Three Alarm Tenant Page 4

Kevin grumbled, leaning into the fridge to fish out two cans. “And Evelyn who kept ‘visiting’ you at the station.”

  “She was obsessed. I broke up with her because she was suffocating.”

  “And Maureen.”

  “Hey,” Jack shook his finger at Kevin. “Maureen dumped me.” Then he paused, realizing that might not be a selling point. Being dumped by Maureen had been awful. He’d thought she was the one, and she’d thought he was the one of the week. She had been the first and last time he’d thought he found true love. At least until yesterday. Evelyn hadn’t been the one even though she thought she had been. Cynthia just liked to fight and throw things. He couldn’t imagine Katherine screaming or pitching glassware at his head.

  Jack popped open the can Kevin gave him without looking at it. He smiled thinking about her laughing over dinner. Her eyes twinkling at him across the table. That big black sweater she’d worn made her look very dramatic. The sexy curves revealed by her sweater had been intriguing, too. And she had a nervous habit of licking her lips that was cute and sexy at the same time. Once she relaxed she was fun. Quick witted, throwing back snappy comment for snappy comment. Except for that one about detention. Then she’d coughed and become very interested in her sandwich. And even that seemed cute and wonderful.

  “Wipe that silly grin off your face,” Kevin ordered. He walked into the living room, leaving Jack in the kitchen.

  Jack followed Kevin and dropped onto the couch next to Archer. Archer lifted his head long enough to look at Jack and yawn before flopping onto his side to go back to sleep.

  “Listen. I’m your friend, and I don’t want to steer you wrong, but I think it’s a really bad idea to date the landlady, no matter how sexy her voice is.” Kevin settled into the easy chair. “It might be fun, but it’s going to end, and when it does you’re going to be back where you started. Looking for an apartment that’ll take Archer because you won’t buy a house.”

  Jack wondered what her voice sounded like over the phone, but in person, the sound of it made his temperature rise. “So you think she has a sexy voice?”

  “Did you hear a word I said?”

  “I heard you.” Jack frowned. He respected Kevin’s opinion. Kevin was his superior at work, and he wasn’t dim. Generally, once he’d thought something through, he had good advice. And he was right. There was more at stake here than a couple of dates. If she was an Evelyn, he couldn’t make her stop hanging around him if they were living in the same house. If she was a Cynthia, she could really give him scars. And if she was a Maureen? Could he stand seeing her every day, knowing the relationship wouldn’t progress beyond fun? He’d had to stop going to the places he’d gone with Maureen because the memories were too painful. “I guess you’re right.”

  “Of course I am. And that doesn’t mean you can’t be friends with her.”

  “Yeah,” Jack muttered.

  “Stop mooning like that.”

  “If I didn’t need the apartment so much, I’d just try for her. She’s so much fun.” Jack combed his fingers through Archer’s fur, dragging it against its natural grain so it stuck up. “But that apartment is great. Good size, big yard, basement, she even said there’s a washer and dryer in the basement I could use. She also told me I could park in the garage. And it’s so cheap. I’m worried somebody else is going to snatch it out from under me.”

  “You said she was going to call the department tomorrow.”

  “She has some book on being a landlord, and it says to check all references, so she is. She probably would have given me the keys last night if it wasn’t for that.” Jack put his feet up on the coffee table.

  “Hey, I did my best. I didn’t tell her what a dingbat you are, or that you’d forget your head if it wasn’t screwed on. I hope I don’t go to hell for the lies I told her.”

  Jack glowered at his friend. “Why do I hang around with you again? I forget.”

  “To fix my plumbing.” Kevin grinned and took a swig out of his beer can.

  * * * *

  Katherine hung up the phone and stepped out of the privacy booth in the gloomy, airless teacher’s lounge. Her search to find a reason not to rent to Jack had been fruitless. He was the nicest guy on Earth, polite, handy, and heroic. Worst of all, heroic. Pam was sitting at the table slurping her soup and waiting for Katherine to deliver the verdict. Katherine crossed the room and sat down in front of her own lunch. “He's an exemplary employee. He was even decorated for something. Although the first person I talked to said ‘Oh him’, before she connected me to the right office.”

  “What was he decorated for?”

  “They didn’t say. I guess the record only said he was decorated two years ago.”

  “So he gets the apartment.”

  Katherine shrugged and studied her sandwich as if it might start talking back. “I guess so. Nobody else has stopped to look at it or called, and I really need the money.”

  “Yesterday you said you had a great time with him. You said he was funny and sweet. Saturday you called all his references, and they love him. You just called his employer, and he’s been decorated. Why don’t you want to rent to him? What is the problem? If you don’t eat that now, you’re going to be down here in your free period digging change out of the couch for a candy bar.” Pam nudged Katherine's lunch closer.

  Katherine picked up her sandwich and bit into it. What did she have against Jack? He was funny and sweet, handy around the house, decorated. He was even prompt.

  He was also a firefighter-slash-hero, and the first man in years to make her heart do handsprings.

  The school janitor dropped into the seat next to her and flashed his former football star grin at her.

  “You wanted me,” he said in a low tone she assumed was meant to be seductive.

  Katherine felt her shoulders tighten. “Your temporary fix on the garage roof is coming undone. I need you to come by the house and fix it.”

  Randy seemed to think she would eventually bend to his boundless charm. The fact that she hadn’t in the entire time he’d been hanging around her house doing the remodeling didn’t sway him at all, even though she'd insisted on paying him market value for the work.

  “Is that all?”

  She raised one eyebrow. “Yes, that's all.”

  Randy leaned back in his chair, shaking his blond hair off his face. “I was thinking about that apartment. It’s a pretty nice place. I might be interested in it.”

  “You have an apartment.”

  “Yeah, but your apartment is bigger and nicer, and has such quality workmanship in the remodeling. We could commute together.” He winked at her as if his double entendre was clever.

  “She already has a tenant, Randy,” Pam announced, packing her Tupperware in her lunch bag.

  Randy sat up. “No way. How’d you do that?”

  “Someone stopped to look at the place right after I put the sign in the yard Saturday. He seems reliable, so I think I’m going to give the place to him,” Katherine said.

  “Him? Oh. Well, great.” Randy’s mouth twisted with what looked like disgust. “So when do you want me to come over and fix that roof?”

  “I want you to fix the tarping. I can’t afford to fix the roof right now.”

  Randy leaned toward her, smiling. “I work for trade.”

  “I have nothing left to trade. You already have my TV, and I don’t think you’re interested in my hardback mystery novels, are you? Just stop over as soon as you can and fix the tarp.”

  Randy stood up sighing. “All right. I can’t come over tonight, but maybe Wednesday. Will that work?”

  “As long as it gets done before the garage roof collapses.”

  “I told you. Your joists are fine. You’ve got a long way to go before the roof caves in.” He shoved the chair under the table. “You worry too much, Kath.” He swaggered out of the teacher’s lounge.

  “So, do you think he’s ever going to get the message?” Pam asked.

  “I don’t think his
receiver is working.” Katherine glanced over her shoulder. He might be thick as a plank, but she didn't want to hurt his feelings if she didn't have to. “He wouldn’t be so bad if it weren't for that raging ego. He’s not bad looking, and he is kind of handy to have around.”

  “You forgot dumb as a post.”

  “Oh yeah, raging ego and dumb as a post.”

  Pam slid her lunch bag into her book bag. “So what is wrong with Jack the fireman? He doesn’t sound stupid, rude or egotistical. What’s the catch?”

  “I don’t want to get mixed up in another Gary thing.”

  “So don’t.” Pam shrugged as if it wasn’t so difficult to resist Jack. “It’s probably a bad idea to date your tenant anyway. Doesn’t it say something in that book of yours about not dating tenants? What if you get into a fight, and he stopped paying the rent? What if you split up, and he wrecked the place for revenge?”

  “Oh. I didn’t think of that.” Katherine shuddered. She couldn’t afford to get the place fixed up again. She had maxed herself out on all sides just getting by for the last few years and she owed Randy money, yet.

  “Hey, snap out of it. This is all going to work out great. You’re going to have this nice guy living downstairs with a great dog. You’re going to catch up on your bills and who knows, maybe you’ll be able to get a TV in time for summer reruns.” Pam pulled out her lesson plan book and fished out a couple of worksheets to copy before class. “This is going to be great.”

  Katherine swallowed hard. Great. How could it be great when the only man on Earth she shouldn’t date was the same man who gave her butterflies every time he looked at her?

  * * * *

  Katherine ran through the door, dropped her bag at the top of the stairs and checked the answering machine. The light blinked with one message. She’d been playing phone tag with Jack since Monday. Now she was it. She looked at her watch. She had exactly thirty minutes to eat dinner and get back to school for parent-teacher conferences. If she wasn’t so broke, she’d have gone to dinner with Pam and a couple of others. Monday evening, she’d called Jack to let him know the place was his, and he could pick up the keys and drop off a check for the first month’s rent and the deposit after five. Tuesday morning he’d left a message saying he couldn’t make it, but he’d come by Wednesday around five and did she want to go to dinner again? Nothing fancy, he knew a Lebanese deli by the mall that he liked but wasn’t too expensive. Tuesday afternoon Pam had reminded Katherine about parent-teacher conferences Wednesday evening, so she left Jack a message saying she wouldn’t be home Wednesday night, but someone would be there with the keys and the lease. She pressed the play button.

  “Kate, it’s Jack. I’ll come by for the keys tonight. I’m on duty tomorrow, but if it’s okay with you I’d like to start moving stuff in over the weekend if the weather’s good. Sorry you can’t do Lebanese tonight. Maybe some other time. See ya.”

  See ya. Katherine stood with her finger on the play button staring out the window, debating whether or not to play the message again just to hear his voice. And he called her Kate. She shivered. My God, she thought, I’m starting to sound like one of my students mooning over a cute boy. Spinning around, she hurried into the kitchen to open a can of soup for dinner.

  The kitchen faucet was dripping again. Randy said he’d fixed it last time. Scowling, she fiddled with the knob until it stopped before getting her dinner ready. While she ate, she heard a vehicle in the driveway and absurdly hoped it was Jack picking up the keys earlier than expected. She peered out the window, smoothing her hair off her face.

  Randy jumped out of his truck and grinned at the second floor. There was no way he could see her through the glare on the window. He did it because he was confident she would be waiting for him. She didn’t like to encourage that confidence.

  Groaning, she went down the stairs to open the door.

  “Hey Kath. I told you I’d be here to fix that tarp.”

  “I need something else, too. The faucet in my kitchen is leaking again, and my tenant is coming by to pick up the keys.”

  Randy shrugged. “I’ll hang around and wait for your tenant. Don’t know why that faucet's leaking.”

  “Well, can you please look at it again?”

  He shrugged again. “Yeah, I’ll take care of it. Don’t you worry about a thing. You just go to the parent-teacher conferences, and I’ll take care of everything,” he promised.

  Katherine walked back up the stairs grumbling under her breath. By the time she headed out the door to go back to school, Randy was strolling around on the roof of the garage straightening the tarp as if it were the level and solid gym floor at school. “Randy!” she yelled. He continued to wander around as if she hadn’t spoken, let alone yelled. She walked closer to the garage and cupped her hands around her mouth. “Randy!”

  He spun around and started flailing his arms to catch his balance. Katherine held her breath as he struggled to keep his feet on the sloping, half rotten garage roof. He dropped to his knees with his hands outstretched for balance. “Jesus. Don’t sneak up on a guy like that.”

  Katherine frowned. What was she supposed to do? Throw rocks at him? Men so rarely knew what they needed, though the idea of throwing rocks at Randy did have a certain appeal.

  “You need to get your hearing tested,” she snapped. “Listen, I left the keys and the lease in an envelope on the stairs right inside the door. He just needs to sign the lease and leave a check for first month’s rent and the deposit. Okay? Everything’s written on the envelope. And can you pull up the sign in the yard?”

  “Whatever. I’ll get it.”

  “And don’t forget about the faucet. I’ve got it jerry rigged right now, but it’s going to get worse.”

  “I’ll get it!” Randy yelled down.

  Katherine turned to get into her car. She really didn’t want to get into another long argument with Randy right now. He treated her like a beleaguered husband one minute and tried to charm her the next. As she put the key into the door lock, she looked around. Randy had parked right behind her in the middle of the driveway, blocking her in. She stalked back to the garage. “Randy!”

  “What!”

  “You have to move your truck. I’m blocked in.”

  Randy sighed as if she’d asked him to pick up his truck and carry it to the street. He climbed down the ladder, muttering, and backed his truck out of the driveway.

  Katherine drove to the school taking deep, even breaths.

  * * * *

  Jack parked in the driveway behind a rusted out yellow Ford pickup. The truck was almost centered in the driveway. It looked a little possessive. He’d left Archer at his apartment because Katherine said she wasn’t going to be home and a friend would be waiting, but who did she know who drove a junker like that? He had a suspicion in the pit of his stomach that the driver was male. He knocked at the door and waited impatiently. It shouldn’t matter if another man had keys to her apartment. She hadn’t declared undying love for him. Technically, she wasn’t even his landlady yet. They weren’t an item. He could barely call her a friend. Still, the fact that there might be another guy in her apartment burned him a little more than it should, and Jack couldn’t stop himself from wondering what kind of man had keys to Katherine’s place. He squared his shoulders and knocked at the door, aware he was preparing to size up the competition.

  The guy who answered the door was good looking with shaggy blond hair and bright blue eyes. He had a smear of grease on his left cheek. “Yeah?” he said.

  “I’m here to pick up the keys to the apartment.”

  “Oh!” The blond guy grinned. “So you’re the tenant, huh? She left the stuff here someplace. Wait a minute.” He jogged back up the stairs and Jack heard him rummaging around. Then he saw him walk across the hall and begin rummaging again. This guy was the competition? He was pretty good looking, but kind of scrawny. He didn’t seem very bright, but she might like that. If she did, his opinion of her was about to take
a plunge. He hated women who only liked dumb guys. It narrowed the pool of acceptable dates, since he didn’t think he was Einstein, either. Still, after the conversation over dinner, he didn’t think she had much patience for the truly slow witted. Which the blond guy seemed to be, based on how long it was taking him to find a piece of paper and a couple of keys that the efficient Katherine had to have left lying in plain sight.

  “Do you need help?” Jack asked. He might get a look at her place this way. All he could see from this vantage point was a wall with a couple of framed photos he couldn’t make out, and a sliver of hall.

  “No. She said she left it out someplace.”

  Jack stepped inside the door and closed it behind him, telling himself he was keeping the heat in. The entrance way seemed cramped and narrow. It must feel confined to her after walking into that big bright foyer. He tried to imagine the foyer intact, with this dark stained, pine banister visible from the door. Could the blond guy be the other half of the ‘we’ she kept mentioning? He seemed familiar with the layout of her place. But if he was the other half of ‘we,’ why weren’t they living here together? Why had she split her big house into two apartments? Jack glanced at the bottom step. A large manila envelope with printing on the outside sat on it, propped against the next step.

  Jack cocked his head to the side to read the printing. Contains keys to front door and back door. Two copies of lease. Have him sign both copies of lease. Keep one, give him the other. Collect check for first month’s rent and deposit. $1200 total.

  Jack picked it up. That handwriting and the instructions could only belong to Katherine, so formal and elegant, clear and concise.

  “I found it,” Jack announced.

  The blond guy stepped into the hall and paused as if he wanted to set off to another room. “You found it?”

  Jack held up the envelope.

  “Oh yeah. She said she left it on the stairs.” The blond thumped down the steps, reaching for the envelope.

  Jack opened it and dropped the two keys into his palm before the blond guy could get his hands on them and drop them through a crack in the floor. There were two copies of the lease so he skimmed the top one. Pretty standard. The text bent along one edge of each page as if it were photocopied right out of her book, or a book at any rate. Her signature already graced the bottom of both copies. He pulled a pen out of his jacket, glad he didn’t have to rely on the blond guy for that, and signed both copies. Tucking one into his pocket, he folded the other around the check he had ready before putting it back in the envelope.