Chapter 19 #2
From the outside, the spa’s main building wasn’t anything more than a humble concrete house. It certainly didn’t look amazing, but I tried to be diplomatic. “I had no idea what to expect.”
“It’s rustic,” he said. “Don’t expect it to be like what you’d find at a Manhattan spa.”
We stepped inside the office reception area, which was nothing like its exterior.
The floors were natural oak stained in a light color and the walls were a soft, pale shade of green.
The sitting area contained two modern sofas covered in a white tweedy material, flanked by tree stumps fashioned into side tables.
Soft lighting from several lamps cast a meditative glow around the room, enhanced by the tinkling sound of a large Japanese fountain in the corner.
I ran my finger over the smooth leaf of a jade plant. “Wow. This is lovely.”
“You wouldn’t believe how dark and dingy it was in here before,” he said. “Luke turned the place around. Some folks in town complained that it had lost its former charm, which I guess was true if you found mold and mildew charming.”
Luke poked his head out of his office behind the reception desk. I recognized him as the man who tried to shield me from the fight at The Mangy Marmot.
“Hey, buddy!” He bounded toward Matthew with Golden Retriever energy, clasping him in a bro hug.
His place may have been classy, but Luke dressed Wyoming casual—blue jeans and a navy blue t-shirt advertising the hot springs.
The only things setting him apart sartorially from the other men I’d seen in Three Rivers were the leather bracelet on his wrist and the Birkenstock sandals on his feet.
“Good to see you,” Matthew said. “This is my friend, Lauren Wagonblast. You two met at The Marmot.”
Luke smiled warmly and shook my hand, exposing a single-line tattoo of a moose head on the inside of his arm. “Welcome to the hot springs, Lauren.”
I shook his hand, which dwarfed mine. “Great to see you again under better circumstances.”
“That was just a normal Friday night in Three Rivers.” Luke reached for two fluffy white towels that were stacked on a shelf.
“I reserved pool number seven for you. You’re welcome to use the changing rooms down that hallway.
Feel free to stay as long as you’d like.
” He pointed to a large basket with a lid.
“You can drop the towels and robes in here before you go.”
“Thanks,” Matthew said. “We really appreciate it.”
“I hope you enjoy the springs,” he said. “You’ve got them to yourselves this evening.”
Matthew and I went into separate changing stalls to put on our suits. When I’d stripped down, I looked into the mirror, trying to see myself through fresh eyes. What was I thinking, baring all this middle-aged skin?
The tiny room’s fluorescent lighting revealed spider veins on my thighs and cellulite on my backside.
I’d be relying on underwire and lycra to hide the effects of gravity and breastfeeding on my boobs.
With a sigh of resignation, I wrestled myself into my bathing suit’s one-shoulder strap.
The results weren’t bad if I threw my shoulders back and kept my stomach sucked in, but who wanted to walk around holding their breath?
I relaxed my muscles and decided to stop trying so damn hard. It was exhausting.
Matthew, already wearing his swim trunks and t-shirt, let out an appreciative wolf whistle that did wonders for my ego. “She’s got legs…” he sang, “…she knows how to use them.”
It was an old ZZ Top song that probably only our generation would remember.
I blushed and slapped his arm, my cheeks heating from both embarrassment and pleasure. “Stop it.”
“Why? You’re gorgeous, and you don’t even know it.
If you must cover up perfection, they have these.
” He handed me one of the complimentary terry cloth robes.
“But I sure was enjoying the view.” He grabbed our towels and opened the door that led out to the back of the building. “After you, my lady.”
With only a moment of hesitation, I threw my robe over my arm and, as I walked through the door, gave my hips a theatrical wiggle. Matthew whistled again as I laughed.
The temperature outside was dropping and darkness had fallen. We walked along the back deck that contained eight small, round pools, each one big enough to fit three to four people comfortably. They didn’t look that different from hot tubs, with their steam rising into the cool night air.
“They put privacy tents around the pools during the day,” Matthew explained. “Then they remove them in the evening so you can soak under the stars.”
“I’m so glad we did this before I have to leave.” As soon as the words were out of my mouth, I wished I hadn’t mentioned my departure.
“We’ll also get you to a campfire cookout before you go,” Matthew said as he pulled his t-shirt over his head and set it on the ground.
I attempted not to ogle him but the view was hard to ignore, just like that first day I’d seen him at the airport, when I had no idea how much my life was about to change.
“Hold on to the railing,” he warned as I went down the wooden steps into our private pool. “The bottom can be a little slippery.”
He wasn’t kidding. They’d lined each naturally occurring pool with rocks about the size of baseballs, and the bottom was slick under my feet. I regretted the fact that I wasn’t wearing water shoes of some kind, but I didn’t want to say so. He already thought I was a soft city person.
“It’s nice and warm.” I dipped in deeper before finally taking a seat on the slate bench built into the sides of the pool. “Do these healing waters cure plantar fasciitis? Because I think mine is flaring up again.”
“You may not believe it, but there’s science behind the hot springs.
They can alleviate everything from muscle pain to hypertension, so yes, the water could cure your feet.
” He tickled my knee. “It’s also good for the soul.
” He kept his hand on my leg, and I desperately wanted to move it about ten inches to the north.
“Another life-changing experience in Three Rivers,” I said.
He sighed and bumped his shoulder against mine. “I’m sorry we can’t spend the whole night together. You have no idea how disappointed I am.”
“Oh, I think I do. I know what I’m missing.”
“Last night was just a preview.” Matthew looked over his shoulder. “We’re alone for the moment. Want to fool around with me in the hot springs?”
I answered him without subtlety by climbing onto his lap so we were face to face, my legs straddling him. “Absolutely.”
He wrapped his arms around me, his hands resting on my backside. “This might be the best night of my life. Definitely, top ten”
“I’m honored.” I draped my arms around his neck. “But as you said, that was just a preview.”
I leaned in and kissed him, and he pulled me against him with his capable hands.
I was so ready, so responsive to every touch.
As we kissed, little kitten noises that I’d never heard myself make before escaped my lips.
This sexual tension was turning into exquisite torture.
Right as I was about to suggest we rent one of the cabins at the hot springs for an hour, a voice rang out in the night air.
“Matthew Hart? Is that you?”
We sprang apart as a gaggle of older women walked towards us, all wearing white terry cloth robes, the mist from the hot springs rising in the air around them.
Three of them had towels slung over their arms and the fourth had one looped over the front of her walker.
They looked like a group of angels leaving work for a smoke break.
I swung myself off of Matthew’s lap so he could greet them without me clinging to him like Saran Wrap.
“Hey, ladies!” He secretly rearranged what was happening inside his shorts. “Going for a dip?”
When they came closer, I recognized the woman at the front of their group as Cherise, Sam’s veterinary assistant.
The woman with the gray pixie cut was Alma, who worked at The General Store and had a horse named after her.
The other two women were strangers to me, but I had no doubt they knew Matthew.
“Luke said to tell you he was sorry,” Alma said. “He wanted to give you two privacy, but he’d forgotten it was book club night.” She looked over at me. “We always have a soak after our monthly book club meeting.”
I glanced down to make sure my bathing suit was completely in place, covering all the vital parts. “That sounds like fun.”
“It’s wonderful,” she said. “Patty’s eczema has cleared right up since we’ve been coming regularly.” The woman with the walker, presumably Patty, nodded vigorously in agreement.
“Lauren, you’ve met Cherise and Alma,” Matthew said. “These other two troublemakers are Patty Watson and Raelynn Moore.”
Suddenly, Raelynn looked familiar to me, too. “Have we met?”
“I work at the ranch,” she said. “Head of housekeeping. You’ve probably seen me tearing around in a golf cart.”
“That’s right,” I said. “You usually wear your hair up.”
She looked surprised that I’d noticed and remembered. “Only wear it down when I’m not working. I should tie it up before I get in this water, though.”
“Sorry I’m late!” Another woman came rushing down the wooden deck toward us, this one much younger. I recognized her bouncy curls and petite frame immediately.
“Hi, Ella,” I said. “Are you in this book club, too?”
“Oh hell, no.” She put her arm around Patty. “I don’t want to be in a smutty book club with my mother.”
“It’s not smutty, sweetheart,” Patty said patiently. “It’s a romance book club for senior ladies. Nothing scandalous about that.”
“I’m glad you enjoy them,” Ella said, “but those books are totally unrealistic. Who’s going to get romanced like that in Three Rivers, Wyoming?”
After her words rang out in the night air, every single one of them looked down at us and smiled mischievously. Matthew cleared his throat and looked away, and I put my hand over my mouth to hide my delighted smile.
“What was this month’s book about?” I asked, so we could change the subject.
“This week Cherise introduced us to alien romance,” Alma said gaily.
Matthew made a little noise of disbelief that he twisted into a fake cough.
“Needless to say, it blew some people’s minds,” Cherise added. She was tall, curvaceous and, even in a white terrycloth robe and Tevas, quite formidable. “And this one was fairly tame for the genre.”
“Oh, that sounds…nice,” I said.
My eyes darted to Ella’s as she grimaced. I had trouble imagining these women reading alien romance, but why not? It was never too late for something new and a little…out there.
Raelynn raised her eyebrows. “I don’t know if I’d say nice, but it was interesting.”
“And informative,” Alma added. “I’d never really thought about how aliens did it.”
“You realize it’s fiction?” Cherise asked. “The author didn’t actually go intergalactic and document these things. We still have no idea how aliens have sex, assuming they exist.”
“I think it’s pretty arrogant of us to think other lifeforms don’t exist.” Patty turned to her daughter. “See, Ella, we do talk about intellectual things at book club.”
“Okay.” Ella squeezed her mom’s shoulder. “But I think Matthew has probably heard enough about alien intercourse for one evening. Let’s leave these two alone. We didn’t mean to intrude on your private time.”
As they sauntered down to their pools, chattering all the way, Alma’s voice traveled back to us. “I predicted they’d get together.”
Apparently, Matthew heard her too, because he looked at me quizzically. “Did Alma tell you something about us?”
“You’re not going to believe this,” I said with a chuckle. “The day I shopped for my hiking boots at The General, she whispered to me that we made a good-looking couple. I told her I was just your guest at the ranch, and she got this odd look on her face and said, ‘oh, not yet.’”
Matthew didn’t laugh like I thought he would. “She actually said that?”
“Yes,” I said. “Why?”
“Alma’s kind of the town psychic,” he explained. “She doesn’t do it for money or anything, but she’s known to make extremely accurate predictions. Walt says she was always like that, even as a kid. He says she has the sight.” Matthew made spooky fingers in the air.
A chill passed over my bare shoulders, and I dipped deeper into the warm spring water. “Are you kidding around right now?”
Matthew smiled and shook his head. “Nope.”
I’d never been a big believer in psychics or destiny, but it wouldn’t surprise me if Alma had felt something brewing between Matthew and me. She must have picked up on our spark of attraction that day at The General.
He took my hand in his. “Please promise me we’ll spend at least one whole night together before you leave the ranch?”
“Definitely.” I leaned over and kissed him softly on the lips. “Are you okay with the book club seeing us kissing? I figured they already saw me straddling you when they came in. The jig is up.”
“I don’t have anything to hide,” he said with a grin. “Kiss me anytime you want.”
Nothing to hide. I wished I could say the same for myself.