No Return

26

By the time Wes and Anna pulled in to the parking lot of the Desert Rose Motel, it was almost 10 p.m.

“Not exactly the night I had planned,” he said.

Anna got off the bike. “Well, it wasn’t dull, that’s for sure.”

As he joined her on the sidewalk, he noticed she was favoring her left side. “Are you all right?”

“Fine.”

“Is it your arm?”

She frowned, then shook her head. “My ribs. Jammed my elbow into them when we hit.”

“You think you cracked one?”

“I said I’m fine. It’s just bruised.”

“Maybe we should take you to the emergency room.”

“Whoa. Who needs to go to the emergency room?” Danny had just exited the corridor to the courtyard, his new friend Dori stuck to his side.

“Nobody,” Anna said quickly, her voice strong. “I just tripped and banged into something, and Wes is overreacting.”

“Protective of your girlfriend, are you?” Dori said.

Danny let out a laugh. “Anna is Wes’s girlfriend? He wishes.”

Dori merely smiled, but the look in her eye let Wes know she suspected she was right.

“Hey, we’re going to grab something to eat, then head over to the bar,” Danny said. “Wanna come?”

“I don’t think so,” Wes said.

“Come on, Danny,” Dori said. “They want to be alone.”

“Ha. Alone. Right. Well, if you get bored or thirsty or want to look at more of those pictures, you know where to find us.”

“Sure.”

Danny tipped a hat he wasn’t wearing, then continued down the walkway.

Wes and Anna had only taken a few steps toward his room when Wes stopped. “Our suits. Here.” He handed her his room key and returned to the bike. They’d stashed their chlorine-soaked swimsuits in the compartment behind the Triumph’s seat.

But he’d barely got it open when Anna rushed back out of his room. “Call nine-one-one.”

He scrambled for the phone in his pocket. “Is your pain worse?”

“It’s not me.”