Read Online Untethered by Marcia Lynn McClure - Free Book Online

with sadness for Mrs. Maloney’s loneliness—for the loss of her husband, even though it had been long ago. She knew she couldn’t dwell on the subject or she’d be reduced to tears of sympathetic sorrow, loss, and loneliness.
    “Well, you tell Mr. Nobody to watch his feet next time you all are sparkin’ in the parlor then,” she teased. “He’s got to be careful with a delicate, well-mannered lady like you.”
    “We weren’t sparkin’, Magnolia,” Mrs. Maloney corrected with good humor. “We were only waltzin’.”
    “Mm-hmm,” Cricket said, feigning suspicion. “Oh, I’m sure you were.”
    Cricket and Mrs. Maloney both erupted into giggles for a moment. And when they each finally drew a breath, sighing with the contentment that comes of having been distracted by lightheartedness, Mrs. Maloney asked, “And how are things with Ada ? Are the two of you gettin’ to know one another a little better?”
    Cricket nodded. “Yes…I think so,” she answered. “And I see now that I was bein’ selfish and silly. I don’t know why it took me so long to start to understand.”
    “Well, don’t spend any more time worryin’ about why it took so long. Just spend the time buildin’ your relationship with Ada from here forth,” the wise old woman counseled. “I think that someday you’ll find her to be one of your truest and most loyal friends.”
    “Maybe so,” Cricket mumbled.
    “Meanwhile, I saw that tall drink of water that ruffles your bloomers in at the general store yesterday,” Mrs. Maloney said, having lowered her voice to nearly a whisper.
    “And who might that be?” Cricket asked, blushing and feigning ignorance.
    Mrs. Maloney smiled and giggled a bit. “That Mr. Heathro handsome-as-the-day-is-long Thibodaux , that’s who.”
    “Hmm,” Cricket said with a shrug. “I suppose that’s nice.”
    “Well, he’s a lot more fun to look at than a hound’s hind end, I can tell you that.”
    Cricket nodded and quietly mumbled, “Mmm-hmm.”
    “That reminds me…Me and Mr. Maloney had us a hound dog once that had a little patch of white hair shaped exactly like a heart situated right under his tail on his hind end.” The old woman began to chuckle. “Mr. Maloney named him Valentine, and that ol’ hound slept at the foot of our bed for near to twelve years before he died.” She sighed and shook her head. “Old Valentine. I hadn’t thought of him in so long.”
    Cricket smiled. “A heart right under his tail?”
    “Yep,” Mrs. Maloney said with a nod. “I was forever and always scoldin’ Mr. Maloney about liftin’ up that dog’s tail to show folks the heart. It just wasn’t proper.”
    Cricket began to giggle again. Mrs. Maloney was more fun than anything! Suddenly Cricket’s excitement swelled so warm and enchanting in her bosom that she thought she might burst with delighted anticipation—knowing that, that very night, the elderly little darling would receive the pretty teapot from the general store window.
    “Anyway, as I was sayin’, I saw your Mr. Thibodaux in the general store yesterday,” Mrs. Maloney continued, having remembered her previous train of thought. The woman was impossible to distract.
    “He’s not my Mr. Thibodaux,” Cricket corrected. “In fact, I hear tell the Widow Rutherford has nearly got him roped in.” The thought of Anastasia Rutherford winning the affections of Heathro Thibodaux caused all the pleasure Cricket had known a moment before to dissipate entirely.
    “Oh, she’s tryin’ all right. I’ll give her that,” Mrs. Maloney began. “But it’s gonna take more than a pretty lasso to tether that boy to any woman’s porch.”
    “A pretty lasso can tether any man to a woman’s porch, Mrs. Maloney, and you know it.” Cricket felt somehow defeated—almost depressed.
    Mrs. Maloney nodded. “Sometimes that’s true…and sometimes it ain’t,” she said. “And anyway, Anastasia was in the general store the same time as me and Mr.