A rare bright day in the dying end of winter brought with it the opportunity for Helena to sneak out to the beach she was privately calling King's Cove and take a look at the progress being made on the various buildings being put up there. Ordinarily she would have made the trip with Tommy, Jack, and Jasmin, but everyone else was busy, one way or the other. Besides, she didn't begrudge the opportunity to get a sneak peek at what was going to be her home with the man she had put the timeline in jeopardy to have as her own.
It seemed to have taken a long time to agree on what, exactly, they wanted in their home, but between them, she and Tommy had hashed out a plan that involved a sturdily built house that would be able to hold them and at least two others comfortably. After some long wrangling, they had decided not to make the surf shop and workshop a part of the main house, but build a separate structure to contain the business that Tommy was already putting together in preparation for their move. Equally long wrangling had seen her fiance put his foot down and insist on there being a studio for her to paint in, attached to one side of the house itself, since she chose some truly ridiculous hours to express herself via her chosen medium, and he didn't want her traipsing across the sand in the early hours of the morning in a storm.
Jack and Jasmin's house had been a breeze to work out for them, by comparison. But then, they didn't have quite so much to accommodate, and neither one was as stubborn as Tommy and Lena could be. So long as there was a bed, a kitchen, and somewhere to store their music, those two were perfectly content. They'd actually had to be talked into having an en-suite master bedroom!
With Caroline's influence, they had managed to get a decent road laid from the actual road to the first rise of the beach itself, which had made getting the various trucks and materials to the site for building infinitely easier. It also made it much easier for Helena to turn her grumbling little car toward the beach, pulling into a space to park and stepping out into the brisk breeze. It was going to be another couple of months yet before the weather warmed up, but even in the February chill, she found herself smiling as she looked out over the sparkling, rolling waves. This place was very special to her, and knowing it was going to be her home made it even more so.
The sand slid beneath her feet as she turned to make her way down to the building site, beaming with delight at the progress that had been made. The last time she had been here, a week before, the frames of the buildings had only just arrived. Now they were right there, fully assembled, the windows and doors fitted. They looked like the homes and workshop they were going to be. Of course, it would be another couple of months before they were habitable. They needed to be fitted for electrics, plumbed, insulated, be decorated. And that, in itself, promised another few frank discussions about colors, fixtures, and fittings. But it was all coming together, and now, finally, she could actually imagine what it was going to be like to live here.
Offering a grin to the project manager, who greeted her but knew enough not to take her time until she was ready to talk to him, Lena took one of the spare hard hats and made her way into her house via the front porch. Here would be the main family room, open to the kitchen; there was the downstairs bathroom; and back there was the door that led to the studio Tommy had insisted upon. She let out a small squeak of delight on discovering that the stairs were in and secure, forcing herself to walk up rather than run like a child. Dividing walls were already in, wires hanging from various different places, pipes for gas and water visible where the walls had not yet been completed. The breeze swept through the open upper floor, but she could forget it entirely as she looked around. There was the master bedroom and en-suite; there was the third bathroom; there, there, and there were the spare bedrooms.
She could see it all in her mind's eye, helped along by the fact that it was, essentially, all there. Impatience flooded her, knowing she was going to have to keep on being patient until at least the beginning of May. Everything that now was left to be done had to be done to the highest standard, and she trusted the workers who were making it so. But even so, here was her house, and if she was very lucky, she would celebrate her 24th birthday by moving into it with Tommy.
Thinking of Tommy took her mind to the shop and workshop also under construction, and she turned to make her way back down the stairs and out onto the beach once again, turning to approach the space that was definitely going to be her fiance's baby. It had deliberately been modeled on the shop he had opened with Robby, but built to purpose, the workshop fully fitted for his boards and the storage of the materials he would need to fulfill orders. Likewise, they'd agreed that if she was going to customize his boards, then she would need somewhere to work, and to accommodate that need, there was an open area to the side where she would be able to play with an airbrush to her heart's content.
Leaning in the doorway of the shop, she looked out over the beach, forcing herself not to be nosy and poke around the shell that would be Jack and Jasmin's house until at least one of them was there with her. Everything was coming together exactly the way she had hoped - Jack and Jaz, far from disliking one another, were already married; she was building a house with Tommy; better yet, they were going to be married on this beach in just a few months' time.
Perhaps she was being a little selfish, in choosing to move away from Willow Manor when Dru was so newly there, in choosing to focus on her life, her love. But Helena had been a Good Girl for too long, enduring certain things that no one else would have put up with. So maybe it was time she was a little selfish. Maybe it was time she made her dreams a reality, and watch them come to life, in the company of a man out of time who loved her as dearly as she loved him. ____________ http://i849.photobucket.com/albums/ab51/RhyDinLittleTheatre/OIROIY5S_zpsbc981548.jpg
It seemed to have taken a long time to agree on what, exactly, they wanted in their home, but between them, she and Tommy had hashed out a plan that involved a sturdily built house that would be able to hold them and at least two others comfortably. After some long wrangling, they had decided not to make the surf shop and workshop a part of the main house, but build a separate structure to contain the business that Tommy was already putting together in preparation for their move. Equally long wrangling had seen her fiance put his foot down and insist on there being a studio for her to paint in, attached to one side of the house itself, since she chose some truly ridiculous hours to express herself via her chosen medium, and he didn't want her traipsing across the sand in the early hours of the morning in a storm.
Jack and Jasmin's house had been a breeze to work out for them, by comparison. But then, they didn't have quite so much to accommodate, and neither one was as stubborn as Tommy and Lena could be. So long as there was a bed, a kitchen, and somewhere to store their music, those two were perfectly content. They'd actually had to be talked into having an en-suite master bedroom!
With Caroline's influence, they had managed to get a decent road laid from the actual road to the first rise of the beach itself, which had made getting the various trucks and materials to the site for building infinitely easier. It also made it much easier for Helena to turn her grumbling little car toward the beach, pulling into a space to park and stepping out into the brisk breeze. It was going to be another couple of months yet before the weather warmed up, but even in the February chill, she found herself smiling as she looked out over the sparkling, rolling waves. This place was very special to her, and knowing it was going to be her home made it even more so.
The sand slid beneath her feet as she turned to make her way down to the building site, beaming with delight at the progress that had been made. The last time she had been here, a week before, the frames of the buildings had only just arrived. Now they were right there, fully assembled, the windows and doors fitted. They looked like the homes and workshop they were going to be. Of course, it would be another couple of months before they were habitable. They needed to be fitted for electrics, plumbed, insulated, be decorated. And that, in itself, promised another few frank discussions about colors, fixtures, and fittings. But it was all coming together, and now, finally, she could actually imagine what it was going to be like to live here.
Offering a grin to the project manager, who greeted her but knew enough not to take her time until she was ready to talk to him, Lena took one of the spare hard hats and made her way into her house via the front porch. Here would be the main family room, open to the kitchen; there was the downstairs bathroom; and back there was the door that led to the studio Tommy had insisted upon. She let out a small squeak of delight on discovering that the stairs were in and secure, forcing herself to walk up rather than run like a child. Dividing walls were already in, wires hanging from various different places, pipes for gas and water visible where the walls had not yet been completed. The breeze swept through the open upper floor, but she could forget it entirely as she looked around. There was the master bedroom and en-suite; there was the third bathroom; there, there, and there were the spare bedrooms.
She could see it all in her mind's eye, helped along by the fact that it was, essentially, all there. Impatience flooded her, knowing she was going to have to keep on being patient until at least the beginning of May. Everything that now was left to be done had to be done to the highest standard, and she trusted the workers who were making it so. But even so, here was her house, and if she was very lucky, she would celebrate her 24th birthday by moving into it with Tommy.
Thinking of Tommy took her mind to the shop and workshop also under construction, and she turned to make her way back down the stairs and out onto the beach once again, turning to approach the space that was definitely going to be her fiance's baby. It had deliberately been modeled on the shop he had opened with Robby, but built to purpose, the workshop fully fitted for his boards and the storage of the materials he would need to fulfill orders. Likewise, they'd agreed that if she was going to customize his boards, then she would need somewhere to work, and to accommodate that need, there was an open area to the side where she would be able to play with an airbrush to her heart's content.
Leaning in the doorway of the shop, she looked out over the beach, forcing herself not to be nosy and poke around the shell that would be Jack and Jasmin's house until at least one of them was there with her. Everything was coming together exactly the way she had hoped - Jack and Jaz, far from disliking one another, were already married; she was building a house with Tommy; better yet, they were going to be married on this beach in just a few months' time.
Perhaps she was being a little selfish, in choosing to move away from Willow Manor when Dru was so newly there, in choosing to focus on her life, her love. But Helena had been a Good Girl for too long, enduring certain things that no one else would have put up with. So maybe it was time she was a little selfish. Maybe it was time she made her dreams a reality, and watch them come to life, in the company of a man out of time who loved her as dearly as she loved him. ____________ http://i849.photobucket.com/albums/ab51/RhyDinLittleTheatre/OIROIY5S_zpsbc981548.jpg