‘Thank you,’ said Rebecca, doing a quick twirl. Something about the sight of him immediately cheered her up, which was just as well because Inês looked as if she might start spitting tacks.
‘Sexy nurse vibes.’ Felipe’s amusement was in direct contrast to Inês’s narrow-eyed scowl.
Rebecca grinned at him, remembering the kisses from the other night. She hadn’t seen him since.
‘You’d better make sure you stay behind the reception desk,’ said Inês, shooting a filthy look at Felipe. ‘Andyouneed to make yourself scarce. I have a client arriving at any moment.’
She started to shoo him out of the door. Felipe called from the doorway, ‘Maybe you can wear that dress next time I take you out to dinner.’
Inês bared her teeth at her brother. ‘I don’t think…’ She shut her mouth abruptly, although it was clear she didn’t approve.Great, thought Rebecca. How many black marks could she amass in one day?
Felipe’s cheery wave was cut short as Inês crossed the floor and shut the door firmly in his face, unfortunately, at the same time as the expected client tried to come through it.
Inês’s face changed completely. ‘Senhora Soldades.’ She greeted her with a warm smile. It was a shame she didn’t smile more often. When she wasn’t scowling, she looked verymuch like Felipe. Speaking in Portuguese, Inês took the woman through to the treatment room, ushering her in and then closing the door before returning to Rebecca.
‘A word of warning. My brother gets through women quicker than he changes his socks. I wouldn’t get too cosy with him.’
‘Thank you for your interest in my welfare. I’ll be sure to take care,’ replied Rebecca with honeyed sweetness. ‘But we’re both grown-ups.’
It probably wasn’t wise antagonising Inês, but Rebecca wasn’t one to back down from anyone. She’d learned early on to stand up for herself.
‘Olá,’ called a voice from the doorway ‘Am I in the right place for the spa?’
Rebecca looked over at the woman poking her head around the door and smiled.
‘Hello again, can I help you?’ It was the complimentary lady from her earlier class.
‘Yes, you can. I was so impressed with the Pilates, I thought I’d try a treatment. Have you got any vacancies for a facial today or tomorrow?’
Inês’s mouth tightened, but Rebecca kept her mouth shut even though she wanted to say, ‘Did you hear that?’ and instead gave her full attention to the computer screen.
‘Let me check and see what we can do for you. We have an appointment at…’ While she booked Mrs Adams in, Inês disappeared back to her client, and Rebecca smiled to herself, feeling that she’d inadvertently triumphed.
Chapter Eight
Rebecca pushed open the shutters, allowing sunlight to stream into her room, and stood for a moment admiring the view, which after two weeks still hadn’t grown old. Another beautiful day, with another pure blue sky. It hadn’t taken long for her to fall in love with the open landscape where the pale fields bordered with orange groves ran right down to meet the sea on the horizon. Now she had her bearings she knew that the buildings in the distance were the hotels of Vilamoura, which she had yet to visit.
She grabbed her towel and flip-flops and quietly closed her bedroom door because she now knew the family routine. Maria and Ana would already be in the kitchen over in the restaurant, while Cristina and Katerina would both still be sleeping, and Felipe… Her heart did a stupid little leap.
Maybe she’d see him today. He’d been away in Faro for the last two days and she found she’d missed their early morning swim together, but the pool was deserted when she arrived and she resolutely ignored the ping of disappointment in her chest.
She eased herself into the water, more used to the temperature now, and struck out with a lazy crawl, enjoying the shock of the cold embracing her skin. The early morning sun rippled through the water and she lost herself to the sensation of weightlessness and freedom, letting her mind wander at will. Ha! The irony, her mind always came back to Will. She wondered what he was doing. Had he even noticed she was gone? Did he miss her? Probably not. No one had mentioned his name in any of the friendship WhatsApp groups she was part of, although she suspected plenty was being said behind her back. Was he still seeing the woman from the ball? Had it been a one-off?
She flipped onto her back and squinted up at the sky, letting herself float free for a while, deliberately focusing on the here and now. It was something she taught in class.
Be present.
Look at what you have.
What are you grateful for?
Time to practise what she preached. Her classes were going well, but they were very dependent on the guests. Mrs Adams had made her husband come and they’d both been so effusive that a couple of other guests who were complete beginners had tried her class out. But some days she only had one in the class. It would have been nice if she could have recruited some regular clientele, but she was limited to guests.
She glanced around quickly, disappointment nudging at her because there was no sign of Felipe this morning. Most mornings, they swam together before breakfast and she enjoyed his company. He was easy to be with, maybe because she had brothers and was used to male company. Plenty of people had accused her of being a tomboy, but seriously, what option had she had? In her family, masculinity ruled and she’d neverreally questioned it. Now, living in an almost entirely female household, she was starting to see things differently.
There was a splash next to her and a wave of water flooded over her. She lowered her feet to the floor and stood up as Felipe emerged from the water, pushing his hair from his face. Her eyes were drawn to his flexed biceps and the dark, tanned skin.
‘Morning,’ he chirped, as bright and cheerful as the house martins darting about the pool.
