SHE WON'T LISTEN TO ME

Mary Margaret doesn't want to listen to me. She sometimes pretends she doesn't hear me when I'm just set on givin' her great advice. Well, at least I think it is. I don't know whether she really doesn't hear me, or if she has decided, since I've been physically removed from her life, she no longer has to listen. That gal may have just got too big for her britches.

All I really want is for Mary Margaret to have happiness--more than I had. I could have married long ago and I let a silly disagreement get in between me and the man I loved. And then it was too late for both of us. He was gone and I never quite got over it. Though I never let anyone in Harts Corner know about that part of my life. And I certainly can't tell my niece that I made a mistake, one it looks like she just might repeat, in not jumping on that man's bones and letting him drag me off to a Justice of the Peace. That gal better look at this romance closely.

I've got this lacy dress I want to wear to a wedding. And a leghorn hat--that's an old-fashioned name for a snazzy straw hat with ribbon streaming down the back of it. I keep askin' her what color I should make that ribbon so it will match her bride's maids outsfits. She just snorts--I hate that sound-- it is not ladylike at all. And ignores my questions.

She's grown up into a lovely young lady. That red hair and those green eyes show the Irish from her daddy's side, but that slender figure with long legs reminds me of myself at her age. And, whether I like to admit it or not, she's almost as stubborn as I am. That's the reason our horns lock about this issue of romance and marriage.

Do you hear me, Mary Margaret? You're gonna lose this man, a man that seems to have the hots for you! And he's not only handsome, he's got a good job and..What did you say? Well, of course, being a deputy isn't the same as being the sheriff but that's Billy Ray Cobb's job at the present, so what can I say. Huh? You don't want to find your way out of this hick town via a man. Now, what does that mean, young lady? There's nothing wrong with Harts Corner, Texas, as I have been trying to tell you all of your life. And even though I agree that a woman has to go where her man goes, I am here to tell you that Deputy Miguel Kinkaid is not going anywhere. How do I know? Well, Bess--you know Bess, the conjuring woman? She has made it impossible for him--or you--to leave this town.

Mary Margaret! You get yourself back here and listen to me. This is your dear Aunt Lutie trying to take care of you. Don't you leave without hearing all the news. You hear me!