Page 45 of New Dreams for the Village Nurse
‘Yes, so stop teasing me.’
‘OK, OK…I’ve booked you a massage first. And then I thought maybe we could get hot stones or…whatever you like.’
‘Facial? I could do with some tightening up.’
‘Tightening up? What are you talking about?’
‘You know, a bit of nip and tuck, a bit of smoothing here and there.’
‘Don’t be daft. I mean, have a facial if you want one, but to me, you’re perfect as you are.’
‘Well, I love that, but I’m still going to have one if I can. How about you?’
‘You think I need a facial?’
‘No, silly. I mean what treatments do you fancy?’
‘I don’t know…I expect I’ll spend some time in the pool and maybe do some reading. Have a nice lunch with my best girl, you know…that sort of thing.’
Ottilie pulled him into her. ‘So where is she?’
‘My best girl? I don’t know. I’m sure she’ll turn up at some point.’
‘Cheeky.’
‘You wouldn’t have me any other way.’
‘You’re right, I wouldn’t.’
While Heath checked them in, Ottilie browsed a list of treatments. He’d already booked a massage for her, and she’d told him she wanted one or two other things too, but there was also a bit of her that didn’t want to be separated from him, even for the short time her treats would last. This was meant to be a couple’s day after all, so what kind of couple’s day was it if they weren’t doing anything together? So she decided against the facial but would suggest they went for a sauna or perhaps a dip, and then got lunch.
Then they stowed their belongings in a locker and got changed into fluffy robes and slippers, the fabric wrapping around Ottilie like an embrace, her cares instantly lifting from her. She felt a ton lighter, and as she emerged from the changing area to find Heath waiting for her, she could see the same look on his face too, despite the fact he’d insisted that the day was for her to de-stress, not necessarily for him. Judging by the way his brow had cleared, he’d had his own burdens, whether he’d admit to them or not. Ottilie wasn’t surprised – everyone did. If he got as much from this day as she did, then it would be a day well spent.
‘I’m so up for this,’ she said as Heath offered his arm and they made their way to the sauna.
‘Me too. It’s weird, isn’t it? You think you’re relaxed when you go home after work or whatever, but you’re not really relaxed. You need something like this to properly let go, but you don’t even realise that until you get it.’
‘Absolutely. Let me tell you, I haven’t felt relaxed when I’ve got home from work this week. It’s been a hell of a week, in fact.’
‘Oh? Anything I should be worried about?’
‘Oh, the usual. By which I mean, not usual at all, but only the stuff I’ve already told you about. But honestly, that’s more than enough.’
‘I can imagine. Same here. But that’s what today is about.’
‘Well, I love it. Thank you so much for booking it.’
They spent an hour alternating between the sauna and the plunge pool, sleepy in the first one and exhilarated in the second, and by the time they’d done there, Ottilie’s skin was tingling and she was already more relaxed than she’d been in months. She went off to her massage and Heath went to the pool to do some lengths and wait for her. The massage finished the job that the sauna had started, and by the time she found him sitting on a lounger poolside with the latest Lee Child novel, she was about ready to take a nap, and she told him so.
‘It’s lucky we don’t have a room booked,’ she said as she sat next to him. ‘If we had, I’d have been tempted to go and get forty winks.’
‘You could have done.’
‘But I wouldn’t have wanted to waste a single minute of this lovely treat.’
‘I think it’s lucky we don’t have a room booked as well.’
Ottilie clicked her tongue against the roof of her mouth but she was smiling. ‘You’re terrible.’
