I was away having a holiday when I received a letter from my sister. Kaye knows everybody and everything and she passes it all on, orally if you're standing there or she can persuade you to stay on the line or, in this case, by letter.
Among the snippets she passed on was that James had got married to a lovely girl. I wouldn't know her as she was new in the town. James had been seeing her for a year or so and finally done the deed and brought her home.
James presence was something I could take or leave, preferably leave. I'd considered him a snarky bully when we were growing up and nothing since then had caused me to change my mind. I felt a vague sympathy for his bride, James being the sort of chap who was going to be a real domestic dictator unless she had the balls to comb his hair with a frying pan. I strongly suspected she wouldn't as I doubted James would marry someone with a strong personality.
Mind you, James was reasonably intelligent and girls seemed to find him attractive, and you never can tell how the female mind works. The fact that he was conceited and arrogantly sure of himself seems to be a sign of a strong man to some women. Where James was concerned I just saw it as a sign of the triumph of invincible idiocy.
I forgot about James and his new bride as soon as I'd finished reading Kate's letter. It's odd but, while I deride Kaye's gossip, all those little facts seem to take up residence in the back of my mind, and I find I have some strange insights as to why some people are doing what they do. Quite useful during some business dealings.
I'd been back home for a couple of weeks before I actually ran into James and his wife. I was at some sort of party when they rocked up, James making the rounds to ensure that anyone who hadn't already met his wife finally got introduced.
Her name was Candi. Whether that was her baptismal name or one she chose herself I don't know, but I had to admit it suited her. She was a lovely little thing, a real treat to the eyes and it became quickly obvious that she knew it and enjoyed the men looking at her. Her dress was low enough to show some very nice cleavage and I suspected that if James hadn't been with her she might not have worried about wearing a bra.
Mind you, whenever she leant forward, and she seemed to do that a lot, it was pretty plain that the frilly little nothing she was wearing as a bra wasn't there to support those breasts. It was purely there as decoration, a framework for things of beauty.
I chatted with her for a while, taking her measure. She was quite a likeable girl, but her conversation seemed to revolve around her. I did find out that she loved flowers and enjoyed pottering around in the garden.
That brought to mind the front garden that James had. It was already there when he purchased the house and it was unusual. James had as a matter of pride maintained it. He like having things that other people found attractive, be it wife or garden.
I had a chat with James later, congratulating him on his choice of bride. During our discussion I ventured to suggest that his wife wasn't the brightest spark I'd come across, meaning no offence.
James answer was typical in my opinion. He didn't resent the remark. He just told me, "She doesn't need to be, does she. I'll do her thinking for her."
After a bit more casual talk I ventured the honest opinion that Candi was really quite lovely.
"Aren't you worried that some of these wolves might try to come on to her?" I asked him, indicating said wolves hanging around the sweet Candi.
"They're welcome to try," scoffed James, "but Candi is actually very shy, so they won't get anywhere. If I wasn't here to give her moral support she'd probably be hiding behind a bush or something to get away from the crowd."
"Were we talking about the same woman?" I wondered. James seemed to be offering a challenge, and I suspected a few of the wolves might take him up on it.
A few days later I woke up and it was a really nice day. Sunny, but not too hot. A gentle breeze. A day to be outside, not cooped up inside. I had no appointments scheduled for the day so I decide to take a walk and just enjoy the fresh air.
I didn't have any particular destination in mind and, as far as I was concerned, it was pure chance that saw me strolling towards James place. I vaguely noticed it coming up on my left and as I did so a few thoughts seemed to gel.
Kaye had been gossiping again and one item that came to mind was that James had gone to a convention and would be away for a couple of days. Another thing that had been nagging at me was James's careless indifference to anyone trying to seduce Candi, invincible in his assumption that she'd just run away screaming.
The third thing I remembered was that Candi said she loved gardening, and today was an ideal day for gardening, especially if she wanted to potter around in that front garden of James.
That front garden of James consisted of a central lawn surrounded by garden beds of bright flowering ground cover and the entire things further surrounded by bushy type flowering trees that stood about ten feet tall. The only entrance was a little passage near the front door.
You could get out in that garden and settle down and it's as though you were in the woods somewhere. The bushy trees killed the city noises and you had your own private bower. On a day like today it was just the place to potter around if you liked a little gardening.
All these little bits and pieces seemed to merge together and I'd turned into James's driveway before I'd even made a conscious decision. Reaching the entrance to the garden I turned in and there was Candi, doing a little weeding.
She really was a lovely little thing, especially dressed the way she was now. She had on a shift dress and (I assumed) panties but I'd lay odds that she hadn't bothered with a bra. Not the way her breasts were leaning down and filling out her shift dress while she was bent over the garden.
"Good morning, Candi," I called, and she turned to look at me. Definitely not wearing a bra, as all she did was turn to look, without standing up. Her shift hung low in front and I could see quite plainly what she had on under it. A tinge of red that would be her panties and two snow white globes swinging free. I couldn't quite see the nipples, but I could see them pressed against her shift.
"Oh, Paul, isn't it?" she said. "I'm afraid that James isn't here right now."
"Oh, too bad," I said, strolling over to her. "I was hoping to catch him. Another time will do."
Candi stood up as I approached, but I was able to appreciate that her shift-dress still provided me with a nice view of her cleavage, and the way her breasts under the shift pressed pointedly towards me the lack of a bra was no hindrance to Candi's prime attributes. They just stood firm, pointing her nipples at me like two little guns.
'Shy' little Candi knew exactly where my eyes were straying and she was enjoying it. She liked men looking at her.
"Tell me, Candi," I said, curious all of a sudden. "Is Candi your real name or did you pick it yourself?"
Candi giggled. "I often get asked that," she confided. "My mother named me Myrtle. I mean, really! Do I look like a Myrtle to you?"
"Ah, no," I agreed. I reached out to lightly touch her breasts as I added the rider, "No Myrtle ever had this sort of shape."
Candi wasn't quite as dumb as I thought. My hand failed to touch her as she slipped nimbly to the side.
"Uh-uh," she said, giggling. "You can look, but not touch. If you touch, I might think you're trying to seduce me, and that's a no-no."
