It was the early evening of a lovely summer's day and I was driving home. I'd had a hard day trying to make my appointments in a string of coast towns amongst the holiday traffic and was looking forward to getting home. I was about twelve miles away when I saw a woman stopped by the side of the road. As I passed by her I realised that she was having trouble trying to change a wheel. Just ahead of me there was a small lay-by about fifty yards on so I stopped there and went back to see if I could help her change her wheel.
The woman was between her early forties to mid-fifties by looking at her and she had a really nice figure. She was well-dressed and attractive and looked up at me as I walked up her.
"Having some trouble?" I asked.
"Yes," She answered.
"I have a puncture and I can't get the damned wheel nuts off to change the wheel," she smiled.
"Here, let me have a go," I said.
The wheel-brace was one of those right angled things, however it did fit the wheel-nuts tightly but I just couldn't shift the nuts using my hands. So I stood on the shaft and bounced up and down on it and I soon had the nuts loose. I jacked the car up and removed the wheel then fitted the spare and did the nuts back up again. I let the jack down and put the punctured wheel in the boot along with the tools away at the same time.
"There you, job done!" I said.
"Oh, thank you so much, I'd never have got those nuts undone on my own." The woman said.
"Are you on your way home?" She asked surprised me.
"Yes I am," Was all I answered.
"Well, you're hands are absolutely filthy, I live only just down the road, why don't you leave your car there and come with me in mine and you can get cleaned up?" She said to me.
I accepted with pleasure as my hands were in fact extremely dirty. That wheel hadn't been off the car in a very long time by the looks of it. So I got in her car and she drove to her house or rather a bungalow. It was a big place, sitting back off the road in a large garden. She opened the door and we went in.
"I expect you could do with a drink," She asked as she raised her eyebrows.
"Tea or something stronger?" She asked again.
"Well I was looking forward to getting home but if you don't mind I will have a large vodka and tonic if you have it?."
"Right, tell you what, you get yourself cleaned up then go get your car then you can have a large vodka and tonic when you get back!" She said to me.
"Ok," I replied.
I washed up and then walked back to my car. I drove it back to her bungalow and parked it in the drive. As I went in the front door she came out of the kitchen.
"Just in time," she said.
"I've just made us both a drink." She certainly had by the looks of it.
She handed me a large tumbler which turned out to have more vodka than tonic in it, not that I minded. Then she led me into a lovely sitting room that looked into the back garden, it was beautiful.
"My name's Carol," She said to me.
"And before you ask, I'm a widow and I live here alone. As you can see my hobby is gardening." She said again.
"My pet hate, but I'm used to gardeners, my ex-wife was a very keen one. I laughed.
"My name is John by the way," I replied.
"I am very pleased to meet you," Carol said.
"You were a real knight in shining armour today! I know it's none of my business but you said 'ex-wife'?" She enquired to which I nodded.
"I was a naughty boy and got caught, although I have to say that our marriage didn't turn out as we'd hoped."
"Yes, I somehow got the impression that you might be a player, you're very attractive to women, I bet you were quite a naughty boy!" She said laughing.
"It's funny, isn't it? When I was married women wouldn't leave me alone and now that I am single again all the married couples steer clear!" I stated.
"Well, I'm not married!" She replied and somehow that did not surprise me.
