During my last year of High School my father had taken on a new job that required we move. I wasn't any too happy about it, wanting to finish out my senior year with friends and activities that I was involved with. But there was no way around it, and I reluctantly remained with my family as we moved several hundred miles away to our new home and a new way of life.
Though our family had "moved-up" as they say, those first few weeks into summer before the start of the new school year were very trying for me. I didn't know anyone, nor had I really met anyone at that time to pal around with or do things with. Worse, I was having difficulty finding a job (that I liked) in order to save some money towards the car I'd been hoping to finally get that summer.
Two doors down from where we lived, there was a spacious home sitting on three acres of the most beautiful greenery, lawn and flowerbeds. I noticed however that it didn't seem to be in the best of shape, far from what it could be anyway. As I enjoyed gardening, working outside more than anything else, and in desperate need of some money, I decided to inquire with the owner of the home to see if there was any work for me there.
On the day I first met Mrs. Steel, I had gone to her door with the hopes of landing at least a part-time job for some quick easy money. I had no idea if they already had a gardener or if there was even someone who took care of the grounds, but if they did, he or she certainly wasn't doing a very good job of it. By the looks of things, the grass hadn't been mowed in several weeks. And for a home that elegant looking, and so huge, it didn't make much sense to me.
She opened the door and by all appearances, looked like she'd been in bed for a week. She was wearing some frumpy old worn housecoat, her hair was a mess, and she looked worn and tired as well. By the looks of her, I didn't figure there was much chance of landing any sort of a job, my first impression being that something financially disastrous had happened and she was just waiting to be evicted. Pressing on however, I told her who I was, pointed out where I lived, and stated I was interested in landscaping, gardening etc.
As I stood in the door telling her all this, I noticed that she wasn't exactly unattractive, and in fact, under normal circumstances would probably be a very attractive looking woman. She was certainly in her mid too late fifty's perhaps early sixty's even, but looking older than that at the time I first met her. To my surprise, she seemed interested in my offer, and explained her present situation.
"Three month's ago my husband died," she began telling me. "Steven was the one who really enjoyed working out in the yard, keeping things up and all that. We'd once talked about hiring on a gardener, especially as it became more and more difficult for him to spend the time this place constantly needed. But for one reason or another, we kept putting it off, doing it ourselves. And then of course Steven died suddenly of an unexpected heart attack. I've been trying to keep up with it, but as you can see, I'm falling behind in it myself, and frankly, haven't had the energy or the desire even to do it."
After she had explained this to me, things made a little more sense, but I still wasn't sure she was too keen on hiring me. That was until she told me she'd pay me a hundred dollars a week! Although that was more money than I'd seen in my short lifetime that I could call my own, I still hesitated, feeling somewhat guilty about accepting such a salary for keeping things in shape for her. Mrs. Steel explained to me that I would definitely earn every penny of it. As that also included maintenance on their pool, as well as doing odd jobs around the house for her when she needed help doing something. Having heard that, I readily agreed. My very first day "at work" would be bright and early the next day. The first order of business was mowing the lawn, but at least they had one of those mowers you could ride on, and that was something to look forward to all by itself. The second major thing would be to clean out the leaves and garbage that had fallen into the pool over the past few months.
I showed up at her place bright and early the next morning. I preferred working in the yard early anyway, my favorite time of day when things were still peaceful, quiet, and fresh. And though I would soon be waking up the neighbors once I started on the lawn, I enthusiastically set out to begin to make a difference in how the place would look once I was done. Mrs. Steel had already given me a set of keys to the shed where everything I needed was secured and waiting for me. So I didn't need to bother waking her up when I began my day.
I had spent the past two hours out front mowing, and already the place looked one hundred percent better. Heading out back to finish up there, I ran into Mrs. Steel as she came outside to greet me. The first thing I noticed was that I had been right. She was an attractive woman, very much so. She had obviously gone through some sort of metamorphosis during the night, as I now saw her with a little bit of makeup, and entirely different looking. But to my immediate delight, I saw that she was wearing a tied in front halter-top that clearly defined her well rounded breasts, and deep cleavage that hinted at the smoothness of her dark tanned breasts. She wore a pair of white shorts that showed off her dark tan, as well as her shapely legs. Needless to say, she looked like an entirely different woman than the one I had met the day before.
"It's such a lovely morning. I thought I'd at least come out and give you a hand. After all, it's not your fault the yard's in this bad of a condition, so the least I can do is help you," she said.
"Thank you Mrs. Steel," I began to say, but she interrupted me.
"Katie. Please call me Katie," she told me.
Even so, it was difficult for me to call her by that name, and I continually addressed her as Mrs. Steel, sometimes Katie after that.
"I'll start on the pool," she explained, and told me about the pool cleaner and how it worked. "You finish up with the mowing, and then come over and help me with this."
