by Maria Geraci
Since when?
“I’m sure you won’t have any trouble getting a job,” said her mother. “Plumbers are always in demand.”
“I’m not a plumber,” he said.
“Oh?”
“Gus sent him over because . . . because he and Joey were busy with another call,” explained Kitty. “We don’t want to keep you any longer,” Kitty said to Steve. Instead of a pleading look, she gave him a “get the hell out of here” glare. “Mom, will you please move your car?”
“I hope I see you again,” her mother said.
Steve nodded. “Likewise.”
Kitty watched out the front window as her mother moved the rental car. “That was close.”
“What was that about?” Steve asked, sounding none too happy.
Kitty whipped around. “That’s my mother!”
“You don’t think your mother knows you have sex?”
“Of course she knows I have sex. She’s not stupid. But this is different. She knows I don’t have a boyfriend. What am I supposed to introduce you as? My encore two-night stand?”
“Tell her whatever you want. But don’t introduce me as the damn handyman again.”
“Gee, and here I thought you were a morning person.”
He shoved a hand through his hair. “This isn’t how I wanted this morning to go.”
“Tell me about it. The last thing I need is my mother crashing my pity party.”
“Call me.” He sounded serious. “We need to talk.”
“About Hawaii?”
He hesitated a moment. “Yeah, about Hawaii.”
“Is that what you normally wear to answer the door?” asked her mother.
“What do you mean?”
“That bathrobe’s a little flimsy, don’t you think?” Her mother laughed. “I’m not that naïve, you know. So tell me all about him! He’s absolutely delicious. And he looked like he wanted to stay. I can’t believe how rude you were, practically shoving him out the door. The three of us could have had breakfast together.”
“I already told you, Mom. Steve was here to unclog my toilet. I barely know him.”
“My God, Katherine, a good-looking man just . . . what did you call it? Unclogged your toilet? I’ll have to remember that one.” Her mother bent over and scooped last night’s underwear off the floor. She held up the plain cotton Hanes Her Ways in the air and shook her head in disgust. “How do you expect to nab him wearing this? Do you have no feminine instincts? No desire to go in for the kill?”
Kitty snatched her underwear from her mother’s hand. “I have plenty of desire to kill. Mom, what’s going on between you and Larry?”
“I already told you. I don’t want to talk about it.” Her brown eyes softened a notch. “Not yet anyway.”
Kitty sighed.
“I’d rather talk about your ‘plumber.’ I like him.”
“Of course you do. The two of you have a lot in common.”
“Really?”
“Yeah, you’ve both been married three times.”
“Currently available?”
“I’m going to ask you one more time,” said Kitty. “What are you doing here?”
“Do I need a reason to visit my own daughter?”
“Some advance warning might have been nice.”
“The house looks good,” her mother said, glancing around the living room. “Did you paint?”
“I painted last month. I told you that on the phone. Do you like the color? Shea picked it out.”
“Very nice. Very neutral. But, sweetie, I really wish you hadn’t gone to the expense and trouble. Now tell me all about the offer! How much am I getting?”
“Um, I’m still negotiating. I’ve just been so busy lately. The air conditioner broke down and—”
“The air feels fine to me.”
“That’s because I had a new unit installed.”
“Without consulting me?”
“It isn’t like air-conditioning is an option in Florida.”
“I’d just like to be kept in the loop.”
“Got it. Now what’s going on with you and Larry?”
“I told you, I don’t want to talk about it.”
“Tough. You’re going to have to.”
Her mother’s chin began to quiver. “Pam had her baby.”
“Why didn’t you tell me? What did she have? Is she okay?”
“She had to have a Cesarean. Larry spent the entire night at the hospital. She had a girl. They named her Dorothy Ann, Dottie for short.”
“Ah.” Dottie was Pam’s mother’s name, Larry’s first wife. “And they’re both fine?”
“Of course they’re both fine. This is the twenty-first century, not Little House on the Prairie.”
“Mom!”
“I’m sorry, that sounded . . . cold. It’s just that we were supposed to go on a cruise next week, and now Larry wants to postpone it, on account of Pam having surgery and needing her family to help out.”
Kitty nodded.
“But I’m not family. Pam barely tolerates me. I don’t understand what she has against me. You’d think I’d broken up her parents’ marriage or something.”
“You did break up their marriage.”
Her mother looked stunned. “How can you say that?”
“Wasn’t Larry still married when you started dating him?”
“He was separated!”
“I don’t think Pam looks at it the same way you do.”
“She’s thirty-five years old. She needs to get over it.”
And you’re fifty-eight, Kitty thought. You need to get over it too. “So you picked a fight with Larry and walked out on him when his daughter’s in the hospital? That’s just peachy, Mom.”
“I came here for some sympathy, but I guess that’s too much to expect from my own flesh and blood.” She sniffled. “Now do you understand why I’m so anxious for this house to sell? It’s my inheritance. I’m going to take the money and finally do what I want. I’m going to buy my own condo and go on fabulous vacations. It’s my last stab at independence. At any real happiness.”
“Mom, I don’t think the sale is going to bring you that much money.”
“Of course it is. If you’ve priced the house right,” her mother said, frowning.
Kitty’s head began to pound. There was no way she could give up her commission and still come up with a big enough amount of cash to bankroll her mother’s pre-divorce spending spree.
Which meant she would have to depend entirely on Ted’s goodwill if she wanted to save the senior center.
34
Ted had arranged to rent out the back room of the Harbor House for the official celebration. Earl wasn’t there, but Vince was, along with Bruce Bailey from the city council. Kitty had left her mother home soaking in a warm tub. They’d spent all weekend shopping, which, blessedly, had distracted her mother from asking too many details about the sale of the house. She’d managed to put her off, but her mother wasn’t stupid. Kitty was going to have to tell her sooner or later that the offer was from her. Hopefully, her mother would be so giddy about the money, she’d overlook any former objections she had to Kitty buying the house.
She stood near the big picture window overlooking the ocean, talking to Ted’s attorney, the infamous Teresa. Instead of the frumpy corporate type Kitty had pictured, Teresa was tall and slender with an olive complexion and dark shoulder-length tousled hair. She had the longest eyelashes and plumpest lips Kitty had ever seen. She also had a killer gleam in her eye that had made Kitty pause before shaking her hand.
“I can’t tell you how relieved I was to hear the deal was saved,” Teresa said, waving off a waiter with a tray of shrimp puffs. Kitty noticed Teresa hadn’t eaten anything all night. Instead, it looked like she preferred to drink her calories. “How did you pull it off?” she asked before taking a sip of champagne.
Kitty took a sip of her own cold champagne. Usually the bubbles tickled her nose, but tonight she felt more numb than ti
ngly. “Dumb luck, I guess.”
Ted came up and put his arm around Kitty’s waist. “Did I just hear my name?” He wore a pristine white cotton T with dark slacks and a light summer jacket, a la retro Don Johnson from Miami Vice.
She thought about wiggling out of his reach, but alienating Ted wasn’t going to get her what she wanted. Besides, it was just Ted’s way of being friendly. “We need to talk.”
He bent down to whisper in her ear. “Have I told you how hot you look tonight?”
“Um, thanks.”
“What do you want to talk about?”
“Can we go somewhere private?”
“I was hoping you’d say that.” Ted grabbed two fresh champagne flutes off the tray of a wandering waiter. “You don’t mind if Katherine and I take off, do you, Teresa?”
Teresa narrowed her eyes. “Of course not.” She gave Kitty an amused once-over before joining the crowd by the bar.
Kitty tried not to let it rattle her as she recalled the speech she had mentally rehearsed dozens of times this afternoon while shopping. Her mother had commented on Kitty’s lack of enthusiasm for the sale at Banana Republic. But it couldn’t be helped. It was critical she win Ted over to her way of thinking tonight. She could always go back to Banana Republic tomorrow.
Ted led her outside to the back deck facing the ocean. Normally, there would have been tables with customers here, but the deck had been cleared for the party. A string of tiny white lights ran along the edge of the railing. It was darkish and definitely private. Not the best place to be having this conversation. But she had no choice. A reporter from the Whispering Bay Gazette had been sniffing around earlier, hanging on Bruce’s every word. He had even taken a photo of Ted and Vince shaking hands. The Gazette was a weekly paper that came out every Friday. Which meant she only had five days until the rest of the world found out about the deal.
“I have a favor to ask,” she began.
Ted placed the champagne flutes on the wooden railing behind her and leaned in close. “Your wish is my command.”
“Actually, it’s not for me. It’s more about keeping up public relations. There’s a building on the land you bought that Earl leases to the city to use as a senior center. I want you to consider keeping the arrangement. Maybe even make some improvements to the building.”
“Why should I do that?”
“To promote goodwill,” Kitty said. “To keep this town happy.”
Ted laughed. “The town is ready to crown me mayor. Didn’t you hear old Bruce’s speech?”
“Not the whole town. The Gray Flamingos will be furious. They won’t take this lying down. They already know something is up thanks to ‘old’ Bruce. I would be surprised if they don’t try to protest.”
“Let ’em. I’m not afraid of a bunch of geriatrics.”
Not the response she was expecting.
“Controversy is never a good way to start out a project.” A trickle of sweat ran down her spine. Damn humidity. She shuddered to think what it was doing to her hair.
“Once jobs start falling off trees no one’s going to remember the Gray Seagulls or whatever they call themselves.”
“What harm could it do to keep one little building?” Kitty asked, trying not to panic.
“Number one, I need every bit of land I bought for this project. I’ve talked to the architect and he agrees we can probably add more units than we originally planned. It’s going to increase profits substantially. And number two, that seniors building is a fucking eyesore. I’m in the process of trying to get funding for a strip mall and no one wants some run-down building with a bunch of incontinent shuffleboard players in their faces.”
“Incontinent shuffleboard players?” she sputtered.
Ted leaned in closer, trapping her against the railing. Kitty could smell the liquor on his breath. And it wasn’t champagne. “I say we forget about them and focus on why we came out here.”
“We came out here so I could convince you that tearing down the senior center will be a PR nightmare,” Kitty said, twisting her way under his arm to escape.
He grabbed her hand. “Not so fast.”
Was he for real?
She yanked her hand from his grasp. “Look, Ted, I get it. You have no interest in playing nice with the Flamingos. But now it’s time you get it. I have no interest in playing nice with you.”
For a second, he looked stunned. Then he smiled in a way that made Kitty’s blood freeze. “Just one kiss.”
Her fingers instinctively reached for one of the nearby champagne flutes he’d placed on the deck railing. She’d gotten the creepo vibe from Ted before, but she’d chosen to ignore it. Listen to your gut, Kit. Right now, her gut was pissed. Before his oily lips could swoop in for the attack, she flung the contents of the flute willy-nilly into the air and hightailed it to the door.
Her last image of Ted was the incredulous expression on his face as the champagne dripped off his nose and chin rolling its way down his perfectly pressed MTV-cop white cotton T-shirt.
“What’s going on?” Pilar said, slightly out of breath. “Your voice mail said it was an emergency.” She slid into the booth and took the cappuccino Kitty handed her.
“Yeah, Kit, you sounded frantic,” said Shea. It was Monday and Kitty had called an early morning meeting at the Bistro. Shea had arrived only minutes before Pilar, but Kitty had wanted to wait until they were both present to break the news.
“My mother’s in town,” Kitty announced. “She’s left Larry.”
“Since when?” Shea asked.
“Since Friday.”
“Why didn’t you call us sooner?” Pilar demanded.
Part of the reason she hadn’t called was because of Steve. She wasn’t sure she wanted to tell them she’d slept with him again. And she was definitely sure she didn’t want to tell them about his offer to take her to Hawaii. For one thing, she hadn’t made up her mind yet. He’d left her a message on her cell but she hadn’t returned his call. She’d call him later. When she had a chance to figure things out. Plus, there was the thing with Shea lying to her. But right now, the drama with her mother was zapping all her energy.
“I haven’t had a second to breathe,” Kitty complained. “She’s had me taking her all over the coast, shopping for clothes and looking for real estate. She wants to buy a condo. Preferably, somewhere where’s there a lot of male action.”
Pilar nodded. “Boytoys-R-Us.” There was a lull in the conversation. “Adult singles community,” she clarified.
“Oh,” said Shea.
Kitty grimaced. “She actually told me she was looking forward to being a cougar again.”
“Dear God,” Shea muttered.
“Don’t worry, Kit,” continued Pilar. “She’ll go back to Larry. Didn’t she do something like this a couple of years ago?”
“Yeah, but a couple of years ago she didn’t have her nest-egg money.”
“What nest egg?” Shea asked.
“The money she’s going to get from selling Gram’s house.”
“You sold Gram’s house?” Pilar asked.
“Not exactly. At least, not yet,” Kitty said.
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“I sort of told her I got an offer on the house.”
“That’s great!” said Shea.
Pilar gave Shea an exasperated look.
“Isn’t it?” Shea asked, looking confused.
“The offer came from me,” Kitty admitted. “With the money I’m going to make off this deal with Ted Ferguson, I can afford it.” Just saying Ted’s name now made her cringe.
“So what’s the problem?” Pilar asked.
“The problem is that the land I helped Ted buy is the land the senior center’s located on.”
Shea and Pilar gave each other a look.
“I know, I know,” Kitty said miserably. “How am I going to fix this?”
Pilar sighed. “You can’t. Unless you can convince Ted not to tear down the center?”
>
“I already tried that. First he laughed, then he made a pass at me.”
“Oh my God. What did you do?” Shea asked.
“I threw a flute of champagne in his face.”
“That should make him come around,” Pilar said sarcastically. “What an asshole.”
Shea shook her head. “Why do all the rich, available guys always end up being jerks?”
“It looks like you’re stuck,” Pilar said.
“So the Gray Flamingos were right all along,” Shea said. “Good thing they have that petition going.”
“Is that supposed to make me feel better?” Kitty asked.
“We warned you something like this might happen,” Pilar said.
“Yeah,” said Shea. “I mean, it’s not like you didn’t already know what you were getting yourself into.”
Pilar’s watch beeped. She grabbed her cappuccino and stood. “Gotta go. I promised old man Hillaman I’d be in the office by eight.”
“Is that all the advice I get?” Kitty asked. “I’m ready and willing to do whatever you two suggest.”
Pilar’s dark brows scrunched together. “What more can you do? Besides, compared to something like world hunger or tension in the Middle East, you have to admit, it’s small potatoes.” She made her way out of the booth. “Remember, Bunco is at my house this week. You’re both coming over early to set up. Right? I have an associates meeting at five, but I promise to be home by six thirty.”
“Isn’t six thirty cutting it a little close?” Shea asked.
“No can help!” Pilar yelled on her way out the door.
That was it?
Kitty gritted her teeth. At least Shea hadn’t cut out on her. “I never asked you how the nanny interview went.”
Shea’s face dropped. “It was a total bust.”
“You’ll find someone. And you have at least nine months till you really need a nanny, right?”
Shea dipped her finger in her mocha latte and licked off some of the whipped topping. “I’ve been thinking. Maybe Pilar’s right. Two kids are a handful, and like I said, I’d really like to go back to work soon. Moose thinks it’s a good idea. At the very least, it would get me out of the house and talking about something other than toilet training.”