by catt dahman
“You’ll miss out. According to the brochure and map, there are tons of things to see and do,” Mira told her. “Plus we have dinner dates, and margaritas sound perfect.”
Bristol laughed, “You won me over with that.”
Lisa had a single room, and Rhonda and Shan shared a room.
In their room, Peri and Dana looked around. A faux marble bathroom was to the left and had a wide vanity with two sinks, and beautifully framed paintings of birds on the walls. Scarlet Ibis. There were a lot of the marble and pink, gray, and gold striped walls, along with faucets and fixtures in the same gold brush and a deep-jetted bathtub with bottles of bubble bath on the ledge, and in the large shower.
Thick pink and pale Grey towels were folded and placed along the vanity. A maid had left a few pine needles tied in a white silk ribbon atop the towels.
Along one side of a hall was a closet, and the right wall was lined with a small chaise in deep pink, a table of glass with Grey metal legs, and a not-so-mini fridge full of expensive beer, wines, and sodas. A dresser and a spacious desk helped fill the room. The carpet was pink with the walls being Grey with marble wainscoting. The left of the room opened up to an over-sized king-sized bed made up with double sheets of pink and white, a comforter of pink, Grey, and shining gold stripes. A few white blankets were tossed about.
The far wall was all glass, and a sofa and chairs sat around a coffee table with modern, metal legs. This sofa and chairs were white with pink and Grey pillow with a few round pillows in the color of a scarlet ibis. White faux sheepskin rugs covered the wooden floor.
On one wall was an array of silver-plated framed mirrors. Candles lined a tray of cut glass. Dana sniffed one, “Honeysuckle,” she said.
Peri flopped onto the bed, staring at the ceiling, “This is a gorgeous place. Thanks for accepting the invitation and inviting us.”
“I’m glad you came.”
“This is a stunning place,” Peri said, “and you were great with that little girl and her nasty father. What an ass he ass! And by the way….”
“What by the way?”
Peri yawned, “I like Hank. He’s cute and very polite. You seem to like him.”
Dana was about to answer, but she saw Peri had closed her eyes and was already asleep. Smiling, Dana tossed a soft pink throw blanket over Peri and then settled onto the sofa, put her legs up, and sipped an overpriced soda. The view of the mountains was beyond beautiful. Just sitting there, looking out was wonderful. She slid the glass door open and let the mountain breeze fill the room. It smelled like pine.
This was already a good trip. That fast, they had invitations for drinks with some nice-looking, but very well mannered men. None of the guys were loud or drunk, and none were obnoxious; that was a pleasant change from her usual experiences.
From the others’ rooms, they also enjoyed the view and visited; their rooms were similarly beautiful in blue, violet, and Grey; yellow, Grey, and pink, or in Lisa’s case: Grey, coral, and gold. Some had the lodge theme, and others were more luxurious and seemed right for each of their personalities.
Lisa took another shower, dried her hair, curled her hair, and began her facial and make-up routine with moisturizer and a quick facial massage. Three hours were barely enough time to get ready, but a girl never caught a man with an ugly face. The other girls might like a long-term relationship or marriage, but she didn’t have time for that with her modeling career, so she only wanted a good-looking man for a week.
She wondered what would look fantastic on her for their first night at the lodge. A first night was like the first night aboard a ship on a cruise, and it set the tone for the entire trip. She had to present herself properly and stand out. According to her color wheel that she used religiously, her brown eyes, blushed checks, pink eye shadow, (deep mauve as the smoky part), and baby pink lips indicated she should wear her shiny, sleek green fabric-like-silk blouse that always felt cool and light on her skin. It had an elegant, flowing-dropped neckline with a tight bust. With the blouse, she wore some black slender pants and baby-pink stilettos. Perfect. A pink stone necklace completed the outfit.
She wished the others would use her color wheel; she would work on that.
First nights were always exciting.
Chapter 3
Margaritas…A Walk…Once Bitten, Twice Shy…Serious Business
When Peri and Dana got downstairs, they found Bristol and Rhonda already sitting in a cozy booth with the five men. A long table had been added to extend the seating. At the far end, Lisa and Connie sat together.
Bristol was in a sexy silk top of dark lilac, boot cut jeans with sexy shoes, and smoky eye make-up; her hair was half swept up and half left down in tendrils. The surprise was that Connie had gotten a makeover from Lisa, and except for her olive skin and raven hair, she looked to be Bristol’s twin. Mira was in her usual going out attire: a black jacket over a tiny black skirt and knee-high black boots.
Peri and Dana had stressed over what to wear, too.
“Why are you two sitting down there?” Peri asked Connie. It looked strange for them to sit all the way at the end of the table.
Connie motioned with her martini, “Because down there are those silly boys, and Rhonda is gushing, and we have a large group, so someone had to sit down here. We periodically wave and smile.”
Peri laughed, “Oh, that makes it tons better.” Peri wore a cotton sleeveless button-up jacket in a dark, smoky-green shade, black jeans, and black-heeled sandals. Usually her friends teased her about always wearing green to match her eyes.
Lisa shrugged, “Not my type…you know….” She winked.
“I like your green,” Peri said.
“I like your green, too,” Lisa giggled.
Hank, sitting on the outside of the booth, stood and smiled at Dana. He offered her a seat at the table and sat beside her, like a gentleman or as if on a real date. The man with dark, longish hair, ruddy skin, and the bright white smile, Norman, shrugged at Peri, “Would you like to sit across from them?”
“Oh. Umm. Sure.”
Dane flashed her a smile of thanks. She had effortlessly dressed in a short, powder blue sundress, matching floral leggings that ended at her curvaceous calf, and strappy, flat sandals. She looked like a Greek goddess.
“Excuse me, ladies,” Jerry said as he slid from the booth. Shan was the last to arrive, and she wore a pink, silky sundress that was like bright frosting on her ebony skin. Despite her height and the six-inch silver sandals she wore, Jerry towered over her, “Can I offer you a drink, chips and salsa? It’s hot.”
“Whew. Yes, you are,” Shan chuckled throatily. She eyed him, making everyone laugh because she said it without a hint of sexiness, just cool observation. Shan was funny.
The barmaid came over with baskets of warm chips and big bowls of red salsa and salsa verde, took their drink orders, and hurried back with a tray. Peri and the rest tried the Chambord margaritas, ice cold, a little tart, a little sweet with raspberry flavor, and salty on the edge. “Umm. Delicious,” Peri admitted.
She licked salt from her lips and enjoyed the warmth that an ice cold drink caused. She thought she might relax after all.
“A little fairy whispered you liked Chambord margaritas and here we are….”
“Thank you. That’s sweet.” She tried a chip. She knew one of the other girls had told she loved raspberries. That was sweet and thoughtful of Norman.
The Verde salsa was tomatillos, a little bell pepper, and jalapeño and while it wasn’t burning hot, it was warm and had a lot of cilantro in it. The red salsa was sweet and smoky. “I like the verde best.” Peri decided.
“Not bad. My mom is a quarter Mexican, and let me tell you, she can cook like you wouldn’t believe. Her salsa is wonderful,” Norman told Peri and Dana, “but this is really good, too. I could eat this all night.”
Hank ordered the queso dip served four ways: with just hot, creamy cheese, hot cheese with salsa mixed in, like the first and second but with
chili mixed in, and last heavy with sliced jalepeno peppers, onions, and a hot counterpoint to the rest. Lisa liked it so much she ordered a bowl of the cheesy-chili but asked for it to be spicy.
“So you’re an eighth Mexican? How’s that working for ya?” Dana asked.
“Not too great. Can’t speak the language except for some dirty words, and I haven’t learned her cooking secrets. I guess I look a little bit Mexican.”
“I think it makes you interesting looking…the dark eyes…brooding and interesting.” Peri slapped a hand over her mouth, and her face went red again. “I’ll shut up now.”
“Please don’t. You’re funny. You sound like an artist or a writer.”
Peri blushed harder. She hadn’t meant to be funny. She took another swallow of her drink and stuffed a chip in her mouth to cover her embarrassment. She took a drink, letting the icy drink cool her; it tasted so delicious. If she drank a lot to go with the chips and salsa, she would get drunk, so she asked the waitress for a glass of ice water. The waitress laughed and brought a stack of plastic glasses and then pitchers of ice water.
“I’ll make sure to tip her extra well,” Hank laughed.
Dana nodded, “Me, too.”
“We can go into dinner at 5:00 or wait a while. I checked, and the three specials are a steak dinner, fried fish dinner, or homemade chicken and dumplings. Salads included. We could also stay here and have margaritas and nachos and chips, salsa, guacamole, along with taquitoes and quesadillas as appetizers,” Hank said.
“That’s filling for dinner,” Norman said, “but the choice is up to you, ladies, if you’d like to join us.” He looked hopeful. He glanced at Peri
“I vote here,” Dana said and Peri nodded, “Tomorrow night the rest, huh?”
Peri dipped another crispy chip into the salsa and ate it, “Let’s get guacamole, too.” She and Dana took their chips and made cheers with them. The men joined in for cheers as well, “I need some chicken quesadillas.”
At almost 6:00, Lisa, Connie, Mira, and Bristol excused themselves and went to the dining room, saying they could all meet up later for a grand tour. They wanted to eat steak instead of the Mexican food.
“I want a rare, thick steak with extra pepper and a fat baked potato,” Lisa said. Her figure was slim but curvaceous, and she ate a lot but never gained an ounce; the other women were envious of that.
In a few minutes, Rhonda led Jack and Jason with her to the dining room, saying she was craving fried catfish, “I have to try it. It sounds so good, and it’s supposed to be super fresh and home battered and fried. Oh, my God, I am so going to gain weight on this trip.”
“Enjoy your fish. Don’t eat any bones,” Dana called.
The dining room was filled with hungry people. At one table, two men sat together and brushed aside the side dishes, ordering three steaks each, not even rare, but sizzled on each side just to make them hot; they requested the insides of those steaks to be fully raw.
At another table, a single mother cut raw steak into smaller pieces for her daughters and ate two thick steaks by herself. The young girls shoved the meat into their mouths. The girls ate, but looked unsatisfied. “It’s not as good,” one complained.
“It’s not warm, and it doesn’t smell right….”
“Eat it. You know the rules.” Their mother warned them.
Across the room in a romantic corner, two men and three women also ate raw steak, savoring the fat as it crackled between their teeth. “It could be more rare,” one of the women said.
In the bar area, Peri and Dana ate their last chips, full but wishing they had more room to enjoy more chips and salsa. Everything was delicious; the guacamole was smooth, tangy, and a little spicy with red pepper flakes.
Peri was relaxed but not drunk.
“Would you like to walk off some of this food?” Norman asked.
“Dana?” Hank asked.
“Sure. Let’s go,” Dana said. She was very much at ease, which was unusual for her. Peri almost giggled as she watched her friend. Knowing Dana and Hank were perfect together even if they didn’t know yet.
“I pigged too much,” Peri said.
“We’ll walk it off then,” Norman said as he smiled.
They walked out of the dining room and onto the porch. While they wanted to see the entire hotel, it was too beautiful of an evening not to take in the last of the sunset and a rising full moon. They could see the sun had slipped down behind the small lake. To the right wound a path from where they could hear children playing at a playground.
“Way over there right off the dining room on the deck, they’re having the fish fry, and there’s ton of picnic tables. Fish, fries, slaw, hush puppies, pickled onions and peppers: a lot of good food there to eat.”
“Yum. We’ll have to try it one night.” Peri didn’t know if she had said that about herself and friends or whether she was including the men, “Oof. Don’t talk about food.”
“Down there across from us where you see all the rocks and trees is the hot springs,” Shan said. “You can climb to different levels, and the springs are super hot in the top pools, but then in lower pools, some cooler spring water is added because the water is hot and cold naturally here. I read all about the springs. Don’t they sound wonderful?” Shan pulled out her brochure and pointed out all the benefits of the pools with their natural minerals.
“So you could start hot and go to really chilly and then medium. That sounds nice,” Dana agreed. “Later when the night gets chilly, we should come out and try the springs.”
Shan went on, “The minerals in that hot water supposedly do wonderful things. They contain lithium for relaxation, iron, sulfur for the skin, copper for the skin, and salts for the soreness of joints and muscles, and minerals and salts to remove toxins.”
“You drink it?”
“No, Dana. Bathe in it. As for ingesting mineral waters like these, I would say a teaspoon at a time, and it could cause vomiting to purge toxins,” Shan explained, “but I am saying we relax in the springs and sip a cold drink and let the minerals beatify us.”
“Ick,” Dana added, “Margaritas are more fun. I’m not drinking that water.”
“This is a good night for it since the hotel has a ton of welcome activities, and you might get the springs alone,” Hank said. “People are tired, and it’ll be crowded tomorrow night. I bet.”
“We might share,” Dana suggested with a broad grin.
Peri was shocked. Dana never was this friendly. She must have instantly liked Hank a lot. Yes, it was love at first sight. That was fine for Dana. On the other hand, Peri wasn’t very trusting of men since the last one she had dated had a propensity for picking up women in bars most nights; thank God, Peri had never been intimate with the jerk.
A little clearing surrounded the springs, tall pine trees and firs made a cozy place for the pools, and granite rock walls provided a backdrop for the water. In the winter with snow on the ground, the hot springs would be heavenly, far better than hot tubs. It was beautiful. Maybe even romantic.
She brushed that idea away quickly.
“What?” Dana asked her.
Peri smiled, “I was thinking about how pretty this must be in the winter.”
“I’d love to come back,” Dana admitted.
They heard yelling. It was grating to hear it in the quiet, peaceful clearing.
“I may sue you, too!”
“Kids will be kids. Just clean her arm and….”
“What the hell is wrong with people? You don’t see my kids biting people.”
It was the boorish man from earlier, and he was dragging the little girl, Nina, along. Her mother was clucking, trying to keep up and saying, “It was an accident, Rudy. Little kids bite sometimes and….” They came up the path, followed by a woman with her two little girls.
Rudy stopped on the path and grabbed his wife’s arm in his other fist, twisting it cruelly until she was on her tiptoes and he was nose-to-nose with her. “Don’t tell me that shit
, Trisha. You want me to bite you?” He lunged with an open jaw, and she squealed with fear, “Biting ain’t normal.”
“Hey!” yelled a woman now standing; she had been sitting on the deck. She and her girlfriend were lounging near the path on comfortable lawn chairs, watching everyone wandering about while the sun set while they drank iced tea. They were full from dinner and relaxing with a perfect view, but the actions of the man infuriated one of the women. They had waved in a friendly way earlier as Peri and her friends walked by.
Rudy stared at her. “Mind your own business.”
“I will when you stop twisting their arms. It hurts,” the woman snapped back. “Please, I am sure you’re a good father and husband, but let them go, okay? Don’t hurt the people you love.” She sounded very supportive.
“I said to stay out of it, ya queer lesbo.”
“Hey, that’s rude,” Peri said, “and she’s right. You’re hurting their arms.”
Dana walked forward, “I’m a nurse. Can I see where she is bitten?”
“You again?” asked the man as he glared. He pushed the little girl to Dana, “Go on then. I may need your testimony when I sue that woman.”
Disgusted, Dana led the child to a light so she could examine the bite mark, trying to ignore the parents. So often as a nurse, she found the parents were far more trouble than the children. Parental histrionics and drama scared children and made exams, shots, X-rays, and everything else much worse than it needed to be. Parents scared children with their own fears, but Dana knew that if she explained something to a child calmly and logically, she wasn’t afraid.
The wound was a small bruised area already turning purple. Dana wondered if Nina were prone to easy bruising, and she almost suggested a vitamin deficiency to the mother, but it wasn’t the right time; it was so strange to see the injury already bruising. The spot smelled foul, and Dana decided maybe the child who had done the biting had poor oral health and had left nasty-smelling saliva. That was very strange though for the nasty odor to be so prominent.