Read Online 4 Shelter From The Storm by Tony Dunbar - Free Book Online

it was quite good. Not very spicy at all.”
    “How nice.”
    “And they showed me a film about the mansion, and I bought a week.”
    Tubby nodded. He understood how it had happened.
    Suddenly there was a loud crack of thunder, and a waterfall of rain slammed into the window. Both client and lawyer jumped.
    “My, my,” she said. The city was no longer visible. “You certainly have odd weather here.”
    “Very odd,” he agreed.
    “Well,” she continued, returning her eyes to his, “we looked at my unit. It wasn’t the prettiest of course because those cost too much, but it was clean. They explained all the rules. About how I could actually own the apartment, just like a condominium back home, but only for one week a year. And that week would be mine, always.”
    “You paid them?”
    “I wrote a check for $15,000.” Her brow furrowed.
    “Have you had second thoughts?”
    “Yes,” she said regretfully. “I called my son as soon as I got back to my hotel room. You see, I had thought we could take vacations here together. But he got very upset. He looks after me. But it seems he does not want to vacation with me to New Orleans every year. I didn’t know what to do so I took a walk. And I got to talk to Mr. Haygood, the bellboy at the hotel. It seems funny to call him a bellboy because he’s a grown man. He told me that it is very hot here in New Orleans during the third week of August.”
    “That’s the week you bought?” Tubby chuckled.
    “Yes,” she said defensively.
    He composed his face. “It is indeed warm here at that time of the year. Do you want to get out of the contract?”
    “Yes, I do,” she said. “I promised my girlfriend, Sophie, that we would go to Las Vegas together next Christmas, and I realize now that I’ve just spent all my money.”
    “Okay, let’s see how much of it we can get back.”
    “I hate to be this way. The Murchisons were so nice.”
    “They’ll get over it, Miss Lostus. Did you happen to get their first names?”
    * * *
    Collette’s friend Leila had a car, a really funky Mazda, and picked her up at around two o’clock. When they got to Norene’s house they found a backyard full of kids. A couple of the boys were even swimming, and some others had stripped down to bathing suits and were showing off their wintertime tans. It was actually getting cloudy, however, and the main action was around the blue and white Igloo full of Bud Lite.
    Norene jumped up and hugged Collette and Leila when they came through the gate in the wooden fence.
    “I was afraid you wouldn’t come,” she said. “We desperately need more girls. Come on and I’ll introduce you to some of the guys. They go to Tulane.”
    “Ooooh,” Collette said. Tulane. Big Deal. She rolled her eyes.
    So she met Bradley, who was not too tall but was really cute. He had black hair and about two day’s worth of whiskers on his chin,
    “Hey,” he said, smiling to show off his white teeth. “You wanna sit down?” He patted the empty part of the vinyl recliner he was resting on.
    “I’d like a beer first,” she said.
    He asked her to bring him one, too.
    After she fished two dripping bottles from the ice chest, she consented to rejoin him. At least he twisted off the cap for her.
    “Where are you in school?” he asked while running his fingers through his hair.
    “At Newman,” she said. “I graduate in May.” That was stretching the truth by about two years.
    “Going to college?” he asked.
    “Sure,” she said. “Somewhere away from here.”
    “What’s wrong with here?” he asked.
    He turned out to be nice, though conceited, and he won points by telling his friends to quit splashing water on her.
    It would have been really pleasant except that it started to rain, and they all had to go inside.
    Norene tried to get everybody to play Pictionary, which was fun, but a couple of the boys were really drunk and started tearing up Norene’s parents’ den. They were throwing the couch pillows