9
“ONE MORNING,” she said, “not long after that visit, I woke up to find that the signs seemed right. I sat up in bed, pushed my curtains aside—”
“They were gauzy and cheap,” I said, “hung on imitation brass rods that snapped into imitation brass clips, the whole setup bought at Darling’s What-U-Need, that dusty store beside the shoe store on Upper.” (“Upper” in the shorthand of the Babbington dialect meant Upper Bolotomy Road, that part of Bolotomy Road north of Main Street.)
“How do you know that?”
“From snooping.”
“You snooped in my bedroom?”
“Many times.”
“Hmm. From my bed, I—”
“From your bed you had a view southward, down the estuarial stretch of the Bolotomy.”
“You were in my bed?”
“On it.”
“You’re scaring me. Now, shut up. Near the mouth of the river I could actually catch a glimpse of the resort, the backside of it, and from that angle, it looked nearly completed. It gleamed, white and bright and promising in the morning light. I looked across the room into the mirror on the wall at the foot of my bed. The sun was streaming in through my window, illuminating me and kind of framing me in a bright trapezoid. My hair had the right bounce and shine. I felt vigorous and glib. I decided to make my move.”
[to be continued]
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