Chapter 5
15 minutes later, Beth was seated on the small balcony that hung over the entrance door to Welcome , and which looked straight out across the harbour and out to sea. The small Bed the front door was rotting away steadily, leaving a cat flap-sized hole at the bottom and the roof was anchored in place by some hefty lengths of rope. The deck had holes in the boards, revealing the collection of rubbish gathered beneath, old newspapers that had probably once held fish and chips, crisp packets and several crushed cans. It was verging on the derelict and flanked as it was by sleekly painted examples of desirable huts, it looked nothing short of desolate.
‘Oh dear,’ whispered Beth to herself. ‘Oh dear.’
As she watched, a piece of shingle slid slowly from the roof and fell onto the weedy waste ground encircling the hut. It broke in two to lay on the floor alongside several other tiles and a large piece of wood which seemed to have broken away from beneath the small side window.
The key was in her pocket and stepping delicately over the gaping holes, Beth crossed the veranda to unlock the door. It was stuck and Beth gave it a sharp kick before watching in alarm as it tilted sideways, sliding gently from one of its hinges. Peeping inside, she couldn’t help a horrified gasp. Holes in the roof, untended in the months since Lizzie’s death, had allowed the weather to encroach and there was barely a surface that wasn't covered with debris, leaves, twigs and a creeping mould. The sink had broken away from the rear wall and was hanging at a jaunty angle, half full of rusty water. The bench seating to one side looked as though it had provided a home for a family of mice and there were traces of abandoned bird nests on the top of the cupboards and nestled in the eaves.
Beth stepped carefully back towards the veranda. There seemed little point locking the door but she dragged it back in place and turned the key anyway.
She'd come to Welby-on-the-Sea hoping that it would provide a chink of light for a future that had just come crashing down around her ears. But instead of presenting a distraction, it looked very similar to her relationship, a derelict ruin beyond repair. What on earth was she going to do now?