Kelly's Rules

by Barbara Miller

  “Dad, there’s still food left but I was pretty hungry.”

  “That’s okay. I ate already.”

  “I thought you were at the college,” Kelly said. “You usually wear a suit.”

  “Not today. I had something else to take care of.”

  So, Kelly thought, he wasn’t going to tell them what he’d been up to. Virginity was beginning to seem like a good idea permanently. It did sort of bother her that she had never trusted a man enough to get further than first base. But she was more suspicious of men than other women were. It was hard for them to get inside her defenses because she knew all their tricks. Yes, there were good men but even those sometimes tried to manipulate you. Maybe a nice pet like a bird or fish, something she would not get attached to. No, she needed a hug once in a while. Of course she had her mom back, but Bea was demanding grandchildren.

  Wait, she was thinking Quinn was the only man in the world for her. He was just the only one she had found so far. Of course when she considered that it had taken this long for him to walk into her life, she realized she might not meet anyone else until she was too old for children.

  Quinn watched as she smacked the last tools into her sack and handed it to Jason, who had polished off the rest of the pizza.

  “We’re about done with the inside for now.” She looked around with a satisfied but brittle smile. She didn’t sound like herself but like a contractor again and she thought Quinn noticed.

  “You can get your furniture out of storage and we’ll worry about the brick pointing and gutters later. Of course you and your decorator can discuss wallpaper once the plaster dries, but at least it’s livable.”

  “Ah, I don’t have any furniture.”

  Kelly felt herself forgiving him even though he had not asked her to. “Well, I know some secondhand shops, not antique stores, mind you, but just places where you can pick up the essentials until you can afford to replace them.”

  “I bet you do. Jason, can you drive my truck back to Kelly’s so we can get our clothes? I’ll ride with her.”

  Here it came, the big brush-off. She wondered what technique he’d use, what line. She waited for him to get in before starting her Jeep, which really ran much better now that he had tweaked it. She let it roll down the hill. At least she had gotten something from this relationship, a truck that ran. Even if he never paid her for all her work…

  “I need to talk to you alone.”

  Here it came. She was betting it would be the we’re from two different worlds line, not the I need my space argument.

  “I’ve learned so much from you, not the least of which is a respect for practical crafts.”

  That was a new one. “Nothing you couldn’t have figured out on your own.”

  “I doubt that, but the most important thing I see in you is honesty.”

  Oh, no! Not the honesty line. That one always made her cry and she really did not want to cry for this man, in front of this man, or over this man.

  “Honesty is easier than any other option. If you start with a little lie, you end up with a tangle of fishing line.” What a stupid thing to say. She should have said can of worms, but that was a cliché too. Why couldn’t she think of anything original under stress? She stopped at a stop sign, then crossed the intersection, trying to focus on traffic. She had a truck that ran, so she didn’t want to wreck it.

  “Can you pull over a second?”

  Yikes, he was expecting a complete meltdown from her if he didn’t even trust her to drive while being dumped or dumped upon, depending how you looked at it.

  “Okay.”

  “I couldn’t go through with what I was planning.”

  She took a deep breath. No wedding, no sperm, no babies in her future. But what was worse was that she loved Quinn and she would never be able to stand to be around him without feeling this hole in her heart. That’s when she realized he was the one, the only one. She was going to be alone for the rest of her life.

  “I’ve never lied to you and I found I couldn’t lie to Brenda either.”

  She coughed and sucked in air. “Huh?”

  “She asked me to meet her for lunch today to try to reconcile. I thought maybe I could string her along, maybe placate her until I got settled into my new job. I thought I could fake it.”

  “And you couldn’t?” This was valuable to know.

  “No, I gagged on most of what I said to her but when she called you a gold-digger I almost threw up. I told her that was a lie. She accused me of having an affair with you, also a lie. We had one of our larger fights, so I am pretty much back where I started. I had to walk from the motel to the mall to pick up my vehicle.”

  “And it’s my fault,” Kelly said in wonder that she had actually gotten a commitment from someone who made him take the harder path in life.

  “No, it was my fault for trying to make a treaty with the enemy. I should have known better. Though I don’t think I owe her much, I do owe her the truth. That’s what I learned from you, to meet things head on and damn the consequences.”

  Kelly found herself smiling and nodding like a bobble head doll. “So you really are divorcing her?”

  “Yes, but it may take awhile.”

  “I think she’ll go for the throat. If you lose everything, there’s always the summer house.”

  “I hope I don’t have to take you up on that, but it sure is nice to know I have friends in this town, especially someone like you.” He reached for her then and the kiss was breathtaking, not that she had been breathing much before. He had come through for her. He was a hero after all. And she had doubted him. At least she hadn’t voiced those doubts.

  When he finally broke the kiss, the hug that followed was even better, partly because she could finally get some air. But she had forgotten or maybe never known the warmth of an embrace like that. It was a promise.

  “I didn’t want Jason to hear what I had tried, or that I had fought with his mother again.”

  “Oh, I should have realized that.”

  “The reason it may take awhile is that she wants half my salary, half my pension and she wants it now.”

  “You’d take a big tax bite to get that money now.”

  “It’s in stock.”

  “Your company’s stock?” Kelly sat up.

  “Unfortunately.”

  “But you can’t sell that now, not with the SEC breathing down your neck. That would be insider trading, and you can’t tell her that either.”

  “And it gives me hope she doesn’t know about the pending court case.”

  “You can’t even sign it over to her as part of a settlement because you know it’s going to be worthless, possibly even before the divorce is final.”

  “Right, so I’m going to offer her none of the pension but may have to give up all the money from the sale of the house.”

  “That will draw it out because she won’t be satisfied.”

  “That’s the really bad news. If I was free to meet her demands, I might be able to get a divorce sooner and we wouldn’t be left hanging. It’s not like the stock will be worth anything.”

  “Will her dad clue her in?”

  “I don’t think they talk much anymore.”

  “I think the case will break, the stock will tank, and she’ll blame you for everything. She’ll be even more vengeful. The divorce is going to take a lot longer because she’s greedy.”

  “Are you prepared to wait?” he asked. He gaze roved over her, as though he was expecting the worst.

  “Of course. I told you I was goal oriented. I can wait forever.” Kelly felt a sense of peace. After all the terrible things she had assumed, this was heaven, just having to wait for Quinn.

  He breathed a sigh of relief and kissed her, then leaned his forehead against hers, inhaling and exhaling the same air with her as if he was resting after a long and desperate struggle. “Well, should I go pack? Or maybe you have other work to do?”

  “Not a thing. We can go scare up some furniture for
you this afternoon.”

  * * * * *

  Bea had an amazing supper prepared for them. Quinn had forgotten what a good meal of real food tasted like until they came to Laurel Hill. There was baked chicken, mashed potatoes and gravy, not to mention lettuce salad. It was the holiday meal from when he was a little kid. Today had been rough but he’d made his decision and Kelly backed him.

  Bea dropped another gob of mashed potatoes on Jason’s plate and handed him the gravy boat. He did not object.

  “So how does the house look?” Bea folded her hands and smiled at Quinn.

  “It doesn’t echo as much now that there are a few sticks of furniture in there. Kelly found a table and chair set that I want to refinish and keep. With that and some odds and ends that Sue threw out, it’s starting to look like a home.”

  Kelly smiled at him. “It takes time, but that’s the fun part, doing it a little at a time.”

  “I know that now.” Quinn pushed back from the table and sighed. “I finally feel like I have the time to do whatever I need.”

  The phone rang, but Kelly said, “Please don’t answer that. I want to remember this dinner for the delightful experience it is.”

  Bea stared at her daughter. “What are you afraid of? Another emergency for Sue?”

  “I’m not sure.”

  They could all hear the answering machine and Brenda’s vituperative message to Kelly.

  Bea rose and said, “Enough is enough.” She jerked the phone off the hook, hit redial and reamed Brenda out royally for making threatening calls to a private residence, said she would sic the police on her and several other choice tidbits that made Kelly snicker.

  Bea tramped back into the room. “I bet she doesn’t call here again. I’ll answer the phone from now on and give her what for if she tries anything like that again. Kelly, you need to talk to Earl about her.”

  “I think Earl wouldn’t impress her much after your lecture.”

  “Still, if anything happens…”

  “Maybe next time I run into him, Bea.”

  “Call me Mom. I’m sort of getting used to it.”

  Quinn shrugged. “Hope she doesn’t pester you, Bea.”

  “I don’t mind. Gives me a chance to vent.”

  “What did I ever do without you, Mom?” Kelly felt that all the pieces of her life were finally fitting together. She wasn’t completely happy yet, but she was well on the way. The biggest part of that was being in accord with people: Jason, her mother and now Quinn. Her family was growing beyond Sue and her kids and Earl. There was no telling how many people they would finally rope into their circle.

  Chapter Fourteen

  “Rule 14: Beware men who are always looking to blame someone for what goes wrong.” — SMFA

  The day started badly. Kelly took the broom on her way to the curb and used it to knock the paper out of the row of forsythia bushes, glaring at the retreating back of their mad cyclist newspaper boy. She knew why he threw the paper in the bushes. It was an easy target. Still it was annoying but not nearly as annoying as seeing Quinn’s face plastered across the front page as the whistleblower in the case that was ultimately going to end up in federal court. Yikes. How was he going to put a good spin on this for the college? And this was the daily regional paper, not the town bi-weekly.

  Indictment brought against Pittsburgh firm. Local college professor will be called to testify in SEC investigation. In the midst of dealing with Brenda, Quinn may not have had time to prepare his new employers for this. She tramped through the wet grass to the summer house and knocked. When that brought no response, she pounded on the door. She was sure Jason had not moved yet. She had not found them beds.

  She heard shuffling and the door opened a crack to reveal Jason’s sleepy face. “Did I miss breakfast?”

  “No, it’s only six-thirty. Did Quinn see this yet?”

  It took him a moment to grasp the headline. “I don’t know. He’s up at the house.”

  “Maybe you should call him.”

  Jason took the newspaper. “Yeah. Do you think this will matter to the college?”

  “It may if he didn’t level with them. Get dressed while I cook. We should get up there and talk to him.”

  “No sources were named. I wonder if Mom did this or maybe Paul. You’d think it would hurt them and Gramps more than Dad.”

  “We don’t know. Could have been an enterprising reporter or another employee with a grudge against your grandfather. The story would have broken sooner or later.”

  “You’d think Mom would care about me even if she hates him, but she doesn’t. She always treated me and Paul differently. It hurt when I was little because I could never figure out why. It’s almost as though she’s in love with her own son.”

  “I don’t think hurting you is intentional.”

  “But we don’t know, do we?” He closed the door and she went to cook.

  When they found Quinn, he wasn’t in the house but was digging a pond as Kelly had suggested to take advantage of the spring in his backyard. Since the backyard was fenced, no one would hassle him about having a dangerous attraction to children. As lawyers so often pointed out, it takes only a few inches of water to drown a child, ignoring the fact that their clients, the mothers or fathers, let the child wander the neighborhood and much more dangerous streets unsupervised.

  “Need any help?” Jason asked.

  “I could use a few more rocks. I’ve been hauling them in the wheelbarrow. There’s plenty piled under that tree.”

  Normally Kelly would have gone off with Jason to help, but she sensed there was something wrong. “I know where you can get some koi fish and water lilies.” She knelt on the plastic he was using for the bottom and stared at him.

  He looked up at her and smiled sadly, wiping a streak a mud across his forehead as he removed sweat. “If you want.”

  “If I want? It’s your house.”

  “Not anymore. Brenda has demanded a session with our respective lawyers no later than tomorrow. How fast can you get the papers drawn up to buy this house?”

  “The sales agreement is on my computer and the money is in the bank. It won’t be official until we get it notarized and the transfer can take as long as it needs to, but—”

  “Do it. Make the sale price twenty-five thousand dollars.”

  Kelly staggered. “But that’s a quarter what you paid for it.”

  “Kelly, right now it’s a race to see if I’ll lose my house first or my job. I’d just like to rob Brenda of as much satisfaction as I can.”

  “I can easily come up with the money. But you’ll live here.”

  He was still standing in the hole as he turned to stare at the dignified old mansion. “No, I don’t think I have the heart. We’ll lock up here. Go get the paperwork set and make an appointment with a notary.”

  “You saw the newspaper.”

  “When I went for coffee.”

  Kelly was afraid to ask her next question, so stared at him in silence.

  “I know you’re wondering if I got to the dean in time and yes I did. I called him on the phone, caught him at home and explained I had not been at liberty to talk about the case when I was interviewed but I’d just learned it would go to trial. I assured him that it would not affect my work and that I would cover any classes if I had to miss when I went to testify.”

  “Good tack to take. Responsible.”

  “As it happens Dean Merrick was in law and has been following the Sarbanes-Oxley Act with interest. This will be a test of that law, so he’s actually pretty keen to see me on the front lines.”

  “But that’s fantastic. You have a job and support from a colleague.” Kelly felt her cup running over.

  “Yes, but I’m still unproven, and Ellis is still trying to poison the water for me at work. If one more bit of scandal emerges, they may wash their hands of me.”

  “I’m not going to curse us by asking what else could possibly go wrong, but I do think things are looking up.”
>
  “I’ve been a pessimist so long I’m having trouble taking that view. My father-in-law got my cell number from Brenda and has threatened me with everything up to drawing and quartering if I testify.”

  “To bad you didn’t record that.”

  “Wouldn’t have done any good.”

  “Oh, he’s a lot like Brenda. Did he really think he was going to dodge this bullet?”

  “Denial may be a family trait.”

  “I’ll go find a notary and write a check.” Kelly told him things were looking up, but Quinn seemed very low, fatalistic almost. As she drove away, she realized her mother had spent a lot of years depressed but had never complained of it. Now Kelly was seeing the same signs in Quinn and she didn’t like it at all. She almost wished she was a witch so she could put a truth curse on Brenda and her parent. Heck, telling the truth would probably make them curl up and die.

  * * * * *

  In spite of being sold on the truth, Quinn had told Kelly only half of it this time. As he placed the last of the rocks on the edges of the liner and mulched the perimeter of the pond, he thought about Brenda’s threats. Stop seeing Kelly Barr or something will happen to her. He knew he should tell Kelly she might be in danger, but all he had to do was stay away from her. She could live here and he would do what? He hadn’t thought that far ahead.

  He actually thought Kelly would scoff at a threat from Brenda, but he knew his wife never forgot the slightest insult or loss, and she never forgave anything. Even if they got a divorce, Kelly might still be a danger. Is that what he wanted for them, always to be looking over their shoulders? Then to have a child who also could be at risk. He couldn’t even contemplate it.

  Kelly was meant to have this house and she could find someone else to share it with her. He would never buy it back. Jason could stay at the summer house or with him once he found an apartment. He’d better start looking soon. He was going to have to tap into his son’s college money. Of course he’d have Kelly’s payment, but Brenda would get that.