The Cosy Canal Boat Dream: A funny, feel-good romantic comedy you won’t be able to put down!

‘Anyway, back to Baby Green, how far gone are you?’

‘Early days, only eight weeks or so. I’m feeling so-so, a little queasy at times, but I seem to be eating my body weight in anything and everything.’

‘Well don’t overdo it, you know I can help with the early morning baking if you don’t feel up to it.’

‘I promise I will ask if I need any help.’

‘Good,’ Nell replied, skimming the newspaper once more and turning the page.

‘Anything interesting?’

Nell sighed, twisting the paper towards Bea. ‘Now this is what makes me sad.’

‘Nathan and I were only talking about this last night.’ Bea glanced at the paper.

There on the property page of the local newspaper were the details of the old derelict picture house.

‘Such a shame,’ Nell said sadly, a wave of nostalgia washing over her.

‘They could easily throw up a few houses on that plot. How much is it up for?’

Nell stared at the page and then Bea.

‘It’s up for auction. Ollie and I always talked about doing something together, a project that would benefit the community and bring the kids and the older generation back together. Everyone these days spends their life tapping not speaking.’

Nell’s mind began to whirl and she wriggled in her chair excitedly as she read aloud the reserve figure. Nell had a sudden sparkle in her eyes. Bea knew that look on Nell’s face – she was mulling something over.

‘What if? …’ Nell hesitated for a second.

‘Go on, what are you thinking?’

‘No, I can’t, I’m just being daft.’

‘Come on, say what you’re thinking,’ urged Bea.

Nell swallowed and took a deep breath, ‘What if I bought the place?’ Once the words left her mouth her thoughts became reality.

‘What would you do with it?’

Nell bit down on her lip, gazed out of the window then turned back towards Bea, ‘Use Ollie’s money to restore it, turn it back into a picture house in his memory.’

It took Bea a second for Nell’s words to sink in.

‘Are you serious?’ Bea shot her a sideways glance.

‘How much do you think a project like this would cost?’

‘You are serious!’

Nell nodded, ‘I think I am.’

The excitement rose inside Nell. She’d often talked with Ollie about undertaking a project that would bring the community back together and this could be it. Not only would it benefit the whole marina, but it would stop new houses being built.

‘You’ll need to ask someone in the know. Shall I ask Nathan? He might know someone.’

Nell’s eyes grew wide then her face broke into a smile. ‘Would you?’

‘Of course.’

‘I just need to know how much a project like this would cost. I could co-ordinate it myself.’ Nell’s routine had been the same day in, and day out in the last couple of years, this project would be the perfect opportunity to get her teeth into something new which would benefit the whole community.

‘That’ll keep you busy,’ Bea mused, finishing her drink.

‘It would, wouldn’t it. There’s no harm in looking into it.’

‘No harm at all.’

Chapter 7 (#ulink_cd725baf-baeb-5c5c-bc80-7af6e089a149)

It was Friday evening and Nell stood nervously on the steps of the annexe to Little End Cottage. She rapped on the door then dug her hands into her pockets to shield them from the frosty temperature of the night air. As she waited she shuffled her feet from side to side and snuggled deep inside her coat to keep warm.

She knocked again and still nothing.

‘Damn,’ she muttered to herself. She’d ventured out into the cold night on a whim. She’d never even considered there wouldn’t be any answer. She’d lain awake last night and had barely slept a wink, thoughts of restoring the Old Picture House had her pacing the length of the ‘Nollie’ in the early hours of the morning.

She’d had many honest conversations with herself, was she just running away with some romantic notion or could this be a possibility, was she even capable of renovating the Old Picture House back to its original state and make it into a viable business?

The previous evening, after seeing the property in the newspaper Nell had visited her mum at Bluebell Cottage. She’d sat in the kitchen tucking into homemade cottage pie and shared her aspirations for the abandoned building. While Nell enthused about the plans that were whizzing around in her head, she noticed a shift in mood in her mum.

‘The thing is, Nell, that place closed down for a reason. If a proper business person can’t keep it afloat, what chance do you have? Projects like that can be draining mentally and run way over budget. Who’s going to manage the place?’

‘Well, me of course.’

‘Abandon Bea after she gave you a job, a lifeline after everything that happened?’ Gilly tutted.

Feeling deflated, Nell had sunk back in her chair with three gorgeous kittens on her lap. She’d never considered Bea in any of this. Once the picture house was up and running would she need to leave her job? It was something she hadn’t even considered and now here was her mum putting a kibosh on the whole thing with zilch enthusiasm before it had even begun.

‘Ollie and I had always talked about a project, something that would benefit the community and bring a new zest for life into the area.’

‘And Ollie wouldn’t want you to run yourself into the ground. How will this project be funded?’

Nell hesitated, ‘With his life insurance and our savings.’

Gilly had dismissed the subject almost immediately, leaving Nell feeling confused and squashed. It wasn’t quite the reaction she’d expected or wanted.

That was the reason she was here now, knocking on Guy’s cottage door. She couldn’t get the notion of the renovation out of her head, despite her mum’s opinion. She wanted an outsider’s opinion, someone who didn’t have any emotional attachment to the situation.

Nell stared up at Little End Cottage, the place was still picturesque even in the midst of February with the ivy entwined around it’s oak-beam porch and the smoke swirling out of the chimney pot above the thatched roof. There was still no answer; she hesitated then followed the pebble path around the side of the property.