"Oh but Grace," Alana's voice trailed off..
"Hush child. I know what's best." Grace busied herself by creating another ponytail atop Alana's head and then stepped in front of the girl. "You can be such a spoilsport at times. We'll have to work on that." Alana remained silent through the entire chastisement. But finally, her eyes flew wide open as she gasped.
Grace, who was standing in front of her, had touched her breasts! Not only was she touching her breasts, but she was holding them up in the palms of her hands! "These are real. Magnificent!"
Alana wanted to protest the uninvited intimacy but a swat on the bottom and some instructions from Grace sent her outside. Grace joined her for a moment to give her the pad of paper and the pen. And then she left, leaving Alana standing in her front yard with the lower swells of her breasts peeking out beneath the cropped t-shirt.
Alana glanced around the neighborhood quickly and saw that, thankfully, nobody was around. "Thank god for small blessings," she muttered to herself. "Best get this over with." She decided to start in the front while people were still in their houses and then move to the relative privacy of her back yard.
Her experienced eye quickly addressed the building and soon she was making notes and drawing sketches of possible modifications. She continued to be pleased with her purchase and could not wait to bring the structure back to life. It really was a jewel and it deserved to sparkle.
"Hi there," a male voice called out, startling her and breaking into her imaginings. She looked around and finally saw the man on the other side of a row of hedges at the side of the yard.
"Oh. Hi there," she replied.
"Ted Crandall," the man said. "You must be the new kid on the block."
Alana smiled nervously. "Yes, I'm the new kid. Just moved in this week." She crossed to the hedgerow and extended her arm to shake hands. "Alana Montcliff," she announced.
"Pleased to meet you, Alana. Your moving in has certainly beautified the neighborhood."
Alana blushed as she realized that Ted was staring at her chest. Reaching out to shake hands must have lifted her shirt slightly because she could feel the cool breeze dancing over a little more breast flesh than earlier. Quickly, she withdrew her hand and crossed her arms over her chest in an effort to restore her modesty.
"Thank you," she said nervously. Then she took a deep breath to steady herself. "I really love the neighborhood. It has such charm."
Ted also took a deep breath but it was more to let out a whistle in appreciation of the beautiful creature standing before him. "Are you an actress or a model or something?"
"No, nothing like that," replied Alana. "An architect."
"Well you can build me whatever you want whenever you want, Miss Architect," exclaimed the man.
Alana was starting to get annoyed by her neighbor but tried hard not to show it. "I design things, actually. Not build. If you'll excuse me, I've got to get back to work."
"No problem," said Ted, getting the message. "Hope I didn't offend. Maybe I can make it up by inviting you over to dinner tonight. I'm sure my wife would love to meet you."
"And I would love to meet your wife and get to know the two of you," Alana responded graciously. "Perhaps next weekend. I'm already taken for this evening."
"Sounds good to me. I'll talk to Meredith and we'll set something up. I'll let you get back to work now. Nice meeting you, Alana."
"Very nice meeting you too, Ted." And she returned to her list-making.
"Taken," thought Ted as he watched the firm rounded bottom walking away from him and caught a glimpse of the smooth skin of the unfettered and partially exposed breasts. "I'd sure like to be doing the taking with that tender morsel."
Alana was trembling after this encounter and could hardly even concentrate on the task before her. But somehow, she managed to finish in the front of the house with her ideas and projects for the house. The landscaping would have to wait for a day when she had more clothing. She moved to the backyard to look at what needed to be done there.
She had only been in the privacy of the backyard for a few minutes before she again became self-conscious of her attire. "I'm dressed like a slut!" she thought. "Or an over-anxious teenager. This is ridiculous!" She stormed into the house and changed into a pair of jeans and a full t-shirt before returning to the yard to renew her survey.
Alana felt much more comfortable, mentally, if not physically. She was at least back in control. She had to admit to herself, though, that her other outfit was more comfortable. The cutoffs might have been too short but at least they didn't bind at her knees and crotch. And it was much nicer to feel the natural breeze against her legs. The shirt was okay but, again, she missed the at-one-with-nature feel. Plus, her other outfit would help with her tanning.
But it just wasn't proper, she decided. It was too lewd and revealing. She would suffer within the confines of more proper dress. Plus, she decided, it was time to be dressed inside the house as well. She would talk to Grace about that the next time she saw her.
Grace watched Alana from an upstairs bedroom. She had observed Alana's interaction with Ted from a different window earlier and had chuckled at the way it had gone. Judging by the way that Ted's pants were tented out in front of him after the encounter, he was interested in Alana. She filed that away for future use. Grace had been plotting for over a year on ways to snare Meredith but had never come up with a scheme to capture her. Maybe the pieces were falling into place and she might end up owning the blonde beauty along with the modest but beautiful redhead, Meredith.
Now she was watching Alana in the backyard wearing the newly donned jeans and t-shirt. She considered going over to her neighbor's to exert her authority again but decided that watching and waiting might give her more information that she could use later.
She watched as Alana moved slowly around the perimeter of the yard, inspecting the tall privacy fence and the shrubs and vines that were held within. Alan tried to peer between each board in the fence and used her fingers to sample the leaves of each of the plants.
A swing set sat in one of the back corners of the lot and Grace watched as Alana sat down, setting her paper and pencil aside, to swing back and forth for several minutes. "She's an angel," thought Grace. "My angel."
Eventually, the swinging stopped and Alana moved back toward the house. Grace watched as the girl frequently tugged at her clothing and then saw her dart into the house. She reemerged a few minutes later wearing the cut-offs and the cropped t-shirt. "She's definitely mine!" exclaimed Grace who quickly ducked down in case she was heard by her prey.
Saturday evening, Alana knocked on her neighbor's door. She carried a vase of flowers and a bottle of wine that she ran out to purchase that afternoon in preparation for her dinner with Grace. Alana waited for a few moments and then the door opened to reveal a younger and shorter version of Grace.
"Hi, I'm your new neighbor. I'm Alana," she said.
"Oh hi," replied the girl who appeared to be in her mid-teens. "Mom told me you were coming over. I'm Kelly."
Alana handed the flowers to Kelly. "These are for you." And then she held up the bottle. "And this is for your mother," which caused Kelly to wrinkle her nose.
"I see you two have met," observed Grace as she came out of the kitchen, complete with apron. She kissed Alana on the cheek and took the bottle from her. "That was very thoughtful of you. Thank you."
Alana had a very enjoyable time with the mother and daughter as they stood in the kitchen while Grace finished the meal. And she enjoyed the dinner and the lively conversation that accompanied it. All three women pitched in to clear the table and clean the dishes and then they retired to the den.