As we drove into the facility there was no way that anyone would know that the building housed tennis courts other than a temporary 4' by 4' sign. Inside it was obvious that there was much work to be done. They’d only been open for about six weeks and had only completed about half the courts. All of them were in use when we walked in. Shelly apologized and said that it usually wasn’t this busy. While we were waiting for a court she pointed out two women at the far end of the building. It only took a quick look to see that they really knew how to play. The ball just flew from one side of the net to the other... Pow!... Pow!... Pow!. Shelly said they were both from Australia and were practicing for the upcoming U. S. Open. When Liz asked for their names Shelly rattled them off. Not a follower of tennis they didn’t register with me. But one thing she said did and that was that the “buzz” was that with proper coaching they would make a name for themselves. We edged a little closer to watch some more and, I’m laughing as I write this, it was enough for me not to ever want to go on a tennis court with a racquet again.
I wanted to be on the way home by 3pm and it had gotten to around 2pm with no courts open. Liz, sensing disappointment from Elle, suggested that they head for the country club to just hit a few balls around for fun. I was hoping Fred would try to dash that idea but he kept his mouth shut. It only took a few minutes to get there and, because it was the heat of the day the courts were empty. As unathletic as Liz looked, thin and somewhat frail, she could hit a tennis ball. Elle was no real match for her but was able to return some of her shots to at least make it interesting for them. Fred and I went to another court and just went though the motions. I’ll say that I was better then he was but that’s not saying much. I’d forgotten that we’d brought the little Kodak Brownie camera. Fred and I were picking our things up when I saw it in my bag. Elle was in the process of picking up the balls that she and Liz had been using and I saw a shot I wanted... and snapped it, quickly dropping the camera back into my bag.
Liz promised to keep in touch and Fred said he’d let me know when his plans firmed up. The preliminary one was for him to get the business started and then to buy a house. On our way home Elle and I talked and hoped they would. We really enjoyed their company. We, or I should say Elle, also talked about tennis. I could her from the tone in her voice that she really wanted me to make an effort to get into it. She told me that Johnny, Sandy’s husband, had told Sandy that he would be more than willing to work with me as soon as the camp he worked at closed for the Summer. I don’t remember responding to that at the time. But I will admit to thinking that this might end up being a good thing in that it might be Elle bribing me for a change and that put a smile on my face.
Elle woke up Friday with her period and not feeling all that well. I’d promised the older kids that we’d go sailing but I’d counted on Elle to be a part of the outing. She begged off and my first thought was not to go. After thinking about it for a while I decided that, with the Sunfish, I could actually take both of them at the same time. They were both excited, especially Anne who pestered me all the way to the sailing club to let her steer. So as to keep the peace I told them they’d take turns. By the time we got there there was more wind than I expected but decided to sail anyway. After giving them some basic lessons we were off. Even though Anne was younger and not yet six she had a better understanding of the way the boat responded to the direction she pushed or pulled the tiller and did quite well. Jean struggled a bit but, all in all, we all had fun.
I’d needed help to get the boat from the trailer to the water and had corralled some of the junior sailors to help me when we arrived. By the time we were ready to leave for home their day was done and there were only a bunch of women with little kids left on the beach. I didn’t know any of them so wasn’t about to ask for help to carry the boat about 150 feet back to the trailer. I was about to call Elle when I saw Rex pull into the parking lot. Even before I could ask him he was on me about the old timers race that he was planing for the following weekend. I was torn knowing that if I said yes that I’d probably get the “itch” to go back to racing. And... I also knew Elle wouldn’t be happy. I’d been around every weekend the whole Summer and she liked that. I did too, up to a point. I hadn’t been to the stock car races either and my competitive juices were certainly flowing as Rex told me who had agreed to compete. It had been a few years since I’d even seen Buddy, Jimbo and Frank. I asked if their wives and kids were coming as well. He said he thought so but was surprised that I didn’t know Frank was divorced. (His wife was the former beauty queen who was also an alcoholic) I got him to help with the boat and the whole time he continued to “sell” me. I finally gave in but wasn’t looking forward to telling Elle of my decision.
As I remember it the weather for the weekend wasn’t all that good and I was glad I’d decided to take the girls sailing without Elle the previous day. The next weekend was the Labor Day one and if I was going to be racing on Saturday and, since we would be celebrating the birthday for both of our fathers on Sunday, there wouldn’t be all that much time to sail with them. I found an “Oh, by the way... ” moment during the week to tell Elle about my planned racing excursion. I have to admit that I wasn’t expecting her reaction... because there really wasn’t one. She shrugged her shoulders and mumbled something along the lines of “I’ve wondered how long it would be before you broke down and did it". It certainly helped when I told her that there was a very good chance that her old friends, Carol and Ruthie, would be there. Rex called with the details around the middle of the week and said he’d heard from another of my old friends, Willie (who's family owned the Evette lingerie company).
By that Friday night I was getting really excited. However, I had to face the fact that I had to mow the lawn that night since the rest of the weekend was as good as gone. Elle was putting the kids to bed when Buddy called. He had arrived and was staying with his parents. Carol was with him along with two of their kids and was pregnant with their third. I was disappointed when Elle told me about that. I was hoping for a reprise of some of the great VPL’s I’d seen when we were all younger. His parents Summer home was located right behind the sailing club and, over time, Elle and I had spent quite a bit of fun time there. Hearing Elle tell me about them got me even more excited.
To be continued...
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