Kelly's Rules

by Barbara Miller

“We’d like to go to a movie. You think Bea can watch the kids? I drove by my place but she wasn’t there.”

  “No problem. I have the evening off. I’ll watch them for you.”

  “I thought you were sleeping at Quinn’s and Bea at my house.”

  Kelly felt herself flush even though she had done nothing. “Quinn’s on guard duty tonight. We decided to take turns. Mom just came to cook dinner.” She was wondering if Sue wanted the whole night alone with Devin but didn’t know how to put that. “One or both of us will be watching them.” There, if Sue wanted her house empty, she needed to say so now.

  “Okay, see you later.”

  “Drive carefully.” Drive carefully? That’s what a mother said to her kid’s date. But Kelly hadn’t known what else to say. Don’t jump in the sack with this guy until you know him better seemed a little strong.

  By the time she finished the lawn and got into the house everyone was plunked in front of the TV set and Kelly left them there. Just because she was working on a job did not mean she could slack off at home. She weeded the garden, then was about to go back in and tackle the kitchen when Quinn pulled in. She sat on the swing under the maple tree hoping she didn’t smell too much like sweat and grass clippings.

  “I took the rest of my gear to the house, then bought your Jeep some oil.” He sat beside her. “I checked it and it looks like it needs it so we’ll do that tomorrow.”

  She squinted up at him. “Thanks. I’d like to help with that so I know how it’s done.”

  “I also went to the post office box for my mail and I got my new credit card. I’m solvent again. Should be able to buy the rest of the porch flooring and, hey, pay you what I owe you.”

  “You can borrow the Beast whenever you need him. He seems to like you.”

  “He’s running better because I tuned him up a little.”

  “That’s what took you so long. Thanks. I won’t take it back to the other garage again.”

  “I have an appointment for my car, so I may have to ask for a ride while they decide whether to total it or not.”

  “You’ve been busy after a hard day of work and a fistfight. You sure you’re okay?” She scrutinized the bruise on his jaw. “He hit you pretty hard.”

  “I’m fine.” Quinn set the swing in motion and she let it drop.

  “I met Sue’s latest.”

  Quinn glanced at her. “What’s he like?”

  “Seems a little young for her, but I’m no judge.”

  “You still think all men are liars?”

  “Did I say all? Have to change that rule. I know at least three good men who tell the truth: you, Jason and Earl.”

  “Any chance a guy could get a copy of that rule book?”

  “It’s not written down yet. Maybe all women are liars too. I also said you don’t lie to yourself.”

  “Not anymore. I did once. I told myself I could work for the father of my wife and keep a professional relationship.”

  “That’s why you left a big Pittsburgh corporation for this backwater.”

  He leaned back and the swing creaked in protest. “It’s a pretty nice backwater. I just want some peace.”

  “People like Brenda thrive on conflict.” She probably wasn’t telling Quinn anything he didn’t know.

  “Took me a while to figure that out, that she likes to live a soap opera.”

  Kelly tucked her legs up. “Beware self-focused people.”

  “Yes, Paul is like that, too.”

  “They feed on each other.” She had seen it before. Selfish people validated each other’s behavior.

  “I wonder if I’ll always have to deal with them or if someday magically they will grow up.”

  Quinn sounded so hopeless, she sought for something to reassure him. “Maybe once the divorce is final.”

  “I could never understand why she wanted to stay married.”

  Kelly shrugged. “Needs an audience.” It was nice sharing like this, having someone else propel the swing. Not exactly the best metaphor for a relationship, but it would do.

  “More like someone to torture. If I get my mess cleared up and it’s safe for me to have another life, are you interested in sharing it with me? I know I’m older…”

  “Sure,” Kelly blurted out, then kicked herself. She had sounded beyond eager. She had sounded desperate. “But it’s best if we wait at least until your house is done. And chronological age has nothing to do with emotional age.”

  “I hope not. I don’t think I would have kept at this without you. When I set out to find a contractor, rather than tackle it myself, I pictured walls falling, losing control of the project, total chaos.”

  “You watch too much reality TV. Some of those crews enjoy destruction. For them it’s like making a kill to talk the client into taking down a wall.”

  “A killing? On me. I can’t afford it.”

  Kelly laughed. “Not a killing, a kill. To gut a house, disembowel it, makes them feel powerful. They are never as good at putting it back together. I’ve seen beautiful plaster walls just ripped down for no reason and replaced with…” She clenched her fists and almost gagged. “Drywall.”

  “Wow, am I glad I came to you. I had no idea men were so destructive.”

  “Some men and some women. Using energy creatively is the key.”

  “I just want you to know that when I was in despair, you kept me from giving up. I need this second chance for Jason’s sake.”

  “He’s like you, a good man.”

  “It won’t bother you that you’re not much older than him?”

  “A decade is a long time. I’m sure I’ll think of him as the little brother I never had.”

  Quinn leaned over and kissed her and she stopped breathing, thinking or even worrying about who might be watching. She just wanted it to last, that intimate contact, the warmth of his lips, the scent of him. Even the slight growth of beard excited her as it brushed her cheek. This kiss was a promise there could be so much more.

  They both sighed and settled back on the swing for a while, keeping an eye on the light which was beginning to fade. Kelly could picture them just like this waiting for the sun to set, but someday they would be waiting to go into their house and go to bed together. That all seemed so far away, but at least she now knew he returned her interest and that she wasn’t reaching for the moon.

  Kelly didn’t mind people thinking she was a goof, but she hadn’t known how to let Quinn know she was interested without flirting or coming on to him. She just wasn’t good at those kinds of subterfuge. Kelly preferred a more direct and honest approach. She understood now why she scared men away. She usually started out by asking about their job. Many of them had none. On to hobbies. If it was hunting or watching TV, she wasn’t interested in them and felt she had tapped out her topics of conversation. Don’t even think about discussing gardening with a guy.

  But with Quinn she could say anything that popped into her head and he would never look at her as if she were crazy. He would actually discuss it with her. What a guy.

  Chapter Eight

  “Rule 8: Men fight and forget it. Women remember forever.” — SMFA

  The next morning Quinn brought breakfast from the diner so they could all get an early start, too early for Jason who said he’d walk up as soon as he pried his eyes open. Kelly said she had walked Bea back to Sue’s house the previous night as soon as Sue got back to Kelly’s around midnight. So Quinn and Kelly ate in restful silence and left the remains of breakfast for Sue and her kids. The funny thing about Kelly was that her pauses never seemed awkward. If they said nothing to each other for a half hour, that didn’t mean they were mad; it just meant they were thinking.

  “So maybe things will settle down now,” Quinn said as they drove to his house.

  “About what?” she asked.

  “With Brenda. Maybe they’ll all go back to Pittsburgh.”

  Kelly glanced at him as he drove and she balanced her cup of coffee. “What planet are you from? What
makes you think that? Things are still escalating.”

  “Surely Brenda has learned her lesson.”

  “If you really think that, then in twenty-five years of marriage you haven’t learned anything.”

  Quinn eyed her across the car. “Is this going to be another one of your rules?”

  “Yes, men fight and forget it once the testosterone abates. Women remember forever. Brenda has only begun to be a problem.”

  “So you’re saying Paul is going to be all hugs and handshakes next time I see him?”

  “Oops. Those are the dangers of generalizing. Paul isn’t exactly a manly man. He’s still a juvenile as you pointed out. Jason is more of a man than Paul.”

  “Agreed. How do I deal with her—them? My almost ex-wife and my drama queen son.”

  “Let her trap herself. She’s already made a fine start. Just wondering, is she prone to shoot people?”

  He glanced at her to see if she was serious. “Not that I’m aware. What kind of town is this?”

  “Typical, actually. We have three murders a year, mostly between people who know each other.”

  “I’d just like to keep Jason out of this conflict. Why are you asking about guns?” Quinn was starting to worry again. Kelly could be wrong but she hadn’t been wrong about anything so far and thinking back over his past experience, Brenda never just dropped something and she never learned anything from losing. She dragged it out to the bitter end.

  Kelly was silent for a minute. “Let’s talk him into staying at the summer house until this is resolved. Brenda doesn’t even know where that is.”

  He nodded and parked on the side street, unwilling to subject any vehicle to the scratches of the barberry hedge that ringed his property.

  “You got mail.” Kelly said as the postman walked toward the Jeep.

  “Quinn Farrell?” asked the mail carrier.

  “Yes,” he said with severe reservations.

  “Sign here.”

  “Registered letters are never good,” Kelly said, then started unloading the truck.

  Quinn held it as if it were a snake as the mailman walked away. “Maybe my library book is overdue.”

  She shook her head as she carried the conduit into the house. She had a supply of it from a previous job and was giving it to him. What a woman. Quinn finally slit the envelope, read it, then went inside to share the news with a grim face.

  “I may have to stop working on the house.”

  “That bad?” Kelly asked from the addition. “Not that I’m prying.”

  “You have a right to know. Brenda has changed her mind about the terms of the divorce. This is from her lawyer. She was supposed to keep the Pittsburgh house and one vehicle, the one in her name. I was to take the other car. It’s in my name anyway and I was to keep my savings, which I used to buy the house.”

  “What does she want now?”

  “To keep the Pittsburgh house, have this one sold, and the money divided. Of course my alternative is to reconcile with her.”

  “Yikes. That’s unreasonable. Why would a lawyer propose that?”

  Quinn bit his lip. “The Pittsburgh house was bought by her father.”

  “Oh, a wedding gift. It’s in her name?” Kelly looked genuinely worried.

  “Yes. I never could get her to change it even though if something had happened to her…”

  Kelly let the load of conduit clank onto the floor. “She always planned to divorce you.”

  He stared at her a moment, then nodded. “I wonder if you’re right. Anyway we’re going to have to stop on the house now. What money I have left is going to be eaten up paying a lawyer.” Why hadn’t Quinn seen this coming? Why had he trusted Brenda? She never kept her word.

  “I can think of only one other possibility.”

  “What?” He couldn’t imagine an alternative.

  “Sell me the house. When this is all over I sell it back to you.”

  “Kelly I’d like to believe you…”

  “I see. You don’t trust me.”

  “I do, but I’m about to lose everything. And I have a son who may not even have a roof over his head.”

  “Frankly, Quinn, after what you’ve been through I can see why you would never trust a woman again. Sort of the same way I feel about men. I begin to doubt either of us will ever have a permanent relationship. That may not be important to you, but I’m still young enough to want kids.”

  “Just because I won’t sell you the house doesn’t mean I don’t care about you. Why should you tie your savings up in my problem?”

  Kelly looked at him and sighed. “You can’t sell it to Jason.”

  “I know that. He’s not eighteen yet.”

  “Can you put it in trust for him?”

  Quinn wondered if that was possible. “I have to find an attorney, since Brenda has taken the one we were using before. She’s trying to get her hands on Jason’s college fund. It isn’t that much, but he’s going to need it for books and fees.”

  “Go, do what you have to. I’ll keep at this.”

  He was gone longer than Kelly expected. She saw him walking up and down outside on the cell phone for awhile. At some point he drove away. By noon she got most of the channel in place and you hardly noticed it. She was thinking about walking home.

  Suddenly she heard the Beast outside and Quinn came back into the room looking subdued. If not for his problems, his timing was perfect. She was just about out of materials. Kelly was goal oriented and nothing disturbed her more than interrupting a job that was almost complete.

  “Peace offering?” Quinn handed her a box that reeked of fried chicken.

  “Huh?”

  “I offended you.”

  “No, you refused to go along with my idea.” She picked out a piece of chicken and bit into it. Then handed the box back. “What did your lawyer say?”

  “Her lawyer. I’m probably going to lose everything, if not outright, then in court costs.”

  “Can they take more than you have?” She sat on a windowsill and he joined her there and devoured a chicken leg.

  “I don’t know. My teaching salary will be a fourth of what I was making before. I figured Jason and I could get by on that since Brenda wouldn’t be draining us.”

  “I think a judge has to determine if there’s going to be alimony paid, and you’re supporting the only child you have left. Once he’s eighteen, she shouldn’t be able to wrest anything from you because of Jason. So it’s just the settlement, proving you’re entitled to keep what you have, or not having much of anything to cut in half.”

  “Half my new salary won’t support us and would be a joke to her.”

  “Maybe the judge would be more reasonable than her lawyer.”

  “The legal fees could kill me. If she’s demanding I sell this house I could just do it.”

  “They might see through it, but there’d be no proof you’d be sheltering anything. No assurances for you though other than my word.”

  He smiled and shrugged. “Even if I agreed, that probably would not end her demands. She welched on the last agreement. I shouldn’t be burdening you with this.”

  “Well, my offer stands. If you have no choice, I’ll buy the house. All she can get from you then is half the money from the sale. She can’t destroy your home.”

  “If she gets half my salary I won’t have enough to buy it back.”

  “Kelly’s easy payment plan. That’s how Sue bought her house from me.”

  “Hah, Sue’s is a bungalow. I’d owe you for eternity.”

  “Isn’t that where we’re headed? An eternity together?”

  “I hope, but it may not happen as quickly as we’d like.”

  “All it would mean to me for now is that I can’t buy another fixer upper. But I can work for other homeowners. Lots of them have trouble finding someone to do small jobs like replace a water heater or caulk their windows.”

  “There has to be another way rather that tying up your money.”

 
She had a sinking feeling and didn’t even finish her chicken. Was it just that he didn’t trust her or was pride a factor too? Could he not stand to be rescued by a woman? If that was the case, there was nothing she could do to help him.

  Quinn watched Kelly as they worked in silence that afternoon, but not a companionable silence. They pounded in the new ground rods and replaced the old light switches with new ones. Quinn guessed he had offended Kelly beyond what even she could tolerate. The more he thought about it the less he could see any other alternative than what she suggested. If she paid him less than the house was worth, then Brenda couldn’t rob him of as much money. All he had to hang onto was Kelly being willing to sell it back for the same amount or give him a reasonable mortgage. From everything he knew of her, she would do that but returning the house wasn’t a contract they could put in writing. He’d have to take it on faith and his was running pretty thin right now.

  If he was going to lose everything he had, he would far rather lose it to Kelly than to Brenda, but he didn’t want to find out that Kelly was like his wife in any way. He certainly didn’t want to tie her money up in a house that his wife might sue him over. Could Brenda put a lien on it if she got a judgment in her favor?

  Toward five o’clock, the dealership called to say fixing his SUV would take some time so Quinn decided to leave it at the garage until the parts arrived. At least the insurance would cover most of that.

  By the time they were starting to get hungry, Jason came with a picnic hamper and a portable TV Sue had lent him to take his turn at guard duty. Quinn drove back to Kelly’s house with her. When he came back from the summer house after his shower, Kelly was watering the garden in clean clothes with wet hair. Maybe she was feeling less angry with him than before just because she was cooler. At any rate she smiled at him.

  “I read your estimate for the furnace. It’s out of the question. I think I should just give up. You say no one will give me insurance on a house with no heat.”

  “You can have heat if we can do a little more work,” she said mysteriously.

  “How? I can’t afford anything now.”

  “Only the addition fireplace is wood burning. There is gas run into all the other fireplaces, the ones in the dining room and living room and to two of the bedrooms upstairs. I already checked the flues; you can use those to heat the house and the default company should approve a policy for you. It won’t be the greatest policy but it will give you fire coverage.”