Chapter 10
Later on that afternoon Nina was strolling along to check up on June and The Summer Hotel to see how it had fared in the storm. As she spied a dangling gutter on a house near June’s and water gushing from a blocked drain on the opposite side, she wondered what she was going to find at the hotel. As she got closer, she squinted down to the end of the road to see Nancy waiting for her outside by the gate. The closer she got, at least from the outside, it didn’t appear as if there was much damage to The Summer Hotel, if any at all. The ”For Sale” sign was no longer standing upright and would need to be put back into position, but overall, on first inspection, the hotel seemed fine. On approach, she could see that the porch didn’t look as if it was showing any signs of damage, the fence at the front was intact, and the guttering and roof tiles were okay.
She kissed Nancy on the cheek, turned, and looked at the building, raising her eyebrows. ‘Doesn’t look as if there’s too much to worry about out the front here. I’ve seen a few things down the street but maybe it’s a bit more sheltered down this end. There’s a blocked drain down the road there. Who knows what we might find in here?’
‘There’s nothing much wrong here that I can see,’ Nancy said and pointed at a few hanging baskets that looked as if they had blown over from where they’d been stacked up. ‘I can see those there have fallen down, but that’s not a problem.’
Nina nodded. ‘Ahh, yes, right.’
Nancy then pointed to a couple of shattered plant pots, which were scattered on the path, surrounded by soil. ‘Looks like those have fallen over too, by the looks of it. Strange what things the wind likes to have a little play with. Could be a lot worse.’
‘Yep. It’s not too bad here. Over our side, there was a garden chair in the harbour floating around which was weird. The wind obviously scooped it up.’
‘I had a mysterious set of bamboo wind chimes on my front mat. Turns out they were from one of the cottages at the other end of the street. They must have flown along!’
‘Too funny. Yeah, we had a few strange things floating in the harbour and a good few branches down along the back.’
They chatted as they walked along the pavement to the side of the house, went in through the side gate, and looked up at the roof. ‘It doesn’t seem as if anything has happened up there to the shingles or the tiles,’ Nancy observed.
‘Nope. Let’s hope it’s the same all the way around.’
As they got further into the garden and walked across the lawn, there were loads of tree branches scattered around, and two garden chairs not far away from the greenhouse had fallen on their sides. They both lifted a chair up each, popped them back under the table, and Nina peered into the greenhouse. ‘No shattered panes or broken glass there either. We’re on a roll. I thought there might be some problems out the back here because it’s so exposed.’
Nancy agreed and nodded. ‘Looks like it’s all fared well here. I was expecting more damage, to be quite honest.’
‘Me too. Hopefully, everything will be okay inside,’ Nina said as they headed to the tradesman”s entrance and walked through into the living quarters of the hotel.
About ten minutes later, they were standing back outside. Nina had expected to find more havoc, particularly where the roof was concerned, but they’d looked everywhere and found nothing. Nina pushed open the gate from the back garden onto the small strip of river beach running along the back of the hotel. The storm had washed up lots of debris on the sand, and a plethora of seashells in a wobbly line snaked down towards the shoreline. Nina bent down and put her hand into the line of seashells and picked one up. She turned it over to its pearly pink side and held it out to Nancy. ‘Look how pretty this is. It’s amazing how these wash up. I thought that when I first came to Lovely Bay. You see all sorts of shells down here.’
Nancy took the shell, turned it over, and held it up to examine it more closely. ‘It’s so pretty. Oh wow, yes, there are loads of seashells down here today.’
Nina started to crouch down and pick up shells, putting one after the next in her pocket. ‘I’m going to add these to my collection. I’ve got that huge mason jar full of them by the window in the attic room. I love collecting them.’
‘Yeah, they really look nice, don’t they?’
‘They do. Each one is so unique. I love how the water brings in treasure. I found some beautiful old sea glass down here the other day. It’s a sort of green-blue with a hint of yellow somehow. It’s now proudly on display on my coffee table.’
Nancy nodded, picking up a shell with a spiral pattern. ‘It’s amazing, isn’t it?’
‘It seems as if the storm has stirred up the bottom of the river. Is that even a thing?’
‘No idea.’
They continued to scour the beach, picking up shells here and there as a cool breeze came in off the water. Nina inhaled as they strolled along by the shore for a bit and she took in the sound of the waves lapping at the sand. ‘It’s so peaceful down here, isn”t it?’ Nina said as she picked up another shell and examined its patterns before slipping it into her pocket.
‘It really is,’ Nancy replied as she scanned the sand. ‘Makes you appreciate the little things. There was so much chaos in that storm, and now this. You can’t really compute the two somehow…’
Nina nodded in agreement as she stood up and peered over at the other side of Lovely, the bright white of the lighthouse towering over the bay and the sea in the distance. ‘You wouldn’t believe we even had a storm the way things are now.’
‘Nope.’ Nancy stopped and stood next to Nina, and for a minute, neither of them said anything. ‘I hope whoever buys the hotel appreciates this place. There’s something special about it, not just the building, but the land, the beach, the whole atmosphere down here. It really is something else.’
‘Yeah, it would be a shame to see it go to someone who doesn’t value it. It needs someone who understands its charm and potential.’
‘Absolutely. Right, we’d better head back.’ Nancy said, tilting her head towards the hotel.
‘Yeah, better get on.’ Nina replied, her pockets heavy with seashells. As they strolled towards the gate she mused. ‘You know, I’ve realised how much I”ve come to love this old hotel. It’s like it’s got a little part of my soul somehow.’
‘Yup. It’s got character, that’s for sure. And history. You can feel it just standing in the garden, let alone when you’re inside it.’
‘Definitely.’ Nina looked up at the hotel as they walked back through the garden. She really hoped that someone would soon see the potential in it. As she looked up at the roof she nodded. A little part of her was well aware that the old place had changed her life.