Cinderella in Overalls by Carol Grace

Author:Carol Grace [Carol Grace]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2011-08-14T14:00:00+00:00

Chapter Seven

When it was light, Catherine walked over to Doña Blanca’s with a basket of fresh eggs over her arm to get the truck. The men who had stopped by to drink leftover chaca and bang pots and pans under the newlyweds’ window were admiring the engine, the gleaming exterior and the extra-large tires.

Catherine handed over the keys to Manuel, the husband of Doña Blanca. She smiled as the children came running and piled into the long bed. The men took turns driving down the road, turning around and coming back again. One of them would drive to market on Monday, since they had the day off. Catherine would sit in back with the women, and the rest of the men would ride along and help unload. They were chattering excitedly about the trip to town, eager to pull up in front of the market in their own big, beautiful truck.

Catherine, too, was eager to pull up in front of the Rodriguez Market. Not that she expected to see Josh there, of course. But then why did her heart beat faster when they turned the corner of the cobblestone street where the policeman in his green uniform stood directing traffic?

Of course he wasn’t there. He was probably still in bed, in his penthouse apartment overlooking the city. Or if he wasn’t there he was already at work, in his high-rise office far above the smoke and the fumes and the noise. She looked up in the direction of the tall buildings that stood outlined in the early-morning light.

The atmosphere was different in the stall with the men around, lifting, carrying, laughing and joking. Sometime around midday Jacinda gave Catherine a series of sharp, inquisitive looks. Catherine gave her her best serene smile so she couldn’t possibly guess that Catherine was suffering from post-wedding blues. The kind that make you think the whole world was paired off while you longed for someone of your own.

She would be fine tomorrow when the men went back to work and things were back to normal. But her mind wandered back to the wedding. To the feeling of the rain on her skin and Josh’s lips on hers. Her eyes wandered, too, searching among the crowds of shoppers for a tall figure with close-cropped dark hair who towered above the others. But he didn’t come.

After lunch the crowds thinned out. Some of the women leaned back against the sacks of potatoes and closed their eyes. But Jacinda never rested. Her black eyes assessed Catherine, and she took her by the arm. “Let us go have a coffee and discuss business.”

“Business?” Catherine asked. “So soon after the wedding?”

Jacinda nodded solemnly, but said no more until they were seated at the counter of Don Panchito’s coffee shop.

“You know my friend Doña Margarita who made your new sweater and skirt?”

“Of course I do.”

Jacinda lowered her voice. “She went to the bank to ask for a loan.”

“Really? What happened?”

“Señor Bentley treated her very kindly and sent her to the loan counselor, the same one who teaches us.

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