“Yes, I’m going to do it, by golly!” she says aloud to no one in the room. A flourish of excitement rushes through her veins. “And why not, dog-gone it?”
Why not, indeed — there is no good reason why you shouldn’t, she replies to herself with equal conviction, this time not aloud but rather in her mind. A bright and beautiful smile with twin dimples coalesces across her face, smoothing out the wrinkles of her aged skin.