Evening Chat

The night air was balmy, heat left over from the scorching afternoon wafting up from the ground in almost tangible waves. There was no breeze to stir leaves on the maple above, no ripple in the vineyard beside them. Stillness reigned, the proverbial calm before the storm.

Ice rattled in her glass as she lifted it and drank, the cool tea going down her throat like liquid snow. Slightly refreshed, she turned to him and smiled. He looked warm, his curls pushed back in untidy waves and perspiration glistening off his muscular shoulders.

Conversation. That's the ticket. It'll take our minds off the heat.

She said the first thing that came to mind. "Marianne's running a contest on her blog."

"Does that contest involve a swimming pool filled with ice?"

She ignored him. "I don't remember the prize, I just remember the contest. She's got a new novella coming out, Kitchen Matches, so she's asking blog readers to send their funniest kitchen stories to her. I guess the wackiest couple will win...something. Anyway, I thought it was a clever idea."

With a mischievious grin, he said, "You can't enter that contest."

"I hadn't planned to, but why not?"

"It wouldn't be fair." He chuckled, turning toward her. Raising his glass in a silent toast, he took a sip, then said, "You've got too many to choose from."

His wisecrack earned him a poke in the shoulder. "No smartass remarks from you, pal. Especially since you don't look like you're starving. My kitchen talents must be up to par; you've gotten fed all these years, haven't you?"

Shrugging, he stared philosophically at the sky above the hill. It had darkened considerably. "Hey, I'm not saying you don't have kitchen talents. I'm just saying there have been...incidents."

There was no denying it. There had been kitchen episodes, especially during the early years of their marriage. Some had been funny. Others had required a fire extinguisher and a sense of humor.

"All right, you've got me there. But I was't even thinking about the one or two teeny, tiny kitchen snafus--"

"One? Two? Teeny? Tiny?"

"Watch it, pal!" She laughed, the sound mixing with the distant rumble of thunder. "I wasn't thinking about the kitchen, anyway. Remember the--"

To Be Continued...