Three Alarm Tenant

by Christa Maurice

  “There’s still water getting in there. Not as much, but some. And you don’t need a roofer. I used to work for my captain’s brother-in-law on my off days. He’s a roofer. I know my stuff. I’ll get the supplies, and you can pay me back when you’ve got it, okay?”

  She stared at him. “You’re going to fix the roof?”

  “Sure.” He shrugged. “Get a couple of guys over here, and we’ll be finished in a day.”

  “Well, I suppose.” She shifted, moving her book bag between them. She had hoped the small barrier would help. It didn’t. “If you know how to do it.”

  “I’ll get the stuff tomorrow. If the weather’s good, maybe we can get it done Monday.” He peered at the sky. That meant he didn’t notice she couldn’t tear her eyes off him.

  “That's fine.” She started to turn to retreat into her apartment.

  He grabbed her wrist. His grip was light, but he obviously had no intention of letting go. “Are you avoiding me?”

  It took every thread of control to keep from collapsing into his arms when his hand closed around her. She met his eyes and swallowed hard. “Avoiding you?” she repeated.

  “I haven’t seen much of you since I moved in.”

  “Oh.” She sighed, acutely aware of the pressure of his hand on her wrist. Her skin felt scorched. “It’s just been really busy at school.”

  He stared at her a moment longer, as if he sensed the half truth. His mouth twitched. “Are you busy right now?”

  “Now? I have some papers to grade. And lesson plans.” Her body burned for him. She wanted that hand on her wrist to move up her arm. Around her shoulders. She wanted him to step closer. She felt herself beginning to lean forward, and pulled back.

  “But you have all weekend to do that, right?”

  “Grades are due Thursday.” Katherine coughed. Her voice sounded hoarse, and her heartbeat pounded in her ears.

  He frowned as if he knew what a flimsy excuse she had offered. “I could use a hand with this thing.”

  “You seem to already have it.” She heard herself say. It seemed abnormally witty and intelligent for the fact that her mind didn’t seem to be working. Must be lack of oxygen, she thought. I’m getting giddy. My face should be turning blue.

  Jack released her hand, glancing at his own as if it had acted without his permission. “Sorry. Are you going to help me?”

  She shouldn’t go near him. Shouldn’t chat with him. Shouldn’t spend time with him. She should go inside and take a cold bath while thinking about income tax law. “I’ll be back out as soon as I change.”

  He grinned. “Great. See you in a couple minutes. If you don’t come out, I’m coming in after you.”

  She nodded. He’d let go of her arm, but it didn’t matter, she could still feel his hand wrapped around her wrist. She fumbled the door open and hurried inside.

  * * * *

  Jack watched the door click closed behind her and wondered if she would come back. She was avoiding him. It was a hunch, but a strong one. He saw her on school mornings when he wasn’t on duty and could watch her walk out to her car from the shadows of his kitchen. He didn’t know any teachers, but it seemed a little strange that she would stay after school until six every night.

  Unless she was meeting the idiotic blond guy.

  Jack scowled at that thought. He was the type his sister favored in high school. She’d dated jocks because it made Mom and Dad happy, and because she could show off how smart she was. She’d kept the pattern in college, but in law school she'd quit dating. His parents believed she needed to apply herself to her coursework. Jack figured she couldn’t find any more dumb guys to date. He doubted there were many football scholarships to law school.

  His fingernails dug into his palms, and it hurt. A normal reaction to thinking about his sister. He flexed his fingers and walked back into the yard to figure out how to have Katherine help him. If he could keep her out here for a little while, she might realize he didn’t bite. Unless asked. However, it didn’t take two people to install a dog door unless one of them was spectacularly uncoordinated. The more time he spent around her, the more awkward he became. He felt more like a gawky high school boy now than he had in high school. If he got out of this little task without taking off his hand with the screwdriver, he'd be lucky.

  “What do you want me to do?”

  Jack looked up. She’d changed into jeans and a sweatshirt and pulled back her hair. A few tendrils had escaped and lay across her pinker than usual cheeks. She jammed her hands into her back pockets and stood with her shoulders drawn up and one knee bent. She looked beautiful. “Why don’t you hold this up for me?” He shifted the door so he could plane off the troublesome corner. He could have braced it between his legs, but he’d insisted she help, so he had to give her something useful to do.

  She knelt on the ground in front of the door. “Like this?” She pressed her palms against either side of the door and looked up at him.

  Jack's breath caught in his throat. The sun shone across her face, bringing out the twinkle in her eyes and turning her hair red. She even had an eager smile touching the corners of her lips. Maybe she wasn’t so frightened to be around him. “That’s good. Hang on tight.”

  Archer walked over and started licking her face. She laughed and pushed him away with her shoulder. “Hey dog. You’re getting me all icky.” She wiped her cheek on the shoulder of her sweatshirt.

  Jack picked up the plane and leaned forward to shave off a tiny bit of wood so the door would swing open without struggle. Katherine had taken her job seriously, focusing on the placement of her hands. Archer stood behind her with his head resting on her shoulder.

  “He thinks he’s a parrot,” Jack said.

  “He’s my pal.” Katherine leaned her cheek against Archer’s, and the dog responded by giving her another sloppy kiss.

  “He has taken a shine to you.” Jack shaved off another sliver of wood, wishing she would let him get that close without freaking out. He would promise not to lick her cheek unless she wanted him to. He bit his lips to hide a smile.

  “I throw a stick around for him sometimes. He seems to like it.”

  “Oh.” Throw a stick? Yeah, and roll around on the ground wrestling with him and chase him around the yard like a little kid. No wonder Archer loved her. “Did you ever have a dog when you were a kid?”

  “We couldn’t afford it.”

  “Couldn’t afford a dog?”

  She smirked. “There were times Mom and I couldn’t afford each other.”

  “What about your dad?”

  “He died when I was ten. A bridge collapsed in a flood, and a family was trapped in their car. He was trying to get them out.”

  “I'm sorry.”

  She shrugged, keeping her eyes down. “It was a long time ago. With a few minor setbacks, I’ve recovered.”

  “What about when you started teaching? Couldn’t you have afforded pets then?”

  “No, I was busy paying off school loans, and my fiancé didn’t like dogs. It didn’t seem to be in the cards.” She sighed, leaning against Archer.

  “And you wanted to marry him anyway?” Jack put down the plane and stepped away grinning.

  She looked up, and her desolate expression wiped the grin off his face. “I was in love, and it didn’t matter. Haven’t you ever been convinced you were in love and decided there were things you always wanted, but you were willing to give up for him? Well, her, in your case.”

  Jack lifted the door out of her hands. “I don’t know. I guess so.” He tried not to think about Maureen and the things he'd been willing to give up for her. Or the things he might be willing to give up for Katherine.

  “I was happy, but I was lonely. I mean I was really happy. I don’t want you to get the wrong idea. Gary was everything I could ask for. He had a lot of integrity. But then he was killed, and I was alone.” She sat on the ground with her hands on her lap. Archer stepped in front of her, whining and pressing against her, his head le
aning into her neck.

  Her words had spilled out in a rush, as if it were important he understand. Or as if she were trying to convince herself? Jack’s arms ached to hug her. He wanted to hold her and smooth away the pain of losing her father compounded by losing her fiancé. To kiss away her hurt and make everything better. Instead he stood clutching the door, watching his dog attempt to make her feel better and wondering what kind of a relationship she’d had when she described her fiancé as having integrity. Integrity was a great trait, but it wasn’t what Jack wanted his future wife saying about him.

  Katherine grabbed Archer’s snout and started shaking his head until he pulled away and leaped at her, knocking her on her back laughing.

  While they tussled on the grass, Jack installed the dog door in the hole he’d already cut. Father died at a young age. Poor childhood. Maybe not a perfect engagement that ended abruptly. What kind of guy wouldn’t let his wife have a dog when she wanted one so much? What kind of guy wouldn’t give Katherine anything she wanted in the first place? Integrity? At least it solved the mystery of ‘we.’ She’d had a fiancé who died. It didn’t settle the question of the dumb blond.

  “So what about you?”

  Jack turned the door upright. At some point she’d stopped playing with Archer and turned back to him. He wanted another minute to recover from her pain, but he wasn’t getting it. “Me?”

  “Have you always had a dog?”

  “Well, one dog. We got Cody when I was about four. My parents had her put to sleep right after I graduated high school. She was pretty old. My sister always said she hated Cody, but she sobbed when Mom and Dad had her put down.”

  Katherine stood up and dusted herself off. “Both of your parents are alive?”

  “Two parents, three grandparents, one great grandmother and assorted aunts, uncles and cousins.”

  Katherine blinked. “Wow.”

  “They don’t all live around here.”

  Katherine picked up a stick and taunted Archer with it before throwing it down the yard. “And you only have one sister?”

  “Leia. She’s a—What?”

  Katherine's mouth dropped open. “Leia is your sister? The one who was here?”

  Jack watched emotions flicker across Katherine's face. Shock. Horror. Guilt. Happiness? Why would she be happy about Leia? Nobody was happy to meet Leia. “She was here?”

  “She stopped by shortly after you moved in. I left you a—Oh, God. I forgot to leave you the note. I never put it in your mailbox. It’s probably still on the table. I’m so sorry. I meant to leave a note, but there was so much confusion after—” Katherine grimaced. “After Archer jumped on her.”

  “He jumped on her? Good dog.” Jack wondered what she'd meant to say. So much confusion after what?

  Archer started wagging his whole body.

  “He left big muddy footprints on her shoulders.”

  Jack laughed. “Very good dog. You get extra treats.”

  Archer wagged harder, nearly knocking Katherine over.

  “Why did she come over here?” Katherine’s expression had settled on happy.

  Jack sneered to cover for the thoughts working through his head. Her reaction to Leia was very odd in relation to reactions to his sister, and he usually got odd reactions to his sister. She seemed too pleased. “Probably rubbing in her partnership. She’s the youngest person in her firm to be a partner, and so she’ll be pretty puffed up about it.”

  “Firm?”

  “She’s a lawyer.”

  “A lawyer.” Katherine smirked. “So. Are you going to do something with that door or did you want to stand around all day balancing it on your foot?”

  He twisted the door to hide his red face. His toes were numb, but he’d forgotten it was in his hands. “Can you help me hang it? I need you to hold it in place while I put the screws back in.” Another job he could do easier by himself, but if it brought her closer, why not?

  She stepped forward. “What do you want me to do?”

  Jack carried the door inside and held it up, trying to line it up to the old screw holes. “I need you to hold this steady right here while I screw it back in.”

  “I can do that.” She reached across and held the door balanced on his foot.

  Jack picked up the electric screwdriver and stepped next to her. Her arm brushed against his chest when he leaned in to hang the door. She was too close now, and he couldn’t do anything about it.

  Not that he minded. He wanted this. He’d planned on it when he asked her to help him hang the door. Her head came to the hollow of his shoulder. The perfect height. If he wanted, he could take her in his arms, and she would be leaning against his shoulder. And he wanted. He could smell the sweet, flowery fragrance of her shampoo and the dry scent of chalk dust. Her shoulder grazed against his chest close enough that he could feel her body heat. Her breath came in light shallow flutters, and he wondered if that was a good thing or if she was claustrophobic. Either way, the memory would make sleeping tonight almost impossible. “Nearly done with the top,” he murmured.

  “Mm.” She adjusted her grip on the door.

  Jack screwed in the last screw and lingered for a moment, breathing her scent. Then he knelt beside her to reattach the bottom hinge. From here, he had a great view of her curvy hips. She kept those covered with long baggy sweaters and loose dresses. He had a pretty good idea what her legs looked like, at least from the knee down. He wanted to lean his head against her hip, but that might make her jump away again, like she had when he’d closed the front door the day she showed him the apartment.

  Archer came over to investigate and decided he needed to be in the same spot. He pressed against Katherine's legs, causing her to lean into Jack’s cheek, so he got his wish. His body responded enthusiastically. How was he going to cover that?

  “I had no idea this was going to be like playing Twister,” Katherine commented.

  “I’m almost done. Too bad we didn’t give the dog something to do to keep him out of the way.” Jack wondered if there was some way to stretch out the job. Drop a screw? Strip the hole? Would he look incompetent? Would that bother her?

  “We’ll have to remember that in the future.”

  Jack’s heart skipped. ‘In the future.’ She would only say that if she thought they had one, wouldn’t she? Or was she talking about the length of the lease? He put in the last screw and stood up. “All done, you can let go.”

  Katherine moved away so fast she stumbled over the dog. She looked flushed, but surveyed his workmanship as if it weren't unusual. “It looks good. What’s that bar there?” She pointed, her face pinched with worry.

  He looked at the dog door to see what might be alarming her. “It’s a lock. Burglars sometimes use these to get into houses. I got this one so I could lock it when Archer wasn’t shut up in here.”

  “Oh, good idea.” She took a shallow breath. “Not such a difficult job.”

  “It gets better.” He closed the door and opened it again. “Easy open, easy close.”

  “That’s all it took?” She closed the door and opened it herself from the outside. “I thought it would have been more complicated than shaving a little wood off the side. Why did it stick before?”

  “The house probably shifted a little so the doorway wasn’t square any more, but the door still was.” He shrugged. “It happens in old houses.”

  Katherine stared at the door. “The house shifts, and the door doesn’t fit anymore. How symbolic.”

  Jack could see her headed into melancholy territory again. “Maybe next summer I’ll repaint it. It looks as if it could use stripping and repainting. See where this is all rounded here?” He traced his finger along the edge of one of the door panels. “I think this was a sharp corner, but there’s been so much paint put on it over the years it’s rounded off.”

  “I didn’t know you could do that. I guess it’s easy if you know what you’re doing. Is it very work intensive?”

  “To take off paint?
No. There’s a chemical you use and…” He heard something. A siren.

  “What is it?”

  “It’s the station. I didn't realize we were close enough to hear it. The engine is going out.”

  “The engine?”

  Jack looked up the back yard as if he could see the station through the houses and the hill. “The fire engine. Listen, it’s at the light on the corner.” He turned. “Headed south.”

  Katherine turned and walked down the porch steps. Every movement rigid and controlled. She picked up a stick and threw it. Archer obliged by chasing after it and returning. She looked down at him with her hands on her hips. He dropped the stick at her feet and then turned and watched her over his shoulder, poised for her to throw again.

  * * * *

  Closing the door, Jack walked down the steps to stand beside her. At some point, she'd taught Archer to drop the stick without a battle. He wondered how she'd done it, but didn't want to ask right now. Her gaze was fixed on the back fence as if she were afraid to glance right or left. His tools were scattered around the porch and yard, but she was concentrating on the dog as if he weren't there. Katherine runs cold again. Because he heard the engine going out? Or something else?

  He wondered if her fiancé had been a firefighter. That would explain why she might have something against the department if they let her get into this mess, but he couldn’t imagine any station abandoning one of their widows, even if she wasn’t a widow in the strictest sense. Besides, he’d have remembered going to the funeral if he had been in the department. Everybody who wasn’t on duty turned out for those funerals. There hadn’t been so many funerals in his twelve years in the department that he’d forget. No, Gary hadn’t been a firefighter.

  This new knowledge didn’t leave him any closer to figuring out why Katherine shut down when the engine went out. He scratched his head. “Is it okay with you if I strip and repaint the door?”

  “If you want to. Let me see what colors you want to use. I’d rather you didn’t paint the door hot pink with yellow and blue alternating stripes,” she muttered.

  “I won’t do that.” What just happened here? Up until a minute ago she’d been present for the conversation, now she might as well be in Alaska. “What’s the matter?”