Chapter 6 #2
The reception was booked at Castle Bruneck, an imposing mediaeval structure that now housed a mountaineering museum, a nod to Andreas’s career.
The grandeur of the event was a significant about-face from the man who’d scoffed at the idea of marriage for so many years, but Ginny liked to think that was the power of true love.
Their base was this beautiful hotel with its wooden terrace overlooking the lake, with a sauna and spa pool and a roaring fire in the lobby for the evenings.
‘Feel free to go and explore,’ Trina said during a lull in the arrivals. There were only two more guests on Ginny’s list, plus Andreas and Rhys. ‘Then you can personally recommend the pool or the bar to your guests. I certainly do. Go on.’
It felt silly to refuse because she was afraid of being at a loose end – and overthinking her interactions with Rhys – so Ginny forced a smile and returned to her room to change. A warm spa pool did sound lovely and the hotel robe was soft against her skin.
She’d happily put off her conversation with him until tomorrow.
She had technically already offered to help him, even before she’d known what kind of help he needed.
And what had she expected to say to him today?
‘Oh, hi, I heard you have face blindness and that’s the reason you don’t like photographing people.
I thought you just didn’t like people and now I’m incredibly embarrassed and I’m sorry I judged you. ’
Heading to the pool was a much better idea, a lucky escape from her own blabbermouth.
Slipping into the hotel-branded slippers, she followed the signs to the spa area, in an annexe built onto the historic building, extending into the water with one wall made entirely of glass. Ginny stopped to stare.
Out of the window, she could see a shimmering mountain peak, already dusted white in its craggy furrows, nestled above lush forest, both green and golden yellow, and that was just the reflection in the still water of the lake.
When she looked up, the view knocked her in the gut. A flawless autumn sky with some artfully placed clouds. In the foreground, the blue-green water. Every colour was impossibly vivid; every glance could have been the perfect photo.
Then she caught sight of the pool, lightly steaming as the heated water met the cool air. Ginny might actually enjoy the chill outdoors if she were luxuriating in the warm water of the spa pool.
She was about to skip happily to the door of the pool area when two heads bobbed into view, circling each other as they swam to the edge, near the lake. One was a head of shiny black curls and the other was dyed blue.
Ginny quickly looked away as she caught Kira placing a smacking kiss on Mattia’s lips. Laughter and splashing reached her ears.
Ah, well, no spa pool just now, then. She wouldn’t interrupt them for the world.
She made her way to the sauna instead, behind a wooden door with a clear panel.
Through the panel, she could see the glass wall of the sauna and had just convinced herself that could be an even better way to enjoy the view than the warm water of the pool, when she noticed she wasn’t the first to have had that idea.
Tita and her wife, Sally, were perched comfortably on towels, Sally gesticulating about something and Tita listening with a smile. Ginny hesitated. They’d be more than happy for her to join them, but they were so content together and, honestly, Ginny didn’t want to be the third wheel.
With a sigh, she swept past the door again and back to her room to change. Hot chocolate it would have to be – perhaps with a little nip of something in it. Not flaming anything.
Just her luck, when she stepped into the bar area, there was Toni, giving her boyfriend, Gabri, a soft kiss over their drinks.
They hadn’t been together long and the stars in Toni’s eyes were visible from where Ginny stood across the bar.
Although Toni’s son, Cillian, was nearby, constructing something using the enormous building blocks in the kids’ corner, they were so obviously enjoying each other’s company that Ginny had no desire to join them.
Playing with Cillian could be fun, except Toni would inevitably invite her to sit with them.
She almost imagined steam was rising from her head as she trudged back up to her room. She heard Kira’s voice telling her to try not wanting a relationship. Fat chance, when there was love everywhere she looked.
That hypnotherapist had got things all wrong, and this dating ban wasn’t doing her any good either.
The window of her room looked out at the colourful forest, but she could glimpse the lake when she pressed her nose to the glass. There wasn’t a soul to be seen. Perhaps in summer this place was teeming with tourists, but it was difficult to imagine on this lazy October day.
Out there, she wouldn’t run into her loved-up friends. She could quietly overthink in peace. Walking was supposed to be conducive to gaining perspective. Perhaps she’d even find a way to chill out about Sophie’s wedding and her own non-existent love life.
‘Chill’ might be the operative word.
But it was better than sitting in her room feeling sorry for herself, so she pulled on her most comfortable shoes and a jacket and headed for the door, stopping only to grab her colourful woolly scarf at the last minute.