order to have something to read on the long trip south, and sheâd been parcelling the sections out over the past six hours. She was now on the Los Angeles Times, and she frowned in disapproval as she read an article that described an event taking place several years prior as occurring âback in the day.â She was astounded that a newspaper of record allowed its reporters to incorporate slang into legitimate news articles, particularly such an ungrammatical phrase as âback in the day.â Hadnât newspapers at one time been the bastions of linguistic correctness, holding the fort against the storming hordes of nonsensical vulgarisms that threatened to overwhelm the English language?
Of course, what did one expect from a California newspaper?
âI think thatâs it,â Ralph said, nodding at the windshield. She looked up from the paper, followed his gaze and saw a sight for sore eyes: a beautiful oasis of lush green vegetation and welcoming Southwest buildings set against the monochromatic brown rock of a low desert mountain. This was the exotic vacation getaway she had seen in her Sunset magazine, and she supposed the difficult access was needed to weed out the riffraff and the lookiloos. Some guests, she seemed to remember from the article, coptered in and landed at the resortâs heliport. Maybe thatâs what they should have done. It didnât matter now, though. They were finally here; that was the important thing.
The cracked potholed asphalt turned to smooth new pavement as they pulled next to a guardhouse adjacent to a gate that blocked the road. Already she was feeling better, and while Ralph paid the parking attendant or showed his confirmation letter or did whatever it was he had to do, Gloria scanned the rows of vehicles, feeling vaguely reassured by the sight of so many high-end sedans and SUVs. The gate opened, and they drove up to the lobby entrance, stopping beneath a shaded overhang. A smartly dressed valet opened her door and helped her out while another attendant took the keys from Ralph to park the car.
They stepped into the lobby, past the two handsome young men who held open the double doors . . . and it was as if the whole first half of their trip had never taken place. The memory of those five wretched days was erased as they stepped into the posh regional furnishings of the air-conditioned lobby. This was what a vacation was supposed to be. She relaxed into the familiar arms of comfort. A very helpful young woman behind the massive front desk checked them in, and a team of bellboys and attendants unloaded their luggage and drove them in a golf cart to their deluxe suite overlooking a desert that no longer seemed quite so barren and ugly but, through the picture window of their well-appointed, climate-controlled bedroom, looked almost pretty.
Gloria availed herself of a mineral water from the minibar and leaned back on the love seat to rest. The suitcases still needed to be unpackedâRalph refused to have hired help do that for themâbut the unpacking could wait. It had been a hellishly long trip, and she deserved a little me time. She picked up a magazine from the coffee table while Ralph went into the bathroom.
âJesus Christ!â he exclaimed seconds later, and she heard him gagging.
Gloria jumped up from the love seat and hurried into the bathroom. âWhat is it?â
âStay out!â he ordered, but it was too late. The toilet seat was up, and in the bowl she could see spattered blood and what looked like a clotted clump of dark tissue floating in the stained water.
A fetus?
The mess in the toilet certainly did not resemble anything even remotely human. But the image of a young woman forcefully expelling fetal tissue in a spontaneous miscarriage was forefront in her mind, and she backed away in shock.
âGloria?â Ralph said.
She held up her hands, shook her head, continued backing off.
A fetus.
She knew exactly why
Of course, what did one expect from a California newspaper?
âI think thatâs it,â Ralph said, nodding at the windshield. She looked up from the paper, followed his gaze and saw a sight for sore eyes: a beautiful oasis of lush green vegetation and welcoming Southwest buildings set against the monochromatic brown rock of a low desert mountain. This was the exotic vacation getaway she had seen in her Sunset magazine, and she supposed the difficult access was needed to weed out the riffraff and the lookiloos. Some guests, she seemed to remember from the article, coptered in and landed at the resortâs heliport. Maybe thatâs what they should have done. It didnât matter now, though. They were finally here; that was the important thing.
The cracked potholed asphalt turned to smooth new pavement as they pulled next to a guardhouse adjacent to a gate that blocked the road. Already she was feeling better, and while Ralph paid the parking attendant or showed his confirmation letter or did whatever it was he had to do, Gloria scanned the rows of vehicles, feeling vaguely reassured by the sight of so many high-end sedans and SUVs. The gate opened, and they drove up to the lobby entrance, stopping beneath a shaded overhang. A smartly dressed valet opened her door and helped her out while another attendant took the keys from Ralph to park the car.
They stepped into the lobby, past the two handsome young men who held open the double doors . . . and it was as if the whole first half of their trip had never taken place. The memory of those five wretched days was erased as they stepped into the posh regional furnishings of the air-conditioned lobby. This was what a vacation was supposed to be. She relaxed into the familiar arms of comfort. A very helpful young woman behind the massive front desk checked them in, and a team of bellboys and attendants unloaded their luggage and drove them in a golf cart to their deluxe suite overlooking a desert that no longer seemed quite so barren and ugly but, through the picture window of their well-appointed, climate-controlled bedroom, looked almost pretty.
Gloria availed herself of a mineral water from the minibar and leaned back on the love seat to rest. The suitcases still needed to be unpackedâRalph refused to have hired help do that for themâbut the unpacking could wait. It had been a hellishly long trip, and she deserved a little me time. She picked up a magazine from the coffee table while Ralph went into the bathroom.
âJesus Christ!â he exclaimed seconds later, and she heard him gagging.
Gloria jumped up from the love seat and hurried into the bathroom. âWhat is it?â
âStay out!â he ordered, but it was too late. The toilet seat was up, and in the bowl she could see spattered blood and what looked like a clotted clump of dark tissue floating in the stained water.
A fetus?
The mess in the toilet certainly did not resemble anything even remotely human. But the image of a young woman forcefully expelling fetal tissue in a spontaneous miscarriage was forefront in her mind, and she backed away in shock.
âGloria?â Ralph said.
She held up her hands, shook her head, continued backing off.
A fetus.
She knew exactly why
Similar Books
