Kelly's Rules

by Barbara Miller

  “We’ve imposed long enough.”

  “How’s Quinn?”

  “I don’t know. He’s not here. Probably at the house.”

  She saw that Jason was worried about his dad as well. “He may have gone to sleep at the house. All his stuff is there.”

  “I should sleep there to guard it. I now totally don’t trust Mom.”

  “Jason, I am so sorry. We don’t know who’s responsible, but I don’t think it was your mom.”

  “Kelly, it’s better to know the worst. I totally believe it was Mom who ran you off the road. By now I think she’s capable of anything.”

  “I’m not so sure it was her. The police haven’t turned up any leads and Brenda seemed surprised when I mentioned it. Might have been someone else.”

  “Like maybe Paul? He’d do it if she asked.”

  “Maybe they’ll both go home now that she’s given up trying to gouge money out of your dad.”

  “Dad said something about your rules. Is it only men who let ego rule their lives?”

  “No, I suspect some women are just as deceived by their own sense of entitlement. Brenda took a blow today, having her lawyer side with Quinn.”

  “Dad’s always been the one who got the raw deal. All her vacations with the girls, where did she really go? All her evenings out. She didn’t want him with her, and he just gave up after awhile. I’ll tell you one thing. I am never getting married.”

  Kelly shook her head. “Just because your parents had an unhappy marriage, doesn’t mean—”

  “I don’t want to talk about it. I’ll check the house and if he isn’t there I’ll stay and watch it. That is if you want me in your house.”

  “It isn’t my house. And I’ll thank you not to condemn the entire race of woman because of the actions of one.” Kelly folded her arms but realized she was on shaky ground.

  Jason leaned his cheek against the doorframe. “Isn’t that what you do with all your dating rules? You assume the worst about all guys because some of them are jerks.”

  “You’re right. Quinn has proved every one of my maxims wrong as a generalization.”

  “And my mother is probably worse than anyone you ever dated.”

  Kelly shook her head vigorously. “This conversation is getting very strange. I’ve had too much wine to figure out why.”

  “Go to bed, Kelly. I’ll watch the house.”

  “Thank you, Jason. You’re a good man.”

  Kelly went back inside, thinking how much Jason sounded like Quinn now. She waited up to see if Quinn would come back and when he didn’t she walked to the house on Deeds Street. The motion sensor lights kicked on and the garden gate was latched, so all seemed secure. By luck Jason appeared in the kitchen window in his T-shirt, probably looking for his father. He saw her and Kelly waved to him. He waved back and she left. So where was Quinn?

  Still missing. At least he hadn’t been driving. She knew an impulse to go in and talk to Jason but she couldn’t advise him that marrying was a good idea since she had never ventured there herself.

  Under normal circumstances a kid like Jason should have more dates than he could handle. He had to be keeping the girls at bay himself, not willing to offer false hope when he clearly was jaded on relationships just because of his parents.

  The failure of his father’s marriage had done that to him. If she and Quinn failed to make a match of it, they not only ruined their lives but would reinforce Jason’s notion that marriage was a trap.

  When she thought back to the party, the only example of a healthy relationship was the one between Devin and Ray. The irony of it might escape Jason.

  She was turning to go when she saw Quinn. His back was to her and he was sitting on a bench facing the new pond. Something about the babble of a fountain could be soothing, and once again she had the impulse to go to him, but she had no answers for Quinn either. Not yet.

  She went home and to bed, hoping their luck, such as it was, would hold together another day. As long as Quinn still had the job to hang onto, he might not drift away from her.

  Chapter Sixteen

  “Rule 16: Do not make accusations you can’t support. Wait for hard evidence.” — SMFA and SWFW

  She slept late the next day. With neither Jason nor Quinn communicating with her, what was the point of getting up? But Bea’s coffee smelled good, so she finally crawled into jeans and a T-shirt and ran downstairs.

  “You look like something the cat dragged in.”

  “We don’t have a cat. I dragged myself in, thank you.” She must have looked depressed for Bea to remark on it. She tried to paste a happy smile on her face but it just didn’t work.

  “You find Quinn?”

  “I saw him sitting by his fish pond but I didn’t try to talk to him.” Kelly took the cup of coffee her mother pushed toward her and thanked her.

  The phone cut her short and she ran to the hallway to grab it. Her hall seemed much bigger now that the mirror was gone. Sue was right. It did fit her house better than Kelly’s.

  “Kelly?” Earl asked.

  “Yep, I’m here.”

  “We talked to Brenda’s son, Paul. Claims he was in Pittsburgh but he has no alibi.”

  That brought a smile to her face. “Isn’t lying to the police a bad thing to do?”

  Earl chuckled. “It is in my book. I’d like you and Bea to stay together and close to home until I can make some headway with this. Will you do that?”

  “Since I don’t have any projects on the books right now and garden weeds that must be nine inches high, no problem. But we weren’t hurt and the Beast not that much, so maybe you should just forget this one.”

  “No way. Not in my town. Someone gets away with something like that they may try it again.”

  “I’m sure you’re right.”

  “You think Bea is finally going to settle down here now?” Earl said in his familiar voice, not the command one he usually used.

  “We got some things straightened out. She wants to live here and I want her to live here. If nothing else goes wrong, I think she’ll stay.”

  “Well, good…I don’t want anything to happen to her, or you. I’ll call later with an update.”

  “Stop for lunch. I’m sure we’ll have something good.” Kelly hung up the phone. Why couldn’t Earl have been her dad? When she thought about it, he sort of was like a dad to her, her mentor at least. Without him advising her she could have taken a lot of wrong turns. She was going to have to find a way to thank him that went far beyond cookies.

  Bea poked her head into the hall with a spatula in one had. “Pancakes are ready. What was that all about?” she asked.

  “Earl checking in. No leads yet.”

  Bea put a plate of pancakes on the kitchen table and another of sausage patties.

  Kelly sat down and took two of each, then dumped maple syrup over the lot. Bea let her take a bite before she asked, “So what now? He didn’t call you up to say nothing.”

  Kelly chewed thoughtfully for a minute. “Earl wants us to stick close to home. It will give me a chance to catch up on my yard work. You okay with that, Bea—Mom?”

  “The die has been cast and now it’s a waiting game.” She sounded magisterial almost. “We may as well do it here.”

  “Together at last. Great breakfast, Mom. Put the leftovers in the oven. You never know when a hungry man may show up. By the way, I invited the chief of police for lunch.”

  “Why’d you go and do a thing like that?”

  “I owe Earl big-time.”

  Bea heaved a sigh. Okay, I’ll cook for him though I doubt he’ll appreciate it.”

  Kelly was upset that all her grass had been mowed to within an inch of its life, so she savagely pruned the forsythia to release her energy.

  Then she turned to the garden, which she loved. She could see there were onions and lettuce to pick but where to begin? The sun this past week made everything quadruple in size. The pumpkin plants looked like they’d been struck by radia
tion. Growing at the rate of three feet per day and vining all over. She might have a winner in the pumpkin festival this year.

  The twenty-four tomato plants had all survived and were like large shrubs covered by fruit, some of it red. What was she thinking planting so many?

  “What were you thinking?” her mother echoed. She was standing at the edge of the patch with a basin in her hand. “You’re going to have enough tomatoes to feed an army.”

  Kelly laughed. “Well, someone will eat them, even if we have to give them away. You know how to can?”

  “I remember how. I don’t think it’s worth doing.”

  “I remember watching you when I was little.”

  “I did the best I could, but it was never enough.”

  Kelly came put an arm around her mom. “It was enough.”

  “Don’t make me cry now. We have beans to pick.”

  “Right. I’ll get a bucket. She just wished Quinn were here to make it more fun.

  Regret was an all too familiar a feeling. Kelly never regretted breaking up with guys. Usually it was obvious by then it wasn’t working, but Quinn was different. She still wanted Quinn for a friend whether they ever had a relationship, ever got married, ever had children. Finally someone was more important to her than her reproductive drive and she still couldn’t have him.

  Worst of all, she had called him and he hadn’t bothered to listen to her message. Or maybe he listened to her stupid message about her and her mom being late and thought nothing of it, or maybe she was getting to know the downside of Quinn Farrell.

  Well, at least she had her mom back. They snapped the beans together on the deck. She had a faint memory of having done that before with her mom, but all these practical crafts had been abandoned when her mother had set out to find her father or a father. At least that was over. The two of them could just live together and get along fine without men.

  They blanched and froze most of the beans then made a gigantic pot of ham, beans and potatoes for lunch in the hope Jason or Quinn would happen by.

  Earl stopped and ate a bowl with them while reiterating his advice about staying put. He left with a take-home container. Kelly was just stashing the remains in the fridge when Quinn parked and strode toward the door. He didn’t just look grim; he looked downright angry as he jerked on the handle of the screen door.

  “Why didn’t you tell me what really happened yesterday?”

  Kelly turned from the fridge. “I thought I did.”

  “The message on my phone once I finally listened to it implied nothing about rolling the vehicle. Earl told me you could have been killed.”

  “Are you unhappy that I wasn’t?”

  “That’s a stupid question. I don’t want anything to happen to you, and now you feel like you have to write a will? If you’d both died it would have been my fault.”

  “So that’s why you’re angry. Now that is stupid.”

  “What is your mother doing driving without a license anyway? That’s stupid.”

  Bea snorted and left the kitchen.

  “As soon as your divorce is final, you’ll have your house back and won’t have to worry about me anymore.”

  “Well, I don’t want it,” he shouted.

  “Then why did you bother to dig the fish pond?”

  “Because…because I thought it would make you happy.”

  That’s when she started crying. “I’ve been trying to help you straighten out your life so you can maybe figure out what you are going to do with the rest of it, and maybe include me in it. You think a couple of goldfish and some water lilies will make me happy?” Her voice ended on a shriek and she realized she was on her tiptoes.

  She had never stormed out of a house before, but she did that day and it was her own house. She was still wearing her garden shoes but she jogged in them, down past the dam where no cars could go. After thirty minutes she began to realize she’d made a fool of herself. No help for that, but he’d called her stupid. Normally that wouldn’t have been a big deal, but Bea was trying so hard to do the right thing and Quinn had ruined their first big day together.

  She walked back past the police station. Earl was getting into his car but paused when he saw her.

  “I thought you were going to stick close to home.”

  “Had a fight with Quinn and I had to get out of there before I did him some major damage.”

  “You mean fight or argument? He’s not lying somewhere bleeding, is he?”

  “Okay, argument. I didn’t hit him even though he deserved it. Any news?”

  “Not yet. Brenda’s father reported his car stolen yesterday.”

  “Could be Paul. He wouldn’t have wanted to use his little yellow car.”

  “Is there anyone else in town who might want to kill you besides Brenda and Paul? Think now.”

  “No, my recent memory is squeaky clean.”

  “We’ve talked about this before. Let me handle problems for you.”

  “You don’t do that for anyone else, Earl. Why do you help me out so much?”

  “Good question. Guess I just admire you. You want a ride home?”

  “No, I need to cool down a little more.” She was turning to go when she stopped herself. “You want to come to dinner some night? Mom still makes a mean fried chicken.”

  “Sure, when?”

  “How’s six sound to you? Tomorrow night.”

  “That’s when I get off. I’ll be there.”

  Kelly did another two miles then wandered toward home when it started to get dark, stopping at the market to pick up the promised chicken and a few other things. So she hadn’t imagined Earl’s interest in Bea. Well, maybe one pair of them could have a brighter future, but Kelly Barr was in a holding pattern.

  She crossed the street, vaguely aware of a car starting up. As she came down Deeds Street she got a creepy feeling but was afraid to look over her shoulder. The car wasn’t passing her but was idling along behind her. She popped out her cell phone and dialed Earl’s number in the dark.

  “Kelly, what’s up?”

  “I’m being followed down Deeds Street by a car, not one I recognize. I’m going to head for the station. I’m on foot.”

  “Go to a house, for Christ’s sake,” Earl growled.

  “And scare one of these old ladies to death. I think I can make it. I’ll just cut through some yards.”

  She still pretended she didn’t notice the car as she called Quinn.

  “Quinn here.”

  “I don’t have much time. I’m on foot and someone is after me in a car on Deeds Street. This could be it and I just wanted to say I’m sorry for ranting at you. You were being sweet about the pond but obtuse. I love you very much and would have waited for you forever but I think I just ran out of time. Goodbye, Quinn.”

  The engine revved and the car mounted the sidewalk on a block with no hedges. That’s when she started to run. She was across from the open park where the annual pumpkin festival was held. No stands or rides now, but a soggy open field. The car jumped the hump into the field and she cut through the messiest section toward a row of sycamore trees.

  The mud slowed her down as well, but it stopped the car. The driver continued to spin in circles doing major damage to the turf.

  Then she heard another engine and sirens but they were in the distance. Earl must have been far away. She risked a glance as the car clawed its way out of the mud. Kelly saw Quinn’s SUV driving to the rescue. He slid in between the tree she was using as a shield and the impact of the black car, taking the hit meant for her. What a guy. He really didn’t care about his car. But he was trapped in there and might be injured himself. If only Earl would get here.

  The car kept spinning its wheels grinding the SUV against the side of the tree. But she saw Quinn vaulting over seats to get to the tailgate, so she hopped around to the back and opened it for him.

  “You okay?”

  “Fine. What about you?”

  Earl rolled up then and shined a spotl
ight into the dark car. The driver hopped out and tried to run but Quinn ran after and tackled him.

  “Who do we have here?”

  “Meet Paul Farrell.”

  Earl cuffed him and waited for him to crawl to his feet.

  “You wouldn’t dare press charges. What about your new position?”

  “You tried to kill Kelly.”

  “I was just giving her a scare.”

  “Oh, we’ll work on the charges later,” Earl said as he pushed Paul toward his vehicle.

  “You two want a ride home before I process him? Or to a hospital if that would be more appropriate?”

  “No I have to find tomorrow night’s dinner,” Kelly said and looked around under the tree.

  Quinn gave an exhausted sigh. “Think I’ll see if the SUV starts. If not I’ll walk Kelly home.”

  “You know the drill, kid. Come in the morning to sign the charges statement.”

  “I’ll be there, Earl, with cookies. You’re the greatest.”

  Quinn shook his head as he walked over to her. “You sure those cookies aren’t a bribe?”

  “Earl shares with the others and marks them off as a donation.”

  Quinn helped her collect her frozen chickens.

  “There is one thing I need to tell you.”

  “Only one?” Kelly looked up at him.

  “One for now before my anger subsides. Paul is not my son.”

  “I sort of guessed that. Does Paul know?”

  “I’m not sure.”

  They walked back to the SUV arm in arm and crawled in through the tailgate. Quinn was able to start the vehicle, move it away from the poor tree and get it onto the street. The doors on the sides would never open again.

  “You okay, Quinn? You took some hard hits.”

  “I’m fine. What about you? You’re quite a sprinter.”

  “I’m fine. You came.”

  “I was driving around looking for you, so I wasn’t that far away. I was stupid to think I could give you that house instead of a future together. We both love it but it’s no substitute for a person.”

  Kelly felt herself tearing up. “That’s true. We could be just as happy living anywhere.”