It had been such a successful evening that Tim could hardly wait to tell Ma that her idea was working. Edna had wept a little, and Tim pretended he thought it was just because she was so surprised at the idea of the new car and a honeymoon trip. However, in his heart he knew it was because she was being wooed away from the thought of Dennis.

Ma wasn't on the patio but he found her in the dining room, lingering over lunch with her tablemates at the Home. He came up behind her, but this time he didn't play their peek-a-boo game but paused instead, surprised at what he heard coming from her table.

"That brazen hussy," Mabel was saying, and for a moment Tim wondered whether they were talking about Edna.

"I know," Ma said, "It never would have occurred to me that a woman could be a fireman, let alone a police officer."

"Just think of her working all day with strong, healthy men. I say she is asking for trouble."

"Yes -- and with firemen it is day and night. They sleep together, you know," Louella chimed in.

"Well, yes, at the firehouse on duty... But that's ..." Ma was trying to put in a word to calm them down, the old nasty gossips.

"Hey, Tim, " Mabel said, all sweetness and light, "How've you been? Here to see your Ma?"

" Who's Tim?," Louella asked. " Are you Tim Mix, the cowboy star?"

"No, ma'am, I'm Tim Bridges, you've known me since I was a kid," Tim said politely.

"You're thinking of Tom Mix," Mabel interrupted,." and you're mixed up, as usual."

As Louella and Mabel left the table, Tim couldn't help asking Ma why she put up with them all these years.

"Oh, honey," she said, "Pay them no never mind. They've always been the cattiest girls in town, and now they're in their dotage, they're just a couple of

_ _ _ _ _ _   _ _ _ _ _ _ _."

(6 letter word, 7 letter word)
 

 Copyright 1998 J.J. Schnebel
All rights reserved

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