“Mmhhh,” I ho-hummed.
“It was the nicest letter from Zeke Grey,” she said, gushing over the very single elderly gentleman that all the Front Porch Ladies fought over.
Ah…the Front Porch Ladies were what I lovingly called the four women who lived along Little Creek Road in the middle of Sugar Creek Gap, now the street that I lived on in our tiny mountainous town in Kentucky.
“He wanted to thank me for the wonderful gift I’d given his granddaughter for her wedding present.” Harriette knew the other ladies would have their ears wide-open to hear what she had to say. “He followed up by congratulating me on becoming a board member of the nursing home and president of the beautification committee.”
After Zeke Grey had announced he was going to be hosting a bridal shower for his granddaughter, the Front Porch Ladies wore me out about why they’d not received their invitation when I dropped off their mail. They thought for sure that I’d left it at the post office or lost it along my route.
“Not to mention the smell of his cologne he must’ve spritzed on the envelope.” Harriette looked over at the other Front Porch Ladies. “You do know that amazing smell?” Harriette pulled her knitting project to her chest and took a long, deep inhale, clearly wanting Gertrude, Millie, and Ruby—the Front Porch Ladies—to hear her. They’ve all been trying to get Zeke’s attention for a while now.
The looks the other ladies gave each other didn’t go unnoticed. Maybe a few eye rolls were given, but nothing was said out loud, even though I knew that tomorrow when I delivered their mail, they would question me about if there was any sort of thank-you card from Zeke Grey.
“Ah oh. Looky who’s coming in.” Millie Barnes elbowed Ruby, who was sitting next to her.
“What?” Ruby Dean’s lips curled. “What did you say?”
“I said you need to go get your hearing aids checked because you can’t hear a darn thang.” Millie Barnes groaned. “I said, look who is coming in.” She nodded toward the storefront side of the knitting classroom that faced the sidewalk on Main Street.
All the heads turned to the left to look out of the classroom and into the shop where Florence Gaines was walking in with a young woman.
Florence was a wealthy widow here in Sugar Creek Gap. She lived in the more affluent subdivision behind the old mill, which still had running water and a working wheel that ran right in the middle of downtown. And it just so happened, Florence and Zeke were neighbors.
I was the mail carrier for all of the downtown shops, the nursing home, and the one little row of homes behind the shops, which was where I lived along with the Front Porch Ladies and Mac. I also delivered the mail for Florence’s fancy neighborhood. I had three mail loops in all.
It was nice they were all downtown so I didn’t have to drive a mail truck. Especially since the post office was located downtown. I was able to do a loop then go back to the post office to get the next loop. It made for a long day, but now that I lived in the downtown area, it was not too bad, and my back felt the difference.
Florence Gaines always looked like the million bucks she had. She kept her silver hair nice and short, which was very sophisticated. She mainly wore blacks and grays. Today she had on a pair of gray trousers, cream flats, and a lighter gray t-shirt. A black belt with a big silver buckle completed the outfit.
She and Leotta spoke near the register, keeping all of our attention. Then the young woman with Florence shook hands with Leotta. When Florence looked into the classroom, all five of us nearly broke our necks when we turned back to our knitting projects so Florence wouldn’t see us gawking at her.
“Hello, ladies.” Florence walked into the room. “Very cute little projects.” She eyeballed everyone’s project one by one. “My niece has moved to Sugar Creek Gap, and I wanted to bring her around to introduce her while we have a few minutes to wait for Zeke.”
“Zeke?” Harriette jerked up. “Zeke Grey?”
“Mmhhmmm. Unless you know another Zeke in Sugar Creek Gap.” Florence’s eyes narrowed, and a devious smile twisted along her lips. “Zeke is dying to meet Courtney. Ever since she decided to move here, it’s all I’ve been talking about over dinner.”
“Dinner?” Harriette asked. “With Zeke Grey?”
“Why yes. I had the most wonderful time at Roddy’s wedding. We got to talking, and we didn’t realize how much we had in common. He really is a blessing from above.” Florence lifted her hands in the air. The gold bangles fell toward her elbow and jingled like a sound from above.
“Hi.” The young woman popped into the room. “I’m Courtney Gaines, Florence’s niece.”
“It’s nice to meet you.” I immediately recognized the name. “I’m Bernadette Butler, your neighbor.”
“Oh. Hi!” Courtney’s big brown eyes widened with excitement. “I haven’t seen you. Did you see me? I’m sorry if you did and I didn’t say anything.”
“No. Bernie delivers the mail to your street, and she dates your landlord,” Florence chimed in. “But we must be going. Zeke probably has our table ready at the Wallflower Diner. I’ll be sure to tell your mom and dad hello.”
“I’m your neighbor Harriette Pearl.” Harriette introduced herself to Courtney when it was apparent Florence was not going to. “This here is Ruby Dean, Gertrude Stone, and Millie Barnes, your other neighbors on Little Creek Road. When did you decide to move here? And what do you do?”
Harriette wasn’t about to let them leave until she figured out how long Florence and Zeke had been spending some time together, especially since she mentioned how excited Zeke had been to meet Courtney since she’d decided to move to Sugar Creek Gap.
“I took an open home-economics teaching position at the local high school a couple months ago and wanted to move here this summer so I can spend some quality time with my aunt.” Courtney looked lovingly at Florence.
“Yes. Quality time.” Florence lifted her brows to them. She touched Courtney on the arm. “We need to go. I’m sure you’ll be hearing from these ladies more often than you want,” Florence didn’t do a good job of whispering, her chin turned away from the group.
“It’s so nice to meet all of you. I’m happy to be living here.” Courtney was around five foot six and built exactly like her aunt. She resembled Florence so much that they might’ve even passed as mother and daughter if I’d not known Florence never had any children.
“Ladies.” Florence stopped shy of the classroom door and turned around. “Be sure to be at the church scholarship meeting tomorrow. We will be picking out the winner of the college scholarships from the applicants. Noon sharp.” She threw her head back. “And Harriette?”
“What?” Harriette asked in a snide tone.
“Congratulations on your new board appointment…um… president of the beautification Committee.” Florence gave a slight laugh. “God help Mother Nature,” she said to Courtney on their way out the door.
There was an awkward pause until Florence shut the door behind her, then the flood gates opened.
“Noon sharp,” Harriette mocked. “Can you believe she had the gall to come in here when she probably just walked by and saw us? She only wanted to show off her lunch date with Zeke and threw her poor niece in the mix.”