.
‘Well, as much as I'd love to stay and chat, we really should get going,’ Nina noted.
‘Yep, and I need to finish off securing everything,’ Alice agreed.
‘Me too,’ Colin replied. ‘Right, well, stay safe, you lot. See you after the storm.’
3
It was later that day, and as Nina walked through Lovely and made her way across a couple of greens, she saw various people making preparations for the storm. Never having lived on the coast before, she hadn’t really realised how seriously storm prepping was taken. As a former city-dwelling girl, storms had come and gone, of course, but before, in her little flat in London, without the proximity of the sea and battering of the elements on the coast, getting storm-ready had never felt important. She’d seen, though, in Lovely Bay that the threat and forecast of a big storm was a whole other kettle of fish altogether.
Nina was on her way to The Summer Hotel to meet Nancy, who was going to help her ensure everything was shipshape before the storm came in. Walking towards the hotel, she knocked on June, Robby’s aunt's, door to check that she was okay, and then went next door to The Summer Hotel, taking the side path towards the garden. As she went past the back door, she remembered when she’d first arrived at the hotel. Then, with way too much luggage and a heart so heavy it felt as if she was dragging it along behind her suitcase, she’d not been in the best way. Now, everything about her was happy, not just her heart.The Summer Hotel had worked its charm, turning around her life.
The old property itself though wasn’t in quite the same place; still not having sold, The Summer Hotel now seemed as ifitwas the one with the heavy heart. She let herself in through the tradesman's entrance, went across the scullery, and walked through the living quarters, checking each of the windows was locked as she went. With each wiggle of lock and check of doors, she remembered how, when she’d moved into The Summer Hotel and had slowly decluttered her way through its mess, she had got her life back. The change of scenery and working through the hotel’s junk had finally shifted the grief that had kept her strangled in her old life.
Going through to the old B&B section of the hotel, she went up the stairs and back down again, checking that everything was as it should be and wondered to herself why Jill, the owner, had still not reduced the price of the property. She supposed that Jill was just trying to hold onto the place for the capital gains. Having inherited it, she wasn’t making a loss. Still, it was sad that the old building sat empty and alone.
Just as she was locking the front windows, removing an umbrella stand, and unhooking the hanging baskets on the porch, she saw Nancy approaching in the road. ‘Hi.’ Nina called out.
‘Hello, how are you?’ Nancy opened the gate and walked down the path.
‘Good. You?’
‘Yep, I am. Ready for the storm?’
‘I think as ready as we can be. I'm a bit nervous, actually,’ Nina admitted. ‘They’ve now issued a weather warning and told people not to go out unless it’s urgent or an emergency. Have you seen that?’
Nancy flicked her hand dismissively. ‘Everything will be fine. Better to be safe than sorry, though, right?’
‘Yeah, for sure. Everyone's been talking about the terrible storm of nineteen-twelve.’
Nancy chuckled. ‘Well, my memory doesn’t go back that far, so I can’t tell you about that. Idoknow that that one had terrible consequences. Everyone knows that old bit of Lovely history.’
‘Yep, I’ve heard.’
‘We’ll be fine this time. Right, let’s get on with it. Have you done all of the inside?’
‘Yes, all the windows are tight now. I just need to scrutinise the back, take all the hanging baskets down from the outside, secure the gate down by the river, and go and check on the shed and the greenhouse.'
‘Okay, lead the way,’ Nancy said.
