Page 51 of The Riviera House Swap

‘I wouldn’t go that far!’ Nina said, swallowing a gulp of seawater in the process.

‘Ah but you do! You are smiling.’

And Nina realised that although she hadn’t been aware of it, her lips were stretched to a smile. Unless it was rigor mortis, she was actually – on some subconscious level – happy.

Half an hour later, they were shivering in the van. Sabine pulled a flask from a string bag and passed her a plastic cup. ‘Now,’ she said, ‘we get warm. It is important.’ She filled the cup with dark, strong hot chocolate and as Nina sipped, she felt her body shudder in gratefulness.

‘You are OK?’ Sabine said, looking at her sideways.

Nina nodded. Her face and body felt stiff, as if in defence against the experience she’d just put it through. But inside, her heart, her body felt light. It was an odd combination.

‘When we get back, you must take a bath,’ said Sabine. ‘We do not want you ill for your date.’

Nina managed to nod again.

Sabine drank deeply from her own hot chocolate mug. ‘And thank you,’ she said.

‘Thank me?’ Nina asked, incredulous.

‘Yes, for wanting to do this. For coming with me. Ah, yes, maybe I am an adventurer. But it is not always easy to get the motivation up to do something like this alone. It helped me that you wanted to come. And now I remember why I loved the water so much,’ Sabine said, smiling and seemingly not at all cold. Her cheeks and nose were pink and her fingertips wrapped around her cup, were not pale as Nina’s had become.

‘Well, thank you too,’ Nina said. ‘I’d never have done it without you. I can’t actually believe I’ve done itwithyou, if I’m honest.’

Sabine laughed. ‘Then perhaps I am a bad influence on you. I get you into all sorts of danger,’ she said.

‘No,’ Nina said, feeling the muscles of her face relax a little as her core temperature began to build, ‘I actually think you’re really good for me.’

‘Then we are good for each other,’ Sabine said. ‘It’s easier for me to be strong when someone needs my help. And perhaps right now, you need someone like me to encourage you. And the result is now we have both enjoyed a swim before the rest of the world even have their trousers on!’

Nina snorted. ‘I suppose we have.’

‘And now you can be brave. To meet Pierre. Because there are difficult things in life, but that does not mean we cannot do them. We can do the difficult things if we really want to.’

‘As long as there’s hot chocolate afterwards?’ Nina said.

‘Yes,exactly. With a hot chocolate, we can do anything!’

27

Sunday morning, Nina woke up early. She felt a little sick – as if the day ahead was far more momentous than it really was. She tried to remind herself that she wasn’t getting married, or going to a job interview; she didn’t have to perform on stage or go for a hospital appointment. She was simply going to have a game of amateur pétanque – something she was now reasonably proficient at – and perhaps get the chance to chat with an old friend. That was all. That wasall, she told herself sternly. Still, her heart continued to beat at what felt like a rapid rate.

The pétanque group wasn’t due to meet until 11a.m., but now, at 6.30a.m., she knew she had no hope of going back to sleep. The most sensible thing to do would be to distract herself as best she could. Quietly making her way downstairs so as not to wake Sabine just in case her adventurous friend fancied another ice-cold dip, she made herself a strong coffee and sat scrolling through her phone.

There was a message from Sal.

Oh my God. Jean-Luc asked me to take him to the theatre. So we went to Les Misérables at the West End. Nina – I’d forgotten how much I loved going into London on a night out. And seeing it all with Jean-Luc, it felt brand new! But that’s not the best bit.

What’s the best bit?

There was a pause but then the circle next to Sal’s name went green. Her friend was online.

At the end, we kissed! And Oh My God it was something!

She replied, finding herself smiling.

Amazing!

It was kind of nice to feel that even if her bizarre plan failed to end well, she’d given Sal a little bit of happiness by sending Jean-Luc to her. She hoped he was as nice as his siblings seemed to be. Sal deserved a bit of luck romantically.

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