Now and Forever 4, The Renovated Heart (17 page)

“Do you? I love to make lists.”

“A match made in heaven,” he said, spreading
a plastic drop cloth in the living room. When he finished the
plastering, she painted. On big stretches of flat wall, he applied
blue tape, she painted. On complicated moldings, she applied blue
tape, he painted. Kit got paint in her hair, on her arms, on and
under her fingernails, even on her toenails.

After every paint job they raced to see who
got first crack at the shower. The third time Kit lost the race to
Tunney; she barged into the bathroom anyway.

“I’m coming in,” she said, shedding her
clothes then opening the shower curtain.

“I got here first!”

“I know but I’ve got paint drying in my
hair! I’ll let you scrub the paint off my chest, if you share the
shower…” she said, sticking her head under the spray.

“An offer I can’t refuse.”

“That’s what I thought.” Her eyes
twinkled.

He pulled her closer to him to kiss her
under the sprinkling water. She put her arms around his neck and
returned his ardor.

“It could take a long time to get clean with
both of us in here,” he whispered, tightening his grip on her then
sliding his hands down her back to her bottom.

“I’m in no hurry,” she said, turning her
chin up for his kiss.

Night after night they fell into bed
exhausted, but never too tired to make love. Kit woke up happy to
find him sleeping beside her. Early morning hugs were shared. She
opened her eyes, then disappeared into his warm embrace before the
alarm went off.

With a mug of coffee in her hand, she turned
on her computer.

Hey, Sarah –

The house is coming along. I can’t wait for
you to see it.

Kit

Hey, Kit –

How are things with the new man in your
life?

Sarah –

Renovation of my life is moving faster than
the renovation of the house! LOL.

In two days, all the remaining cracks in the
living room and dining room were repaired. They painted the living
room a soft gray. By Friday they had painted all the rooms
downstairs except the parlor. Zoe’s room became dark gray, and the
master bedroom—now Kit’s room—a light turquoise blue with white
trim.

On Friday morning, Kit wiped her hands on
her smock to pick up her phone. With spackle knife in hand, Tunney
finished plaster work in the parlor. When she hung up, she
danced.

“Did you just win the lottery?”

“Almost. I sold my apartment!”

“Congratulations,” he said.

“Some sucker bought the place even with the
tenants…for my asking price.”

“Why is this guy a sucker?”

“Because he didn’t even make a counter
offer. I would’ve accepted less. How did you know the buyer was a
guy?”

“Just a lucky guess.” Sweat broke out on his
forehead.

“Now I have the money to buy this place,”
she said, hugging him.

“I think the price just went up to two
hundred fifty thousand dollars…” he said, a smile teasing the
corner of his mouth.

“I don’t think so! You told me two
twenty…that’s what you’re going to get, Mr. Nichols,” she said,
shaking her finger in his face in mock anger.

“I guess I should break out the lavender
paint?”

“I want to get the dining room re-painted
before Zoe gets here. Where’s the blue tape?”

Tossing her the roll, he said, “Speaking of
Zoe. What are you going to tell her about us?”

“I’m going to tell her you are my
boyfriend.”

“What about sleeping arrangements?” He
followed her into the dining room.

“Maybe you should spend nights at your
house—”

“What happened to the pledge to tell the
truth?”

“Isn’t there a difference between truth and
privacy?” She unrolled some blue tape, applying it to the wood trim
hugging the archway.

“Privacy means keeping our door shut, not
lying about our relationship.”

“She’s only eleven. With things the way they
are…with her spending Christmas with her father…what if I lose
custody because you’re sleeping here? I don’t know the rules of
parenthood after divorce yet.”

“Point taken. Okay. I’ll go home over the
holiday.”

“I’ll miss you.” She ripped off a piece of
tape before turning to face him.

“Me, too,” he said, kissing her neck.

After cleaning up the dining room, they
stood for a moment to look over their work. While all the old
furniture had not yet been replaced, several pieces had been
cleaned or recovered. Fresh coats of paint, like brand-new dresses,
made the rooms look fresh and beautiful. Though the wood floors in
the downstairs still needed refinishing, the house resembled a home
again.

“I want to get the biggest Christmas tree
possible.”

“A bit early?” He scratched the stubble on
his face.

“Zoe can decorate now, since she won’t be
here later.” Kit sucked on her lower lip.

“Some of my family’s Christmas decorations
are in boxes upstairs. Come on.”

He stood up extending his hand to her. They
took coffee to the third floor to go through boxes. They uncovered
antique and homemade tree ornaments as well as odds and ends for
Halloween and Thanksgiving. Tunney dusted off electric candles to
put in the windows.

“Can we use these? I know they’re yours,”
Kit said.

“Of course. These bring back memories.”
Tunney wrapped his fingers around an old wooden Santa Claus
ornament his dad made for him when he was young.

“Happy memories?”

He nodded.

“My mother went all out for holidays.
Holidays kept her going when my dad went MIA.”

“Let’s use the Thanksgiving decorations
now.” She pushed to her feet, gathering two porcelain turkeys plus
a tiny wicker basket containing handmade wooden fruit into her
arms.

They cleaned and placed Thanksgiving
turkeys, cornucopias plus other harvest symbols around the house.
Then they tackled cleaning and sorting the Christmas decorations.
He made a list of what they had while Kit made a list of what they
needed. She put one electric candle in the living room window as a
tribute to Mary and Dan’s love.

The day passed quickly. Tunney bought a
seven foot Christmas tree then set it up while she went to pick up
her daughter. When they returned, Zoe saw the giant tree in the
living room window.

“A Christmas tree, already?”

“So you can decorate.”

Zoe’s eyes lit up.

“Thanks.”

Kit hugged her daughter. Arm-in-arm they
climbed the front steps.

Inside, Tunney plugged together string after
string of tree lights.

“Hi, Tunney.” Zoe put her small suitcase
down by the stairway.

“Welcome to Christmas at Thanksgiving, Zoe.”
He made a little bow.

“What a huge tree!”

“Your mom wanted the biggest tree we could
get in the living room.”

Zoe sniffed the air. The musty
old
house
odor she detected on her first visit had been replaced.
Now there was only the fresh scent of pine mixed with the lingering
aroma of fresh paint and gingerbread cookies Kit baked earlier. It
smelled like a home. Kit smiled to see Tunney had a fire going in
the living room fireplace.

“Did you fix my room?”

“Take a look,” she said.

Zoe took her suitcase and ran upstairs.

“The tree is perfect,” Kit said, kissing
him.

“Might take us three days to decorate this
monster,” he said, pulling her close for another kiss as Zoe came
down the stairs.

“He
is
your boyfriend, Mom, I called
it.”

She pushed away from him, her cheeks
burning.

“How do you like your room?” Kit hung her
coat in the vestibule closet.

“The gray is definitely better than
pink.”

“Zoe, want to help me with these lights?” he
asked.

“Sure. Are you sleeping with my mother?”

He dropped the string of lights he held and
whispered a curse word. “Ask her.”

“Mom, are you?” Zoe brushed her long hair
back from her shoulder.

“Zoe! What a personal question!”

“So?”

A lie formed quickly on the tip of her
tongue until Tunney stared at her. She had pledged to tell the
truth.

“Yes,” she said, turning away from them,
heading into the kitchen to cover her embarrassment.

He handed Zoe three boxes of lights.

“Here, unpack these…let your mother breathe
a little, okay?”

“Okay,” she said, taking the boxes.

Zoe and Tunney added all the lights to the
tree before dinner. When Kit entered to call them in for the
evening meal, her breath caught at the sight of the mammoth tree
full of blinking lights.

“Beautiful job,” she said. “Dinner’s
ready.”

She held her breath as they entered the
lavender dining room. In the center of the big table, a place of
honor, sat Zoe’s favorite cauliflower and cheese casserole.

“Wow! Lavender walls. Cool, Mom. The house
looks great.”

“Thank you. We worked hard to get this far
before you came.”

Kit glanced at Tunney before expelling a
long breath.

“How about decorating the tree after
dinner?”

“Okay.”

After dinner, he moved boxes of old
Christmas decorations into the living room while Kit dragged out a
few bags from the closet. She put Christmas music on the CD player,
and set out gingerbread cookies on a plate.

It almost felt like old times…only better.
In the past, Johnny had worked at night and slept during the day,
so every year, only Kit and her daughter decorated the tree. This
year she had Tunney too.

Maybe Johnny was right, maybe our
marriage had grown empty. We rarely spent time together.
Tunney’s presence appeared to be the missing piece in the puzzle
for her new life.

Sex had been Johnny waking her up at four
o’clock when he got home. There hadn’t been much time for foreplay.
Often she’d be half asleep. Sometimes unable to get back to sleep
afterward, she’d arrive at work dead on her feet. Satisfaction
always seemed just out of reach.

Zoe wanted to stay up late to watch TV.

“So, am I staying, since she knows about
us?” he whispered to Kit, slipping his arm around her waist.

“No reason to pretend now.”

“Excellent. Let’s go then.” He planted a
light kiss on her neck.

“But Zoe is still up.” She locked the front
door.

“She’s not a baby. She’s not going to set
the house on fire. It’s vacation for her, but I have to work
tomorrow. I’m not going without you.”

“Sweetheart, do you mind if we turn in?
We’re tired. Tunney has to work tomorrow.” Kit popped her head into
the parlor where the TV was set up.

“No problem.” Zoe gave a half wave.

“Good night, dear.”

“’Night Mom.”

“Good night, Zoe.”

“Good night, Tunney.”

They shut their door then got undressed and
into bed.

“Would you rather just sleep tonight?” he
asked, pulling her up against his chest.

“I think…uh…yes.”

He wrapped himself around her, resting his
hand on her breast. They fell asleep.

In the morning, he got up early, showered,
shaved, then dressed in a suit and tie. Kit awoke in time to have
coffee with him. She wore the black nightie with the red bows.

“Do you have to come down here wearing that,
as I’m about to leave?”

“I can’t very well come down here
naked…”

“Naked wouldn’t let me get out of here
either.” He pulled her into his arms for a long kiss.

“You look very handsome, all dressed
up.”

“I’m not always Tunney the handyman.”

“I like you like this, the successful
businessman. You’re very sexy.”

“Your timing is lousy. Now if you’d said
those words to me before I put on my suit…”

He kissed her, sliding his hands down to her
rear.

Zoe came down the stairs, yawning but
stopped abruptly, startled by their passionate embrace.

“Mom!”

Kit’s face flushed. She stepped back from
Tunney. He grinned.

“Good morning, Zoe,” he said.

“How come you’re so dressed up?”

“Work.”

“Mom, your nightgown is obscene. Do you have
to dress so sexy when I’m here? Can’t you keep that…part of your
life private?”

Kit ran upstairs.

“Why do you have to be mean to her?”

“Mean?”

“I don’t get why you’re so mad at your
mother.” He stopped, picking up his briefcase.

“She drove my father away.”

“You think so?”

“Why else would he leave?”

“Why don’t you ask him? Maybe it wasn’t your
mother’s fault…certainly not hers alone. Don’t you think she’s
suffered enough from the divorce?”

“Not as much as I have. She has you, right?”
Zoe narrowed her eyes.

“What do I have to do with anything?”

“Dad said Mom wouldn’t be affected much
because she’s strong...said she’d pick herself right back up, get
on with her life. He was right.”

“Your mother has suffered more than you
know. Cut her some slack.”

“She looks pretty happy to me.” Zoe rested
her hands on her hips.

“Her happiness has come at a big price. It’s
taken her six months to get here.”

“So?”

“Be nice to her. Your mother deserves your
respect. Look at what’s she’s put together here for you.”

“Not just for me…”

“But it is. Buying this place, the
renovations, everything…it’s all about you. It was always all about
you, Zoe. Don’t you get that?”

She clammed up, considering what he
said.

“I’ve got to get to work. Enjoy you day with
your mom.”

Kit returned, wearing her robe, in time to
give him a goodbye kiss.

“You’ll be back tonight, after work?”

“Try to keep me away,” he said, smiling at
her, nodding briefly to Zoe.

“We’re having the rest of Christmas at
Thanksgiving, too.”