Chapter 32
Nina felt good to be in proper clothes. Since she’d arrived back from Bangkok, she’d forced herself to take time off and Robby had been insistent that she didn’t go back to work too soon. Now, although the exhaustion was still making itself known, she was more than ready to get back into the land of the living again. She grabbed her bag and locked the back door behind her after hearing Ella toot from the back of the house. A few minutes later, she was sitting next to Ella in the front seat of Ella’s car and they were on their way to The Summer Hotel.
‘So, Thailand didn’t turn out as you wanted,’ Ella said with a sad voice.
Nina laughed. ‘Nope, not quite. It wasn’t too bad, but I suppose these things come to try us, don’t they? What a turn-up for the books. I didn’t see it coming!’
‘Most definitely. After all that planning and everything, it’s such a long way for it to go wrong. It must have been a nightmare.’
‘I know, I didn’t really care about that, though. At the time, I felt that bad. Honestly, I’ve never felt anything like it.’
‘Can’t believe you ended up in hospital.’
‘I know, it’s awful, isn’t it?’
Ella narrowed her eyes. ‘How was that? It must have been scary. I can’t imagine it.’
‘It was okay, actually.’
‘Really! What was it like?’
Nina contemplated for a second and her mind flicked back to the hospital in Bangkok. With hindsight, she realised it had been fantastic. The facilities were first-class and the care was unprecedented. ‘The thing is, it was actually, dare I say it, possibly better than what would’ve happened here. I don’t know. I don’t want to say bad things about our healthcare system, and of course, I was paying upfront, or more the travel insurance company was, but yeah, it was great.’
‘Wow, I suppose it makes sense.’
‘Who knows if it had been something worse, though, whether or not I’d be saying the same thing. I had influenza. It wasn’t as if I had a heart transplant…’
‘True.’
‘Just goes to show you that you need to have insurance for everything these days, doesn’t it?’ Ella said with a bit of a laugh. ‘I was just saying to my mum the other day about how expensive good insurance is. The next day she was turning off a main road, and as she turned right, a person pulled out, also turning right, and clipped the back of her car.’
‘Oh no, that doesn’t sound good.’
‘Nope, anyway, it all ended up in a disaster because the other guy wasn’t insured. If she hadn’t been fully insured, it would’ve been a nightmare.’
‘Yes, you always need insurance, unfortunately,’ Nina said.
‘You do.’
‘I don’t want to be in the predicament where I need to use insurance again, that I can say with certainty.’
‘How are you feeling now?’
‘Okay, apart from being tired twenty-four-seven. I’m going to bed super early and getting up late. I suppose that’s just part of it. The doctor said it could take a good three months.’
Ella wrinkled her nose. ‘I guess so.’
‘Anyway,’ Nina said, batting her hand in front of her face, ‘enough about me, what’s been going on with the sale of the hotel?’
‘Not a lot. I’ve been emailing Jill about the price, but she’s not going to budge by the looks of it.’
‘Oh, right.’
‘Part of me thinks it’s hardly worth my time. I shouldn’t say that now I’ve got you here,’ Ella noted.
‘It’s fine,’ Nina replied. ‘I wanted to come along for the ride. I’m glad to be out in the real world again.’
‘I bet.’
‘So, Jill’s still got the same position on the price?’
‘Yeah.’
‘It’ll never sell like that.’
Ella shook her head. ‘I don’t suppose she cares, though, to be quite honest. I mean, it’s not as if this place has got a mortgage on it or anything, and she inherited a large portfolio from her aunt, so she’s probably not that concerned. I guess you wouldn’t be in her position, would you?’
‘No, true. It”s a shame it’s sitting here empty, almost like it’s wasting away.’
‘Yeah, yeah, anyway, so what were these people like who came to see it? I’ve spoken to them on the phone.’ Ella asked. ‘They seem nice.’
Nina smiled as she recalled showing the two women around The Summer Hotel. ‘Umm. I’m not really sure how to explain what they were like.’
Ella looked confused. ‘What does that mean?’
‘Well, they were different. Yes, I mean, I was expecting property investors, not that I think I know what property investors look like. Anyone can be a property investor; they don’t have to be turning up in a suit. It was just…’
‘Did you like them?’
‘Oh, yes. Yes, definitely.’
‘What were they like, then?’
‘Not what I was expecting at all. The car was super fancy, a Range Rover, and then these two tiny women got out. One of them was wearing tracksuit bottoms, sliders, a bright jumper, and the most gigantic gold headphones I’ve ever seen. She spent the whole time chatting away on the phone but took everything in and videoed the whole lot.’
‘Interesting,’ Ella said with a laugh.
‘And the other one was so, so pretty, and head to toe in sparkle. It sort of threw me a bit, and then as we walked around, I totally realised these women were so on the ball it wasn’t even funny. And then there were the cinnamon buns, who knows what that was about.’
‘The what?’ Ella asked with a frown on her face and a wrinkled-up nose.
‘They got some cinnamon buns out of the car, and they were just out of this world. Like nothing I’ve ever tasted. They were laughing when they saw my reaction.’
‘A cinnamon bun is a cinnamon bun, isn’t it?’
Nina shook her head rapidly. ‘No. Not like this, no. You have to taste one to believe it.’
‘Sorry, so they just had these random buns in the car?’
‘No, actually, yes, I mean. They own a bakery.’
‘Oh, that’s right, they did say that.’
Nina shook her head again. ‘No, that’s wrong. They don’t own a bakery, they own a string of bakeries. These women are highly successful. I may be completely off the mark, but from what I gathered, I think they could probably buy this place in cash, you know?’
‘Really? How do you get that feeling?’
‘I don’t know,’ Nina said. ‘I could just tell. The car, the way they held themselves. Really nice and friendly, too, and then the younger one, honestly, she sparkled from head to toe. Full-on diamonds everywhere.’
‘Right, so we need to accost her and steal all of her jewellery before she goes?’ Ella laughed.
‘I reckon we”d make a packet if we did, even with one of her diamonds. There was a rock on her finger which made mine look pathetic, really, totally pathetic.’
‘I didn’t get that feeling when I spoke to her on the phone. She sounded so normal.’
‘Yep, they were very sort of humble, but at the same time, you could tell they weren’t messing around, especially the older one. She was taking it all in and filming everything, and then right at the end, as we were walking around, she was like, ”Yeah, no, it’s too expensive.”
‘Right, okay, I get you.’
Nina squinted out the windscreen. ‘Oh yes, see that massive Range Rover coming down the road? That must be them now.’
As the Range Rover approached, Nina and Ella didn’t say anything as they watched the car pull into the side of the road. They stayed where they were in the front of Ella’s car as the two women they’d just been discussing stepped out.
The older woman, Xian, was as before, wearing a bright pink jumper, though this time it was slightly less fluffy. She had a pair of gold headphones slotted around her neck and the sliders this time were green. Both Xian and Holly waved enthusiastically as Holly helped Xian onto the pavement as Ella and Nina got out of the car.
‘Hello again!’ Holly called out as Xian shuffled behind with a smile on her face.
Ella held out her hand. ‘Nice to meet you at last after our conversations on the phone.’
Nina smiled and shook hands. ‘Hi. You chose a nice day for it again.’
‘Mmm. The sun is out, thank goodness,’ Holly said as the gigantic diamond around her neck sparkled in the sunshine.
Nina observed Xian as the four of them stood on the street chatting. Xian fiddled with her headphones as she looked at The Summer Hotel and took in the details of the property. She didn’t miss a trick as her eyes scanned every corner, and she kept one ear on the conversation. Nina’s eyes nearly dropped out of her head when Xian whipped a small silver hip flask from the pocket of her tracksuit bottoms, swiftly unscrewed the top, tipped back her head, put the flask to her lips and glugged.
As they started to walk down the pathway to the main entrance, Nina tried to see The Summer Hotel through the eyes of these investors and potential buyers. With different eyes she could see the beauty of the high ceilings, the bespoke porch, the unique to Lovely shell shaped roof tiles, and the beautiful windows on the upper floors. Along with that she also saw and evidently knew, too, the amount of work involved.
Stepping in through the main doors, Nina mostly listened to Ella doing her thing. Holly and Xian were very serious despite first impressions. Both of them listened intently, asking all sorts of insightful questions here and there.
It was very clear to Nina as she listened and watched that they both had vast experience in both property and business. As she observed, Nina was slightly mesmerised by Xian whose headphones were now perched precariously on her head as she fired questions and discussed aspects of the listed status with Ella. Nina couldn’t take her eyes off Xian as she interspersed asking questions and listening intently to the answers with quick swigs from the silver hip flask. The more Nina watched, the more she wanted to be Xian in her next life.
Walking through the hotel, Nina felt an odd mix of hope and sadness as she recalled the first day she’d arrived at the hotel. She hoped the hotel would find owners who appreciated its potential, but she also felt a pang of sadness at the thought of it changing and finding a new life.
About an hour later, all four of them were back outside, where the conversation had moved from the hotel to Ella asking them about their bakeries and the fact that Pretty Beach was serviced by a fast train.
‘Times have changed since we first moved there.’
Ella nodded. ‘I bet they have. Yes, you have the train down there now, don’t you? What”s happened to the area because of that?’
‘It’s brought a lot of buoyancy to the job scene and done the economy the world of good. It”s really transformed our part of the coast. It attracts people, especially if they can commute, but there was a lot of opposition to it in the early days.’
Xian nodded. ‘For us, it’s been fabulous for business.’
‘What are the transport links like here?’ Holly asked.
‘It’s not too bad. We have the train line here, and if you want to get on the express train, you can do that if you change. As you know, it’s an easy hop to the motorway. So yes, the same thing, really.’ Ella looked up at the old hotel. ‘Having the train and the transport history brings a lot of visitors to the town.’
‘Right, yes. Well, it’s definitely lovely, as the town name itself says,’ Xian noted.
‘Any thoughts so far?’ Ella asked.
‘Yes, many thoughts. It has a lot of potential.’ Holly gestured to her mum, flicking her hand back and forth between them. ‘We need to have a chat about it.’
‘Not at this price,’ Xian interrupted. ‘We wanted to come for a second look, but as I said on the phone, if it’s not negotiable, then it will have to be a no from us.’ Xian got her phone out. ‘I’ve done the numbers, and it will need a lot of money spent on it to put it out as an Airbnb, for example. This garden alone will take a bit to get right and to bring up to its full potential.’
‘Yes, it would.’ Ella agreed.
Holly laughed and turned to Nina. ‘I bet it looks a bit different to when you first came here, from what you told us before.’
‘Oh yes, definitely.’ Nina nodded.
‘You must have worked hard,’ Xian said as she whipped her flask out, quickly opened it, and swigged.
Nina didn’t know whether to acknowledge the swigging or not, so she ignored it. ‘I did, for sure.’
Ella shuffled her feet a bit. ‘Anyway, it’s been nice chatting with you ladies.’
Xian held out her hand. ‘Yes, thanks for taking the time to show us around a second time.’
Holly also shook Ella’s hand. ‘You must come to Pretty Beach one day.’
‘Love to.’
Holly squinted. ‘Or visit one of our bakeries. We have a gorgeous one on Darling Island not too far from here.’
The penny suddenly dropped for Nina as she remembered the bakery on Darling Street when she’d been out for the day to Darling Island with Robby. ‘Ahh, yes! I went there for the day recently. We went over on the floating bridge chain ferry.’
Holly nodded. ‘We have a branch there. Mum sometimes stays in the flat above. It’s so lovely there with the tram and everything and some of the coastal walks are out of this world.’
‘Yes, yes! As I said, I went there the other day with my husband for a day out. We had such a beautiful day. We went to the jewellery shop, Love Emmy x, on Darling Street because I wanted to buy something for my friend for her birthday. We ended up having a lovely day.’
Holly nodded eagerly. ‘Oh yes, that’s a wonderful little shop. Emmy has done really well.’
Nina agreed. ‘I could have spent a fortune.’
Xian made moves to go and Ella took the cue. ‘Okay then, well, we’ll have to see what I can do with Jill. I”m really not sure I’m promising anything.’
A few minutes later, Xian and Holly were pulling away in the Range Rover. Nina and Ella got back into Ella’s car.
Ella let out a whoosh of air and raised her eyebrows. ‘They were full of surprises.’
‘Told you.’
‘Umm, what was going on with that hip flask?’
Nina laughed out loud. ‘I wondered if you’d spot that.’
‘How could I not? The woman must be half-cut all the time. Gold.’
‘What do you think their chances are of actually buying?’
Ella pondered for a moment, ‘I’m not sure, but they do seem serious. And they have the means, which is always a good start.’
Nina smiled, looking back at the hotel. ‘Maybe The Summer Hotel is about to start a new chapter after all.’