Paradise Pending by Purdy Kris

Author:Purdy, Kris [Purdy, Kris]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Bella Books
Published: 2023-03-03T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Thirteen

Dani grabbed the heavy door knocker and dropped it three times. Nothing happened. She was about to knock again when the lock turned and the bolt was drawn back. The door opened but just a bit. There was a grunt, accompanied by a word, or rather a partial word.

“Jo,” pronounced ho .

The door opened another few inches. Now a long groan, and, presumably, the last half of the word.

“—der,” pronounced thair .

The door lurched open.

Ah. Dani smiled. Joder. Fuck. One of my favourite words and from such an unlikely source.

A young woman stood before them, shaking her head laughing, as she leaned her slight frame against the door to push it back and completely open. “Ay dios mío, perdóneme, señoras. ¡Qué esta puerta está tan pesada! Casi rota. Queda atascado frecuentemente.” This door is so heavy, almost broken. And it gets stuck all the time.

She was the quintessential Spaniard, or so Dani would have thought, prior to this trip. Pale skin, black eyes and shiny black hair pulled into a tidy knot at the nape of her neck. One could see her raising her arms and snapping her fingers to a flamenco wail, if it weren’t for the nose ring, of course.

She straightened up, tucked an errant strand of hair behind her ear, cleared her throat and launched into a more formal greeting: “Bienvenidos a la Hospedería Ducal, Sanlúcar de Barrameda. ¿Cómo podemos ayudarles?”

As Dani introduced herself and Jo, the woman’s eyes widened with recognition and she waved them in. “Ay, señoras. Sí, sí. Bienvenidos. Y pasen. Pasen adentro. We received word two Canadienses may arrive but it was not confirmed.”

“Yes, well,” Dani said, “we had an incident at the train station in Jerez that made the confirmation a last-minute thing. Our apologies.”

“We are here to help. My name is María Consuela. Please call me Consuela. I am the front desk clerk, a sus órdenes. And my apologies for the front door. It is being fixed later today.” She smiled and beckoned them into the foyer, a wide-open space with a vaulted ceiling and blue and cream-coloured floor tiles.

She moved them efficiently through the registration process and led them down the hall to a beautiful vintage elevator. An old-fashioned grate blocked access to its shiny brass door. The young woman pushed the button on the wall and together they stared at the pointer above the door marking the elevator’s descent. When it arrived, María Consuela pushed the grate aside and the door opened. It was a tiny passenger box, but recently approved by the local elevator authority, or so the sign on the wall declared. Next to it was another sign with the restriction Carga Maxima 4 Personas. Four very tiny people, thought Dani as she squeezed in after the other two. Look out. I could be two and a half here. The door closed without setting off any alarm and the elevator started up. Something’s missing. She smirked at herself. Ascensión a la samba.

Once on the top floor,

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