House of Kat

House of Kat

happyhugo

A Romance

A Short story---16,519

Copyright (c) 01/05/10 

Readers score  7.30

Divorced, Robby goes to work for an
older business woman. Over time he is urged
to reconcile with the woman he divorced.
Pressure is applied by his mother, the new
woman he married, and by the boy that
caused the divorce in the first place.
This story has an extreme mature theme.

Chapter One

Mom was one of those women who had faith that things would be better someday, no matter her financial situation. Dad died when I was six, leaving Mom with no source of income. There was a mortgage on our home and it wasn’t very long before my mother realized that the insurance from his death wouldn’t last very long. She went to work in an insurance office as a secretary.

There was always enough money for food, but with the mortgage on the house and with seventeen years left to pay, she had to watch every penny. I did my part as I got older. I had a paper route, mowed lawns, raked leaves, and ran errands. I had one little hobby that I practiced when I was alone to entertain myself. I loved to sketch different items that I looked at and wanted to remember.

I started with crayons, copying from different catalogs that came into the house by mail, but I couldn’t get the details I wanted with them. I could by using pencils for my sketches. Over time I would think beyond the images and what something would look like if the item was constructed in a different way or of a different material. This habit of mine was just something I did when there was nothing else for me to do.

There was no possibility of further education in my future because of our finances. I didn’t dwell on it. Mom and I were doing as well as many families would do in a like situation and a big segment of young people never went to college.

The area where we lived consisted of rows of cottages built as the owners of the old-time mansions sold off much of the acreage that surrounded them. These mansions were a part of our heritage and when one was torn down, I felt as if we were losing something that could never be regained. Originally these homes of the well-to-do demanded a staff to tend the grounds and a sizable staff in the interior. These places, as they changed hands, became my major source of income.

I had full-time work as a handy person at some of these more stately homes. I felt I was preserving something valuable when I was directed to fix a window or repair a broken railing. I used the library as a source for how to do minor plumbing or masonry. Just to take off and put on the storm windows each summer and fall was a major undertaking. I was willing to work and as I grew into my teen-age years, sometimes I made almost as much as my mother did working in an office.

I fell in love with Allison Merkle when we were seventeen, and eventually we gave up our virginity to each other. To me, this meant it was to be a lifetime together. Allison was cute and tended to be flirtatious. We were the same age, but I realized she had nowhere near the maturity that I had. Sometimes I felt she would go too far with her flirtations, but she always apologized and swore I was her one true love. I suppose lurking in the background of every true love, is how much money do you have or how much you are you going to make? On the outside, my prospects might not look that great, but they were improving all of the time as my name spread among the well-to-do.

As a teen-ager I was earning good money doing chores around the neighborhood. That amount didn’t look as if it would support a wife and give her all that she desired. I did make a pretty good wage, but it was often feast or famine because the income was so unsteady. I wanted a home of my own and was saving toward it. When we signed the papers for our home, we were married. We lasted three years before we were divorced.

Divorce! This was the last thing that I could imagine happening to me. But, as the saying goes, you never know. And I didn’t. Over the years as a teen-ager I had built up quite a clientele of people I worked for. I cared for their property as if it was my own. Soon after I married, I was often asked to go south in the fall and get winter quarters ready in Florida. I was to make sure their properties here in New York were ready for them when they returned in the spring. Sometimes I would be gone for a whole week at a time.

Allison worked in an office where she was in the secretarial pool. She was the youngest and listened to the other women, many older and single because of divorce. Some had never married. You could say they had a jaded view of life and were maybe a little jealous of a young woman who had a life opposite of their own. She being married, with a husband and a home of her own.
 
Often, if I was out of town or was too busy to be home for the evening meal, Allison would go out with the girls. This soon became a way of life for her. I never suspected that there was anything that she did on these evenings out that would destroy our marriage.

I had one special request the first year. I was to open up a winter cabin and have it ready for the Christmas holidays for a family group. This was in the Adirondack Mountains. I made it into the cabin the week before Christmas and I had it ready on time for the owners. To collect an added bonus, I was asked to stay an extra day to make sure everyone knew how to work the generator, stoves, and start the snow blower, if needed. There was a heavy snowfall and I was snowbound for three extra days. I was there a total of eleven days and I wasn’t home for the Christmas holiday.
 
Allison was perturbed when I reached home and she shut me out of our bed. This was the first time this had happened in our life together. I was now hearing the comment that I had better change and find a steady job, because she wouldn’t continue to live like this for long. I apologized all over the place and she wouldn’t listen at all. Our relations were strained for several days and Allison continued to have her girls night out.

Suddenly this changed and I was getting from her how sorry she was for the way she had been acting. Sex then was fast and furious to make up for the month and more I had been without. I was informed soon after that we were to have a baby. How unsuspecting can a person be? Very, if he thinks he has the love of a faithful wife. Robert Roger Anderson, III, came in September the following fall. I was ecstatic.

I worked all the hours and begged for more to have enough money to make a nice home for me and my family. This lasted until the Christmas party when Bobby was fifteen months old. I overheard some friends gossiping while I was relieving myself in the restroom. “Robby is so dumb. You would think he didn’t know how long it takes to have a baby.” I sat there and counted, remembering where I was when Bobby would have been conceived, and when he was born. It wasn’t possible for me to have fathered Bobby if he was born a full term baby.

I don’t know who Allison had been listening to, but she had received some bad advice. It didn’t take much investigation to find out how unfaithful my wife was being. It was a man that always seemed to have money to spend and was a constant companion to my wife when I wasn’t around. When confronted, she said she still loved me as deeply as ever, but she was alone so much. She admitted to having a friend who was generous and always paid her tab when she was out with the girls. “How have you thanked him for all of this? Are you still seeing him?” She wouldn’t answer either question. “Is Bobby my son?”

I started divorce proceedings the next day, although it broke my heart. I walked away without paying alimony or child support. Allison wanted and got the tiny little bungalow that I had been able to scrape up enough money to put a down payment on. There was no equity built up and I actually had to find more money to pare down the mortgage somewhat. This was to balance the difference between the mortgage and the equity, as the property was technically changing hands.

The man who sired the baby moved in with my wife before the divorce was final. He lasted only a month before Allison realized that he was nowhere near what she thought he was. She kicked him out of my former home and out of her life. The money he so impressed Allison with was found to be money he was taking from his mother, and he had no solid prospects of his own. Especially after the mother disowned him for stealing from her. Allison was now much the same in the secretarial pool as the rest of those unhappy women.

Allison was back looking for sympathy and reconciliation. No way could I see any reason to reconcile. It wasn’t long before the bank foreclosed and my ex-wife and the boy of another man, became homeless. I was under pressure by my mother to take her back. “Mom, if you want Allison and Bobby living with you, that is fine, but I am not going to have anything to do with either.” Would you believe that my mother took her and the baby in?

“Son, the child bears your father’s name. Robert Roger Anderson is a name you and I have always been proud of. He is named the third and you should stand by the name if not the one who bears it.”

“Mom, I’m the laughingstock of the whole town already. I couldn’t hold my head up if I let Allison back into my life. I won’t treat you any differently than I have ever done just because she lives here. I’ll come visit you and I’ll be civil to both Allison and Bobby when I do. This is as far as I will go.” My mother could see how serious I was and stopped pushing for me to reconcile.

I will say, Allison and Mom were good for each other. Mom was the one advising her former daughter-in-law now, and Allison was listening to her. Allison ceased going out in the evening and stayed home where Mom taught her all of the things that a young single woman alone with a baby to support would need to know to survive. It eased Mom’s life as well, for Allison gave Mom some of her wages to help with expenses.

I guess you could say this was the unhappiest period in my life so far. Previous to Allison moving in with Mom, the answer to where I was to live presented itself. One of the women I worked for, Katrina Castleman, owned one of the mansions not far from Mom’s house. She was aware of what had taken place recently in my life and offered me a permanent position. I don’t think I was offered the job out of pity, it was just that there was work enough to justify a full-time person on the premises. She had a business and was often away and wanted some presence on the place. When she suggested that I move into some quarters in the back downstairs, I accepted.

I was living in as caretaker, chauffeur, and general handyman for Katrina, who was a fashion designer of women’s apparel. She had her own label and for several years was doing quite well. Katrina was really busy and her work was much in demand. As is sometimes the case, she ran off track and was bouncing from one style of design to another. For a couple of seasons, she just couldn’t seem to come up with what the public demanded in new styles.

Some of her competitors, those on the way up, clearly outdid her for three of the last four seasons and the critics panned her creations. The House of Kat was now on the decline. Katrina was fifty-nine, thin to the point of emaciation, although at an earlier time her figure had been quite robust. Most of the time my employer was wound as tight as a drum, often snapping at those she was talking to on the phone, and those people that made it to her studio.

I knew she could be a warm generous person. At least that is the way she was with me. I was now closer to my work and had fairly decent quarters to live in. There was a time in the past when a couple hadn’t arrived until they could afford servants in residence. Katrina was of that time and although I couldn’t be considered a servant, it wasn’t unusual to have someone on the property.

The top floor of her home was devoted to her business. This came about when she lost her design studio in the garment district in New York. For three years she operated successfully from her home, until again, her designs weren’t selling. Those who worked for her moved on to studios that were more successful. Name means much in the fashion world, and no one wanted to work for one that was fast on a downhill slide.

It was a few days after I took up residence that I was working in the kitchen repairing a cupboard door. “Robert, just as soon as I get the strength, I’m making tea. Would you care to join me?”

“What troubles you?”

“Tired, that is all. I’m working on some designs and it isn’t coming together. I worked all night and a little while ago I looked at what I had accomplished. I’m starting all over just as soon as I can get my head together.”

“Sit still. Let me make you coffee. Tea is fine, but you need more caffeine than what tea will give you. Have you eaten?”

“No, not this morning.”

“I’ll make something for you. You put your head down and relax. You are a good designer. I’ve read about you all of my life. Some idea will come to you.” I made coffee as promised. A half hour later, I slid a cheese omelet onto the table. There were two slices of toast on the side, one to eat with the eggs and one to load with strawberry jam. I received a startled look of thanks.

“Dear boy, that was wonderful. It is just what I needed. You were right, an idea has come to me. I think you are my inspiration. You must be lonely in your two rooms. Would you care to join me for dinner and maybe stay and talk afterward? You have been doing my chores for the last ten years as child and man. I still know little about you other than you were married and it ended in divorce.”

Kat had a well-stocked pantry and it was a joy eating and conversing with her. I came from my rooms early that evening and helped her prepare the meal. She was as high this evening as she was down this morning. The day had gone well and she was pleased with what she had accomplished with the design she had been working on.

Over the months that followed, we joined together for most of the meals. Sometimes she wasn’t in residence, which was often, because she was still closely connected to the garment district. I used her kitchen to prepare my meals as she urged me to do. I rarely went up to her work area, but being curious I had looked in on occasion.

This last time when she said she was going to be absent for several days, I boldly strode in and looked at everything. She had a packed library of books and catalogs concerning material and accouterments, usually accompanied with samples. There were books on buttons and every kind of fixture for clasping clothes together. Threads, appliqués, ribbons and rhinestones.

She had been in business so long, I imagined she knew these items by heart. Along one wall were examples of those dresses and suits that she had designed and either not sold or those that wouldn’t sell. I spent two hours going down the racks to see what she had done in the past. The sample dresses especially were indicative of the various materials used for their construction. All were numbered as to patterns, but I couldn’t read patterns.

Not having anything pressing, I pulled a few dresses out and laid them on the tables and studied them. Taking up a sketch pad, I put the pattern number down. Using a pencil I noted the changes I would make that to me would be more what a woman would like to be wearing. You wonder why I was interested? This was a hobby I had all of my life. Here I didn’t need to sketch from pictures, but had the solid item before me that I could copy and make changes. Many that I looked at, the design was okay, but would be much better made from a different material. These changes I listed on the sketch pad.

Suddenly, feeling like an intruder, I hastily put everything back, rolled up my sketches and went down to work on some things I had been putting off. From that moment on, I waited patiently until my employer had to be away on business and then I would go up the stairs to lose myself in my new interest. This was a form of recreation for me. I could become immersed in this activity and forget the time when I was happily married.

It took months to be found out. I was twenty-four at the time. Kat had one blockbuster fall season in the last three years. She did have a steady clientele who followed her label so there was no lack of funds. My bonus at Christmas time was more than adequate. My bank account continued to grow, for I had few expenses and Kat was liberal with my salary.

As I say, I was eventually found out by Katrina and she ambushed me to make me confess. It came about like this. At dinner one Saturday evening she asked, “Robert, it has been two years or more since your divorce. I’m going to ask you a personal question. Please don’t take offense.”

“Ask anything.”

“You were married and I imagine for some little time. You and your wife must have had many times you were intimate. In the last two years, you seldom go out. What are you doing for sexual gratification?”

This question stunned me, but Allison was in the past and if my employer was curious, it was something I didn’t mind talking about. “Allison and I did have more than a normal amount of sex before marriage and even more after we were married. That dropped off considerably the third year. When I discovered she was cheating on me, it stopped altogether. Since I have been living here, Allison, who is living with my mother, has hinted repeatedly we could have no strings attached sex. That, as far as I am concerned, holds no interest for me because I have no interest in her at all.

“However, when I see other attractive women, I tell myself I am foolish not to find someone to satisfy my needs. Night emissions for me are not rare and occasionally I resort to the time honored method that many men in my situation do. I can admit this, for you would suspect that I did, whether I told you or not. Why deny it?”

“Well you are honest. Another question, does the number thirty-five mean anything to you?”

I ruminated and couldn’t think of anything I knew of connected to that number. “No, I can’t say that it does. Tell me.”

Kat had a half smile on her face. “Robert, would you make love to a thirty-five-year-old woman or would you object just because of her age?”

I reasoned that this woman talking to me wasn’t referring to herself as she was much older than thirty-five. I answered, “I can’t think of any reason not to have sex with a woman because of her age. She would have to be pleasant looking, I think, and not grossly overweight. Other than that, I can’t imagine that looks would matter too much. As the saying goes, all women look alike when the lights are out. You know this conversation must be leading to something interesting. Do you have someone in mind?”

“I have someone in mind, but I have to ask one more question. Robert, would you consider making love to someone who is thirty-five years older than you? Think it through before you answer. The woman is several years older than your mother. Although the woman I’m thinking of was considered a beauty at one time, the looks have been somewhat ravaged by time.”

I looked across the room at Katrina. Ashamed in one way, I had never considered Kat as a sexual partner. Waiting, her head was lowered and she didn’t look at me. Now I examined her intently. She felt it, for I saw her face flush. No, this woman wasn’t unattractive and she was my friend. For all her boldness in bringing up the subject, she was suddenly shy. I sensed she had the same need as I had. It was a possible way to satisfy both of us.

“Mrs. Castleman, would you fetch me some wine? Make it the kind that you enjoy, and please would you join me in a glass?” Kat would have to get up and walk the length of the room before my gaze. She would have to return the same way. The blush was deep and strong as she passed in front of me.

I studied her. She had filled out in the last two years from being the emaciated, to now a normal fleshed woman in her early sixties. This was due to my cooking, for I had taken over preparing the meals for both of us. I knew if I unwrapped her from her confining clothes, I would find a body that had some wrinkles and had lost some of its tone. Did that matter? No, I didn’t think it could. Would I find pleasure? I knew there was only one way to find out.

Kat had this conversation because of concern about my sexual well-being. Shouldn’t I have shown the same concern for hers? She must have thought much about this before broaching the subject to me. I was standing when she returned and took the wine and tray with glasses from her and set it on the table. “Sit Katrina, I will pour.”

I poured a bare inch into the goblets and handed her one. She took it with shaking hand. “Kat, would you take the first sip before I taste mine? I want to taste it on your lips when we kiss for the first time. We will then finish what I have poured and save the rest until later. I have need to shower which won’t take me long. What I’m saying is, may I join you in your bed this evening?”

Kat took her sip, and then ran her tongue over her lips, waiting. She tilted her face up to mine with her eyes closed. I brushed my lips over hers and then wanting more, I opened them slightly and kissed her harder. No pretense now, she clung to me. This was a kiss of passion. “Robby, do you really need the shower?”

“Yes I do. May I use yours? I would be pleased if you would wash my back.”

“Robby, you don’t know what you are saying.”

“Kat, look at me. I suspect ... no, I hope this isn’t going to be a one time union. Once you see me and I see you, we won’t have to worry about how we look anymore. Now, do you want me to carry you up one flight or shall we join hands for the journey?”

Kat giggled then. “You must be Irish with all of this blarney you are handing me. Hell, I’ll race you to the shower. This is an experience I think I’m going to enjoy.”

                                                 ________________

I said I was ambushed. That happened later that night as we lay cuddled together. “Robert, I’m going to tell you something that I don’t think you are aware of. You know those large sketch pads I use in my studio? That’s a question.”

“Yes, I’ve seen them in your hands.”

“Well for your information, each sheet has a small number on it. That is so we can keep track of our sketches if they are sequenced. For some time now I have found some numbers missing. I was puzzled and looked everywhere. I went looking for them and I found what I was looking for two days ago. I want them back.”

“Why, they are just some I scribbled on.”

“Robby, they show more than just scribbling. Some of the deductions you made about pairing a certain design with a different material than I used was masterful. In fact, some of them bordered on art. Would you tell me your thoughts about them when you sketched them?”

“Sure, if you want. They really mean nothing to me. Sketching is just a hobby I have had all of my life. Most of them are from the designs and dresses you have hanging upstairs in your studio. In my mind, I made the changes for a certain segment of society. Many of the buying population buy fine dresses in the one- to three-hundred dollar range. These are women who want to go out for dinner, go to a wedding or a funeral, and look nice. They aren’t looking to make a statement. They don’t want to show a whole lot of skin and they want to feel comfortable.”

“Where did you get this idea from?”

“The ideas come from everywhere. Hell, some of them are even seen in the National Enquirer. People usually look at the pictures. They should look at the captions by the critics under the pictures. Catalogs and advertisements are full of women wearing dresses. I know when I see a woman, I know immediately if she is wearing a dress that looks nice or is wrong for her. This is only my opinion, though. That’s also only after I look to see if she has a nice set of breasts anyway.”

“Robby, stay serious. I really want to know. I know you can’t be serious about tits after seeing my saggy old melons.” (We never did get back to discussing dresses much before dawn.)

I guess you call it expanding your horizons. I don’t mean Kat and me, I mean me working upstairs for two hours every day. This was dumb, or stupid, or whatever you wanted to call it. Imagine me helping to design clothes. Kat made it simple for me. “Robby, look at this dress. Who should wear it? How would you change it? Who would wear it now?” That is the way it would go. The whole mechanics of the design business at first were beyond me.

Then she ran onto a bunch of sketches I had drawn that dealt exclusively with women that were overweight. Overweight ... hell, tell it like it is ... fat women. She put them aside, but every week or so I could tell she had looked at them. Finally, “Robby, would you do more sketches of what you think would make this segment of the population look better? Half the women in this country are overweight.”

Fashion design took place with a seven- to nine-month lag time. Who knew what the style was going to be that many months in advance. Kat decided that she would develop her designs that took some of my ideas and produce a few copies in different sizes and shapes that the more general population might like. I had quoted one hundred dollars for the lower limit, but Kat went even further and said they could be manufactured and priced a third lower than that.

She thrived on the new direction her label was taking. This wasn’t the only thing she- me- thrived on. Katrina was sexually experienced and demanding. Each day was a new day for us. She tried to get me to have my name recognized as having done some of the work. No way was I going to become involved. The world would laugh her right out of the business if she let it be known that she was getting some ideas from her handyman.

At the first show she had which included the creations that I was involved in, the crowd was silent when the models went back up the runway. I was in the back of the convention hall where the show was held. The designers before and after Kat’s dresses were frau-frau, most being too far-out for the general public. Many were made to barely cover, and constructed of weird materials. There wasn’t one that came in under a thousand dollars. Many were in the two- to five-thousand dollar range.

Kat told me these designers were hoping for a few orders to cover their costs. Some didn’t even mind if they drew other than raves. At least their name would be in the news. There would be a knock-off on all of these dresses almost immediately. The few who had to have high fashion would provide the profit.

I found Kat at a small table when the show was over. There were tears coming from her eyes. When she saw me she jumped up and kissed me. I thought for sure that we had bombed. Not so. “Robby, we have factory orders for dresses of every one we showed. The House of Kat is on top this season.”

                                          _____________________

If Mom hadn’t asked Allison and little Bobby to move in with her, those two would have gone out of my life. As it was, I saw Allison occasionally and little Bobby more often. I hated the boy’s father for what he had done to my life, but I couldn’t hate the kid. If Allison wasn’t around to see me do it, I would color or read to him. As he got older, I would play toss and catch. I didn’t let Mom refer to me as his dad, so he called me Robby and I called him Bobby.

“Robert, I notice that you don’t hold as much resentment toward Allison as you used to. Is it Bobby, or are you waking up to the fact that Allison still loves you? You could get back with her and make a happy life for the three of you. She still considers you her husband and is just waiting for you to reconcile. I never had a daughter and I know she was foolish and made some mistakes, but I think you should forgive her. I have.”

“Mom, I can’t. I don’t know as I will ever marry again.” Kat and I were married, but I didn’t need Mom to be more disappointed than she was. This was because of her feelings and hopes concerning Allison and Bobby. “I have to tell you that I have found someone to enjoy life with again. That includes being intimate. You would be doing Allison a service by impressing on her she should start dating and find someone else to love.”

“Oh Robby, I was so hoping you wouldn’t do that. I will explain to Allison, but I want her to stay here until she does find someone for herself. Another thing, I know you like little Bobby. He carries your name and I guess he is going to be the only grandchild I am ever going to have. Have you any feelings for the child at all?”

“I can’t let myself. I don’t mind if you consider him your grandson. Don’t place the blame on me for the unhappiness in this situation. It wasn’t me that listened to some sweet-talking asshole or opened my legs to him either.”

“I know, I know. Someday though, you may change your mind. I hope so, for all there is for Allison this way, is pain.”

“Let’s change the subject. Mrs. Castleman has increased my salary again. That hobby of mine doing sketches, is bringing a few dollars for me as well. How much do you still owe on the house?”

“I owe fourteen thousand dollars. Allison has been contributing, so I’m doing quite well, even with the mortgage. It is not like it was when you were a child, and I had the one income.”

I sat down and wrote out a check for fourteen thousand dollars. “That should pay off the mortgage. If you have a little extra now, you could buy something nice for the kid you claim as grandson. Look Mom, I have to run. I’ll see you in a week or so. Love you.” I hurried out while Mom was still looking at the check in her hands.

My resentment toward Allison had disappeared. For three years I hadn’t had any sex and she was to blame. Who wouldn’t resent a person who did that to you? This had changed when I took Kat to bed (or she took me). No matter. Kat and I both were aware that it would end sooner than if I had a relationship with a younger woman. Now though, it was as if we were gifting each other and appreciating each other in the giving.

Mother talked to Allison telling her that I had started a relationship, she not knowing who it was. She also told her that I had indicated that I might not marry the person. That to Allison in this case was ... he taketh away and then he giveth back some hope.

Allison came into the storage area where I was fixing an old lawn mower. I heard it all again. The, I’m sorry, the, it was a mistake, the, it was only sex, and finally, the, I love only you. She paused and then in a slightly abject voice, “Who is this woman that has taken you from me?”

I let her beg for an answer until she was crying, because she knew I was just waiting for her to finish her tirade and supplications. One of those times was unexpectedly at hand. Kat must have been ready to enter from another direction to ask about a design I had sketched for her. She came in from behind Allison and listened to her. I had seen her appear. I shrugged my shoulders indicating that I didn’t know how to handle this situation.

“My dear, you must be the woman who threw Robby away by being unfaithful. What a bad thing to do to one who loved you so much. Let me ask you why you have a right to object if he has since found a measure of happiness with someone else? Maybe this other woman needs him more than you do. She certainly appreciates him more than you ever did.

“Let me tell you another reason you should have appreciated him more. I can explain it better by showing you than by telling you. Do come up to my workshop. I have two dresses in your size. I’ll give you a choice and you may keep the one you like the best.” Kat gently steered Allison out of the storage area and across the yard to the house. Allison looked back at me before entering, questioning what was happening. I had no idea what Kat was up to either. I returned to work on my lawn mower.

It was more than a half hour later when Kat shouted out the third floor window for me to come up to the studio. I took my time and cleaned up. I slipped into my quarters and hurriedly washed. I put on a pair of slacks and a tailored shirt that had been pressed in the military style. I combed my hair and made my way up the stairs. I knew my measured tread could be heard from above. I moved slowly on up, knowing it was time for Allison to become aware of who my love was.

I glanced first at Kat when I entered, and then at my former spouse. Kat had dressed Allison in one of the dresses that I had made several changes to. She looked as if it had been designed only for her. The basic one I had worked from, lay spread out on one of the work tables. I had no idea what had transpired before I arrived.

“Robby, doesn’t Allison look exquisite in the dress she is wearing? I offered her a choice between that one and the one laying on the table.” Kat turned to Allison. “Dear, what you have on is a House of Kat original, but inspired by one Robby Roger. The one on the table was designed by the House of Kat without his input. It came out and only did moderately well two years ago. I am anticipating the one you have on will do as well or better than the regular House of Kat designs. It was inspired by Robby Roger for the summer line.”

“Thank you dear. You do so well in bolstering my ego.” I crossed to Kat, tilted her face and kissed her on the lips.

“Robby, you are my inspiration.”

“Robert, what in the hell are you doing? That’s gross. You, old lady, what makes you think you can capture the love of a young man like Robert?”

“I already have my dear. Be honest, don’t you think I have the same things going for me as you do? I asked Robby if he could go to bed with an older woman. His reply was that he could. Someone had told him that all women are the same with the lights out. Just for your information, we make love and the lights are always on.

“Think Elizabeth Taylor. How many men would refuse to go to bed with her if they had the chance even now. Not many I’ll warrant. Allison, at one time you had all of Robby and then you stupidly threw him away. Robby came into my life when he was twelve years old. I was forty-nine years at that time. He delivered papers to my door. He didn’t throw it on the porch. He brought it up the steps out of the weather and put it into my box. Later when I needed work on my grounds, he was the one I hired.

“When he divorced his unfaithful wife, I gave him a chance to get away from her by offering a place for him to live. Robby is the ultimate handyman. He isn’t satisfied until all the chores necessary to keep an estate such as this one are done. And he is more. He is a man of vision. He has the unique ability to look at a woman and see her dressed better than what she is wearing. A perfect example is what you now have on. He has helped me to see the same way through his eyes and I have been in the fashion business all of my life.

“I discovered what his hobby was when I went looking for some missing sketch pads. I looked at the changes in my designs that he put down on paper. I began looking through his eyes. Then I looked at the man. I never considered Robby as a partner, he being so many years younger than I am. It took me two days after discovering his sketches to discover the man. What a treasure, my dear, you threw away.

“My career is at the highest peak it has ever been and it is all due to the one person who doesn’t want his name spread all over the fashion world. He still calls himself a handyman and is the happiest being just that. He was sad, lonely, and without joy for the first two years after he moved here. Now he has the love that was so lacking and it is with me. I know our association will not last many years, but right now I revel in what I have.”

“I do too, Katrina.”

“There is no hope for Robby to ever return to me, is there?”

“There is always hope, but it won’t happen for awhile. You do have some things going for you that I don’t have. You are young, and you have a son with Robby’s name. He has told me how happy he was the first two out of three years he was married to you. Planned or not, you live where he has to see you occasionally. So yes, there is hope for you.”

Allison was silent. Then, “I guess I’ll have to accept that. Robby, I’m glad you found someone to love. You deserve happiness. Mrs. Castleman, you said I may keep this dress. I will cherish it, knowing that Robby had a part in designing it. You two make an odd couple, but I can see how it works for you both.”

Allison was almost to the door and Kat and I could see that she wanted to say one thing more. “Robby, I would ask if you could find it in your heart to be a presence in little Bobby’s life? He knows the life he is living isn’t the same as other kids have. It isn’t his fault or yours, but he does need a man to be with him sometimes. Please?”

“I can do that. As you say, it isn’t his fault.” Allison nodded and left.

“The woman really does love you. Are you sad you are married to me? Why didn’t you tell her before that we are married?”

“It was more a concern for my mother than for Allison. Am I feeling bad about being married? No Kat, I truly love you. You give me everything I need or want.”

“What about after I’m gone?”

“Sweet, I’m hoping you live forever. Let’s not think about it. Now we are two people in love and that is all we should be thinking about.” I embraced Kat and then cleared one of the tables so I could show her how much she meant to me.

We all settled into a routine. I continued doing what I was happiest at. That was taking care of the grounds and house just as I had always done. I did set aside some time everyday when my wife was home for working in the studio. She was away a lot working on getting the creations that we both came up with ready to show. Most of the real work was in the city where the garment center was located. These shows were four times a year. Some years we didn’t come up with anything spectacular, but we had a good solid clientele that followed our designs. The factories that produced them were always busy. We could honestly say we never had a season where we bombed.

Bobby was often with me as I worked around the place. That was until I went up to the third floor and then he was told to go back to his grandmother’s. That was at first, but now that Allison had asked it of me, I enjoyed having him in the room with us. Mother still thought it weird that I chose an older woman ... one even older than she was to love. It took many months before she and Kat became friendly, but it did come about.

I never made an appearance at the shows where I was identified as Kat’s husband. I condescended, with the very strong insistence of Kat, to have my initials somewhere in the credits for a particular design. If you weren’t looking you might miss seeing it. (r r) could easily be missed.

Mom was thrilled when I escorted her to one of the fall shows and Kat presented an original dress to her when we returned home. Kat wanted to invite Allison, but I adamantly objected, so she dropped it. I knew she was thinking of the time in the future when she wouldn’t be with me. It did make me cherish what I had even more.

                                       _________________

Over time, Katrina Castleman’s life became known to me. Kat had been married twice before. Her first husband died in the Korean conflict after only four years of marriage. Castleman, her second husband, lasted seven years before dying of pneumonia. She had one married daughter who she was estranged from, and had been for twenty years. Seiena had come into the House of Kat to learn the business. Katrina had planned on her daughter taking over the House of Kat sometime in the distant future. Their association ended when Seiena had needed money and stole some designs that were exclusive.

The rift had occurred when Seiena sold those designs she had pilfered from her mother, to another studio. The studio that bought them took top spot at the show for that season.

Kat did not have her daughter charged with the crime, but turned her out. The daughter was now forty-five, lived in Montana, and had three children. Seiena married a dress shop owner, Steven Dribbles, leaving her past behind and moving on. Kat did keep track of the movements in her daughter’s life, knowing she lived in a small city. She even had some pictures of her grandchildren taken by an investigator who was hired specifically for that purpose.

I urged Kat to make amends, or at least make the overture. “You have planned my future with someone that has wronged me. Do the same for yourself.”

“No, I can’t. I don’t know how to approach her. She would think I was senile or something.”

In one way, I suppose I was brutal. “Kat, you are getting old. Someday you are going to have a large estate that needs to be settled. Are you going to cut your own family out entirely?”

“Robby, all of my estate is going to you. What you do with it is up to you.”

“Kat, I could give the whole estate to charity and unknown persons would benefit. Wouldn’t it be better to leave it to someone who you loved at one time? How about your grandchildren? Don’t you want them to know you? I would give them much of your estate and they probably have never heard of you. You would be just a name. Honestly, don’t you want them to know more than this about you?”

“Stop it Robby, you are hurting me. I have sometimes questioned myself if I did the right thing. Seiena has never tried to contact me. Not even to say she was sorry. I admit though, I was pretty rough on her when I found out the results of what she had done.”

“Did you ever give her a chance?” My answer was a shake of her head. Three days later Kat turned to me as we lay cuddling late one night. I knew she was restless and hadn’t been sleeping.

“Would you do a favor for me?”

“Of course. You know I would do anything for you.”

“I knew you would. It is about Seiena. Would you go out to the town where she lives and see if there is any way we can be friendly and a family again?”

“I can do that. Kat, this will make you feel more complete. Even if you two can’t come to terms, then you will know you tried. I’ll think about how I am going to approach her and leave in a couple of days. You should go with me.”

“No, I can’t. Do you think you will be sharing the fact that you are my husband with them?”

“I don’t know. Why?”

“I just wondered if you might not be ashamed to be married to someone as old as I am.”

“Katrina Castleman, you disappoint me. Are you ashamed to have such a young lover, married or not? Is that why you didn’t want to take my name?”

“The name? Why I didn’t take it is for strictly business reasons. As far as being ashamed, I wake up every morning and want to tell the whole world we are married. I will too, if you want me to.”

“I feel the same way. What we have is working wonderfully. I love you!”

Chapter Two 
 
I arrived in Montana. The airport was near the city. I did rent a car to get around in rather than take the shuttle. I found the street where Seiena’s husband had his women’s apparel store. It had the single name of “Dribbles,” and was within walking distance of Main Street. I went on by and checked into a hotel. Ordinarily I would have preferred a motel, but this put me closer to Dribbles clothing store. I did not have any idea what Seiena’s home address was, but I was sure I could find it out easily. It was late, so I went into the dining room, had dinner, and then went to my room.

I called Kat telling her of my arrival and that I loved and missed her. She had been in bed an hour already. Then I remembered the time difference. I promised she would hear from me tomorrow somewhere around two o’clock I thought. I slept well and was awake by six. I had an early breakfast at a diner that was on the same street as the store. I had walked by to see what time the store opened. That happened at nine-thirty and I planned on going in about ten.

When I entered there were two salesladies moving around straightening the racks. One of them had to be Seiena, but I drew the other one. I was asked how I could be helped. “I’m connected with a store much like this one. I’m in town on other business and I just stopped by to see what was stocked in this part of the country. I’m from the east. Near New York to be exact.”

“That’s nice. The lady by the desk is the owner. Maybe you would like to talk to her. Seiena, this gentleman is in our line of work.”

I explained to Seiena as I had done to the saleslady. “My name is Robert Anderson. Do you mind if I look at your labels?” I was given the okay to look all I pleased. I watched Seiena. She was a younger version of her mother. She didn’t have the same grace, though. She also didn’t look too happy. I waited until Seiena was free after making a sale to a patron and then went over to her.

“You handle much the same lines as I’m familiar with. The only one missing that does well for us is ‘The House of Kat.’ That house has gained much recognition in the last three or four years. Have you ever heard of them?”

“Of course. However, I’m barred from having any contact with that establishment. I made a mistake many years ago and I have paid for it by being barred as I just stated.”

“Have you tried to contact the House of Kat to see if that bar could be lifted?”

“No, actually it was a criminal act and I was threatened with exposure if I didn’t leave and cease all contact. I have wanted to call, but I didn’t want to open old wounds. How did we get on this subject anyway? I don’t know you.”

“No we have never met, but I know quite a bit about you. I know your mother intimately. I’m here as an envoy to straighten out the past if possible. Would you talk to her if I got her on the phone for you?” Seiena sat down behind her desk looking stunned. I waited for her to say something.

“It has been twenty years since I have heard her voice. The last time I did, it wasn’t pleasant. You’re sure she would talk to me?”

“I think she might.” I rang, and even though it was earlier than I had said I would call, Kat picked up immediately. “Seiena is here. I’m handing the phone to her now.”

“Mom?” Seiena was using my cell. She went into the office not saying much. She closed the door. A half hour later she opened it and stared at me. I couldn’t read her expression. I assumed Kat was telling her I was her handyman. Then after much more time, she came out and handed the phone to me.

Kat was still on the line. I asked, “Hi, did you patch things up?”

“Yes Robby, Seiena wants you to stay with them until you come home. Will you?”

“I can do that. Did you tell her about our relationship?”

“No, I haven’t yet. We just talked about what each of our lives are about. I think she is holding something back. I wish I could see her.”

“We aren’t too busy now. Why don’t you catch a plane and come out?”

“Do you think I should?”

Seiena called in another saleslady and I followed her to the outskirts of the city. Her husband wasn’t home, but her three kids were. I was only twelve years older than her oldest. This was Brandy, then came Sarah, and then the youngest, Bridget. They spanned six years, being two years between them.

I guess Seiena had never told her children about them having a grandmother and that she was still alive. By this time it was time for lunch, and they made sandwiches for me and themselves. The girls were interested in learning about their grandmother. I kept up a running account of her, and telling them about her having the label the “House of Kat.”

I explained a little of how I met her. “I’ve known her since I was a child of twelve when I delivered papers to her. As I got older I did yard and handy work for her. I’m still there working. She is one of the finest people I know and I love her dearly. You will too when you meet her.”

Brandy asked if I was married and if my wife didn’t mind me traveling. “I was married shortly after I graduated from high school. It only lasted three years and I was divorced. I married again about four years ago. My wife knows I am here.” I glanced at Seiena and then back at the girls. “I’ll tell you more about my marriage when your grandmother arrives.”

I delved more into the designing of women’s apparel. I did say that I worked part-time doing sketches for their grandmother. “Do you sketch people? My boyfriend would love a sketch of me.”

“I don’t usually, but if you have some paper I could try to get a likeness.” Paper was produced and I did a credible job which led to all four women having a likeness. I worked hardest on Seiena’s, knowing that Kat would want it. Then I made one for her husband, Steven, although she made the comment that he wouldn’t appreciate it. Kat called and said she had made arrangements to fly out late tonight and I was to pick her up at the airport in the morning.

I met Steven that evening and I immediately took a dislike to him. When he came in, everyone tensed up and the chill stayed in the room as Seiena explained why I was there. He knew all about Seiena’s trouble with her mother in the past and wondered why Kat had made an overture to her daughter about resolving old differences. He wasn’t happy at all that Seiena had invited me to stay the night or that the mother was flying in to meet his family. I could hear a conversation going on and it still continued when I fell asleep on the couch that was my bed.

The girls wanted to look nice when meeting their new grandmother. Steven grudgingly gave them permission to go in and get new outfits off the sales racks in the store. They immediately went into town. Seiena drove them in, leaving me alone with Steven. I had a half hour before I had to leave for the airport. Seiena might not get back in time before Kat arrived, but that was fine. They would dress at the store.

“What is your connection to the old lady? What does she want after all of these years?”

“I’m her handyman. I’ve been with her for several years. She is getting old and wants to get to know her daughter again and her granddaughters as well.”

“Well, she must want something more than that. I hope she doesn’t expect anything from us. With three daughters to raise, things are always pretty tight. I’ve tried to train the kids to be salesclerks, but it is a thankless task. Seiena has to fill in all the time now. It is damned hard to get good help.”

“I have never been in retail. Mrs. Castleman is on the other end of women’s clothing.”

“Is she doing well? I hear that the House of Kat is a pretty good label. A few years ago I did hear that she lost the studio where she worked, so she is probably just hanging on. She most likely has to hire castoff designers from other studios. Where is her studio now?”

“Some of it is in her home. She has converted the top floor.”

“Cheap bitch, isn’t she. Well, we will put up with her for a day or so.”

I thought to myself that Steven didn’t read the trade magazines much. The House of Kat was often in the news. I left for the airport. Kat came in just over an hour late. We kissed and as we got into the car she asked what I thought of her daughter and family.

“Seiena and the girls I like very much. Putting it plainly, your son-in-law is a cheap, pompous asshole. I think if you planned on doing anything for them, it will disappear down a rat hole if he can get his hands on it. I had a very nice time with your granddaughters until their father came home. I could hear him and Seiena arguing after I laid down last night. I swear I heard him strike her. I looked for some evidence on her this morning, but didn’t see anything. I’ll try to get him away so you can have a heart-to-heart with your daughter. Maybe I can take him out to a bar or something.”

“He is that bad? I should have made contact before this. Seiena was wrong, but I was just as bad. Have you told any of them that we are husband and wife?”

“No. If they give you a bed, I was going to crawl in with you and let them find me there in the morning.”

“That’s an option. Maybe the only one.” Kat went into gales of laughter imagining what a stir that would cause.

When we arrived at the Dribbles’ residence, everyone was there. Seiena came toward her mother as we stepped from the car. “Mom, forgive me?”

“Of course I have dear. Oh I am so glad to see you. I’m going to see more of you from now on. And these are my granddaughters. Introduce me.” They were shy around this older person who was their grandmother.

Steven was standing back and now came forward. “Mrs. Castleman. Seiena has told me about you. I suppose we had to meet someday.” There was no how are you, or, I’m pleased to meet you.

Kat just smiled. “I’m sure we will get to know each other. I can stay for several days if I’m invited.”

“I don’t know if that will be possible. We are terribly busy in the store and Seiena is needed.”

“Well, I’ll just go in with her. I’m pretty familiar with women’s clothes.”

“We’ll see.” We had soup and a sandwich for lunch.

Kat questioned if there was room for her to stay at the house. Steven said there wasn’t, but there was a motel not too far down the road. Seiena looked shocked that her mother wasn’t going to be able to stay with her.

I stepped in. “Steven, why don’t you and I stay in the motel and Kat can bunk in with Seiena. They can have an old-fashioned hen party. Maybe you and I can find a bar. It will all be on me. What do you say?”

“Umm, it has been a long time since I have had a night out. Seiena, you okay with that?” Seiena looked surprised he would even ask. Kat was smiling. She and I had a little conference before Steven and I checked into a motel.

Steven took me to a strip bar and proceeded to get well inebriated. He got too frisky with some of the girls and propositioned several. Finally one said she would go with him to the motel room, but he had to wait until she was off work. He turned to me. “Maybe she can dig up a friend. The wife you said you had is back east and she will never know.”

“Sure, we’ll ask her.” A plan was formulating in my mind. I kept the drinks coming and when it was time to leave, I almost had to carry Steven. The woman he had made a date with knew he wouldn’t be much good, but I promised her whatever she asked to come back with us.

When we got to the room, he flopped down on one of the beds. I then made a deal with the hooker. “Pictures of you playing with him. Sleep all night in bed with him. If he wakes up in the morning and wants sex, an extra two hundred. I have a camera and I want pictures. You can show your face or not, I don’t care. He beats his wife and she needs to get free of him. This will help.”

She went for it. The first pictures I took might not be too realistic, but Steven was definitely in bed with a woman. In the morning, Steven was hung over, but hey, his night out wasn’t costing him anything. The hooker got him going and I think Steven enjoyed himself. There was no regret about what he was doing, at least none that showed on his face.

He caught me holding the camera, but I just said I would send him pictures of the hooker so he could remember this night. He bought it. We made it back to his house before lunch. “Steven and I went to a quiet little bistro and had a few and went to bed.” This was the story I told. I was looking at Kat and she knew I was lying like hell. Steven laid down for the afternoon and slept until it was time to go back to the motel.

This night I said, “Let’s go get a fine meal tonight? Last night was a bit much for me. That woman did have a friend, but she only stayed for a quickie. Boy you sure know how to live it up.”

“Yeah, I get to let my hair down once in awhile. Seiena thinks I’m out on a trip sometimes, but I’m across town at a place I know. My wife is getting old and ain’t much good in bed anymore.” I about choked when he said this. What would he say if he knew Kat and I were intimate? I found Kat to be fully satisfactory in every way and I was young enough to keep up with her.

It was Steven’s day to work in the store. Seiena had to work with him for the morning, getting out just after lunch. Kat and I took the three girls out. We cornered a booth at McDonalds and Kat started questioning. “Okay girls, tell me about your home life? I know I’m prying, but you all seem uneasy around your father.”

Forthcoming was a tale of a manipulative son-of-a-bitch. He was so cheap he examined under the couch seat for change after he had company. He did hit their Mom, but she was so afraid of him, she wouldn’t call 911 or the police. She knew he cheated, but didn’t dare confront him. There was no solid evidence so that she could sue for divorce.

“How does he treat you girls?” There were glances passed between them.

“Let’s just say we make sure the bathroom door is locked when we use it. We also make sure that there is always two of us at home at the same time. So far he has never touched any of us. He watches us all the time and we are all old enough to know what he is thinking. That is why we refuse to go to work in the store. He could send the other salesperson out and that would leave one of us alone.”

“Does your mother know this?”

“It is Mom who helps us avoid him.”

“Before Robby and I leave, we will come up with some plan so your mother can start divorce proceedings. You shouldn’t have to live in fear of anyone, especially your own father.”

We were nearly finished with our lunch. Everyone wanted a sundae and I volunteered to get them. While I was paying for them, I glanced back to the table. Kat had her head close to the three girls. Then they suddenly glanced at me where I was standing at the counter. I turned back and finished paying. There was shock and disbelief on their faces as I sat down.

“You sleep with Robby, Grandma?”

“I’ll answer that. Kat is my wife in all respects. We live together, work together, and yes, we love together. We have been married four years now and there is absolutely no regret for either of us.” I reached over and squeezed Kat’s hand.

“Robby is right. I was married twice before, your mother coming from the second marriage. Robby has been married once, just for a short time. There is a child, Bobby, named for him even though he didn’t sire him. The boy is just a little younger than you, Bridget. He comes over and follows Robby around while he works. When Robby is upstairs in the studio, the boy is now allowed to come in and watch us work.”

“What happened to your wife?”

“She and Bobby live with my mother. Her name is Allison and she made a mistake and that is why we are divorced. We are civil to each other and Mom thinks of her as if we are still married and still her daughter-in-law. She has accepted that I am married to Katrina although she wishes it was otherwise.”

Brandy asked, “Do you sleep with Allison as well as Grandma?”

Kat laughed, “No he doesn’t. When you get to know Robby better, you will understand why he doesn’t. He has had many chances to take Allison to bed, because she is willing, but there are two reasons why he doesn’t. I keep him happy and Robby’s morals won’t let him.”

“I thought men wanted young women?” This was Sarah.

“I suppose men do, but they don’t have your Grandma to love. When Kat goes on to heaven someday, I will most likely find a younger woman. It might even be Allison again, who is my age.”

“You talk as if Grandma is going to die.”

“She is. I am too. There is just a greater chance that she will die before me. Be assured as long as I have her, I’m going to love her to the fullest. That is what happiness is all about.” The girls were looking from me to Kat and back to me.

Brandy expressed her feelings. “That is so sweet!”

“That is the way it is. Look, your Mom must be home by this time. Let’s talk to her and see if there isn’t something Kat and I can do to help you guys out with your father.”

I guess Steven thought he had his family so cowed that they wouldn’t talk about him to us. Seiena wasn’t so fully accepting of me being her step-dad as the girls were of me being their grandfather. They did decide no one was going to tell Steven about what we had shared. They thought it best to keep it their secret.

I disappeared into town the next morning. I made some arrangements with a private investigator who was recommended by the desk sergeant in one of the police precincts. This precinct was the one closest to where the Dribbles lived. I just said I was the children’s grandfather and if a call came in, it should be taken seriously. He made note. I went over to the PI and left a retainer and told him to send a bill if it was more to Mrs. Katrina Castleman of New York. The pictures I had on my camera were downloaded to his computer to start a file on Steven Dribbles, to be used by Seiena when needed.

Steven wanted to hit the town again for drinks and partying that evening, but I dissuaded him, saying I was flying out tomorrow and wanted a clear head. I did pony up for an upscale restaurant, which he had to be satisfied with. What a distasteful asshole, my step-son!

Home again. Mom said she didn’t like me traveling so far away. I told her all about my step-family. She, of course, immediately shared it with Allison. I knew this when ten-year-old Bobby wanted to know if I was going to forget him because I had new kids to be interested in. I decided it was time to share some facts with this boy.

“Bobby, do you know what screwing up is?” He nodded. “Well your mother screwed up one time. She forgot to be true to someone who loved her. I mean he really loved her. You might as well know that you are the result of that screw-up. I wasn’t aware when it happened and what your mother was doing. That came later. By that time you were named after me the same as I was named after my father. When I found out about what she had done, I hated both of you.

“That’s because of trust. When you trust someone, they should be true to that trust. Your mother wasn’t.” Tears were in Bobby’s eyes. I was hurting him by telling him about his mother. “Let me finish, Bobby, before you start hating me for what I’m saying. So I made your mother leave me and take you with her. But the man she went to wasn’t true to her just as she hadn’t been true to me. So now we have two people hurting. One is your mother and the other is me.

“Your Grandma Anderson knows more about life than your mother and I do. She knows how a little boy feels, so she asked you to stay with her. She says it was because of your mother, but it was really you she wanted to be happy. In a way, Mrs. Castleman has done the same for me. It took awhile for that to change. Three years to be exact. We found that we were more than friends and could be happy together.

“We became man and wife at that time. We have love and trust, and more importantly, we are true to each other just as a man and wife were meant to be.”

“But she is so old. How can you love someone who is that old?”

“Turn it around, Bobby. Ask how can she love someone as young as I am? Who knows, but we do. That’s a fact. Now you asked if I was going to forget you. No I’m not. I don’t have to love you, but I do love you now just as much as if your mother had always been true to me. It certainly isn’t your fault. I forgot that for years, but I remember it now.”

“Do you love Mom at all even though she doesn’t deserve it?”

“Hard to say. She has proven that she loves me, I guess, by not looking for someone else. I’m hoping Mrs. Castleman won’t leave me for a long time. When she does, then I will have to sort out my feelings about your mother. So right now I don’t think about your mother at all. It isn’t fair for a boy not to have a father, so if you want me to do everything that a father does, I’d like to. That is so you won’t think I’m going to forget you.”

“I guess I don’t have to worry then and I guess I can’t call you dad, but that is okay. I know in my heart that you love me as if you were. I’m going home now. I’m glad you told me about why you and Mom aren’t together. I’m also glad you have Mrs. Castleman. It is awful lonely when no one but your mother loves you.” I decided that I had done right to talk to Bobby. I also decided that I never would do anything to hurt him.

Bobby pulled slightly away from Allison. When she questioned him about it, he side-stepped it by saying, “I’m growing up, Mom. I just have a lot to think about. I’ll always love you. I’m going over to see Robby. He is putting on windows and I’m helping him.”

The House of Kat was having a difficult time deciding what to put up for the spring season. We had never been this late in the fall finding the right designs to become excited about. I could see how this was wearing Kat down and that bothered me more than not having something that stood out to get ready.

Cuddling my wife in bed that night, I said, “I think you should sell the House of Kat. You are seventy years old. You started this when you were in your teens. That’s fifty years of having to find a design and then not knowing if it will please the public. The House is at its peak. You can always do consulting on a part-time basis. You have enough on the table right now to make buyers think you are still on top.”

“Robby, I don’t know. I know the drive has gone out of me. Boy, we have made a pair haven’t we? What do you think, really? Will you still love me?”

“I didn’t fall in love with the House of Kat. I fell in love with you. I’m with you all the way with whatever you decide.”

“Okay, go to sleep. I’ll let you know in a couple of days after I think about it. I do my best work laying here with you beside me.” We kissed and I turned over.

You really don’t know what you have or how good your business is until your competitors start bidding on it. There was a catch. All buyers wanted Kat to stay on to consult. Myself? I wasn’t as unknown as I thought I was. They wanted the (r r) as well. The sale generated much excitement and all of the other studios wanted to claim they had the last designs specifically done by the House of Kat while still with the original owners. The business sold at a premium and that season brought in orders for the new owners at a premium as well.

The day the papers were signed Kat turned to me. “There, that’s finished. What a relief. I thought I was going to have to work until I was ninety or until I died. Now there is time to show you how much you have meant to me. I think we’ll take that trip around the world I have never had time for. I’ll tell everyone you are my grandson and when they find out we sleep together, we will shock the whole world at the same time.”

It wasn’t that easy. We had promised three designs for the new owners of the label. They disapproved of our first efforts, but said they would take what we presented and file them. This was a ploy to get something without paying us. “No, you will pay for every design you take, approved or not. We will work with you, but that is the way it is going to be.” Kat was wise in the way of this business. It took Kat and myself three days working together, to come up with some approved designs. We were now free for another two months before having to work on the next season’s designs.

Seiena had filed for divorce and was having trouble. The lawyers were squabbling. Running up the bill, we suspected at the instigation of Steven’s attorney. So our first trip away from home was to Montana. Kat settled the problem and we didn’t even have to see Steven Dribbles to do so. The difficulty arose over the selling of the business. Steven claimed he didn’t have the money to buy Seiena’s share. Seiena needed the business to make a living and Steven had the place appraised way over book.

Kat got out her checkbook and paid what Steven was asking. This was less than what she and I received for one design. “Seiena, you and I now own a store. Sell the damned thing for whatever you can get, take the money, and move back home to New York with me and Robby.” So that is what happened. We got her family settled in the rooms on the second floor. Kat moved into the quarters I had originally occupied. We had made them larger after some renovations.

We did take our trip around the world, starting in Japan and winding up in Paris for the fashion shows. This was the most interesting part of our trip. Occasionally we would see some exceptional designs that followed what we had done in our studio when we owned it. We would stop and talk with those of that studio.

It came to a halt one night after we had a late dinner. “I want to go home and sleep in my own bed. Can you get us on the next flight? Hurry, I want to get started on the next designs we have to furnish. I’ve picked up some great ideas.” I laughed at my on-vacation wife.

It was on the flight that I took the time to look at Kat. Vacationing had aged her. The woman was getting old and I wasn’t aware. Tears came to my eyes when I realized that her remaining years were numbered in the few. It was driven home soon after we arrived home. Kat would say, “I’ll stay in bed for coffee this morning. You have breakfast and I’ll join you for the second cup. I’m not hungry.”

Seiena and the three girls realized this as soon as I did. They spent many hours listening to her tell of the highs and lows of the design business. Seiena worried that she was a burden to us, but I assured her she wasn’t. Then she worried that it was costing her mother too much to support her. Again I assured her that her mother was quite well-to-do and would absorb whatever it took to have Seiena and the grandchildren with her.

The youngest daughter had a friend. Bridget was twelve, almost thirteen. Bobby was only a year younger. The two went everywhere together and hung out with me when there was nothing else to do. Bobby was the quiet, serious one, whereas Bridget was loud and outgoing. Son and granddaughter and no blood of mine, I reveled in the joy of watching them grow into their teen-age years.

Bobby knew more about the clothing industry and Bridget was the ultimate tomboy. He took hours explaining to her some of the things he had picked up from both Kat and me. Bridget kept Bobby on the go climbing trees and playing ball. I happened to be watching out the window as they wrestled over a football. She had him down and he was trying to wrench the ball from her. Suddenly, Bridget stopped moving and let him have the ball.

She looked down on him. He let the ball slip from his fingers. I could tell he knew things had changed in an instant and he lay there waiting. She leaned down and kissed him. It didn’t last long. She pulled back and looked at him. Then she leaned forward and kissed him hard again. This one lasted longer. She rolled off of him and laid by his side. They stayed there talking for maybe fifteen minutes. Then they got up and started launching the ball to each other again.

I did two things. I mentioned to Seiena that Bridget and Bobby had had their first kiss. It was up to her to guide her daughter. I spoke to Bobby. “Bobby, you are growing up. I guess it is up to me to tell you about girls and how to treat them. First I want you to promise me one thing. If a girl ever says no, then you are to stop whatever you are doing. This is something I want you to do for the rest of your life, for it holds true if you are twelve or seventy.

“Most girls will respect you more if you do that. Say you are kissing a girl and she says ‘no more.’ You pull away, but then the girl decides she might like kissing you so she says ‘you may kiss me again.’ If you were kissing her and she said stop and you wouldn’t, that is going to make her mad and she is never going to let you kiss her again. Which way are you going to get more kisses?

“In a few years there are going to be other things a girl and you will want to explore together. If she says ‘no more,’ the same reasoning applies and you will get to do more exploring. There is another side to the coin as well. Sometimes you will be with a girl and she won’t want you to stop, because you have been doing some exploring and it feels so good. That is the time for you to decide if it is the wisest move to continue or not. You have to decide which is the best course. Both of you have the same responsibility in a situation such as this.”

“Is that what happened to Mom and the man that made me?”

“I don’t know, because she has never said. I would like to think she said no at first. If she did and the guy wouldn’t stop, then I wouldn’t blame your Mom as much as I have for so many years. But she was responsible too, because she put herself in a position to have to say stop. Right now and for a few years, kissing should be all you should be doing. When you get where you want to do more, I would like to advise you. Remember if the girl is here today and you stop, she will still be there tomorrow.

“You can ask your Mom some of this, but she kind of wanted me to advise you and that is the reason I have said something.”

“I guess I would rather talk to you than her. I think you must be wiser than she has been.

                                          ___________________

First Mom and then Allison, both knowing that Kat was failing, thought I would cast fond eyes on Seiena. I didn’t disabuse them of what they were thinking. I knew one thing that they didn’t. Seiena had become attracted to someone. Brian, who was a few years her senior, met while Kat and I were touring the world on vacation. He was a widower and had one teen-age daughter. The relationship of Brian and Seiena pleased me no end. I was fearful when Seiena and the three girls moved in that it would be up to me to mentor and guide the children through their teen-age years. What did I know about teen-age girls? The only girl I was even remotely knowledgeable about was Allison, and that was many years ago.

Brian was made aware of my age and my relationship to Kat. He was an easy man to talk to and asked several questions of why Kat and I were a couple. He could see that what we had together worked very well and accepted it as something unusual, but stable. The three girls treated me more as a favorite uncle than as a grandfather, which was an easy role for me to play.

Eventually, I was doing all of the designs that Kat and I had contracted to do. Kat just wasn’t up to it. I had the last season to do before our contract as consultant was completed. Kat said one night, “Robby, I think I am not going to be with you much longer. The doctor says there is nothing wrong with me that he can find without a panel of tests. I don’t want to take a bunch of probing and prodding. I’m comfortable with what is coming. Come, love me and then I want to talk about the future ... your future. I want to be part of it even though I’m not here.”

I would imagine that if anyone saw or heard us this night, they would think we were both much younger. I gave what Kat demanded of me, and then we talked. “Robby, you have rare compassion. Just ask me. What other young man would love this old woman as you do? I know your heart came with your compassion and I have had all of both. You have compassion for my daughter and the children, but I know they don’t have your heart.

“At one time Allison had your heart, but when she turned away, you had no compassion for her. I have been observing you over these many years we have loved and been together. Some of the compassion has returned for her just as it has for Bobby. Robby, you and Allison have been divorced ten years. Most people have forgotten why you two divorced. When I’m gone you could even live with Allison without being married. She would accept that. She really has paid for her mistake. She will go forward making you a good companion, married or otherwise.”

“Kat, this is the most unlikely conversation we are having. My thoughts are only for you.”

“I know that and my thoughts are only for you. My time is past. You have made me unbelievably happy, boy and man, all of the years I have known you. You have enriched my life as well as my name. I was washed up as a designer. One cheese omelet was all it took to turn me around.” Her lips found mine. “I’m really convinced that Allison is the one for you. Forget what others say. You did when you chose an older woman for a mate. This can’t be as bad as that.”

“If it will make you happy, I will strongly consider it.”

“I know you will. You love me and you want to make me happy.” We slept that night entwined as always. Two nights later, I awoke in the morning, finding that my soul was alone, for Kat’s had fled.

The fashion world mourned as did I. The House of Kat was foremost in designs many times, and near the bottom sometimes, showing how fickle the industry can be. Kat was eulogized in the trade magazines about her place in the design world which she held for fifty years. No mention was made of the husband that she was married to in her later years. 

That was at my request to Seiena who wrote the obituary for the papers. There just was no need for the world to know of the unusual relationship that we had. There was one magazine that stated there was some mystery that surrounded the small label that appeared frequently with her own Kat label. The (r r) has not been identified. Thankfully it was never followed up on.

                                     ___________________

Mom had never stopped wanting Allison and myself to be together again. I wasn’t as positive that Allison wanted it as desperately as Mom did. When things settled down after Kat’s death, I did give thought to Allison.

“May I speak to Allison Anderson, please?” I called Allison at her place of business.

“Who may I say is calling?”

“Robert Anderson.”

“Just a moment and I will connect you.”

“Robby? You have never called me at work before. Actually you have never called me.”

“I know. I called because I didn’t want Mom to be aware I was contacting you. If you would be so kind, may I take you out to dinner this evening?”

There was a long pause. “Robby, before I say yes, could you tell me if I would consider this a pleasant evening for me? If you are going to break my heart, I don’t want to go.”

“Allison, I’m not out to break your heart. I’m getting my affairs settled after the death of my wife. Before she died we discussed my future and she gave me her feelings about certain things and different people. Many of her kind thoughts concerned you and Bobby. I would like to tell you some of the things we talked about. I know I will enjoy having dinner with you and I hope you will feel the same way.”

“Yes, I’d love to have dinner with you. Robby, years ago Mrs. Castleman gave me a dress that you had designed. Its style is timeless. May I wear it this evening?”

“I think that would be appropriate. That is so thoughtful of you as well.” We did have a wonderful evening. When Allison started in again telling me how sorry she was about her behavior a dozen years ago, I stopped her.

“Allison, that is in the past. It was very painful for me and I know it turned out to be painful for you as well. There are several reasons for us to go forward. First, it would get Mom off my back about you and me and a life together. Second, I have a proposal to make. It will be up to you to decide if you want to be a part of it. As you know, I’ll always want to be around these big old houses and preserve them. There is much more work than one man can do right in this area. I’d like to start a little business with a crew to do the work.

“It has caught Bobby’s interest as well. He’s only thirteen, but he is observing and comments when he sees a repair needed on some building. This happens when we are just driving by. I’m going to need someone to handle the paperwork. I know you are capable because you have worked yourself from the secretarial pool to a fine position. You would be working directly with me and often right on the job site. Is this something you would be interested in doing?”

“I’d be seeing you every day?”

“Yes. If I had to go to Florida or up into the mountains, you would be with me. When we finished, we might find time for some personal time together.”

“This work pays that well? When you did it while we were married, I don’t remember that it paid that well.”

I was just a little exasperated at this comment. “I was just getting started. I was only eighteen. I was saving money for a down payment on a home. Of course there was no money for the finer things at that stage in our life.”

Tears started from Allison’s eyes. “I really did destroy my life all by myself didn’t I?”

“Allison, forget that if you can. I’m giving you a chance to move forward. It will do neither one of us any good to look back on that time. I remember how much I loved you when we were first married. I’m willing to try and recapture those feelings I had for you at that time. You have Bobby and I have come to love him as if he was my own. Who knows, we are young enough to have a child together if we can get beyond the past.”

“Why are you doing this? It would seem as if I am getting all of the benefits.”

“A couple of reasons. My wife saw how much you still loved me and her heart went out to you. She pointed this out to me. She was an advocate for you even though you didn’t know it. I’ll admit, I don’t know if I will ever love you as deeply as I did her, but I think I can make you happy.”

“Robby, this is the chance I have been waiting and praying for. I could promise to make you so happy that you would forget Mrs. Castleman. I won’t even try now. You must tell me more about your life together. I will join you in your new work and be thankful I can be a part of it.”

Mom hit me with, “When are you going to do something about Allison? Katrina has been gone for nine months.”

“Mom, give me time. I’m following Kat’s wishes. I have an enormous estate to settle. Her investments were many and varied. There is Seiena. There are Kat’s grandkids to be looked after. I’m setting up trust funds for their education.

“You aren’t thinking of a relationship with Seiena are you?”

“No, not at all. In fact Seiena will be announcing her engagement to someone she has found whom she loves. The girls think he is okay, so the marriage will take place as soon as it is decent. I have given them my blessing.”

“Answer me. Are you going to have anything to do with Allison? She has waited many years for you. Bobby needs to be able to call you Dad. He has waited as long as she has.”

“Mom, you can stop pushing. You are too impatient with me. Allison and I have been talking. We are examining our lives up to this point to see if we can be as happy together again as we were when we first married. We are starting fresh and we are getting ready to make a commitment.

"My life has been far happier than what Allison has had. Kat gave me that. Kat thought often of Allison and she is one of the reasons I am talking to her now. You have helped her as well, by quietly guiding her into the maturity she lacked when she was married to me. Also there is Bobby. You always reminded me that he has my name and I should be a father to him. You are so right. There is a bond between us. You knew me better than I knew myself.

“Getting back to Allison. I don’t know what she was looking for when she was unfaithful. If it was sex, well Kat had two husbands and over several years, several lovers. She gave me the essence of all of these that came before me. I gave her the vigor that came with being much younger than she was. We both gained from our union. That essence is still with me. If I start a relationship with Allison, it is her who will benefit.

“We gained in other ways. Kat was burned out in the design business when she discovered that I had something she could use. It was nothing that could stand alone, but together with Kat’s knowledge, it put her back on top again. It filled her heart as well as her coffers. Some of that will come to Allison as well. Kat is gone now and I want to return to who was my first love. That is caring for some of these massive old mansions and keeping them up for future generations.”

“Will you be living at the big house? It should be yours.”

“No, I can’t. It isn’t the same without my wife there. Seiena and her prospective husband think it will be a great place to own. Seiena is taking it as part of her settlement. Kat knew this and it is written into her will.”

“Did your wife leave you anything?”

“Yes, she left me very comfortable. I still will be the handyman that takes care of the big house. That is part of my legacy too. I promised to do all of Seiena’s work even though I’m not living there.”

“Allison won’t stand for you being a handyman.”

“We’ve already discussed it.” I looked closely at my mother and saw how disappointed in me she was. “Allison wants me to be happy and is fine with what I want to do. She wants Bobby to be happy. He is the happiest being with me. I talk to him all the time about how grand these mansions were in a bygone era. He may follow in my footsteps. Right now he is extremely proud of the business cards I have had printed. They say ‘Robert Anderson and Sons.’ The sons, I put that on the cards in case Allison and I have a baby someday.”

I knew over time that Katrina and the House of Kat would be nearly forgotten by most everyone. Not by me though. I would make Allison happy and I would have a measure of happiness for myself as well. It never would approach again what I had with that sweet lady who I asked one time to coat her lips with wine for our first kiss.

The End