ANOTHER YEAR... More adventures (Part 168h)

ANOTHER YEAR… More adventures (Part 186h)

I went on to tell her of my walk to the tavern, my call to Elle and waiting for her to arrive. I explained that it was during that wait when I came up with my story to tell Elle when she arrived. When I told Lynda that I’d inserted Stan’s name in place of hers I remember her head sort of jumping, almost like someone had poked her in the ribs. I don’t remember if she interrupted with “What?” or “Why?” and I didn’t hesitate when I told her that I wasn’t crazy… that if I’d told her it was a woman who I’d done it for I would’ve been facing a divorce… and I was serious. I stopped at that point. I also remember looking at Lynda’s face and trying to read it and saw what I took to be remorse. It took a few seconds before I heard her say “I’m so sorry…” followed by “what can I do to make it up to you?”. I definitely remember taking a deep breath before going on. This was where I asked if she could see her way to tell Stan about what had happened and… and this is where I had a real problem. Asking a person to ask another to lie about something is really presumptuous… and I knew it… so I sort of backed up a bit. To get my request out to even be discussed was really difficult. I told her the chances of Elle (who Lynda had never met) being in a position to bring New Years Eve up to Stan was probably a ‘long shot’ but I wanted to make sure that should it happen that he didn’t “blow my cover”. I then asked if she could ask him to “cover for me” and if the subject did come up he would take the position that I’d driven him home. Lynda was looking at me like I was out of my mind. It didn’t take me long to realize that she wasn’t ‘buying it’.

We discussed the ‘pro’s (me) and cons (her) for a short time before I threw out another idea. I asked if she could see her way to having both of us talk to him, together. She wrinkled up her face indicating her dislike for the idea but when she spoke it was in the form of a question… “This is really important to you, isn’t it?' and I nodded in agreement. I remember her sitting forward in her chair and with her eyes closed for a short time and then saying that she needed time to think about it. (I have to interject here that Stan had not been in to the office since New Years Eve day) To me, that was progress and not wanting to put any more pressure on her got up to leave. She stood up when I did and then said something that almost floored me. “I can’t believe you didn’t take advantage of the opportunity to get a close look at my panties.” I know I blushed and also remember shaking my head from side to side not believing what I’d just heard her say. But, it didn’t stop there because she went on and referenced a number of times she’d let me have a peek and had noticed my “interest”… and asked if she wasn’t right. I couldn’t help myself and smiled, knowing my cheeks were flushed. That pretty much ended the meeting and I headed out the door and for my car. It was quite a meeting!

I sat behind the wheel for a minute or so evaluating what had transpired. I remember thinking that there still was a chance Lynda would go along with the joint meeting with Stan and that was enough to stop worrying a for the weekend. It wasn’t until I was driving that I realized I didn’t have any idea how long she’d take to make up her mind. All I could do was wait. A little further into the ride home I allowed myself to reflect upon Lynda’s comment about me not taking advantage of inspecting her panties when I put her to bed… and she was right… it was a perfect time to do so. But, as interesting as that was, the fact she admitted the panty peeks I’d observed were on purpose had the potential for interesting times in the future. By the time I pulled up the hill I was feeling a bit better.

Once in the house Elle told me she’d gotten a phone call from the minister. For the Christmas season the church had suspended the Thrift Shoppe’s operation so seasonal events could take place. He wanted me to head up a group of volunteers to get the shop back up and running. Without the added income from the operation of the shop the church was in danger of not being able to pay the electric bill. I remember being annoyed with the request and wondering why the church was in this position. The one big debt we’d had, the fuel oil bill, had been paid off with the monies made by the store and we should’ve had a nice plate collection over the Christmas season. It was just another of the never ending things that kept me aggravated. I made a few calls and had the promise from a few people to meet me after the 10am service the next day. Last least it was a positive happening.

If there was one good thing about it was that Elle was almost as upset as I about the situation. It had us both ‘on the same page’ for a good part of the day. Just as it was getting dark I saw lights coming from the house next door. Elle was still uncomfortable about the house being vacant so I decided to investigate. Popping through the hedge into the back yard I immediately recognized the car. It belonged to Andy, the realtor who had the listing for the sale of the house. That was exciting. He’d told me the owner was asking too much money. I knocked on the kitchen door and when it opened I saw an older man and woman standing there. I told Andy I was concerned by seeing the lights and wanted to check on it. He invited me inside and introduced me to the couple. He didn’t come right out and say it but I could tell by Andy’s demeanor that he had a ‘live one’. I excused myself and headed home to tell Elle. It sounds kind of strange to say that Elle took the news as if it were a present to her. Ever since the last incident where it was found that migrants had been squatting in the house Elle had been somewhat paranoid. I was happy about the potential for neighbors but not as much as Elle.

The good news on the house was diminished by the bad news that turned up at the meeting after the church service the next morning. All the clothes had been boxed up and were put into a storage shed owned by one of the parishioners until the shop was to be reopened. When I made calls to get some volunteers, one was to that person. At the meeting he reported that someone had broken into the shed and taken some of the items and left all the clothes in disarray on the floor. No one had thought to write up an inventory when shutting the shop down so now, with the theft, we had no idea of what was missing. I ended up telling the minister that I just didn’t have the time to get as deeply involved as was going to be necessary. He asked the others if any would step up and no one did. I ended up asking how we’d managed to get into this situation of relying on monies from the shop and wanted to see the ‘books’. It was agreed it was a good idea and a special vestry meeting would be called. I didn’t have time for that either but it was imperative that we get answers about the church monies. Another problem added to the list!

To be continued…