Free The Most Famous Illegal Goose Creek Parade by Virginia Smith Page A

come up with such an idea?”
    â€œMen are from Mars.” Violet nodded sagely. “And women—”
    â€œâ€”are from Venus. Yes, I know.” She smiled to take the sting out of her tone. If she couldn’t get a handle on her temper before Albert got home from work, tonight would be a miserable repeat of last night. With a determined blast of breath, she changed the subject. “Did Norman Pilkington come by today?”
    Violet nodded. “I gave him a piece of my mind, told him thecouncil is only doing its job and he needs to stop riling everyone up over this water tower thing. It looked like he had a bunch of names on that petition, though.”
    â€œOh? He had forty-three when he came by the clinic.”
    â€œThere were close to a hundred and fifty by the time he got here.”
    Millie sat back in her chair. “I had no idea he could rally that much support.”
    â€œI know. Haven’t people looked at that water tower? If we let Little Norm paint it again, we could end up with fluorescent pink or pumpkin orange.”
    Imagine, a flamingo-pink water tower hovering above Main Street! With a low whistle, Millie shook her head.
    Violet held up a finger and gave her the grin that always preceded a quote of which she was especially fond. “Whistling women and crowing hens always come to some bad end.” The grin deepened. “That was one of my grandmother’s favorites.”
    Millie’s moan was interrupted by the whirring of the garage door opener. Rufus leaped off his cushion in the corner and began his nightly bark-o-rama while he ran to take up a position in front of the side door.
    She glanced at the clock on the microwave. “What on earth is Albert doing home already? It’s only four-twenty.”
    A few seconds later the door opened and a bouquet of colorful blossoms entered, followed by her husband. He’d brought her flowers? A wave of tenderness washed through her.
    When he caught sight of them at the table, he halted and fixed a surprised stare on Violet. “Oh. Hullo.”
    With a glance toward Millie, she rose and bustled to the sink with her plate. “I’ll come over in a bit and help you wash up.” She hurried from the room.
    â€œDon’t bother,” Millie called after her. “I’ll call you later.”
    They heard the front door close, and Albert bent to give Rufus the customary pat on the head, which ended his noisy greeting. The dogtrotted back to his cushion to resume his afternoon nap while an awkward silence settled in the kitchen.
    Albert cleared his throat, and then thrust the flowers in her direction. “I got these on the way home. I wanted to get roses, but do you know how much roses cost?”
    Ever the practical one, her Albert. Millie took the flowers, ignoring the red grocery store price sticker that announced they were discounted for quick sale. “These are beautiful.” She buried her nose in them. No scent at all, but the bright colors made up for that. “Thank you.”
    He shuffled a shoe on the linoleum. “I’m sorry for last night.”
    Millie rose and covered the distance between them to throw her arms around his neck. “I’m sorry too. I hate arguing with you.”
    They stood for a moment, swaying with their embrace and releasing the leftover emotions from the night before. This was where she belonged, in her husband’s arms holding a half-wilted bouquet of cheap flowers. In the grand scheme of things, did it matter which kitchen they stood in?
    Well, yes, it did. A little. At least this kitchen did not have wheels.
    Albert broke their embrace and, taking her by the hand, led her back to the table. “I want to discuss our retirement plans.”
    â€œMust we?” Millie lowered herself into the chair he slid out for her. “I’d like to have a peaceful evening.”
    â€œWe will,” he said with a firm nod. He took the chair