His Canvas

by Tymber Dalton

  Mallory was blown away to see that they had arranged the furniture as best they could to approximate her other room. She also now had an extra dresser and two more bookcases. Fortunately, the bedroom was a little larger than her old one.

  One box, labeled WALLS in an unfamiliar hand, sat on the other dresser. “I don’t know if you had a specific order or something,” Kel apologized. “I took pictures with my phone before I pulled everything down.”

  She walked over and opened it. Inside lay all the papers she’d had hanging on her walls from the other house.

  Turning, she hugged him. “Thank you,” she said. “I didn’t even think about those.” She had pictures and in some cases electronic versions, or scans, of her works, but it was nice to know all of them had made the move with her.

  “And if you want to paint in here, we can do that, too. Make it yours for as long as you’re here.”

  “I’m sorry it looked like such a mess. I wasn’t really allowed to spread out around the house.”

  “Stop apologizing,” he said, a playful smile filling his features. “Or I’ll spank you.”

  “Oooh,” Chelbie said. “Apologize again. Pleeease?”

  “Some friend you are.”

  Tilly hummed “The Wheels on the Bus” song, making them all laugh.

  Seth ended his phone call and joined them, talking to them from the bedroom doorway. “Okay. Tomorrow, nine o’clock. Leah and I will come pick you up and take you to see Ed.”

  “Ed?”

  “The attorney. You, too, Kel,” he added. “If you want.”

  “I want.”

  Tilly hugged her. “Then that’s settled. It’s been a long, long night. You try to get some rest. What’s your phone number?” Mallory told her, and Tilly punched it into her phone, then sent a text.

  Mallory’s phone vibrated in her back pocket. “There you go,” Tilly said. “Text or call me if you need me, or need to talk. Day or night. If Uncle Douchecanoe gives you any trouble, you tell me immediately.”

  “Tilly,” Seth playfully said, “we don’t want to have to bail you out of jail. Let’s see what Ed digs up.”

  “I’m just sayin’.”

  Chelbie nodded. “Yeah. I’m with her. We can alibi each other.”

  The women nodded, and Mallory knew they were on their way to becoming close friends, too.

  Once everyone had left and it was just Kel and Mallory alone, he gave her one last hug. “Seriously, don’t worry about unpacking tonight. Just get what you need for tomorrow. We’ll deal with this later. It’s not going anywhere. Nine o’clock is going to come really early in the morning.

  Her brain spun. “I still can’t believe all this happened.”

  “Believe it. We’ll get you through the legal stuff, get that straightened out for you, and then from there you can decide what you want to do.”

  “I hope he doesn’t cut off my funding for school. I still have two more semesters.”

  “We’ll deal with that if it happens.” He rested his hands on her shoulders and she realized that was quickly becoming one of her favorite things. It felt comforting, like he was in complete control, ready and willing to take charge, not steamroll over her. “Tonight, get some sleep. Okay?”

  She nodded. “Yes, Sir.”

  A bright smile lit his face. “You don’t have to call me that if you don’t want to, but I don’t mind.”

  “Good. I don’t mind, either.”

  He softly closed the bedroom door behind him, and she heard him walk downstairs, presumably to check the locks on the office door and the large, roll-up door in front of the bay space.

  She sank onto the bed and looked around, feeling caught in an emotional time-warp. Remembering how it felt settling into her new room in the old house when she moved to Florida, how some of her furniture had made the move, while some hadn’t, sold off by her uncle in an estate sale. Her aunt had stood up for her and made sure any toys or books she wanted were brought, but there were a couple of things, like a bookcase, that she’d wanted to bring that her uncle nixed with the rationale that they could easily buy another one once she was in Florida.

  And things like her father’s chair, the one he’d sat in every night after getting home from work, the one that smelled like him, that she’d curled up in and cried when the police told her that her parents were dead.

  She’d never forgive her uncle for not letting her bring that chair.

  Never again. Now, she was impossibly out from under his thumb physically.

  All she had to do was let her newly adopted family lead her through the process of unraveling the financial and legal entanglements that he still lorded over her head.

  And once she was done with him…

  Well, he could go piss up a rope as far as she was concerned. He hadn’t earned the right to be her family. Not after the way he’d acted.

  She only hoped once they figured out what secrets he was hiding that she would still be able to finish school and get her degree.

  We’ll deal with that if it happens. She could even replay Kel saying it to her, in his comforting tone.

  For the first time since her parents died, she finally felt like she had a family again.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Kel and Mallory were waiting when Seth called to let them know they were parked downstairs. Mallory swallowed back her nerves when she saw Kel dressed in a charcoal suit, light blue dress shirt, navy tie, and dress shoes.

  He smiled. “You look surprised.”

  “I…you clean up well.”

  Stupid!

  He grinned. “I don’t put on a suit for just anyone, you know. Only the people I care deeply about.” He held his arm out, indicating for her to go first down the stairs. When they reached the office, he opened the front door for her and held it. “I have to set the alarm. Hold on.”

  She got into the backseat of Seth and Leah’s car. Both of them turned, offering her kind smiles. “Ready?”

  “No,” she admitted, “but this has to be done. I’m scared what they’ll find out.”

  “Ed’s good, and he’s a bulldog. Don’t worry. If there’s a way to untangle this mess, he’ll find it.”

  Kel joined her in the backseat, and she was glad when he reached over and held her hand after they’d buckled their seat belts. She was even more glad when he, as well as Seth and Leah, joined her in Ed’s office.

  It brought back too many bad, sad, painful memories. Lawyers and death. Being pulled from everything she knew and sent to Florida.

  Taking a deep breath, she shoved those thoughts out of her mind and tried to focus on the attorney.

  He offered her a friendly smile. “For starters, Seth told me some of the things your uncle said last night. Rest assured, nothing about your personal life will shock me. Let’s put that fear to rest right now. Secondly, your uncle can threaten all he wants, but I have no problem offering my services for free to anyone he does out, and keeping him tied up in a nightmare of legal limbo for the next twenty years. Understand?”

  She nodded.

  He had her start with her personal information, getting copies of her driver’s license, social security card, and birth certificate, all things she had with her. Her parents’ information, as well as her father’s military service records, were in her uncle’s office with the other paperwork.

  He walked her through as much as she could remember, places, names, dates, including her grandfather’s information in New Jersey. By the time they finished nearly an hour later, he looked thoughtful.

  “I’m going to get started digging up what I can. Meanwhile, I will send a certified letter to your uncle, demanding he immediately turn over all records about the trust and any and all bank accounts. If he refuses, the next step is we take him to court.”

  “I can already tell you he’ll refuse.”

  “Maybe. But I have steps to take legally before we can proceed. Meanwhile, I’ll see what I can dig up in Rapid City and in New Jersey regarding probate o
n the estates of your parents and your grandfather. It’s all public record.”

  “Thank you.”

  He took off his glasses and peered at her across his desk. “I know this is all scary. I understand that. But these people are my friends, and I’ll tell you what I’ve already told them. We won’t worry about any costs or fees until we get through the other side of this. If there isn’t any money, we’ll figure it out. If we find there is something there, we’ll discuss a fee after we’re done. I might be able to sock your uncle for all the legal fees and court costs, depending on what we find. So please don’t worry about that.”

  “I appreciate it.”

  He stood. “It’ll probably take a couple of weeks, or longer. I’ll keep in touch with you and let you know what the next step is once I get done with my research and contact your uncle. So try to go about your life, try to settle in, try not to worry.”

  When they were in the car and on the way back to Kel’s apartment, he said, “Can we stop by Dom Depot? I need to get extra keys made for her.”

  Seth laughed. “My favorite store? Are you kidding? Of course.” It was a common nickname among lifestylers for the home improvement store chain.

  Leah giggled and looked over her shoulder at Mallory. “Oh, boy. We’re in trouble.”

  “You might be in trouble,” Seth said. “Mallory’s only in trouble if she wants to be.”

  She blushed, glancing at Kel before facing forward again. “Only if it’s the good kind of trouble,” she finally said.

  The other three laughed. “Mal,” Seth said, “you realize we only tease the people we love, right?”

  “I’m getting that. I’d hate to see what you do to the people you don’t like.”

  “We sic Tilly on them,” the three of them said in unison before bursting into laughter.

  * * * *

  When they returned to the apartment, Kel showed her how to set and turn off the alarm. He’d forgotten to set it when he’d raced out the night before, which worked out in the end, since he’d been able to hand his keys off for the others to get started.

  He also checked to make sure the keys to the knob and deadbolt, as well as the padlocks on the large, roll-up door worked.

  He handed them over to her. “There you go, Mal. Home sweet home.”

  She seemed to weigh them in her palm. “Thank you. I guess I need to get a spare made for my car. I left them in the kitchen drawer. I didn’t even think about that.”

  “No worries. We’ll get that done. Why don’t you start unpacking? No rush on getting it done today. Do you need to go in to work?”

  “Oh, yeah.” She winced. “I totally forgot about that. I’m sorry. I’ll try to get everything out of the hallway tonight.”

  “Mal, seriously.” He rested his hands on her shoulders. He noticed she always seemed to relax when he did it. “I mean it. Take your time. I mean, sure, if they’re still in the hall in three weeks I might say something, but if it takes you a few days, I’m good with that.”

  “I can’t begin to tell you how much I appreciate all of this. All of you. What you all did for me…” She let out a sad sigh he felt to his very depths.

  He tucked a loose hair behind her ear. “You’re family. It’s what we do.”

  Speaking of family, he waited until after Mallory had left for her job to call his mom. He’d meant to do it Sunday afternoon, but then got busy with Mallory and Chelbie, and then…

  His world had exploded in the good kind of way.

  She answered on the third ring. “Hey, you.”

  “Hi, Mom.” He settled into his chair behind his desk and booted up his large desktop computer. “How you doing?”

  “I got the fire ants.”

  He laughed. “Good for you.” His mom had been in a war against them in her yard for weeks.

  “Didn’t need the poison, either…”

  And there she went, off on her diatribe about how she managed to overcome her tiny demon insect foes without the use of pesticides. She was devoted to her two miniature Dachshunds and had refused to use anything that might accidentally hurt them.

  “So what’s new with you?” she asked.

  He hesitated. He didn’t know what to say, other than to state the bare-bones facts. “I’ve got a roommate. At least for a while.”

  “Oh, really?”

  “Yeah.” He told her, leaving out that he’d met her through the club. He used the common euphemism of “mutual friends,” and talked about them all going out to eat, getting together again, and then the late-night distress call.

  When he finished, his mom didn’t respond at first.

  “Mom?”

  “I’m here.”

  “Why do you not sound happy?”

  “It’s not that I’m unhappy. I just want you to be careful.”

  “I am.”

  “She’s, what, nine years younger than you? Alone in the world? Make sure your other friends are pulling their weight, too, so she’s not leaning just on you.”

  This coming from the woman who refuses to date. “I know, Mom. I’m not a kid.”

  “I didn’t say you were. So can you two come over for dinner on Friday?”

  He thought about it. His first inclination was to say no, afraid that might overwhelm Mal.

  “I’ll have to ask her if her work schedule will allow it, but let’s say a tentative yes.”

  “Find out if she’s got any food allergies and call me tomorrow.”

  “Will do.”

  “Love you, Kelly.”

  He smiled. His mom was the only one who ever called him that. To everyone else, he was either Askel, or Kel. “Love you, too, Mom.”

  * * * *

  That night, after Mallory got home from work, Kel asked her about going to eat at his mom’s with him. She looked reluctant at first.

  “I promise, we’ll just go as friends.”

  “How do we explain how we met?”

  “I already did. We have ‘mutual friends.’”

  “Oh. Okay.”

  He stood in the doorway of her room. “Also, I want to lay down some ground rules for us.”

  He watched the caution enter her body language, her expression. “All right.”

  “Nothing complicated. But this is my home. I ask that if you’re going to bring anyone here, you ask me first.”

  “What about Chelbie?”

  “Okay, clarification. Chelbie, or any of our friends from the club that we’re mutual friends with, that’s different.” He took the plunge. “But you don’t bring back any…dates, even if I know them, without asking me first.”

  He thought she might balk at that, but to his pleasant surprise, she nodded. “Not a problem. Not like I’m going to be dating anyway.”

  He couldn’t decipher her tone, if it was meant to be self-deprecating or not. So he added a little disclaimer. “That’s a two-way street. I won’t be bringing anyone back here, either.”

  She seemed to be studying him.

  “We’re play partners, right?” he asked.

  She nodded.

  “Okay, then. We’re also friends. Aren’t we?”

  She nodded a little harder.

  “Good. Let’s leave things like this for now, then. We’re friends and play partners living together. You just went through a lot of stuff. We have to get you through whatever legal proceedings have to happen. For now, our lives are simplified by limiting our…intimate circle to only each other. And by intimate, I mean we agree that if we do decide we want to go out with someone, we clear it with the other person first. I’m not looking for a girlfriend, and let’s be honest, you don’t need a boyfriend to complicate your situation until you’re steady on your feet. Agreed?”

  This time, he didn’t miss how she quickly seemed to blink away tears as she nodded.

  Somehow, he felt like maybe he’d made things a little worse instead of better, but was at a loss to fix it. Deciding to quit while he was ahead, he said good night and headed to his room.


  * * * *

  Mal sat there, the half-emptied box in front of her, and tried to figure out what the hell that had meant. Okay, so he wouldn’t be dating. Great.

  Wasn’t like she’d be dating. If she was to date anyone, it’d be Kel.

  Did that mean he liked her? Or that he didn’t want anyone else being with her? Was it a potential future, or simply a practical arrangement to prevent feelings from getting hurt?

  And he’s taking me to meet his mother?

  She sat back and tried to figure it out.

  Maybe I don’t want to figure it out.

  Especially if he’d meant it more in the sparing her feelings kind of way.

  Shoving those thoughts aside, she went back to unpacking. She wanted to get her room tidied so he didn’t think she was a slob.

  She’d even taken the time to make her bed that morning.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Mallory flinched when she heard Kel slam something onto his desk in his office downstairs. “Dammit,” he grumbled, just loudly enough she could hear him.

  In the nearly four weeks they’d lived together, even though they’d grown to be very close friends, she still was trying to get used to some of Kel’s moods. When he got aggravated, he never directed it at her, like her uncle had, but her old ingrained reactions were sometimes hard to overcome.

  That wasn’t Kel’s fault. She knew that. It was something she’d have to get over and past on her own. This wasn’t her home. It was his, even though in the short amount of time she’d lived with him it felt more like any home she’d had since her parents’ deaths.

  Ed had called her last week to update her. To let her know that her uncle had failed to respond to the certified letter, and that Ed had people working on digging up information. He also told her while he didn’t want to get her hopes up too soon, that the initial information he’d discovered looked promising, but he’d rather wait to tell her about it until he knew for sure.