The New Build.
My wife Sue and I have been married for almost 30 years. We have lived in our home and neighborhood for over 17 years. It is our third home since we were first married. The modest house has about 2500sq feet of living space and it has all the amenities that we looked for when we purchased. A two-car garage, a yard big enough for us to put in a pool, a family room large enough for a pool table and enough bedrooms and bathrooms to accommodate our family of four.
We live in a "Bedroom Community". Not lots of industry, but plenty of jobs in call centers and the public service sector. Most of our resident's commute to larger cities for work. So, it was not surprising when the greenbelt area that we had enjoyed behind our home for the past fifteen years was sold and developed into a cul-de-sac. Upward and onward with progress.
Six of the twelve homes to be built on the court were dug out, foundations poured, framed and finished during the fall and winter of the year. They were attractive looking homes with small yards, but one by one the homes sold and filled with families starting their new lives.
When a new community starts during the winter months you don't really notice your neighbors. It wasn't until the spring of the year when sod was being laid and fences were being built, that you noticed people moving around in their backyards. With casual waves of the hand and the odd "welcome to the neighborhood" we greeted the new arrivals.
Looking out of my backyard, there were still two treed, but vacant lots behind my home. To the left of them was one of the nicer homes that had popped up. It appeared to belong to a younger couple that I would guess were in their mid-twenties. On weekends they did all the things that new homeowners did, but during the week the husband never appeared to be around.
It wasn't until midweek in early July that I had the opportunity to speak directly to any of the "Newbies". Doing some grass trimming behind on fence on the fifteen feet of hydro easement, I was startled by the young lady that had moved in behind us.
"Oh. Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you. I'm Amy. My husband and I just moved in our new place in March." Up close she was cute as hell. About five foot-two, long blonde hair and a shapely little body, that from the look of things before me, she didn't mind showing off. Amy was wearing a tight black bikini top with a pair of white Nike shorts, while her tiny feet were adorned with flip flops.
"Hi. Frank. Welcome to the neighborhood." Amy just grinned as I gave her the once over up and down.
"I didn't mean to bother you, but the grass is growing like a weed behind our house and I don't have a grass trimmer, so I was wondering if I could borrow yours when you are done with it?" First off, I hate loaning tools. Secondly, what kind of guy would I be if I didn't offer to help her out?
"Nope. I can't loan it to you. With my luck you'd snip off one of your toes and your husband would sue me. I'll do it for you when I'm done here, how's that?" Amy laughed and thanked me. What a great view I had as she walked away. That cute little ass jiggled with perfection.
It didn't take long to finish my yard, but Amy's was a different story all together. The grass along the fence hadn't been trimmed since the summer before, so by the time I had finished cutting it and raked up, 45 minutes had passed. I was just going to leave, but low and behold Amy appeared out of nowhere with two frosty cans of beers. When she handed me mine, I thanked her and grabbed my chance, "Are you even old enough to legally drink that?"
Amy laughed and with a fake offended look, told me that she had just recently turned 24-years-old. "While happy belated and believe me, you look very good for such an old lady."
We flirted back and forth while filling each other in on the details of our lives. I hold her about Sue, my wife of 30 years. She told me about Dylan, her husband of nearly 2 years. How they had moved here for his work. Amy was at this point unemployed. I told her about my sons, who were her age, and how they no longer lived with us.
After finishing my beer, I felt like 5 more but it was freaking hot out. So, covered in sweat, stinking of fresh cut grass and fermented barley and hops, I bid fair maiden Amy farewell.
"Well young lady, thank you very much for the cold beverage. If you ever need anything, just pop through the gate. The rear garage door is usually open. Take what you need and return it when you're done with it." I guess my rule about loaning tools had just been broken.
"That's very generous. You sure I can't talk you into another beer?"
"I pretty sure that you could talk me into another ten beers, but I'm going home and jumping in the pool."
"What? Wait a minute, you have a pool? We've been sweating our butts off out here and you're holding out on the pool?" I looked around and sure enough, from their yard there was no way to tell we had a pool.
"Yeah, I guess I have been. Wanna see it?" I knew the answer even before I asked it. Gathering up my grass trimmer, we made our way back to my place.
When I pulled open the gate for Amy to step through, she was in awe. Our backyard is broken up into two sections, the first has a semi covered sitting area with an outdoor kitchen and a perfectly groomed grassy strip. The other area that is separated by a wrought iron fence and gate has a covered gazebo with hanging lights, outdoor furniture, lounge chairs and a 20' x 40' saltwater pool. The whole area was covered with hanging baskets containing flowers and vines to brighten up the yard. The ends of the pool have 4 large containers filled with mini palm trees. It takes a lot of work to keep it up, but it was our own little paradise.
"Holy shit, this is great." Amy was twirling in circles as she tried to take in the details of the yard.
"Thanks, we like it. Care for a drink?"
"Hells yeah." I laughed at her exuberant spirit. As soon as I walked into the garage, I heard the splash. It was one of two things, either Amy fell in or she figured out that the rock formation at the deep end of the pool was a diving platform.
Walking back toward the pool on the interlocking brick path, I noticed her tiny shorts crumpled up on her tiny flipflops so I knew that she must have jumped.
"How's the water?"