CHAPTER TEN

 

 

Kiki wanted to go home.

After spending the afternoon with her daughters holed up in the Hilton, she made the decision to go home. Nothing was going to drive her out of her new home, including a violent crime. She could have very easily stayed away for weeks, going to her parents’ house and cowering from the monstrosity she had purchased and the bad event that had happened within the old walls, but she just couldn’t do it. Kiki was a fighter by nature and she and that old house, and that shady neighborhood, were going to come to terms. Her terms.

She called Trace’s number twice but it went to voicemail. Curious as to where he was, not to mention disappointed that he hadn’t answered his phone, she took a shower, washed her hair and cleaned up, and put on the cute black jogging suit. Meanwhile, Esme and Embry had ordered room service so by the time she emerged from the bathroom the girls had quite a spread set out. Smelling the food reminded Kiki that she hadn’t eaten all day so while the girls tucked into sandwiches and fries, she confiscated the cheeseburger and wolfed it down.

Fed, bathed, and satisfied, she packed up her meager items into the big paper bag from the gift shop and followed the girls outside to their Volkswagen. Esme carried Stanley while Embry opened up the car. It had stopped raining and, at sunset, the sky was clear and bright. Kiki, her girls, and the dog climbed into the car and sped off for northwest Pasadena.

When they pulled up to the curb outside the front of the house, they couldn’t see any activity. It was a big, foreboding house that was shadowed and rather creepy as the sun set. As Kiki climbed out of the car with the dog, the girls grabbed their suitcases and bags from the trunk.

“Mom?” Embry was looking up at the old house as her mother opened the big front gate. “I’m kind of scared to come back here after what happened to you this morning. Are you sure it’s safe?”

They wandered down the path that led to the fountain and, beyond that, the porch. Kiki was trying not to let on that her sense of fear was returning. The last time she was in this house, a man had tried to kill her.

“It’ll be fine,” she assured them. “Mr. Rocklin said he would secure the house and I believe him. What happened was just a freak thing, girls. I don’t want you getting worked up about it.”

“Mr. Rocklin,” Esme giggled. “So… what did you do, Mom? Run an ad for the hottest contractor to come fix your house?”

Kiki bit her lip, grinning, as she put Stanley down so he could go relieve himself. “I did, actually,” she teased back. She hadn’t told the girls anything about Trace yet because their focus had been on what had happened and not much else. Now, the questions were coming and she tried to be prepared. “Actually, he and Uncle Jimmy were best friends back in high school. Gramma and Grampa know the family.”

“Really?” Esme said, interested. “He’s really cute.”

Kiki pulled out her house key, watching Embry chase after the dog. “He’s a very nice man.”

“How long is he going to be working on the house?” Esme asked.

Kiki shrugged. “To tell you the truth, I haven’t even awarded his company the job yet. It’s pretty pricey. I’m not sure what I’m going to do.”

“Then what’s he doing here?”

“I told you – he’s a friend of Uncle Jimmy’s and he’s helping me out.”

Embry picked up the dog and picked her way over through the bramble. “Is he married?”

Esme giggled and Kiki grinned. “I think he’s a little old for you,” she said.

Embry laughed. “No, Mom,” she insisted, “for you.”

Kiki just grinned and shook her head. She didn’t want to respond to her daughter, mostly because she wasn’t sure what to say. But she knew she was going to have to figure out something fast considering Trace had pretty much moved himself in to the house. Just as they reached the front door, they began hearing commotion in the back yard. Their smiles faded.

“What’s that?” Esme wanted to know, looking at her mother.

Kiki could hear the voices, the banging about. She shook her head. “I don’t know,” she said as she handed the house key to Esme. “Open up the house. I’ll be right back.”

The girls did as they were told as Kiki walked around the side of the house. Cautiously, she made her way across the overgrown brick, straining to catch a glimpse of the noise until the back yard came into view. She could immediately see two big pickup trucks in her driveway and a host of equipment. Additionally, someone was planting some fairly heavy shrubbery all along her back fence. Curious, she made her way over to the fence only to be confront with a man she’d never seen before.

Jesse was covered with dirt, wearing massive gloves with a post hole digger in his hand. He had been digging away at a hole for one of the shrubs, coming up for air and coming face to face with a decidedly beautiful woman. Startled, he accidentally dropped the post hole digger.

“Uh… hi,” he said, reaching down to quickly pick up the equipment. “I’m Jesse Rocklin, Rocklin Construction.”

About the time he said it, Trace heard him but he couldn’t see who he was talking to because of all the bushes. Stripped from the waist up, he was sweaty and dirty and tanned and gorgeous. At least, that’s what Kiki thought when he came around a large bush and they caught sight of each other. The man looked like one of those guys on the “Sexy Construction Workers” calendar. Holy smokes!

“Hi,” Trace said with surprise. “What are you doing back?”

Kiki wasn’t quite over the sight of him in all of his half-naked glory. “I didn’t want to stay at the hotel any longer,” she said, distracted by all that flesh. “Besides, the girls wanted to see the house and I really wanted to come home. What are you guys doing?”

Trace propped his shovel up against the fence and pulled off his gloves as he made his way over to her.

“How are you feeling?” he asked, his tone soft.

It was difficult to look him in the eye when his beautiful, muscular chest was right in her face. She gazed up at him.

“Better,” she said softly. “Thank you for being so wonderful and taking care of everything.”

He smiled at her, the warmth between them sparking wildly. “Anything for you,” he murmured, his gaze drifting over her lovely face. “You’re sure you’re okay?”

“Fine.”

“Where are your daughters?

“In the house.” She wriggled her eyebrows. “They’ve been asking about you. I think you made an impression.”

He chuckled nervously, scratching his head. “I’m not sure how,” he said. “We didn’t say a whole lot to each other. I just tried to keep them from finding out what went on this morning. I figured it was your place to tell them.”

Her smile faded. “I told them,” she said softly. “I had to. When they let themselves into the hotel room, they startled me so badly that I freaked out. I had to tell them why their mom was plastered to the ceiling, screaming her head off.”

He nodded, his gaze drifting up to the big, imposing house. “The window’s repaired, at any rate,” he said softly, then turned to his brother, who had resumed digging holes. “My brother and I have been working on securing the yard. Jesse, this is Kiki Conrad in case you haven’t figured that out yet.”

Jesse stopped digging and grinned. “Actually, I did.”

Kiki smiled in return. “It’s very nice to meet you.”

Jesse leaned on his digger. “You, too,” he said. “So you’re Jimmy’s little sister?”

“And you’re Trace’s little brother?”

Jesse laughed. “Touché, my friend,” he said, already feeling comfortable with her. His gaze moved to the house. “I really love your house. I want to marry it.”

Kiki giggled. “You’ll have to get in line,” she told him. “I’m in love with it so I get first dibs.”

Jesse made a face. “I thought you were in love with my brother?”

Kiki’s laughter grew and her cheeks went warm. She put a hand to her face, looking at Trace. “Did you tell him that?”

Trace was smiling, shaking his head. “I did not,” he said, looking at his brother. “He’s pretty close to being duct-taped to a chair and getting a beating if he doesn’t shut his mouth.”

Jesse grinned as he resumed digging with his post hole digger. “Eh, you don’t scare me, you big bully,” he sneered, although it was in good humor. “You’re not going to do anything with her around.”

Kiki snorted as Trace just shook his head. “Sorry,” he said. “He’s kind of a pain. Nobody in the family likes him.”

“I can tell,” Kiki said, though she didn’t mean a word of it. She could see how easy the brothers were with each other. She motioned to the shrubbery. “So, what are you doing here?”

Trace shifted to the subject of the project. “Providing you some protection and privacy,” he said. “Jesse and I figured that the guy who broke in must have come in off the driveway because there’s really no barrier of protection here. It’s the weak link in the security. Therefore, we bought a lock for the back gate and are planting these shrubs to provide a measure of privacy from the street. We’re going to make this place as private and as bottled-up as we can get it.”

By this time, Kiki’s smile was gone. “You would do all of this?”

He turned to look at her, feeling his heart soften as he gazed into her sweet face. “Of course I would,” he said softly. “I want to make sure you feel safe and secure here. This is only the beginning.”

Kiki wasn’t quite sure what to say. She looked at the shrubs and, as touched as she was, all she could see was dollar signs. She was already worried what she owed him.

“My gosh,” she breathed. “I’m not quite sure what to say. That you’d go to so much trouble….”

He cut her off, gently done. “It wasn’t any trouble at all,” he assured her. “We’ll be done in a half hour or so. Can I take you and the girls to dinner when I’m done?”

She looked at him. Really looked at him. It was a pivotal moment; if she truly wanted to date him as she said she did, then she would have to tell her girls something about her relationship with him, infantile as it was. But if she was unsure, then this moment would tell the tale. Given his actions over the past twelve hours, she had come to see that he was as genuine as they come. His actions had spoken far louder than words. If she had any reservation about their relationship, however small, it was gone.

“I should probably tell them something… about us,” she said softly. “Are you still planning on moving in?

“I’m going to go home after dinner and pull some things together.”

“Are you sure?”

“You’re not spending another night alone in this house. I’ll sleep on the damn porch if I have to, but you’re not going to be alone.”

She sighed faintly, a smile on her lips. “All right,” she agreed. “Give me a few minutes to let the girls know… well, let them know what’s going on. It’s only fair.”

His eyes glimmered. “I’ll follow your lead with them.”

It was a scary and thrilling prospect, like they were taking the next big step. She nodded and he winked at her. As she turned for the gate and he turned back for his shovel, Kiki called over to Jesse.

“It was good to meet you, little brother,” she said, watching him as he looked up from his shovel and grinned. “You’re welcome to come back any time.”

“I’ll take you up on that,” he said as he waved at her.

Kiki went back into the yard, listening to the digging and scraping going on behind her. By the time she reached the back door, she noticed the brand-new window. She also noticed two faces gazing back at her from inside. Esme opened the back door for her mother.

“What are they doing out there?” she asked as Kiki came into the house. “Is that Mr. Rocklin? Oh, my God… does he have his shirt off?”

Kiki shut the back door to prevent Trace from hearing Esme’s teenage lust, glancing out of the big, new window. “It’s Mr. Rocklin and his brother,” she said, not addressing the missing shirt question. Then she turned around to face the girls. “Well, now; do you want to see the house?”

The distraction worked because they very much wanted to see the house. Kiki gave them the grand tour of the ground floor before taking them upstairs to the old bedrooms and bathrooms. She got the willies when she passed into her bedroom, remembering the state she last saw it in, but it was cleaned and sanitized, and it was easy to forget that she last saw it with a body in it. In fact, showing the girls the house brought around her love of the old place again and she pushed the horror out of her mind. She wasn’t going to let it lick her.

Kiki took the girls up to the attic and explained that she was going to make it their “space”. They loved the idea and began planning out where they were going to put their beds and desks. Kiki stood over by the attic window that looked over the back yard, watching her daughters as they paced around the attic. She was also watching Trace and Jesse, still digging out by the driveway. They had planted enough six foot shrubs to very adequately block the view of the back yard from the driveway. She was mostly watching Trace in all of his naked-torso glory. It had easily been over two years since she last had sex and she couldn’t help but think about what it would be like to be intimate with him. She sincerely hoped she got to find out.

“Mom?” Esme said. “Did you hear me?”

Kiki tore her gaze from the window, noticing that both of her children were looking curiously at her. She smiled weakly.

“I didn’t,” she said. “What did you say?”

The girls gravitated over towards the window to see what had their mother’s attention. It didn’t take either of them long to figure out that she was watching Trace. There was nothing else she could possibly be looking at that intently. The girls eyed the shirtless man with the fabulous torso.

“I asked if we could paint it pink on one wall and do a zebra print on the other,” Esme said, grinning knowingly at her sister.

Kiki opened her mouth to flatly refuse them but she saw that they were teasing her. She could also see that they were looking out of the window just as she was. Her girls were silly but they weren’t dense; she suspected they could already see their mother’s attraction to Trace Rocklin. In fact, she was sure they knew it. They were young women now, maturing admirably, and not little children that needed to be protected. The time for truth had come.

“I’m finding myself in a strange position,” she finally said.

Esme, in particular, was eyeing Trace as the man used his muscles to plant the last juniper. “Why?” she asked.

Kiki reached out and stroked Embry’s long hair. “Because…,” she began, “well… I mean, you know what went on with Daddy when he died.”

The girls sobered. “We know,” Embry, the more mature and outspoken of the pair, murmured softly. “We know what you went through. We also know how much you tried to protect us from it.”

Kiki was serious. “I just didn’t want your memories of your dad to be damaged. “

“We know,” Embry said. “They weren’t. He is still our dad and we will always love him.”

Kiki thought about Mark Conrad for a moment. “He was a pretty good guy,” she said softly. “I still miss him sometimes.”

“Even after you found out… you know, what went on?” Embry wanted to know.

Kiki nodded. “He was still a good husband and provider,” she said. “I miss his smile. Do you remember it? So bright. He had the best smile.”

The girls grinned; Embry had his smile. “Dad looked like an ad for toothpaste,” she said. “Remember how he used to leave dental floss all over the house?”

Kiki rolled her eyes in recollection, her attention returning to the window and Trace as he and his brother began to pack up their equipment. She sobered.

“I will admit, though, that Daddy and I didn’t have the greatest relationship the last few years he was alive,” she said softly. “He was distant from me, always busy. I felt like a single parent a lot of the time. Lonely, you know? I pretty much resigned myself to the fact that it was going to be that way the rest of my life, but it looks like I might have been wrong.”

“Why?” Esme wanted to know.

Kiki pointed out the window, to Trace and Jesse as they loaded up one of the pickup trucks in the driveway.

“I was acquainted with Trace Rocklin back in high school,” she said. “As I told you, he and Uncle Jimmy were best friends. I remember Trace as this big, quiet kid that used to hang around Gramma and Grampa’s house but not much more than that until he showed up here a few days ago to give me an estimate to restore the house. Right away, it was like we ‘clicked’. He’s handsome and funny and very thoughtful. When all of that chaos happened this morning, he was so strong. He took care of me and took care of Stanley. He really seems to be a man of his word and I respect that. I like him a lot.”

The girls were torn between surprise and glee. “Does he like you?” Esme asked.

“He wants to be my boyfriend.”

“I knew it,” Embry said as if a great idea had just occurred to her. “This morning when we came looking for you, there was something in his face when he talked about you. So… are you going to go out with him?”

“Would you have a problem if I did?”

Esme started giggling but Embry shook her head. “You should go out with him,” she insisted. “I know you’ve been lonely since Dad died and all. Besides, Mr. Rocklin is really hot!”

Esme’s giggles turned to laughter. Embry started laughing, too. Kiki grinned at her girls, realizing that, somehow, they’d grown up since the last time she saw them. She could hear it in their voices and see it in their manner. They were accepting of the situation, of their mother’s needs, something that only came with maturity. She was glad to see it and also relieved.

“I don’t know where it’s going,” she said honestly. “Maybe it goes nowhere. Maybe we end up… well, you know… together forever or married. But for now, I’m going to enjoy it and I wanted to be up front with you girls about what’s going on. Are you sure you’re okay with it?”

The girls nodded seriously. “We’re fine with it,” Embry said.

“Good,” Kiki said, “because there’s more. Because of what happened this morning, Trace wants to move in here with me. But it’s not what you think – he’s going to rent a room and help me work on the place. He really just doesn’t want me being alone.”

The girls looked at each other. Embry finally wriggled her eyebrows. “Mom, what would you say if I moved in with a guy I’d only known three days?”

“I’d yell at you and then send you to live in a convent.”

Embry shrugged. “I’m not going to yell at you, but maybe you should re-think living with a guy you just met. I mean, he’s really cute and all, but that’s a big step.”

Kiki shook her head. “It’s not like that,” she assured them. “Think of this house as an apartment building. He’s going to live in one apartment and I’m going to live in another. It’s not going to be like we’re shacking up. We’re not even going to share the same bedroom. Besides, after what happened this morning… I admit I’m not looking forward to spending another night alone.”

“So he’s an emotional crutch?” Embry pressed.

Kiki shook her head. “Not at all,” she replied. “He’s a man I’d like to get to know very well. “

“I still say you should get to know him better first.”

Kiki gazed at her daughter, mulling over the suggestion. Then she reached out and pulled the young lady to her, kissing her head.

“When in the hell did you grow up?” she muttered as she kissed her again.

Before Embry could reply, Esme caught sight of Trace and Jesse as they headed back into the yard. “Mom,” she said. “They’re done. He’s coming to the house.”

“Let’s go see Mr. Sexy!” Embry exclaimed.

Kiki let go of Embry so fast that the young girl stumbled. Then, they were a giggling herd of women as they raced down from the attic, to the second floor, and down to the first floor. Stanley, who had been sleeping on his bed in the kitchen, heard the thundering feet and started to bark. About the time they reached the kitchen, there was a knock on the back door and Embry gently pushed her mother out of the way, playfully, and ran to the back door with her sister on her heels. Giggling and breathless, they opened the door.

Trace, with his shirt on now, stood there with Jesse, wondering why the girls were so giddy. He grinned. “Whatever’s going on in there, it sounds like a good time,” he observed.

The girls started laughing as Kiki came up behind them and pushed between the pair. “They’re out of control,” she told him, not wanting to explain why her girls were so giggly. “Are you finished?”

She was shifting the subject and Trace went with her. “Yes,” he replied. “Do you want to come out and take a look to see if we missed anything?”

Kiki shrugged as she stepped outside. “I really wouldn’t know,” she said. “You guys did this on your own, so if you like it, I like it. What do I owe you?”

“A couple of bottles of water,” Jesse said. “We did it as one old family friend to another.”

Kiki shook her head firmly. “No way, you guys,” she said, even as Embry ran for the refrigerator to get them water. “That had to cost you at least a couple of hundred dollars. Please let me pay you for it.”

Embry stuck her long arms in between her mother and Trace, handing him and Jesse the water. Trace accepted it gratefully.

“How ‘bout you pay for dinner?” he said, his eyes glimmering at her. “We’ll call it even.”

“Done.”

“Jesse’s coming, too.”

“He’d better.”

The men downed the water, handing her back the bottles. “I need to go home and shower,” Trace told her. “Where do you want to go eat?”

Kiki cocked her head thoughtfully. “There’s that log cabin restaurant out in east Pasadena near the freeway,” she said. “The one with the big boat in front of it?”

Trace nodded. “I haven’t been there in years, but I love it,” he said. “Jesse and I’ll meet you there at six?”

“We’ll be there.”

“Good.”

Trace wanted to kiss her goodbye; he really did. It must have been written all over his face because Embry suddenly shoved her sister back into the kitchen.

“The love birds want to be alone,” she said, rather exaggeratedly. “Come on; let’s go find something to do.”

She made kissing noises as she pushed her giggling sister away. Kiki grinned, embarrassed, as Trace laughed softly. Jesse, sensing he was no longer needed or wanted, turned back for the trucks. Trace watched his brother go before returning his attention to Kiki.

“Am I that obvious?” he asked softly. “I thought I was being kind of cool about it.”

“Cool about what?”

“Wanting to kiss you.”

Kiki just shrugged. “The girls are just being silly,” she replied quietly. “I had a little talk with them.”

“I can tell,” he grinned. “How did they react?”

“Happy, for the most part,” she replied, eyeing him. “But they weren’t so sure about you moving in here with me. I explained the arrangement and told them that we wouldn’t be sharing a bedroom but that didn’t seem to ease them.”

He was gazing at her, his hazel eyes glimmering warmly. “They’re not stupid.”

Her eyes widened. “Now, wait a minute….”

He laughed softly, cutting her off. “I’m just teasing,” he said. Then, he grasped her arm gently as he looked at his watch. “If I’m going to meet you there at six, I’d better get going.”

He pulled Kiki to him and kissed her on the cheek. Kiki fought off a grin, putting a hand to her cheek as he let her go and headed back to the driveway where the trucks were. Closing the door, she followed her giggly daughters upstairs to get ready for their dinner date.