Page 26 of Wood You Knot

“You can tell all that from a light?” Daphne sounded impressed, and Lilah laughed.

“I sure can.” Lilah rolled her chair over to Daphne to examine her skin, careful not to shine the light in her eyes. “You both have great skin types—well balanced. Your T-zone—your forehead, chin, and nose—is a bit oily, but overall sebum and moisture is balanced, and your skin is a healthy mix of not too oily and not too dry.”

Lilah used a steam machine, directing a thin vapor of warm steam to my face, and while she did that, she walked Daphne through what she was doing. “If you want, I can give you the steam treatment too. But if you’re not sure about it, we can skip that part,” she told her. After watching me with the machine, Daphne was all for trying it out on herself. She did a gentle enzyme treatment on both of us throughout the steam.

Next came the extraction—something Daphne didn’t need, but I certainly did. Daphne watched with wide eyes as Lilah removed the blackheads and whiteheads. It was a little uncomfortable, but I knew it’d be worth it in the end, so I closed my eyes.

“Time for the best part—I think, anyway,” Lilah told us with a grin. “The facial massage.”

Lilah worked on Daphne first, and the way she relaxed had me smiling. I did the same when Lilah rolled back to me and started my facial massage.

“Ahh…this is the life,” Daphne declared, somehow sounding like an adult despite her childish voice. Lilah caught my eye, and we both tried not to laugh.

“So how did the opportunity to own a spa come about?” I asked, mostly making conversation, but I was also curious. Lilah didn’t seem that much older than I was.

“I took an esthetician and spa program in college and worked at a spa for several years. It’s always been a dream of mine to open my own spa, but I had trouble finding a suitable place back in the city. I found out from my grandfather there was a space available downtown that would be perfect for my spa, so I rented it. My grandpa started renovations earlier this summer, and here we are.”

“That’s so cool. Congratulations.” I smiled. “It’s a beautiful setup you have here.”

“Thank you! What about you? What brings you to Hartwood Creek?”

“Mommy dumped her fiancé for being dishonest,” Daphne beat me to the punch. My cheeks heated with embarrassment, and I lifted my shoulder in a half shrug when Lilah looked at me.

“He cheated,” I mouthed.

“I’m sorry to hear that,” Lilah’s expression was that of sympathy and understanding. She gave me a gentle smile and finished up with my facial massage before moving on to the mask part.

Once Lilah was finished applying our facial masks, she stood up. “I’m just going to go prep the stations for your manicures. You girls relax for a few minutes, and I’ll be right back.”

She slipped out of the room and closed the door, and once she’d gone, I let out a contented sigh. “This is nice, huh, Daph?”

“Mm-hmm. Feels funny, though,” Daphne admitted. “Like I’ve got mud all over my face.”

“That’s the fun part, I think.” I smiled. The calming music enveloped us, and I felt myself thawing, my worries melting away.

Fifteen minutes later, Lilah returned. She cleaned away the masks and applied toner, serums, and moisturizer. When she was through, my face felt brand new.

We ended the day off with manicures and pedicures. Daphne chose a pretty sea blue for her nails, while I went with a French manicure. Something subtle but still feminine and pretty.

“Thank you again, Lilah. This was everything we needed and more,” I told her as I paid for our day. I didn’t even care that it ate a huge chunk of my savings. In my opinion, it was worth it. Daphne had a megawatt smile on, and she’d spent the afternoon chattering away happily about every subject that came to mind.

Normally, my daughter had a lot to say…but this move had silenced her a bit. She’d made her displeasure with it known, of course, but when she realized her opinion on the matter wouldn’t change the outcome, she’d opted for the silent treatment and sulking.

But after a week in Hartwood Creek, Daphne was beginning to settle. She was making friends and having fun exploring the town. I was catching her smiling more and more often, although I knew she still missed her old friends.

I’d given her my phone last night so she could message both Zoey and Chloe’s moms about potentially having a video call this weekend. Unfortunately, both had replied with they were sorry, but they were busy, and the video call would have to happen another time.

I was a little annoyed, but I’d expected no different from their mothers. They hadn’t exactly been welcoming to me in the past.

Daphne, however, had been deeply disappointed, and I was worried that disappointment would linger the rest of the weekend. But the spa trip was exactly what we needed to perk her up.

“It’s my absolute pleasure,” Lilah insisted, her smile thankful and wide. “And hey, if you guys are free later when I’m off work, I’m taking Riley to the beach.”

Daphne whirled on me. “Can we go?” she pleaded.

“I don’t see why not,” I replied, then I gave Lilah my cell phone number so she could text me when they were heading to the beach.

Once we finished at Lilah’s spa, we grabbed some lunch at The Hungry Hub before we went shopping at a few of the stores in town, just to explore a little more of our new home while supporting local. Daphne was especially excited about the toy store in town. I was impressed too. It carried the same small-town vibe a lot of the downtown core had—including the hardware store.

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