Anna Harwood and her
daughter Clare lived in the village of Clarence which was a mile or so from
Purplemere.
She was 55 years old,
pale skinned, strawberry blonde, turning to silver, five foot nothing tall and
whippet thin and her daughter was just a younger version of her mother.
Her husband David had
died the year before and as they only had one child there was only the two of
them.
They both worked at
the Royal Downshire Hospital in Purplemere Clare was a district nurse and Anna
was a clerical officer.
The two of them did a
lot of things together, shopping, eating out and the theatre.
But for Mother’s Day
Clare had bought a three day, all-inclusive spa break for her mum at the Tipton
Manor Hotel and Spa in the north of the county.
Clare very
thoughtfully had booked for her mum and a plus one because she knew she
wouldn’t be comfortable going to a place like that on her own.
But she insisted that
she wanted to go with Clare, so they could spend some quality time together
doing girls stuff.
Anna knew that wasn’t
the kind of thing Clare had in mind, as it wasn’t her kind of thing at all.
Clare wasn’t the rest
and relaxation sort at all, she was more of a party girl, which Anna thought
was probably why she was still single.
So she was delighted
when Clare agreed to be her Anna’s plus one.
In order for her to
get the best possible deal Clare had booked a midweek mini break, and it made
perfect sense to Anna, her daughter was
a nurse after all, so money didn’t grow on trees but the earliest she could get
was at the end of april.
It was a long drive
from Clarence, on the outskirts of Purplemere, to Tipton in the north of the
county but then they had taken the decision after getting off the expressway to
take the scenic route through the Pepperstock Hills National Park.
But the scenery in the
Park was well worth the additional time with its stark contrasts from the
extensive tract of magnificent mixed forestry to the south and east, the old
Quarries reclaimed by Nature to the west to the bare, and often barren crags to
the north.
However despite the
scenic splendour she had witnessed when they arrived Clare was not in the best
of spirits.
Anna knew that Clare
could have found much more enjoyable ways of spending her days off than
babysitting her mother.
But she loved her even
more for doing it despite her preferred pastime of looking for her ideal man,
Anna kept telling her that there was no such thing but she wouldn’t listen.
But when Clare gave
her a smile she knew her daughter had resolved to make the best of it and try
to get her monies worth despite having her mum as her wingman.
They were greeted in
reception by a very attractive specimen of a man and Anna could see Clare perk
up.
He was over six feet
tall, lean and muscular, very good looking and well groomed, he was manicured
and pedicured, toned, tanned and smelt like a perfume counter.
Naturally Anna marked
him down as gay.
Anna and Clare Harwood
were greeted in reception by a very attractive specimen of a man and Anna could
see Clare perk up.
He was over six feet tall,
lean and muscular, very good looking and well groomed, he was manicured and
pedicured, toned, tanned and smelt like a perfume counter.
Naturally Anna marked
him down as gay.
“Good morning ladies”
he said with the faintest hint of a French accent.
“Good morning” they replied in unison
“We have a booking in
the name of Harwood” Clare said
“Ah the Harwood
sisters” he said
“You know very well
we're not sisters you cheeky boy” Anna said in a style something akin to a
Carry on movie.
“You're not sisters?” he asked feigning surprise
“Mother and daughter” she said
“And which one are you Mademoiselle” he said and kissed her hand
“Cheeky” she said and blushed
Clare didn’t
contribute to the converse but Anna noticed she was giving him the full benefit
of her appraisal whilst wearing a wistful expression, doubtless in regard to
him playing for the other side.
When the Oscar Wilde
capers were over and done with they managed to get themselves checked in and it
was while she was signing in that that she became aware he was doing some
appraising of his own, of her and her daughter and she began to question her
initial assessment that he was gay.
“When you have settled into your room I will give you a tour of the facilities”
he said “Shall we say on the terrace in 30 minutes?”
“That will be fine”
Clare said
“Of course with your lovely
pale skin you two will need to stay in the shadows” He said.
Anna blushed at the
compliment and Clare smiled.
According to his name
badge his name was Claude and he was very handsome and Anna could tell that her
daughter was thinking that things might well be looking up if he didn’t bat for
the other side.
“You can check my skin
anytime” Clare said
“I’ll bare that in
mind” he retorted
“You’re a terrible
flirt Clare” mum said
“I know” she said,
“although I think of it more as advertising”
They went up to their
rooms and settled in and then went down stairs to find Gorgeous Claude.
However as the
approached the terrace they came across him fawning over another group of women
of mixed ages, ranging from 16 to 60, and they watched as he ogled and drooled
over all of them and Clare felt her skin crawl and she shivered.
“Yes I know what you
mean” Anna said “he’s a real lounge lizard”
So they decided to
skip oily Claude’s tour and just wandered around on their own.
Their sojourn took
them to the pool area first, they saw the Rock sauna, infra-red sauna, aroma
steam room, ice fountain, drench showers, Jacuzzi, a Romanesque pool and the
swimming pool as well.
After which they headed
towards the sun lounge and refreshments which was when they literally bumped
into Phil Grice and his uncle, Roger Greven.
The collision between
the Harwood’s and Roger Greven and his nephew Phil Grice resulted in Clare
falling into a planter and Roger lying flat on his back with Anna on top of him
nose to nose.
Phil Grice was the
only one left standing and unsure who he should help first.
He decided on the
pretty young one in the planter, who was left like an upturned beetle, with her
legs waving about, which was what he noticed, her lovely legs, she was also
giggling which he liked to.
“I’m terribly sorry”
He said and took her
hands and pulled her to her feet, it took little effort as she was a tiny
little thing and he was over six feet tall.
She was still giggling
and was unable to respond and when she saw her mum lying on top of a strange
man her giggles turned to belly laughs.
All four of them were
laughing by the time everyone was on their feet again and between the laughter
everyone expressed their apologies for their clumsiness.
Neither Anna nor
Roger’s first reaction was laughter as they lay on the floor, because Roger
felt anger until he realised he had been assailed by a very attractive woman
while for Anna as she lay nose to nose with a nice smelling good looking man,
what she felt was lust.
In between giggles
Anna kept giving appraising glances at the good looking man who she had laid on
top of and she liked what she saw, to the point that she though he put Claude
in the shade.
He was six feet tall,
with a military bearing with short salt and pepper hair, blue eyes and a neat
well-groomed beard.
And while she was
looking at him he was sneaking glances at her and thought she was even lovelier
when perpendicular than she had been when horizontal.
When the laughter had
subsided Anna said
“We were headed to the
sun lounge for a coffee, perhaps you would join us”
The two men agreed and
Clare gave her a look of approval.
When they were seated
in the lounge and the drinks were ordered the introductions were made.
Roger Greven, who
walked with a stick, was a year older than Anna and Phil Grice was the same age
as Clare.
Roger was there for
aqua therapy to rebuild his muscles after shattering his pelvis following a
fall from his horse, and his nephew Phil was there because Roger hadn’t been
passed fit to drive.
“Are you from Tipton?”
Clare asked
“No we are from
Sharping St Mary in the Finchbottom Vale” Phil replied
“Really?” Clare
exclaimed “we’re from Clarence”
“So we are practically
neighbour” Anna said to Roger
They stayed in the
lounge for over half an hour in which time Anna and Clare discovered that Roger
was widowed and Phil was single.
Unfortunately before
they could glean any further information one of the therapist staff approached the
table and informed Roger that it was time for his session.
So they parted company
with expressions that they hoped they would run into each other again during
their stay.
After they had gone
Clare and Anna looked at each other and said in unison
“Well they were nice”
During the remainder
of their first day and all of the next, despite their best efforts, they didn’t
see Roger or his nephew.
But they had a great
time using the facilities and enjoyed the full range of what was on offer,
fitness classes, gym, rock sauna, infra-red sauna, aroma steam room, ice
fountain, drench showers, Jacuzzi, a Romanesque pool, Reflexology, Raki,
facials, scalp massage, hand massage, Manicure and Pedicure you name it they had
it.
But by the end of the
second day Anna was getting increasingly frustrated that she hadn’t even had a
glimpse of the gentlemanly Roger.
She had thought about
him a lot because she was really attracted to him and she had had long convoluted
internal dialogues about it because he was the first man she had looked at in
that way since she lost her husband and she felt a measure of guilt and
betrayal to her husband’s memory, and how would Clare react if something developed
between them?
Not that that was likely
if she never saw him again.
After her and her
daughter had dinner together Anna said she was going to bed as she was exhausted
and Clare said she was going to the Gym to try work off her over indulgence.
Anna didn’t go off to
bed, even though she was exhausted, because she knew that the internal dialogue
would keep her awake so she decided to go for a walk in the grounds.
It was a beautiful
moonlit night as she walked around the network of paths in the gardens and was
totally lost in thought as she strolled along when she was brought back to the
moment by a voice saying
“Hello again”
Anna jumped and looked
around to find the source of her alarm and saw Roger Greven sitting on a bench
in an arbour
“Oh hello” she responded
“I hope I didn’t
startle you?” he asked
“No it’s alright” she
replied “I was just miles away”
“Nothing troubling you
I hope”
“Possibilities and
consequences” she replied enigmatically
“Do you mind if I join
you?”
“Please do” he replied
amiably
“I thought we may have
run into each other sooner than this” she said
“Not literally I hope”
he said and they both laughed and then he added
“It was a very intense
therapy session and it left me completely exhausted, so I took my meals and
refreshment in my room”
“But you’re feeling
better now?” she enquired
“I am, but now I can’t
sleep”
“Are you in pain?” she
asked
“No not pain” he
replied “anguish”
“Oh” she exclaimed “About
what?”
“Starting over”
“Starting over?” she
repeated
“Yes, as you know I
lost my wife last year, and…” he began and Anna added
“And you don’t know if
it’s too soon to start again, without disrespecting his memory or betraying the
love you shared with him”
“So you feel it too?”
he asked and put his hand on hers as it rested on the bench.
“Yes” she gasped and squeezed
his hand
“Then could we try
starting over together?” he asked with trepidation
“Yes” she replied
happily
And the new chapter in
their lives began with a kiss in the moon light.
Anna and her daughter
had to go home after lunch the next day but they spent lunchtime with Roger and
his nephew and before they left Anna and Roger held hands discreetly under the
table, they would have to keep whatever was happening between them to
themselves until they knew for sure where it was going.
And a farewell kiss on
the cheek would have to sustain them until the weekend when they were “starting
over” some more.
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