He handed Luisa a glass of wine as he kissed her on each check. She normally loved a glass or two of wine, but looking at it, she could feel her stomach turn. "Thanks, Papa, but it doesn't sound good right now. Maybe later," she said. Turning to her mother, she asked, "What's the news? You're positively beaming."
"I am so excited. Your father and I have decided to move to California to be near you; first Selena and now you. We contacted the real estate agent you bought your house from and she told us about a house for sale that's only a block from yours. It's not on the water, but we've never been particularly interested in owning a boat. The house is smaller than yours, but it will be fine for us and Selena's home isn't far away. We talked to a real estate agent here and we're listing our house tomorrow. What do you think?"
Luisa could hardly believe it. She was very close to her parents and the only reservation she had about her pending move was leaving her parents.
"This is the best news I think I've ever heard. I didn't want to tell either one of you, but I've spent so many hours crying because of leaving you. And now you'll be near me. I am so happy!" She hugged each of them and couldn't wait to tell Jorge the wonderful news. His relationship with his father, Tomas, had become increasingly difficult after the death of Jorge's mother. Tomas had never really recovered from her death from breast cancer at the young age of fifty-two. Luisa's parents had loved Jorge like a son from the moment they had met him. The rest of the evening was spent talking about the move. It was new beginnings and a very exciting time for all of them.
The next morning Luz brought in Luisa's usual breakfast. Once again, Luisa took one look at it and quickly made her way into the bathroom. She slept the rest of the morning and woke up very hungry. What is going on? Luisa wondered. It's almost like I am having morning sickness. Surely I couldn't be pregnant. Jorge has been so busy, but there was that magical night at that motel outside of Phoenix. What if?
She quickly dressed, called her driver, and asked him to take her to the nearest drugstore. She bought a home pregnancy testing kit. As soon as she was back in her bathroom, she peed on the stick. The result window on the home pregnancy test clearly showed a plus, indicating she was pregnant. For a long time she stood looking at it in disbelief. From the time she and Jorge had gotten married eight years ago, she had wanted a baby and now the test showed she was pregnant. When she could trust herself to speak, she dialed her gynecologist and made an appointment for the following day. She wanted to be sure before she told Jorge and he was due to return from the Amazon in three days.
The next morning was a repetition of the past two days. Fortunately, by early afternoon she felt better and rode to her doctor's appointment in high spirits. The waiting room was filled with expectant mothers-to-be. In the past when she had waited for the nurse to call her name for her annual female exam, she resented every pregnant woman in the room. Why were all these women pregnant when she couldn't conceive? It just didn't seem fair. Every year she was more disappointed than the year before.
This time, however, she felt like an insider. She knew at a very deep level that at long last, she was pregnant. The exam and the test that followed confirmed it. Her doctor gave her a long list of things to do and not do. Her only question was about traveling. Could she fly in a couple of weeks? The doctor assured Luisa that as long as she rested before and after, she would be fine.
She left the doctor's office resolved to do everything she could to make her body the best vehicle any baby could ever have. She instructed her driver to take her to the Galleria, where the most exclusive shops in Rio were located. She knew there was a very elegant maternity shop there and several thousand dollars later, she returned to her car, arms loaded down with bags.
Luisa could hardly wait to tell Jorge and her parents. She decided to ask them to have dinner with Jorge and her the night he returned from the Amazon. She would tell all of them at the same time. When she returned home, she asked her cook, Manny, to come to her room. She wanted to give him instructions about preparing a special dinner for her parents and Jorge when he returned home in two days.
Luisa was familiar now with the routine of her morning sickness. The thing that got her through the first couple of hours was knowing that she would be fine by noon. She was sure she was beginning to gain weight from the huge amounts of food she was putting away at lunch and dinner. Manny and Luz took notice and privately had many conversations about Luisa. They were pretty sure she was pregnant and they wondered if she knew, but they knew better than to ask her. Luisa had a fiery temper and was a very private person. She would tell them when she was ready.
Two days later, promptly at 6:00 p.m., Jorge arrived home, driven by his chauffeur in the red Ferrari. He walked into the large entry hall, dropped his suitcase, and wrapped his arms around Luisa. "I'm so glad to be home. I missed you so much. How are you?" he asked.
She didn't tell him just how great she was. That would come later. "I'm fine, just glad you're home. Luz is fixing you a drink. Go upstairs, wash up, and change into some comfortable clothes. Mom and Dad are joining us for dinner and Manny has prepared all of your favorites: stuffed sirloin steak, scalloped potatoes, Caesar salad, green beans with slivered almonds, fresh baked bread, and for dessert, a chocolate mousse."
Jorge pulled back and looked at her, "What's the occasion? You know we've always reserved that meal for special occasions. Are you keeping something from me?"
"Of course not. I just want you to be glad you're home. And it is a special occasion; you're home." Luisa playfully pushed him up the stairs and went into the kitchen to see how Manny was doing with the preparations.
"Manny, what am I going to do without you?" Luisa said. "I depend on you. Are you sure you won't reconsider and come with us to California?"
"I'll miss you for sure, Miss Luisa, but my family is here. Everything I know is here. I have to stay, but it sure won't be the same without you and Senhor Ortega." Manny looked like he would cry and with Luisa's raised hormone levels, she knew she would for sure. She quickly walked out of the kitchen into the dining room and busied herself lighting candles and rearranging the table flowers.
She heard her parents drive up. Even though her father was now "of counsel" at the law firm he had founded, a fancy name law firms used when a wealthy partner semi-retired, he had kept his driver and much of their household staff. Like Manny and Luz, they, too, would not be accompanying her parents to California. Luisa knew that the move meant lots of changes, but the loss of their trusted household staffs might be the hardest.
She greeted her parents as Luz handed each of them a glass of wine. Jorge came down the stairs and warmly embraced them. They talked of Jorge's most recent adventures in the Amazon, the move to California, and news of friends and family until it was time to sit down for dinner. Luisa had refrigerated some champagne, and just as they were being seated, she asked Manny to put it in an ice bucket, letting him in on her secret.
He was thrilled for her and it made his decision to stay in Rio even harder. As Luz served the salad to the four of them, he carried in the champagne bucket and placed it next to Luisa.
"Manny, would you please pour some champagne into each of our glasses?" Luisa said.
Jorge turned and looked at her. "What's going on? Not only is this a special occasion dinner, but now, champagne? Luisa, is there something we need to know?"
Luisa lifted up her glass. "Please, all of you lift your glasses. Let's toast the future father, Jorge, and the new grandparents, Diego and Juanita. I'm pregnant!" Luisa touched the rim of the glass to her lips, but following her vow to make her body the best environment she could for her baby, she traded the champagne for Perrier.
Juanita and Jorge both started to cry and Diego was just about to when Luisa stopped them all. "Please, no tears, even if they're tears of joy. I want smiles and laughter."
It was by far the happiest day of Luisa and Jorge's life.
CHAPTER 21
Maria and Jeffrey located a cont
ractor in Blythe who gave them what they felt was a fair estimate for the work they couldn't personally do: tiling the floors, redoing the bathrooms, kitchen electrical work, lighting, upgrading the air-conditioning and heating, fixing the fence, installing solar panels, and partitioning and building out the basement. The price went up as they discovered other things that needed doing, but that was to be expected and the contractor, whose name was Jim Sullivan, seemed to be honest. He and his crew began working on the motel a few days after Maria and Jeffrey hired him.
Maria made a couple of trips to Phoenix for paint, bedding, towels, furniture, window coverings, and kitchen and serving items. On one of her trips to Phoenix, she took a break and wandered into a Native American art gallery. Her attention was immediately drawn to a 5' x 7' painting of a blue coyote on the far side of the gallery. She and Jeffrey had spent many hours throwing motel names back and forth and they were still undecided as to what to call their newly acquired motel. When she saw the painting, she knew. They would name it the "Blue Coyote Motel.” The painting would be perfect for the office.
"Excuse me," Maria said to the handsome young Native American man sitting at the desk. "I'm interested in that painting. Can you tell me something about it?" Jet black hair hung to his shoulders and his complexion was the color of mahogany. Sparkling white teeth shone when he smiled. He was dressed in a crisp white shirt, blue jeans, and the most beautiful turquoise and silver belt Maria had ever seen.
"Oh, that's the Blue Coyote," the young man said. "In my tribe it translates to 'turning in the darkness.' It's part of the creation myth and we consider it sacred. It was painted by a tribal member whose reservation is not too far from here."
How perfect for a motel, Maria thought, "turning in the darkness" and isn't that just what travelers will be doing when they stop to stay at the motel? She could hardly contain her excitement. "How much do you want for it and do you have any other paintings of the Blue Coyote?" Maria asked.
"It's listed at $500.00, but I think the artist would take $450.00. And yes, I have several other paintings of the Blue Coyote by the same artist in our storage area," the young man said, realizing that this might be a very good day for the gallery.
"I'll take it and I'd like to see the others. I need eight paintings in all, if you have them."
"Give me a few minutes to find the others. May I get you some water or coffee?" the young man asked.
"No, thanks. I'm fine. I'll wait here and look around. You have so many wonderful things," Maria said, walking slowly through the gallery.
She found a number of Native American art pieces which spoke to her. On an oval wooden pedestal, there was a marble carving of a woman with her hair pulled back in the traditional Navajo style. She found brightly colored geometric rugs that would be beautiful on the tiled floors of the motel, Navajo wedding baskets, squash blossom necklaces, and other pieces she thought were incredibly beautiful. Maria wanted to buy a number of them, particularly the rugs. She promised herself that she would return when she had more time and a better idea of what she could use at the motel. For now, the Blue Coyote paintings would be perfect. She knew Jeffrey would be pleased, although he had left most of the decorating to her, preferring to supervise the work in his soon-to-be lab.
"I can't believe this. We have seven others, but they're a little smaller, 3' x 4'. Each one is somewhat different from the others, but they're all of Blue Coyote and all by the same artist. The price is $375.00 per painting, but since you're buying so many, I can do better on the price. The total for all eight would be $3,125, but I'll take $2,750 for all of them," the young man said.
Maria took out her debit card and paid for them. "I really like some of the other pieces that you have on display, but I need to think about what I can use. I'll be back in a few weeks. You've been so helpful, thank you."
"If you call before you come and tell me what you're interested in, I'd be happy to have some pieces ready for you. I hope you enjoy the Blue Coyote paintings. May I ask what you'll be doing with so many?" the young man asked.
"Yes. My husband and I bought a motel just off Interstate 10 about an hour and a half from here. We're remodeling it. It doesn't seem like there are any others along that particular route. It's remote, but we think vacationers, traveling salesmen, and people who are tired after a long day of driving will stop and spend the night with us. We want to provide them with a really nice place to rest. Yes, I will call you the next time I come to Phoenix. Again, thanks, you've been most helpful!" Maria exclaimed.
The young man wrapped the paintings in bubble wrap and helped her load the Blue Coyote paintings in her van. She could hardly wait to get back to the motel and share with Jeffrey what she'd bought.
CHAPTER 22
The design, construction, and remodel of the laboratory space claimed every waking minute of Jeffrey's time. He told the contractor, Jim, what he wanted in his lab. He showed him how the basement needed to be divided into three main rooms with a small office. Jeffrey showed him where he wanted to place the back-up generator, running water, and sink. It was essential to Jeffrey that there was a built-in desk with a large television screen over it and a counter next to it for his microscope and other scientific equipment. The image on the microscope needed to be projected onto the television screen. He told Jim he had an idea for purifying air in the lab, then feeding it into the motel rooms, so he needed a large commercial grade air-conditioner to be put in the basement with vents leading to all the motel rooms, plus the main house, the office, the lab, and the refreshment area.
Jeffrey picked out the type of sink, the paint for the walls, the canisters he would need in the storage areas, and the cages for the laboratory test animals. He let Jim think that he would be involved in breeding dogs and any experiments done on the dogs would be done to improve the breed. No need to tell him what he would be doing to the rats he used in his tests and experiments.
Ideas for new drugs and new experiments were flooding Jeffrey's brain. He was constantly making notes and had even resorted to keeping a pen and pad next to his side of the bed, waking up several times in the night to jot down fresh ideas.
As the lab was nearing completion, Jeffrey sat down and began to make a timeline, deciding which experiments he wanted to start first. For several years, he had played around with an idea he had for a narcotic substance which could be pumped into the air people breathe, calming them and allowing them to feel happy and stress free. He had thought about it initially because of Maria's bouts with depression.
Jeffrey chose to call the drug he was making for Maria "Freedom" because it would free Maria from her bouts with depression. He decided to wait to tell her about it until he perfected it, but he was pretty sure he could do it. The more he thought about it, he determined it would be an airborne type of Xanax. If it worked as he envisioned, it could be administered to every person on the planet. It might even be responsible for bringing about world peace. Imagine, he thought, there would be no more wars, hatred, discrimination, strife, terrorism, or dictators, because everyone on the planet would be exposed to Freedom.
This new and exciting drug would allow people to be at their best at all times. They would be productive, happy, and free from anxiety, stress, and depression. He was quite familiar with Xanax, Prozac, and the other anti-anxiety drugs on the market, but they were nothing like the one he was planning. All of the products presently on the market had to be prescribed by a doctor and were intentionally taken by the patient. Freedom would be airborne and disbursed into the environment. People wouldn't know that they were taking a drug because it would be in the air. However, they would quickly begin to feel better once it was administered. He knew that technically it was a narcotic and narcotics of that type could only be prescribed by a licensed physician; all the better reason for no one to know what he was planning to develop in his lab. If he was successful, he knew he could sell Freedom for huge amounts of money.
He had read where sandalwood had been used in drugs in
China and Tibet over 4,000 years ago. It was also frequently used in Native American ceremonies. Sandalwood incense was quite common and could be bought anywhere incense was sold. The scent of sandalwood would mask the odor of the other elements in Freedom and would be an integral part of his mixture. The odor of sandalwood was common in the Southwest, so no one would notice if he used it in Freedom.
The rest of the narcotic compound Jeffrey had in mind consisted of ingredients not available on the open market. Their sales in the United States were strictly regulated and controlled. The extracts he needed to make Freedom would be difficult for an individual to obtain. He also had to get the ingredients for the anti-aging hormone. He decided it was time for him to take a trip to Mexico. He remembered the name of a distributor who imported plants from the Amazon, distilled the plants, and shipped the processed end product to various distributors in the United States. It was the same distributor Moore Labs had used. Jeffrey didn't have the needed government permits to purchase the drugs in the United States as Moore Labs had been able to do; however, for the right price, anything was possible in Mexico.
CHAPTER 23
A few days later as he was driving to Sky Harbor airport in Phoenix, Jeffrey thought back to the last couple of months. He and Maria were getting close to opening the motel, his laboratory was almost finished and he was off to Mexico to get the products he'd need for the anti-aging hormone and procure the basic ingredients for his new Freedom drug. He felt good. He had been a little worried that the 24/7 motel arrangement with Maria might soon get old. But if anything, it had strengthened their relationship. Now he was about to begin working on an exciting experiment that was every bit as important as the anti-aging hormone.
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