Dinner on the Farm

Leila

I was saving up for retirement. I planned on visiting Greece and spending a lot of time really exploring the ruins. I wanted to channel the gods and goddesses I had devoted a large portion of my life too. They fascinated me. Every one of them was interesting and had a story. I would never get tired of thinking about them.

I was considering using my degree in mythology to move into the literature field. I wanted to write stories about the gods. I wanted to live in their turbulent world for a while. Anything to escape the mundane world I was bound to in my present life.

With the bulk of my work done, the grades for the semester entered into the system, I closed up my office for the day—for the week. I had a few precious days off before I had to pick up and start all over again. I liked the mini-mesters. I liked shoving in a lot of information into a short amount of time. It just seemed more efficient and the students seemed to remember more at the end of the class.

I parked my Toyota Camry in the driveway of my modest two-bedroom house. It was my first real estate purchase. I had bought it as a fixer-upper and had been pouring money into the thing for three years. It was finally almost the way I wanted it. I was proud of what I had accomplished, even if it was a little on the small side.

I left my briefcase on the kitchen table and went to my room to change into comfy jeans. I tried to look the part of a professor when I was at work and generally wore skirts or dressy suits. I wasn’t even going to get into how unfair it was the men could wear jeans and a t-shirt, throw on a blazer and they were officially business casual. Not fair at all.

With my clothes changed, I grabbed my purse and keys and headed right back out the door. I drove out of town to my best friend in the world’s old ranch house. She had inherited the property that was well over a hundred years old. She was a Texas woman through and through. She was the kind of woman you would never want to piss off, even if she had the smile of an angel.

She could hunt, shoot, and clean whatever it was then fry it up in some lard without breaking a sweat. She was absolutely self-sustainable and gorgeous to boot. She also lacked a filter, which probably was to blame for her single status as well. If a man didn’t measure up to her standards, she never hesitated to let them know exactly what it was they were doing wrong.

I drove down the bumpy dirt driveway with white fencing on either side. She had a couple of horses and the required chickens that seemed to be on every Texas ranch, but she wasn’t really a farmer or a rancher.

I parked my car, her two golden retrievers getting to their feet from their resting spots on the covered porch and ambling out to meet me. “Hi, Yin and Yang,” I greeted them.

Kami had rescued them as puppies and her naming skills left a little to be desired. The screen door squeaked open. “Yin. Yang. Get in here,” she ordered the dogs.

“Damn woman, I can smell the chicken from here,” I told her, inhaling the scent of her famous lemon chicken.

“You better hurry before these dogs eat it.”

I walked onto the porch, following her inside and closing the door behind me. The old wood floor and the fire burning in the fireplace created a warm, cozy feeling. Her furniture was old and worn but it was comfortable.

She already had the table set. “Need help?” I asked, already knowing she would shoo me out of her kitchen if I dared try.

“Just sit down,” she ordered.

I did as I was told. She carried a bowl of buttermilk biscuits to the table and took her seat. There were biscuits included with every one of Kami’s meals. I blamed them for the extra weight I carried. They were too good to resist.

“Thank you for this,” I said, reaching for one of the biscuits and splitting it open.

“Of course. How was the last day?”

I laughed. “I got asked out by a student.”

“What? No way! Was he hot?”

“He’s a student. It doesn’t matter if he’s hot.”

“It’s the end of the semester, technically not your student.”

I rolled my eyes. “Now you sound like him.”

“Hey, a girl has to have a little fun now and again.”

“Not with a student.”

“Former student. You could have given him an A for that D.”

I groaned. “You are so bad.”

“Hey, I’m only trying to help you out. You’ve been in a drought longer than California. It’s time to get laid.”

I scowled at her. “You’re so vulgar.”

“I’m not vulgar. I’m a woman who knows what she wants and needs, and I know you are not any different.”

I shook my head, taking a bite of the baked chicken. “I’m not sleeping with one of those horny college boys that is probably carrying around more STDs than a hooker. I’ll pass.”

“Prude.”

“I’m not desperate to find a man. I’m doing just fine. You don’t seem to be in a big hurry to settle down either.”

“Leila, I don’t need to settle down,” she pointed out. “I’ve got my dogs. I’ve got a house and I can take care of myself.”

“And sex?”

“Girl, I don’t have to be married to get that.”

I burst into laughter. “One of these days I might think about looking for a man. That day isn’t today.”

“I suppose if we hit fifty and neither of us has found a man, we can marry each other,” she suggested.

“Works for me. Let’s hope that day doesn’t come.”

“If you don’t start shopping around for Mr. Right, or even almost right, you are going to be in my guest room. We’ll have twenty cats and do puzzles all day.”

I scoffed. “Speak for yourself. I’m moving to Greece.”

“Then I’m coming with you.”

“You’ll never leave Texas.”

She sighed. “You’re right.”