MAKING PROGRESS... of sorts (Part 172p)

MAKING PROGRESS… of sorts (Part 172p)

Elle was asleep when I got home so had to wait until morning to find out how the tennis went with the neighbor. The two things I wrote in my Day Timer were that she (Elle) told me she was “rusty” from not having played since the previous Summer and that Martha was good, but not as good as she thought she was. That was an interesting comment from Elle. Normally, she would ‘play up’ her opponent. To me it meant that they would play again and I, for sure, wanted to witness it. However, with all the work to be done getting the motor together, along with chores around the house and yard, I was afraid it would be a while.

By Saturday, the ‘bottom’ of the motor was together but we still hadn’t located a set of new, matching, cylinder heads. That was critical because Cliffy had been told that in their stock form they wouldn’t be all that effective and would need to be worked on to improve their performance. Sending them out to a machine shop would take time (and more money) but until we had them and could have them worked on there wasn’t much else we could do so I headed home. I was able to get caught up on the Spring yard work and started removing the storm windows. While doing that I heard a female voice but couldn’t see anybody. Walking around to the back of the house I saw Martha standing in the opening of the hedge. I waved her on through and she, hesitatingly, took a few steps into the yard. I told her that she was welcome to come over at anytime. She seemed a bit nervous so I kind of forced the issue. It was a problem with one of the garage doors in that she couldn’t get it to lock. I didn’t understand why it had suddenly become a problem but, even behind that was why they bothered to lock it anyway. I’d never locked ours and had had no problems. She could see the puzzled look on my face and went ahead and explained that her in-laws had just shipped some things of value from the city but didn’t want them put into the house until they arrived. That sort of answered the question of why so I followed her back through the opening and headed for the garage. Of course my eyes went right to the clothes line but found it empty. I’d seen the two panties there the last time I was in the yard and one pair was definitely for a larger woman than either she or her sister-in-law. I told her I thought her mother-in-law was at the house but she explained that Martha had gone back to Connecticut with her kids to finish out the school year and that she’d gone with her. As I surveyed the door she went on that “the whole clan” would be there for the weekend.

As I looked at the door I recognized it as being the same kind as on my garage. The two houses had been built around the same time and even though the exteriors were different, the interiors were very much the same so thought maybe the builder had been the same for both. After lifting the door I could see the problem with why it wouldn’t lock. At some time in the past the sill and garage floor at the opening had been cracked. I immediately remembered the large, heavy machines that had been in there from back when Celia lived there and surmised that the damage took place either when they were installed or removed. With the uneven surface the door couldn’t go all the way down and the locking bars wouldn’t engage. After fooling with it for a few minutes I figured out how to make them work but it would take some time. I had to make a quick decision… be a good neighbor at the expense of getting the things done at my house or just saying I couldn’t do it.

I’ll admit I have a problem with saying “No…” when asked by people to do things and that old ‘bugaboo’ came up again. I told her I’d get the door secured by supper time. The thing was I didn’t know how long it would take since the repair was labor intensive. It was mid afternoon or so when I finished up removing the storm windows from my house and gave up on the idea of installing the screens. Being the start of the Spring season, the days would be a mite cool in the morning and then warming up rapidly in the afternoon. It meant shedding clothes or even changing them because of the added warmth of the afternoons. When I popped though the opening in the hedge I saw Martha in a chaise on the new patio with her daughter in her lap and reading to her. I went over to explain what I’d be doing  and could see that she’d changed into shorts. Certain positions in a chaise can be very rewarding to a panty peeker like me and I definitely remember thinking that if the daughter got up or moved I’d get my ‘reward’ for being the good neighbor. But, I pretty much ‘shot myself in the foot’ when she asked if I needed any help… and turned her down. Her parting words as I turned towards the garage, “Call if you need me…” I can remember shaking my head as I approached the garage calling myself a “dummy”.

As I said, the job was labor intensive. I had to enlarge the latch holes on each side of the door and the only tool I had to do that with was a file. Even though I was out of the sun, just inside the garage, it didn’t take long for me to work up a sweat. I got one side done but had to give my hands a rest and also had to get something to drink. When Martha saw me headed in her direction she lifted her daughter off her lap and sat up with her legs straddling the lower part of the chaise. I can’t really call it nirvana… but it came pretty close. There was no way not to see the slivers of white split by the blue cloth in the crotch of her shorts. Even though I’d had a thought of a panty peek earlier I really wasn’t expecting it at this time. I had that view for about ten steps as I approached her. She asked me something and I really don’t know if I heard her or not. I finally asked if she could get me some water and saw my perfect view close up as she slipped one leg over the chaise and stood up. For a brief second thought I might get a VPL but the shorts were loose fitting and I didn’t get to see anything.

When she returned we we walked to the garage and I showed her what I was doing. My guess is that it had taken me over a half hour to open the one latch hole up to where it would accept the latching bar. I really wasn’t looking forward to doing the other side as my hands still ached. I started back with the filing while she stood and watched. It was only a minute or two later that I heard a familiar voice… Elle, who wanted to see what I’d been doing. Within seconds they were in full conversation with each other and I was out of it altogether. They sort of wandered off towards the house while I continued with the task. It took longer to do this one than the other but I finally got it to lock. I went looking for Martha to tell her but didn’t see any sign of her or her daughter. I went to the kitchen screen door and called out to her. Within seconds she appeared… wearing a tennis dress. Without asking, she told me that she and Elle were going up to the school to hit a few tennis balls when I finished up. I know I was staring at her for a few seconds before saying that the door was now successfully locked. She wanted to go see it and I followed her to the side door of the garage watching the hem of her dress bouncing ever so close to exposing her panties. I didn’t get to see the ‘prize’ but it was enough to let me know I’d have other opportunities during the Summer.

To be continued…