MORE ON AND ON... June (Part 118g)

MORE ON AND ON... June (part 118g)

Needless to say, the news disrupted the plans for the afternoon. With all the commotion I decided it was time for us to go. Elle was really uncomfortable and wanted to get home and washed up and changed. Since the kids were still with Elle’s mother I had a few minutes to “play“ with her. I loved my kids but I surely loved my private time with her and this was one of those times. I wished there were more of them.

Back at work we were preparing for the next ”busy period“. The new hires in my area of responsibility seemed to be working out well. Bret had finally gotten up the nerve to go talk with Netta and that little ”hitch“ was smoothed over. Jaz was a hard worker and got along well with Lorrie. The hope (with fingers and toes crossed) was that the bookkeeping machine didn’t break down again. Laura, who was working as an assistant to the Auditor, was liked by everybody, especially Liz who was pleased at how quickly she’d adapted to the work. As an aside, Laura was faithfully repaying the loan for her clothes. Cara had come back to work and seemed like a changed person now that her soon to be ex husband was out of the picture. So, all in all, things were going well.

I went home the same way each night, going past what in my mind I called ”the panty house“, hoping to find some still on the clothes line. I think it was Wednesday night when Elle told me that the electrician was going to stop by after supper. She’d got tired of my excuses about not contacting him so she went and did it herself. His name was Ward and he actually worked as a supervisor for the regional power company. He did electrical jobs as a sideline, for cash, so he pretty much had the best of both worlds. I explained the problem and what we wanted done. He surmised that the reason we had no power to the garage was that the original wires were installed over thirty years ago, in the ground and the insulation had broken down. He asked if any of us ever walked across that section of lawn in our bare feet. I didn’t know but asked why. He said if the power switch to the garage was on and there was any moisture in the ground we would feel a tingling as we walked around. I thought about it for a minute and was thankful that we hadn’t.

The repairs weren’t that hard to get done but the question was on just what type of flood light we wanted. Ward told me he had a catalog I could look through with Elle and when we decided he’d purchase and install it. By the time he had power back to the garage it was dark so he said he’d leave the catalog on the picnic table outside his back door and I could pick it up the next day. In our conversation he told me he was big into softball and the opening game for the Summer was the next night so he wouldn’t be home after work. I ended up running late the next morning and didn’t have time to stop. I figured i could do it on my way home since no matter what decision Elle and I made it wouldn’t get installed until the weekend, at the earliest. When I made the turn down the side road by his house there was no red panel truck or car. i stopped and as i walked across the back yard toward the back of the house I saw a wicker wash basket sitting on the picnic table. I didn’t think much about it until I was almost up to it. It was filled with clothes and right on top were three neatly folded piles of white panties. Oh my heart!

There was no way I was going to touch them without making sure that no one was home. After knocking on both the front and back doors I returned to the table. The catalog was under the corner of the basket. I pulled it out and saw circles drawn around three different styles of flood lights on the open page... but my attention was more on those panties than the catalog. I stood there holding it trying to decide if I dared to pick a pair of them up. There was absolutely no way I was going to take a pair but I really did want to know the maker. The width of the crotch was intriguing. I finally made the decision to take a look. Each time I’d see the panties on the line they were grouped by size with the largest closet to the house and the smallest closer to the garage. With three piles to choose from I chose the middle. As soon as my fingers touched them I knew they were made of nylon satin tricot, my favorite. I noted just how they were folded so I could, hopefully, fold them back the same way. I have to tell you that my heart was racing as I peered inside looking for the label. I was disappointed because all it said was ”Nylon“, in script. There was also number 5 with a circle around it, representing the size. I had a feeling I’d seen some like it before but I needed to get them back where they belonged so didn’t dwell on it. With the lighting catalog in hand I headed for home.

As you would expect from me, I chose the cheapest light, telling Elle that it would be adequate. The look on her face told me she didn’t ”buy“ it. Later, while watching television, I remembered where I’d seen the same label as I’d seen earlier in the panties. It went all the way back to when Bret’s wife, Jan, (before they met and married) had lived at my grandfather’s house and some of her panties had been stolen off the wash line in his yard. She’d bought some new ones at the Woolworth’s store that was located right across the street. I made a habit of doing periodic panty drawer checks when visiting my grandfather when she wasn't there and had noticed them at that time. As I sat there reminiscing I made mental note to try and eat lunch there one day soon so I could check out their panty table once again.

To be continued...