Second Chance November 29

The story starts here.

“How so?” Troy asked.

“Well, how do you know when you’ve met the right person? How do you know when it’s the one?”

“My dad always said that you’ll know because you won’t have to ask that question anymore.” Karin pondered this piece of advice as she sipped the warm coffee. It had always been hard for her to relax, but here, in this house, where she’d shared coffee with her friend so many times before, there was a calm she couldn’t explain, a peacefulness that for her existed nowhere else.

The beep of the dryer interrupted their conversation.

“Your clothes should be dry now.” Troy said.

“Thank you,” Karin said as he handed her a pair of warm sweats, stained with paint from months of work days, but clean and dry and cozy. She changed and returned his bathrobe.

When Karin got home, there were several messages on her machine. Three from Jay, one from the Piermont Group thanking her for her proposal, but they were going to contract with a company with greater resources, one from Lutheran Life Villages thanking her for choosing them to care for her mother, and the rest from potential renters looking for apartments.

She listened to the messages from Jay, over and over again. The sound of his voice, the smell of his chest, the way he smiled and ran his fingers through his hair; everything about him made her heart skip a beat. But, his life was all mixed up, and he would always be just beyond her reach. He wanted her to trust him, but he had too many secrets.

When she thought of Troy Bennett, and the cozy little house on the lake, it felt like home. She wasn’t driven into his arms by a relationship of old, or by a flame of passion, but all of her wanted to go to him.

“I know he’s older than me, but his life is simple.” Karin told Michelle when they talked the next morning. 

“And, we have so much in common.”

“Did he cook for you and show you a sun rise?” Michelle asked, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

“No, it wasn’t like that. He didn’t do anything planned or showy or especially romantic. He just…” Karin tried to put words to what it was that Troy had done that had made her feel so good. “He just took care of me.”

“I think you take good care of yourself just fine. You don’t need a man to take care of you, do you?”

“It’s not that I need to be taken care of, but maybe I do. Maybe that’s exactly what I need, exactly what I’ve needed all along.” Karin said, and she thought for a moment, then added. “You know, I’ve been taking care of my mother for as long as I can remember, and I’ve been taking care of the needs of all the people who rent from me and fixing things for my clients and now that I think about it, I’ve been taking care of other people most of my life.”

“That’s true. You do deserve to have someone treat you right.” Michelle said, sympathetically.

“Jay is so good-looking and charming and I’ve thought for years that he was the standard that I’ve been trying to make every other man live up to. But, I’ll always feel like he’s hiding something, or like there’s another secret about to be revealed. I can’t live on edge like that.”

“So, what are you going to do?”

“I’m going to call him and accept his invitation for a date, and we’ll see where it goes.” Karin said.

Read the last page here. 

Second Chance: November 28

FYI: I was having a bad day yesterday, so I didn't work on this. If I had, it would have read something like this: "And, then Karin drove off a cliff. The End."

The real story starts here.

Karin didn’t go home. She drove in circles, struggling to see through her tears; gasping for air as she cried uncontrollably. She just kept driving until she ended up north of town on Lakeshore Drive in the dunes. She stopped her car and realized that she was in the same spot that she had brought Jay to see his first shoreline sunset, and then she cried even harder. She wanted to get out and sit on the beach in the dark and listen to the waves hit the shore, but just as she was about to open the door, she saw another car approaching. Their music was blaring and a group of teenagers got out of the car. They had obviously been drinking and were laughing loudly as they climbed the embankment. Karin started the car and turned around. She headed back into town and pulled into an address she recognized. The Bennett’s lake house was adorable, even in the dark the moonlight shone just enough through the trees for her to see the little cottage style abode.

She parked her car in the driveway and walked behind the house and down to the shore line. She knew no one would think to look for her here. She sat down in the wet sand and let the water run over her, each wave like a pulsing heart beat, tempting her to dive in and never look back.

She wished she had a drink.

“Hey,” A voice said behind her. She turned and looked and there was a figure in the dark. It occurred to her to be afraid. The town was filled with transients, coming and going for weeks or nights at a time. No one would know that she’d even been here. He could do anything to her, throw her body in the lake and take her car. She would wash up somewhere else, all the evidence buried in the sand and he could slink away into the night.

“Hey, you by the water,” The figure moved closer. She watched him, but didn’t answer.

“Is that your car parked up there?” The figure asked. She could see his silhouette, and in his hand was something that distinctly looked like a gun.

So, he did want her car. He could have it. That old Taurus was due for a replacement anyway. Maybe she’d get a cool new Ferrari like Jay had.

“You can have it,” she yelled and tossed her keys in his direction.

“What the…” the figure said.

“I haven’t seen your face,” Karin yelled. “Just take the car and go. It’s paid off. I won’t report it stolen.”

“Karin?” The figure said. “Karin Anderson? Is that you?” Now, the figure was approaching her faster. He was almost close enough for her to see his face.

“No, we don’t know each other. Just take the car and go.” Then, the figure came into view.

“Troy?” Karin asked. “Troy Bennett? What are you doing out here?”

“It’s my house. I heard you pull in to the driveway and at first I thought it was just someone lost and turning around, but then when the car was still parked there I had to come and see who it was.”

“Why do you have a gun?” Karin asked.

“Because this is my house and all sorts of crazy people come and party on the beach. I keep it just in case one of them forgets what house they’re supposed to go to.” He put the gun in a holster on his waist.

“What are you doing out here?” Karin was still sitting in the wet sand, and the tide was rising. Her pants were completely soaked.

“Just sitting. I thought the house was empty, I figured no one would even notice if I parked there.”

“Why are you sitting in Lake Michigan behind my house in the middle of the night?” Troy asked, coming close enough that his feet were in the water and the bottom cuffs of her jeans were getting wet.

“It’s been a really long day. I was looking for a good place to think. I used to come out here a lot when your mom lived here. She never came out and asked me what I was doing.”

“Yeah, Mom used to cry into the lake sometimes too.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, Come on, let’s get you inside and dry. I’ll put on a fresh pot of coffee.” Troy said. Karin nodded. She was freezing.

“I just realized something,” Karin said as they started walking towards the house.

“What’s that?”

“I threw my car keys in the sand.”

Troy laughed. “I saw that. I thought it was kind of a silly thing to do.”

“Very silly,” Karin said and laughed. “I’m not in a mindset to make good decisions today.”

“Okay,” Troy said and pulled a flashlight from his pocket. “Let’s find your keys and then I won’t ask you to make anymore decisions today.”

“That sounds like a good plan.” It took Karin and Troy over an hour in the dark expanse of the beach to locate her keys. Troy patiently and persistently searched for them, and after some time, he found them.

“You’re amazing,” she said when he handed the keys to her. “Anyone else would have just given up.”

“Nah, if we hadn’t found them in the dark, I would have brought out the metal detector in the morning. We would have found them eventually.” He said.

“I still can’t believe I threw them. I don’t know what I was thinking.” Karin said.

“Well, you’ve got them back now. Let’s go have that coffee.”

“Oh, thanks, but I can’t. I have to get home. I really shouldn’t have even come out here tonight.”

“So, why did you?” Troy asked. “Come out here tonight, I mean.”

“I’ve just been really confused about some personal issues and I was frustrated and I didn’t want to be at home because it’s also work and I needed a break from both.” Karin paused as Troy opened the back door of the house and let her in to the kitchen. “Your mom and I used to sit on this back deck and talk about life. I used to think that one day I would have a place just like this and, you know, raise kids here and grow old, like your parents did.”

“That sounds like a beautiful life.” Karin looked away blushing as Troy spoke softly to her.

“Before my dad died, I used to sit on the deck and talk to him about the same things.” Troy said. “I just never found the right girl.”

“How would you know when you did find her?” Karin asked as Troy handed her a towel. “Oh, I’m sorry. I’m getting the floor all wet.”

“It will dry,” he said. “Wait here, I might have something you can wear.” Troy came back with a bathrobe. 

“It’s not great, but I can throw your clothes in the wash and then you won’t have to go home in them wet.” With anyone else, Karin would not have felt comfortable sitting around in a bathrobe with nothing on underneath, but there was something sweet about Troy, something that felt safe. She went into the bathroom and took off her clothes. She’d just slipped the bathrobe on when there was a knock at the door.

“I’m almost done.” She said.

“I was just going to suggest that you could hand me the clothes and I’ll start them in the wash if you want to use the shower the warm up.” Troy said. “I’ll make that coffee in the meantime.”

“Um, I really should be going…” Karin started to say and then changed her mind. “That’s a great idea. Thanks. I’ll be just a few minutes.” The hot water felt so good on her upper body and warmed her quickly, but it burned on her legs that were nearly freezing. When she’d finally reached a moderate temperature throughout her body, she dried off and put the bathrobe on.

“You’ve really cleaned the place up,” she said when she was out at the table.

“Yeah, at first I was going to just leave it and sell it as is. But, then, I came out here and I just couldn’t stand to see Mom and Dad’s house all a mess like that. And, I knew that Mom would be embarrassed if anyone saw it that way. So, when I thought about having it listed and having all kinds of people walking through it, I knew it would have upset her.”

“That’s really thoughtful.” Karin said. She sipped her coffee. “So, do you have it listed now?”

“No. I had the papers all signed and ready to go, but then I just couldn’t do it.” Troy said. “Like I said, my Dad always wanted one of us boys to keep the house and get married and raise our family here. I never thought it would be me, until I was out here working on the house and I just knew that I was supposed to stay here.” Troy poured more coffee for both of them. “I listed my other house with your friend instead, and I got an offer on it yesterday.”

“Oh, that’s great. So, you are going to live here permanently now then?”

“Yeah, this is my home now, and probably until I die.” Troy said. “Maybe someday I’ll have someone to share it with.”

“I know what you mean. I keep waiting for the right person, but love is so confusing.”

Find out what happens next here.

Dream Baby

Have you ever watched a baby dream? It's not just the peaceful baby face like you see in those cute Anne Geddes still photos.

It starts with the rapid eye movement that indicates a dream state.

Then, there are random smiles, followed by giggles, and then the tongue flickers.

She must be dreaming about nursing.

But, it's not all pleasant faces either.

Sometimes, there's the furrowed brow, the pouty lip and then an outright scream.

Oh, dear child, you are only two weeks old. What monsters could possibly haunt your mind?

Perhaps she dreamed the nipple disappeared and that she couldn't find her fingers.

I understand the practicality of sleeping when my baby sleeps, to fend off exhaustion and keep my sanity of course, but her face is so much more expressive when she sleeps than when she's awake - where she mostly just looks around wide-eyed like she is always stunned. But, in her dreams, I see so much personality and imagination and I can't wait for her to tell me all her thoughts and dreams. So, I sacrifice my own sleep to watch hers.

Second Chance November 26

The story starts here

Karin left the Piermont Complex in a daze of confusion and frustration. She drove in this daze to her office, changed into her work clothes and went to the house on First Street. She carried the bathroom tiles into the apartment and put them in the bathroom. Roger’s guys were still at the house.

“Look at this fabulous tile I found,” Karin said when she saw Roger. He took one from the box and examined it.

“These will go well in this room. I can lay them this weekend if you want.”

“That would be perfect. I’ll have the bathroom painted tonight.” Karin said.

“Did you call Consumers?”

“Yes, they’ll have the power on sometime between now and Monday morning.” Karin said. “The lady I talked to said maybe they could get someone out here today or tomorrow, but Monday morning at the latest.”

“That sounds about right. We’ve been running our tools off the generators all week. We’ll have everything just about done when they turn the electricity back on.” Ralph said with a slight hint of sarcasm in his voice.

“Yeah, it seems like that’s how it always goes.” Karin agreed. Ralph laughed a slight guttural laugh.

“We’ll work with what we’ve got,” Roger said. “We’re charging the power tools on the truck or at home at night to save on the generator.”

“Do what you have to do.” Karin said. “I don’t need power to paint, and there’s plenty of painting to do.” Karin turned from Roger, and started to sort out the paint that she had brought over earlier in the week. She had decided to coat all the walls with a neutral beige color and the trim with a gloss white. She’d bought both in five gallon buckets.

“I’m going to start with the upstairs,” she told the guys. “That way you guys can keep working down here and I won’t be in your way. Do you need to do anything else up there?” They shook their heads.

“No, we’re all done upstairs except for laying the flooring, and we’re about to call it a day anyway.” One of them told her. Karin tucked a bag of rollers and brushes under her arm and grabbed a bucket of each color paint and headed up the stairs. She made quick work of the paint job, with head phones on and her favorite old metal ballads blaring through the speakers.

Several hours later, when Roger and the guys had cleaned up and gone home, she was still painting as it started to get dark. She didn’t want to quit, so she ran downstairs to see if the guys had left their generator so she could plug in some flood lights and keep working. A few minutes later, she had the generator going, extension cords running and trouble lights brightening up her work space. She could paint all night if she wanted to, or at least until the generator ran out of gas. She made a mental note to go out and pick up a few gallons of gasoline before going home for the night.

Karin had painted the entire upstairs apartment and was cleaning up her supplies when Jay walked in the door. He startled her and she gasped when she saw him.

“I thought we had a dinner date.” He said.

“Really? After this afternoon, you still thought we had a date?”

“Yes.” He said and she groaned. “What did I do?” he asked.

“Jay, from the day I met you, it’s been one mislead after another. I was a fool to think anything would be different now. I just can’t take any more surprises.”

“How did I mislead you?” he asked gently, moving toward her. She turned her body to avoid letting him touch her. She worked on cleaning up the painting materials and moving the painting buckets down the stairs. 

Jay grabbed the buckets from her hands and carried them for her. She started to resist his help, but then decided to let him carry the buckets. She gathered up the rest of the materials and turned off all the lights.

Neither of them spoke on the stairs, but once they were behind the door of the downstairs apartment, Jay began to speak.

“Karin, I can’t fix what I don’t know about. You have to tell me what I’ve done wrong.”

“Jay, ten years ago you left me to go out with someone else, you left town without even talking to me. I was devastated, then you showed after all these years and all those old feelings were still there, but so is everything else. The issues with your parents and all the secrecy about your job and…” Karin stopped and pursed her lips. She could feel tears coming into her eyes, and it made her angry. She gathered up the extension cords and prepared the materials for the next day.

“…and what?” Jay said softly after several minutes of silence.

“And you knew I was going to send a proposal to the Piermont Group. You didn’t think it worth mentioning that you are on the board that is going to decide the fate of my career and financial future?”

“I’m sorry.” Jay said. “I didn’t say anything because I didn’t want my being there to affect your decision to apply.”

“What?” Karin asked and rolled her eyes. She pushed passed him and walked out of the building. He stepped out of the doorway and she locked up. “What you just said makes no sense… no sense at all.” She turned her back to him and walked to her car.

“Karin…” She held up her hand.

“Don’t bother.” She said. “It’s late. I’m going home. I suggest you do the same.” She closed the car door and drove away.

Click here to turn the page and find out what happens next.

Second Chance: November 25

The story starts here.

Karin spent the next two days showing the apartments on North Madison, getting them rented and introducing herself to all of the tenants there. She composed and mailed formal introduction letters as well. 

She added a copy of this letter to each units file for her records.

She signed a contract with Lutheran Life Villages and made arrangements to move her mother to her new room there. The moving part was easy, the hospital handled the actual transfer and Karin only had to move her few personal possessions, primarily the clothing that she had brought over for her earlier in the week.

“I don’t like it here,” Virginia said as soon as the nurse left. She started opening the dresser drawers and closet and looking under the bed.

“What are you trying to find?” Karin asked, but she was pretty sure she knew that her mother was searching for the liquor bottles that she’d had hidden in her apartment.

“They steal my stuff. I don’t like it here.”

“No one stole anything from you, Mom. This is a nice place for you to stay.” Karin said. She walked over to the window and opened the curtain. “Look, you can see the gardens from your room.”

“Horse manure!” Virginia said angrily and then sat down on the bed and pouted. Karin tried to talk to her for few more minutes, but it was no use. When the nurse came back to the room, Karin said goodbye and left.

The precious time that was left over after these tasks, she devoted to physical labor hours at the First Street house. All the stress and anger and anxiety poured out of her body and into her arms and hands. They flew across the walls in a cleaning frenzy. In just two days, the walls were all scrubbed down, the carpets were all removed and disposed of, and the electrician had given the wiring his seal of approval.

The expenses were rapidly increasing, but the workers were efficient and making quick work of the project and the sooner the unit was rented, the less the insurance company would have to pay in lost rent.

As the filth was removed from the apartment inch by inch, Karin began to feel better. She even began to look forward to picking out the new color scheme when she went to Dunewood Floors and More. And as the work progressed, she looked forward to her Friday night dinner with Jay.

Every day, she worked from dawn to dusk, and then finished her office work in the late evenings with a tasty cocktail to help her fall asleep, sometimes two.

Late Thursday night, she was still at her desk, enjoying her third drink and not really getting any more work done, when Michelle came to the front door.

“I saw your light on” Michelle said. “You’re burning the candle at both ends I see.”

“Yeah, I’m really trying to get this First Street house done.” Karin said.

“You need to get some sleep.”

“Just finishing this drink and then I’m off to bed.”

“You look different… thinner even, but I just saw you a week ago.” Michelle looked at Karin with concern. 

“You need to eat.” She picked up Karin’s glass and took it to the kitchen.

“What are you doing?” Karin asked following her friend to the kitchen.

“Sending you to bed,” she answered as she dumped the contents of the glass into the sink.

“Um, that’s expensive.”

“I know. I’ll buy you a new bottle later, but right now, you’re going to bed.” Michelle said and forcefully pointed to the bedroom. “I’ll lock up on my way out.” Karin knew Michelle was right. She’d been working too many hours and she needed to get a decent nights’ sleep for her interview the next day. She nodded and walked to her bedroom where she was asleep the moment her head hit the pillow.

By Friday morning, she sat at her desk quietly going over all the possible scenarios for her interview that afternoon. As she paced the floor, she carried the portfolio that she had mailed to them, having reviewed it so many times, it was practically memorized. Karin tried to think of things she could add to the portfolio, more that she could offer them, but in the end, she had to admit that all she had to offer was already laid out in the documents she’d sent them.

Michelle showed up at her door early that morning.

“I didn’t think you ever got up this early,” Karin said, surprised to see her friend.

“I do when it’s this important.” Michelle held out a McDonald’s take out bag.

“What’s this?” Karin asked taking the bag.

“Lots of calories. Delicious, potentially nutritious, calories.” Karin had to laugh. It was true that she had hardly eaten anything all week. Once she got the go ahead to work on the First Street house, it took priority in her mind and except for the bare necessities required to keep her business running and the other apartments maintained, she devoted all of her time to working there. Eating had simply slipped her mind.

“You are a good friend.”

“I know.”

“Well, you might as well come in and have a cup of coffee, unless you don’t want to watch me eat.” Karin said ushering Michelle to the kitchen.

“Oh, I’ll stay and watch. I know if I leave you, you’ll probably get distracted by work and forget I was even here and all this food will go to waste.” Michelle said. “I got plenty for both of us, so pick out what you want and I’ll eat the rest.” Karin chose a sausage and cheese McGriddle and a hashbrown and let Michelle eat the breakfast burritos. Then, they split an order of hotcakes and scrambled eggs.

“Okay, I have to stop or I’m going to be sick.” Karin said.

“Well, I say you already look healthier. Food is good for you, even junk food is better than no food.” 

Michelle said.

“Thanks for making me get some food and rest.” Karin said as she cleaned off the table.

“Anytime you need a junk food breakfast, just holler. I usually eat plain oatmeal every morning, so this was a special treat for me too.” Michelle said.

“Okay, I’ll try to remember to let you know the next time I have a project so all encompassing that I forget to eat.” Karin said.

“I guess I’ll just have to come by every few day and check up on you then.”

“Don’t you already do that?”

“Oh, yeah, because I’m the greatest friend there ever was.” Michelle said pretending to give herself points in the air. “But, now, the friendship duty is done and I have to get to work.”

Karin said goodbye to her friend, put the portfolio into her briefcase and put away the rest of her files, and then she drove to Dunewood Floors and More with a clipboard full of measurements.

“What do you have that’s about to go in the clearance bin?” she asked the owner when she got to the store. 

They had a long standing relationship and she often bought her supplies from him, including the remnants that were otherwise difficult to sell. In exchange, he let her know ahead of time when he was planning a good sale and also gave her special deals on product that was about to go on sale or that was simply not very popular at the time.

“How much do you need?” he asked. Karin held out her list to him. He took the paper from her and started to show her samples of patterns he had available in the sizes that she needed. She sketched a map of each apartment and started filling in her choices as she made them. This allowed her to see what colors were going into each room and make sure that she didn’t miss anything.

“I really love this tile pattern,” Karin said over one of the pieces. “Do you have more of it?”

“Just this remnant.” He answered. “It’s been discontinued, which is really too bad because it is a popular pattern.”

“Okay, I’ll take what you have for the downstairs bathroom.” She made a note on her clipboard. “I still need a fairly large piece of carpet for the living room, something that will go nicely with that tile.” It took over an hour to pick out everything that she would need.

“Where are we delivering this to?” he asked as he wrote up her purchase order. She gave him the address and split the order into upstairs and downstairs deliveries. Depending on who he sent to make the delivery, she might end up with it all downstairs and then she would have to pay Roger’s guys to move half of it up the stairs, but she thought it worth asking the guys at Floors and More to do it for her.

“I’m going to take the tiles with me now though.” She said. She really liked the tile pattern that she’d picked out for the downstairs bathroom and she knew she couldn’t get more if anything happened to it, so she decided to put it in her trunk and drive it to the apartment herself.

She finished up with the portion of her job that required her to pretend she knew anything about interior decorating with plenty of time to spare before her two o’clock appointment at the Piermont Complex. She drove back to her office, checked her messages and then spent a few minutes in front of the mirror. She was already dressed for the meeting, but she was testing out her posture and facial expression.

“Should I look confident, or professional, or prestigious, or ??” Karin talked to herself in front of the mirror for several minutes, before finally putting her hair in a braid and adding a little lip gloss to her face. “Good luck.” She said to the lady in the mirror.

Karin pulled her car into the parking lot of the complex. Every parking spot had a designation. “Parking for Apartment 1B only” “Parking for Head of Maintenance only” and so on. There was no parking available for visitors or guests that she could see, so she pulled back out on to the road and parked along the curb in front of the building. She walked in the front door with her briefcase by her side.

The lobby was pristine and made her own office look shabby. The white walls shone in the sunlight and were almost blinding. The neutral brown and cream accents that adorned the trim work and the reception area were much more inviting. As she stepped up to the reception desk, she wondered why she’d never visited this building before. It was certainly part of her competition, although the clients she currently had weren’t interested in working with government subsidies, something the Piermont Complex dealt heavily in. Her research had shown that at least eighty-five percent of their units were subsidized. Her inexperience in that area was going to be her biggest obstacle, so she thought.

“Hi, I have a two o’clock appointment.” Karin said to the receptionist.

“For who?”

Karin was suddenly at a loss. She didn’t know who she was supposed to ask for. She pulled out the paperwork from her briefcase, but all it contained was her own portfolio. She didn’t have any of the company’s information, not even the name of the person who had called her. The receptionist continued to stare at her computer screen as she waited for Karin to answer.

“I’m here about the management position,” she finally managed to say. The receptionist looked up and scanned the lobby like she was expecting someone else to be there.

“What’s your name?”

“Karin Anderson.”

“Company name?”

“Anderson Properties.”

“Have a seat.” Karin sat down in the lobby and waited. She had her briefcase over her shoulder and her portfolio in her hand, and she felt completely out of her league.

“I shouldn’t be here,” she thought to herself. “I’m going to make a huge fool of myself.” Karin could feel her emotions rising up in her throat. She thought her nervousness might overcome her and cause her to cry right there in the lobby. She stood up, prepared to walk out the front door and forget that she’d ever even considered trying to get this contract. Then, she heard her name.

“Anderson. You can go in now.” Karin turned around to see the door just beyond the reception desk was open. It was too late to walk away. She bit down on the side of her tongue to try and keep herself focused on the physical pain rather than the emotional trauma going on inside her head. She held her head high and walked into the board room.

There was one empty seat right in front of her. She set her portfolio down on the table and sat down in the chair. Only then, did she look up and see the faces of all the board members. Not all of them were looking at her. Opposite her at the end of the table, a man with sandy blonde hair looked down at his notes.

“No,” she almost said out loud as he looked up from the table and his bright green eyes met hers. Before she could even process what she saw in front of her, the woman to her right began talking. She introduced herself and then each of the other board members in turn. When she reached the opposite end of the table, she said, “…and the CEO of our parent company, Jacob Palmer…” Karin hardly heard the names of anyone else at the table, but he gave no indication that he even knew her. The entire meeting went by in a blur. They asked her questions and she answered them, but Karin barely remembered anything that was said by the time it was over.

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Second Chance November 24

The story starts here.

Karin wanted to keep cleaning up, but the Fire Marshall had ordered the power turned off at the building, and the first task on Roger’s list was to repair the electrical issues that had caused the short in the first place. There would be no lights until the electrician was done and the building inspector signed off and then she would have to wait for Consumers Energy to send out one of their technicians to inspect it as well before they would turn it back on.

There was nothing more she could do in the dark, so she grabbed her clothes that she’d left hanging in the closet, along with several items of her mother’s that she thought she could wash and save. Karin drove home with tears still streaming down her face. Every time she thought she had caught her breath, another memory invaded her mind and caused her to start blubbering again.

She parked in the garage and went in the back door when she got home. She stayed at the back of the house, taking a shower, working on laundry and cleaning her own kitchen and bathroom. Nothing was clean enough for her. Any messages or mail waiting at the front office would have to wait until morning, she didn’t want to risk anyone catching her out front and knocking on the door, she just didn’t think she had the energy to face another person.

She opened the cupboard in her own kitchen and saw a stock of liquors.

“Is this how it started, Momma? Just a few bottles? An average household bar supply? When did it get out of control?” Karin said out loud.

Karin’s own stock included Amaretto, Rum, Vodka, Whiskey and a few bottles of wine; just what she would need for any occasion, and she could always make whatever cocktail she was in the mood for. Her refrigerator contained sweet and sour mix, cans of soda and Kahlua. Karin didn’t drink every night, when she had a lot of work to do, she didn’t even consider the liquor cabinet, but went straight for the coffee pot.

“I don’t have a problem,” she insisted to the emptiness of her house. Then, she poured herself an Amaretto Sour and went to her bedroom. She sipped the drink while she watched late night television, and soon welcomed a deep and peaceful sleep.

In the morning, she set out to get her paperwork done early so that she could get over to First Street and not waste any daylight. She dialed her voice mail and the first message was from the previous morning, she was ready to press the button that would delete the message assuming it was the first call from Troy Bennett, the one that had come through when she was on the phone with the Dunewood Press. But, then the voice she heard was unfamiliar. She quickly grabbed a pen and paper and started to scratch out notes.

“Discuss proposal… Piermont Group… schedule interview…Yikes!” Karin wrote on her notepad. She jotted down the phone number, and could barely stand to listen to the rest of the routine messages that filled her voice mail box. As soon as they were done, she hung up the phone and dialed the number for the Piermont Group.

“Our board will meet this Friday,” the secretary told her. “You may come to be interviewed at two o’clock if you still want to be considered for the position.” Karin was a little off put by the coldness of the process, but said that yes, of course, she would be at the interview. She added it to her planner, let out a little squeal of excitement and then turned back to the work in front of her.

As she processed paperwork and put away files, she noticed the loan application still out on her desk. She thought about how nice it would be to have a home to go to at the end of the day. Moving into the back room of her office space had made so much sense when she first got started, but she didn’t like the feeling that she had to hide out if she didn’t want to talk to anyone. A home away from the office would be good for her sanity.

Karin imagined herself pouring a drink and escaping to the back deck of the house to overlook Lake Michigan. It would be impossible to stay stressed out in that environment. If she could get the Piermont contract, then she was sure that she could get the loan. She thought about calling the Realtor and letting her know that she was interested in the property, but then decided it was better to wait until she knew for sure that she could do it.

Karin finished up her office work and then checked the laundry. She had run her mother’s clothes through her machines twice with some heavy duty detergent, and a heavily perfumed fabric softener. They smelled okay, she still thought there was a hint of smoke, but her mother was a smoker so she thought she might never get it out completely. She at least had some clean clothes to take to her mother.

She packed her backpack with her own grubby clothes for cleaning up later in the day and went to run errands. She put the back later sign up, knowing that she would have to take a break and make it back to the office at some point in the day.

Her first stop was the property on North Madison, where she caught a few more tenants at home and let them know who she was and what her job would be as she took over managing the property.

“Also, we do have one vacancy here, so if you have a friend with good references who is looking for a place, be sure to have them call my office.” She told the current tenants, giving them her business card.

 Next, she headed for the hospital, with the clean clothes for her mother.

“I’m going to check out Lutheran Life Villages today,” Karin told her mother’s doctor.

“I think that’s a good choice,” he assured her. She left the clothes with the nurses, so that they could help Virginia get dressed after her shower. Karin left the hospital and went to the nursing home just down the street. The nurses had given her a list of questions to ask at the home to ensure that her mother would get the care she needed. She left the office of admissions at Lutheran Life Villages with a contract in her hand. Virginia’s doctor had given the all clear for Virginia to leave the hospital as soon as Karin could show that she had a place to live where she would receive proper care.

When all her professional business was complete, she headed back to the office to change her clothes. She saw the number one flashing and tapped the play button on the answering machine as she stepped into the bathroom to change into her cleaning and painting clothes. Max LaLane’s voice came through the speaker. She replayed his message after she got dressed and called him back.

She called Roger on her way out the door to tell him that they were all set to get started on the repairs at the First Street house and it looked like the insurance company would easily cover his estimate. That was good news for both of them. She called attorney John Kinsmore to give him the news as well and to let him know that the work was already underway.

Karin met the upstairs tenant outside the building when she arrived.

“Hi, Ms. Anderson. My brothers are helping me get all of my stuff out today. The insurance is going to cover everything that I lost.” She said.

“I’m glad to hear it.” Karin said.

“Since a lot of the stuff in the apartment is trash from all the smoke, would it be okay if we just put it in the dumpster out back?” she asked.

“Dumpster?” Karin said.

“Yeah, they dropped it off this morning. I figured it was for the clean up.” Karin looked around the back of the house and saw a twenty yard dumpster sitting in the back yard.

“Wow. Roger is fast.” Karin said. “Yes, go ahead and use the dumpster for anything in the apartment that you can’t salvage.” Karin went into the downstairs apartment and started hauling the garbage bags that she had filled the night before out to the dumpster. Then, she started to fill some more. When Roger arrived with his hired guys, they helped her move out the furniture. Between the two apartments, the dumpster was nearly full by the end of the day.

“I’ve got the bathroom all cleared out so that the electrician can get in there tomorrow.” Karin told Roger.

“Okay, he’ll be here in the morning. I can meet him so you don’t have to, and the guys will be back again tomorrow to tear up the carpets in both units.” Roger said.

“Great. We’re making good progress so far.”

“See you tomorrow.”

Karin was left alone in the building again. The unit was basically empty. She had filled her car with garbage bags of clothing and things of her mother’s that she thought she could save, and everything else had gone to the dumpster. Once Roger’s guys had shown up, the clean out went faster than she had expected. A friend who owned a professional cleaning business had sold her a few gallons of the cleaning product that they used for smoke damage and she grabbed a bottle and read the directions. She made up a bucket of cleaning solution, set up a ladder and started in one corner of the bathroom. She knew that the contractors would make more mess in there and it would have to be cleaned several times, but the plumbing still worked and she figured if she could get it clean enough, they’d be able to use it and that would save them from running to the local gas station every time someone needed a bathroom. It wasn’t much, but getting it clean made her feel like she was accomplishing something. She raced against the setting sun to get it finished before her daylight ran out.

When it was dark, she went back to the office and spent the rest of the evening sorting through the garbage bags of Virginia’s personal items trying to see what she could save. The counselor at the nursing home had told her that their residents were generally happier if they had things from home that helped them to feel more secure. She figured that this would be especially true for her mother who no longer had the mental capacity to understand what was happening to her.

Karin was just about to call it a night when the phone rang. She considered ignoring it, but then changed her mind and picked it up. It was Jay.

“I’m going to be in town again this weekend. Can I see you?” he said.

“I just got the go ahead to work on the place that had the fire. All of time has to be spent there. I can’t afford to take another weekend off.”

“How about just one dinner?” he asked.

“Ummm,” she hesitated. “I can do one later dinner. There’s no electricity over there, so I’ve got to make the most of every minute of daylight available.”

“I’ll take it.” He said. “Friday night, dinner after dark. I’ll be over at ten o’clock on Friday night.”

“Okay.” She said.

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Second Chance: November 23

The story starts here

Karin was busy with paperwork for the Bennett’s North Madison property. She’d been over to the building and found her hunch was correct. The apartment that hadn’t shown any income was definitely empty, but it was also clean and ready to rent. So, she was preparing an ad for the local paper and new lease documents for the buildings. The phone rang.

“Oh, hey Michelle, what’s up?”

“I was going to ask you the same thing.” Michelle said. “Where’ve you been all weekend?”

“I spent it with Jay, out at his parent’s farm.” Karin said.

“The whole weekend?” Michelle squealed.

“No, not exactly, but mostly yes.” Karin said.

“Eeeek! That’s so awesome. So, what did you do?”

“Mostly we just talked about old times. He cooked for me and we watched a movie. We just hung out.” Karin said.

“Oh, that is so sweet,” Michelle said.

“He really was.”

“So, are you guys over the whole parental approval issues then?”

“No, not at all.” Karin said. “He wants me to trust him, and I want to trust him, but I don’t know how it will ever work. In fact, Troy Bennett asked me out on Friday and I almost said yes.”

“Troy Bennett? He is twice your age, that would be like going out with your dad. Gross.” Michelle said.

“He’s not that bad.” Karin said. “He is a really nice guy and he just buried his mom. I think he was just looking for some company.”

“I still think it’s weird.”

“Yeah, it sort of was weird.” Karin admitted, “but, it’s not like Dunewood is full of eligible bachelor’s.”

“That is true, but, I think you can do better than some middle aged divorcee.”

“Anyway, I didn’t say yes. It just got me thinking that maybe I’m wasting my time waiting for something that I can never have.” Karin said. “But, on a different note, business is good. I’ve got the Bennett account, I just got the go ahead to start cleaning up from the fire on First Street and those are the only vacancies that I have so my numbers are staying in line.”

“Sounds busy as usual.” Michelle said. “My client just walked in. Give me a call if you are free for lunch at all this week.”

“Okay, bye” Karin hung up the phone and returned to the pile of papers on her desk. She had driven over to the North Madison property that morning and caught a few of the tenants at home. She always liked to meet the tenants in person, so that they would have a face to go with the name on the letterhead when she began to correspond with them. It wouldn’t make a difference in every case, but she believed that tenants were more likely to respond positively to her if they saw her as a real person doing a job rather than just a name. She planned to schedule extra time around the showings of the empty unit to try and meet the other tenants.

Karin was on the phone with the Dunewood press, placing a classified ad when another call came through. She let the call waiting beep and allowed the call to revert to voice mail while she finished placing her ad. When she hung up, the phone rang again before she could dial in to check the voice mail message center.

“Hello, Troy. How are you this morning?” Karin said.

“Good. I just called because I forgot to tell you that the garage behind building one and the basement are both full of my dad’s stuff. He never rented those areas out to anyone, but used the basement for storage and an office. The garage was his workshop, he did all the maintenance on the properties himself.” Troy said.

“Yes, I remember your mom telling me that.”

“After he died, my mom hired that Roger guy, the same one that you use, I think, and Dad’s tools have just been sitting in the garage ever since.”

“Troy, I’m really glad you called, this is important information. I’m glad to know that Roger is already familiar with the property.” Karin said. “What do you want to do with the space now?”

“I don’t know. I have to talk with my brothers and sisters.” Karin thought she heard Troy’s voice crack just slightly. “They’ll probably just want to clean it out and sell everything.”

“Alright, well, there’s no rush on my end. It doesn’t interfere with my job in any way.” Karin said.

“Okay, I just wanted to let you know.”

“Great. While I have you on the phone, I did go over to the house this morning and the unit we talked about is empty, and I just got off the phone with the Press to place an ad for it. I’m sure I can get it rented pretty quickly.” Karin said.

“Oh, good. I’m sorry that I didn’t know more about the place when I hired you.”

“It’s fine.” Karin said. Troy’s voice sounded especially worn out this morning. There was a part of her that wanted to reach out to him and be a friend, but she also wanted to be cautious not to send the wrong message and have him think she was romantically interested. It was such a fine line to walk. “Things are going to work out just fine, Troy. Don’t worry. I’ll take care of things there and let you know if there’s anything I need.”

“Alright, well, goodbye then.”

“Goodbye Troy.”

Karin looked at the clock and put away her paperwork. She packed a bag with grubby clothes for working in and packed some basic cleaning supplies in the back of her car, just in case the adjuster was willing to let her start cleaning right away. She hung up the Closed sign and headed down to First Street.

She ran through the McDonald’s drive thru and ate a sandwich on the way. She finished her sandwich parked outside the house, and then popped a couple of mints to freshen up her breath. She took photos of the exterior of the house while she waited for the adjuster to show.

Max LaLane introduced himself when he arrived. He had dark curly hair and a thick beard and mustache. Karin thought he looked more like a sailor than an insurance adjuster, but she’d never had to work with an adjuster before, so she hadn’t really known what to expect.

“It’s nice to meet you.” She said politely. She usually made small talk with everyone, but he made her nervous, not because of his appearance or demeanor, but just because of the job he had to do. If he gave her numbers that were lower than she could get the work done for, she was going to be doing a lot of it herself and cutting into her profits, so she wanted to be careful not to say anything that might have an effect on how he calculated his numbers.

Inside the downstairs apartment, the fire damage was visibly contained to the bathroom, but smoke had damaged every inch of the place. Karin and Max both worked silently, shooting pictures and taking notes. Karin’s camera moved to the couch where she could see the outline of her mother’s body in the smoke stained fabric. On the floor, she saw the tipped over clear bottle. She didn’t need to check the label, she knew it was gin. There was a full ash tray on the floor beside the bottle. Karin noticed two different brands of cigarettes in the ash tray.

“Well, at least you didn’t finish that fifth by yourself.” Karin thought. But, she was thankful that her mother’s guest, whoever he was, was not involved in the fire.

When they went upstairs, they saw that the fire had moved up the walls of the house rather than spreading wide, so the upstairs bathroom which was right above the downstairs bathroom had the most fire damage as well. The smoke damage was less intense in the upper unit, but still quite severe.

“Have you had a lot of experience with this type of damage?” Karin asked Max when they were back outside.

“Yes, fire damage is all I’ve done for the last fifteen years.” He answered.

“Wow, I didn’t know there were that many fires around here.”

“I cover the western half of the state.” Max explained.

“Oh, that makes sense.” Karin said nodding. “So, how does this place compare to other’s you’ve seen?”

“Well, it’s still standing. The structure doesn’t appear to be compromised, so I will be recommending repair rather than demolition, but that’s all I can tell you for sure today.”

“Can I let the tenants in to try and salvage their personal items, and start getting things cleaned out?” Karin asked.

“Sure, go ahead. I have all the information that I need from here. I’ll have more information for you tomorrow. Is this still a good number to reach you at?” Max held out his clipboard with her name and phone number at the top.

“Yes.”

“Do you have an alternate number you’d like to add?” Karin nodded and gave Max her cell phone number.

“You should start getting estimates for the repairs right away and I should be able to tell you tomorrow how much we will be covering.”

Karin called Roger as soon as Max was gone and told him to come right over. She grabbed the cleaning supplies and her backpack from the car and went inside. She changed in her mother’s bedroom and hung her clothes up in Virginia’s closet.

Karin grabbed the box of garbage bags and opened one. She put on a pair of gloves and starting pitching things from the floor into the bag. She worked fast and forcefully, venting her anger with her mother into every piece of trash and food and clothing that her mother had left all over the floor. Then, she heard Roger’s voice from the living room.

“Hey, what are you doing? Your face is bright red.” Roger said when he saw her.

“I’m just cleaning up,” she answered, a little embarrassed. “I must have gotten hot in there.”

“Well, be careful, and drink lots of water. You don’t want to overheat here all by yourself.” Roger said gently. He had been the maintenance man for the Marquette’s when they were alive and was a good friend of their family. He’d been fixing up old houses and finding creative ways to keep things working without breaking the bank for over fifty years.

“Thanks Roger, that’s really good advice.” Karin answered. “Most of the damage is in the bathrooms, both here and upstairs. The upstairs apartment is unlocked if you want to go up there, but the tenant is on her way over with her guy to try and collect on her renter’s insurance. I’m going to keep cleaning up. Holler if you have any questions.” Karin went back to the bedroom, and continued throwing things away, but with a little less force.

Roger had a list of repairs that he would need to make along with supplies and an estimate for labor within an hour.

“I padded the labor some, because it’s a bigger job than I can do myself so I’ll have to hire some guys and you know that they don’t all work as fast as we’d like them to.” Roger said.

“Thanks for getting this done so fast,” Karin said. “I really appreciate it. The insurance adjuster is supposed to give me a spending limit tomorrow.”

“Well, make sure that you are adding in all of your hours too.”

“Right now I’m just cleaning up Virginia’s mess.” Not everyone knew that Virginia was Karin’s mother, but Roger did.

“That doesn’t matter. You work, you get paid. Mr. Marquette wouldn’t have it any other way.”

“Yes sir,” Karin said. Roger left and she went back to cleaning up the bedroom. Whether she turned in any hours for it or not, she felt she had to clean up Virginia’s mess herself, she couldn’t ask anyone else to do it. 

She soon got over the stench of the smoke and was numb to the amount of garbage that had accumulated around the apartment. For awhile, Karin had been bringing her lunch to the apartment as an excuse to see how Virginia was keeping up with the house, her lack of housekeeping skills had been a problem for as long as Karin could remember. She would schedule time each day to have lunch and do some general picking up, wash dishes, put away some laundry, take out the trash and so on. Then, she got busier and only came a couple times each week and now, as she entered into her busiest season she just hadn’t made time to visit her mother. She knew she would have to clean up the garbage, and she accepted that.

It was the bottles that got to her, the seemingly endless bottles of alcohol, mostly empty or near empty, but everywhere, piles in the closet, hidden in the dresser drawers, behind the couch and in every cupboard in the kitchen. She filled bag after bag with bottles and she kept herself from crying. The sun set along the gorgeous western coast at the edge of the town of Dunewood, Michigan while thousands of tourists watched from their boats and beach houses and towels in the sand, and Karin just kept finding more and more bottles and filling more and more bags.

As the apartment began to get dark, she returned to Virginia’s bedroom, where it was the cleanest. She pulled back the blankets and the mattress itself was generally undamaged. In the bottom drawer of the dresser, Karin found a set of sheets that were virtually untouched from the fire except for a slight scent of smoke. She lay the sheet out across the top of the mattress and as the last bit of sunlight streamed in through the window, she lay down on top of the sheet, curled into a fetal position and cried out.

“Why, Momma, why?”

Continue reading here

Second Chance: November 22

The story starts here.

Jay spent the day showing Karin around his family’s estate, sharing stories of years gone by, cooking for her and making her laugh. As the sun set along the western side of the property that evening, Karin started to leave.

“You could stay,” Jay said “We could make some popcorn and rent a movie.”

“I’ll stay for a movie, but I can’t stay the night.”

“That’s fair, although I do promise to mostly behave myself if you decide to stay.” Jay said and opened up the bar in the living room. He filled a glass with ice.

“Is Ameretto Sour still your drink of choice?” he asked.

“Yes, but just one so I can still drive home after the movie.” Karin said and sat down on the couch. Jay brought over a couple of drinks and sat down next to her. He picked up the remote and started scrolling through his movie collection.

“Tell me when you see something you like.” It had been a long time since Karin had seen a movie. She didn’t subscribe to cable and her antenna only picked up a few stations. The only television she generally watched was the evening news and even that was almost always on while she worked on paperwork and only sort of listened to the news reports. But, Jay had a television screen that took up the entire wall and when he turned down the lights, it was like being in a theater. He clicked on the movie that she chose and then grabbed a blanket from a cedar chest behind the couch.  She snuggled up against him and sipped her drink as the movie began. Ninety minutes and two more drinks later, she missed the end of the movie because she was asleep.

When Karin woke up on the couch at Jay’s house it was still dark outside. Jay was already sitting at the counter in the kitchen drinking coffee and eating a roll.

“Good morning.” Jay said when she walked into the kitchen. “I have to leave this morning, so I don’t have much food in the house. All I have left is a couple of cinnamon rolls. It’s not the gourmet breakfast I served you yesterday, but it goes well with coffee.”

“Sounds yummy,” Karin said. Jay warmed up a roll in the microwave for her and poured her a cup of coffee.

“Mmm. It is yummy.” Karin said after taking her first bite. “I could get used to being served breakfast every morning.”

“I have to get back to work,” Jay said “But, you are welcome to stay and watch the sun come up before you go.”

“Oh, I would love to, but I have to get to work too. I told you that I couldn’t stay last night, why did you let me stay?” Karin said.

“It’s not my fault you fell asleep. Or that you had too much to drink to drive home.” Jay said. “Totally not my fault.” He smiled his sneaky grin at her.

“Oh, I think you planned it all along.”

“Maybe I did, maybe I didn’t. I guess you’ll never know.” Jay said. He finished up the dishes, dried and put them away and then walked Karin out to her car. He kissed her goodbye and then got in his car and drove away. Karin stood in the driveway outside her own car for several minutes before she got in and drove herself home. She had the pleasure of watching the sun come up in her rearview mirror as she drove into town. It was a reminder of her time with Jay.

Karin pulled into her driveway and ran up the stairs. She smiled as she unlocked the front door, posted her sign to Open, and made a pot of coffee. She opened her lock box and gathered the envelopes. She checked her messages and got started on her to-do list, filing papers and making phone calls at the same time; writing notes and leaving messages while checking websites for local nursing homes. She called and made an appointment with the admissions department at Lutheran Life Villages.

The phone rang and John Kinsmore was on the other end of the line.

“Good morning John.”

“Good morning Karin, you sound chipper this morning.” John said.

 “I’m having a good day so far,” she replied.

“Well, hopefully, I can make it even better. I just got all the paperwork finished for the house on First Street. The Fire Marshall has completed his investigation and we’ve been given the all clear on the house. You can go in anytime.”

“That is fantastic news.” Karin said. “I will call the insurance adjuster and have him meet me there as soon as possible.”

“Sounds good. Keep me in the loop as you get working,” John said.

“Will do.” Karin said goodbye to Mr. Kinsmore and opened the First Street file, searching for the insurance adjuster’s phone number. When she found it, she dialed and hoped that he would be available to meet her right away. She needed him to see it with her before she started to do any work, so that everything would be covered by the insurance.

She said a silent cheer when the adjuster got on the line and agreed to meet her later that day. She set her list in front of her and vowed to complete it before she left for the meeting. She knew that once she got started on the renovations, all of her time would be spent trying to get them ready and rented again.

Find out what happens next here

Second Chance: November 21

FYI: If you are following my NaNoWriMo word count, I hit the 25K word mark today - that's half way! I'me still a few days behind, but I'm gaining ground.

The story starts here.

Jay finished cleaning up and then sat down next to her at the counter.

“Aren’t you going to have some?” Karin asked.

“I thought you’d never ask,” Jay said, grabbing a fork from the drawer on the side of the counter and take a bite from her plate.

“That’s not quite what I had in mind,” she said, pretending to shield her plate with her hands.

“Oh, okay, I’ll make a note of that,” Jay said and then pretended to write in the air “Does not like to share.”

“This isn’t preschool.” Karin said, feigning offense.

“No it’s not, and that’s good, because if this were preschool, I would get in a lot of trouble for doing this…” and then he leaned in and kissed her. Karin’s mouth was full of food and she tried to chew quickly and swallow, but she had to pull away from him and cover her mouth so she didn’t end up choking. Jay just leaned back and laughed a loud, hearty belly laugh.

“Do you think that’s funny?”

“I think it’s very funny.” He laughed and then as soon as she’d swallowed and taken a drink of water, he leaned into to kiss her again. This time, she didn’t pull away. She kissed him back.

“Alright, clean your plate so we can get going.”

“Where are we going?”

“A trip down memory lane that you requested,” Jay said with a mischievous smile on his face. Karin ate the last few bites and finished her coffee. Jay took her dishes to the sink and then motioned for her to follow him. Back outside the sun was lighting the entire sky and it had gone from a rainbow of colors to a pale blue sparsely dotted with white clouds. The air was warm against her skin. Karin followed Jay across the grassy yard behind the house and up a worn path to the barn. He opened up the doors to reveal his old pick up truck.

“Is that the same truck?” Karin asked.

“One and the same,” Jay said.

“Wow, I have a lot of memories that belong with this truck.” Karin said and touched the hood. She walked around to the passenger side, lightly rubbing her hand along the paint as she walked. The old farm truck was painted the same deep red as the barn it was parked in. The bottom side was rusted through and the bed was filled with holes.

“Does it still run?”

“No,” Jay answered and popped open the hood. “My dad and I rebuilt the engine and put it in a different truck. This one is just an old shell now.”

“So, why have you kept it?”

“Oh, I don’t know. I could probably take it in to be recycled, but I just haven’t had the time. Besides, it holds a lot of memories for me too.” Jay said. Karin pulled the handle and opened the passenger side door. 

She climbed up into the cab as Jay closed the hood. She shut the door and looked out the front window at the groves of trees and imagined herself back in time. She pulled the seatbelt and buckled it.

“Are you coming?” she hollered to Jay. He smiled and climbed into the driver seat beside her. He buckled his seat belt and pretended to drive through the field and then to park the truck.

“Do you remember this spot?” he asked.

“Yes, it has my favorite view.”

“This was where we were the first time I kissed you.” Jay said.

“I remember.”

“I wished that we could stay there forever.”

“So did I.” She said and he reached out to take her hand. She unbuckled her seatbelt and slid across the seat so that she was right beside him.

“We could stay here now,” Jay said.

“And never go home.”

“Yeah.”

“Yeah,” Karin let out a deep breath as she leaned against him. She closed her eyes and let herself be eighteen again and let herself pretend that she didn’t know he would ever leave her. Together they just sat in silence for a few minutes.

“We could drive out there for real if you wanted to,” Jay said softly after awhile.

“No, this is perfect.” Karin said keeping her eyes closed. He wrapped his arms around her and squeezed her tightly.

“You are what makes it perfect,” he said and he pressed his lips against the top of her head. “It’s too bad you can’t do your job from a skyscraper in Chicago.”

Karin opened her eyes. Back to reality.

“No, Dunewood is my home. I’ve worked hard to build my business here and I have contracts with my customers that I won’t break.”

“I know, it’s just too bad, that’s all.”

“So, what’s stopping you from doing your job from Dunewood, MI instead of a skyscraper in Chicago? Didn’t you say that you grandfather ran the company from this farm?” Karin asked.

“Yes.” Jay said. “Yes, he did. He had a way of getting people to do things his way even when he wasn’t around. But, I can be here every weekend.”

“Oooh, we could be weekend lovers,” Karin said in a snarky tone, more so than she intended. Jay loosened his grip on her shoulders and pulled his arms back.

“Look Karin, I don’t want to offer you something that I can’t give you.”

“I know. I’m sorry. Let’s just enjoy the time we have together now.”

“Do you like horses?” Jay asked.

“Sure,” Karin answered.

“Come on.” Jay opened the door and jumped down from the cab of the truck and held out his arms to catch her as she jumped out behind him. He closed the barn doors and they walked down the hill from the barn toward the pasture. As they reached the fence, Karin could see at least a dozen horses.

“These aren’t yours, are they?”

“No, we rent out the pasture to the neighbors, but the horses frequently make their way across the fields and hang out near this fence line. I’m not sure why, but they seem to always be here.” Jay said.

One of the horses came right up to the fence where Karin was standing and stood there eating the grass. She reached out and petted it. She ran her hand down the side of the animal.

“It’s so pretty out here.” Karin said. “I think I could get used to a place like this, of course, I don’t know anything about farming or animals, I’ve never even had a pet. But, I could get used to this part.” Jay laughed.

“You’ve really never had a pet?”

“I’ve really never had a pet.”

“Well, I guess I’ve never had a pet either. Our animals were all for food or for work.” Jay said.

“That’s very practical.”

“Yes, I suppose it was.” Jay put his arm around her shoulders and turned her back toward the house. 

“Come on. I’ve got something else to show you.” They walked back up the hill to the barn and then across the yard to the house. Jay opened the garage door and invited Karin to get into his truck.

“This is different from that car you were driving the other day.” She said.

“Yeah, well, you said you liked the truck better.” Jay said.

“I did say that, didn’t I? Well, the car is very nice, but it’s true, I do prefer the truck. I just think it suits you better, but that’s probably because I always think of you as a big, strong, truck driving, hay throwing farm boy, not a Ferrari driving yuppie.”

“What do you have against young urban professionals?” he asked.

“Not a thing,” she said. “But, I think farm boys are sexy.” She hopped into the passenger side of the truck. He quickly followed her lead and jumped into the front seat.

“Well, then, let’s go for a ride.”

“Where to?” she asked, sliding into the middle seat without waiting for him to suggest it. He had to reach between her knees to shift the truck into reverse.

“Well, I was thinking that when you used to come out to the farm, we would take the truck out and check my traps, remember?”

“Yeah, I remember.” Karin said. She’d always enjoyed sitting up high in the cab of his pickup truck, but she hadn’t been real fond of wearing the rubber waders and trudging through swamps checking traps to see if a raccoon or fox or beaver had been caught.

“I don’t have any traps out anymore. I haven’t done that in several years, but I thought we could drive the route that we used to take, just for old time’s sake.”

“Alright, I did say I liked riding along on those bumpy gravel roads by your side in the truck.” Karin said. As they pulled out of the driveway and onto the paved road. “You know, I don’t think I ever told you this, but during those drives, I used to pretend we were a poor, married couple and that we had to do trap animals to survive. But, I didn’t mind it because it was something that we got to do together.”

“You’re right. I don’t think you ever told me that.” Jay said.

“At nineteen, it probably would have scared you half to death to have some girl say that she was imagining being married to you.”

“Maybe a little.” Jay said and made a sharp right turn onto a gravel road.

“Did you ever wonder what might have happened between us if your parents hadn’t sent you off to Chicago? Or maybe if your ancestors had never started the approved marriage clause in their wills?”

“I don’t wonder about it,” Jay said. “It doesn’t matter what might have been. It wasn’t. It couldn’t be. I can’t change that no matter how badly I might have wanted to. All I can do is love you now.”

“But, what has changed, Jay?” Karin said softly. There was no anger or sarcasm in her voice. It was a sincere question. “What makes today any different than the day we met ten years ago?”

“I don’t know Karin. I don’t have the answers that you’re looking for. My grandfather died last year and I’m hoping that my parents will reconsider their position. I know that you want an honest relationship and that you want to be married.”

“Maybe marriage isn’t as important as I once thought,” Karin said sadly.

“Don’t say that.” Jay said. “I know that you don’t believe that. I listened to you then and I listen to you now. I know what you’re looking for and believe me, I want more than anything to give you everything that you want.”

“If only wanting it was enough.”

“Karin, if you can be patient with me, I promise you, I will find a way for us to be together, even if it means giving up my inheritance.”

“No, Jay, you can’t do that for me.” Karin said. “Then, I would always feel guilty and it would always hang over our relationship.”

“Then, I’ll find another way,” Jay said. “But, I need to know that you trust me and that you will wait for me to figure it out.”

“I’ve been waiting for you my entire life,” Karin said.

Continue the story here.

Second Chance: November 20

The story starts here.

Karin went home and put away the files for the Bennett properties. She added all the tasks that she and Troy had discussed to her to-do list. She wondered if she should have given Troy more of a chance, and maybe said yes to his request for a date. But, in her heart she knew that she had done the right thing. He was obviously overcome by his grief over his mother, and Karin had a feeling that his desire for her company had more to do with replacing that relationship rather than specifically being with her.

Karin spent the night not sleeping. She woke up every hour or so and checked the clock, was it late enough to get up and drive out to Jay’s? she kept wondering. Around three in the morning, she finally got up and dressed. She’d promised to be there before the sun came up and she intended to keep that promise. She knew that spending time with Jay was little more than a distraction from reality and that there was no hope that anything lasting could come of it, but even so, she just couldn’t help herself.

It was still dark as she pulled into the driveway at the Palmer farm. It had been ten years since she’d driven up this stretch of pavement to the side of the large colonial home. The trees were taller and fuller, but everything else was exactly the same as she remembered it.

Karin wondered the whole drive if she was too early, and if she would be waking up the whole household when she pulled into the drive, but the lights were already on in the house and Jay was standing on the deck looking out over the drive when she pulled in.

“Coffee’s on,” Jay yelled down to her when she opened the door of her car.

“I need some,” she yelled back. “It’s crazy early.”

“Is it?” Jay asked. “I was thinking it was crazy late. I’ve been waiting for you all night.” Her heart jumped and she trembled at his words. She had also been eagerly anticipating seeing him again, and she’d wanted all night to just get in her car and drive to him.

“Well, I’m here now.” She said as she reached the top of the outer deck stairs. He took her hand and led her in through the sliding doors to the kitchen, where he poured her a cup of coffee and handed it to her.

“Mmm, it’s delicious,” she said after taking a sip.

“Come on, I’ve picked out a perfect spot for us to watch the sun rise.” He put his arm around her and showed her to an oversized chair on the back of the deck where he’d set a carafe of coffee and a blanket. The chair was just big enough for the two of them to squeeze into. He wrapped the blanket around them both and then dimmed the deck lights so that it was completely dark except for the glimmer of light that had begun to shine along the eastern horizon. Karin put her head on Jay’s shoulder and that glimmer of light was like a glimmer of hope that this moment could last. The warmth of his body against hers matched the warmth of the cup in her hands. Her body relaxed into his and he kissed the top of her head.

“I wish I could spend every morning like this,” Karin said as the entire sky became filled with color.

“Me too.”

“Do you miss the farm?” Karin asked.

“I miss a lot of things about living in Dunewood.”

“Do you ever watch the sun rise over Lake Michigan when you’re in Chicago?”

“I’m sometimes in my office early enough to see it from there, but it’s not the same as watching it here, with the smell of hay and the barns and calluses… it’s been years since I’ve worked hard enough to have calluses on my hands. I miss those.” Jay said. Karin took his hand in hers and rubbed her fingers along his palm.

“You’re right,” she said. “They feel like spoiled baby hands.”

“Oh, really?” he said and reached to tickle her. “They’re still pretty strong hands. I could still throw hay if I had to.”

She laughed and tried to wiggle away from his hold, but he was holding her tight. She let him have her and fell back into his arms.

“Do you ever wish you’d stayed on the farm?” she asked.

“Yes and no,” Jay answered. “Palmer Enterprises is where I belong. It’s my grandfather’s legacy. This place was his home and mine too, but my parents have already moved to Florida and rented out all the orchards to neighboring farms. There are no more animals in the barns or fields and the house just sits here empty most of the time. The things that made this place home are gone now.”

“So, why do you keep coming back?”

“To Dunewood? Or to the farm?”

“Both.”

“I used to always come home to see my parents, until they moved. Since then, I just come out here to remember the good times I had here, like the night I met you.” Jay said and leaned in to kiss her. She didn’t back away, she just closed her eyes and let herself melt into him, as though their bodies were one. Her body gave way to his while the sun burned bright on the horizon like the flame that would consume her.

As the kiss ended and she opened her eyes, they met his dark green eyes and they shone in the morning light like emeralds. Jewels, his eyes were like jewels, she thought and then she was lost in another kiss. Her head was swimming and her body trembled in his arms. He could ask for anything and she would not say no. But, he leaned back against the wooden bench and looked at her.

“I’ve waited a long time to do that,” he said. “So, now that the sun is up, what else would you like to do today?”

“I don’t know. It’s so beautiful I think I could sit out here all day.”

“How about breakfast? I’m starving.” He said.

“Okay,” Karin said with a shrug. “That sounds really good too.”

“We can eat it out here if you want.”

“That sounds even better.” She said. The sun was rising in the sky and warming the air, it would soon be a hot summer day in Dunewood. The streets would fill with tourists flooding the beaches and novelty shops. The avenue in front of her house would soon be packed with automobiles and pedestrians making their way to the lake front, but she sat in the peaceful silence of the still morning, temporarily unaware that any other world existed.

Jay took her hand and intertwined his fingers with hers. Inside the kitchen, she watched as he casually grabbed ingredients from the refrigerator and cupboards and threw them together in a bowl. Then, he poured the mixture into a frying pan. The resulting omelet like concoction was delicious.

“Where did you learn to cook like this?” Karin asked.

“I picked up a few things here and there.” Jay said. “I have to eat alone a lot and I got tired of sitting by myself in restaurants, but I really like food, so I started learning how to make some of my favorite dishes from my favorite restaurants and then I could have them at home.”

“Well, I’m impressed. I never eat this good at home.”

“All the more reason to spend more time with me,” Jay said and smiled the smile that had won her heart so many times over. She could only sigh as she watched him cleaning up in the kitchen. He washed the pan and put it away while she sat on a bar stool at the counter eating up his creation. With each bite she imagined herself living here with Jay, and she considered what Michelle had said. What would be so bad about just being lovers? If his parents didn’t want them to get married, why did they have to be married? What would be so bad about just being here, together? There love wouldn’t mean any less or would it? Couldn’t they be completely committed to each other, promise til death do us part, and live like they were married, without actually doing it? Wouldn’t that solve everything? Couldn’t the solution be that simple?

“I’m really glad you like it,” Jay said. “It’s one of my favorites. I was going to make heart shaped pancakes for you, but I thought you would find that sort of corny.”

Karin laughed. “You’d be right about that, but I’m sure they would have delicious just the same.” She said.

“You’re just being nice,” Jay said.

“Maybe a little,” Karin admitted. “It’s hard to imagine pan cakes, even heart shaped ones, being as delicious as this.”

“Exactly!” Jay said. “That’s why I went for taste over sentiment. I knew you would appreciate it. You’re so much more practical than all the other girls.”

“What other girls?” Karin asked.

“You know, all the other girls who would prefer heart shaped pan cakes over this awesome pan quiche.”

“What did you do, some kind of street side taste test? Like, which soft drink do you like better, Pepsi or Coke?”

“Except we served heart shaped pan cakes and pan quiche and asked women ‘what would you rather have your significant other make you for breakfast?’… and all the impractical girls chose the pan cakes.” Karin laughed as she realized that Jay was just teasing her. He’d always had a sarcastic side to him that would catch her off guard and sometimes it would take her a minute to realize that he was teasing her. But, he was always light hearted and never mean to her with his sarcasm. She found him more clever and witty than anything and she enjoyed talking with him. There wasn’t anything about him that she didn’t love, and she was sure he felt the same way about her, couldn’t that be enough? Maybe Michelle was right and marriage was just a piece of paper. Maybe she and Jay could have a life together without it.

Keep following the story here.