It had been a long confusing day for her, so much had happened, she reflected, and still had no answers for all she had gone through this day, and the day had started off, well, like any other, except, she knew that some situations could be dangerous.
Kathryn had been hired by the wealthy LeJohn family not really as a housekeeper, more of a house watcher at their luxurious Lake Tahoe home which they used sparingly, generally in the Winter for a skiing week or two, and on a few occasions they had left their home in the Hamptons and ventured West to enjoy the clear sparkling waters and the crisp aromatic air of beautiful Lake Tahoe.
She was excited at the thought of living at the lake in the large A-frame home nestled back in the pines, but with a nice view of the lake. From the upstairs window she could look over and see Crystal Bay and further down Carnelian Bay, she loved the view of the lake.
When she first arrived, she immediately took about seeing that all the cleaning and laundry were done. She had hired the North Tahoe Merry Maids to send in a crew and get all of the major cleaning done in two days, and a gardening company from Tahoe City to do the landscaping and grass trimming. She insisted, "Not just mowed and trimmed, I want the place manicured." When they were all completed she was pleased with all of the work they had done. The house and the grounds were spotless.
There was a 1940 Ford "Woody" station wagon parked in the garage that Mr. LeJohn had purchased at an automotive auction in Phoenix a few years before, fully restored, and was beautiful. She had driven it a few times, and liked the admiring glances she received when she drove it through town to the Safeway to purchase groceries and other items. Life was good for her, she was happy, living at Lake Tahoe, she loved that cedar aroma in the air and the air was so clean and crisp.
On one occasions she had parked and walked to the Tahoe Marina and walked up and down the wooden piers, just admiring all the boats and wondering if she would ever own one. Her Dad had restored an old Chris-Craft years ago, and she had helped him and she developed a love for old "mahogany," and here in these cold pristine waters were some of the finest she had ever seen.
She caught a glimpse of the gorgeous Thunderbird a 55 foot craft which had been Commissioned by George Whittell, specifically for Lake Tahoe. It was designed by famed naval architect John L. Hacker and built by the Huskins Boat Works in Bay City, Michigan, which Kathryn had visited on a number of occasions on her travels around the state. The 55 foot craft was gorgeous. She had heard of the craft, but this was her first opportunity to see it.
She was sitting and admiring the scenery when the telephone rang. It was Mrs. LeJohn, telling her the family would arrive in three days, three guests, some old friends of ours from back East, and their private secretary. They had all been in San Francisco finalizing a business merger with a West coast firm and decided to take a mini vacation.
"Be a doll and have a limo pick us up at the airport, we'll come straight up to the lake, ta ta, see you soon," that was typical Thelma LeJohn, Kathryn was getting used to it.
The next few days Kathryn kept busy getting the rooms all ready. There were five bedrooms and the attached quarters where Kathryn was staying, so accommodations were not a problem.
The day before their arrival Kathryn drove the "Woody" down the hill to Tahoe City and made the rounds of a few stores. Plenty of thick ribeyes and t-bones, a couple prime ribs, assorted fresh "veges" and other items she knew they liked to have on hand, and of course a few bottles of Beefeaters Gin, Vodka for Mrs. LeJohn, and Crown Royal. Mr. LeJohn started the day with Beefeaters Martinis, and then in the evening, after dinner, the Crown Royal. with a dash of Angostura Bitters. So she stocked up at the liquor store for them, and for her, Amaretto, which she liked, just with some ice. "I'm good, I deserve it," she said to herself.
The house was ready, the kitchen was stocked, the little bar near the front picture window was stocked, everything was ready for the LeJohns and their guests.
Kathryn heard a vehicle slowly coming down the gravel driveway, and as it neared, she could not resist peeking out to see who the guests might be. First out of the limo was Mrs. LeJohns, and another woman, about the same age, and then a younger very attractive blonde emerged, then Mr. LeJohns and then another man backed out, and slowly turned around. "Oh my God, Kathryn blurted out, oh, no, it can't be, oh my God."
During the Summer of her Junior year at Albion, a small private liberal arts college located in Southern Michigan, she served an internship with a public relations firm in Detroit. They performed a lot of "damage control" work for General Motors. The work was quite interesting, and she had the opportunity to do a lot of traveling around the state.
On one occasion, she spent two weeks in Chicago, working with a GMC dealer who had been accused of having his bookkeeper do some "creative" work on the company books, and many billing errors in their service department, and some "shortcuts" which reflected badly on GMC.
The owner of the agency was John Hosings, the man exiting the limo, and the man whose conduct towards Kathryn that Summer was abhorrent. During her time in Chicago he was continually making unwanted passes at her, suggestions, touching, a classic case of Sexual Harassment. He had even tried to get in touch with her during her Senior year at Albion, and since graduation, she had not heard from him.
When Hosing saw Katheryn, his eyes lit up, a broad smile appeared on his face. He said nothing, but looked at her, a leer in his eyes. Kathryn tried to avert her eyes, and looked at the ground, instead of meeting his anxious eyes.
After some "pleasantries" and a few "Oh how nice the place looks," the luggage all placed in the appropriate rooms, the Hosings and the LeJohns were going to take the car and head to the North Shore and go to the Crystal Bay Club for drinks and to do a little wagering. Blanche Riordon, their secretary had a headache and was going to stay with Katyryn at the A-frame. Hosing tried to bow out of the afternoon, but when he realized that Blanche was going to stay, he agreed to go. Kathryn was relieved.
Blanche was an extremely attractive blonde, maybe too attractive, to just be a secretary. Kathryn had noticed some unusual "eye contact" between Blanche and Mr. Hosing but it was really none of her business. The two women went out to stroll the grounds and both gals chimed in on some idle banter and conversation. Mostly about the beauty of the lake and the surroundings and what a beautiful home the LeJohn's had.
Blanche revealed that she had been with Mister Hosing for many years, and had joined his firm just after graduating from Marist College in Poughkeepsie, New York. She had interned for two Summers with his company, and had started working for him the day after she graduated. Kathrine had the feeling that there was much that Blanche was not telling her about her relationship with the company, and especially with Mr. Hosing. She revealed that Mr. Hosing had given her a new Corvette for her graduation, and appreciation for joining his firm.
"Yea, right, Kathryn said to herself."
