Maude by Donna Mabry

tomorrow,
but I don’t really like him all that much, Mom. What
should I do?”
“Give him a chance, Maude. You haven’t found
anyone here in town who pleases you, not that there’s
much to pick from. Most of the unmarried men here
are two, three times as old as you. You can’t be a
widow forever. You’re only a girl. You ought to have a
life of your own.’
“I’m satisfied with what I have, Mom. Why do I
need a man?”
“I’m getting old. I won’t always be here. What
are you going to do when I’m gone?”
I’d never thought about such a thing, and it
scared me. I’d come to think of my mother-in-law as a
permanent part of my life. “You’re fine. It’s going to
be a long time before you get old.”
“No, it isn’t, Maude. It’s not only my arthritis
anymore. Doc Wilson says my heart is getting weak.
My sister over in Nashville has been after me to come
live with her. She lost her husband last year. Her
children are all married and moved away. You and I,
both of us, need to think about the future.”
I wanted to cry. “I’ll take care of you, you know
that. I’ll move up here to the house like you asked me
before.”
“That wouldn’t be fair to you. You’re young. You
and Lulu deserve more than nursing an old woman. It
could be years before I die. By then, you’ll have lost
your chance to find someone.”
I tried to think of other arguments, but there
weren’t any. After Lulu was asleep, I spent the rest of
the evening sitting on the porch and staring at a sky
that was looking the same way I was feeling. There
wasn’t a star to be seen.
The next afternoon, George showed up again. I
decided I would give him another chance to court me,
but I still had my doubts. I don’t know what I was
thinking, but this time I agreed to go for a buggy ride.
He drove me out over the rolling Tennessee hills for
several miles. It was a beautiful day, and we talked
about everyday matters like the weather and Lulu’s
school work. He got me back to the cabin in time to
meet Lulu coming home.
My ten-year-old girl knitted her eyebrows
together and ducked her chin down into her chest. She
looked at him with a sour face and ran into the cabin
without even saying hello.
That embarrassed me, and George saw the look
on my face. “Don’t worry about Lulu, Maude. She’ll
warm up to me. I mean, if we see more of one another.
Can I come by tomorrow?”
I was still looking after Lulu. It wasn’t like her
to be rude like that. “I don’t know, George. I’ll have to
think about it.”
He put his hat on. “Well, I’ll stop by, and if you
got other things to do, you can tell me, and I’ll be on
my way.”
“All right, George.”
I went inside and hugged Lulu to me and kissed
the top of her head. “You don’t think much of Mr.
Foley, do you, Baby?”
“He isn’t going to stay here. He’s going to go
back to Missouri where he lives. If you married him,
I’d have to leave all my friends. Tell him he can’t come
here anymore.”
I thought it over. “Maybe you’re right. I’ll tell
him tomorrow that it would be best if he stopped
coming here.”
Lulu hugged me and craned her neck to kiss me
on the cheek. “I’m going to see Gramma. Holler if you
want me.”
“All right, Baby.”
I made up my mind I would tell George that I
didn’t want to spend any more time with him. I went
up to the house. Lulu and Mom Connor and I began
fixing dinner. We were a family already, the three
women of the house, and didn’t need a man to make
us whole.
Mom Connor sat in a chair stringing the green
beans that Lulu brought in from the garden. The sound
of the snap-snap as she broke off the ends of each one
was so regular it was almost music. Lulu peeled
potatoes while I breaded the chicken. Lulu tilted her
head and smiled a little. “Mommy is going to tell Mr.
Foley that he shouldn’t come around here anymore,”
she said with satisfaction.
Mom Connor looked from Lulu to me, her eyes
wide with surprise. “What do you