Home Improvement (A Pajaro Bay Short Story)

by Lee, Barbara Cool

  "Are you going to get the coffee, or should I?" Kim asked.

  Jazz shooed Arrow into the back room, flipped the sign on the door to read Surf's Up! Back in a Few, and said, "we'll both go."

  ~*~

  "When do you plan to pop, girl?!" Kim said to the extremely pregnant woman sitting with her feet up on a stack of real estate magazines in Robin's office .

  Camilla Stewart-Knight, CPA from the accounting office at the end of Alvarado Alley, sported long, curly red hair, an abundance of freckles, and a belly that looked ready to burst.

  "I still have eight-and-a-half weeks," she said. "Can you believe it? I think he's going for a world record." She patted her stomach. "No more coffee for me today, Robin. I'm over my limit."

  Robin handed her a chocolate chip cookie. "No limit on these, right?"

  Camilla took a big bite of the cookie. "Dr. Lil doesn't dare make give up chocolate. She knows I'd become homicidal without it."

  Robin offered a cookie to Kim, and she shook her head. Instead she grabbed a cherry red mug and headed to the steel-and-chrome espresso machine to pour herself a cup of Robin's incredible coffee.

  She wrapped her hands around the mug and felt the warmth seep into her. She was trying hard not to be mad at Jazz, but it wasn't working too well. She raised the mug and took a sniff of the coffee. "Wow! What is this?"

  "Half Fogchaser beans, half Chocolate Raspberry," Robin said with a smirk. She sat down at her desk and watched Kim inhale again. "Nice, huh?"

  Kim took a sip. "Heavenly." She sat down in the padded chair next to Camilla. One look at the tray of Robin's special cookies and she gave in and grabbed one, dipped it into the coffee and took a bite. She smiled.

  "Now that we're all here, we need to talk," Jazz said from her spot over by the front window.

  Kim glared at her, but it was like glaring at a wall. It didn't do her a bit of good.

  "Kim needs to start dating again."

  Both Robin and Camilla turned to her with big smiles, and Kim looked down at her coffee cup. "Says Jazz," Kim muttered.

  "Okay," Jazz continued, undeterred. "Who should she go out with?"

  Camilla looked hard at Kim. "If she's not ready, we shouldn't push her."

  Kim looked up at her. "Thank you, Camilla, for respecting my feelings. Not everyone does," she said pointedly.

  "You're ready," Jazz said firmly.

  "Don't you think I should decide that?" Kim asked.

  "She's got a point," Robin said.

  "What would one date hurt, Kim?" Jazz asked. "Just give me a good reason why you would rather not date, and I'll respect that."

  Kim sat there, a bit stumped. She didn't want to go out with anyone. She didn't want to start thinking about her life as being without Bryce forever. But was that the way she wanted to live? Was that what Bryce would want for her?

  She looked up and saw they were all watching her. "I will consider it. Possibly. At some time in the future. Just consider," she repeated when Jazz's face lit up in triumph. Then she found herself sitting back while they all plunged into a heated debate on the merits of every single guy in town.

  "Mel Machado," Robin said.

  "You have got to be kidding me!" Jazz said. "He's too old and he's a grump."

  "Okay," Camilla said. "Hector."

  That made all of them burst out laughing. Hector ran the local garage, and spent his spare time trolling the snack food aisle of the grocery store, trying to satisfy his constant craving for munchies.

  "Don't reject him so quickly," Camilla continued when they all looked at her as if she were nuts. "He's sweet, kind-hearted, and I have never heard him say a bad thing about a single soul in town."

  "He's also stoned out of his skull every day."

  "Maybe he just needs the love of a good woman to straighten him out," Camilla said.

  Everybody laughed.

  "No," Jazz said, shaking her head. "We've got to find a nice man with no bad qualities. No rejects from the shallow end of the gene pool."

  "Well, if you want perfect," Camilla said, patting her belly. "My son will be perfect in every way. You just have to wait about 30 years for him to be ready."

  "Sounds good to me," Kim said. "I'm not in a rush."

  "Now, everyone think," Jazz said. "Where can we find her the perfect man?"

  "I had the perfect man," Kim said quietly. "I'm not going to find another like Bryce."

  "Gavin Kelly's pretty perfect," Robin said wistfully.

  "His wife and kids probably agree with you," Jazz said. "Too bad Gage isn't like him. Oh, why won't that guy settle down?!" she said in frustration. "He'd be great if he wasn't such a playboy."

  "Isn't it always like that?" Robin said. "Two brothers. The wild one with the looks, and the sweet one with the wife and two kids. Guess it's too much to expect Gage to be a family man like Gavin."

  "The Kelly Brothers are out. So who's left?" Jazz said.

  "Ryan Knight has the whole sexy, macho cop thing going on," Robin suggested.

  Camilla Stewart-Knight said, "I agree. But I'm not giving him up--even for you, Kim. How about Oliver?" Oliver was her nine-year-old adopted son. "Nah," she added, reconsidering. "He wants a Play Station, not a girlfriend."

  "That's okay," Kim said. "Like I said, I'm really not in a hurry."

  "Yes you are," Jazz said firmly.

  "Okay," Robin said. "I've dated pretty much every single guy in town, so I can give you all the details. Let's see, do you want the party boy type, or the guy who sits in front of his TV eating pizza every night? How about the commitment-phobe? The super-athlete who thinks kayaking 40 miles across the bay is a fun first date? The momma's boy? The rebel without a clue?"

  "This is what you want for me?" Kim said to Jazz.

  "Drink your coffee, you cynic," Jazz said to Robin. "You're scaring her."

  "I'm not scared. I'm just not ready."

  "But I have a perfect guy," Jazz said. "And Robin's never dated him, so he's pure as the driven snow."

  "I'd resent that if it weren't true," Robin said calmly. She wiped the cookie crumbs off the paperwork on her desk. "So who is this perfect guy and where has he been hiding?"

  "He's tall, with dark wavy hair. Nice looking. He just graduated from college. He's a local boy. He has a great job with Cordova Computing."

  "Ah, they only fire the best," Robin said, saluting Camilla with her coffee cup.

  "Thank you very much," Camilla said, returning the salute with a wave of her third cookie. "Great employer. So who's the guy?"

  "Ben Freitas."

  "Little Ben?" Robin said. "He's just a kid."

  "He's 24 now, and Felix Cordova's personal assistant. He's cute, too."

  "He's definitely that," Robin agreed. "And smart."

  They all smiled and looked expectantly at Kim.

  She sat there trying to think of a reason to say no, without telling them what she was really thinking. She finally said quietly, "I'm just not ready."

  Everybody got quiet.

  Then Jazz jumped up and gave her a big hug. "I'm sorry, Kim. We didn't mean to push you."

  "Yes, we did," Camilla said. "But only with the best intentions."

  "I know. I appreciate that. But I'll let you all know when I'm ready for you to start throwing men at me."

  Robin took her coffee cup and went over to the espresso machine. "In the meantime, have another cup."

  Kim looked up at the clock on the wall behind Robin. "I can't. I've gotta meet Gage at the house, or I won't have a working bathroom tonight."

  Jazz took her coffee cup from her and shooed her out the door. "Go. Don't let him rip you off. See you tomorrow."

  ~*~

  "You know," Gage said as he followed her into the house, "taking that wall out really opened up this place." He stood inside the front door and looked at the view from there all the way through the kitchen to the glimpse of back yard visible through a wavy glass window over the sink. "If we put a proper frame on your hole in the
wall and add the pillar Ms. Z wants, I think it'll look really good."

  "Maybe after the bathroom is done you could start on that," she said. "So how long will the bath floor take?"

  "About two days. I've got to move the claw foot tub so I can work under there first, then move it back and finish the rest of the floor. It'll go faster if you help."

  She had always helped Bryce when he worked on the house, and Gage knew that.

  "And just think," he added, handing her a little paper bag, "two more days of maple bars." Gage had a thing for doughnuts. Kim did too, as a matter of fact, but she couldn't afford to indulge in her craving as often as he did. He still had the fit body he'd always had. Probably from working construction all day.

  "Okay," she finally said. "I'll help. The work'll burn off the doughnut calories, anyway." And it would give her another excuse to avoid Jazz's pressure. She could say she had to work around the house instead of making a fool of herself on some embarrassing blind date.

  "How about some coffee?" she asked. "I left the pot plugged in this morning--it might still be good." She poured the last of the morning's pot in his mug. The dregs swirled to the bottom. "Sorry," she said. "That doesn't look too appealing. I'll make a fresh pot."

  "Don't bother." Gage grinned. "I'll just strain out the coffee grounds with my teeth."

  She sat down at the table and smiled weakly, her thoughts still distracted.

  "Come on, Kim. What's up?" Gage asked. "I'm being really charming here."

  She had to laugh at that. He was being charming, as usual, but she couldn't get her mind off what Jazz had said.

  "Tell me about it," Gage said.

  "About what?"

  "Come on, Kim. Something's bothering you. Let it out. What are friends for if you can't drag them down to your level of misery?" He laughed again, deep smile lines framing those not-so-innocent hazel eyes.

  She took a deep breath. "Do you remember your first date?"

  "Are we changing the subject here, darlin'?"

  "No. Not really. Do you remember?"

  "Sure." He sat back in the chair, reminiscing. "I was twelve. Her name was Lulu. What a bod."

  "Oh, Gage!"

  "—I'm kidding, I'm kidding. She was a nice girl. I was terrified, and I accidentally knocked her glasses off when I tried to kiss her goodnight. Very embarrassing. Almost as bad as the time my trunks fell off at the swim meet—but that's another story." He looked at her. "So, what about your first date? Was it a disaster or what?"

  She hesitated. "You promise you won't tell?"

  "Hey, Kim." His voice got very soft all of a sudden. "I wouldn't hurt you for the world."

  "I never had a first date."

  "What?"

  "I've never been on a date. Now don't you laugh at me," she said, but he looked quite serious.

  "What about Bryce?" he asked. "How did you two get together, mental telepathy?"

  "I'd known Bryce since grade school. We were friends, you know? If the gang was going to get hamburgers or something, we'd just go together." She looked into his eyes. She really wanted him—somebody—to understand how she felt. "Bryce and I finally realized our friendship had turned into love when we weren't paying attention. I don't suppose that makes sense to you."

  "Yeah it does, Kim." Gage put his hand over hers. "I know what that feels like."

  He was being so nice about this, she thought. She patted his hand, and then got up to rinse her coffee cup in the sink.

  "Anyway," she said, sitting back down at the table, "now I'm alone again. And I've come to accept Bryce being gone, I really have." She looked around the sunny kitchen, with the homemade peach-colored curtains and the retro-looking linoleum they'd put down themselves the week before he'd died. "I have my home, and working with Jazz is fun. Crazy, but fun." She sighed. "But Jazz thinks I should start dating again. And, well, I'm wondering if she might be right."

  "You shouldn't have any trouble finding someone, Kim."

  "If I never go on a date, how can I?"

  "You know what I think? I think when you want something, you have to go for it." He was looking at her intently.

  He was right. How was she going to find someone if she didn't take a chance?

  "Kim," he said softly—

  "—You're right. I'm going to go for it," she said, jumping up from the table.

  "Where're you going?"

  "To make a phone call."

  She went to the living room where she'd left her purse and called the Puggle. "So tell me," she said when Jazz picked up. "When does this guy want to go out?"

  When she hung up the phone she went back into the kitchen. She could hear loud pounding in the bathroom. Gage had gone back to work, leaving his coffee and donut half finished.

  ~*~

  Gage's truck was in the driveway when she got home from her date on Monday evening. Ben Freitas walked her to her door, and they stood there on the porch a bit awkwardly for a moment.

  "Well...," she said. "I had a nice time."

  "Yeah," he said. "Me, too." He leaned in to give her a kiss and she turned it into a peck on the cheek and a quick hug.

  "Thanks for the dinner and the walk on the beach," she said.

  "Yeah," he said again. "I'll call you next time I'm in town."

  She nodded and then stood on the porch waving until his car had backed out of the drive and was gone.

  Then she heard the sound of footsteps up on the roof.

  She walked out onto the lawn so she could see the roofline in the dark. She couldn't see anything in the darkness up there. She stood still and listened. Crickets chirped, the pine tree in the back yard rustled, and the sea whispered from far off down the hill. "Is that you up there, Gage, or a raccoon?"

  "I've never been mistaken for a raccoon before," said his familiar voice.

  "Well, what are you doing up there in the dark?"

  "The radio said rain is predicted for next week," he said. She heard the sound of his steps again, and then the rattle of an aluminum ladder against the side of the house.

  He came around the corner, slapping his jeans to get the dust off. "Might get pretty cold, too," he continued. "Down into the 40s. Thought I'd better get those shingles done before we get an actual winter around here."

  They went inside.

  "So how did it go?" he asked over the last of her awful coffee and more leftover doughnuts.

  "Fine. No spark there, but it was fine. I got my feet wet, anyway."

  Gage nodded. "So you're okay?"

  "Is that why you stayed late? To make sure Ben wasn't a mugger or something?"

  "I told you I was fixing the roof. The rain coming, remember?"

  She nodded.

  "But, Kim, um—"

  He started to say something, but the phone rang and she went to get it out of her purse. "Yeah, Jazz, I'm home. How did you know?" She half-listened while Jazz explained about Ben's car passing her as she was walking out of the market. "Yes," Kim admitted when Jazz asked if the date was a dud. "He's a nice enough guy, but we're not right for each other."

  Gage came up with his toolbox in hand. He smiled at her, and she put Jazz on hold for a minute.

  "Thanks for staying and working so late," she told him. She gave him a quick hug, and then her phone rang again. She answered.

  It was Jazz. "I hung up and called back because I have a brilliant idea and I need to set it up now. I see Morgan O'Keeffe across the street. She's got a cousin who's visiting from San Francisco. I'm going to fix you up with him for tomorrow."

  Kim smiled at Gage, silently imitated Jazz's chatter and quickly whispered, "see you Saturday," then headed into the kitchen while Jazz went on about this new guy.

  She heard Gage's truck pull out of the driveway as she grabbed the last stale doughnut he'd left in the bag on the kitchen table.

  Between bites of the maple bar she made agreeable noises into the phone for Jazz, and in a few minutes she'd agreed to another blind date for lunch at Mel's Fish Shack on
Tuesday.

  She finally got Jazz to let her go and then stood in the kitchen licking the last of the maple frosting off her fingertips. She was back in the dating pool.

  "Yippee," she said to the empty kitchen, and went upstairs to put on her flannel pjs.

  ~*~

  On Thursday afternoon a week later, little Ria O'Keeffe was shopping at the Puggle with her dog Muffin in tow. Kim patiently waited on her while Muffin tried on every pink sweater they had in stock.

  Finally a hot pink faux fur vest with a white lining met with everyone's approval, and it was decided that Muffin just had to have it.

  Kim carefully wrapped the vest in tissue paper, sealed the package with a Surfing Puggle logo sticker, and put it into Ria's recycled canvas bag. "I'll email the bill to your dad like always," she told Ria, and then the girl and dog left.

  "You know," Jazz said. "Her dad's single."

  "I'm aware of that, Jazz. But he's dating someone right now."

  "Things could be arranged."

  "What?" Kim asked. "A mob hit on the girlfriend?"

  "I'm just sayin'," Jazz said.

  "Come on and get some coffee. Maybe it'll thaw out your brain," Kim told her.

  ~*~

  "Six dates and six duds," Jazz said morosely. "My matchmaking is a total failure." She sipped her coffee and pouted.

  "I think we could do a makeover on you," Robin said to Kim. "You'd look great in my new Donna Karan."

  "If a man won't accept me in jeans, I'm not interested." Kim sat back in her chair and ate a cookie.

  "We're running out of guys," Jazz said. "Unless you want to donate Ryan to the cause?" she added to Camilla.

  Camilla laughed and shook her head.

  "Didn't you find any of them appealing?" Jazz said plaintively. "I mean, maybe you wouldn't marry them, but wasn't even one of them hot enough for a roll in the hay?"

  "I thought you were trying to get me married with two-point-five children."

  "Roll in the hay?" Robin repeated. "What are you? Miss farmer's daughter?"

  "You want me to be more graphic?"