Free Vampire in Paradise by Sandra Hill Page B

rimless glasses that she kept pushing up her nose. Her hazel eyes seemed far too intelligent to be satisfied with cleaning services. Not that being a hotel maid isn’t a noble profession. Well, maybe not noble, but satisfactory. Jeesh! Dig a hole lately, Marisa? Good thing I didn’t say all this out loud. The political correctness police would be on my tail faster than I could say Cher. Hole. Getting. Deeper.
    Tiffany smiled brightly. “Ah’ll be workin’ in the beauty salon, Good Looks. It’s right next ta the spa, Risa. You don’t mind mah callin’ ya Risa, do ya? We’ll be seeing oodles of each other. Isn’t this fun?”
    Marisa barely restrained herself from rolling her eyes. “A barrel of laughs, Tiff .”
    “And, Inga, Ah’m dyin’ ta clip yer dead ends, sugah. Not that your blonde hair isn’t beautiful, but just a little layering would make you a knockout.”
    Inga, who already considered herself a knockout, wasn’t so self-controlled. She said, “Just super!”
    “And I could give you highlights,” she offered Doris, as well.
    Doris was clearly taken aback. “Thanks, but I have my own beautician back home. Pierre would have a fit if I let anyone else touch my locks.” Doris patted her short hair and winked at Marisa and Inga. At least she had a sense of humor.
    “Well, I’m going to finish unpacking,” Marisa said before Tiffany could start on her.
    It was hard to be mean to Tiffany, though. She was so clearly clueless.
    Tiffany raised her huge, wheeled, shocking-pink luggage and was about to go into the other bedroom. Marisa and Inga had brought only small Gucci carry-on bags, figuring they’d be wearing uniforms most of the time, and Doris had only a rolling duffel bag. Clearly, none of them was as prepared as Tiffany to be “discovered.”
    “Ah’m gonna put on mah bikini and head fer the pool. Mebbe Ah’ll be discovered on my first day here, please God.”
    God would want nothing to do with that kind of helping hand, Marisa was pretty sure.
    “Will y’all join me?”
    “Sure,” Inga said. In an aside to Marisa, she whispered, “I wouldn’t miss this for the world.”
    Doris rolled her eyes. “I think I’ll just relax on the patio with a book.”
    “I have to make a phone call, but I’ll be there in a half hour or so,” Marisa promised.
    She put away her belongings and went into the kitchenette, where she poured herself a glass of iced tea. Tiffany claimed she couldn’t go anywhere without her sweet tea and therefore carried tea bags and diet sugar packets with her. Before she left, she had made the iced tea in a hotel ice bucket, there being no pitcher available.
    Sitting down in one of the cushy chairs, Marisa picked up her cell phone and pressed home.
    “Hi, Mommy,” her daughter answered immediately, then corrected herself, as she’d been taught. “I mean, hello, this is the Lopez rezdance.”
    “Hello, sweetheart. How are you feeling today?” Izzie had been sleeping when Marisa had left the house at dawn.
    “Buelita says this is one of my good days. We’re goin’ to the pool with PopPop this afternoon. He’s takin’ off work jist for me.”
    “That’s nice. Don’t forget the sunscreen.”
    “I won’t. Are you havin’ fun, Mommy?”
    “Not yet.”
    “You should relax and enjoy yourself,” her daughter advised, clearly parroting something she’d heard her grandmother or grandfather say.
    “I’m going to be working hard most of the time, but I’m going to a pool now, too.”
    “Will you swim?”
    “If it’s not too crowded, sure.” Marisa loved to swim. Had been on the swim team in high school. In fact, had gone to college on a partial sports scholarship. But she hadn’t been swimming in ages, not with Izzie’s problems and Marisa’s workload. “Can I talk to Buelita?”
    “Buelita!” Izzie yelled.
    Marisa winced. Another lesson she would have to teach her daughter. Put your hand over the phone before yelling. Or, better yet, don’t yell