Home Improvement (A Pajaro Bay Short Story) (3 page)

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?"

Camilla patted her belly. "Not in front of my son if you please."

"I want you to remarry, Kim" Jazz continued, ignoring them. "I mean, I'm happy for all the rolls in the hay life dishes out—"

"—I think we've used that phrase enough," Robin interjected.

"Not necessarily," Jazz said. "I've rolled with the best of them."

"You've been a rolling stone and you've liked it," Robin said.

"I went rolling on the river," Jazz responded.

"You're rolling in the deep," Robin said.

"Now I think we're done," Jazz said.

They all agreed.

"I guess there's only one option left," Robin said. "We all chip in on a Play Station and Kim marries Oliver."

"I"m fine all by myself," Kim said. "This was all your idea."

"No you're not," Jazz said. "Robin and I are happily single. Camilla's happily married."

"—Not with my swollen ankles, I'm not," Camilla said.

"Oh, hush," Robin said. "This is serious. We've run out of eligible bachelors to sic on Kim."

"Don't hush me, girlfriend. I've got the solution. And it doesn't involve investing in any video games."

Camilla sat up straight in her chair, which was a feat in itself, and took a piece of paper out of her purse. She waved the paper at them. "I have in my possession a nice, attractive, successful single guy."

"Where have you been hiding him?" Robin asked. "I could use one too, you know."

"Kim gets first dibs."

Robin nodded. "Just this once, I'll be magnanimous. Okay, so tell us about him."

"He's a new client of mine. Owns a coffee shop up the coast and was referred to me by another client. So he's not quite local, but he does come down here to surf on the weekends."

They all looked at Kim.

"And," Camilla continued, "he misses home cooking."'

"We'll buy him a cookbook," Kim said.

"No, you'll cook him dinner. Something nice." She smiled at Kim. "The way to a man's heart is through his stomach and all that."

Kim laid her head back against the chair. "All right. Once more into the breach."

~*~

On Friday morning she was in the grocery store shopping for the big dinner that night. She stopped in the snack food aisle to get doughnuts for Gage to have on Saturday.

"Hey, nice lady. Lookin' for some munchies?" Hector from the garage grinned at her with that half-vacant but very friendly smile. He handed her a bag of chips.

"No, thanks, Hector. I'm going to be making a steak dinner."

"Woah. That's heavy."

"Not so much, Hector. Be seeing you." She smiled and rounded the corner, only to bump into the five-year-old Kelly twins, Nick and Noël.

The two pairs of dark eyes stared up at her worriedly. "We didn't do nothin'."

She bent down to them. "It's okay. I know you didn't." The little ones still hadn't learned to trust. But she knew their foster parents Gavin and Ava were working hard to teach them how.

"Hey, Kim," Ava said. She was at the meat counter picking up the makings for burgers. "How's the house coming along?"

"Great. It's slow because Gage has to fit it in between his other job, but it's all turning out well."

The butcher interrupted to ask Kim what she needed. "Um, I'm making dinner to impress a guy, so I thought maybe steak?"

"You're paying him back with dinner?" Ava asked. "I knew he'd get up the nerve to come clean to you eventually."

"Paying him back?"

"I told him he should just tell you he was working for you for free, but you know how he is. He didn't want you to feel obligated."

"Gage?" Kim said.

"Yeah. I'm glad he finally came clean to you. I've been trying to get him to admit his crush for months. I told him you must know how he feels for you, but he wasn't sure and didn't want to put you on the spot."

"How he feels?"

Kim's shock must have finally gotten through to Ava. "You didn't know? Did I say something wrong?"

Kim gave her a big hug, but she still looked worried. "I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable."

"Uncomfortable?" Kim shook her head. "Exactly the opposite. I feel more comfortable than I have in weeks."

Ava started to question her more, but Kim just pointed to the end cap of the canned food section. "You're about to be responsible for a dozen broken jars of pickled beets," she said and Ava ran down the aisle after her kids.

Kim turned back to the ever-patient man behind the counter. "What I need, Mr. Santos, is two of your best steaks for a very special dinner."

~*~

Gage was there at seven p.m. in answer to her call.

"So what's the emergency?" he asked as he came in the door.

"Come on in," she said, and he did.

"Wow," he said, looking her over.

She smoothed down Robin's brown cashmere sweater over her jeans. "Do I look okay?"

"Yeah. Definitely. But you always do." He sniffed the air. "Steak?"

She nodded. "Steak, baked potatoes, and a big green salad. For two."'

"Oh, wow," he said awkwardly. "I'm in the way. You said the tub wasn't draining properly? I'll fix it and get going so you can get on with your date."

She motioned for him to follow her into the kitchen.

The kitchen table set with her best dishes, two place settings. She handed him matches and pointed to the candles. "Do you mind lighting 'em?"

He shook his head.

She opened the oven door to check on the steaks. They were done. She turned off the oven and left them in to keep warm.

She straightened up and glanced over at him. He just stood by the table, holding the matches and looking really miserable.

"They say the way to a man's heart is through his stomach, right?"

Gage swallowed hard. "He's a lucky guy."

She grinned at him. "Yes, you are."

He looked at her, confused. Then the light dawned.

"Close your mouth and sit down," she said. "Then start explaining why you never told me how you felt."

He sat down. "Um, well." He fidgeted with the book of matches, tapping them on the tablecloth, shifting them from hand to hand.

Finally she took them from him and lit the candles herself. She blew out the match. "Talk," she said. "When I told you I was going to start dating again, why didn't you ask me out?"

"During the split second between you telling me you were going to start going out with guys and the time Jazz fixed you up?"

"Yeah, somewhere in there."

She sat down at the table opposite him and held her hand out to him. He took it.