Once Upon A Time

Guest writer Minnie Chavez will entertain you in Fiorella's absence for the next two weeks:

Someone was trying to slip through the hedgerow again.

Jack strode over to the dense wall of ligustrum just as a bedraggled female figure in cut-offs, an orange tank top, and barely-there sparkly flip flops emerged into his brother’s backyard. Lifting his chin and crossing his arms like a sumo wrestler, he fixed her with a reproving stare.

“Miss, this is a private event.”

“Do I look like gate-crashing teen-ager, you officious idiot?” the woman sputtered, brushing twigs and leaves off her shirt. “I’m here to collect my nieces from the birthday party!”

Jack laughed. He’d been called a lost worse. Even in the dim evening light, he could see that the trespasser indeed was no teen-ager. In fact, she looked more his own age. He relaxed his stance and stepped back a pace.

“Sorry about that.” He gestured toward the hedge. “I was assigned to patrol the perimeter and it’s been a long evening. This is my nephew’s first girl-boy party and my brother recruited me to act as security.”

The woman smiled and nodded. “That’s okay. I guess I sort of overreacted,” she admitted, combing her fingers though her hair for debris, then retying her pony tail. “I’m Cindy Glover, the twins’ aunt.” She offered her hand. “Getting through that hedge was harder than it looks. I mean, the girls do it all the time, but they’re just fourteen and they’d disappear if they turned sideways.”

The tank top showed off her mature curves to good advantage, Jack noted. There was no way Cindy Glover would disappear if she turned sideways.

CONTINUED TOMORROW