It was summer in a new town, in a new house, in a new life. A township full of conservative community sentiments. Real men have chainsaws, and women bake and love their.. horses.
I had my hundred year old roof replaced by a local man. With weeks of work and weeks of tea drinking out on my shaded verandah, he was an easy going mate, we would chat about.. nothing in particular, my intellect relaxed, I felt grounded in his company.
If I drove the right vehicle, he’d have invited me to join the lads for a beer, and a game of cards. But it’s a small town, old social rules still apply - I drive the wrong vehicle, with my smackable rear bumper, and my front airbags permanently inflated.
I hid inside the house the day his wife called on him. I feared my own non-existent threat of being an apparently single, liberal lady, of independent means. I hid..because..all I wanted was a friendly smile, and for him to fix my gutter five years from then.
