MORE SUMMER FUN... August (Part 110i)

When that race was over I finally got a chance to ask Jim about the woman. He laughed and told me that the look on my face when I first saw her was a classic. I wasn’t interested in how I looked so I bugged him for some information. The story went something like this... Big Dan had owned some sort of bar/club in the city and she’d performed there. Somehow, someway, they connected and got married. Dan sold the bar and, tired of the hassle of the city, he moved out East and bought a bait store. Jim’s boss was a big fisherman and one thing led to another and Jim ended up meeting Dan... and his wife. I had to ask him if he had any idea just how big she was. He laughed again and I do remember him saying, emphatically, BIG!

I honestly don’t remember anything about how I did in the race. I do remember that  Seeg had come over to wish me luck before the race and almost choked on his cigar when he got a profile look at the woman. I also remember that after the race I stayed by the car talking to Dan (but looking at the woman) trying to get him to give me some sponsorship money. I did put a bumper sticker on the car for him before the race and thought there might be a chance. However, no money was forthcoming. Darren and I never did get over to see Seeg and his son after his race because we wasted so much time with Dan.

It was sometime after that that J J approached me saying that his wife was coming out for the weekend to get a handle on the house he was going to rent until his new house was completed. He hinted that it might be nice if we (Elle and I) would go out to dinner with them. I absolutely did not like that woman even though I’d only met her the one time. I fabricated an excuse to get out of it and thought I’d escaped. What he was angling for was for me to help him get the house ready for him to move in. He thought that a free dinner would be the way to do it. Never one to give up, he came up with an alternative plan. On a few occasions he’d casually mentioned how much fun he’d had when I took him sailing on the Sailfish. So, he offered to spring for a dinner picnic for Elle, I and the kids out at the lake. We hadn’t used the boat in a few weeks and I really did like the guy so I said ”yes“ even without talking to Elle.

Elle really had no problem with the idea of the picnic so we went ahead with the preparations. The problem came when Peggy heard about it. She made sure I heard her when she reminded me about Labor Day and the invite I’d given her. I hadn’t mentioned it to Elle so that created a little friction. We got lucky at the lake as there was enough wind to get around. I let J J go for a sail all by himself and when he came back I knew he was ”hooked“ on it.

During the picnic part of the evening I learned about the deal he’d worked for the house rental. As I’ve written, he'd been renting the guest cottage owned by the people who ran the advertising agency that the bank used. The owner had a large main house (five bedrooms) where his son and grand daughter (Amy) also lived. However, he had just retired to Florida and Amy had told J J that the house was way too big for just the two of them. J J, on a whim, asked the son if there was any chance for him to rent the main house for a few months and he agreed to it. The guest house was big enough for both he and his daughter so he agreed to it. What J J wanted from me was to help move some of their things from the main house over to the guest cottage. As part of the ”deal“ he’d agreed to take care of that and, being short of money, was looking for all the free help he could get. He told me that he was going to ask Bret as well. He described what had to be done and as it didn’t sound like it was a lot of work, I agreed. Out of sight of J J, Elle rolled her eyes.

The following Saturday turned out to be a stormy day so the car races were cancelled. I’d been in touch with Willy to thank him for the panties, slips and nighties and learned a little about the business. I, naively, had thought that he would just pull a couple of items out of a bin and ship then out. He explained that anything shipped out went according to the information in the catalog and that panties were packaged six to a box. He asked if I’d gotten the catalog to the lady (Judith) I’d told him about that had just opened a boutique. I hadn’t and felt guilty about it. I remember feeling flushed when he asked. I lied and told him I had and also told him I’d follow up on it over the weekend with her. With that I knew I had to do it... but what excuse could I use to get away from Elle and the kids.

It had been a while since I’d last talked with Judith. The common thread we had was the girl who I’d worked with at the first bank, Stasia. The girl had been in an intolerable situation as far as her personal life was concerned and Judith had arranged for her brother to take her in and give her a job The last time I’d spoken to Judith she’d told me that she’d adapted fairly well. I’d promised to come visit her new shop but still hadn’t done it. Now I had to.

I’ve never been a good liar and I was sure Elle didn’t believe me when I told her I was going to the sailing club. When I walked into Judith’s shop I was truly surprised. She had so many clothes packed into that small space I could hardly get from the door to the counter. She was pleased to see me and it took a good bit of time for us to get caught up with each other. Stasia and her son were now ”thriving“ in their new surroundings. There had been no repercussions for her involvement so that was another plus. I finally brought out the catalog and explained that the owner of the company was a friend and was a Summer resident of the area. I told her he would be available to meet with her if she showed any interest. I remember her giving me one of those patronizing smiles which told me that she had no interest. Picking up on that I asked if she’d do me a BIG favor and call Willy to let him know. I left a bit disappointed but had seen enough in her store to know I’d be back.

To be continued...