MORE SUMMER HEAT… lots of it (Part 162n)
By the time I got home
Elle had fed the kids and Barbara as well. I was curious as to the
interaction between the two of them but Elle told me to wait until
later. I’d been in wet clothes for over six hours by then even though
the rain had stopped around mid afternoon. While Elle warmed up my
dinner I jumped into the shower. I don’t know why but my thoughts were
not on Barbara but on the lady at the sailing club. The sight of her
panties showing though her wet dress was almost intoxicating and I found
it started an erection. That didn’t last long as Elle knocked on the
door to say she was ready to serve me my dinner.
I could see the
kids were playing out on the screened in porch but there was no sign of
Barbara so I asked. Elle just shrugged her shoulders and pointed up to
indicate she was upstairs. That wasn’t a good sign so I pressed Elle
about what the two of them had talked about. Still reluctant to say
anything she whispered that Barbara had broken down crying shortly after
I left but wouldn’t go any further. After finishing up eating I went
outside to take a close up view of the yard. I was physically exhausted
and just couldn’t bring myself to start cleaning up the mess strewn
about the yard. It troubled me though knowing I’d have to tackle it the
next evening. While walking around I saw someone in the yard next door. I
took a peek through the hedge and saw a balding man about my father’s
age standing behind the house and sort of staring at it. The only person
I’d seen since the house was sold was a much younger man so the bald
man’s presence puzzled me. What I was really looking forward to was
getting in my reclining chair and relaxing but I pushed my way though
the hedge and hailed the man.
When, after hailing him a few
times, he finally acknowledged me but he seemed disinterested as I
identified myself. Not having any idea who he might be I just went ahead
and boldly asked him. In my mind’s eye he really didn’t give an answer.
That made me mad at myself for even making the effort so I turned to go
back through the hedge. He called out asking me to stop and started
walking towards me. He said his name was Donald (I didn’t get the last
name) and the house supposedly belonged to his son. Without explanation,
he went on to say the house would be put up for sale before the end of
the month. That was a shock. I was guessing that the younger man I’d met
that one time was his son and without being nosy could only imagine
something had happened to him. Not knowing what to say I mealy mouthed
the fact I wasn’t sure if I’d ever met his son but I thought I had. I
remember his answer… “If you had you would’ve remembered it…” I stood
there struggling to try and remember that meeting and it came to me that
my impression of him was that he was a bit strange. The man, Donald,
went on to say that he was actually estranged from his son. That had me
wondering why he was at the house if that was the case. As tired as I
was it was difficult for me to follow what I was hearing and in no mood
to ‘pry’ by asking questions. The conversation ended when he handed me a
business card with his name and the name of a printing company in New
Jersey. He asked if I could call with the name(s) of some realtors so he
could have the house listed for sale. Then he turned and walked away. I
followed him with my eyes and wondered where his car was eventually
walking over to the driveway where I saw a new big black Cadillac sedan.
If nothing else was gained from the encounter it was that the man had
money.
I returned home with the news about the house next door
being put up for sale once again. I tried to get Elle to talk about
Barbara but she would have nothing to do with it. I suggested she might
want to go upstairs to tell her about the house but she declined saying
that it she didn’t think it was appropriate at the moment. I went to my
recliner and promptly fell asleep. When I woke up all the lights were
out except the light over the stove in the kitchen. I made my way
upstairs and took a peek in at everyone. All were sleeping in the bare
minimum… kids in their panties and Barbara in her t shirt and ‘package’.
I took the last part as being a bit of defiance on Barbara’s part even
though it had been made pretty clear that it wasn’t necessary. Walking
into our bedroom it came to me that she’d only be there one more night.
That gave me an idea but I needed Elle to pursue it.
Even though
we’d been the ones doing Barbara and her family a favor by letting her
stay with us I thought it would be appropriate to have a little farewell
party for her. I had a few private minutes with Elle before I left for
the bank and told her about it. With Barbara working all day it gave
Elle and the girls a lot of time to come up with something. In driving
to work I just hoped that Barbara would be accepting of it in light of
the situation the day before. I was still on that thought when I turned
in to the bank parking lot and the first thing I saw was sand bags
around the Bilco door to the bank’s cellar. Even though no one could see
me I was totally embarrassed. Even being totally involved with things
having to do with the extraordinary high tides the days before I had
completely overlooked the vulnerability of the bank to that condition.
The bank had actually been built into the bed of the river that ran
right behind it. In the three years I’d been with the bank we’d had four
instances where it was necessary to put sandbags out to keep the river
water from entering the cellar and I’d completely overlooked that fact.
Once inside I found that Bret had taken it upon himself to take care of
it. That was a revelation in itself and, even though still somewhat
embarrassed, I wanted to let him know that he’d done a good job. It was
taking some time but I was seeing a definite maturity in his thinking.
I
called him over to my desk in order to give him the recognition only to
have him tell me he needed to talk with me. That was also something
relatively new from him. Usually reticent, he spoke up quite clearly and
emphatically. He told me that the ‘busy ‘period’ had been quite
difficult in that, for the most part, he’d been the only one on the
platform what with me involved with the branch. I was cognizant of some
periods of time where customers had to wait a little longer than usual
but didn’t think it was that bad. But, I let him go on. He went back to
the previous ‘busy period’ (March into April) and reminded me that there
had been three officers on the platform… himself, Jerry and me… and
there had been no back-ups. I agreed but didn’t know where he was taking
the subject so just leaned back in my chair. “Why don’t we put Trish on
as an associate and get someone else to do her job?” I remember sitting
there, somewhat dumbfounded, thinking what a great idea. Trish knew
everything that Bret and I did just by her presence there in her
secretarial/receptionist position and was certainly capable of handling
customers. I looked at him, square in the eyes, and told him it was
great idea and we’d start to work on getting it done that day. I was really pleased with the progress Bret had made. When I looked
over at Trish I couldn’t wait until we got it approved and could tell
her.
To be continued…
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