The Catch Of Texas. Lass Small

ideas for buildings are really dumb.”

      She watched the speakers seriously and suggested, “Do any of you ask about things you know are wrong?”

      “Yeah,” one of the older men said. “But the one that designed it doesn’t allow us to comment.”

      Geri asked, “So you figure then what you’d have done if you’d drawn the layout?”

      “Naw. They could be right. It’s when we find they’re wrong, and nothing really works right, that we figure how to save it. Some things don’t save. They’re empty and dead.”

      “Ahhhhh, ” she said softly. She was thinking and considering. The apartments where she lived were somewhat that way. Some of the places were without good views. It was almost as if they’d been slapped in place and left that way.

      One of the older men told her, “The place you live?”

      Now how did he know where she lived? So she just looked at the man.

      Easily he went on, “Some of the apartments were redone. We had to change them. The people who’d moved in didn’t understand outside walls that nobody could look out of.”

      She nodded as she said, “Ahhhh.”

      The older man who was called George said, “We put in the windows.”

      So she asked, “How about an outside porch?”

      George shook his head. “No support below. With the windows, you get to see out. That’s as good as we could do.”

      She laughed. “It’s perfect! Thank you.”

      And another of the men, John, told her,

      “You should have heard the people complaining because they couldn’t see out. That’s when we finally got to put in the extra windows.”

      Geri told him, “It was brilliant. How long ago did they finally agree to allow you all to put in the missing windows?”

      “Some years ago. The people that were to move in there objected to not being able to see out the walls. Other people just didn’t move in. So the ones in charge of that place called us back. And we charged them double.”

      They all laughed.

      She smiled at them until they were silent, then she said, “It was worth it.”

      They smiled at her.

      With subtle élan, she said, “They charge me three times as much because there are the windows.”

      The older man waited for the laughter to soften, then he told her, “We’ll talk to them and straighten them out.”

      They all laughed, including her.

      The older man looked at her and smiled gently. But he was silent.

      She said softly, “Just having those windows is worth your work.”

      He smiled, but he was still silent.

      She thought she’d offended him with her laughter.

      

      So it was only three days later that the receptionist of Geri’s development called to Geri as she went by. The woman told Geri, “We are startled because we’ve been overcharging you for rent!” The woman smiled. “You get a refund.”

      And the money was counted out and then recounted as Geri was paid!

      She gave half of it to Frank and asked that he pass it on to the man who had made the windows.

      Frank asked her, “You sure? It’s your money. George was paid to cut out those windows. He didn’t lose any cash at all.”

      “But he told me why I was being charged extra. Those windows had been paid for a long time ago by the people who lived there.”

      “Yeah.” Frank was thoughtful. “I’ll give him the money again.”

      “Thank you.”

      Frank watched her. “I don’t understand you all the time.”

      “I’m a woman. I can roar.”

      He watched her. His eyes sparkled. He licked his lips. He told her, “You’re special.”

      So Geri went home to find a large basket of flowers at her door. It was from George. He wrote, “You got dinner coming from me and my wife either Friday or Saturday. Let me know.” His phone number was at the bottom.

      She called and told the answering machine, “This is Geri. I shall be delighted to take you and your wife to dinner. Let me know when. I’ll drive.”

      When the time came, it was Frank who drove to fetch her, and they went to pick up George and his wife, Martha. Geri told Frank, “I hadn’t planned to feed you, too. You eat like a horse.”

      Frank replied, “Horses eat grass and stuff like that. I eat steaks.”

      “So you’re the one who uses up all the money!”

      “Yep. Get adjusted.”

      She laughed. She looked at Frank and watched his smile. She settled down and enjoyed the evening.

      George had brought Martha along so that she would do the talking, and he need not. However, it wasn’t long before George broke in and told stories that were really funny, and they all laughed. He was a great storyteller and the stories were simply hilarious.

      They ate and laughed until late that night...the four of them. Then they went back to Geri’s apartment so that Martha could see out Geri’s precious windows facing the river.

      It was lovely. They all stood at the windows and looked beyond the tops of the trees to the TEXAS water that moved in the moonlight. It was special. The night was also. The four of them laughed and snacked the tiny little things Geri had put out for them, and they had beer.

      There was laughter and hilarious talk that was wickedly off base. The men were astonished the women were amused by such things! The men protested and exclaimed and were so shocked!

      The women’s amusement caused tears to run. Geri had to find tissues. She shared with Martha and they laughed some more in the exchange. The women were exhausted from all the hilarity and they told the men they had to be serious and cut out the humor!

      The men nodded seriously, all concerned, but they slid their eyes to each other. And they told more humorous stories about friends who worked with them

      It was late when Frank suggested they take George and Martha to their home. Geri laughed that she would leave her own place to see the others home.

      But George said, “Frank’ll take us by the place we’re working on and let you see where we are.”

      Geri blinked. It was late. She had to get up early for work. She put on a sweater and went with them down to the car. She had no idea why in the world she had done such a dumb thing! Geri decided it was because Martha was there, and it was the courteous thing to see to it that she got home okay. Yeah.

      Geri was amazed at the construction site. George was a genius.

      But then George mentioned that it had been Frank who figured out how they would fix some of the amazing things that they had done in that house. One was a table that could be collapsed just so. Another was a window wall that gave the illusion of being outside—in spite of the wall.

      How people figured to do things was an endless amazement to Geri. So when she and Frank returned to her house, she commented on how much she loved looking out the windows.

      He smiled at her. She had pleased him.

      So, Frank had been the one who’d designed her windows. It might have been George who had put them in, but it had been Frank who had done most of the work. He was a doer.

      Geri smiled at him.

      He reached for her and she