CHAPTER 11
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Millie and Jeanne sat on the porch rockers of
Millie’s candy store resting and watching. The surrey parked on the
street in front nearly blocked their view of Amy Breen and her
friends down one side of the street. They saw lovely Lily Cable
walking up from the other side. She was coming to work at the candy
store.
“It’s like that Gary Cooper movie. You know,
that one with that pretty Grace Kelly,” said Millie.
“Sure, that would be High Noon. That’s
a good comparison,” nodded Jeanne as she looked up and down the
street.
“Was that a John Ford movie, Jeanne?”
“No, it was Fred Zinnemann.”
“… Don’t know him, but wasn’t Grace Kelly
lovely? Don’t know why she had to marry that prince in Monaco. I
think Lily looks a bit like her,” said Millie.
“Oh, heavens no! Lily is the spitting image
of Audrey Hepburn in Breakfast at Tiffany’s.”
“That’s it! You’re right. Audrey Hepburn. I
loved her in Roman Holiday with that wonderful Gregory Peck,
didn’t you?”
“My, yes. It was so sweet that they were such
opposites, but fell for each other.”
“Like Sandy and Lily, do you think?”
Slow grins spread across Millie and Jeanne’s
faces.
“You bet,” said Jeanne. “There’s my
fair-haired Sandy, who looks a bit like a young Robert Redford, and
then this raven-haired Audrey Hepburn beauty comes along and steals
his heart. It is like a movie!”
They turned to watch the show in front of
them. Popcorn would have been a nice touch.
“… So who’s in the cast here, Jeanne? Who
would Amy and her friends be?”
“Well, they’re the bad guys Gary Cooper has
to fight. Remember the whole town wouldn’t help him? He’s all
alone.”
“And Lily? Who’s she?”
“She’s Gary Cooper who has come to face his
mortal enemy and his fears.”
“… His fears?”
“Well, yes. He’s unsure of himself and not
confident that he can get rid of the bad guys.”
“So then who’s Grace Kelly here?”
“I guess… that would be Sandy.” Jeanne
scratched her head.
“… Sandy is Grace Kelly?”
“I think so. Grace Kelly and Gary Cooper have
just gotten married, as I recall, and he hangs up his badge. She
doesn’t want him to be a lawman anymore.”
“Okay, so…”
“So no one in town will help him get rid of
the bad guys, except for Grace Kelly. She helps him somehow. I
forget that part.”
“How is Sandy helping Lily?”
A wind blew tumbleweeds down the street and
they watched them roll by.
“She was over for dinner again last night and
they were discussing what to do about Amy Breen. Sandy was
encouraging her to stand up for herself and tell Amy off. Lily
didn’t want Sandy stepping in for her. It’s wonderful to see them
working out a problem together. I think they’re a good team.”
“…Think they’ll marry, Jeanne?”
“I’d bet on it. My son has his heart set on
her. Jesse loves her too. It’s obvious as the nose on my face that
she adores them both.”
They looked at each and sighed.
Romance… and turned to watch the movie.
From opposite ends of the dusty street, Amy
and Lily saw each other. And at the same time, they began walking
slowly towards one another. People in stores glanced out the
windows.
“Narrate for me, Jeanne,” said Millie.
“Okay. They’re walking as if they mean to
duel.”
“Duel?”
“Shh…”
The women stopped on the street about four
feet apart and began talking. Amy’s face contorted and frowned,
while Lily looked calm and composed.
“Gary Cooper is advising the bad guy to give
it up and get out of town before he gets hurt.”
Amy reached over to slap Lily and Lily
grabbed her arm.
“That was the quick draw of guns.”
Lily gently let go of Amy’s arm and continued
talking to her in a calm way. Gradually, Amy’s face relaxed and she
smiled. Maybe she was remorseful. They talked a while longer and
eventually shook hands.
“Okay, that would be Gary Cooper shooting the
bad guy dead. Maybe we can assume the bad part of Amy has been
killed. What’s that called, an analogy?”
“Yep. Sounds good to me. Great job of
narrating, Jeanne.”
They held up two fingers like toy guns and
blew at the end at their index fingers, like blowing the smoke from
their pistols.
Lily walked up to them with raised eyebrows,
as if to say ‘what are you two up to’?
“Hi, Lily. How did it go?” Jeanne asked with
a straight face.
“It went okay, I think. I stood up for myself
like Sandy said I should. We’ll see what comes of it. She seemed
sorry, but who knows?” Lily shrugged. “Guess I’ll go sell some
fudge.” She walked into the candy store with a look of confidence
on her face.
Jeanne and Millie grinned playfully.
“What’s that they say about life imitating
art, Millie?”
“You bet, Jeanne.”
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