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The waiter shook his head. “No, ma’am. The Woodses have carefully curated the menu for this retreat, choosing foods specially designed to help you focus and cleanse your body. Since neither of you indicated any food allergies in your application paperwork, you’re able to partake of every meal.”
“Wonderful,” Ainsley said dryly.
The young man didn’t appear to pick up on her sarcasm. His smile brightened, an event Ainsley hadn’t thought possible. “I think you’ll find the food to be delicious.”
He disappeared, and Ainsley shot Santiago a look. “The brainwashing seems to have already begun.”
A spark of amusement flared in his dark eyes, making her stomach do a little flip. “Gotta start early,” he said.
His voice was deep and soft. Ainsley took a deep breath, determined to ignore the physical reaction. It was a reflex, nothing more.
She reached for the coffee and took a fortifying sip. Truth be told, she hadn’t slept well last night, and not just because of the unfamiliar surroundings.
Being around Santiago was unsettling. Hugging him last night had been a mistake. The last thing she needed was a visceral reminder of the way their bodies fit together. The kiss in her office had thrown her for a loop, but she’d pushed aside the emotions that had stirred up. But that hug? Feeling her body press against his, her breasts flattening against the solid plane of his chest, the way his arms had circled round her...that was harder to ignore.
And then there was the way he’d looked at her last night, when he’d told her she was the smartest person he knew. The statement had nearly made her cry, though she shouldn’t
have been surprised. Santiago had always been supportive of her endeavors. He wasn’t the type of man who had to put others down in order to feel superior, and he’d never been threatened by her intelligence. He was one of the only men she knew who seemed to enjoy her brains, rather than merely tolerate them.
Each event, taken on its own, would be tolerable. But all together? It was adding up to be trouble.
Her thoughts were interrupted by the waiter, who slid a plate in front of her. She eyed the food, expecting something unusual after that nonsense about “focus and cleansing” the waiter had spouted earlier. But everything looked normal: eggs, whole-grain toast and a side of fresh fruit. A sliced avocado sat off to the side, along with a small pot of jelly.
“This looks...decent.” She poked at the eggs with her fork and reached for the pepper.
“Tastes okay, too,” Santiago said around a mouthful.
Ainsley glanced up, surprised he was already chowing down. “You trust them?”
He lifted one shoulder in a shrug. “Like I said last night, it’s not in their best interest to poison us.”
“That’s true.” She forked up a bite of eggs, pleased to find they were fluffy. Despite their flaws, it seemed the Woodses hired decent chefs.
Movement from the side of the room caught her eye, and she turned to see the couple was here.
Brody and Alva made their way to a small platform at the front of the room, smiling and nodding to people as they moved through the room. The remaining couples had filed in while she and Santiago hadn’t been looking, and now it seemed they were all present and accounted for.
“Welcome, welcome,” Brody said, spreading his arms wide, a smile on his face. “We’re so glad you’re here for our marriage retreat.”
Standing at his side, Alva beamed up at him, the very picture of wifely devotion.
Ainsley refrained from rolling her eyes. Barely.
“Alva and I have been married for forty years,” Brody continued. He looked down at his wife with an affectionate smile. “I think we’ve learned a thing or two, wouldn’t you say, dear?”
The older woman giggled, the sound like nails on a chalkboard to Ainsley’s ears. “We do have degrees in counseling as well, dear.”
Brody smiled indulgently at his wife. “We are so excited to have you all join us. The fact that you’re here means you’ve taken the first, most difficult step. And it also shows that, despite your troubles, you each still value your marriage.”
He paused to let that sink in. Ainsley saw several people nod, and noticed a few looks of surprise throughout the room, as though Brody’s words had made these people realize something they hadn’t considered before.
Her heart squeezed in empathy. Much as she hated to agree with him, Brody was right. These people were here because they were trying to get their relationships back on track. Or most of them were, at least. The fact that Brody and Alva were all too happy to cheat and lie and take advantage of their vulnerabilities made her blood boil.
“Now, this isn’t going to be easy,” Alva said. “We have a lot of work to do, and we’re going to ask a lot of you. You’re going to have to open your hearts and minds, and you’re going to have to be vulnerable to each other. We’re going to work to rebuild trust in your marriages, something that may have been lacking in the recent past.”
There were a few rueful chuckles throughout the room. Alva nodded, apparently encouraged. “We can’t promise results,” she continued. “But Brody and I are proud of our track record. Over the last decade that we’ve been doing this retreat, 95 percent of the couples who attend go on to have stronger marriages after their time with us.”
A few gasps of surprise punctuated this announcement. Ainsley kept her expression neutral, but inside, her BS detector was blaring. That seemed like an awfully inflated number, but with no way to verify the data, the Woodses could make whatever claims they wanted.
