I would like to thank the reader who inspired me to write again after a long period of "writer's block"; this story is dedicated to her and I hope that she, as well as many others, enjoy it.
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Shannon turned her head and mumbled "Come in", in response to the knock on her bedroom door. For the last ten years she had spent a couple of weeks at her grandparent's cottage every Summer; this was the first year since her Grammy had passed that she had visited Grandpa John.
She sat up in bed as the door opened, adjusting her pillow and smiled towards her Grandpa as he carried her breakfast into the room.
"Thanks Gramps," she said, as he placed the breakfast tray across her lap, "I could have come down for breakfast rather than have you bring it up for me."
"You have had breakfast brought to you in bed by your Grandma every day that you've stayed here. I'm not going to stop with traditions like that -- your Grandma will be watching over me and muttering if I don't look after you just the same as she always did."
Eyeing the contents of her plate, she smiled, "Just as Grammy would have done it Gramps, she would be proud of you!"
John smiled at the young woman sitting in the bed; no longer the little girl who had first visited and stayed all those years ago, she was now a fully grown woman with the same shapely figure that his late wife had when they started courting back in the seventies. He found himself staring at the shapely breasts beneath the modest nightie that covered them and swiftly averted his eyes, coughing as he did so in an attempt to avoid any discussion regarding what he had been staring at. He turned his back and made his way out of the door.
"Come down for some more coffee when you want it -- I'm just gonna go and refill the pot," he said as he exited.
As she watched him depart, Shannon thought about her Grandpa -- she had realised what he had been focusing on and was not in the least perturbed by it. He had always been a large part of her life; with her dad so engrossed in his work and trying to make his fortune, Grandpa John had always been the man in her life -- the one who spent time with her, comforted her when she needed it -- he had been her rock since she could remember. Sure, her mum -- and her Grammy -- had always been loving and caring; her Grammy had taught her how to bake, how to sow and frequently taken her shopping and spoilt her rotten, but Grandpa John had always been number one in her heart.
She knew from very early on that she preferred the company of a man -- she still reminisced about her younger years, when her Grandpa used to take her on bear hunts in the woods. Little did she know back then that there were no bears within hundreds of miles of the cottage where Grandpa lived; she had felt such a thrill about her Grandpa taking her with him, teaching her how to make her way quietly through the woods, being aware of animals and birds -- trying not to startle them, looking for tracks of the fauna. Some of her favourite moments, however, had been on the trips back to the cottage; all stealth disappeared as her grandpa hid behind trees and jumped out on her, tickling her and wrestling her to the ground.
Those days stopped suddenly when she was in her early teens; one day her Grandpa had wrestled her to the ground and stopped suddenly as his hand grazed across her chest. He refused to say why, only stating that she was too old for such games now but a couple of days later Grammy had taken her aside and explained that she was no longer a young girl but a young woman and that her Grandpa had to treat her as such.
Shannon continued to muse on those days long ago when life seemed simpler and she could enjoy the company of her Grandpa unreservedly. She took another bite of the bacon in front of her as she recalled the days after her Grandpa had decided she was too old for bear hunts -- he used to take her to the lake to fish for bass. She laughed to herself as she remembered that she never really enjoyed the fishing -- it was the company of her grandpa that she enjoyed, listening to his stories about when her mum was young and the tales of her grandma when she was a teenager and the strategies she used to get his attention when they were at college together. She did, she remembered, used to enjoy it when he tried to teach her how to fish. She recalled with a fond smile how she felt with his arm around her as he tried to teach her how to cast her line, the memory of the tingle that passed through her body as his strong arm held her waist, involuntarily squeezing it as he cast the line with her.
She glanced down at her plate and realised that she had finished; picking up her coffee cup she took a sip and spat the cold liquid back into the cup. She swiftly moved the tray aside and scrambled out of bed, wrapping her silk dressing gown around her before lifting the tray and carrying it downstairs. Upon entering the kitchen, she spotted him exactly where she knew he would be -- sitting in his chair in the corner of the room, whittling away at a piece of wood.
"Still making that chess set grandpa?" she enquired, already knowing the answer.
"You betcha," came the response, as he glanced at her; his eyes roving over her body in the tight-fitting dressing gown. He immediately chastised himself for the thoughts that had briefly passed through his mind upon seeing the young lithe body of his sweet granddaughter.
His eyes followed her as she glided across the floor, her movements nimble like a cat's, making her way to the sink. She unloaded her plate and poured the cold coffee down the sink before placing the tray on the shelf where it lived when not in use. She took her cup to the coffee pot and poured herself a fresh cup, turning her head suddenly she caught her grandpa staring in the region of her arse, "Can I get you a fresh cup, Grandpa?" she asked, as she watched his face turn a bright red.
"Sure, honey -- that would be nice," came his ready response, as he looked into her eyes. He noticed what he thought was a smirk on her lips as she turned away and grabbed the coffee pot, carrying it to where he sat and replenishing his mug. He avoided the temptation to try and sneak a peek down the v of her nightie as she bent slightly to pour the coffee although it seemed to him that she took longer than necessary to do so, almost as if she were deliberately tempting him to look at her body. When she finally finished, she returned the coffee pot to its stand and opened the fridge, taking out the milk.
"Tell me when, Grandpa," she instructed as she slowly dribbled the milk into his mug. This time he could not help himself, the dressing gown seemed that bit looser, leaving her cleavage even more on show. He looked at the sweet, young breasts that were snuggled inside the nighty, licking his lips briefly as he imagined how they would feel in his rough hands. It was only when he realised that Shannon had stopped pouring that he snapped back to the real world.
"I assumed that was about right Gramps," whispered Shannon, as she straightened up, "You seemed miles away -- I hope it was somewhere nice."