He had to duck down to enter the little house even with his back bent from obvious arthritis. He was a big burly man, the front of his hair yellow from all the years of smoking cigarettes, the rest of it a salt and pepper gray. His voice didn’t match his appearance, his tone had a bit of a squeal to it.
He asked me how old my daughter was that I intended to buy the playhouse for. I told him she was a small four, but her imagination was a lot bigger than that. His face turned red from laughter. “Oh, I understand. My granddaughter was the same, still is I suppose.” I lost him in his thoughts for a moment.
I heard a rumble and then crunching over the gravel driveway. I turned to see the most beautiful girl atop a green and yellow John Deere tractor. Her hair, locks of gold and her makeup done perfectly. “Da, who’s that man?” She stepped down from her ride. She wore a stunning pink dress, with a rose-colored fur around her neck and to top it off, this girl had on pumps, making her taller than her Da.
She maneuvered up to us as if she were top model on a runway. “She’s called me Da ever since she’s been old enough to talk.” You could see the gleam in his eyes. She flung her scarf back around her neck and spoke quickly. “Just give the man that old thing. I have no use for it anymore.” She strutted back off. He yelled in her direction. “I need this money to help pay for your fancy Julliard school in the fall, Lilly.” She stopped, turned on her heels and responded. “Momma says you have plenty of money and no matter what, you cannot come to New York with me, if this is one of your ploys.”
He looked back towards me and quoted me a price. The old tractor’s engine revved back up. “Sorry sir, I thought this time would be different. He can’t find it in his heart to get rid of anything that belonged to one of his grandkids.” She was right, the price tag was hefty. “You’ll understand one day, and I would have sold it to you had the price been right.” He winked at me.
Leesa Writes 