Still, looking at the both of them now, I find it hard to see them as anything other than sisters. I look at other mothers - my friends’, my own, and others, and they all dress and look like mothers should look. Not Pat. At least, not to my eyes.

I sat at the table accepting a cup of cocoa, watching them both. Even then, knowing that they were mother and daughter, Pat looked almost as young as Mary. They both had long, blond hair, worn loosely, long and flowing, reminding me of film stars like Veronica Lake and Virginia Mayo. Was I putting them on a pedestal as any young man might have placed such women? Perhaps. I did not mean to do it, but they were so different from all the others. Their hair was never worn up; they never wore hats; their shoes were what was known as three-quarter heels rather than high heels. In those days, to wear slacks was frowned upon unless work demanded it, but not by Pat who wore them often. It was not uncommon for her “Derry Air” to be attract admiring glances. If Mary and Pat reminded me of film stars, I should have remembered that film stars, according, to all the magazines and film critics, have a side to them you do not see, and Pat, at least, had her secrets as well.

I was drinking the last of my cocoa. Mary said she was hungry and went into the kitchen to make a Spam sandwich. Pat was looking at me for a minute.

“Are you going to be dating Mary from now on?” she asked.

“Given the chance, I can think of nothing better,” I answered. “Over the years I’ve thought about it often. Tonight it seems like it’s come together, so I’m hanging on here waiting to ask her before I go.” This was not quite the truth, but it seemed the best thing to say.

“She will say yes,” Pat said. “But I doubt she’ll say she is looking for anything serious; not with the way things are.”

“That’s Ok. I’ll work on it,” I answered.

“If you give her the same attention you give your motors, it might work.”

“Yes,” I said. “I’m saving up to buy an MG sports car. Which comes first, the girl or the car? I suppose it’s too soon to tell for either!”