Chapter 39
The water sports centre opened on the following Saturday morning.
Alex was hoping that the lack of hype surrounding the opening meant that there were no expectations on the place to succeed. Obviously he was desperate for it to flourish for the family’s sake. Ben had already impressed on him the need for the summer takings to be up on the previous summer.
‘They couldn’t be much worse,’ Ben had told him a few days previously, with a grimace.
But the hotel had been in the middle of extensive renovations at that time. Now it was open and a steady trickle of guests were ensuring that the rooms were at seventy-five per cent capacity each weekend.
The problem was encouraging new guests along during the week. However, Ella had done a sterling job in creating some hype around the opening of the hotel and so had made a similar effort with the water sports centre, such as a new Facebook page and advertising on the local community online hub.
‘They’ll come,’ announced Dotty that morning over breakfast. ‘How could they possibly stay away?’
Alex nodded, hoping that sheer willpower and prayer alone would help achieve that particular goal.
As it happened, when he headed past the hotel lobby after breakfast and went to nervously check on the noticeboard, he was amazed.
There had been a blank list placed there the previous evening asking for any parties interested in renting out the paddleboards on the lake.
To his surprise, all eight paddleboards had been reserved.
‘Looks like you’re in for a busy morning,’ said Ben, coming out of the hotel office and nodding at the noticeboard.
Alex nodded. ‘I can’t believe it,’ he replied.
Ben grinned at him. ‘Why not? They all heard that there was an experienced triathlete ready to hand over his expertise.’
Alex raised his eyebrows at his best friend. ‘And how did they hear that?’ he asked.
‘You know what?’ replied Ben, laughing. ‘I honestly can’t remember.’
As he headed outside, Alex felt a little embarrassed. Ever since the disastrous charity run where he had ended up breaking his foot and becoming somewhat of a local joke overnight, the thought of trading on his relatively infamous name had filled him with horror.
But it seemed that the hotel needed to capitalise on his infamy and, reluctantly, he had to agree with them. Especially if it brought in more people into the area.
So when the eight eager paddleboarders arrived for their lesson that afternoon, he fixed a smile on his face and graciously granted them all a selfie before he began to run through the health and safety rules.
He was somewhat grateful that he had been able to practise extensively on his own paddleboard up to that point so he too didn’t look like a complete novice. He had even begun using it whilst on lifeguard duty for Dotty’s swim club.
That morning, the first of the advertised swimming sessions had been an eye-opener.
As it was the Whitsun bank holiday weekend and the weather was glorious, at least twenty people had arrived for the 11 a.m. opening and he had been grateful that Faye and Frankie had joined him to help organise everyone’s arrival.
He was grateful for all the preparations they had put in place beforehand.
The signs to the additional car park for the swimming clubs had been put in place, keeping the hotel car park free for guests.
In addition, there was now a reception hut where the swimmers could pay for their sessions and pick up their floats and swimming caps, if they hadn’t brought their own.
He was thankful that he had insisted on floats and swimming caps for everyone participating as there were far more people than he had anticipated and needed to keep an eye on everyone.
Despite still having doubts about the use of the lake, Walter had offered to keep watch on the other side with his walkie-talkie but thankfully there were no dramas that would need their lifesaving endeavours.
However, the first session did at least show Alex where some adjustments still needed to be made and he discussed it with Walter when it was over.
‘I did notice a few people struggling to get changed afterwards because there was nowhere to sit down apart from those couple of deck chairs that we brought over from the bigger beach,’ Alex told him.
Walter nodded thoughtfully. ‘That’s no use,’ he said, looking across to where people were sitting on the grass, relaxing after their swim. ‘I can make up a few picnic benches, if you like.’
‘That would be great,’ said Alex, although he was anxious not to upset Walter any further. ‘If it’s not too much trouble.’
‘It’s not like we haven’t got enough wood,’ said Walter, gesturing at the surrounding forest before he walked away.
Watching some people nervously test the water with their toes before going in led Alex to make a note to put up a noticeboard near the beach on which he could post the daily water cleanliness test results and temperature of the water.
He also looked up a number of health and safety rules for guidance which he would also post on a laminated sheet alongside.
But he had been pleased with how smoothly it had gone and thankfully he was still smiling during the paddleboard class as well.
The group that had hired boards had included a number of relative beginners and, as such, he was able to tell them how hopeless he had been at the beginning. Especially when they were frustrated with their frequent dunkings in the water.
But Tiny always helped bring a smile to people’s faces, especially when he swam out to greet anyone who had just fallen into the water for the umpteenth time.
Alex was grateful for his many hours of practice which meant that he was able to stand on his own paddleboard for the whole session. He might not ever feel as graceful as Hannah had looked on a paddleboard, but at least he could pretend and not make a total fool of himself any more, he reckoned.
As the session finished later in the afternoon, the paddleboarders were all full of enthusiasm and lively chatter as they discussed their varying levels of ability.
Even better, as far as Alex was concerned, was that as soon as they had gotten changed out of their wetsuits, they headed into the Boathouse Café for a drink which then extended into a busier afternoon session than during the week.
Whilst he tidied up, he spotted Hannah rushing around on the veranda serving all the new customers and was thrilled for her.
Once he had packed away all the equipment, and with no more activities booked for that day, Alex headed into the café to check on her own success.
‘I thought you’d need this,’ she told him, placing a cold drink and slice of lemon drizzle cake on the table on the veranda.
The café had become quiet at last so he invited her to join him.
‘Sit down for a minute,’ he told her. ‘I could see how busy you were today as well.’
She nodded as she sat down. ‘Wasn’t it amazing?’ she asked, a smile lighting up her pretty face.
‘Absolutely,’ he told her, mesmerised once more by her eyes.
‘How did you find your first paddleboard session?’ she asked. ‘Did you enjoy it?’
‘You know what?’ he replied. ‘I did.’ He thought for a moment. ‘I think that all these years it was all about me, me, me. How fast I could run. How fit I was. The diet. The training. It was exhausting.’
She nodded. ‘You were always on the go,’ she told him.
‘Plus I’m not sure it’s that healthy, mentally speaking, to be so wrapped up in myself,’ he carried on. ‘So this afternoon, teaching that guy who kept falling in how to stand upright was really satisfying. Like I had some knowledge to pass on. Pay it forward, I guess.’
She smiled. ‘Your knowledge of paddleboarding?’ she said, teasing him.
He laughed. ‘OK. So I should give you all the credit for me not falling in any more.’
‘Absolutely,’ she told him, standing up. ‘Listen, you sit there and relax after your busy day. It’ll do you some good.’
He found that he couldn’t disagree with her.
He had been so used to running around, training and competing.
For the first time, he had had to embrace a slower pace of life.
And he was loving it. He enjoyed the downtime.
A beer at sunset without worrying that it would affect his strict diet. Cake. Sunshine. The good weather.
As Hannah headed back to the kitchen, he thought how much stronger she sounded. As if she were starting to feel more confident in herself.
He wondered how many more changes there would be for both of them by the end of the summer.