After a moment she went inside cabin 9, leaving her cleaning equipment outside.
I closed the door slowly, deep in thought. Could it be he just wanted her to remove his used towels, or do some minor cleaning job? Or help him pack his suitcase? Or--?
Half an hour later the salesman came in and tossed number 9 key on the desk.
"I'll remember this here place," he said, winking broadly. "This here is what I call deluxe accommodations."
I watched out the window again. Veda was cleaning cabin 8. When I thought she must be about through, I strolled out in that direction. In a few minutes she came swinging out of the cabin, tossed her basket down beside her bucket, and raised her hand to knock on the door of cabin 7.
"Just a minute," I said. "There's still someone in that cabin."
"I know there is; a man," she said, speaking with that peculiar upswing at the end of her words that is characteristic of many Mexicans. "I just thought I'd see if he ain't about ready to leave."
"Mm. And if he 'ain't' about ready--?"
She tossed her head. "Well, there ain't any law against a girl picking up a little extra money."
There was no law, either, against motel owners' cleaning up their own cabins, so for the rest of the week Grant and I went back to the old routine of mopping, dusting, stripping beds, and making them. Mrs. Clark's dark skin was a little pale when she reported for work the following Monday morning, but to us she looked positively beautiful.