AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!! I’M SCREAMING. I’M CRYING. I’M SO PROUD OF YOU MY FRIEND XXX
Rita grinned. She typed back one-handed while pouring herself a celebratory glass of non-alcoholic elderflower fizz, the one she’d been testing for guests.
She sat back down at the table. She had done this. Against all logic and fear and through all-consuming grief, she had created something. Rita Jory,once the woman who could barely get out of bed, who didn’t know where she ended and her sadness began, had set up her own business.
The Seahaven Bay Retreat was officially (well, nearly – because she could really do with four more guests) open for business.
Her hand rested on the edge of the table, her thumb tracing the grain in the wood. There was a hum in her chest, like something deep and joyful trying to make its way to the surface. But it wasn’t joy alone. It was everything.
She didn’t realise she was crying until a tear dropped silently onto the table. Then another and another, until she found herself full-on sobbing.
Then behind her through the open front door, she heard a voice. ‘Rita. Oh, Rita. No. No.’
She quickly wiped at her cheeks with the sleeve of her cardigan before turning, but it was too late. Teo stood in the doorway, barefoot and gentle as ever, wearing loose cotton trousers and a faded T-shirt with the word NAMASTE peeling across the chest.
‘I’m OK,’ she managed, her voice cracking.
The handsome Spaniard didn’t speak at first. Just walked over, placed a hand softly on her shoulder, and crouched beside her.
‘Rita,’ he soothed. ‘You do not cry like this because something is wrong, am I right, please say I am right.’
She let out a shaky laugh through the tears. ‘I think I’m happy. Honestly, I think I’msohappy. It’s just… it’s all a bit much. You know.’
‘You are happy and sad at the same time,’ he said with a wise little nod. ‘That is how healing feels.’
She looked down at him, her heart full and aching. ‘Do you think he’d be proud? My Archie, my husband, that is.’
Teo nodded thoughtfully. ‘I expect he’d be proud of you whatever you did.’
Her chest tightened, but this time it didn’t break her; it lifted her. She let out a long breath, nodded, and sniffed loudly.
‘Come,’ Teo said gently, rising to his feet and handing her a piece of kitchen roll from the side. ‘The sun is up, the sky is blueand my beautiful Rita, she need to feel grounded. You are coming with me to the orchard.’
Rita dutifully followed the young Spaniard out through the back door, into the cool hush of early morning. The orchard was bathed in soft, pearly light, dew clinging to the grass like scattered jewels. Teo led her to the clearing between the trees, where the grass had been flattened from his own previous yoga session.
‘Lie down,’ he crooned. Rita, feeling hypnotised by this charming man, did as instructed, not even caring that she was lying in the damp. Teo knelt beside her, guiding her limbs until she lay completely still, with her palms facing upwards and her feet falling naturally outward. ‘Now close your eyes and breathe normally. Focus on releasing tension from your foots up to the top of your head.
‘Savasana,’ Teo whispered, in his special tone, the one as if nothing in the world could ever truly be urgent. ‘Savasana.’
At first Rita resisted, thoughts spinning around her head at one hundred miles an hour.
‘Flow with the breeze, just flow, just relax,’ Teo soothed.
Rita felt her body grow heavy, her eyes closed, the breeze brushing her face like perfect kisses. And for a few glorious minutes, she let herself justbe. No worries, no lists, no more grief dragging behind her like a shadow.
Teo continued his soothing mantra. ‘Just breathe. Just peace. Just now.’
Then, all of a sudden: chug-chug-chug-chug. The unmistakable sound of Archie’s old tractor cut through the stillness like an unexpected thunderclap.
With a deep sigh, Rita opened her eyes. Teo took her hand to help her up. ‘I think your cowboy is here.’
Rita groaned softly as she sat up. ‘He’snotmy cowboy.’
Teo nodded wisely. ‘So, I overhear your good guest news. I shall go and tell Zenya,sí.’
‘Thank you, Teo, you really are a star.’
Rita sloped across the courtyard, her hair everywhere, tearstreaks still evident. But she felt younger somehow, as if the burden of the last few months had been gently lifted. Like a natural beauty was shining from within.
