Aunt Sandy 1

I have been blessed to have always had a very close family, a fact that I try not to take for granted the older I get. I have realized more and more how unique it is to have such a stable, loving family. Growing up, I thought everyone had that type of foundation of love and support, but I have met enough people and have enough friends with such different backgrounds and experiences that I know better now. It just makes me more thankful for the blessings that I had.

I grew up with a mom and dad who loved each other and are still together. So many of my friends came from broken homes or only ever knew one parent. My parents modeled a strong, healthy marriage. They were each other's best friends.

As the middle child and the only boy, I had both and older and younger sister. We are each separated by around three years. We were also very close growing up. Of course there was the normal fighting and arguing, but I remember my mom always telling me to treat my sisters well because one day they would be my best friends. Hard to believe at the time, but remarkably, it turned out to be true in so many ways.

But we were even more lucky than simply having a tight-knit immediate family. We also had my Dad's sister, our Aunt Sandy. She lived in the same small town and was easily the coolest person any of us had ever met. She was about 10 years older than my big sister, which made her 13 years older than me. She was the "cool aunt" that would swoop in on the weekends and take us to the mall or the movies or out to eat.

My parents were not poor, but we never seemed to have a lot of money for "extras", so it was always a treat when Aunt Sandy, who was single, lived alone and had a great job and hardly any bills, came around with money in her pocket to burn. But of course, we didn't just love her because of the money. She had the rare ability that few adults seem to possess. She treated us like we were equals. We could talk with her about anything and we idolized her.

But then, as we grew up, we slowly started spending less and less time hanging out with her. We had our own friends and social networks and eventually we really only hung out with her on holidays and special occasions. That all changed the summer I turned 18 and graduated from high school. I realized that I didn't have enough money to immediately go to college, but I put together a respectable plan, all things considered. I decided to stay at home to save money for at least another year. During that year I would work as much as possible to save up to college. I would also try to take a few online classes and knock out some of the introductory gen-ed requirements through the community college online program.

I had a part time job at a local grocery store all through high school, but now that I was out of school, I increased my hours there, but even so, I was only able to get scheduled for about 30 hours a week. I tried to pick up shifts where I could, but I wasn't making the kind of money I needed to in order to pay for my first year in college. I put the word out and tried to get whatever odd jobs I could find. I taught guitar lessons to a couple of neighborhood kids, I cleaned gutters, I cut grass. Anything that could bring in a few bucks.

Around this time is when I got a call from Aunt Sandy. She was old-school and preferred a voice calls over texts. She only lived about a few miles away and when I saw the caller ID, I immediately felt guilty for not seeing her or talking to her since graduation.

"Hello?" I answered.

"Shawn!" she said, and I was immediately put at ease, just hearing her voice.

"Hi Aunt Sandy!" I replied.

"How's it going? I haven't heard from you in a few weeks." she said.

I stammered on for a few minutes about how busy I was with work. She asked about my plans for school and I told her in detail, the things I had planned. I confided in her that it might take a little longer than I was hoping, College wasn't cheap and I wasn't earning what I need to do be. Then she got to the point, the reason for her call. I guess she knew about my issues finding enough work. Probably from my parents.

"I have some work to do around my place." she said, then after a pause, "actually a ton of work."

"Oh yeah?" I asked, sounding interested.

She had been living with my grandma in her house before she passed away. During the last year when grandma was having a lot of health issues, Aunt Sandy moved in with her to take care of her. Then Grandma passed away and since then Aunt Sandy has been trying to clean the place, fix it up, and get it ready to be sold. It wasn't a huge house, just a modest brick, suburban ranch style. It was situated on a quiet street, lined with similar houses and rows of tall maple and sycamore trees. There was a small, if untidy front yard, but a huge backyard complete with in-ground swimming pool, that was the highlight of many hours of my childhood. Unfortunately, I knew that there really was a ton of work to be done.

"You know what this house is like," she continued. "The basement tiles need to be pulled up, several rooms need painted, the deck needs to be stained, powerwash the fence, upkeep on the pool."

She took a breath and I knew there was more to come.

"Not to mention all the yard work. Its hard for me to stay on top of keeping the grass mowed, but there are also quite a few tree branches down that need to be cut up. The bushes need to be trimmed, more grass seed put down, scrub the driveway and pool deck."

"Is that it?" I laughed

She paused, thinking.

"Probably not," she said, "but I'm sure the rest will come to me."

"Well, I'd be happy to help." I said, "But I couldn't take any money from you. I have plenty of time this summer."

"Oh, nonsense!" she retorted, "young man, I will be paying you and paying you well. This is for a good cause. You need to go to college and for that you need money."

Reluctantly, I swallowed my pride and had to admit that this was exactly what I needed and had been looking for. There was probably enough work to keep me busy on my off days all through the summer. If she paid me something comparable to the grocery store it would just about make up the difference that I needed. I guess I was silent too long, thinking things over.

"Are you there?" she asked, "Shawn?"

I snapped back to myself.

"Sorry!" I said, "Actually, Aunt Sandy, that would be amazing. You don't know how grateful I am."

"Of course, sweetie!" she said, "You know I love you! But I also do need a lot of help. These are some serious projects that I can't do myself."

"I understand." I said, "Let me know when you want me to start."

"Whenever works best for your schedule." she said, "just let me know when you have time to come by the house and we can go over everything together."

I hung up the phone and let out a breath I didn't realize I had been holding back. It was like a weight had been lifted. I just might be able to come up with the money I needed in time for the spring semester.

I was already scheduled to work at the store for the next few days, so Aunt Sandy's project would have to wait until the weekend. I texted and let her know that I could be there first thing Saturday morning if that worked for her. In the name of saving money I didn't have a car, but since she only lived about 5 miles from my parent's house, it wasn't a big deal. I hopped on my bike and made covered the distance quickly, listening to some music and enjoying the cool summer morning. There was a light breeze rustling through the leaves on the tall trees as I navigated my way through the labyrinth of suburban streets. I passed a couple kids playing basketball in the street and middle aged dads cutting mowing their lawns. Despite the short and enjoyable ride, by the time I arrived at my destination, I was breathing heavily and had worked up a thin layer of sweat.

I walked my bike down the driveway and into the back yard, then returned to the front of the house, climbed the few steps up to the porch and rang the doorbell. The sound rang out and I heard a muffled voice say something from the other room, then a moment later Aunt Sandy came into view, walking into the living room toward the front door. To my surprise, she had a towel wrapped around her body from just above her breasts down do just above her thighs. Her skin was slightly dewy, as she must have just gotten out of the shower moments before. Her hair was still wet and she was working with another towel to dry it when she reached the door and opened it for me.

"Come on in." She said in her normal, cheery voice. "Sorry about the mess."

"No problem." I said, stepping into the room.

There were boxes scattered around the room in various states of being filled and a stack of new boxes leaning against the wall, ready to be assembled. She didn't apologize for being in a towel or for not being ready when I arrived. In fact, she acted as though she didn't even realize she was wearing a towel. It didn't bother me at all, but it seemed strange, since she knew exactly when I was supposed to arrive. I tried to shrug it off, but I found that my eyes were constantly being drawn to her exposed skin. Her shoulders, arms, and legs, the wet hair.

"Follow me and I'll show you around." She said, turning to go and slightly re-tightening the tuck on the towel.

"I know you have been here before" she continued, "but things are in chaos right now. We need to figure out a plan of attack to get this all done.

We strolled through the house, stepping around piles of odds and ends. It one bedroom there was a broken down book case that had finally surrendered to the weight of one too many romance novels. Beside it, on the floor, there stood several haphazard stacks of books. It looked like someone had half-heartedly tried to arrange them in some sort of order and given up. There were boxes filled with shoes, with hats, with strange beanie babies (still in their sad plastic wrappings), and row after row of photo albums. Honestly, I didn't know where to start.

"I'm going to try to finish boxing everything up and get all of this cleared out this week." Aunt Sandy finally said as we walked back into the front room.

"I will probably need to take several trips to drop stuff off at Goodwill." She continued, "If you could handle that it would be great."

I craned my neck and looked back out the front window at where I had parked my bike.

"It might take a more than a few trips on my bike." I said, smiling.

"Smart ass!" She said, rolling her eyes. "You can take my car...or better yet, once everything is ready to go I'll rent a truck and get it done all at once."

It all sounded good. There was nothing that seemed too complicated. A little cleaning, a little painting, some heavy lifting. It was all good solid work and I felt like I would be earning whatever money came my way.

"But in the mean time" Aunt Sandy continued, "maybe you could get the yard done today?"

"Definitely!" I said and we again headed for the back of the house.

Out the back door and down the short flight of steps, we stepped out onto the back deck. In front of us was the pool and through another gates, the back yar. The yard was a good sizes and would take at least an hour just to cut the grass, maybe longer. Grandma never had a riding mower. All that was available was a standard push mower. As we surveyed the back yard, I couldn't help falling a step or two behind Aunt Sandy as she pointed out the fallen limbs and overgrown patches of poison ivy to avoid. I couldn't believe she was still walking around in the towel outside. Her long legs looked incredible, muscles flexing as she walked barefoot through the long grass. And I noticed with some pleasure the tan lines on her back from tanning in a swim suit. I had to concentrate to pay attention to her instructions, but I think I got the idea.

Eventually she left me to it and hurried back inside to finish getting dressed. I had my marching orders. I opened the ancient pull up garage door by hand and shuddered at the ear-splitting creak of the metal. Inside the garage the temperature was noticeably cooler, but there was a damp, musty odor. I quickly found the lawn mower, weed wacker, and a few other instruments I would need and carted them outside. There was an old metal can of gasoline that I picked up and used to fill the lawn mower. The acidic smell stung my nose as some of the liquid sloshed over the side and spilled on the pavement.

The lawn mower hadn't been started in quite a while and I worked up quite a sweat on the pull string just to get he engine to turn over. At long last it fired up and the familiar sounds and scents of summer hit me as I pushed it out into the grass. The roar and cough of the motor. The thick sweet smell of grass mixed with the strong ripe smell of wild onions. The sun was now out in force as I plodded back and forth, dutifully chomping away at the growth. My progress took my away from the house and then back toward it. With every pass, I tried to casually scan the windows for any sign of the sexy woman inside.

Back and forth, back and forth. Sweat dripped off my face and down my sides. I could feel my shirt clinging to my body, preventing me from feeling the cool breeze that blew through occasionally. Finally I broke down and removed the shirt, tossing it onto a nearby deck chair during my next pass. Within minutes I noticed a silhouette in the upstairs window. Aunt Sandy was standing perfectly still and looking out. I pretended not to notice, but I felt myself start to flush and my heart sped up. Daring to imagine that she was checking out my bare muscular chest, glistening in the sun, I played it cool and pretended not to notice her. She was probably just making sure I hadn't passed out in the grass.

After another couple laps through the yard, she was gone from the window. And after another ten minutes I was finished with the grass, so I pushed the lawn mower back into the garage and was just about to fire up the weed wacker to trim the edges when the door opened and Aunt Sandy stepped out onto the deck. She was now clothed, but looked just as stunning as she did in the towel. Her hair was tied back, except for a few loose stands that danced across her face as the wind blew. She was wearing a plain white t-shirt that was noticeably tight, perfectly hugging her body and framing her round, perky breasts. The neck line plunged enough to give a view of her cleavage and a sprinkling of freckles on her chest. The shirt stopped a few inches below her breasts, leaving most of her firm stomach exposed. Her shorts were frayed and distressed denim that was barely there. They covered the essentials, but just barely.

As I approached I noticed that she was holding a large glass of Iced Tea. The dark brown liquid looked heavenly in this heat and I gratefully took it from her hands. I was so thirsty that I immediately tipped it back and had emptied half the cup's contents before I turned and remembered my manners.

"Thank you!!" I said, as I felt tea dripping down my chin.

She just smiled and looked back at me. The cool drink was incredibly refreshing and I drank the rest of the huge glass in my second gulp. As I looked back toward my Aunt, I swear I caught her staring at my chest for a split second before catching herself and snapping her gaze back to my eyes.

"That hit the spot!" I managed to say while handing the cup back to her.

"Well, you looked pretty hot out here." she said, and smiled that smile again. It was killing me. I could swear that there was something in her eyes when she looked at me, but I was probably just projecting my own frustrated sexual desire and seeing what I wanted to see.

We held eye contact for a long moment and there it was again, she bit her lower lip, dropped her eyes, scanning all the way down my body and then back up, before turning on her heels and heading back to the house. I shook my head slightly to clear it than turned and picked on the gas powered trimmer. After another grueling few minutes pulling the cord, I got the contraption fired up. This time it only took me about 15 minutes to finish my way around the yard and around all the planters and such non-sense. But the whole time, my mind was racing, trying to re-examine those last few words, that last look. Was I imagining something? Did I want there to be something? What would I even do? She was my Aunt. By the time I finished, I was thoroughly confused.

I slowly walked back around to the front of the house, purposefully giving myself a few extra minutes to cool down. Then, stepping up onto the porch, I glanced inside through the window. She was nowhere to be seen. I knocked on the front door and waited. A few moments later, a confused and slightly disheveled Aunt Sandy bounded into the room and up to the door. She had a strange look on her face.

"Shawn?" She looked thoughtful, but also playful.

"Hey," I started, "I'm all done with the yard." I started to say more, but she cut me off.

"Sweetheart, you never need to knock." She said, "just come on in."

"In fact..." She paused a beat, looking at me and biting her lower lip in thought before continuing. "Come here!"

I followed her back into the small office, where she rummaged around in a drawer before finding what she was looking for. She withdrew a small flat steel key and handed it to me, smiling.

"What's this?" I asked innocently.

"Um...a key." She said, with a playful mocking tone. "You're going to be over here a lot this summer and just in case you need to get in when I'm gone, or lock up, or whatever."

"Oh, ok." I said, "Thanks!"

"And no more knocking." She said, "we're family!"

She smiled and I dumbly smiled back.

After a moment, I reluctantly spoke again, "Uh, I'm going to head back, but before I go could I maybe wash up just a bit?" I asked.

It was much cooler in the house, but I still had sweat dripping down my chest and back and getting into my eyes.

"Of course, sweetie!" She said, waving a hand. "You know where the bathroom is."

I turned and walked around the corned to the bathroom. I stepped inside and closed the door behind me then stood in front of the mirror and turned on the cold water. I stood there for several long minutes, letting the cool water pour into my cupped hands that then washing my face and neck, running cool water through my hair, and finally dabbing my chest and stomach. I felt much much better as I turned the tap off and turned to look for a fresh towel. The rack behind me was empty. I saw one towel hung on the back of the door and reached for it. It was still damp and I realized it was the towel that Aunt Sandy had been wearing that morning. But I didn't have any other choice. I pulled the towel off the hook and slowly began to pat my face and body dry. The towel was cool and rich with the fragrance of soap and perfume. The scent instantly aroused me and I had to consciously tell myself to cool down.

It was only then that I turned a full circle and saw what was hanging from the shower rod. My mouth fell open as I stood face to face with at least a dozen tiny, delicate, brightly colored panties and thongs, all hung to dry. There were also lacy bras and at least three full length lingerie items. I had never imagined something like this being worn my Aunt Sandy, but as I looked at each piece, I could suddenly and vividly picture her in each one. Tentatively, I reached out a hand and touched the nearest item, a bright red silky thong. It was scarcely more fabric than a thin ribbon and an insanely small triangle of cloth. It felt smooth between my fingers. I was in a semi-dream like state when a knock came at the door and I just about jumped out of my body. Thankfully I didn't scream too.

I managed to clear my throat and utter a decidedly manly, "Almost done!" before regaining control of my breathing and exiting the room. As I stepped out, Aunt Sandy was standing there with a knowing look on her face. She didn't say anything, but something inside me knew that she knew I had been staring at her intimate items. I swallowed hard and tried to appear unconcerned as I stepped past her and back into the living room.