Watching Baxter 5-8

5.

Val heard the knock and her eyes snapped open, her exhaustion traded in for alarm. The windows weren’t visible from the street so she hadn’t bothered to close the curtains since arriving yesterday, confident of their privacy. But she must have been wrong, and she found herself debating whether to pretend to be asleep, or running out the back door and never looking back.

She was contemplating how far she could get while naked from the waist down when a second knock brought her mind back to the room. Baxter barked and wagged his tail at the visitor, and Valerie turned her head to face the onlooker, praying it wasn’t Ms. Hughes, the octogenarian from the end of the block that spread gossip like it was her full time job.

It wasn’t Ms. Hughes. Instead, it was a man Val had never seen before. He was standing on the porch, dressed in grass stained jeans held up by a khaki belt. He was shirtless from the waist up and Val could see the sun glisten off his sweat covered chest, highlighting the muscle definition across his pecs and stomach. He was holding a string trimmer with beat up garden gloves, one hand shielding his eyes from the sun as he looked at them through the window. She guessed he was about her age, maybe a few years older at most.

When he saw she’d turned to face him, his face lit up in a smile and he pointed to the front door off to the right, signaling she should meet him there. She stayed still, sure speaking to him would be worse than staying put and pretending this wasn’t happening. He pointed again, continuing to smile. He looked so earnest, as if he hadn’t just witnessed a dog’s balls repeatedly smacking into her pussy lips while she worked herself to orgasm. She almost laughed at the ridiculousness of the situation, but before she could get it her lips began to tremble. She was suddenly on the verge of tears. What have I gotten myself into?

She considered running again, or going upstairs until he left, but she figured it was better to pull the band-aid off all at once. She pushed herself up from the carpet, doing her best to hide her body from his view as she quickly put on her shorts from earlier and draped a thin blanket over her shoulders like a robe. A single tear ran down her face that she quickly wiped away before approaching the door. The man moved from the window to meet her at the entrance to the home, setting the weed wacker down to lean against the porch’s oak railing.

She opened the door just wider than her head, keeping most of her blanket cloaked body behind the door. From this position she could see the stranger clearly, taking in his broad shoulders and the hair that grew across his chest and trailed down his stomach into the top of his jeans. He had closely cropped dark hair, a handsomely crooked nose, and his smile spread across his whole face, lighting up his eyes and causing crinkles at his temples. It felt infectious, and Val almost smiled back. Almost.

“Hello! I didn’t mean to interrupt your afternoon miss, I was just here looking for Morgan and Evelyn. I take it they’re not home?”

He met her eyes, then glanced behind her at Baxter, who was celebrating his post-nut high by eating the remaining kibble in his bowl that he’d left behind at breakfast. She blushed and looked away, closing the door a few inches. Was he not going to address what he’d just seen her doing? What is his game? Val must have worn her skepticism on her face.

“We can pretend I didn’t see anything, if you’d prefer. I can keep a secret, and I won’t make it weird or anything.” He laughed a little as he said this and she got the feeling he was telling the truth, despite the strangeness of the situation. She let out the breath she’d been holding, and silently thanked God that it had been this man and not Ms. Hughes or her parents coming to check on her. “I’m sorry again for interrupting.” He continued. “I was hoping to speak to Evelyn or Morgan about trimming the lawn. I told them I’d come around when I got a free day, but I guess I should have called first.”

“They’ll be back at the end of the week. They didn’t mention anything about a gardener..”

“Aw damn, I really should have called,” he wiped his brow with the back of his glove, then yanked them off and put them in a pocket. He held out his hand for her to shake. “I’m Logan. I live over on Amherst Street, and I landscape for some of the people in this neighborhood when I’m not working.”

Val hesitated. She believed he was sincere, but her heart was only beginning to slow down and she still didn’t know this man. She adjusted her blanket to hold both ends in one hand between her breasts, and held out the other to quickly shake his hand. “Val.”

He waited in case she wanted to share more, but took it in stride when she didn’t, happy to continue on his own. He pulled his hand back and ran it through his short hair. “Well it’s lovely to meet you Val. I apologize again for intruding on your day, and I better leave you be rather than prolong my intrusion. I should really use the rest of this daylight for another yard while I can.” He turned as if to pick up his trimmer and leave down the steps, but before he did he turned back to Val. “Unless I could work in the yard anyway, and Morgan can bring me a check when she returns? Do you think they’d be interested?”

Val remembered how two days before Morgan had shown her how to take care of the vegetable garden, and how she’d mentioned they hadn’t had time to give the rest of the yard any attention. She’d considered surprising them and doing the work herself, but she didn’t know where to start.