© 2019, All rights reserved - mimaster
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Betsy stood next to her station wagon, parked in its familiar space on the concrete pad of the two-car carport attached to the side of their new home. Her heart raced; her mind filled with thoughts of how the weekend was going to go. She had it all mapped out in her head; the only thing missing being Darren. After being gone for five days, he was finally home and she was excited to see him. She was more excited for him to see her standing there like she was. For all the outrageous, sexy things she'd ever done in her life, this was actually a bit out of character for her.
It was going to be the surprise he never saw coming, and she was envisioning it being the catalyst to launch them into her meticulously planned weekend together. One she hoped would make up for the way she acted before he left for his sales trip. All she had to do was convince him to take
another
trip, with the promise of it being sexually charged. Her method of greeting him was designed to prove her just that, all as a way of enticing him to go.
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She still considered the house to be new, even though they'd been living there a couple of years. Part of that was the neighborhood where they lived. Their home had been built on a newer street on the far eastern edge of town; part of the small city's efforts to annex land to grow their tax base.
The town in Northern Virginia was a shade over twenty thousand people, but it was starting to become more populated. There was rumored to be an interstate that was going to be built in the coming years to connect that area with Washington DC, and the town was expanding because of it. The lure of the mountains and the vast history provided by the backdrop of the Civil War had long made the area more of a tourist destination. With land sales happening along a corridor where the proposed interstate was supposed to be routed, a vibrant industrial base was envisioned to provide economic growth.
Because of that the elected leaders of the town sought to gain control of its future. Land was annexed, even though there were no real plans for expansion by the owners. What were once rolling fields and meadows in the Shenandoah Valley mostly remained that way even after the legal maneuverings of the local government. The property owners saw no motive to do anything until there was a reason and that meant waiting until an actual infrastructure was built.
One land owner caved, though. Faced with the prospect of higher property taxes on land used just to allow a couple of dozen cattle to graze, he sold his acreage on the eastern border of the city limits to a developer. That developer wasted little time in trying to recoup on his investment. Working with the city planners, he had a new road built and began selling lots for homes.
Betsy and Darren purchased one of the lots at the far end of the dead-end road. It wasn't quite on the cul-de-sac, but it was right next to it. They loved the idea of being a part of the town, but also being somewhat secluded. While they were one of twelve homes that had been built along the street, theirs was the last on their side of the road and there was no house directly across from them yet. With the lots around the actual cul-de-sac having a lot more land, they were going for much more money. That proved too steep a price, as no one had purchased any of them yet.
The house they'd designed was a big three-bedroom ranch with a full-sized basement. It had a formal living room and a family room, as well as a huge kitchen. The basement was split down the middle along the length, and Darren had spent his first year in the house finishing the side the stairs were on into a recreation room, with help from his boys.
He used it as a bonding project, teaching them the finer points of construction he'd learned in one of his part-time jobs before he went into the Army... as well as the first full-time job he landed upon returning from Korea. Gene was a big help with a lot of the heavy lifting, but with him about to go into college, he was off with friends much of the time. With Neil being eight years younger, he couldn't do as much of the brawn work, but he was a bright kid, and he proved invaluable.
Neil was a sponge, soaking up all the knowledge his dad had to offer. It wasn't just that he was curious. He had an innate ability to watch what his father did and mimic it flawlessly. He made mistakes but he never made the same one twice, which was all Darren could ask for. It was a such a joy that he could show his youngest a part of the project, hand it over to him, and have faith he would do it right. The kid was a magician with a hammer.
They sealed the outside walls first with a waterproof paint, before putting up studs and stuffing in between them with insulation. Over that they hung up a light brown paneling, before installing a drop ceiling with lighting overhead.
He taught his boys how to cut and measure. He taught them how to properly hang a door; installing two of them in the entryways that had been built into the load bearing cinderblock partition that split the front half of the basement from the back. He showed them how to safely wire lighting. He even showed them how to put in a tile floor.
He wasn't sure how much would stick, but he was optimistic. Gene was intelligent, and he had a knack with tools. Neil did far more of the project with his dad, often sacrificing time with his friends in order to be with him. Darren was convinced he would remember a great deal of what he learned.
It took just shy of twelve months, working every other weekend. When it was done, it was a showpiece for them to entertain, complete with a full bar Darren designed himself. He'd bought a dartboard to start, but he knew that wasn't nearly enough. Talking it over with Betsy, they saved and bought a used pool table, wanting it to be a real recreation room.