Read Online Hens and Chickens by Jennifer Wixson - Free Book Online
Authors: Jennifer Wixson
Ads: Link
of black tea.
“Lila says that you were a music teacher in town, Miss Hastings?” Rebecca said, stirring a large dollop of raspberry honey into her tea.
“OOoo, yes!” Miss Hastings exclaimed, joyfully. She waggled her knobby finger at Rebecca. “I know every single child in town by name – AND I know their children and grandchildren!” She burst into gales of laughter again.
“Are you still teaching?” Rebecca asked.
“Thank goodness, NO! I retired YEARS ago. I should really be dead by now –- haaahaaa! – I’m 87!”
“Omigod!” cried Lila, who had only been half listening, but now was startled by this piece of information into sitting upright in the rocker. “Eighty-seven? That is totally amazing!”
“Lila!” expostulated Rebecca.
“Don’t stop her—I ADORE honesty! That’s why I ADORE children. They’re nothing BUT honest! Just the opposite of all those mean, nasty politicians and corporations!”
“You got that right,” agreed Lila.
“Matilda and I still go to school two or three times a year, just to get our honesty FIX!”
“You take Matilda to school?” Rebecca said. “Oh, I bet the children love that!”
“OOoo, the dahrrrlings; they do get SO excited when they see Matilda! We sing. We dance. We parade! We do WONDERFUL things!”
Lila sank back into the rocker and closed her eyes, listening abstractedly to Miss Hastings and Rebecca chat about children, teaching and music. Lila had formed an image of her Twitter-mate in her mind over the years, and she had discovered during the last hour that Miss Jan Hastings was soo NOT the masculine, work-booted chicken-lover she had imagined but a petite, educated, dynamo of a woman who definitely marched to the beat of her own drum.
I wonder what I’ll be like when I’M her age? Lila mused to herself. Will I be even half as lovable and fun?
Lila’s thoughts wandered of their own accord back to the unexpected meeting with Mike Hobart, who had tricked them into buying the largest size of birdseed so that he could have an excuse to see her again. Lila tried to convince herself that she was mad at him, but she failed. Neat trick, she said to herself, impressed by his ingenuity.
But … would someone like Mike Hobart – if he did come to love her – still feel the same way in ten years? Twenty years? Thirty years? Forty years? Lila wondered.
At this point in her life, Lila wasn’t interested in any kind of romantic relationship. Still less was she interested in casual sex. She had her reasons, and they were good reasons. Lila believed that her attitude toward sex, romance and dating was nobody’s business but her own (not even Rebecca’s). She was aware that most men thought she had a chip on her shoulder. But if they only knew! The burden she was carrying was more like a mountain, than a chip!
A tangled mess of painful thoughts and feelings rose up in Lila as she toasted her waif-like frame by Miss Hastings’ cookstove. While half-listening to the conversation between Miss Hastings and Rebecca, Lila flashed back to a recent “dating” experience from the winter, just prior to her friendship with the new corporate attorney Ryan McDonald. After much encouragement, Lila had accompanied some young friends to a bar, friends who had been pushing her to “get out and meet some men.” When her friends abandoned her for the dance floor, Lila was approached by a well-dressed, well-heeled accountant, who, with gin and tonic in hand, confidently appropriated the vacated seat next to her.
After the usual blather of introductions, the accountant smirked and offered to buy Lila a drink. Bothered by the whole “dating” charade, Lila decided to put her cards on the table. “Look, if you’re just here for sex, don’t waste time on me,” she said, honestly. “I don’t care what happens tonight, I’m not going to have sex with you. So, if sex is all you want—feel free to go find someone else.”
No sooner were the words out of
“Lila says that you were a music teacher in town, Miss Hastings?” Rebecca said, stirring a large dollop of raspberry honey into her tea.
“OOoo, yes!” Miss Hastings exclaimed, joyfully. She waggled her knobby finger at Rebecca. “I know every single child in town by name – AND I know their children and grandchildren!” She burst into gales of laughter again.
“Are you still teaching?” Rebecca asked.
“Thank goodness, NO! I retired YEARS ago. I should really be dead by now –- haaahaaa! – I’m 87!”
“Omigod!” cried Lila, who had only been half listening, but now was startled by this piece of information into sitting upright in the rocker. “Eighty-seven? That is totally amazing!”
“Lila!” expostulated Rebecca.
“Don’t stop her—I ADORE honesty! That’s why I ADORE children. They’re nothing BUT honest! Just the opposite of all those mean, nasty politicians and corporations!”
“You got that right,” agreed Lila.
“Matilda and I still go to school two or three times a year, just to get our honesty FIX!”
“You take Matilda to school?” Rebecca said. “Oh, I bet the children love that!”
“OOoo, the dahrrrlings; they do get SO excited when they see Matilda! We sing. We dance. We parade! We do WONDERFUL things!”
Lila sank back into the rocker and closed her eyes, listening abstractedly to Miss Hastings and Rebecca chat about children, teaching and music. Lila had formed an image of her Twitter-mate in her mind over the years, and she had discovered during the last hour that Miss Jan Hastings was soo NOT the masculine, work-booted chicken-lover she had imagined but a petite, educated, dynamo of a woman who definitely marched to the beat of her own drum.
I wonder what I’ll be like when I’M her age? Lila mused to herself. Will I be even half as lovable and fun?
Lila’s thoughts wandered of their own accord back to the unexpected meeting with Mike Hobart, who had tricked them into buying the largest size of birdseed so that he could have an excuse to see her again. Lila tried to convince herself that she was mad at him, but she failed. Neat trick, she said to herself, impressed by his ingenuity.
But … would someone like Mike Hobart – if he did come to love her – still feel the same way in ten years? Twenty years? Thirty years? Forty years? Lila wondered.
At this point in her life, Lila wasn’t interested in any kind of romantic relationship. Still less was she interested in casual sex. She had her reasons, and they were good reasons. Lila believed that her attitude toward sex, romance and dating was nobody’s business but her own (not even Rebecca’s). She was aware that most men thought she had a chip on her shoulder. But if they only knew! The burden she was carrying was more like a mountain, than a chip!
A tangled mess of painful thoughts and feelings rose up in Lila as she toasted her waif-like frame by Miss Hastings’ cookstove. While half-listening to the conversation between Miss Hastings and Rebecca, Lila flashed back to a recent “dating” experience from the winter, just prior to her friendship with the new corporate attorney Ryan McDonald. After much encouragement, Lila had accompanied some young friends to a bar, friends who had been pushing her to “get out and meet some men.” When her friends abandoned her for the dance floor, Lila was approached by a well-dressed, well-heeled accountant, who, with gin and tonic in hand, confidently appropriated the vacated seat next to her.
After the usual blather of introductions, the accountant smirked and offered to buy Lila a drink. Bothered by the whole “dating” charade, Lila decided to put her cards on the table. “Look, if you’re just here for sex, don’t waste time on me,” she said, honestly. “I don’t care what happens tonight, I’m not going to have sex with you. So, if sex is all you want—feel free to go find someone else.”
No sooner were the words out of
Similar Books
