53

“What is it, my child?”

“I have met a man, he is too old for me, but I can’t stop thinking about him.”

“Where did you meet him?”

“At the place, Maria and I went to. I guess it would make sense to meet a man there, that’s why women go there, but I never thought I would. I just went along to keep Maria company.”

“Child, you never know where you will meet that special one in your life. How much older is he?”

“He is older than my father, in his mid-forties.”

Pocha patted her hand. “That’s nothing. When your father and I were children, the village girls often married men much older than that, it was normal then. Anyway, I think a young woman should be with an older man.”

“Why do you say that?”

“Young men might be stronger and better looking, but an older man knows how to please a woman, and he is often more faithful. He has had his time to perfect his bed manors, so to say.”

Concha went to the kitchen and came back with a glass of water. “My head is spinning.”

“What did you have to drink?”