Fifty is the New F-Word by Margaret Lashley

Author:Margaret Lashley [Lashley, Margaret]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Zazzy Ideas, Inc.
Published: 2017-12-15T05:00:00+00:00

“VAL.”

I opened my swollen, sleepy eyes. The room was pitch black. “Tom?”

“Yes. It’s me. I didn’t want to scare you. I’m going to turn on a light.”

“Okay.”

He flipped the switch on the side table lamp, sending white volts shooting through my retinas like lightning bolts.

“I don’t know who looks worse. You or me,” he joked half-heartedly.

I blinked and squinted as my eyes adjusted to the light. Tom, usually clean, crisp and tidy, looked as if he’d just climbed out of a dumpster after losing a wrestling match with a raccoon.

“Geeze. I hope it’s you,” I said. “What happened?”

“Nothing worth explaining,” he said, then swiped a hand across the coffee table to clear off a space to sit. He sat, grunted, then lifted a butt cheek and pulled something out from under him. “What’s this?” he teased, and waggled the pink thing that usually hid out in my nightstand drawer. “You been having fun without me?”

I tried to laugh, but choked instead. “Oh Tom! Please tell me you have good news.”

Tom bit his lip. “I wish I did. As you know, Milly called me with Cold Cuts’ real name. We ran it through the DMV database and got the plates for the RV. It’s not much, but at least it’s a start. And no actual body has turned up. So there’s hope she’s still alive.”

“What about that...piece of someone they found on the beach?”

“I was hoping you’d forgotten about that.”

My body heaved and I burst into loud, ugly crying. Tom leaned in and hugged me. “She’s going to be all right,” he said, and rubbed my back.

“You don’t know that,” I sobbed.

“You’re right. I don’t. But there’s nothing more we can do tonight. What you need is a hot shower and a good long sleep.”

“I don’t want a shower,” I protested.

“Trust me on this, Val. You’ll feel better. Besides, you really need it.” Tom pinched his nose closed with a thumb and forefinger.

A tiny puff of laughter escaped my lips that time, and I let Tom take me up into his arms.

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