What was she doing? It’d been twelve years, she’d treated him terribly by walking away. He surely wasn’t interested in anything other than being a good friend and perhaps talking some more to find out why she’d left him the way she had.
Nina wondered whether she needed to leave the bay before she got in too deep and they both got hurt.
At her grandad’s, Nina showed Walt the photographs again even though he had his own copy, and they discussed the valuation when he signed the paperwork.
‘At the party, Leo offered again to help out here at the bungalow if I need him to,’ Walt told her. ‘It’s very generous of him.’ He held out the open biscuit tin. ‘I don’t want to be a burden though.’ He looked around at the tired appearance of the kitchen.
Nina plucked a Bourbon cream from the tin. The kitchen here at her grandparents’ home had been the same for a couple of decades. The lemon-yellow formica surfaces had faded with age, the patch nearest the window and the sink that got the sun or the most battering from cleaningchemicals had a particularly bad spot Grandad had covered with a sink tidy holding washing up liquid, a brush and a couple of cloths poking out haphazardly from the top. The cupboards had handles – mostly – but they were old-fashioned swirls that were impossible to clean and half of those were loose too. Nina supposed she’d got so used to it over the years that she hadn’t noticed it subtly changing. But now, looking around the kitchen and hearing Walt talk, she realised the whole bungalow needed some attention, a makeover or at least upkeep, and that would be the situation for ever, seeing as this was where her grandad resolutely wanted to stay.
‘I’m sure if Leo says he’ll help, then he doesn’t mind. And I could help you out too. I’m not suggesting I could refit a kitchen, but I can help with painting and even wallpapering if that’s what you’d like.’
‘You have your own life. I don’t expect you to leap in to do this place as well as the cabin.’
‘I enjoyed myself, different to work at least.’
‘True. Sometimes a change is as good as a rest.’
‘You enjoyed the party then?’
‘You know I did. It was wonderful, and all those balloons. I thought balloons were for kids, but take note, if I ever have another party I want balloons again.’
‘My lungs are still recovering,’ she chuckled. ‘So if that’s the case I’ll have to get a special pump next time.’ She thought of the mixture of joy and sadness she’d felt that night and ever since. ‘You know, Grandad, if I could, I’d buy the cabin myself.’
‘You would?’ He seemed surprised, even though she’d already talked about moving down this way. Perhaps he didn’t think it would be real until it happened.
‘I’ll admit I hadn’t given the cabin much thought at all until I came back to Stepping Stone Bay. Life has been so busy for me I never stopped to wonder what it would be like if the cabin was no longer in our family. I guess even though I didn’t stay in it or even visit, I knew it was always there in the background.’ And she smiled at her grandad because the way he was looking at her told her he’d known this was coming. ‘I’m afraid I just don’t have the money. Even if I sold my place, I couldn’t buy the cabin. If we took sentimentality out of the equation and then added in the commute I’d need to contend with to the nearest hospital a good fifteen miles away, it’s not even an option.’
Walt covered her hand with his. ‘I understand. Selling the cabin is the right thing to do, Nina.’
Nina had bought a small studio apartment five years ago, brand new, off-plan and right near her work. It suited her, she could manage the mortgage and the bills on her single salary, she had a decent social life and holidayed in Europe most summers, but she’d always known the studio wouldn’t be forever. If she was lucky enough to meet someone she’d want more space, and then if she had a family one day maybe they’d want a garden, room for a family to grow and enjoy. Buying the cabin now, instead of another flat, when she made the move back to the south coast would be crazy. The cabin was a nice extra but not practical enough for her, and if it lost value, which could happen, then she’d be really stuck. She’d just have to get on with this, follow the process and support Walt in the sale none of them had ever wanted to happen.
After her grandad looked again at the photographs ofthe cabin’s makeover Nina remembered, ‘Do you have some tools I could borrow?’
‘Tools?’
‘I know you have a toolbox in your loft. I need a drill to put up some novelty coat hooks just inside the door to the cabin. Buyers will love those, they’re a real homely touch, and useful obviously.’
‘Well as grand as that sounds I don’t have a drill any more. These days I have to get someone else to do anything involving a power tool. The one thing I did let young Leo do was put up the new bathroom wall cabinet for me and fix my bookcase – the shelves aren’t strong enough.’
‘You have too many books.’ Already there were several slotted in or balancing precariously.
‘No such thing.’
She knew he was waiting for her to respond to his suggestion. ‘I suppose I could ask Leo.’
‘He wouldn’t mind, it would take him a couple of minutes at most and if you want to borrow a drill and do it yourself he’s probably the best bet for that as well.’
She didn’t know anyone else who might have one so she’d go with it. ‘I’ll ask him.’ And rather than filling her with dread, she felt a little lift inside knowing she had another reason to bother him again.
By the time Nina left Walt to it, he seemed content enough. It didn’t have to be said out loud that neither of them wanted to let a piece of their family history go, but both of them were practical and knew it made the most sense. And once it was done, they’d move forwards.
Nina walked back towards the cabin, glad she’d thought to bring her umbrella when a few drops of rain turnedvery quickly to more as she left the café on the main road clutching a decadent takeaway hot chocolate, which kept her palm warm. She reached the end of the track about to turn left to head straight for the cabin, but with the boathouse shop on her other side it made sense to go and see Leo now. And yet going right in to his place of work, approaching him rather than the other way around, still felt odd when she hadn’t been inside the boathouse for years.
She shook off her umbrella and propped it up outside beneath the small overhanging piece of roof that gave a little bit of shelter. Inside, the shop above the actual boathouse was far bigger than she remembered. Shelves lined some of the walls and from those hung ocean shoes in varying colours, on top were a host of accessories, things she knew were associated with water craft but that she couldn’t really identify. There was a display of colourful ropes, several circular clothing rails, one with wetsuits, a smaller one with t-shirts, another with brightly coloured beach wear. Down the centre of the shop were more shelves and she saw buoyancy vests, fleeces, long-sleeved tops, and on the left-hand wall as she walked inside were paddleboards, surfboards, a couple of kayaks fixed up high that would require the use of a stepladder to bring them down.
When Leo spotted her he was clearly surprised to see her, but professional in the way she’d expected of him he finished helping a customer choose between a full wetsuit and one that would only come down to her knees. Nina knew full well that if it were her she’d go for the bigger one, she hated to feel cold in the water.
Nina looked through the clothes as she waited. Unlike Maeve she hadn’t avoided the sea, and while she hadn’tbeen to the bay in years or to Salthaven beach, she’d enjoyed the ocean abroad, she’d swum in it, even snorkelled. It hadn’t been easy to go back in after avoiding it for so long but she’d managed to do it a couple of years after she left the bay. She and a few other nurses she worked with had booked a trip to the Greek Islands, and because nobody knew her history she hadn’t had to put up with sympathy or encouragement or anticipation from anyone else other than herself. And so she’d got on with it. When the others donned their masks and snorkels she’d done the same, when they’d jumped from the side of the boat after the skipper took them out to sea she’d followed them. The shock of the water had almost knocked the life out of her as she went under but she’d emerged smiling, she’d taken out her mouthpiece and floated on her back to feel the warmth of the sun beating down on her. And for that day she’d been a regular twenty-something out for fun with no ties. She’d never ever forgotten what happened, but in other locations away from here, she was able to tap into another part of herself and let some happiness in, almost accept what had gone before, with the present being more important.
