Kelly's Rules

by Barbara Miller

  He had to be a good guy, he just had to be. Look at the sacrifice he made for his kids. Any other guy would have said he was already divorced. Heck if a guy went out to drink in a bar, he figured he had a right to say he was separated. Sure, he was there and his wife was at home, separated. But Quinn was for real. She hadn’t caught him in a lie even once.

  Before they pulled away from the curb, his phone rang. He seemed to listen a lot and replied he could be there in half an hour.

  “You can just drop me at Sue’s if you have to run somewhere.”

  “My son’s at the airport. I’d like you to meet him. Let’s take a quick look at her place, then run out and pick him up. He’s still waiting for his bags.”

  “Sure, why not?” Meeting the family was a good sign, right? Only usually you were being cross-examined by Mom or Dad, not a child.

  Sue’s place looked somewhat naked but clean. The girls had shampooed the sofa and chair, but the broken coffee table and end tables were sitting by the garage. The walls needed paint, of course, but Sue was already planning on that.

  When they got to the small terminal building at the regional airport, Jason was already there, a smaller and paler version of his handsome dad. Kelly was beginning to wonder if she could relate to this young man as a stepson when he got up to shake her hand and immediately threw up all over the floor.

  She handed him her work hankie and pointed toward the men’s room where his dad towed him.

  Kelly got a newspaper to cover the mess until she found a maintenance worker. By the time Quinn and Jason came out she had picked out Jason’s luggage, which consisted mostly of camping equipment, and set it by the clean and still wet spot on the floor. The boy was now beet red, but he looked better without the pallor.

  “I’m sorry I threw up on you.”

  “Actually you missed me. Lots of people lose it over the roller coaster commuter flight.”

  They shook hands finally and Kelly could see the uncertainty in his face. How long had it been since she had been so unsure of herself? A lifetime. He seemed incredibly young to her and she was happy for that.

  “Want to get a shower before we move you in? Quinn has been using my summer house ’til we get a bathroom working.”

  “Wow, Dad, is the house that bad?”

  “No, but it just needs some work. We need to get a water heater working. We’re on top of it.”

  “We?”

  “Kelly and me. We’re working on the house together.”

  A shy look from Jason made her realize his father had told him nothing about her so his young imagination must be running rampant. Yet he smiled at her, an encouragement.

  “I’ve refurbished other Victorian houses in town. There’s a really strict building code, so it pays to hire someone who knows it. I estimate you’ll be able to take a hot shower at home within the week.”

  “Dad, does she mean there’s no electricity?”

  “We have power but no TV.”

  “But Dad, what about the game?”

  He sounded as bereft as a five-year-old being told there was no Santa. Let’s see, it was August, so it must be baseball, assuming there was no strike. “Well, you can watch it in my summer house. I have cable out there.”

  Jason blew out a sigh of relief and his dad grinned at Kelly.

  When they got to her place, Quinn headed for the summer house and so did Jason. She had plans for some soap and water herself but could not ignore the homey smell of baked beans and fried chicken. Heck, she thought she smelled potato salad too.

  Sue appeared in the doorway. “We are picnicking tonight.”

  “Sue, you sound like you want to celebrate.”

  “I do. I’m celebrating celibacy.”

  Kelly was surprised Sue even knew that word. “Okay, whatever, but you do remember you tried this before.”

  “That’s in the past and so is sex. Who needs it?”

  “Right, well Quinn and I checked on your house and it cleaned up nice.”

  “The carpet?”

  “Is gone and the new one laid. The living room furniture was salvaged and the dining table and chairs are mostly okay. Decide what you want painted and I’ll work on it in my spare time. We replaced the locks on all the doors. Here’s a set of keys. I’ll keep one here in case you get locked out.”

  “You are such a good friend, Kelly. That’s the other reason I cooked.”

  “Well, may Quinn and his son eat here too? You should have seen the manly way he knocked out Joe.”

  “Sure. I’m immune to such thoughts now.”

  Kelly wiggled her eyebrows up and down. “You only saw him when you were numbed by ice cream. You might feel differently now.”

  “He’s yours. I would never infringe.”

  “Men are not territory. Besides he’s still married.”

  “Married as in happily?” She followed Kelly upstairs.

  “As in waiting for the divorce to be finalized. Call the summer house and invite them over while I shower.”

  “Way to go, Kelly. You’ll get first chance at him when he’s free.”

  Kelly looked back. “None of your innuendoes, Sue. Let this alone. We are working together. That’s it for now.”

  “But is that all you want?”

  “I don’t even know the man.”

  Sue’s evil chuckle drifted up to Kelly as she turned on the water and stripped. At this very moment Quinn might be doing the same. Arrrg. She had to not think about him naked. When they were working she had no problem, but after hours could get to be a real opportunity for her to make a complete fool of herself. The presence of his almost grown son should serve as a reminder of the gulf of years that separated them.

  Twenty minutes later they all gathered around the picnic table under the maple tree in the backyard and filled their plates. There were a lot of appreciative murmurs during the feast and smacking of lips.

  Quinn finally gave a sigh as he reached for another corn muffin. “No meal has ever tasted so good, and not just because I didn’t have to cook it.”

  “You made soup for the kids last night,” Sue said. “That was sweet.”

  Quinn smiled. “I like to cook on winter days when it’s too cold to be outside.”

  “There are only a few days too cold for me to work.” Kelly took her last bite of potato salad, her favorite food of the whole feast.

  “Really?” Quinn asked. “You work all winter?”

  “Sometimes it’s nicer in the winter.”

  “How long do you think it will take to do everything I want at my place?”

  “Face it, Quinn. You will be working on that house for the rest of your life, but to satisfy your current list, a month, as long as nothing goes wrong.”

  “And something always goes wrong?”

  Kelly was about to give him a list when she heard her mother yell from the back door. “So there you are.”

  “Oh, no. Mom, what are you doing here? I thought you were on a cruise.”

  “I’m back. Call me Bea.” She crossed the lawn wearing shorts, a tank top, her melanoma-courting tan, and a pair of huaraches that drove Kelly crazy with their squeaking. Her skin made Kelly worry that might be her in another thirty years if she didn’t properly moisturize.

  “Bea, did you have dinner? There’s plenty left.” Sue dealt her a Styrofoam plate.

  “I ate on the plane. Don’t you ever answer your phone, Kelly? I needed a ride from the airport.”

  “Don’t you ever call in advance? I thought you were going to fly to Atlanta and visit Cousin Ginny.”

  “Not during hurricane season.”

  “You have a perfectly good apartment in Irwin.”

  “I sublet that so I could finance my cruise. Aren’t you going to introduce me?”

  “This is Quinn Farrell and his son Jason. I’m working on a house for him. This is Bea…my mother. At least that’s what she’s always told me.”

  Quinn looked taken aback but chuckled and shook Bea’s hand.r />
  “Is that fried chicken?” Bea asked.

  Sue nodded and passed the platter. Kelly began to wonder how Sue had remained her friend all these years knowing what was coming.

  Her mother took one bite. “Too dry. No one knows how to make it anymore.”

  “Well you never did, Bea.” Kelly took a drumstick and ate it with true appreciation. “Sue made that chicken and I think it’s excellent.”

  “Oh, Sue made it. Let me try another bite.”

  Sue waited for Bea to chew and swallow before she said, “It’s Kelly’s recipe.”

  Bea cleared her throat. “I left my luggage on the front porch.”

  “Luggage?” Kelly panicked. “You can’t stay here.”

  “And why not?” Bea looked surprised.

  “Sue and the kids are staying here while her house is being redone.”

  “I’ll take the summer house.”

  “No. Quinn and Jason are using it ’til they get hot water.”

  “Well, where can I sleep?”

  “What about the Ramada?” Kelly suggested.

  “Not after that last episode.”

  “Oh, I keep forgetting. You set the drapes on fire.”

  Bea stabbed an enameled fingernail at the picnic table. “And they were pretty nasty about it.”

  “You’re a smoker who lied about it.”

  “There was no ashtray. Where was I supposed to put my cigarette?”

  “Not on the table next to the drapes. You took a non-smoking room and destroyed it.”

  “Well, I know when I’m not wanted.” Bea started to rise.

  Quinn shot Kelly a panicked look, but the glare she sent back told him he better not volunteer the summer house.

  Sue smiled. “I know. You can stay at my house. Don’t think I can stand to go there for a bit. And it’s only for the rest of the month, right?”

  Kelly cast her friend a look that said, You are an angel, but are you out of your gourd.

  Bea narrowed he gaze at Sue. “If it’s okay to live in, why aren’t you staying there?”

  “I—we just had a bad experience there, me and the children. It will take a few weeks to get over it. And Kelly is going to redecorate it so that it doesn’t even look like my house anymore.”

  Kelly stared at Sue in amazement and was surprised when her mother just nodded.

  “That’s across town,” Bea said.

  Sue fluttered a hand. “It’s two blocks away. You can almost yell at us from there.”

  “Fine state of affairs when a stranger takes me in and my own daughter…”

  “Maybe Jason and I had better go.” Quinn started to rise, probably sensing a family squabble coming on.

  Kelly latched onto Quinn’s shirt sleeve with claw-like desperation. “Dessert!” she gasped. “You can’t leave until you eat dessert.”

  She could see the whites of his eyes but he sat back down again while she and Sue transported the leftovers to the fridge.

  “Are you nuts?” Kelly whispered in front of the fridge. “You’ll never be able to get rid of her.”

  “I owe you, Kelly. Besides, if Joe were to come back, having your mom in my house is like installing a pit bull.”

  Kelly stared at her and finally nodded. “Ew, good point. That’s sort of a stroke of genius actually.”

  “I’ll put this away. You get the ice cream.”

  While everyone else wallowed in their banana splits Kelly prayed the whole way to the garage and fired up the Beast. To her utter relief it started. See, it didn’t want Bea here either, not since she had burned that hole in its upholstery two years ago. Kelly drove to the front porch and loaded the suitcases, the net bags of serapes, three sombreros and a case of fresh pineapples. She was not even going to ask. Then she left the engine running and went to pry Bea away from her innocent victims.

  Her mother was telling them about virgin birth. Sue gave Kelly a look that said she couldn’t stop her and Quinn directed an amused glance of enquiry toward her, probably regarding the location of Bea’s asylum.

  “Ready to go?”

  “Not really. I was just getting to know Quinn.”

  “We have to launch pretty early in the morning to work on his house. So we all need to get to bed.”

  “You’re going to leave me stranded across town?”Bea complained.

  “There’s a bar no more than two blocks in either direction or a quick-mart on the corner.”

  “Oh, all right. I need to stop for cigarettes.”

  “Of course.”

  “See you again, Quinn.” Bea started toward the door and waved.

  Kelly breathed a sigh of relief when she finally had her mother in the car. She kept the Beast idling outside the quick-mart while Bea made her purchases and then drove her to Sue’s. Good thing she had a key.

  “What happened to the rug? It used to be green.”

  “Sue’s latest ex-boyfriend happened to the rug. If he shows up again, his stuff is on the porch. Don’t let him in. Any hassle, call me or the police.”

  “At least my phone works. You don’t know what it’s like not having a car.”

  “Considering how seldom mine starts, I sort of do.”

  Bea turned to her with a bereft look, one she was good at. “I thought you might be glad to see me.”

  “If you had announced you stopped smoking and had a late onset of discretion and good judgment I would have been happy to see you.”

  “What an attitude. After I raised you.”

  “Bea, I raised myself. Those first fifteen years you were waitressing all the time. Now, I need to work and so does Sue, so give us both a break and don’t burn her house down, please.”

  “Like I would. You don’t trust me at all.”

  “Experience is the best teacher. Good night, Bea.”

  “I told him you were a virgin birth.” Bea cackled.

  “I heard that part. You know most people don’t believe that’s possible.”

  “Miracles happen.”

  “Not enough of them,” Kelly said under her breath as she exited.

  When Kelly got back Quinn was still sitting with Sue and they were laughing. Sue was probably telling Bea stories.

  Kelly plopped down in a lawn chair with a sigh. “Sorry, she can be overwhelming.”

  “Did she really go nude sunbathing at Long Bridge dam?”

  “Oh, yes. When my mother is in town I always carry a blanket in the car.”

  “Am I free to go now?” Quinn asked. “Jason loped off to watch the game.”

  “Sorry I held you hostage, but she’d drive me nuts within a day if she stayed in the summer house. And please leave enough toiletries about to convince someone you’re living there.”

  “Will do. I’ll see you at seven again tomorrow?”

  “He’d like to and we’re not doing anything dangerous at the moment.”

  Kelly shrugged. “Sure, why not.”

  She walked with him to the truck to help carry Jason’s gear and started to feel a little easier in her mind about working close to Quinn. With his son for a chaperone, nothing could happen and she could keep her mind on work.

  “There’s one in every family,” he said.

  “One what? Lunatic?”

  “One character.”

  Kelly chuckled. “Oh, if only the word character applied in any way at all to Mom.”

  “I think she’s funny,” Quinn said with a laugh.

  “Well, good. Don’t let anything she says offend you.”

  “Women that old stop editing what they say. My mother was like that.”

  “I’m so glad you understand.”

  Quinn nodded and smiled. “You’ll feel differently someday.”

  Kelly felt different already. She usually just rode with the swells of Mom’s erratic behavior and laughed along with Sue. But she had been in a real sweat to keep Bea from nailing Quinn. That must mean Kelly cared about him, maybe too much.

  She grabbed two totes and carried them to t
he cement pad outside the summer house. Just as Jason had uncomplicated working with Quinn, her mother had made seeing him socially a dangerous and harrowing prospect. Nothing was ever simple. Kelly should know that by now.

  She waved to him on her way back to the house and refused to turn her head to watch him swagger across the lawn. She had to forget about this mad attraction for so many reasons. Once his house was done, maybe by then her mother would be back in her apartment and something good could happen. She just had a feeling it wasn’t going to work out that way.

  Quinn relaxed on the futon when Jason said he would take the sofa. His son was already stretched out there watching the game. Jason had been a softball star in high school. Quinn was proud of his son and the way he was handling himself. It couldn’t be easy, uprooting yourself from all your friends to move three hours from Pittsburgh to the wilds of Westmoreland County.

  Jason’s trip to Florida to visit his aunt and uncle had been a graduation present, but also a way for Quinn to get through the trauma of the move without Jason having to experience it. Jason would have done fine but Quinn didn’t want his son to see his mother in one of her rages.

  Now that things were looking up, he was glad to have his son back. Quinn didn’t mind facing things alone but didn’t want to think about being alone forever. Just having someone there watching the TV was enough company. A few traded comments about the players and Quinn felt himself getting drowsy. He was used to hard work, but mostly it was the end-of-month-closing, stress-inducing kind. Worse even was the annual audit stress.

  All that was behind him now. Carpentry was something where you could see your progress and if you made a mistake correct it. He had always respected the physical trades and was looking forward to getting to know everything he had to in order to maintain his old house.

  Finally Jason would have a home with no surprises, one where he could bring friends or even a girlfriend without being afraid someone would embarrass him. Quinn smiled when he thought back on Bea who clearly embarrassed Kelly. He felt sympathy too but it was reassuring to know he wasn’t the only person who tried to buffer the world from someone.

  If he let himself think a little further, he could imagine Kelly in the house as well. She’d said he’d be working on it for a lifetime and he’d really look forward to that lifetime if it was spent with her. But he couldn’t afford to plan on that yet, or even think about it. Every time he counted on something, it seemed to get ripped away. Best just to let it happen if it was going to. He turned over and tuned out the game as he drifted toward sleep. Then he remembered he had an investment to protect. He told Jason he’d be back in the morning by seven and went to the house, hoping it was far enough away to stop him fantasizing about Kelly.