Dying For Dirt (All Soaped Up): A Tucson Valley Retirement Community Cozy Mystery by Marcy Blesy

Author:Marcy Blesy [Blesy, Marcy]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2024-01-13T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 11

It’s freezing in the exhibit hall, so I decide to grab Barley for a walk on the roof and to dip my toes into the pool. Barley meets me at the door. She’s clearly tired of this place, too. “I know, girl. We’ll be going home tomorrow. One more day. Then we can both see Keaton again.” I ruffle her fur as she sits obediently for her leash to be attached to her collar.

The hotel manager, Mr. Quinta, is hosing down the deck on the roof when Barley and I enter from the hallway. “There’s my favorite dog,” he says, stopping to let Barley drink from the hose.

“Hello, Mr. Quinta. Sure is a hot one up here.”

“That it is. Won’t take long to burn that skin. Be careful, Rosi.”

There are several children splashing in the pool as well as sunbathers sitting under umbrellas trying to keep comfortable if that’s something that’s even possible in 100 degree temperatures. There is a small fake turf area for dogs on the roof. This hotel really has their act together when it comes to the support of dog owners, but I realize I’ve made a mistake. There is no way Barley can walk around this concrete. Her poor feet would suffer. Instead, I pick her up and carry her to an empty chair. I hope that nobody pulls out their camera to record my less than graceful wrangling of my forty pound puppy, but I’d do just about anything for her. As soon as she’s on a chair under an umbrella, I tie her leash to the side table and sit on the pool deck farthest from the kids to soak my legs in the water. Today I’d worn a simple skirt to the meetings, so I hike it up to keep it from getting wet. I don’t realize I’m being spoken to until someone nearby kicks their legs in the water.

“You come here often?” he repeats.

“Oh, sorry. I didn’t realize…Dr. Smith?” I shade my eyes with my hand and squint at the man who’d humiliated me in front of thousands of people.

“Yes, you remember,” he smiles kindly, deep wrinkles prominent as his lips curl up.

“How could I forget?” I mumble.

“You know, I’ve never had anyone choose the incontinence underwear. That was very brave of you. I’d only added them to the prop box as a lark.”

“Oh. It wasn’t a conscious decision.”

He nods his head silently for a moment. “I figured that after I saw your face on stage.”

“And on video, perhaps? As viewed by hundreds of thousands of people now?” I stick my arms into the pool to cool off and wonder if I’m getting a sunburn.

“I think social media can bring a lot of joy to people.”

“Or harm,” I say sarcastically.

“But you brought more joy than harm to people in that auditorium, Rosi. And to all of the people that viewed your performance online. And, from what I’ve been told, the Screamin’ Seniors are having to field so many calls and emails inquiring about bookings that they’ve had to bring on an agent.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.