I stepped outside on the front porch and it was just as hot out there as it was in the house. I realized they didn’t have air conditioning.
“So much for a breath of fresh air,” I muttered to myself as I made my way to a rocking chair and flopped down in it.
“Found yourself in southern plantation hell, have you?” Ben asked as he walked around the corner of the porch.
With no doubt in my mind I believe in God, but I swear I never believed God could have or would have created something so perfect on Earth. Ben was indeed the most perfect boy I had ever seen. The way he spoke. He had a southern accent, but the way he said things just made them sound so wonderful. He could give an hour lecture on the Black Plague and get a standing ovation.
He came and sat in the rocking chair next to mine and I thought I would faint. All I could muster up the strength to say was, “What?” Between the heat, him, his mother and mine, it had already been quite a day.
Ben smiled. “A little too much South for you, darlin’?”
Darling? Oh wow. Okay, I can do this. I took a breath.
“I’m from PA,” I said. “We don’t have y’all and plantations there.”
He laughed and said, “PA, huh?” He got comfortable in his chair and began rocking it back and forth. “We’re the same as you are, Miss Elizabeth. We may speak with a lazy drawl but we enjoy the company of friends and family and we love with the same heart.”
Was that a southern flirtation? Is he flirting with me? I was so excited. I can flirt. That’s what I do. That’s why I was here, according to my mom, anyway.
I went brain dead. I looked at his eyes and his hair and his face and I felt like I was standing at an all-you-can-eat dessert buffet and couldn’t pick a single thing.
After I looked at him for what seemed like an eternity, he said, “You know my mama does enjoy the old-fashioned things in life. She has done her best to preserve those things in her children. We carry on her ideas of traditional manners, education and work ethic because we choose to do so. We know other things exist in the world around us that we are not a part of and it’s all right with us.”
“So, you don’t miss TV or going to school?” I asked shocked.
“No, we enjoy reading and being with each other. We know life here won’t last forever. We’ll grow up and move along and make our own choices, but for now, we choose to enjoy our family.”
“The girls told me about the Ringing In ceremony,” I said trying to act calm.
“The cotillion is the biggest event of the year,” he said almost excited. “I will be a senior so I will be allowed to present a ring to a junior this year.” He grinned at me. “What grade are you in?”

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