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The Naked Gardener: Part 1

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The Naked Gardener: Part 1.
A new relationship blossoms with Van's peculiar
neighbor.

Based on a post by WatchingCloud.

Listen to the Podcast at Connected.




"Earl!"

Van sighed as his two year old yellow lab took off into the woods

behind his house. His constant companion was usually obedient, but
with all the wonderful sights and smells surrounding their new home
in the country, Earl had become a challenge the last couple weeks. He
wanted to believe the dog would eventually find his own way back
home, but that nagging doubt led him to tromp off into the woods
after him.

In the thick brush, he soon lost sight of the dog, but by pausing

every minute or so he could usually hear the tell tale sound of Earl
crashing heedless through the woods. He called every so often, each
time less confident that the dog would hear and come back. Van also
had to take care to keep his bearings so he wouldn't end up lost in
the acreage of his own back yard.

A brief woof from up ahead got him back on track and Van soon

found himself arriving at a clearing; apparently one of his
neighbor's backyards. The house beyond was a modest, elegant
structure, enhanced by a gorgeous in-ground pool and surrounded by a
well manicured yard. Much of the yard not taken up by the pool was
dominated by a large vegetable garden, clearly well loved and already
producing a variety of healthy looking produce.

It was next to the garden where he finally spotted his wayward

dog, who was soaking up the affection of a nearly nude woman. Van was
startled by the sight, skidding to a halt before coming out of the
woods. The woman, perhaps in her thirties like himself, appeared to
be on the tall side with freckled bronze skin. She was wearing only
sandals, work gloves, and a wide-brimmed straw hat that, along with
sunglasses, conspired to hide her face.

Van admired her rugged beauty and the way the sun glistened off

her full, sweat dappled breasts. At the same time, though, he was
struck with the awkwardness of the situation. He needed to get his
dog back, but he couldn't do so without intruding upon this woman's
privacy. Given that she was gardening naked in a very rural
neighborhood where privacy was the norm, he wouldn't be surprised if
she was very pissed.

He considered sneaking back away some distance and then calling

out for his dog again, giving her an opportunity to "hear him
coming" well before he made a public appearance. Before he could
put this plan into action, however, the woman looked up his direction
and spotted him from where he was just inside the tree line. She
waved at him, thereby bringing the awkward circumstance to a head.

"Earl!" he said as he stepped out of the woods. "Bad

dog!"

"Seems like a good dog to me," the woman said, standing

fully upright after having been scratching the dog behind the ears.

"Oh, he is, when he's not running off into other people's

yards. I'm really, really sorry about that. Totally didn't mean to
intrude on you."

"It's nothing," she said with a smile. She took off her

sunglasses, revealing warm, brown eyes, and then peeled her gloves
off to offer him a handshake. "Liz."

"Van," he said, taking her hand. More than anything, he

was astounded by how utterly un-selfconscious she was standing in
front of him unclothed.

"Nice to meet you, Van," she said. "And you, too,

Earl."

"We, uh, just moved in a couple weeks ago," he said,

pointing vaguely toward the woods behind him. "Somewhere back
there a bit."

Liz chuckled. "Guess that makes us neighbors, then. I'm sure

you'll like the area. Since moving here a few years ago, I can't
imagine ever living anywhere else."

"Yeah, I'm really liking it so far," he said. "The

woods, the wildlife, the peace and quiet. And, apparently, lovely
neighbors."

"You're too kind," she said, shaking her head. "Sorry

about my appearance, I wasn't expecting visitors."

"No, no, I'm sorry. I'm the one intruding. It's your yard,

whatever makes you happy."

Liz gave him a wry smile. "I meant that I was sorry about

being sweaty and dirty. Didn't say I was apologizing for being
naked."

Van flushed in embarrassment and was about to stammer yet another

apology when Liz burst out laughing. He loved the sound of her laugh,
even if it was at his expense.

"Just messing with you," she said. "Trust me, I

have a very good reason for dressing like this. Or not dressing, as
it were. Just giving you fair warning for the next time you're out
this way."

Van wondered what sort of "very good reason" she might

have. Nudist? Lost a bet? Laundry day? He was tempted to ask, but
chickened out at the last moment and decided to try to move the
conversation to something a bit safer.

"Your garden looks incredible," he said, grateful to

take his gaze away from her tantalizing body and toward the garden.

"Thanks," she said. "It's my pride and joy these

days."

"Was thinking about starting one, now that I have some space,

but I'm sure it's too late in the season to start this year. Well,
that and I'm pretty clueless when it comes to that sort of thing."

"I'd be happy to get you started. But, yeah, probably next

year. You're more than welcome to help yourself to anything in my
garden, though. God knows it produces ten times more food than I
could possibly eat. Can't give it away fast enough once it really
gets going."

"Sounds good. Might have to take you up on that sometime."

"I was planning on making spaghetti sauce from scratch

tonight, mostly using just stuff straight out of the garden."

"Wow, that sounds good."

"You should come over for dinner. I'll have way more than

enough food and it'd be nice to chat when I'm not so self-conscious
over being sweaty and grimy."

Self-conscious? Van wanted to say yes, since he was finding the

woman to be friendly, engaging, and unassuming. The naked thing,
however, was making him just a little bit reluctant, as if it hinted
at a quirky side to her that he wouldn't find as appealing.

"I'll even put some clothes on," she said teasingly, as

if suspecting his hesitation.

"Yeah, sure," he finally said. "That sounds great.

Should I bring anything?"

"Just yourself. Unless you're married, or have a girlfriend

or something."

"Nope, just me. And Earl."

"Six o'clock good?"

"Six. Looking forward to it. And nice to meet you."

"Likewise."

Van took Earl by the collar and started walking him back to the

woods. He looked back once to wave goodbye and take one last look at
Liz. There was something about her nakedness mixed with the sweat and
dirt of hard work that was incredibly attractive to him. In some
sense, it seemed to fit with the rugged individuality he'd sought in
moving this far from the city. It might not have been quite how he'd
envisioned it, but he certainly wasn't about to complain.



Van regretted not asking Liz for her address earlier. Or a phone

number. It was only later in the afternoon that he realized he
probably wouldn't be able to figure out which house was hers from the
street, leaving him with retracing his route through the woods on
foot as his only option on the way to dinner. The early evening
summer heat was leaving him sweaty and he'd already managed to
scratch his legs a couple times on the thick brush. If this was going
to be a regular thing, hiking to her house, he would have to consider
cutting a proper trail.

Finally, he reached her backyard. Many of the thoughts that had

pervaded his mind all afternoon returned as the moment of truth was
imminent. He had no idea if she was married. For that matter, she
might have even have kids. Aside from a penchant for gardening in the
buff, he really knew very little about her. He'd convinced himself to
avoid getting his hopes too high that there could be a little
potential for a relationship here.

Van contemplated walking all the way around to her front door, but

decided that she didn't seem like the sort who would hold him to such
formality. Instead, he walked up to the back patio door and tapped on
the glass. He didn't have to wait long as Liz appeared moments later
to open the door for him.

"Heya," she said, stepping aside to let him in. "Glad

you could make it."

"Thanks again for the invite," he said, stepping in and

offering her a bottle of wine he'd brought along so as not to be
entirely empty handed. "Figured I should bring at least a little
something."

"Great, thanks," she said, taking the bottle and

carrying it to the kitchen which was adjacent to the living room into
which the porch door had opened.

As promised and to his relief, Liz was dressed, though hardly

dressed up. She wore black, spandex shorts and a snug athletic tank
top. It looked like she was ready to go to the gym. Without her hat
on, he finally got his first good look at her hair; chestnut brown,
short, and wavy almost to the point of being messy, though it worked
on her.

"Did you walk?"

"Yeah," he said, looking around at the tasteful, country

casual decor of the room. "Wasn't sure I'd be able to recognize
the place from the front."

"Oh, yeah, should've given you my address. Oops."

"No worries. It's not too bad a hike."

"Iced tea? Looks like you could use one. We can save the wine

for dinner."

"Sure."

Van stood in the kitchen doorway and watched as she poured two

glasses from a pitcher. Like the living room, the kitchen was
tasteful and clean. Copper pots hung from hooks and baskets full of
fresh vegetables sat on the red granite counter tops. Liz's
environment only served to reinforce his impression of her as some
sort of modern frontier woman.

"Thanks," he said as he took the offered glass and

drained half of it in one pull.

"So, dinner's gonna be a while yet," she said. "Hope

you don't mind. The sauce needs to simmer down some more before I can
start the noodles."

"No, that's fine. Smells great, by the way."

"Thanks. So, you want the nickle tour of the house while we

wait?"

"Yeah. What little I've already seen is gorgeous."

"It's more or less my dream house. Put a lot of myself in

here, but still working on it. You've already seen the kitchen, which
is of course the most important room in any home."

"I'm going to guess that you love cooking."

"Good guess," she said, smiling.

Liz led him quickly through the rest of the house, which struck

him almost more as a show home than a place where real people lived.
Every room was tasteful appointed, neat and clean. It was pretty
modest in size, with two bedrooms, an office, a couple bathrooms, and
a den outside the rooms he'd seen on entry. Everything along the way
pointed to her living alone.

The tour concluded a few minutes later out in front of her house,

looking at her flowering landscaping. It left him admiring her for
the passion she clearly had for the house. And, at the same time, he
felt guilty for having stalled out in the unpacking process of his
own new home.

"It's gorgeous," he finally said. "You said it was

your dream house? Did you build it?"

"Bought it, but did a lot of remodeling before I moved in.

Was my first big retirement project, I guess you could say."

"Retirement project?"

Liz looked a little sheepish. "Yeah, sorta. I did pretty good

for myself as an investor on Wall Street for about ten years, until I
just couldn't take it any longer. Decided to cash out and get back to
living a real life."

"Wow, can't say I'm not a little jealous," he said. He

had trouble stretching his imagination enough to envision her in a
business suit, sitting in posh conference rooms in the heart of the
financial world.

"Well, I'm hoping that it was worth the loss of ten years of

my life," she said, not without a little bitterness. "So
far, so good."

"So, investing didn't sit that well with you?"

"The work was fine. I like numbers and the business side of

things. Unfortunately, a lot of the other people in that industry are
pretty shallow and uninteresting. Still can't believe I married one
of them."

"You're married?" Her tone had suggested it was probably

no longer the case, but he thought he'd ask.

"Went from first date to marriage to divorce in just under

two years," she said with a rueful smile. "Thought I was
doing the smart thing, following the life path of a professional.
Marry, buy a nice house in an upscale neighborhood, kids, and so on.
Turned out I wasn't being very true to myself. Kinda the same way he
wasn't being very faithful to me."

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be. I think I needed to go through that to get to

where I am today."

"Texas?"

"Happy."

"Then I take back feeling sorry for you. That's great."

"So, what about you? What brings you out into the sticks?"

"Some of the same, I suppose. Felt like I was burning out

trying to keep up with all my friends and associates and contacts.
So, moved out here to have a good excuse to get some more time to
myself. Unfortunately, I'm not retired."

"Not many our age are. What do you do?"

"I'm a writer. Mostly work freelance, writing articles for

web-based news or interest sites. Some travel, some local interest,
some news. I'm kinda all over the map, really."

"Sounds interesting. You enjoy it?"

"Yeah, actually, I do. The income could stand to be a little

more consistent or better, but I'm doing well enough. And, luckily, I
can do most of my work from here."

"Nice."

A clopping sound coming up the driveway interrupted their

conversation. Van was a little surprised when he saw that it was an
old man, replete with cowboy hat, jeans, and faded shirt, riding on
horseback and waving at them. It was a sight he'd never have seen
living in the city and he filed it in the back of his mind for a
possible future story.

Liz waved back. "Hey Clancy!"

"Miss Liz," the older gentleman said before dismounting

with practiced ease.

"Van, this is Clancy. He and his wife live about a mile up

the road. Clancy, this is Van. He's my new neighbor."

Clancy shook Van's hand with a firm grip. Van already liked the

man, simply from his easy smile and friendly demeanor.

"Pleasure to meet you," Clancy said.

"Likewise."

"Was just over to deliver the young lady's eggs," Clancy

said, retrieving a plastic bag from his saddle bag and handing it
gingerly over to Liz.

"Clancy's got chickens and keeps me well stocked with fresh

eggs and even the occasional bird," Liz said. "And in
return, I get to pawn off some of my spare produce. Speaking of
which, I'll be right back with it."

Liz went inside, leaving the two men alone in the front yard.

"She's something else, isn't she?" Clancy said with a

sly wink.

"Just met this afternoon, but yeah, seems like a heck of a

woman."

"Just met, eh? Well, I'm sure you'll find she's full of

surprises."

"Already came across a couple of those." Van chuckled

and Clancy nodded knowingly.

Liz returned moments later, carrying two bags bulging with produce

which Clancy struggled to pack away in his saddle bags.

"I keep telling you that the wife and I can't possibly eat

this much food," he said.

"Share it, then," Liz said.

"Well, you two have a pleasant evening," Clancy said,

mounting back up. "Nice to meet you, Van."

Liz and Van bade him a good evening and watched as he rode his

horse at a nice, easy gait back down her driveway toward the distant
road. Van inwardly chuckled at the simple barter system between
neighbors and wondered how common such things were around here. It
made him look forward to meeting more of the neighbors, in spite of
the challenge that could be given the distances between houses.

"Let's go see how dinner's coming along," Liz said and

led the way back inside.



Dinner, Van proclaimed repeatedly, was one of the finest meals

he'd had in months if not years. Aside from the freshly made sauce,
Liz had also tossed a fresh salad (everything coming from her
garden), baked a loaf of bread, and even had some locally grown
peaches sliced up to serve over ice cream. He was stuffed and
content.

Their conversation had been fun and engaging. Liz was smart, a

little opinionated, and had a great sense of humor. She also had a
wide range of interests, which meshed nicely with the breadth of his
writing topics.

As they finished up the last of the bottle of wine, Van finally

summoned the courage to ask the question that had been bugging him
all afternoon.

"Okay, I may be stepping into dangerous territory here, but I

have to ask a question," Van said.

Liz smiled and leaned back in her chair. "Ask away."

"Earlier, you said there was a good reason that you were,

well, naked."

"And you want to know the reason?"

Judging by her expression, Van suspected that this wasn't a

dangerous topic after all. Relaxing, he nodded.

"Fair enough. I have a neurological disorder that causes the

nerves in my skin to tend to be a bit overly sensitive. It's kinda
like having a permanent, painful sunburn."

"Ouch. I'm sorry."

Liz shrugged. "Not your fault. I've had it so long, that I'm

pretty used to it. Not to say that it doesn't still annoy the hell
out of me sometimes."

"So, I take it you're more comfortable without clothes?"

"Exactly. The pain is worse with light pressure or when

things move across my skin, and clothes do both of those constantly.
Steady or firm pressure isn't as bad, which is why I tend to wear
spandex when I'm forced to be dressed."

"Wow. Now I feel bad. You're in pain, wearing clothes, just

to ease my own discomfort."

"Don't feel bad. I have to wear clothes enough anyway. It's

not like I was able to go to school or work naked. At least here,
when I have to get dressed, I'm able to go with something that's less
irritating."

"Still, I can't help feeling a little guilty."

"I could tell you were feeling a little awkward when we first

met this afternoon. Frankly, if you hadn't, then I'd probably have
been worried enough not to invite you to dinner. No, I wanted this to
be comfortable for you so we could, you know, focus on actually
getting acquainted. I'm not so idealistic as to think that would be
easy if I was lounging around naked."

"True. Not that I would have complained or anything."

"Well, duh. I've got a great body, after all."

He couldn't help but laugh at how casually she could discuss the

topic head on, and make light of the obvious challenges associated
with it. She was making it easy to fall for her, though he had yet to
determine if she was even remotely interested in that sort of a
relationship.

"Yes, you do. Who wouldn't want to see you naked?"

"I could name a few," she said, her humor turning just a

little sour.

"Some people a little less than appreciative?"

"Well, let's just say that some of my family and even a few

friends haven't been quite as open-minded over the years. It's been a
fine line to balance, and I've generally tried to keep from offending
anyone."

"I can only imagine. Well, look, now that I know your story,

I want you to know that I'm totally cool with you wearing as little
around me as you want. Can't say I won't ogle a bit, but I'll do my
best to make it a non-issue."

"Thanks. I really appreciate that. A lot of people say that,

but don't always mean it. I have a good hunch about you, though."

"I'm glad. Now, unfortunately, I should probably get around

to calling it a night. I'm meeting an editor tomorrow morning over
breakfast, and it's a b

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