My grandmother called him a “tall glass of water.” She seemed to think that towering height corresponded to suitability. She paid no heed to his idle nature, how he preferred to spend his days lazing on her wrap-around porch drinking sweet tea and eating snickerdoodles by the dozen. I don’t think he kept any job for more than two days, usually getting fired within an hour of walking in the front door.
That he was a nice looking young man, and that we would “make beautiful gran’babies,” apparently her top priority. As she so often pointed out, I could hardly do better.
He saw me as his invitation into genteel society. Gram, quite taken with his charms, introduced him to the creme of her cronies, intimating our betrothal.
My pending inheritance was well-known. Any man selected as my bridegroom also became a beneficiary to a vast fortune. Once I reached my majority, I became an extremely wealthy woman on my own, a salaried profession unnecessary for either me or my husband. He counted on that, playing on Gram’s desire to have a stable of little scions to dote on and spoil.
Neither expected my mutiny. My rejection of Gram vetting all of suitors, and rejection of him specifically. Once banking accounts were settled and all control directed solely to me, I left town, choosing instead to live life by my rules.
What I didn’t expect, was Gram’s reluctance to waste such a good catch, and of course her cougar nature.
Thin spiral notebook 
Great twist.
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Ha! Great twist at the end.
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Love this! Wonderfully written, from your choice of language to the tone. And you totally made me laugh out loud at the end!
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“a tall glass of water” I haven’t heard that in forever. I love how you tell your stories.
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I could imagine him and that delicious food and tea on that very porch. Love that Gram was a cougar! And he bagged the dough. And snickerdoodles are my favorite cookie! Fun, fun story.
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ha! cute ending
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Cool grandma! 😀
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Now THAT is how things are supposed to go! If she like him so much then it she should have gone out with him from the start. If does kind of get me thinking. Would she have kept her hands to herself if you did marry him?
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The wisest decision, by far…I can see his plan! Very nice writing!
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THIS..is why you are a favorite writer of mine. I love the south, (have you ever heard of Anne Rivers Siddons? Pat Conroy? 2 of my favorites) and you remind me of it.
My maternal grandma was like this in some ways..a man was more important than a life. I would bring straight A’s to her, show her things I was proud of and she would want to know how my “boyfriend” was , as if I was nothing without him. It was a mean thing, it was just the way she saw the “way of the world”.
the ending of this was perfection. Better with HER anyway, right?
😉
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