On a hot and humid May afternoon, Cade Jennings was walking around on his family’s vacant property. A moderately strong tornado had passed through the previous week and he was charged with the task of repairing the damage. The fence along the property line had been ripped out of the ground and many posts were broken.
He came from a very well-off, well-respected family, and lived in the rural community of Checker. He was an only child but had three younger cousins. His dad; Van Jennings owned a hardware supply store. His paternal aunt; Margie Jennings Fitzgerald owned a diner called Margie’s Downhome Diner. He was able to avoid military service because he worked fervently as a highly skilled carpenter and equally skilled electrician. His family’s financial status was the other factor. His family’s land had been unoccupied for many years. It was once farmland and still had a small wooden house near the gravel road. There was also a storm shelter in the back fields. His great-grandparents originally bought the property, generations ago. Cade’s dad and aunt had ended up with it during the war. In the 1950s, they built a shelter there, to protect themselves against a foreign missile attack. In later years it served as a haven for stormy weather. It was highly valued by the family, as there was plenty of foul weather in the area. That shelter was the main reason for keeping the land. Cade’s aunt Margie also wanted to build other houses on the property, for her children. The only thing was they could not decide what to do with the small wooden house. It had sentimental value to Cade’s dad and aunt, as it was in the family for generations. Cade loved the house as well and stayed there whenever he could. All the while he was making his repairs, he stayed there. Helen Hunter, their troublesome neighbor, constantly complained about it. She said it brought down the value of her property and that it was too small and too old.
As Cade was walking along the broken fence at the property boundary, he saw a young lady tending to the herb gardens. She was tall, pale, and soft-bodied whilst clothed in a yellow sun dress with a peach-colored slip. Her appearance drove Cade crazy. He was instantly attracted to her, as she was bent over with her back turned toward him. He longingly gazed at her ample-sized fanny highlighted by her sundress and slip. He wanted her so much but knew, however, that Helen Hunter commanded her workers to live by high moral standards. She demanded her employees to be celibate. They were forbidden to be in situations that would hint that their celibacy was broken. Still, at that moment, Cade was very attracted to her. He wanted to at least get to know her. Reluctantly, he unfixed his eyes from her backside and began working on the fence.
He said to himself “My God, she is so beautiful, if only I could get her to notice me.”
Cade thought for a moment, then said to himself with a slight laugh and smile. “Wait, I know what I am going to do.”
He pulled the broken post out of the ground and then tossed it into the bed of his truck, a 1957 Chevrolet Apache. The sound of the wood landing on the metal frightened the young lady. Immediately she turned around and looked in Cade’s direction.
He beheld her bespectacled porcelain face dotted with freckles, along with her sparkling Sapphire blue eyes and long auburn hair.
Slightly choking, Cade spoke to her, trying to hide his smile, “Sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you.”
She smiled back at him and answered, “That’s all right, I am glad that it was only you.”
Cade continued working on the fence. He placed a new post into the ground and forced it into the ground with his pile-driver. He then took the U-shaped fasteners and hammered them into the new post, to secure the wire mesh. He did all of this while watching the girl at the same time. She couldn’t seem to be focused on her work.
Cade said to himself, “Good lord, she is even more beautiful than I first thought. I wonder what she is thinking right now?”
He continued working, trying to be as loud as possible in hopes that she would come up to him. Finally, the young lady got up from her work and walked over.
Cade again said, trying to hide his smile “I am sorry, I don’t mean to be making all of this noise. I hope I am not disturbing you.”
She spoke “No, you’re not, don’t worry about that. It’s just, I have never seen you around here before. What brings you here?”
Cade replied “Well, my family owns this property, and they are paying me to repair it. I am fixing the damage from the severe weather last week.” He paused then asked, “Were you around here when the tornado came through?”
She replied “Oh yes, I was very frightened. I am deathly afraid of the weather.”
“Where did you go for it?”
“I had to stay outside, even though the sky was ominously black. It was lightning and thundering. I was so afraid of getting struck. A tornado warning was even issued; in fact, I heard it on my Flavoradio. It keeps me company during these long work hours.” She paused and then continued “Ms. Helen kept us working until she saw the funnel cloud touch down.”
Cade replied “Good Lord in Heaven! Is she that ruthless? I cannot believe that she would put her workers in that kind of danger.” He paused then continued “Someone so delicate and beautiful like you should be protected from danger, not put in the face of it. I bet you’re barely seventeen.”
The girl smiled and blushed, as she said, “Twenty-going -on-twenty-one, actually, but thank you for the sweet compliment” She paused and then continued “I am sick of working for her. She doesn’t appreciate us. She makes us work from sun up to sun down. We have to work five, sometimes six days a week and we are grossly underpaid. We don’t work on a set schedule either, so we can’t plan anything far in advance. Worst of all, she tries to control our personal lives as well. If any of us decide to have any male company; we would be fired. How’s a girl supposed to have any release?”
Cade also blushed and replied, “Wow. Dangit, I knew about the forced celibacy, but I didn’t realize she did all of that other stuff. It is unjust and should be illegal”
The young lady then said, “I’m Amelia Schriever by the way.”
“Cade Jennings.” He replied, then continued “Amelia, I have a confession to make: I think you are very beautiful and I would like to see you again. I just wish I could see you without such dire consequences on your part.”
Amelia’s blue eyes lit up, as she replied “Well Cade, I think you are very handsome.” She then leaned over to kiss him, but then stopped and said “Wait, you don’t look a day over fifteen. How do I know that I am not robbing the cradle?”
Cade blushed as he said to Amelia with excitement, “Well I’m twenty five, almost twenty-five and a half. I would be the one that is technically robbing the cradle, but not breaking the law.”
“Well, it is good that we are both legal, but if I wasn’t, you can rob my cradle any time,” Amelia paused, as she kissed him, then said, “We would just have to keep our liaisons top secret. But that would make it more fun and romantic!”
With ecstasy, Cade replied, “Wow you like me too, don’t you?”
“Of course I do. They don’t make ’em like you anymore.”
“What do you mean?”
“Aside from being handsome, you’re so sweet and honest. I can’t believe you don’t have a girlfriend.”
“Nope, there aren’t any young ladies around these parts.” Cade paused, blushed then said, “Well except for you that is.”
Amelia leaned over to kiss him again, and said “Would you like to have one?”
Cade simply spoke, “I hope you are talking about you and me.”
Amelia giggled, played with her long hair then nodded and kissed him again.
Cade then kissed her, awkwardly as he blushed, then asked “When could we see each other again?”
Amelia “Hopefully, I have tomorrow off. If I do, could I meet you early in the morning?” Amelia paused, then continued “But, we will have to be extremely discreet about it.”
Cade smiled with excitement and then said “I would be honored to meet you. Stand near the property line, and face my bedroom window.” Cade pointed it out. Then he continued “I will be up at half past five. What do you mean by being discreet about it?”
“Since Helen Hunter can’t know about us and we have to be low-key. At six thirty tomorrow, wait for me inside your bedroom. As soon as you see me coming to the property line, get ready. I will give you a hand signal like this” Amelia showed Cade her hand with every finger up except her ring and middle fingers as she continued, “When I do that, get your truck ready and start it up. Ride it to where the gravel road meets the main highway. I will take my bicycle and follow you. We will meet up at the junction of this gravel road and the main highway. Helen Hunter won’t be able to see us way over there.” Amelia paused, then said “She will be too busy at that hour waking up the rest of the workers, anyway. I will keep a distance between my bicycle and your truck.”
Cade smiled then said “And when we meet near the main highway, you can put your bicycle in the bed of my truck. I have some tarpaulin to cover it up. That way no one will see that I have your bicycle and it will be protected from the weather.” Cade said as he smiled from ear to ear.
Amelia smiled as she said, “I cannot wait until then.” Amelia winked and gave Cade another kiss. She then pranced back to the garden with her sun dress and slip swishing from side to side. Cade stared at her with a mixture of love and lust. They both got back to work, not being able to talk for the rest of the day. As Cade was repairing the fence, all he could think of was Amelia; her unparalleled beauty, and their mutual passionate feelings building towards each other. Cade admired her while she was working in the herb gardens, as he continued walking along the property line. He was very busy pulling up and replacing fence posts and throwing the broken ones into the bed of his truck. He repeated the process of pile-driving the new fence posts down in their places and fastening them to the wire mesh. When he finished repairing the fence all along the property line, he moved on to the rest of the yard and fields. Cade worked on the fence until the sun began to set and stayed in the old house for the night. He prepared his supper, scrubbed himself down, and then listened to the weather report on a Realistic 12-152 until he fell asleep.
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