Home Is Wherever You Are (7 page)

Chapter 11 – Who’s the Boss?

I woke up to find Addy curled into my side. I smiled down at her and kissed her forehead, waking her up. She looked up at me and blushed.

“Good morning,” I said and squeezed her a little tighter, letting her know I really didn’t mind her sneaking into bed with me.

“Sorry…” she started, but I cut her off. There was no way I was going to let her apologize for climbing into my bed.

“Don’t be, I’m glad you’re here. I missed you when I went to bed last night.”

She smiled up at me and pecked my lips gently. “I missed you, too,” she confessed, making me feel really awesome. I knew this was going to be a good day.

“I’m picking up an extra shift today, and I’ll be working late all next week again.”

I hated that she worked seven days a week.  I frowned. “I don’t want you working so hard. I’m going to help you pay your bills now that I have a job, Addy. I won’t be freeloading.”

“You’re not freeloading, Matthew.” She was about to go on, but I stopped her by kissing her.

“Nope, I’m not. I’m working my butt off, trying to get my girl’s house comfortable, and I’ll be paying at least half the bills, so she can stop worrying about them.”

She pouted like she was going to argue, but I decided to be bold and started kissing on her neck to see if that would distract her from the conversation. She let out a soft moan, making me smile, knowing it had worked. She flopped back, pulling on me, so I would hover over her. I wasn’t really sure what to do next, but I figured a little more neck nibbling would keep her happy. They had called making out necking, so I figured I was probably doing it right.

I knew my body wanted to do a lot more, and apparently, hers did, too. She yanked her shirt off, leaving her in her in a soft cotton sports bra. Then she wrapped her legs around my hips, pulling me down to her. My hands were very tempted to touch her chest. She must have seen me looking down at her boobs, because she smiled and grabbed my hand and moved it over her cotton-covered breast.

I kissed her again, silently thanking her for letting me touch her. It was so soft and squishy. I brushed my thumb over it and felt her nipple.  She seemed to squirm and moan, when I touched that part of it. I was obviously doing something right. Well, I was until she turned and saw the time on the little clock in my room. She popped up, putting her boobs right in my eyes. I’d swear if she were any more endowed, I might have smothered to death, but what a way to go.

“I have to get ready for work,” she said, squirming out from under me. I ended up kissing her shoulder and arm as she pulled away, causing her to laugh and hurting my ego, until she turned back and kissed me on the lips. “We can pick this up when I get home tonight,” she said smiling, making it all better. Yeah, I would be necking some more tonight. Was it still considered necking if I was touching her boobs?

While Addy was at work, I decided to start working on the bathroom. She had bought some water-resistant sheetrock and some new fiberglass paneling to put up around the shower. I wanted to get the work done quickly, because it was the only bathroom. I was sure by the end of the day I would want a shower.

When I started the demolition, I realized the boards behind the wall were moldy. I was going to have to treat them. She had a spray bottle with just a little window cleaner left in it, so I figured I would give the windows a washing and then fill it up with some watered-down bleach and scrub the boards. Hopefully, that would be enough to kill it off.

I set to washing the windows and made it to the back two windows, when I could have sworn I saw someone moving around inside the house. I poked my head up to get a better look and sure enough, I saw a dark-haired man looking around Addy’s house.

“Hey!” I said storming into the house. “Who the hell do you think you are?” I said pointing my mostly-empty window cleaner bottle at him.

He looked at me and raised his eyebrow. “I could ask you the same thing. I’m an officer of the law.”

I looked at him confused. “Are you under cover or something? Why are you here? Is it to follow up on the case about the A/C unit?”

“No, I read the reports on that.”

“Well, if you need to talk to Addy, she’s working. Otherwise, I’m kind of in the middle of something. You can talk while I work,” I offered and headed back out, finishing the last window and the last of the window cleaner. I rinsed out the bottle in the sink, and I saw the man just watching me. It was starting to make me nervous. “You got a badge or something? I mean no offense, but…”

He pulled out his wallet and flipped it out for me. It looked authentic. I noticed it said he was from Woodville. “You’re an officer from Woodville? Did Addy’s dad send you to come and check on her?” I asked.

“You could say that.”

I nodded. This guy was too quiet for my liking, but I wasn’t going to let him slow me down. I filled the bottle and started spraying down the mold, and then I got a putty knife and a scrub brush and started mucking the crap out of the wall.

“What are you doing here? It looks messy.”

“It is. She needed to replace the shower wall, but I noticed mold growing back here. I want to get it cleaned out, before I close it up and fix it.” I looked over at the far side of the bathroom wall. “I’m probably going to have to do the other side of the bathroom as well,” I said, shaking my head.

“How much is that going to cost her?” he asked.

“Hopefully, once I get paid, nothing. I told her we’re splitting the bills, whether she likes it or not, and that includes house maintenance.”

“You should have a bandanna or a mask over your face for that,” he said and handed me a bandanna from his pocket.

“Thanks, man,” I said, tying it up. “So, I’ll bet her dad freaked out, when he learned some jerk was shooting at his daughter. I wish she would’ve woken me up to deal with him. She scared the crap out of me, running off like that and then seeing that guy point that gun at her. Thank heavens she shot him with the pepper spray first, blinding him,” I huffed, as I continued to scrub.

“Well, pepper spray is a safe non-lethal way to attack a person, and they’re less likely to shoot someone.”

“Tell that to the jerk who shot at my girl. No, if it were up to me, she wouldn’t have been out there. Of course, if you know Addy, you know she’s headstrong. Beautiful, smart and so sweet, but definitely headstrong,” I shook my head.

“She can be a handful,” the guy nodded.

“Yes and she needs her own personal caution sign with the way trouble follows her around. I don’t like her living in this neighborhood. I think if she kicked me out, I’d probably end up sleeping in her bushes, just to be sure no one messed with her. I’m hoping if we fix this house up, she can sell it, make a good profit and move somewhere safer.”

“Woodville is very quiet.”

“Yeah, I’m sure her dad would love to have her. I’ll bet no one messes with the Sheriff’s daughter. How is it on the work front? Do they have jobs there? I just got hired as a certified electrician’s apprentice.”

“Don’t know if they have anything like that. You seem pretty handy, though, and there are a lot of older residents who could use a good handyman.”

“That’d be kind of nice. I do enjoy working with my hands. I’d have to save up to pay for my insurance and licensing. Maybe I can look into it. Do they have a college nearby? I’m hoping to get Addy back into school. I don’t want her breaking her back for the rest of her life as a waitress. My mother’s been one all her life, and I’ve seen how tired and worn out she is. I’m sure Addy would qualify for all sorts of grants, especially with her dad being in law enforcement. I was telling her about it before, and she seemed sort of interested.”

“There’s a college in Livingston, and they have a branch in Woodville.  They have online classes as well she could take at the library in town.”

“That’s a good idea. Maybe I’ll bring it up to her. Hopefully, she doesn’t bite my head off about it. She seems to have a good relationship with her dad. I never asked why she moved away.”

“She was looking for work and found a waitressing job with more customers and bigger tips up here. She also saw this house online and was set on buying it. Said it was a good investment. I was worried it’d be a money pit, but it seems she’ll do alright with you helping her.”

“Yeah, so are you close to her and her family?”

“You could say that.”

“I didn’t catch your name,” I said, realizing that was a mistake. I had let my guard down after he had showed me his badge.

I heard the front door. Addy was running in, making me worry. “Matthew?” she called, panicked.

“I’m here, Addy.” I put down my mold scraping tools and pulled the bandanna off my face. “Are you okay?” I asked, rushing out to her.

She looked over my shoulder at the man who was smiling at her. She let out a sigh and shook her head. “Daddy, thank you for not killing Matthew.”

“Daddy?” I asked.

“Nice to meet you, Son, you can call me Daniel.”

“Was he nice?” Addy asked.

“Um, yeah, actually, I think I may have talked his ear off,” I said, suddenly worried I had offended him. I quickly tried to recall the conversation.

“So, I noticed you have separate bedrooms,” he said smiling. “Have you been treating my daughter right?”

“Yes, Sir,” I said, feeling guilty for groping her this morning.

“Daddy,” Addy chastened.

“I just came to see who this guy was you had over at your house at three o’clock in the morning. I read the report. Did you think that would slip by me?”

“No.” Addy sounded like she was going to argue more with him, but he cut her off.

“Luckily for you, he made a good impression. You two just keep those separate bedrooms, and you’ll stay on my good side,” he said to me.

“Daddy, I’m a grown woman.” She sounded very much like a defiant teenager.

“I know, kitten, but you’ll always be my baby,” he said smiling at her, then he looked sternly at me, “But you two aren’t married yet, and until then, separate rooms.”

“Yes, Sir,” I said automatically.

“No! If I want to sleep with Matthew, I will!” Addy said, and I looked at her panicked. Was she trying to get me killed?

“I’m just trying to look out for your best interest. Matthew here thinks you should move back to Woodville, too. The Smith place down the block is up for sale. It’s a really nice home, and I’m sure it’ll still be available by the time you finish up here and sell this place.”

“No! This is my house!”

“That could be your house, too, Addy! Matthew here seems to be handy enough to be able to keep things together for you. Are you in this for the long haul, Son?” he asked.

“Yes, of course.”

“You really want to move to Woodville?” she asked annoyed.

“I don’t know, I never been, but it just seems safer. That guy shot at you, Addy. If I hadn’t pushed you out of the way, he would’ve killed you.”

“No, he would’ve just wounded me, you’re both being ridiculous. There’s nothing to do in Woodville.”

“You can go to school,” her dad said.

She narrowed her eyes at him. “We’ve had this discussion, Dad. I’m not using your retirement fund for schooling!”

“What about grant money? Matthew here said you could apply and get your school paid for.”

Addy turned her glare on me.

“What?” I asked her and then looked at her dad. “I said I was going to work on her.”

“Work on her?” she snapped.

“I told you, honey, being a waitress all your life is tough. I wanted you to be able to do something else, anything that makes you happy, really.”

“Anything?” she said with a mischievous look. “So, I can go to bartender school or stripper school and learn pole dancing?”

My eyes widened in panic, and I looked at her dad. “You…do something!”

He looked at me and shook his head. “Boy, she was just riling you up. You’re gonna have to learn to take it better than this.”

“What?” I asked and looked over at Addy. She just rolled her eyes.  I looked back at her dad. “I just do my best not to piss her off.” I turned back to Addy. “Look, honey, you do what you want. I’ve got to get back to work on the bathroom,” I said, sneaking off with my tail between my legs.

Daniel shook his head at me. “No backbone.”

“I know who feeds me,” I called back to him.

Addy started laughing. “He’s right, Dad, you’d better cool it, or I’m not cooking.”

“Fine,” he conceded, making me not feel so bad about my running and hiding. I would just have to prove I was a man some other way.

Chapter 12 – Out of the Woodwork

Needless to say, I was relieved when Daniel decided to go home that afternoon. I knew there would be no chance of seeing my girl in my bed if he was around. Well, she might sneak in, but because I valued my life, I would have snuck out myself. Heaven help me, why did my girl have to have a gun-toting dad?

Over the next few weeks, my girl would sneak into my room at night and snuggle up with me. I wondered why she even bothered to make a show of going to her bed at night. It was silly, really. So, I decided to surprise her one night.

We went to our separate rooms, and I waited all of three minutes. She usually would wait until I fell asleep, but I wasn’t even going to bother with that. I was out to make a point. I came walking into her room, and she sat up and smiled at my boxers. These ones had camels all over them and said “
Hump Expert
.” I rolled my eyes at her giggling and crawled into bed next to her, not even waiting to be invited. I didn’t need to be invited. I already knew I was. She snuggled into my side right away, settling down with a sigh of contentment. “Your bed is bigger,” I said.

She leaned up and kissed my cheek. “Yes, it is,” was her reply, and that was the end of it. The next night, she took my hand and led me to her room, not even pretending we had separate rooms. We had yet to move past kissing and my touching her chest with her night bra on, but I was okay with that. She was happy, so I was happy. That and the new shower surround I had put up was easy to wash down after my showers, if you know what I mean.

When the bills came in, I snagged them and happily paid them before she got a chance to. Luckily, my old account was not overdrawn. I signed up to have my paycheck direct deposited and was able to get a new debit card. Addy started to complain about me paying the bills, but I told her she had paid last month’s bills when I didn’t have a job, so I was paying this month’s. “Next month we could split them,” I said, trying to settle her down.

She seemed to buy it, but it was bull. I so was paying the bills again next month. I didn’t make a lot, but I made more than her now, so I was going to take care of my girl. I was able to put a little in savings as well. I kind of liked the idea of having my own handyman business. I knew Addy was against moving, but I thought it wouldn’t hurt to save up, just in case I was able to convince her to move back to Woodville.

When I asked her why she had moved, she said it was because she hated the people there. They had cliques, and they had been mean to her. I remembered what Kyle had said about that mean girl calling her a mouse. I couldn’t blame her. I think I wanted to smack the girl for hurting Addy. Good thing for her I didn’t hit girls. Maybe if we went back for a visit or something for the holidays, it wouldn’t be so bad.

Christianson Electric was getting a lot of work from that new company, Venture Builders. Kyle and I seemed to be working nonstop. I loved that I was paid by the hour, because I was working a ton of hours. After a month with Kyle, Leon called me in and told me I was moving up, since I had proven myself. I was given a raise and my own company truck to drive, filled with equipment and tools. I decided to keep the company truck at the Christianson Electric garage. We were allowed to drive them home, but I didn’t like Addy’s neighborhood, and I didn’t want anything to get stolen off of it. I had that old bike I had gotten off of Freecycle, and I would ride that to work and home. I was sure some people thought me crazy, but I was just being safe.

Thankfully, Addy was able to cut back on her hours and was back to only working one shift and picking up a second one every few days, which was way better than the three shifts she had been trying to pull. I was working like crazy on the house on the weekends, or whenever I had free time, which wasn’t often. I had fixed her bathroom and had finished all the electrical, plumbing and sheetrock work that needed to be done and had the place ready for painting. I wanted to fix the roof and some of the siding slats that needed to be replaced as well. Her little house was a lot of work, but I was willing to do it.

I came home from work one evening to hear Addy on the phone, sounding very distressed. “No, Sir, please…if you can just close the account or stop her from using it anymore...I understand, but I’m not using it. It’s my mother…”

That was first I had heard of her mother at all.

“I understand, but I don’t have twelve hundred dollars. Isn’t there any way you can just freeze it, please? Yes, I know it’s growing with interest, but I don’t have it. I’ll have to find another way to take care of it. No, Sir, I don’t know where Tamera is. I haven’t heard from her in five years.”

I waved at her to give me the phone. She frowned, but I pulled it from her. “Hello, I’m representing Ms. Stratton. I understand she has a large debt? When was the last payment made on it?”

“I can’t release that information to you, Sir.”

“You can with her authorization. Here, I’ll give you to her again, and she’ll let you know you can speak to me.”

Addy looked annoyed at me. “Trust me, I used to be the guy on the phone, I know how to take care of this.”

She let out a defeated sigh, taking the phone. “I’d like you to tell Matthew everything and let him take care of this account for me.” She pouted and handed the phone back to me.

“Now, when was the last payment made on the account?” I asked.

“There were never any payments made on the account, Sir.”

“Never? Why was this account not frozen beforehand? Are you sure it’s even her mother using the account? How do we know it isn’t a case of stolen identity?”

“The account was opened eight years ago, Sir, by both women. Ms. Stratton was a secondary minor on the account. We’ve been unable to locate Tamera Lynn Jenkins, who’s the main account holder. The card remained dormant until about two years ago, and then it was quickly run up and has been accumulating interest since then.”

“What’s the interest rate on this card?”

“Originally, it was twelve percent, but once the balance was pushed over the limit, it became thirty-three percent.”

“What was the original limit on the card?”             

“Five hundred dollars was the original limit, Sir.”

“What’s the balance on the account now?”

“That’d be $1,223.45, that’s what I’m showing on the screen.”

“Alright, let me talk to your manager. It’s time we settle this account.”

Addy looked at me confused. I just winked at her.

I heard a woman come on the line.
“You want to settle this account, Sir?”

“Yes, it needs to be closed immediately. We’re unsure of who ran it up and have not been in contact with the other account holder in over five years. It’s time we get this taken care of.”

“Alright, Sir, what kind of payments would you be able to make?”

“We can’t afford to make payments. I know over half of that debt is interest.  I want it frozen and closed. What settlement can you give me for the account? We could make a one-time payment and be done with it if it’s reasonable,” I said.

Addy was waving frantically. I was sure she was freaking out that she would have to come up with twelve hundred dollars somehow, but that wasn’t going to happen.

“A one-time payment? Let me look at this account.”

I pulled out my wallet, knowing there was money in my checking account from my paycheck, which had just been deposited earlier that day.

“Well, I can get you down to five hundred fifty dollars, Sir. Would you be able to do that over the phone with me now?”

“Yes, I can do that now, and then I want the account closed for good.”

“
Alright
,” the manager said with a smile in her voice. I knew she just wanted to get this account cleared off her books.

I gave her my bank information, and Addy scowled at me the whole time. They thanked me for the payment and told me we would receive a notice in the mail, telling us the account had been settled and closed.

Once I got off the phone, Addy snapped at me. “I could’ve taken care of it.”

“Yes and you would’ve been paying for the rest of your life on an account that you didn’t even have control over! Look, I used to be in collections processing. Believe me, you just have to know the right words to say to them to get them to drop the account and close it.”

“I can’t believe you paid twelve hundred dollars!  That’s your whole paycheck!” she complained.

“No, I settled the account for five hundred fifty dollars, and it’s closed and considered paid up.”

“Really?”

“Yup, I told you, I know how to handle them. Are there any more bill collectors looking for you?”

“Not that I know of, that was the only account I’d had with my mother,” she said with a grimace. “It was originally opened because she was leaving town a lot, and if something happened, I’d have the card to pay for emergencies. I never had any emergencies, thankfully. I’d totally forgotten about that card until they started hounding me.” She plopped down on the couch, suddenly looking very tired. I pulled her into my arms and kissed her head.

“Well, there’ll be no more hounding my girl. I’m here for you, Addy. No matter what you need, I’ve got your back.”

I really would take care of anything she needed, no matter what. She had picked me up when I was down and had taken care of me when no one else would, so I would definitely not be letting her down. I think she knew that now.