WAITING FOR SUMMER... with high hopes (Part 108h)

Actually, things were pretty much a blur after the promotion. Too many things happening all at once. On the following Monday Amy showed up with a photographer. I’ve always been a bit reticent when it came to giving out personal information so this whole process was uncomfortable when she began asking all kinds of questions. I’d wanted her father to do this. At the same time I was troubled by the fact that Bret seemed to be avoiding me. His reaction upon finding out about my promotion was pretty much as I’d feared. I didn’t really know how to handle it but I knew that I had to. Hobie had told me a few of the new responsibilities that came with the title and now I had to go through the process of getting involved with them. By Wednesday I was wondering if it had been worth it.

The weather had turned really warm. If there was one thing that you could count on for the month of June was that there would be one very hot week to endure. In some years it turned out to be the hottest week of the Summer. I don’t remember what night it was but when I got home Peggy was there. Elle had suggested that it would be a good night to take the Sailfish out to the lake. I had a million thoughts from work going through my mind and sailing wasn’t even on the horizon when I pulled up. Elle seldom asked for much and I could see from the look on her face that this was something that she really wanted to do. It was one of the nights that Elle was to drive Peggy home so she asked if she wanted to stay and to go for a sail. Of course Peggy said ”yes“.

Elle had made sandwiches and lemonade and she and the girls already had their bathing suits on. I didn’t have a chance. I did notice that Peggy was wearing her almost always present white shirt/blouse tied just above the waist of a pair of red shorts. As we started to carry the boat and sails to the station wagon Elle asked Peggy if she was sure she didn’t want to borrow one of her bathing suits. Hearing that I began chanting ”Yes! Yes! Yes!“ to myself knowing that if she did it would give me a chance to see her panties up close and personal. Unfortunately, she declined.

As I’d feared, getting the boat into the station wagon was a problem. Once we got most of it in the second problem was in securing it. It took up so much room that there was barely enough room for me to get in and to drive the vehicle. It meant that Elle had to drive my car and that didn’t make me very happy. Once I’d changed it over to a stick shift, and on the floor too boot, she’d not driven it. It had easily been seven or eight years since she’d driven a stick and that one was on the column. In my mind this wasn’t turning out all that well.

The clutch on my car took a bit of a beating but we eventually made it out to the lake. The next problem was that we weren’t the only ones who’d thought that a trip to the lake was a good idea on a hot night. The lake was privately owned by the community that pretty much surrounded it. That is, except for where the road was on the North side. That was where the public would go for access and on this night I couldn’t find a place to park even one vehicle. I did remember that the same thing had happened one night when our old neighbors, Andy and Lil, had come out with us. Both of them were bowlers and knew the owner of the alleys which was located on the West end of the lake. They got permission for us to access the water from the alley property. I knew there was no way to get the boat to the water from that location but Andy had introduced me to the owner. On a whim I went inside and asked him if he knew of any place where we could get the boat to the water. Fortunately, he remembered me. He told me I could use his property. He explained that he’d bought a lakefront lot when the alley’s were first built but hadn’t done anything except to clear the trees where he’d planned to build a house. He drew me a map and we were off. The bad thing was that it was getting close to 7pm.

It was a beautiful location with plenty of trees. As soon as Elle saw it she wanted to know if the owner might sell. I reminded her that we were there to sail. It took a bit of effort to get the boat to the water as there was no cleared trail for us to follow. After getting the sails up Elle suggested that I take Peggy out first so she could get the girls and the baby set. Even though I’d been standing in the water for only a few minutes I was already beginning to lose the feeling in my toes. It was a spring fed lake meaning that even in the middle of the Summer the water never got really warm. It was only June so the water was really cold. As I rigged the boat I’d been telling Peggy about the concept of wind, sail and water and how they all had to work together. The Sailfish was anything but comfortable to sail. Somewhat like a a large surfboard with a sail, you had to sit on it with your legs out in front of you ((NOT like a windsurfer where the person stands) I waved Peggy into the water and told her that the best way to get on board was to turn her back to the sail and then sit down. Once her bottom was on the boat I told her she had to pull her legs and feet out of the water and then turn around so she was facing the front (bow). Only three or four steps into the water she was sort of squealing about how cold it was. She initially did as I’d told but I’d fully expected her to immediately spin and turn towards the bow. She didn’t and when she pulled her legs out of the water she had them tucked up towards her chest and just sat there. I looked down at her and she seemed to be shivering. I told her that she had to turn and face forward and when she did I saw two things... a quick glance of white from between her legs and a suspicious dark spot in the same place.

To be continued...