I passed through the dining room, and my feet hit a wet spot. I skidded sideways into a mahogany lowboy. A candlestick knocked over and rolled into a puddle of water. I looked up. A stream of water trickled through the chandelier. It hit the long table and streamed over the edge, pattering to the floor. I ran upstairs to see if I’d left a faucet running. I hadn’t. When I opened the closet above the dining room, I saw the problem. The air conditioning unit had frozen and the tray had overflowed, leaking water through the dining room ceiling. I put a punch bowl on the table to catch the drips. Before I could call a repairman, Miss Dora arrived with a bottle of predinner wine. When she saw the leak, she opened her cell phone and said, “I’ll take care of this.” Twenty minutes later, her HVAC men showed up. While they tramped up the stairs to investigate the leak, I opened the wine and we stepped into the garden. A breeze stirred the confederate roses, and golden light fell in long stripes across the lawn.
What do You think about Gone With A Handsomer Man?
