Spa Read online

  Spa

  A Novel of Love in the Caribbean

  Glynnis Walker writing as Olivia De Grove

  To Anne Brooks,

  who knows what’s in a name.

  PART ONE

  The Guests

  Chapter 1

  Joyce

  The fog flowed over the bridge in thick, sulphurous swirls, its vapors so dense that anyone crossing would have thought the observation turret in the middle of the center span was unoccupied. Then, suddenly, a chilling updraft from the river below sent the miasmal mass billowing out over the girders and into the darkness beyond and revealed a woman standing alone against the far railing.

  She turned her head from side to side, peering into the darkness, as though she were waiting for someone or something to materialize out of the night.

  After a few moments, her gaze fell on a young couple who had joined her on the deck. Sheltering from the night? Looking for a place to neck, more likely, she thought, and half-turned her back to them. But curiosity dragged her eyes sideways, and she continued to observe them.

  They were standing close together, holding each other loosely with all the confidence of youthful possession, but another gust of wind made the girl shiver as its icy fingers reached up under the hem of her thin coat.

  “Cold?” the boy asked, wrapping his arms more tightly around her.

  She nodded and snuggled closer to him, burying her nose in the warmth of his neck. The lone woman turned her attention back to the other end of the bridge. Their cosy twosome suddenly made her feel uncomfortable, an intruder in her own space. She edged away as far as the railing would let her.

  A moment later, the girl giggled and put up a hand in mock protest as the boy tried to kiss her. “Not here.” She hooked a thumb in the direction of the woman. The boy nodded and, grabbing her hand, pulled the girl back out onto the bridge. They were immediately absorbed into the fog; only the tap-tapping of the girl’s high-heeled shoes on the pavement and a sudden burst of shrill laughter gave evidence that they had ever been there at all.

  The woman sighed and leaned over the railing, staring down into the mist, trying to see the river below. She could hear it rushing along, anxious to reach the sea, but its churning tide was obscured from view.

  All at once, mixed with the sound of the rushing water as it gurgled and slapped against the fenders of the bridge, there was a new sound. She listened harder, trying to pinpoint the source, but the fog made the echo seem to come from more than one direction.

  The thump-squeak, thump-squeak of awkward, uneven footsteps grew closer. A familiar dread crept over her. She turned, clutching the railing with one hand to steady herself, and waited.

  Like a subway train rolling into a station, the suit of armor came to a halt a foot or two in front of her. With the grating whine of gnashing metal, it raised its left arm and pushed the visor up until it rested on top of the helmet.

  A pair of tired brown eyes blinked in the orange glow of the sodium lamps. The woman gasped.

  “Harry?”

  “Joyce.”

  “What’re you doing here, dressed like that?”

  “You tell me.”

  “I … I … What’s that?”

  She was interrupted by the fog-thickened clanging of a bell.

  “Big Ben, what else?” said the suit of armor, with a squeaking shrug.

  The clock continued its mournful tolling as it marked the full hour. Five times it sounded, then six.

  “Big Ben! In New York City?”

  The suit of armor and Harry within began to fade like the Canterville Ghost …

  … seven times, then eight … the clanging changed to a sharp, insistent ringing.…

  Joyce Redmond reached out one arm and punched the digital alarm into silence.

  Morning. She lay still for a moment, letting the dream recede, puzzling over fragments of it as it fled from her rapidly returning consciousness. What the hell was all that about?

  In a moment, the feelings of dread and surprise that had saturated the dream were gone. All that remained was the memory. She sat up and swung her legs out of the bed.

  “These dreams are getting too weird. What was that one supposed to be, Brief Encounter meets Camelot? And what about Harry? Don’t I see enough of him all day? Do I have to spend my nights with him, too?” And then she winced at the pun. “No more Chinese take-out from Wong’s Delicatessen for me. I swear it.”

  She continued to mutter to herself as she felt around for her robe, found it at the foot of the bed and pulled it on, while her feet automatically sought out her slippers. But before she could get them on, Fredo came into the bedroom and began the morning ritual of persuasive purring which he hoped would culminate in the joyous sound of the can opener being applied with full force to a container of his favorite cat food. She pushed him away, stuffed her feet into the slippers, and started down the hall.

  “Get out of the way, Fredo, before I trip over you.” He was weaving in and out of her legs now, as she made her way groggily into the kitchen and turned on the cold-water tap.

  But the sound of running water was not what he had been waiting for, and so he gently reminded her with another bout of purring and rubbing. She filled the coffee pot half-full and turned off the tap.

  “I suppose you want to be fed, do you?”

  “Meow,” replied Fredo, in his best “Morris” voice.

  “Alright. Hold on. I guess I won’t get any peace until you get some breakfast.”

  She went to the cupboard that usually housed his supply of cat food and her supply of coffee and reached inside. Out came the can of Folger’s. This was followed by a pause while her hand returned once more to the darkness and, as far as the cat could tell, groped around for the more essential of the cupboard’s contents before coming away empty-handed.

  “Sorry, cat. You’re out of luck. I guess I forgot to pick up some more food for you last night.” She shrugged. “That’s what you get for moving in with a single woman.”

  She shut the cupboard door and picked up the Folger’s. Fredo remained expectantly looking up at the counter. Joyce put the can of coffee back down.

  “O.K. I guess I can’t ignore that pitiful look.” She picked up a cardboard carton from the counter and looked inside, wrinkling her nose at the sight of the contents. “There’s some cold chow mein left over from last night, but I don’t recommend it.” She moved across to the far side of the kitchen. Fredo followed hopefully.

  “I thought cats were supposed to be natural hunters, predators of the night. Why don’t you go catch a mouse or something?” But Fredo only looked confused.

  “No mice? How about some Tender Vittles, then? I think I’ve still got a few packs under the sink from when Amy foisted you on me last summer. Remember, before we established that your tastes were a little more gourmet than she had led me to believe?”

  Joyce reached under the sink next to the garbage can and a box of odds and ends that had been put there when she moved into the apartment three years ago and were still waiting to be put away—wherever “away” was. She pulled out a red and yellow box marked “Beef Flavor.” It still had one foil pack in it, which she tore open and dumped into the dish marked CAT that sat next to the empty margarine container serving as a water bowl.

  “There you go. At least you won’t be hungry until I get back tonight.”

  Fredo walked across the kitchen, took one sniff at the moist brown lumps in the dish, flicked the tip of his exquisite orange tail, and left the room with all the ceremonial cat pomp he could muster.

  “That’s fine. That’s just fine. Go hungry, then. It’s your choice,” she shouted after him. But Fredo kept right on going, ignoring the undignified human outburst, and she pushed the kitchen door shut behind him.

 
; “Look at me. I’m talking to a cat and, worse still, I’m talking to him as though he understands me.”

  Her mother’s voice echoed in the back of her head: “You live alone too long, you go a little strange. What you need is a nice man, children, a life.…”

  She told her mother’s voice to shut up, and went back to the can of Folger’s. But, even as she pried open the lid of the coffee can, her nose told her that it was empty. No smell of mocha java wafted upwards. No rattle of freshly roasted beans. Empty. No cat food. No coffee. Joyce vowed one more time that she had to do something about getting her life in order.

  Without the excuse of coffee there was no reason not to get ready for work, and Joyce Redmond was a woman who liked to spend no more than fifteen minutes getting ready, no matter what the occasion—less, if possible.

  Her usual routine consisted of showering, finding something to wear that didn’t need to be ironed that morning, brushing her hair, and grabbing whatever shade of lipstick was nearest to the edge of the vanity. Today was no different.

  She showered. Shaved her legs. Thought again about getting them waxed to save time, and then realized that she didn’t have the time to book an appointment for waxing. Then she wrapped a big terry bathsheet around herself and padded back into the bedroom.

  Its pink and black color scheme, a leftover from the previous tenant—a Design major who was, by his own admission, “heavily into Deco”—always made her feel that she was going to work in the middle of the night. One of these days she was going to get around to painting it a nice, soft blue. One of these days.

  She opened the closet to look for something to wear and, as usual, picked out whatever was easiest to reach. This time it was a grey cashmere dress she had paid a fortune for, five years ago, and which had worn well enough to be worth it. She pulled it over her head, found a pair of pantyhose with only a small run in the right foot, and then bent down to fish out a pair of black patent leather pumps. In two minutes she was dressed. She turned in front of the mirror, decided she looked alright, if not great, and went back to the bathroom to brush her hair and put on some lipstick.

  Bending from the waist, she ran the brush through her long chestnut hair five or six times, and then stood up and fluffed it in place. Her hair had always been her best feature. She knew this, because other women always asked her where she got it done and didn’t believe her when she said she didn’t.

  Next she reached for a tube of lipstick, and was just about to apply some, when she noticed an ugly red bulge forming beneath the skin of her lower lip. Right now it hid itself in the corner of her mouth, but by tomorrow it would be a full-fledged cold sore. Yuck! That meant she was run down—what else was new—and probably on her way to her usual spring bout with the flu. She dabbed a little alcohol on the spot, and then followed it with a shade called Raspberry Rhapsody—where did they get these names from?—and made it out the door in fourteen minutes and twenty-eight seconds.

  Chapter 2

  Cathy

  Cathy Stewart, Mrs. Michael Stewart, Mommy, slipped quietly out of bed at six-fifteen. She didn’t turn on the lights or open the drapes, so that she wouldn’t run the risk of waking her husband before seven. By then she would have the coffee made, his breakfast ready, and the children up.

  In the early morning dimness she groped around for her jeans and one of Michael’s old sweat shirts that she had put on the chair beside the bed the night before. And then, careful not to make any noise, she tip-toed out into the hallway to get dressed.

  First she pulled her cotton flannel nightie over her head, and then followed the reverse path with the sweat shirt, which was equally soft and worn and comfortable and hid the bulge occupying the place, where, a few short years ago, her waist had been. Then came the jeans which were neither soft nor comfortable, and which, even though they were size sixteen, did nothing to disguise the rapidly inflating condition of either her rear end or her thighs. She sighed. Everything she owned was tight on her, even the jeans that had taken her through both pregnancies.

  She held her breath and sucked in her stomach as she tried to do up the zipper. It wouldn’t budge beyond the first half-inch. She tried again. No luck. She exhaled and then inhaled even more. In the end she had to resort to pulling the material on either side together and closing it inch by inch with little zipper victories, until finally the deed was done. She exhaled in relief, hoped that she would not pop the fastener at the top of the zipper, and started down the stairs.

  The swish-swish of the denim made her stop halfway down. Her thighs were beating out a symphony of fat as they rubbed together. What had happened to Cathy the model, Cathy the sylph, Cathy the 110 pounds distributed sparingly over a 5'7" frame? Motherhood had happened … and peanut butter, and Oreos and candy and boredom and.… She refused to finish the thought.

  In the kitchen she pulled a container of fresh orange juice out of the refrigerator—Michael insisted he would tolerate no substitutes—and poured his glass and then three smaller ones for the twins and Joey. She thought about pouring one for herself, decided that 100 calories was too much to use up on mere juice, and put the container back in the fridge.

  Next she poured cereal into the children’s bowls and started to make waffles for Michael, from scratch. With the batter made and the waffle iron heating up, she turned her attention to the coffee. And then finally she made Joey’s lunch.

  It was his first year of all-day school and lunch was now required. This morning it was tuna salad on whole wheat, an apple, and a Twinkie. There were a couple of spoonfuls of tuna left in the bowl so, rather than throw it out, Cathy ate it before putting the bowl into the dishwasher. Then she licked the remaining Twinkie cream off her fingers. It was now a quarter to seven. She went upstairs to wake the children and Michael.

  Swish-swish down the hall. Into the twin’s room. Then into Joey’s room across the hall and swish-swish back into the master bedroom.

  Michael was already awake.

  “Good morning, Michael. Sleep well?” She leaned over and kissed him on the forehead. He made as if he were going to pull her into bed and she laughed and resisted, but he had caught her off-balance and she collapsed on top of him. His OOOFFF! was audible. He rolled her off of him and slapped her on the behind.

  “How’s my Big Mama this morning?”

  “Michael, please don’t call me that. You know I don’t like it.” She tried hard to keep the edge out of her voice and rolled over until she hit the far side of the bed and then, denim creaking with the strain, she pushed herself to her feet.

  “Sorry, Cathy. I guess I still think of you as pregnant. It’s only been a couple of years since the twins were born and.…”

  “And I weigh more now than I did then.”

  “I didn’t say that, Cath. I didn’t mean that I think you’re fat, just big. Anyway, what difference does it make? I don’t mind you that way.”

  “But I do.” A sudden thump-crash from across the hall caught her attention. “Let’s drop the subject, shall we? Breakfast is ready and I can hear Joey destroying the bathroom.”

  An hour later, Michael had left for the agency, the school bus had picked up Joey and his lunch, and Cathy was sitting in the kitchen looking out at the back yard. Spring was definitely on its way. The crocuses were up a couple of inches, all the snow had melted, and the daffodils along the sheltered side of the house were already tipped with yellow.

  She sighed. Spring. Could summer be far behind? And summer meant only one thing. Bathing suits. She slowly sipped her coffee. It took her a long time to drink one cup, now that she took it without either cream or sugar. But black coffee had no calories, and these days the absence of calories was the definitive consideration. Today she was going to start her diet—again.

  The twins, who had been busy playing quietly in their playpen, suddenly erupted into baby pandemonium. She put the coffee down.

  “Jeffrey, stop that. Don’t pull Jennifer’s hair.” Jeffrey, surprised by his mother’s
sudden intervention, let go of his fistful of golden curls and watched as Cathy scooped up the still-screaming Jennifer.

  “There, there, Jen-Jen. It’s alright, Mommy’s here, Mommy’s here.” She rocked the little girl back and forth and the screaming abated as Jennifer nestled against her mother’s expansive bosom and her thumb found her mouth. She was satisfied and smug.

  But Jeffrey, watching from the playpen, soon realized he was missing out on something. Mother-cuddles were not as frequent as he would have liked, because he had to share them, not only with his sister but with Joey too. His face began to crumple, and five seconds later he let out a wail that could be heard three houses away.

  “O.K. O.K., Jeffy, I get your message. A little sibling rivalry going on here.” Cathy slipped Jennifer back into the playpen and picked up the alarmingly red-faced Jeffrey. She began her rocking motions again and a big, fat, baby tear slid down his face and onto her sweat shirt. She kissed the top of his silky blond head and held him against her.

  But there was to be no peace. Jennifer, finding that her place had been usurped, began her own feminine version of Jeffrey’s wail. So Cathy scooped her up in her other arm and sat down again at the breakfast table. She placed them on her lap so that one was sitting on each cushiony thigh—at least they were good for something—and, with an arm round each tiny waist, she stared at the rapidly cooling coffee which was now out of reach.

  Later that morning, while the twins were having a nap, Cathy had a good look in the mirror and decided that, fat or no fat, she had to buy something that fit. There was no point in being uncomfortable, and the jeans were seriously becoming that. She already had chafe marks on the backs of her knees and around her waist. So, the only sensible thing to do was to go shopping and find something that fit. Besides, it wasn’t forever, only until her diet kicked in. She had weighed herself twice since breakfast, and had already lost half a pound. It was only a matter of time.

  Cathy gave herself another five minutes of this pep talk and then went to wake up the twins. She was going shopping.