Although Jared tried to convince himself he wasn’t interested, he asked, “Anything else?”
Corey bit his lip, thinking. “Sara says her mom sometimes came home from work all grumpy and that she quit her job because a man was mean to her.”
What was that about? Still, if you worked in the business world, you had to expect that sort of thing. And yet Kenzie didn’t seem the kind of person to back down just because someone didn’t treat her right.
His son, the fountain of knowledge, went on. “And Sara’s mom got a new job, but she’s scared.” Corey wrinkled his nose. “I guess it’s like when we moved here and I had to go to a new school. I didn’t like that.”
“It’s hard to be the new kid on the block.” As he spoke, Jared’s heart softened toward Kenzie a little.
Telling Corey to grab whatever he wanted to bring, Jared put their plates in the sink and put the peanut butter away. The cupboard was overflowing with cans and boxes of cereal. He sure would be glad when they could move. There was scarcely room to turn around here. Jared shut the door. He’d blamed Kenzie for advising the Perezes to get a bigger place, but here he was thinking the same thing. He shook off the thought. He hoped the people Tom mentioned would like the house and make an offer. He only had until the end of the week. Then, like a yo-yo, his resentment at Kenzie returned. Tracy and Carlos Perez had been interested in the house—so interested they’d asked to see it a second time. They might even have bought it.
Corey came in with a bulging backpack, and they went out to the Explorer. As he drove, Jared regretted pressing his son for details. He didn’t want to feel sorry for Kenzie. Being angry made it much easier to steel himself against her.
At a red stoplight, Jared glanced at his son, who was reading. “What book is that?” Corey held it up so his father could see the cover. “Ah, The Magic of Christmas.”
“I like this book.”
“Why don’t you read it to me?”
So Corey read about a girl who woke up on Christmas to find her pets singing and presents flying around the Christmas tree. When he was finished, Corey closed the book. “Sara’s grandmother told her that Christmas is a time of magic. Do you believe in magic, Dad?”
“I sure do.”
Corey tilted his head and studied him. “You don’t really, do you?”
“Hey, what part of ‘sure’ don’t you understand?”
“You have to believe, Dad.”
They pulled into the driveway. “Okay, I’ll put that on my to-do list.”
Chapter Twenty-Eight
The day—long-dreaded—finally arrived.
Painting day.
Kenzie borrowed an old shirt and pair of pants from her mother. Since she was taller than her mother, her ankles showed, but no one would see except Mandy.
Her sister-in-law’s car was parked in front of the Steadman home when she arrived, so Kenzie went in without knocking. Mandy was in a back bedroom, stirring paint with a wooden stick. Barrettes kept her dark hair away from her face.
Mandy grinned when she saw her outfit. “Love your style. Can I take a picture of you in your ‘mom jeans’ and post it on Facebook?”
“Only if you want that paint dumped on your head. Then I’ll take a picture.”
“How’s Sara?”
“Taking another nap.” That morning Mandy had called, suggesting they paint another day, but Kenzie’s parents urged her to go ahead. “Sara’s been sleeping so much she won’t even miss me. Mom and Dad are thrilled at the idea of playing nursemaid, and it’s good for them to have some one-on-one time with Sara.”
Kenzie looked around the bare room. The carpet was covered with thin plastic sheeting. “So are you painting the ceiling too?”
“Nope—it’s fine. I like it white—makes the room look bigger, you know.” She showed Kenzie a two-foot-long metal strip which was about five inches tall. It had a cut-out area for a handle. “I got this doohickey so we don’t have to tape as much. You hold it in the corner between the ceiling and the wall, so when you paint the top part of the wall, you don’t get any paint on the ceiling. Eliminates taping.”
“That’ll save a lot of time.”
Mandy poured paint into a paint tray. “Don’t worry about getting paint on the baseboards or door or window frames. Tom’s going to paint them with enamel next week.”
While Kenzie got on the ladder and used the metal edger to paint the upper edges, Mandy used a roller on the rest of the walls.
“Say,” Mandy said after a few minutes, “you never filled me in on why you quit your job at Midwest. I thought you loved it there.”
“I told you about Matt.”
“You said he was ogling you and making life miserable, but I had no idea it had gotten to the point where you were going to quit.”
“The last six months have been impossible.” Kenzie used a rag to wipe the edger clean. “I don’t get it. I dress conservatively, but he was always making suggestive comments.”
“Doesn’t Midwest train employees about sexual harassment?”
“They do, but it didn’t sink in with him.” Kenzie dipped her small roller in the paint tray atop her ladder. It got to the point where even passing Matt in the hall made her want to cringe—not that she ever showed it.
“This guy sounds like a grade-A creep. Couldn’t you talk to your supervisor?”
“At first, I tried to handle it myself by talking to Matt—but he played the innocent and said I was imagining things. But I wasn’t imagining his comments, so I finally went to my boss.”
Mandy peered up at her. “What did he say?”
“He listened, but I could tell he thought I was being too sensitive and exaggerating the situation. I was surprised because he’s always been understanding and supportive. Then he admitted that Matt had been in to see him because he was worried about the ‘situation.’”
“What?”
“Yeah. Preemptive strike. Matt told my boss I kept flirting with him and that he’d rejected my advances—can you believe it?” She climbed down the ladder and wiped the edger again. “Boy, you have to wipe this off constantly or the paint seeps through. Well, that didn’t take long. Do you want me to help with the walls or paint the inside of the closet?”
“The kids’ closets are fine. Grab another roller and help me finish these two walls.” Mandy poured more paint into Kenzie’s tray. “So what happened next?”
“Matt told my supervisor I might try to get back at him because, in his words, he didn’t want to play my game.”
“Oh, this guy’s a real jerk.” Mandy was outraged.
“I didn’t think it was possible, but Matt got my boss on his side.”
“Doesn’t your boss know you better than that?”
“I thought so, but when I talked with him, it was so hard to prove what Matt was doing. How do you say someone looked at you the wrong way or stared a little too long at your chest? I told him about the vulgar comments Matt had made. But after I talked with Matt and told him if he didn’t stop, I was going to my supervisor, he stopped with the comments though not with his ogling, as you so indelicately put it.”
It didn’t take long to paint a room when you didn’t have to do the closets or ceiling, and they moved on to the next bedroom. Kenzie moved the ladder as Mandy opened one of the cans and poured the paint in clean liners.
As Kenzie began painting the edges, Mandy asked, “So what happened then?”
“My boss agreed to talk to Matt again, but naturally Matt denied everything. When my boss and I talked again, it was clear Matt had convinced him that I was making it all up. I was so mad, I almost quit on the spot.” Anger bit at her like the sting of an insect, even now.
“Kenzie, you’ve got to stop acting first and thinking later—it gets you into trouble.”
“I didn’t quit; I said I almost did.” Kenzie wiped the edger. “I decided I wasn’t going to let Matt get away with it. I went to human resources and filed a complaint.”
“I�
�m glad you stood up for yourself.”
“For all the good it did.”
Mandy paused in rolling paint around the window to peer at her in dismay. “What do you mean?”
“Matt decided to make me pay. Oh, he eased up—there was no more staring, no more comments about my figure, and he stopped brushing against me ‘accidentally,’ but it was open warfare. In meetings, Matt would shoot down my ideas, ridiculing me in front of everyone. He constantly talked to coworkers behind my back, belittling my work and criticizing me. He complained to superiors, saying I hadn’t done this or that I’d done that wrong or that I hadn’t followed through with a vendor or that I’d promised something to another department and hadn’t followed through. Oh, it was endless.”
“You know, this is the kind of thing that makes me glad I’m a stay-at-home mom.” Mandy shook her head and went back to the tray for more paint.
When Kenzie finished the edges, she started in on the walls. “Matt was tight with the vice president, and I found myself saddled with the hardest assignments. Sometimes I got assigned tasks that weren’t even in my line of responsibility. If I objected, Matt would tell people I couldn’t handle the job or that I wanted others to do my work. I tried to be assertive, but he’d make jokes at my expense, make faces, roll his eyes, make disparaging comments, and do everything he could to undermine me. Matt was very good at making me look very bad.”
As they started on the last wall, Kenzie asked, “Why is it if a guy is assertive, people see him as a strong, confident leader, but if a woman is assertive, she’s called—well, terrible things.”
“It’s the way of the world,” Mandy said in commiseration. “Did your boss ever catch on?”
“I talked with him one more time, pointing out how Matt was undermining my work and all of that, but it sounded like I was whining. He sympathized but on a very superficial level. I gave it another month, but nothing changed except for other employees giving me a wide berth. So I quit.”
“I’m so sorry.”
They put the used rollers and paint trays in a garbage sack and moved on to the last bedroom. “This room’s going to be fun,” Mandy said as she pried open a can and showed Kenzie the pale pink paint. “Isn’t that a pretty color?”
“So this is Brian’s room?”
Mandy laughed. “Oh, Brian would so kill me. Hillary went with me and picked it out.” Kenzie put her paint tray on top of the ladder, and Mandy resumed their conversation. “I admire you for standing up for yourself, though I’m sorry it came at such a high price. You lost your job and have to move and leave all your friends. What a tough thing to go through.”
“Well, as Matt would say, I’m a tough broad and can take it—only he might use different words.” Kenzie paused. “Boy, I didn’t mean to ramble on about that. Sometimes I don’t know when to stop. But it’s all right—everything’s turning out for the best.”
They talked of other things, continuing to paint as they talked. Finally, they moved on to Tom and Mandy’s bedroom when the pink room was done.
Mandy was concerned. “This is the last one, but if you’re tired, we can do it another day.”
“What? And prolong the torture? No, thanks. I’m good as long as you feel up to it. But what about the baby’s room?”
“A friend who is a whiz at stencils is going to help me with that.” She pried open the can. “I love this color. I even love the name, ‘Honey-wheat.’” As Mandy poured the paint into the two roller trays, she said, “I think you’re right about everything turning out for the best—like you moving here. I still think you came back for a reason.”
Kenzie positioned the ladder. “A very good reason—to put food on the table and a roof over our heads.”
“Nah—you came back to meet someone and fall in love.”
Kenzie cleaned her doohickey. “You have a one-track mind. I’ve heard all this before.”
“The time is right though.” Mandy nodded wisely. “My instincts—which are never wrong, by the way—are screaming that you’re going to find someone. Maybe even that Tyrone, who you were in love with when you were little. Sara told me she thinks he’s come back to Lake Forest. I like that—it’s so romantic.”
Stricken, Kenzie’s stomach tightened. She held the roller so tight that her knuckles showed white. She couldn’t answer because emotion threatened to choke her.
Blithely, Mandy continued to paint. “Or you could fall in love with Jared.” A pause. “Well, maybe not Jared—you kind of blew your chance there.”
Outraged, Kenzie declared, “I never wanted a chance with him. Besides, he thinks I’m a creep who set out to stop the sale of his house.”
“Ah, but you know, ‘The course of true love never did run smooth.’ That’s the one and only Shakespeare quote I know.”
How cold Jared had been the night before. Kenzie’s eyes narrowed. “Well, you can forget Jared.”
“I guess it’s for the best because I know Pam wants him.” Then in a joking voice, Mandy added, “Still, if you wanted him, I think you could take her in a fair fight.”
There was the sound of a door opening, and Tom’s deep voice boomed out, “We’re here, Mandy.”
A few seconds later, Corey ran in, said hi, then ran back out as Tom and Jared walked in, wearing torn jeans and old shirts rolled up to the elbow. If only there was a hole where she could hide. Should she rip off her scarf or leave it? She probably had paint on her nose too. Certainly it was all over her hands. And to top it off, she looked like a hobo with high-water pants held up by an oversized belt.
Tom eyed the room then his wife. “It looks great, but I hope you’re not overdoing it.”
“I’m making Kenzie do all the hard parts.” Mandy smiled. “We’ve already done the other bedrooms.”
“You’re miracle workers. Well, I guess we’d better get busy.”
“What are you going to do?” Kenzie asked, trying to hide behind the ladder.
“Didn’t Mandy tell you?” Tom said. “Jared and I are going to put up crown molding in the front room. And new baseboards.”
Kenzie shot a look at her sister-in-law. “No, she didn’t tell me.”
“I didn’t?” Mandy tried hard to appear innocent. “It must have slipped my mind.”
“How’s Sara doing?” Jared asked.
“Good. My parents are waiting on her hand and foot. I’ve been keeping her ankle iced and elevated. I told Sara this was her chance to catch up on her homework, which she’s been neglecting, but she didn’t like that idea.”
“I’m not surprised. Corey brought some homework of his own to do tonight. He can’t wait until school’s out. Only a few more days.” Jared’s smile made her weak-kneed. “Well, we’d better get busy.”
When they left, Kenzie hissed at Mandy, “Why didn’t you tell me they were coming?”
“Does it make a difference?” Mandy asked sweetly.
“Look at me; I’m a mess.”
“An attractive mess. Jared couldn’t take his eyes away.”
“Because I’m hideous.”
“Because you’re adorable.”
“Oh!” Grimacing, Kenzie whirled around. Snatching up the metal edger, she returned to her work. Before the men arrived, she’d been on the verge of telling Mandy that Jared was Tyrone. Good thing she hadn’t—Mandy would have said something to the men for sure.
As Kenzie started on the last wall, she could just imagine what Mandy would say when she broke the news. Her sister-in-law’s romantic little heartstrings would twang, that’s for sure. Kenzie still found it hard to believe Jared was Tyrone, her once-upon-a-time best friend.
After doing the last edge, Kenzie painted alongside Mandy. Last night, Jared seemed to have put the snafu with the house behind him. She’d even thought something might be developing between them—at least until he’d left so abruptly. That had been weird. But Jared probably thought she had acted just as strange this morning—she’d been so discombobulated at the café.
As sh
e and Mandy finished, sounds of the chop saw and the sharp report of a nail gun came from the front room. They cleaned up the mess from painting, and Corey carried the garbage sack to the garage for them. Then, she and Mandy went and picked up pizza.
When they returned to the new house, the group sat cross-legged on the front-room floor to eat except for Mandy. Tom had brought a folding chair for her. As they laughed and chatted, Kenzie occasionally stole a look at Jared. Once in a while, his gaze turned to her. When they finished, Kenzie picked up the empty pizza boxes, cups, and napkins.
Mandy had bought an extra pizza to take home to her kids. She told Tom, “I’d better get this home before the kids start chewing the rug.”
“When you get there, sit down and rest,” Tom said. “I’ll be home later.”
Kenzie said her good-byes, and as they walked outside, Mandy said, “Thanks so much for all your help, Kenzie. I couldn’t have done it without you.”
“No problem. Let me know if you need help with the baby’s room. If so, I’ll be sure to be out of town that night.”
Mandy laughed. Then she said with a mischievous twinkle in her eye, “If you’ll come help me, I’ll schedule it for a night when Tom and Jared come over to work on shelves.”
Chapter Twenty-Nine
The next morning, Kenzie tried a positive motivator. If Sara would do a certain amount of math homework, they would watch How the Grinch Stole Christmas. After a few groans, Sara agreed. Kenzie helped when needed, and it wasn’t long before Sara was lying with her head in her mother’s lap, watching the movie. Kenzie smoothed her daughter’s long hair. How thankful she was to have Sara here—safe and mostly sound.
All was right with the world.
The overwhelming fear had not only made Kenzie grateful for her daughter—it put other things in perspective. It was time she mended the rift with her father. She glanced over at the wooden reindeer, which had stayed in the drawer until a day ago, when Kenzie put it back in its rightful place. The reindeer served as a reminder that somehow she had to make things right with Jared. For the moment, however, Kenzie was glad to simply be with her daughter.
For Sale By Owner Page 18
