Ashley and Milo

Ashley and Milo

happyhugo

Copyright © 07/19/09

Romance, of the Finest Kind

70,546 words

Readers score 8.67

Milo is divorced and wants his two
little girls with him for the summer
Ashley is widowed and pregnant with
her dead husband’s baby.  Milo is
kind of a fix-it type guy and the only
direction is up for both.  This is a
romance with no sex.

Chapter One

I could hear the old jeep winding up the trail. I knew the sound of it and I had heard it often enough in the last nine years. It wasn’t going to get here and the driver, if it was who I thought it was, would know that too. I heard it spinning its wheels and get stuck in the mud hole that was always present at this time of year. I knew now that it was someone who had never driven up to the cabin before. The mud hole was a good half mile from the camp.  Who could it be and for what reason would they be coming here at this time of year?

I had walked up from the backside of the mountain and had only arrived fifteen minutes before I heard the vehicle.  I thought I would examine whoever was coming here before I made myself known.  I stepped around to the side after shutting and locking the door.  I waited for nearly a half hour before I could see a woman climbing along the trail.  When she got to where a vehicle could be parked, she paused.  She must have realized then that this was a strictly late summer and early fall trail. 

She stopped and surveyed the cabin that was up hill from where she was standing.  Christ, she didn’t even have a carry bag or backpack, just a handbag.  Most likely containing makeup, something women couldn’t do without.  Must be she wanted to see where the road went and started forward without thinking?  Damn, now I would have to help get the vehicle out. It had to be done before dark, too, as it was impossible to back up the quarter mile from the mud hole to where it could be turned around. 

Slowly she made her way up the path, up the steps and across to the locked door.  I was surprised when she reached into her purse and pulled out a key and unlocked the door.  She must have something to do with the person that owned the cabin with me. 

Calvin Winslip and I had purchased this land nine years ago and over the years we had built this two-room hunting camp.  The joke was on us for any game stayed down in the lower reaches of the mountain.  It was a great place to get away from it all.  I got away from my wife and Calvin just wanted a place to relax.  He had never married.  Hell he didn’t need to for he was a handsome devil and had all the women he wanted.

I wish I had gone that route. I was now divorced and paying support for two kids that I couldn’t even see when I wanted to.  I eased around to the back door and cracking it slightly, I peeked in.  The woman had sat down in a chair at the table and was sitting with her head bowed.  Rousing up just a little, she opened her bag and pulled out a gun that looked like Calvin’s .44 magnum and laid it at hand on the table.

I could hear her sniffling and then start to sob.  Very carefully, I crept softly behind her and just as she reached for the gun, I picked it off the table.  She must have had her eyes closed for she didn’t realize it wasn’t at her hand and she fumbled around. Not finding it, she gave a startled squeak and whirled out of her chair, tipping it over.

I stood facing her with the weapon behind me.  Tears totally stopped now, “Who are you?”

“I’m Milo Burns, but Miss, I think it is me that should be asking who you are.  You come into my cabin and,” I paused, “what were you going to do with that gun, anyway?  It almost looked like you were going to use it on yourself.”

“None of your business what I planned. Besides I own half this cabin so you can’t tell me what I can or can’t do.”

“Well if you’re going to mess it all up with blood and guts and leave me to clean it up, I can tell you, you can’t do that.  And as far as owning part of this property, Calvin Winslip and I are the registered owners and you don’t look like no Calvin to me.”

She was strangely silent and then she started blubbering, “Calvin is dead.  He was killed in Iraq a little more than two weeks ago.”  She couldn’t say more because she was crying so hard.

“God no, not Calvin!  I knew his unit had been called up, but I didn’t know he had been deployed yet. Where do you fit into this?  You’re not his sister.”

I caught something she said through her hiccups and tears. “Wife.”

“Are you saying you are his wife?”

She nodded.  I looked more closely at this woman.  Maybe she wasn’t a dog, but she was far from the level of beauty that I associated with Calvin’s women.  And here she tells me she is married to him.  I hadn’t spoken directly to Calvin since Christmas and it was now June.  I had been tied up with my own problems so it wasn’t surprising that I didn’t know about him being married.  He had e-mailed me in February that he was being called up.  That was the last word I had from him.

I straightened the chair and led her to it and pushed her down.  I moved across the room and sat on the other side of the table facing her.  “Tell me about it.” 

“My name is Ashley.  Calvin and I were childhood sweethearts and we broke up when high school ended.  I have always loved him and I guess he found that he loved me too.  I saw him at Christmas time and we reconnected. 

“When Calvin received his papers that said he was being called up, we became real serious and we were married Easter weekend.  He shipped out a month ago.  Two weeks later on his first exit from his compound, his Humvee was hit by an IED and he was killed.  He never knew that we were going to have a baby.”  She couldn’t continue speaking as she was crying too hard.

I let Ashley settle down before I asked, “Were you really going to use the gun if I hadn’t grabbed it?”

“Yes.”

“Are you still planning on doing it?”

“Yes.”

“Hey, I’ll do it for you.”  I pulled the gun from my belt, checked to make sure the safety was off and pointed the gun in her direction.  There was a look of horror on her face.  I pulled the trigger and the gun fired.  Ashley toppled over onto the floor.  I got up and felt for her pulse.  Satisfied, I found a piece of plastic and spread it out on the bunk. 

I picked her up and laid her out, straightening her legs and putting her arms at her sides.  I built the fire even though it was June, and I knew it soon would be hot in here.  I made several trips out to the little water pipe that was our water supply, bringing back enough water to fill the tub that I had on the stove. It took two hours to bring the water to the temperature that I needed.

I went over to the bunk and shook Ashley.  “Ashley, wake up.  Come on, wake up.”

Her eyes opened and she blinked.  “I’m still alive?”

“Yeah, still alive.  You fainted and have been sleeping for awhile.  Look, I think facing death and thinking you were going to die, made you pee your pants.  I’ve heated enough water for you to give yourself a bath and maybe wash out your underwear.  I’ll give you my spare jeans to put on. I guess you weren’t planning on needing a change of clothes.  I mean who needs extra clothes if they know they are going to kill themselves and Calvin’s baby.”

I continued, “I’d like to see the baby when it is born, but if you are still bent on killing yourself, I’m leaving the gun here on the table.  If you do it, would you please step out the back door and not mess up the cabin.  I’ll be right outside in front and you can call if you need anything.”  I laid the gun on the table.  It was her decision and I honestly hoped she had given up on committing suicide. 

I went out and sat on the top step.  I could hear her stirring around.  Suddenly the gun went off behind the building.  God, no!  I was so sure that I had at least stopped her long enough for her to change her mind.  I ran around back expecting to see her writhing and dying on the ground.

“There you son-of-a-bitch, two can play this game.  You thought I did it when the gun went off, didn’t you?  I thought I was going to die when you pointed the gun at me.  I still ought to shoot you for making me pee my pants.  How much longer do you want to keep this up?”

“I’m done if you are.  Christ, you almost made me have to take a bath too.” I went back to the front of the cabin and resumed my seat. Before long I was chuckling to myself.  That is until I remembered that Calvin was dead and this woman loved him so much she didn’t want to live without him.  I was hoping she was beyond that now and especially for her unborn baby’s sake.

“Would you come in now, Milo?  Where do you want to throw this water?”

We worked together cleaning up and as it was near evening, I opened my backpack and laid out what food I had brought which consisted of mostly bacon and eggs and bread for toast.  I had a gallon of milk to soak up the box of cold cereal and to mix with the bottle of brandy I had thought to include.  “If I eat up your food, you won’t be able to stay as long as you planned.”

“No, but if you had carried through on your plans, I wouldn’t have been able to stay at all.  I’m glad my stay here has been shortened by just a little under the circumstances.”

“You know Milo, Calvin talked about you all the time.  He said you had some strange ways and weren’t always happy, but you were the best companion a person could have.  I think I know what he meant.  I mean when you pointed the gun at me, suddenly, I didn’t want to die.”

“That was the point.  It is like when people are young, they say, when I reach 75, I’ve lived long enough, but when they get there, no matter how sick and in pain they are, they think, maybe I’ll make it to 80.  You just reached 75 today and decided you might like to see 80.”

“You are so right.”  We were sitting at the table across from each other and when we both looked up, there was something being nurtured deep in our minds.  A bond maybe?

“Let’s sit out on the porch.  We have to go out the back door and around to the south end of the cabin. There is just enough room for two chairs and we can look down into the valley.  I think the moon is full tonight and will be coming up just as it gets dark.  It’s quite a sight.”

We sat there and it was just as I said it would be. Nothing needed to be said and nothing was.  About a little after ten, I said,   “I’m pretty tired.  I think I’ll go in and go to bed.  I’ll sleep on the top bunk.  You can either go in first or I will.”

“Milo, you go first.  I want to stay out just a little longer and Milo, thank you for everything.”

Ashley was shaking me at daylight.  “Milo, come see the sunrise.  I opened my eyes and it is just peeking up.  It is coming up fast so hurry.”

I smiled to myself.  Ashley had evidently not come to bed at all, sitting out and watching the moon and then the stars pop out.  Now she was being treated to the most wonderful vision of all.  Seeing the sun at this time of day was like being born again.  I joined Ashley.  Again she referred to yesterday.  “I could have missed this.  Thank you so much.”  When the sun had fully risen, I went in and started the bacon frying.

After the few dishes were washed and put in the cupboard, Ashley said, “I guess you want to know what brought me to the point yesterday to decide to kill myself.”  In a way it was a question, but I thought it was more of a plea to be heard.

I went for the plea theory.  “Yes, of course I would.  You might listen to me someday and as I’m sure Calvin told you, I’m not always the happiest.”

“Fair enough, we can bare our souls and be the better for it.  I do need someone to talk to.  Cry on your shoulder, if you will.  First Milo, look at me and you can see I’m not the prettiest woman there ever was.  It didn’t help when I overheard my father say to a colleague of his, that if his daughter was in a whorehouse, she would starve, because I would be the last to get any business because of my looks.  That hurt. 

“I have had most every material thing I ever wanted.  My grandmother settled money on me so I have always been popular with my peers because of that. I never tried to fool myself of why I was so sought after either.  In high school I was always in the “in” crowd.  Calvin dated me, but I always felt it was strictly one way on the love train. 

“I never was the clinging type and I guess I never made the depths of my feelings known to Calvin.  He told me when we met again last Christmas that he wished I had.  He said I came off as not really caring, when in actuality I would have died to have him love me back.

“I went on to school and have become a well-respected prosecutor. My love life was almost nil up until Christmas when I ran into Calvin again.  I was more open this time around and welcomed his advances, telling myself if I couldn’t have all of him, I could at least enjoy a part of him.  Surprisingly, he came to love me very quickly and as deeply as I loved him.  We had a short engagement because from the first date on we were making love just like a married couple.

“Now he is gone. I’m still rich, I’m still homely and now I’m also pregnant.  I feel the only chance I have for a satisfying life from now on is to buy a husband. I know that rarely works.  I need my self-respect to hold my head up and look at myself in the mirror.  Calvin had given me directions to the camp here, so I thought the perfect solution would be to come here, cry a little and take the easy way out.”

“Changed your mind a little since yesterday morning when you started out?”

“More than a little.  You have mentioned the baby a few times. Right now I’m awake to the fact that I almost committed murder on Calvin’s baby. How could I have been so stupid?”

“I guess your priorities have changed. This is good.”

“They wouldn’t have if you hadn’t been here.”

“But I was here, so we don’t need to go over that again.  Are you going to sit down and re-think your life now?”

“Yes I am.  Hey, I have had a man that I loved and one who loved me.  If I never have that again, so be it.  Maybe if I smile a little more, people will look past my countenance and see the real me.”

“It could happen that way.  Go for it.” Ashley went back over her life and filled in the blanks.  She was an eloquent speaker and could paint a picture of what her life had been like.  Parts of it were sad and those around her hurt her often, but I felt she was overly sensitive and said so.

People seldom set out to really hurt a person and often it is the perception of the so-called victim who finds the hurt coming from their own mind.  Ashley gave instances and when I tried to reinterpret them for her, she saw what I meant.

Ashley’s way of thanks was to say, “Calvin said you were wise and he was right.  Why didn’t I know you years ago?”

Lunch consisted of cold cereal and a small mixed drink of brandy and milk.  Mine was mostly brandy and Ashley’s was mostly milk.   I reminded her that alcohol wasn’t good for the fetus.  “How long are we staying here?”

“We’ll have to leave right after breakfast tomorrow morning because the food will be gone.  We have to pop your vehicle out of the mud.  It is Calvin’s jeep isn’t it?”

“Yes, he said it knew the way.  I wish the jeep could have told me about the mud.  I buried it.”

“Not too much of a problem.  We will just grasshopper it out.”

“What do you mean?”

“I can’t explain it.  I’ll show you tomorrow. I have everything here to do it with anyway.  Don’t feel too bad about the mud hole.  Calvin buried it at least four times that I can remember.”

“Milo, I’ve told you about my life.  Calvin said you were an unhappy person sometimes.  Do you want to tell me why?”

“Sure, why not.  First I want you to know I’m only four years older than you and Calvin.  I know I look years older than I actually am.  All I ever wanted was a wife, two kids and a good job to support them.  I have had all of that and all at the same time, too.  Now I don’t have anything or at least anything I can call mine.  I’m divorced from my wife.  My two girls aged six and seven, are with her and I had to sell the business and my home in the divorce settlement. 

“When I think back to our life together, I wonder if my wife ever loved me.  I think I was a starter husband for her and that was her intention from the day she met me.  I never knew that she was planning on dumping me or that she already had my replacement waiting in the wings.  That fact didn’t surface until after the settlement was finalized.  Children weren’t in her plans, but when she asked for an abortion to terminate her pregnancies, I objected so strongly she went full term with them. 

“What hurts the most is I don’t really know how much love she has for them or if she is using them as pawns.  The final decree says I’m supposed to have the kids for a month which is coming up in two weeks.  Right at the present I don’t have a home to bring them to except this place here.  I came up yesterday to try to figure out how I am going to manage.  My ex-wife knows there are no facilities and is going to object if she finds out I am bringing them here, so this place is out.”

“Why did you have to sell your business?  Calvin said it was a fast food franchise, I think.”

“It was.  The thing of it was when we bought the franchise, I borrowed $50,000 and Jean put up $5,000.  I had to admit that money of hers is what made it possible to purchase the franchise, so in the eyes of the law she was entitled to half.  I borrowed in my name so I was responsible for the note and she wasn’t.

 The house went the same way.  My child support isn’t too heavy for I don’t have much, but it will go up when I find a job.  All of the assets I had left, I put into the hands of my attorney and he is paying the child support out of an annuity he bought for me with the money.” I was becoming dejected the longer I explained my situation.

“So where are your wife and children now?”

“She is remarried and the kids are with her in her new husband’s home.  He has three children, but they are older than mine by ten years or so.  I often wonder how his kids like it with step-siblings in residence.  I’ll find out in a couple of weeks when I get them if I can.”

“Who did your ex-wife marry?”

“Some attorney by the name of James Burgess.”

“I know him.  I don’t know too much good about him either.  I can’t imagine a woman dumping you for him.”

I laughed.  “He must be pretty bad for you to feel that way.  Remember I’m the guy who you didn’t know 24 hours ago.  Since you’ve met me, I’ve fired a gun at you and made you pee your panties.  You were sure I was trying to kill you.  And I gave you the chance to carry out your plan to destroy yourself after that.  Yeah, I’m a really good guy.”

“Yes, all that, and you’ve fed me and listened to me and let me cry on your shoulder.  You’ve also shown me the error in my thinking.  And you took me out and sat me where I could see the most beautiful sky in the universe.  Not once have you said I was wrong, you let me come to that conclusion on my own.  Yeah, you’re bad, you are.”

“It wasn’t me. It was there in your mind all the time.  You just had to pause and find it.  Well maybe I’d like to take credit for the pause.”

“Okay Milo, I know all about your troubles.  What about you?  What can you do? Other than operate a fast food restaurant.  Can you cook, can you keep books, weld metal,” She paused, “You must have a hobby or something you can capitalize on?  You’ve built this place, so maybe its carpentry.  How about going to a trade school and learning to do something different?”

“God Ashley, you make it sound easy.  That is great, but it takes money and I’m broke, remember?”

“How is your credit?  Did that go the way your marriage did?  For some reason I feel you still have excellent credit.”

“It is okay, I guess.  My attorney said I could file bankruptcy, but I paid all of my bills instead. The only asset I have left is this place and my half is only worth about eight thousand and that would be stretching it.”

“It is worth a lot more than that.  I am never going to sell my half and I’m hoping you won’t either.  If you need to raise some money and need to tie this up to do it, come to me first.  We can work out something.  This place is part of something good that has happened to me and I’ll never ever let it go.”

The evening activities were the same as last night, the moon came up and the stars came out.  I went to bed first, but couldn’t go to sleep as soon as I had last night.  About an hour after the moon was up, I heard Ashley come in and crawl into the lower bunk.  It wasn’t long before I could hear her sobbing quietly. 

“Are you okay?”

“Yes I’m fine. I was just thinking my baby will never have a daddy.  As long as you and Calvin were friends, I was thinking of asking you to be an uncle.  Would you do that for me?”

“Of course I will.  Thank you for thinking of me.”  I was smiling when I finally slept.

Every last smidgen of food was consumed at breakfast.  Before we were ready to leave, I rummaged around in a box behind the stove and got out four short poles and four light, but strong chains.  “I keep these here for getting vehicles out of the mud.  We have to carry them, but they will fit in my backpack just fine.  I’ll hide them beside the trail and bring them back up the next time I come.” 

Ashley was about to ask how they were used, but remembered that I said it was hard to explain and it was easier just to show her. When we got down to the mud-hole, I could see that Ashley had driven right in but didn’t get too far before all four wheels were spinning.  The jeep had settled in some, so it was going to be messy getting it out.  “You watch and see how I do this.  You may have to do it yourself sometime.”

I put one pole down beside the left hand wheel so that it stuck out in front and back about four inches.  I took the small chain and passed it through the holes in the wheel and hooked it as tight as I could.  I did the same to the left front wheel.  Next I went around to the right side and did the same, except I made them as vertical as I could.  “Give me your key and I will back you out.”

Ashley stood off to the side and watched as the wheels turned and the poles went down into the mud and jacked the jeep up, first one side and then the other, all the while jerking the jeep backwards.  The minute the rear wheels reached solid ground, I undid those two poles and backed up until the whole vehicle was where the tires could gain traction.

“This works best on a jeep because the fenders are not down over the sides of the wheel.  Where wheels are covered with fenders you can only have the pole sticking out on one side and have to be careful not to let the wheel go all the way around, or you will rip the fender off.  Still going slow and being careful, it can be done.  The jeep, with its four wheel drive, helps a lot too.”

“Where did you ever learn a trick like that?  It is amazing.”

“My father told me about it and he heard it from my grandfather.  Back when the roads were mostly dirt and unimproved, ways had to be found to get out of mud holes. I can just visualize a bunch of car owners 80 or 90 years ago talking about how to un-stick their cars. This way seemed to work the best and the principle still stands.  Henry Ford even approved of it when he was shown how good it worked.”

“It sure does work.”

I hid the poles and chains under some nearby brush and Ashley gave me a ride the rest of the way down the mountain.  When we reached the bottom, I showed her where my car was parked and where the path began I had taken to reach the cabin up on the mountain. 

Standing by my car and ready to get into it, we both felt awkward and didn’t know what to say to each other.  “Milo, my life has changed in the last couple of days.  I feel as if I have been reborn.  I haven’t asked, but where are you staying?”

“I’m crashing in a friend’s basement until I find something.”

“I feel like I ought to do something for you, but I don’t know what.  Would you let me have your friend’s address so I can keep in touch?”

“Sure, I don’t mind.”  I wrote it out on a piece of paper.  “That is right next to where my home was for several years.  It is a little depressing living there, but I try not to dwell on it.”  I had a word for her too. “Ashley, if you get to feeling blue, would you call me and we’ll hike up the mountain?”

“I’ll do that, but count on me not waiting until I’m blue.”

For some reason I wanted to hug Ashley, but felt that would be too forward, so I just shook her hand.  When our vehicles hit the blacktop, Ashley was gone like a big-assed bird.  The jeep was an early Korean war edition, but Ashley drove it as if it had just left the factory.  For two miles mud flew out of the tire treads or off the chassis where it had settled into the mud and clung there. 

I came up to her five miles up the road where a trooper had her pulled over.  I tooted when I went by. She was an officer of the court, so she would make out just fine I was sure.

That night lying in my bed, I thought over the two days that had just passed.  I was pretty pleased with what had transpired.  It had solved none of my problems, but if Calvin was looking down, I felt he would have been pleased by my actions.  I went to sleep thinking that.

I was sitting in the living room with my friend and his family two days later.  It was just after dinner and everyone was relaxing. His front doorbell chimed.  His son answered it.  “Is this where Milo Burns is staying?”

Mikey replied, “Yes it is.” 

I knew it was Ashley.  Before I could get out of my chair, Mikey had led her into the living room.  “Hi Milo, I’ve been thinking about your problem and I may have a temporary solution.  Can we go somewhere so I can tell you about it?”

“Sure.”  I made introductions and told Patrick and Linda that this was my friend, and Calvin’s widow.  Before we got into her car she asked which place I had lived at formerly.  I pointed it out and she admired how nice I had made it.  I bragged some, because I was proud of my landscaping abilities.

“You did all of that yourself?”

“Yes and I had plans for doing more, but I ran out of wife.”  I chuckled when I said this.  Ashley flashed me a smile and I had to ask, “How did you make out the other day?  I saw you parked beside the road talking to someone when I went by.  You didn’t get a ticket did you?”

Ashley’s face flamed.  “No, I got off with a warning, but I have promised to drive the speed limit from now on.  It was kind of foolish of me. It is like you cautioning me about drinking alcohol.  I wish I had someone like you with me all the time to tell me what is right and what’s wrong.  Damn, that didn’t come out right.  What I meant was ….

I broke in with, “I know what you meant.  Just someone around to stop a person from doing foolish things.  We all wish that.  It happens to me too often.” I think she was grateful she didn’t have to explain further.

“Milo, you know I’m pretty well off.  I own a two acre lot in one of the better sections of the city.  It is a narrow lot that fronts on two different streets.  I live in one house just off one street.  There is a large building that fronts on the other.  On the lower level in that one there are three garage spaces that are used for storage.  Over them there is a two bedroom apartment.  The facilities are all installed, but turned off.  If you need a place to have your children for a month, I can have the utilities turned on.”

“What about the cost?  I can’t afford very much.”

“I know that and I’m not suggesting you stay without paying. I need some things done around the grounds.  The building you are in, although livable, needs upgrading. I remember Calvin saying that you did all of your own repairs.  If you would fix up the place that you will be living in and do the yard work, I will pay you what I would pay someone else to do it.  I would be more comfortable having you there than having some unknown renovator doing the work.”

“Could I look at it first?  I just want to be sure this isn’t a make work job for me.”

“Trust me there is work enough that needs doing.  I was taken to the cleaners one time by a carpenter and had to have the work done all over again by a different one.  Now I have been leaving things until they can’t wait any longer.”

Ashley lived on the other side of the city and it took almost forty-five minutes to reach her home. “This is where I live.  It is the worst looking house on the block.  We will park here and walk across to the other building. That will give you an idea of what needs doing.  First you have to fix up the other place to give you a decent home to live in and then you could start on this empty space between the two buildings.”

We walked through the cluttered garage spaces on the first floor when we reached the building.  There was furniture of every description, and many old appliances, too.  “All of this is still good.  My grandmother liked a change every so often and this is where the old stuff ended up.  The apartment upstairs is empty, so pick out anything here you wish to use to furnish it.” 

I climbed the stairs behind Ashley and for the first time I had some thoughts about her and how she was put together.  I stopped halfway up and turned to survey the layout below me.  No way was I going to lust after Calvin’s widow.  She didn’t need to cope with that.  Besides, what was I?  Whatever I was it wasn’t anything she would be interested in.

I heard the door unlock and Ashley enter.  I then went on up. The place was bare.  It needed paint and paper and new tile in the kitchen and bath.  The fixtures were of an older period, but of quality.  Renovators were begging for reproductions, but these were originals and priceless. 

The beautiful pocket door casings enhanced the whole effect, as did the matching window casings. There was a crown molding framing the ceilings.  The kitchen had a chair rail circling it.  “God Ashley, this is beautiful. Are you sure you want me to live here?”

“Yes, of course I do.  Let’s go back downstairs and talk about what you think can be done with the place.  I am a firm believer in having a plan. You can estimate what it is going to cost and I will set up an account you can draw on. 

“I’ve been thinking about what I am going to pay you.  Carpenters and their helpers get about five times minimum wage. I’ll pay you that, but you have to pay me half of the wage for leasing the apartment.  If you are still here at the end of the year and I am satisfied, I’ll give you a bonus.”

“That seems very fair. One question, is this a forty hour week, or is this for as many hours as I want to work and be productive at it?”

“You get compensated for every hour you work.  I know you most likely worked sixteen-eighteen hours operating your fast food franchise, so work whatever you are comfortable with.”

“May I start tomorrow?”

“I anticipated you would want to. We will stop up at the house and I will give you the account book.  This is just for materials and any help you need to hire to get done what is needed.  The utilities are going to be turned on in the morning.  If you want a phone, you can get that yourself. Your wages will be paid out of my own accounts.”

We walked back to the house and I was invited into Ashley’s office.  It was lined with law books.  Her desk was cleared of clutter, and I looked at her pencils when she left to make coffee. Every single one was sharp.  My father often told me you can tell a lot about a person by looking at the tools of his trade.

In Ashley’s case the sharp pencils indicated how together she was.  I remembered she was ready to end her existence. But again I thought she wasn’t going to mess up the place she was familiar with she was going to mess up a place far away.   I’d have to think on this some more at another time.

It was late when I returned to my basement bedroom.  When we pulled up in front of the house, Ashley asked, “Excited about your new job?”

“More than you know.  I want to thank you for providing me a chance to raise myself up again.  Also, for being so careful to make sure you do nothing to go against my sensibilities. That is what I like most about you.  If you had said, hey I have a place you can live in free of charge and use it until you get on your feet, I would have turned it and you down.  This way I have my self-respect and I truly need that right now.  So thank you.”

I clasped her hand and went into the house.  Pat and Linda were curious and interested in what was happening.  I explained and they were happy for me. I had been in their cellar for several weeks and I knew they were not unhappy that I was leaving.  Guests that stay and you don’t know when they are leaving, wear on the host until they try to think of ways to get rid of you.  Pat and Linda hadn’t reached that point yet, but they would have.

Chapter Two

I was excited.  I had a job and I was pretty much working for myself.  Sure I never would get rich, but if you are doing something you enjoy, it doesn’t matter.  And the address I had. Wow!  In this section of town addresses meant something.  Wait until my ex-wife had to mail me something, she would roll over with envy.  Now if I could only have my daughters living here with me, my life would be just about perfect.

When I reached my new home early the next morning, I walked entirely around it.  It set back from the street a goodly distance.  The driveway circled the building with the entrances for vehicles on the side away from the street.  The drive itself was of finely crushed stone although weeds had grown into it.

That street side was very plain with few windows and must have been considered an eyesore by the neighbors.  I went inside and up the stairs. I measured this and that and contemplated what I wanted the apartment to look like when I finished. 

It was time for one of my friends to be up so I called and asked if he would swap vehicles with me today as I needed his truck.  “You working?”

“Yeah, I’ve gone into the renovating business.  I have to get some paint and paper and stuff at Home Depot.”

“Good, I knew you would find something to do.” I had always helped my friends and now I was calling in the favors. 

I was the first customer at the building supply store and I was there for over three hours.  Returning to my new home, I made room for everything I had purchased in one of the bays by piling some furniture together.  I then swapped back my borrowed truck for my car.  When I went upstairs, the electricity, the gas and the water had been turned on.  I started by washing the ceilings and I was finished with that by one o’clock.

Hungry, I went down the street until I found a deli.  The prices were high because of the neighborhood I was in, but I bought a submarine sandwich, some milk and a pack of twinkies.  Back again, I hunted around in the second bay and found an oak kitchen chair.  I sat out in the sun and ate my sandwich and then leaned it back against the wall and took an hour’s nap. 

Back to work, I ran some masking tape over the crown molding in the kitchen.  There was no need to cover the floor, for it was going to be newly tiled.  I rolled the whitener on the ceiling and waited for it to dry to see if it needed another coat.  It didn’t.  Next I headed for the bathroom.  I took paint cloths and covered the fixtures and whitened the ceiling. I used a washable soft rose paint on the walls. 

I had some border of embossed gold and a darker rose for trim to be applied tomorrow.  I had inspected the shower walls again and had passed them as okay for the time being.  The grout needed cleaning and there were a couple of places that the tiles were loose.  I missed this when I looked the first time, so I would have to hit a hardware store. I installed linoleum on the floor.  Someday I would tile the floor if I stayed here very long.

At nine in the evening I decided I didn’t want to start any new project.  I stopped at a KFC’s and ate on the way home to my basement bed at Pat and Linda’s.  Tomorrow I would dig a bed out from the stuff packed away in one of the bays.  That is if I had the ceiling and the walls finished in the smallest bedroom that I had picked for my own.  When I reached the house, I just waved at Linda but stopped to ask Patrick if he could stop by my new apartment and help me move a bed and bureau up the stairs.  “Bring Linda so she can pass on what I am doing.”

Five a.m. I put up the screen on the ceiling to hold plaster and at five-thirty I was opening a bucket of mud. What I was trying to do, I had only done once before.  It had turned out pretty good, but I knew I could do better.  

The biggest problem was balancing the amount of compound plastered to the screen and to get the design in before it was too stiff to work.  I should have hired a helper, but I wanted this to be my project and mine alone.  Why was that?  I wanted to impress Ashley.  I had bragged about my home and what I had done there and I wanted to show her I could do the same with this home she had given me access to.

The ceiling was finished at noon.  I left for the deli.  I was really hungry today because I hadn’t eaten breakfast.  It took two subs to fill me up.  I was aware that I was pushing myself, but I only had ten days to have everything ready for my two little girls.  I’d do anything for them. 

Tomorrow, I was going to get a cell phone so I could talk to them.  My nap ran over and I didn’t get back to the bedroom until two o’clock.  Putting paper on walls was something my father had showed me and I worked with him several times.  I knew I was supposed to strip the previous paper off, but it was still bonded tightly.  The only reason for changing it was because it was outdated. Besides I wanted it to complement my newly designed ceiling.

Patrick showed up at six p.m. with Linda and their two young ones.  “I’m not ready for you yet.  I’ve got to roll up the old rug and put down the new one.”

“How long is that going to take?”

“Twenty minutes or more.”

Linda was walking around and then started playing tag with the kids while she waited.  “I’ll help with the rug.  Hey buddy, this is a pretty exclusive neighborhood you’ve arrived in.” 

“I know. I can’t believe it myself.  If it wasn’t for Lindsey and Marie, I wouldn’t be here.”

“What do your two girls have to do with your being here?”

“When I met Ashley I was worried about the kids coming for a month as I had no place to live with them.  I couldn’t ask you and it wouldn’t have been right anyway.”

“Why didn’t you say something?  Linda and I would have put you up in a motel or something.”

“Come on Patrick, I’ve imposed on you long enough.  Things are just coming together for me for a change.  It won’t be long before I have a little money and then I’m going to do something nice for you and Linda.”

“Yeah, like you really have to.  I can think of at least a half dozen times when I needed you to help me.  We aren’t even yet and most likely never will be.  Let’s get that rug up and get the new one down.  Where is the furniture we have to move?”

“Behind that door in the second bay.  It will take a few minutes to dig it out.”  I pushed the door open and Patrick looked in.

“Hey Linda, you want to see some antiques?  Would you take a look at these that Milo has to furnish his apartment with?  There is even one of those hall trees you have been searching ages for.”  He turned to me.  “You better watch out, Linda may be stealing it.”

“Will not.  It is beautiful though.  Lucky you.”

Patrick and I got the old rug rolled and down.  It was nothing special and I had left it until I was finished so I didn’t have to lay down drop cloths.  I used Ashley’s money to purchase the Turkish rug to replace it, but intended to pay for it myself.  It wasn’t real, of course because it was machine made right here in the United States.  I loved the colors and it brought out the accent of the paper I had used on the walls.

The rug actually had the brightest colors in the room. If you were lying in bed, you wanted to see restful.  When you put your feet on the floor, you wanted to be woken up, therefore the color splash.  I would know in a few minutes what the effect would be.  This was why I had asked Patrick to bring Linda.

The bedstead was a walnut four-poster and had hand carvings on both the head and foot board.  I wanted it when I first saw it, but I worried if modern mattresses would fit, so I had measured it carefully.  It was fine so this was the one I would use.  There was a matching dresser and armoire.  The closet in this bedroom was so small that it was almost ineffectual, so the armoire went in front of it. I picked out a straight chair.  Sometime I might want to have it recovered, for the gold brocade was worn in several places.

I placed everything carefully and called Linda to come up and look.  It was a good thing that the two kids did not come up with her.  She was known to swear on occasion.  “Fast fucking food.  You did that for how many years and you can do things like this?  You are a decorator of the first class.  Oh Milo, this room is beautiful. The four-foot rose detailed into the ceiling plaster and the paper with the little embossed tea roses just go together so well.  Have you done any more?”

I showed her the bathroom, which to me was nothing special and then I told her of the plans I had for the living room and the other bedroom.  As Patrick and Linda were leaving, she asked about the rug with the bright colors and I gave her my thoughts.  “I knew it worked but I didn’t know why.  I think you’ve got it.  I love it!”

The other room I finished the next day.  I did this one in light blue.  Bluebells on the ceiling and accented bluebells for a figure in the wallpaper.  The floor covering, I went conservative and ordered an off-white wall-to-wall. There was a pair of twin brass beds in the storage and a matching pair of painted dressers.  The effect was just right for a little girl’s room. I know Lindsey and Marie will love it. This room had a fair-sized closet which didn’t need any attention at all. (Thank God!)

The next day my hands and fingers were sore and as I had been working over my head, I had a stiff neck.  I didn’t want Ashley to think I was goofing off, so I gave this day to her front yard.  She had some lovely shrubs, but all needed pruning and shaping.  Completing this, I edged her walk, digging the grass away to more clearly define it.  I did this both on the sidewalk and the walk up to the front door. I discovered that one of the posts that held the railing up the steps was very loose, so I straightened and strengthened that.

Her blacktopped driveway seriously needed painting and waterproofing so after I had done the edging, I painted it.  I found a sawhorse in the garage and placed it at the street end.  I left a sign on this not to use the driveway until six p.m.  As I was picking up my tools, an elderly lady came along the sidewalk.  “Young man, come here, I want to speak to you.”

I walked over to see what she wanted.  “I’ve watched you all day.  You work harder than anyone I have ever seen.  What company do you work for?”

“No company.  I’m on my own.  I’m kind of a handyman.  I met Mrs. Winslip a few days ago and have been doing some things for her.”

“What can you do besides yard work?”

“Just about anything.  I have been doing painting and plastering in her other building behind this one.”

“You charge a lot?”

“Mrs. Winslip agreed to pay me carpenter’s wages.  I think I’m worth it.”

“How much are you going to charge for what you’ve done right here?”  

I glanced at my watch.  I had been here about eight hours. “I’m going to bill her for two hundred dollars, plus the cost of the paint for the driveway.  She gets that for what it costs.”

“I’ll give you an extra five dollars an hour if you will come and do some work for me.”

“I’m sorry I’ve signed up long term with Mrs. Winslip.  She has just lost her husband, you know.”

“No, I didn’t.  She hasn’t been married very long.  I met her husband once and liked him.  What happened?”

“He was killed in Iraq.  He was a friend of mine.”

“She never said anything.  Oh, I must tell her how sorry I am.  To think this had to happen and you are such a nice person to be here for her.”

“I don’t think feeling sorry for her is what she needs.  What she needs is a friend she can talk to.  I come from a different type of community.  I have friends up and down the street for a couple of blocks where I used to live.  We support each other when something bad happens and have a party when something good happens.  If a family is having personal problems, we don’t take sides, but other than that we are there for them.”

“Do you have a family?”

“I did.  Now I only have two daughters.  They will be visiting with me in a couple of weeks.  You may have a chance to meet them because they will be here while I am working.”

“I would like to meet them. I’ll watch and if I see them, I’ll stop over.”

“I’m sure they will enjoy meeting you as much as I have.”

“Aren’t you a sweet young man.”

I knew Ashley would be home soon and I wanted to leave before she arrived. Why?  Who knows, but sometimes I felt awkward around her and maybe because I felt so much gratitude for her giving me a way to get back on my feet. I didn’t get away in time.  I was pushing my wheelbarrow back across the lot when Ashley came rushing up beside me.

“Hi stranger, how’s the job going?”

“Fine, really fine. I’ve been working on the apartment for three days now, mostly on the ceilings and had a crick in my neck.  I thought I would goof off for a day.”

“Goofing off, bullshit!  You’ve done a week’s work on the front of my house today.  I’m impressed.”

I chuckled.  “You aren’t the only one.  The lady across the street watched me and offered me more money to come work for her.”

“You didn’t accept did you?”

“Nope.  I said you were a friend of the family and I had a long-term contract with you.  She does want to meet my kids though, when they come to stay with me.”

“Which lady are you talking about?”

“I don’t know her name, but she is about 85 I would guess.  She is real friendly.”  I gave Ashley more of a detailed description.

“That must be Mrs. Hamlin. I wouldn’t call her friendly.  She has lived across the street from me for several years and we haven’t spoken ten times.”

“Ashley, have you gone over and spoken to her?  Calvin did.  I had to tell her he was dead.  Tears came to her eyes.”

“But things like that aren’t done here. People keep to themselves.”

“Why?”

“I don’t know.  They just do.”

“Why don’t you change them?  Think back when you learned that Calvin had been killed and it tore your world apart.  If you had gone and shared your grief with Mrs. Hamlin, you wouldn’t have taken Calvin’s gun and tried to kill yourself, would you?”

“Probably not.”

“Okay, you’ve escaped, but what about someone down the street.  What if another young mother learns her husband has been killed and there are neighbors all around her, but no one comes to console her?  She may not have a Milo Burns right there at the right time.  What then?”

“Damn you Milo, you make me think too much.  What about you?”

“Hey, when Jean told me she was leaving me and taking the kids, I felt like you did when you lost Calvin.  I went over and cried on Patrick and Linda’s shoulders and it wasn’t long before all my neighbors knew.  Several stopped by just to say hi.  It helped a lot and that saved me so I was there to save you when it was necessary.” 

I had enough of this.  “Hey, the deli down the street has great sub sandwiches.  Let’s go get a couple?  You might meet the neighbor whose life you’re going to save someday.”

“I go by there every day, but I’ve never bought anything.  Okay, let’s go for it. Besides I want to see what you’ve done to my house.”

“I wasn’t going to show you until I had the living room done, but I guess I can stand it if you can. If you had waited one more day you would have really seen some progress.” 

When we entered the deli, three of the clerks shouted, “One Italian sub coming up, hold the pickles, load the black olives, mayo on the side and milk and twinkies to go.  Who is the lady with you?”

“This is the lady I’m working for.  Tonight she is inspecting my work.  If she likes it, I’ll be in tomorrow for the usual.  If she doesn’t, I’ll be in asking for a job.  Ashley, meet Karen, Pete and Bill.  What are you going to have?”

Ashley’s face was red.  I embarrassed her, not from what I said, but because in her world, attention was never drawn to a person.  She struggled out with, “I’ll have the same.”

When we were paying, the cashier reached across and clasped Ashley’s hand.  “Dear, I feel for you.  My son is over there, and I worry all the time he won’t be coming home.  He wanted to go, so it was his decision. I’ll just die if anything happens to him.  Pray for me, just like I pray that your pain will pass.”  Tears of sorrow started in both Ashley’s and the cashier’s eyes.

“I will pray that he comes home, and thank you for caring.”

“Milo, you brought me here on purpose didn’t you?  Why did she have to know I lost Calvin?”

“She didn’t and I didn’t tell her directly.  I learned her boy was over there and I said I had just lost a good friend that I had for years.  I said I worked for his widow.  She saw a chance to reach out to you, so she did.  By the way, you said just the right thing to her.  You both feel better now, and if grief comes to her, she will know she isn’t alone.  Let’s go eat. I worked hard today and need sustenance.”

As we were going up the stairs I said, “You know we are going to be eating in the bedroom.  It is the only place I have to set things down, including ourselves.”

“If it was anyone but you, I’d be concerned.”

“That’s right, not to worry, sweet one.”  I changed the subject.  “Go in the bathroom first.  I am mostly done in there.  Then look into the bigger bedroom.  That is all done except for the off-white carpet which I have ordered, and I want to tint the design on the ceiling with a little color.  That is where my girls will be sleeping.  The smaller room I picked for myself is all done except for tinting the rose on the ceiling.”

I watched Ashley open the bathroom door and glance in.  Then she did as directed and went into the girls’ room.  I expected (wanted) some reaction.  The door closed and stayed that way for maybe five minutes.  Then she came out and went into the other room.  Same thing, door closed, wait five minutes, door open.  She faced me. “Milo, I really don’t know what to say.  I have no words for it.  I could go in there or into either one and stay.  They are beautiful.  Where did you learn to do that?”

“I have done only one other, but I’m getting better all the time. I watched a real artist do this and asked questions until I got inside his mind and could see the principle behind it all.  He is dead now, more’s the pity.  He was a genius.  It gets easier.  I’m really concerned about this ceiling in the living room.  I don’t know if I can work fast enough to keep the mud working.  I need someone to be here and hand me stuff or hold a tool.”

“Could someone like me be of help?”

“Certainly. Would you like to help me?  I’m going to do it tomorrow.”

“What time?”

“I need to get started by six, if that isn’t too early.”

“I’ll be here.  I’m due for a day off.”

“Ashley, would you do me one favor?  I need to call my ex and tell her I have a place to live that is suitable for the girls.  I want to verify for sure that she is going to let them stay with me.  If there is any question about the address you can speak with her. Please?”

“Sure, go ahead and call. Do you want to eat our sandwiches first?”

“No, I want to get this over with.”

I called.  Jean’s new husband answered.  “Attorney James Burgess speaking.”

“Hello, may I speak to Mrs. Burgess, please?  This is her ex-husband calling about our children.”

“I’ll see if she is available.  Hang on.”

I could hear Burgess talking to Jean in the background.  He came back on.  “If this is about the kids staying with you a month this summer, she doesn’t want to talk to you.”

“Now look, Mr. Burgess, I gave up the right to see my children every other weekend because Jean said it was too disruptive.  She agreed that I could have them for the month of July.  Is she saying that I can’t now?”

“That is correct.”

Ashley saw how things were going, so she took the phone from my hand.  “Attorney Burgess, this is Prosecutor Ashley Nelson.  I have a question for you.  Do you practice family law?  If you are advising your wife to withhold visitation rights from Milo Burns, I think you are giving her the wrong advice.  I will state this is only my own opinion, but it won’t take me long to find out if she is within her rights.  Do you understand me?”

Ashley winked at me.  “Fine Attorney Burgess, give the phone to your wife and let Mr. Burns speak to her.  The children are the primary concern here and I want to see that they are treated the way the courts say they should be.  For your information, I find Mr. Burns fully qualified to care for his children for this short period.  He has a fine home to bring them into and has worked hard to provide it for them.”  She handed the phone back to me. 

I could hear Burgess and Jean talking heatedly.  From what I could gather, Burgess was urging Jean now to comply in all things which wasn’t the case before.  “Hi Milo, it has been quite a while since we have spoken.”

“Yes it has and you have seemed to want it that way.  I admit I haven’t tried very hard, for my prospects weren’t very good.  However, those prospects have improved, and I think shortly we should return to court and have our agreements reviewed.”

“If you say so.  Can’t we keep this between ourselves?  The girls are happy with you out of their life.  They never mention you anymore.”

“We will see after they are with me for the month.  Do you want to bring them here or shall I come and get them?” 

“I’ll bring them to you.  That is a week from today, isn’t it?”

“Yes Jean, you know it is.  Now if you have paper and pencil, I’ll give you the address.”  Ashley was scribbling madly on a pad she had picked up.  I looked at it.

She had written, “Use my address.”

“Jean, the address is, ‘The Winslip residence, 400 Bellevue Avenue.’  Ashley gave your husband her professional name of Nelson, if he can’t figure it out. You might not have heard, but Calvin died in Iraq about a month ago.  Ashley is his widow.”

“Milo, I didn’t know he was dead.  I’m sorry for you.  I know how long you had been friends.  Would you express my condolences to his widow?”  I could hear the sorrow in Jean’s voice, so I knew she was sincere. “I’ll bring the girls over on Thursday morning early, if that is all right.”  That is the way we left it.

I turned to Ashley.  “If you hadn’t been right here and applied some pressure I wouldn’t be having my kids in a week’s time.  I thank you from the bottom of my heart.  By the way, Jean wanted me to express her condolences.  She knew Calvin, although they never got along that well.  I think she suspected he could see right through her, but I’m sure she means what she said and is sorry he has been taken from us.”

“That is nice of her.  If I see her I will thank her.  Now take me to your bedroom and feed me.”

Sitting in the bedroom eating a sandwich was fun.  Ashley’s eyes traveled to the ceiling every few minutes.  “What have you planned for the living room?  Something spectacular, I’ll wager.”

“Yes, I’m hoping so.  You gave me the idea that night on the mountain when you stayed out to watch the moon come up and see the stars pop out.  It is only fitting that you be here to help me implement it.  This room is big enough to make it work, but then again the whole idea may crash.  We will see.”

“What are you going to do about that wire hanging down in the middle?  Won’t that take away from your design?”

“Maybe, but I need electricity in that place.  Tomorrow is just the beginning of what I have planned.  The reason I haven’t finished the other ceilings is because the plaster has to be perfectly dry before it is coated.  I want to do the bedrooms before the girls come, but I may wait until after they leave to finish this.  I’ll be about two days short, time-wise.”

“You all could stay at the big house with me.”

“The kids maybe, but not me.”

“Why not?”

“I just don’t think it would be right, that’s all.”

“Okay, if you say so.  Hey, I have to do hard labor tomorrow.  I’m going home to bed.  When are you going to start sleeping here?”

“Tomorrow night if I have time to get new bedclothes and linen.”

“Well we will try to find time so you can.” 

Again those awkward moments came when it was time for me to leave. “Do you want me to walk you across the lot and home?”

“Don’t be ridiculous, it is barely dark.  I’ll see you in the morning.”

——————————

“Have you eaten?”  I asked when Ashley arrived on time in the morning.  We both had, so I started right in putting up the screen to hold the plaster. It didn’t take long.  Ashley was quiet while I worked, not wanting to distract me I suppose.  In the center, I put up my base of plaster. 

Then I said, “This is where it gets tricky.  Too much or too wet plaster will come peeling off and fall.  I’m going to make more depth to this and then start putting in the design.  If you can keep the pallet loaded with plaster, this will go along very well and quickly.”  God did we ever make a team.  Never again would I attempt this without a helper.

“Okay, now I am going to make a circle.  The wire you spoke about last night is in the exact center.  Would you hold this end of a string that has a loop in it and goes over that wire?  I’ll measure out two and a half feet.  That is the radius of the circle.  Okay now let the loop turn as I inscribe it.  A perfect circle should result. Beautiful, and I want two more so I will make the next radius six inches longer than the previous one and one more which will give the larger circle seven feet.

“Hey Ash Baby, can you see me doing this alone?  Okay, now for the star.  I figured this out before.  I want five points equidistant on the circumference of the smaller circle.  It should be thirty-one and a half inches from one point to another.  Let’s try it.  Beautiful, almost there and I only have to adjust a little. Would you hold the straight edge steady while I inscribe in the five points?  See now we have a star. Good, now I have to work quickly to get the depth I want.  This is where I worry about getting all the way around the circle with my design before it sets up and I can’t work it.”

I barely made it.  When I finished this part of the ceiling, I had a star that appeared to be floating in the center and two rings further out that I had inscribed a design of five of the zodiac signs. I just picked five at random, but I guess someone above me helped decide.  Calvin and Ashley had the same sign.  The sign for the baby was one I had inadvertently picked of the month he/she would be born in.  I picked my own unconsciously and did the same for each of my daughters.

Ashley and I plopped down on the floor and stared up at what we had accomplished.  “Looks pretty damned good don’t you think, Buddy?”

“What happened to Ash Baby?”

“Do you like that?”

“I think I do, but only coming from you.  You know you are an amazing person. It was just a week ago I was ready to pick up Calvin’s gun and shoot myself.  Today I’m enjoying life more than I have since I was with Calvin.  How about you?  Are you having fun?”

“You know it, Ash Baby.”

We went back to work as there was a long way to go.  I did the corners, drawing a quarter-circle out two feet.  “Do you want to try your hand at putting something in the space between here and the corner?”

“I couldn’t!  I’d spoil your work.”

“Nah, you wouldn’t.  It is such a small space, if it doesn’t come out, we’ll just trowel it over and do it again.”

“All right, but you do the first corner. What would you suggest?”

“I was thinking of staying with a sky motif.  A quarter moon and an almost full moon on one end and a third moon and a half moon on the other end.”

“Okay, you do the third moon so I can watch.”

“First I put up the compound and then I do the outline.  Look how I make it thicker nearest the corner so from every angle it doesn’t look flat.  Bevel the inside of the moon for the same reason.  Now take this little tool I made and scrape away everything down to the base, leaving a third moon.  It is the different shadows and angles that trick the eyes into giving you the perception of depth.  Remember how I cut the edges of the star in deeper on one side than the other? It is the same principle here.”

“Don’t watch me.  You’ll make me nervous.”  She looked at me as if I should say something.  It came to me.

“Just as you say, Ash Baby.”

I could see that was what she was waiting for.  I didn’t go near Ashley as she worked on the half moon in the corner.  I started filling in everything but the design figures.  I used a stiff vegetable brush and an orderly design to break up the broad flat expanses. I had the opposite half of the room done before Ashley had finished her moon. 

I switched sides with her and she soon finished the quarter moon in the third corner.  I walked over and examined her effort.  It was excellent and it was just the correct size.  I worked like the devil to finish the rest of the ceiling.

“Milo, I’m having trouble getting this one right.  It looks too chunky or something.”

I walked over and I agreed that it did. “Try making the front a little less wide.  Remember how the first TVs had a problem with close-ups.  The front of an object looked bigger than the back.  Matter of perception, so try it and maybe that will help.”  Ashley tried it and her problem disappeared. 

We lay down on the floor and admired our work again.  “God it is beautiful and so symmetrical.”  We stared at it some more.  She was quiet.

“You’re thinking it needs something more, aren’t you?”  I asked this because it was what I was thinking.

“Maybe, but what?  We were lying there and then suddenly she bounced up and went down the stairs.  She was gone more than twenty minutes.  She came back and handed me a star shaped cookie cutter. “How about making some stars at random all over the biggest expanses?”

When we finished the ceiling it looked like it had star appliqués here and there on it.  It was just what was needed and I said so.  Ashley was so proud of her contribution.  Just then there was a knock on the door.  “Good, lunch is here I ordered it when I was hunting for the cookie cutter. You go get washed up and I will lay it out.”

I laughed.  I knew I was covered with plaster, but I bet I had a lot less on me than Ashley did.  “No you wash first.”  She didn’t object and gave a little scream when she looked in the bathroom mirror.

After working on the ceiling, papering the walls was a snap and we finished with time to spare. I cut the paper, pasted it, positioned it and let Ashley brush out the wrinkles.  We rolled the rug up and struggled with it down the stairs. Just as we reached the bottom, the new rug for the girls’ bedroom was delivered.  An extra ten bucks to the driver helped put it in the room so I could lay it tomorrow.

“Milo, we have been working twelve hours.  Do you have more planned for tonight?  To be honest, I’m tired and you must be exhausted.” 

“Nope, nothing more.  I’m going to walk you home and then I’m going to crash. I see you supplied linen and blankets for my bed. You must have been up half the night.”

“I wanted to go to bed tonight knowing you had a home of your own.  It was worth being up a little later.”

“I appreciate everything you are doing for me.”

“Good, I feel the same way about what you are doing for me too.” 

I walked Ashley home and when we got there, she hesitantly asked, “Would you like to come in for a few minutes?”

“No, I don’t think I had better.  Someday I might, but not yet.  We both are vulnerable right now.  Wait until we know each other better.  Besides you only asked me because you felt you should. It would be boorish of me if I accepted.”

“You are a very perceptive person, Milo Burns.  Let me ask you to give me a friendly kiss and hug goodnight, knowing it won’t lead to anything.”

Ashley was the first woman I had kissed since Jean had asked for a divorce.  I did just as she asked, maybe holding the hug just a little longer than I should have. I pulled away and said, “Goodnight, Ash Baby.”  I didn’t remember walking back to my apartment for my thoughts were still behind me.

Chapter Three

I didn’t see Ashley again for four days.  I had finished the apartment, except for the treatments on the ceiling I had planned. Sunday morning about a quarter to ten, I was looking over the items stored in the different bays. I looked towards Ashley’s house and saw her and my ex-wife strolling towards me.  Jean was dressed conservatively in Sunday clothes. 

Still she was made up and was as beautiful as only she knew how to be.  In contrast, Ashley was in jeans and a loose white shirt. Her hair looked as if the wind had been blowing it and she was without makeup.

“Milo, Mrs. Burgess is here to make sure the apartment is suitable for your children to stay in. I’ll leave her with you because I have something that needs doing.  Excuse me Mrs. Burgess, and I do thank you for expressing your concern over my husband’s death.”  Ashley turned and went back across the lot leaving me with Jean.

“Hi Milo, how have you been?” I didn’t answer.  I couldn’t until the anger I felt for this woman died down. “Yes, well I can see you still have some resentment for my leaving you for someone else.  I can understand that.  I’m not here about us though.  Let me see where the kids are going to be living.”

I went ahead of her up the stairs and let her into the kitchen.  Her mouth opened in awe.  There had been enough furniture and appliances that still worked in the garage to make a retro kitchen of the 1950’s.  I didn’t let her stop to admire it, although I was pretty damned proud of what I had done.  I walked into and across the living room. Again I had salvaged antiques, some nearly two hundred years old.  The only exception was a modern sectional collection that divided the room and made it more comfortable and intimate.

“This is where Lindsey and Marie will be sleeping.  There is only one bathroom so we will all have to share, but that won’t be a problem.”

“Where are you sleeping?”

“In the other bedroom and the bathroom is through this door here.”  I pointed to each. Brassy and nosy, Jean walked into the bathroom and opened all of the storage and medicine cabinets. She then went into my room and opened my armoire and bedside stand, closing them and opened the bureau drawers.

“It looks like you are still sleeping alone, so I don’t have to worry about that. Haven’t you made a move on your landlady yet?  As ugly as she is, she must be dying to get you into her bed.  What did Calvin see in her?  Oh yes, she has money.  Men always go for money.”  I was fast getting fed up with Jean and her remarks.

“You never used to make comments like that, Jean.  Not everyone goes around cheating on their husband,” I paused, “like you did.”

She looked at me.  “You are right Milo, I did do that to you, didn’t I?  It looks as if you have come out of this okay though. Christ I would kill to be able to live in a place like this and with this address.”

“Maybe you sold yourself too cheap.  You never did tell me why you wanted a divorce.”

“It was the smell.  Every day, seven days a week, you came home smelling of food.  I couldn’t stand it any longer.  I met James and wanted some of the good life so I went for it.”

“Is it worth it?  Are our children happier? Are you having that much better a life?”

“Not yet, but James promises it will get better.”

“What’s the problem?”

“The kids.  His three are older and won’t have anything to do with Lindsey and Marie.  They don’t have much to do with me either.  It is the typical divorced family situation.”

“Why haven’t you let me see the girls all of this time?”

“Because if you had them, they wouldn’t want to come back to live with me.  I thought by this time they would forget you.  I don’t know what is going to happen after you have them for a month.”

“You could give me custody, or even joint custody.  Have you got a job yet?”

“No, but I am looking. James is finding it difficult to support five kids, so I do need to find some work.” 

“Is what I am paying for support going for Lindsey and Marie?  I don’t want any of it used for you or his family.”

“Of course it is, all of it.”

I doubted it, but didn’t challenge her.

Jean changed the subject.  “So, how did you end up here with Mrs. Winslip?”

“She came to me and told me about Calvin dying and saw what dire straits I was in from the divorce settlement.  She offered this place if I would do some handy work for her.  I’m paying a pretty high rent, because she is pretty tight with her money. 

“But with the kids coming for a month and needing a place for them, it will be fine for the short-term.  People here in this neighborhood are a lot different than I am used to.  I met a nice old lady from across the street and both she and Ashley have lived here for a long time.  The most they have ever spoken was to say hi.”

“So this beautiful apartment is just temporary?”

“I would say yes.”

“You can’t really want custody of the girls then?”

“Yes I do.  I have made a lot of friends since you walked out on me, and my prospects aren’t all that bad.  I have had an offer of $10,000 for the camp.  As far as the girls are concerned, if I had full custody, I could give that amount to you.”

“That would be like buying your kids.”

“No, that would be like solving your problem and gaining custody for me. That way you could concentrate on making your new marriage work.”

“It is something to think about.  Do you ever see Linda and Patrick?  She cut me dead the last time I saw her.”

“I lived in their basement until four days ago.  I just moved in here myself.  You know Linda, she is either hot or cold.  I imagine the next time she sees you she will be all over you.  If not because she still likes you, but to find out how your new man is, so she can spread the gossip.”

“Maybe I better make sure I don’t see her.  I don’t see why everyone is down on me.  I just wanted to have a better life for myself.”

“No one can blame you for wanting a better life.  It is how you went out to get it that bothers people.  Tell me, is it that much better?”

Jean looked at me.  “Milo I have to be going.  Thanks for talking to me.  I’ll bring the kids over early this Wednesday.  I’m sure they will enjoy their stay with you. I envy them.”

She didn’t answer my question and I think I saw a little regret at how her life was turning out. 

I went over to the big house to see if Ashley would pay me for six days work.  I was flat broke and needed money for food.  Per our agreement, I had my figures in hand when I knocked on her back door.  She was a little pale.

“Hi Ashley, not feeling well?  I can come back later if you prefer.”

“No, come in.  I was coming over to see you.  You must want your pay for this week.”

“Yes, that is why I’m here.  I have the figures with me.  First of all, I have written checks for $2,337.54 for supplies and material from the account you set up for me to draw against.”  I handed her an itemized list.  “You worked for me one day and I decided you were worth $20 an hour and we worked twelve hours, so if you would pay yourself $240.00 that would take care of that item.  When Pat and Linda came over to help, she noticed a hall tree in the garage.  I would like to buy it from you and the middle ground estimate is $125.00.  I would like to have that deducted from my pay, if you are agreeable.”  I waited for an answer.

“Why something for Linda?”

“She took me into their home and made me welcome when I had no place to go.  I would like to give her a gift and I know she would like that.”

“Okay, that seems a fair price.  Now how many hours have you worked?  We agreed you would work for carpenters’ rates, right?”

“That’s right.  They make about $25.00 an hour give or take a little.  That is fine with me.”

“Well I don’t know where you got that figure.  It is not high enough. Union scale is over $40.00 an hour.  You aren’t union so I’m going to split the difference.  I’m paying you $32.50 an hour.”  I started to object.

“Don’t say it Milo.  Before we go any further, I want to confess I snuck into your apartment and took pictures.  I took them to an appraiser and described what you had done to redo the apartment.  He says the job done by professionals would have cost over $35,000. Workers would also have wanted it tied up for at least a month.  He also said if I paid a renovator that, I would still be ahead because I increased the value of my property close to $50,000.  So, we won’t argue about what I am paying you will we?”  Her reasoning was irrefutable. 

“So if we start with 77 hours at $32.50, that comes out to $2,502.50.  We deduct $500.00 for rent and deduct $125.00 for the hall tree, I can make out a check for $1,877.50.  Does that sound about right?”

“No, first of all, I agreed to pay you half of what I earned for rent.  So we are starting from $1,251.25 and deduct $125.00, I will let you make out a check for $1,126.25.”

“Milo listen, some weeks you won’t be working 77 hours. What happens if you only work 32 hours?  I will still want my rent.  $500.00 a week for this apartment in this area is good rent.  That is $26,000 a year for something that I wasn’t using. Please don’t argue and hurt my feelings.”

“Can’t you work up a few tears?  I’m a sucker for tears.”

“Did I win?”

“Yes, damn it, you win and I love… ”   I didn’t finish my thought.

“You almost said something you didn’t mean.”

“Ash Baby, I love what you are doing for me.  That is what I meant. If I ever tell someone I love them, I want it understood it isn’t that they are doing something for me, it will be because I truly love them.”

“So it was just an expression?”

“For now it is.  Before we get done here, I have a confession to make.  I didn’t want Jean to know much about our relationship.  I didn’t tell her that you and I worked on the apartment together.  In fact I said you were charging very high rent and that you were tight with your money.  Also I said this was just temporary until the girls leave.

“Another thing, she asked if there was anything sexual going on between us.  I changed the subject and had a conversation about the girls and custody.  I made her an offer.  I said I would sell my camp as I already had an offer of $10,000.  I would turn that over to her if she would give me custody.  She didn’t turn it down, so I’m hoping maybe I’ll get my kids back. 

“I don’t know this husband of hers, but I suspect the shine has worn off and my two girls are much of the problem.”

“I know her husband.  He is on the low end of the food chain as far as lawyers are concerned.  He doesn’t have too big a practice and he isn’t too well thought of in court.  He was suspected of manufacturing some evidence once, but it couldn’t be proven so he got away with it.  The stigma remains.  She must have seen the title of Attorney and not the man behind it to take up with him.  I can almost feel sorry for her.”

“I don’t.  I can almost feel sorry for him.  If he doesn’t pan out, I know she will dump him just like she did me.  That is why I want custody of Lindsey and Marie so strongly. I want them to grow up in a strong and stable home.”

“I’ll help in any way I can.”

“Good.  Now I know you just gave me a check, but may I borrow a couple hundred dollars?  I’d like to take you out to dinner tonight.  This isn’t a date, date.  This would be two people going out to eat.  You know to kind of cement our friendship.”

“I’d love to.”

Over dinner I told Ashley I had questioned Jean about why she had left me.  She said it was because I smelled of food.  Of course I smelled of food, I owned a fast food establishment.  For some reason this hit Ashley as being humorous.  “She left you because of that?  Wow, she is a shallow person.  She is extraordinarily beautiful though.”

“Yes she is.  Since she left I’ve thought about that.  She is like a beautifully wrapped package.  The thing is, when you take the wrapping off and open the package, it is half empty and what is left is rotten.”

“That is quite an analogy.  I’m curious, how do you see me?”

“H-um, let me think a minute how to put this.  Promise you won’t take it the wrong way if I tell you?”

“No. You tell me what you think.  I’m sure whatever it is will be the truth.  Not many tell the truth because they are afraid of hurting the other person.”

“Ashley, why do you think what I’m going to say will hurt?  Trust me, I wouldn’t hurt you for the world.”

“Okay, I trust you.”

“Good. Using the same analogy as I did with Jean, I see you as a much bigger package.  You are wrapped in many layers of paper.  The outside is plain, but the paper is of a fine quality.  That is the first wrapping.  The next one has some design to it, paisley, I think.  I like paisley and the paper is of a still finer quality.  Oops, this one isn’t so good and it is very fragile.  We will have to discard that one because it is too dark.  Ah, the next one.  I love this one for this one isn’t paper at all.  This is of the finest wool cloth, soft, flexible, and warm. 

“And oh good, we have a box and it is made of beautiful mahogany. Let’s see what is inside.  Umm, silk and lace with a lavender scent.  Oh and here are some nuggets in the corner.  Let’s see what they say.  This one says faithful and this one says integrity.  Here is a nugget that is emblazoned with generous. There are a few more that I’ll leave until I dare open the box all the way.”

Ashley was smiling when I finished.  “Burns is Irish isn’t it?  And blarney is Irish.  To shorten it I could say, Burns is blarney.”

“Do you want it to be blarney or are you hoping it isn’t?”

“I’m hoping it isn’t.  What was the fragile wrapping you threw away?”

“Oh, that one had bad inscriptions all over it. It had lonely, fear, insecurity, worry, sorrow, you know, stuff to make a person unhappy.  It is gone now, thank god.  I threw it away.”

“You’re sweet you know.”

“Enough blarney.  I have a question.  Have you been seeing a doctor about your pregnancy?  I noticed that your jeans are beginning to get tight.  Your body is going to change dramatically from now on and you haven’t mentioned the baby much.  It seems as though I am the only one to talk about it.”

“Milo, I haven’t told anyone yet.  Frankly I’m scared.  I don’t have anyone to turn to or ask questions of.  I have been to the doctor and he tells me I’m healthy, so I don’t worry about that.  I miss Calvin.  We did want a family and now he is gone and I’m all alone. Don’t worry, I don’t think about doing what I almost did and I’m glad you were there to stop me.  I just don’t have anyone.”

“I suspected that might be the problem.  Don’t worry about it. You’ll be fine.  Someone will come along you can depend on and when someone does, don’t shut them out.  You have been used to being alone for so long, it is hard to open up I know, but once you do, it will get easier.
 
“Change of subject again.  If Jean comes through and Lindsey and Marie get here as promised, would you go up to the cabin with us?  It won’t be a full moon like it was two weeks ago, but we can sit and watch the stars come out.”

“Oh yes, that would be so much fun.  Of course I will go. Can we have cold cereal and bacon and fried eggs to eat?  I’m always going to associate those with the cabin.”

As I stood at Ashley’s door later, she said, “Milo I know what you are trying to do. You are so easy to see through.  You are afraid I will do myself in so you are making life interesting enough so I won’t.”

“No Ash Baby, you have it all wrong.  Calvin gave you his baby and can’t be here to protect it and you.  I’m standing in for him.  Why?  Because he was like a brother to me. You miss him, but no more than I do.  I think he picked someone fine for a wife, someone he loved.  I want to make sure his baby gets a great start in life. 

“In the meantime I have found that I enjoy being around you and I want to help.  I knew the minute you didn’t kill yourself when I gave you the opportunity that part was behind you.  Now to go on living is the difficult part.  I want to make it as easy for you as I can.  Now tonight, I’m asking for one of those hugs … you know friend to friend.”

Monday morning I went down to a little used car lot that I had passed several times.  I had seen an old Toyota pickup that didn’t look too beat up sitting off to one side. It was one of the smallest ones made. The model had been discontinued when the Tundra came out. The owner wanted $480.00 for it. I offered him $300.00 because it didn’t have much for tires on it.  We settled for $325.00. 

I drove it over to my buddy’s tire shop and picked out a set of four used tires for $40.00 installed. When I got it home, I applied the cleaner polish to it and had me a decent looking vehicle that I could go to the dump with or carry tools and supplies.

I went down to the rental agency and rented a brush mower, some hedge trimmers, a small chain saw and a weed whacker that I could cut brush with.  I started to work on the lot between Ashley’s house and my apartment. At one time there were some ornamental plantings and a gazebo. 

There were even three granite benches that had been knocked off of their bases.  The ornamental trees were huge. Nothing could be done about the height of them, but I could thin the number from eight down to three and put in some small plantings in the spaces. 

The biggest problem was how to plant shrubs where the old trees had been. I could leave that until I found out what Ashley wanted to do.  Maybe she would want another gazebo put in.  If she did, I would leave the plantings until that was placed.  Lunch time I had to go across the street for a minute. 

I then started with the brush mower.  This left stubble four inches high.  I whacked it off and loaded it onto my truck, taking it to a place that made mulch and had it shredded for a few bucks and brought it back for compost. The weed whacker had an attachment saw and I went along and clipped off anything that the lawn mower wouldn’t handle.  Then I mowed the whole thing.  I had only about a quarter of the lot done when I looked up and found Ashley standing beside me.

“Milo, how in hell do you get so much done?  It is amazing.”

“It is easy.  I take five minutes in the morning to decide what I am going to work at today and the progression I am going to do it in to make it happen.  Then I start.  I don’t worry about getting done. I know if I start and work at it, I will get done sometime.  I think it has something to do with focus.”

“Whatever you do, it works.”

“Ashley, I can’t stand around holding you up.  In fifteen minutes you are going to have some company. There are tea bags on the counter and I dug a teapot out of your cupboard.  There is a lemon meringue pie in the refrigerator.  You might want to comb your hair and put a little color on your lips.  Now go and be friendly to your guest.”

“You are running my life and I don’t know if I like it.  Someday you will go too far.”

“Whatever.  Go, you don’t have time to talk about it now.”  I got a disgusted look as Ashley turned and hurried to her house.  I worked another couple of hours and I didn’t need the chain saw anymore. I returned it to the rental store.  When I returned, Ashley was waiting for me.

“Hi there, Ash Baby. Did you save me a piece of pie?  Come on, get in and ride in my new truck.  I’m headed to the deli for a sandwich.  Do you want one?  On the way you can tell me if you like what I am doing in your backyard.”

“Damn it, Milo, will you slow down?  I mean will you slow my life down.  You are five steps ahead of me all the time. Mrs. Hamlin came to my door.  She wanted to talk about my grandmother, whom she knew well.  I didn’t know they had been friends.  I am so ashamed I haven’t been friendlier all these years.  She actually cried when we talked about Calvin.  When I told her I was pregnant with his baby she cried again.”

“That’s good.  The burden of carrying all that grief is now being shared.  It helps.  I had my session with her at noon today and I’ve felt pretty good this afternoon because of it.  Oh, I’m taking an hour or more off tomorrow morning.  I have a neighbor with some leaking faucets that need attention.  You won’t mind will you?”

“Mrs. Hamlin?”

“Yes.”  I was silent for a few minutes.  “Ashley, the day after tomorrow, if they haven’t changed, you are going to meet two of the sweetest little girls you can imagine.  I can hardly wait to have you meet them and if it wasn’t for you? Well ... thank you anyway.”

I’ll give Ashley credit.  She was opening up to those around her.  She talked a minute with the cashier whose son was in Iraq and then she whispered that she found out recently that she was pregnant and the father would never know he fathered a child. She said she was handling her husband’s loss pretty well and was glad that she was pregnant, for she had something to remember him by.  “Aren’t you the brave one, Dearie.”  Ashley’s spirits were lifted by this. 

We ate our sandwiches at the table in my kitchen.  “Do you live on this kind of food all the time?”

“I have been lately.  Jean was a pretty good cook and she always cooked good meals for the kids.  I often was late so I would bring something from the restaurant.  Along toward the last, I would come home and spread out my food.  Jean would get up and leave if she was around.  I never knew why until she was here yesterday. 

“The last two months she would leave the house and tell me to take care of the kids.  I know now where she was heading.  She was doing her thing with Burgess.  It came to a head one evening when I asked her.  That was the day she said she was leaving for good.”

“Too bad.  A guy needs some home cooked meals once in awhile.  Someday you will have to try my cooking.”

“I’m willing anytime.  S-oo, what do you think of the work I am doing out back?  The place I cleared was made for a gazebo.  Are you going to replace the one that has rotted away?”

“What do you think?”

“If this place was mine, I definitely would.  You know if you are having a party in the house and you get bored, you can sneak out and have a tryst with some guy that turns you on.”

“Are you volunteering?”

“If I turn you on, I am.”

“Milo, we have come very close to flirting.  Does that bother you, knowing our situations, me being a pregnant widow and you a heartbroken divorced dad?”

“Not at all.  It is fun.  It can only be dangerous if one of us takes it seriously and the other doesn’t.  If it ever gets hurtful, we’ll stop, okay?”

“I got it, you sexy handyman, you.”

I didn’t dare start any machines early in the morning so I set about inventorying the garage items.  I had a camera and as I moved things from one place to another I took a snap of it and wrote a brief description.  I had most everything done by eight-thirty. 

There was a wooden box that was screwed shut leaning against the back wall. It was three feet by four feet and about a foot thick.  The top was a single board and had countersunk screws about every six inches or so.  The box weighed more than a hundred pounds.

Ever curious, I found a screwdriver and removed the twenty screws that affixed the top. When I looked down into the box I could see that there were five sections and what looked to be a painting in each section.  I grasped the middle one and raised it up so I could look at it.  It was a portrait of a cowboy and done in oils.  I looked for the signature, but it wasn’t an artist I was familiar with.  Someone by the name of Thomas Eakins.  I slid it back into its compartment and pulled another one.  This one I did recognize.  N. C. Wyeth.

Jesus Christ, if these were authentic they were valuable beyond belief.  I didn’t even want to know about them.  Half the time this building was unlocked and when it was, it could easily have been entered at will.  I put the box back together and started piling furniture in front and on top of it.  Satisfied that it was well hidden again, I sat down and thought.  I had no idea what Ashley was worth, but if those paintings were the real thing, her net was soon to be considerably more than she was aware of.

I tried her cell.  “Yes, who is it?”

“Ashley, I need to see you as soon as possible.”

“Milo, I’m sorry I am on a case and we start in a few minutes.  What is the problem?  Your kids?”

“No. I’m sorry to bother you.  I just had a thought and called to see if maybe you were free today.  I’ll see you tonight when you get home.”

“Are you sure there is no crisis?  You sounded excited and you have never called my office before.  Besides, I try to limit any personal calls, and would prefer you not call me here.”

“You know me; I have a thought and want to act on it immediately.  It can wait.  I truly am sorry for interrupting you.  Hey, win your case for me, Ash Baby.” I hung up.

I started the brush cutter and worked for an hour.  I went upstairs to my apartment, showered quickly and put on clean clothes.  Taking my tool bag, I jumped into my pickup and drove around the block and parked in front of Mrs. Hamlin’s house.  She opened the door as I came up the walk.  “Right on time, young man.  I like that.  I’ll show you all my problems.” I took notes of what I would need and made a fast trip to the supply house.

Mrs. Hamlin asked if it would bother me to have someone watching as I worked.  “Nope, it gives me a chance to meet someone new.  I bet you can’t tell me the story of your life in the next twenty minutes, but you can try.  You can start now.”

I heard it all, the high-points, anyway.  “What do you think of my landlady and boss?  You were with her for two hours.”

“We talked a lot.  She really needs a friend.  Oh I know she has you.  She even confessed she was about to take her life, but you saved her.  That was just an expression wasn’t it?  She didn’t really try did she?”

“I don’t know.  I do know she was overwhelmed with grief and what was happening in her life.  Right now she is the most stable, down-to-earth person I know.  She does need friends and that is why I came to you.  She also needs some extra support with her pregnancy.  You must know everyone close by.  Are there any women who are in the same condition that you could introduce her to?”

“There are.  That is good thinking. This young lady will be going to Lamaze classes when she gets far enough along.  Her husband is going to be her coach and helper. Will you be Ashley’s coach?”

“I could and I do have the experience.  I will if she asks me.  It is pretty personal and she may not want me to.”

“She will, I’ll stake my life on it.   Mr. Burns, you seem a little distracted today.  Yesterday you were as calm as could be.”

“It is about tomorrow.  I haven’t seen my children for four months and their mother is dropping them off in the morning.”

“Yes, I understand your situation.  Ashley and I talked about you yesterday.  You will bring the little girls so I can meet them.  I’ll have some cookies.”

“Would you have a cookie for me too?”

“Yes, I’ll have one for you too.  Now it is near lunch time.  Do you like pea soup?  I mean real homemade pea soup with smoked ham, onions and carrots?”

“Lead me to it.”  Mrs. Hamlin tried to pay me, but I succeeded in putting her off by saying she could return the favor by watching my kids for a little bit sometime.

I worked my butt off in the afternoon.  The kids were going to be here in the morning and I wanted to give them all of me.  And then there was that box of paintings that I had discovered.  I just knew that Ashley would ask my advice on what to do with them, so that most likely would take up my evening.  It was a good thing I made so much money last week, for this one was a bust so far.  I had six hours in the backyard and was loading my truck with clippings when Ashley came storming out.

“Milo, I am going to have to insist that you don’t call me at the office, except for an emergency, of course.  What did you want anyway?”

“You’re right and I apologize.  It won’t happen again.  What I wanted to ask you is; do you have any record of your grandmother owning any paintings?  I found a box in the garage with five of them in it.  If they are authentic they might have considerable value.”

“I don’t care what they are worth.  I intended you to have everything in there.  If you make a few bucks on the stuff, all well and good, you deserve it.”

“Ashley, listen to me.  I said considerable value.  I’m talking thousands of dollars if they are authentic.  I know I’m repeating myself.  I don’t know paintings or artists, and I only looked at two.  One of them was signed N.C.Wyeth.  He is a well-known American artist, I do know that much. 

“You said your grandmother used to get sick of her stuff and just have it brought out here to store.  What if her parents or grandparents purchased these and she got sick of looking at them?  She must have known they had some value for they are well boxed up.”

“Show me the box.”

I pointed it out after dragging some of the furniture away from it again.  “What were the frames like?”

“I am pretty sure one is made of rosewood.  The other was gesso and had gilt on it.  That frame alone should be worth hundreds if it is all intact.  I didn’t examine it that closely.”

“You’re getting me excited now, Milo.  What do you think we should do?”

“There is no we in this.  What I think you, and I do mean you, should do is get an art expert to come here and open the box.  Tonight you should go through all of your grandparents’ papers. I know you must have some, and search for a record of these being bought or gifted to your family.”

“Milo, now you are the one to listen to me.  I was going to sell this stuff to a used furniture dealer.  If I had, I never would have known what I had practically given away.  When you came I decided to give it all to you.  If it wasn’t for you I wouldn’t even be alive.  Besides, in the last two weeks my life has taken a great leap forward. 

“I met Calvin and he was just starting to bring me out of the shell I had been in all my life and then he was gone.  I was in worse shape than ever.  You stepped in and I find life so exciting.  Something that I couldn’t even dream of a year ago.”

“Okay, okay, I’m a good guy.  You made your point and it makes me feel really wonderful that you do, but I am not taking anything valuable from you.”

Ashley could see that I was serious and she couldn’t move me in my stand.  “You are right, I shouldn’t give you anything.  You keep right on working and earning your wages and keep paying me rent and keep me alive and make me pissed off at you every time you feel like it.  Go ahead and do that, but someday I’ll get even.  You remember these words.  I’ll keep your damned treasure, but this isn’t the end of it.”

Ashley was looking at me and I was openly grinning at her.  “Oh you make me so mad!”  Then she smiled.  “You know I was coming down here to chew you out for calling the office on personal business and then I was going to offer you soup and sandwiches.  Milo Burns would you like to join me?”

“I’d love to.”

When we were clearing off the table, Ashley spoke.  “I’m sorry about this morning.  I overheard one of the defense attorneys say something and it hurt and I lashed out.  You caught it.”

“What was it?”

“He called me ‘that ugly bitch’ and was saying I wasn’t getting enough loving.  I shouldn’t let things like that still bother me.  I guess a person never gets used to being called ugly.”

“No, I don’t suppose a person can. What did you do when you heard that?”

“Nothing, I just pretended I didn’t hear it.”

“And took it out on me, right?  What you should have done is confront him with what he said.  You should have walked right up and got in his face.  Ask him to repeat what he just said.  Ninety times out of a hundred, he won’t.  If he is brave enough to repeat it, just tell him that is his opinion and then you tell him what your opinion of him is.

“You think fast enough so you will think of something.  When you get done, smile and say something like, Hey, I like trading insults with you, we’ll have to do this again sometime.”

“That works?”

“I don’t know for sure, but it would be worth a try.”

“That doesn’t get rid of my big nose. My most wondrous feature.”

“Nope, that sticks right out there. Most prominent it is.  You’re twenty-eight and still have it.  You are well enough off so if you really wanted to get it reduced you could have. Personally I think you are hiding behind it.  You heard somebody say you are ugly, you believed them and therefore it must be so.  Calvin didn’t see it and I don’t see it, so who are you going to believe?” 

Ashley was waiting, expecting more.  I backed up. “I always seem to get around to telling you what to do, don’t I?  If I get too obnoxious, just tell me to bug off.”

“You know, you make me see myself through your eyes.  So far I like what I’m seeing.  Any other things you aren’t telling me?”

“I think I’ll save any more advice for another day.”

“There is more, isn’t there?”

“Just a couple of things to detract from what you say are your most wondrous feature. Shorten your hair and have a perm, if you can still find a hair dresser to do them.  Put some highlights in it.  Remember how we made the ceiling stand out by giving the perception of depth.  Same thing here.  Lots of tight curls, highlighted, will give the same effect.  Don’t forget to smile.   When I saw you smile the first time, it gave me goose-bumps, it transformed you so much.”

“I love hearing you talk about me.  You’ve done my head.  What about the rest of me?”

“No, I’m not going there.  I’ll just say there isn’t a thing that should be changed about you. You are as near perfect as can be.  Of course it is going to changeand very soon.  Your boobs and your butt are going to get bigger, but to me that is frosting on the cake. And now you are just fishing for compliments.  I am willing, but the flesh is weak.”  I tried to finish this conversation on an up note.

“Really Ash, you are a beautiful person, now that you are coming out of your perceived dark past and are opening up to the world around you.  Soon you will be the princess of Bellevue Avenue.”

“Blarney Burns, blarney, blarney, blarney, all blarney.”

“Maybe, but you love it.”

“Yes, I guess I do.”

Chapter Four

It had been four months since I had a chance to see Lindsey and Marie.  Jean parked in Ashley’s driveway and walked across the lot toward me. She was lugging two small cases which I assumed held clothes.

The girls hung back behind their mother.  Jean spoke just before she reached me.  “Go on girls, give your father a kiss and a hug.  He hasn’t been near you for a long time.  Make him glad to see you.”

I could have killed Jean.  She was acting as if it was my fault I hadn’t been a father to them, when all along it had been her that had kept us apart. 

“Hi kids, my you have both grown.  You’ve got prettier, too.  Hey, we have a lot to talk about.  Now before your mother leaves, do you have her phone number in case you want to call her?  Lindsey you will be having a birthday while you are here and I’m giving a party for you.  Would you like to invite your stepsister and two stepbrothers to your party?”

“No, Becky didn’t let me go to hers and the boys are mean to us.” 

I looked at Jean, and she mouthed, “They are not.”  I wondered.

“You will come won’t you Jean?”  She played one type of game, but that wasn’t mine. 

“Thank you, Milo.  Yes, I was hoping you would let me.”  She turned to the girls. “I’m leaving now.  You be good and do what your father tells you.  If you need me, call me.  Now give me a hug and I’ll see you on your birthday.”

I think Jean wanted to stay around, but I wanted to get reacquainted with my two kids. “Okay guys, I bet you would like to see where you will be sleeping.  Come up and see where I live and where you will be staying for the next month.”  I took the girls up to my apartment.  Their eyes were going everywhere drinking in the sight of their temporary home. 

“Did you make the stars, Daddy?  They are pretty.”

“Yes, some of them, but the lady that owns this place helped and she made the moons in the corner.  Pretty neat, huh?  Come see your bedroom.  I decorated that all by myself because I knew you were coming and I wanted to make it as nice as possible.”

“Daddy it is fabulous.  Are the beds gold?  They look like it.”

“I wish they were, but they are brass and shine like gold.  People like them because they go with all colors.  Look at the wallpaper.  See the little blue bells.  Now look up at the ceiling.  See the blue bells in the plaster?”

“But they aren’t blue.  How can you say they are blue bells?”

“Not yet.  I didn’t have time to have them colored.  They will be by the time you go home.”

“Goody, it will be awesome.”

“Do you want to see my room?  That one has roses in it.”

“Sure, I guess.”

Later I asked if they would like to see what I had planned for Mrs. Winslip’s grotto.”

“What is a grotto?” asked Marie.

“A grotto is a hidden place that is private.  Sometimes there are statues encircling it.  This one for Mrs. Winslip is going to have shrubs all around it and a gazebo right in the middle.”

“What is a gazebo?”

“It is a little building usually in a garden or on a corner of the lawn.  A lady can go there and think and sometimes if she has a lover, they meet and steal a kiss when no one is looking.”

“Are you ever going to steal a kiss from Mrs. Winslip?  Mom says she is awful homely, so I guess not, huh?”

“No I guess not, kiss her I mean.  As far as what your mother says about her being homely, you remember Uncle Calvin? He fell in love with her and they got married.  Then he died and she is very sad about that. Uncle Calvin was my very best friend and he saw her as beautiful and that is why he married her.  I think she is beautiful too.”

“If you think she is beautiful, then maybe you will marry her.  It would make Mom awful mad though. She is mad you are even working for Mrs. Winslip.  Why is that?”

“I don’t know.  You will have to ask your mother that.  Now, what am I going to feed you for lunch?  Do you like sub sandwiches?  For dinner tonight I’m making my world famous chop suey.”

Lindsey said, “I like subs, but I am awful sick of chop suey.  We have that all the time.  The only time we have something good is when Mom gets the check from you.  Then we eat good for about a week and then it is chop suey again.”

“Can’t you cook a roast beef like you used to do?  I beg Mom to cook one, but she says it is too expensive to feed seven mouths on beef.  Mom’s husband has asked her too.  She says she will if he will give her the money.”

“Marie, don’t you call Mr. Burgess Dad?”

“No, we don’t want to and besides I heard him tell Mom we couldn’t, because we weren’t his kids.”  I let it drop and could understand now why the kids from two families had trouble coexisting.

It was nearing lunch time and we decided to walk down to the deli.  We were just strolling along admiring the beautiful estates as we walked by.  We were about halfway to the deli when an older lady (60s) came down the walk and waved her handkerchief at us.  “Lindsey, go ask the lady what she wants.”

Lindsey walked up and spoke for a minute and then came running back.  “She wants to talk to you, Dad.  Something about doing some work for her.”

“Hello Ma’am.”

“You’re Mr. Burns aren’t you?”

“Yes I am.”

“I’m Mrs. Thomas Brown.  Mrs. Hamlin over on Bellevue Avenue is a friend of mine.  I was complaining about not being able to get anyone to prune my shrubs.  She said, and I could see it myself, that you did a wonderful job on Mrs. Winslip’s front yard. Would you consider doing mine for me?”

“Gee, my two girls are here for a month and I want to be with them as much as possible.  I really don’t have the time right now.  I don’t have anyone to leave them with if I did work.”

“That is a problem.  How about if I hired the girls to work for me in the house while you work outside?  How long will it take to make my yard as neat as Mrs. Winslip’s?”

“More than a day I’m afraid, and I wouldn’t want to do it that way anyway.  Say three half days.  That way I can work and pick up the trash and get rid of it the same day and still have time to be with the girls.  I’ll work tomorrow afternoon and then come on Monday and Tuesday of next week.  I have a gazebo being delivered this Friday a.m. and I want to put in some shrubs around it in the afternoon.”

“That will be fine and you say the trash and clippings will all be picked up for the weekend.  That will just be so great.”

We got our sub sandwiches and Karen, the cashier, exclaimed over the girls just as I knew she would.  When we came out Marie asked why everyone liked me.  I told her I didn’t know, maybe because I liked people back.

“Why doesn’t Mom like you then?”

“I can’t answer that.  I thought she loved me and then she didn’t.  That happens sometimes.  I do love her for one thing though, and that is she gave me two wonderful daughters that I love with all my heart.”

“You won’t wait so long to see us again will you Daddy?  We missed you awfully.”

“No sweetheart, I’m sure from now on I will be able to come and get you anytime I want.  Now we have some grocery shopping to do.  I promised roast beef and roast beef you’re going to get.”

When we returned from the grocery store I said, “Let’s go find something to cook this in.  I saw some kettles and pots downstairs in the storage area.  It will be like a treasure hunt.”  We found what we needed and after cleaning a cast iron kettle of some surface rust, I seasoned it and then rewashed it again. 

After the second seasoning I put the shoulder roast in and browned it with some real butter.  Then I took two quarts of water and added some onion soup to it. When it started to boil I turned the fire under it down low and let it slow cook.  “Some people like richer gravy than what this will make so they use less water the first time and let it boil out and brown down again.  I don’t.”

“I like the way you make it, Daddy.”  Today I could do no wrong and it was a wonderful feeling.

When I was putting the potatoes, carrots and onions in the pot with the roast, I said, “Girls, would you go out where Mom parked her car and wait for the lady that parks in the driveway.  When she gets out of her car just say, ‘Mrs. Winslip, the Burns family requests your presence at dinner.’ If she gives you an excuse you can tell her that your Uncle Calvin would want her to come.  She will have to come then.”

“Is she a nice lady, Daddy?”

“The very best.”

——————————

I could hear Ashley and the girls jabbering away coming up the stairs.  “Hi Milo, I think I was shanghaied. Gee, what smells so good?”

“Hi yourself, Ashley.  It is something the girls haven’t been getting very often.  I’ll tell you about it sometime.”

“The girls tell me they have a job working for Mrs. Brown. You will continue to work for me, won’t you?”

“Of course I will. I’m working for her tomorrow afternoon and Monday and Tuesday half-days next week.  I need someone to watch the girls some of the time and this is a way to get that done. Oh, the gazebo will be here early Friday morning.  I had to arrange for a small crane to place it.  I’ll be planting shrubs around it in the afternoon.”

“That is okay I guess. I am taking Friday afternoon off.  The museum curator is coming to look at the paintings.  You can stop long enough to open the box.  I gave you everything in the garage.  I’m still saying they belong to you.”

“No way.”

“What are you and Mrs. Winslip talking about, Daddy?”

“Mrs. Winslip wanted to give me all the stuff stored downstairs.  I found a box with some paintings in it and I think they are valuable.  I gave them back to her even though she thinks I should keep them.  They belonged to her family so it is only right that I give them back.”

“But what if they are worth a lot of money?”

“Doesn’t matter Marie, I couldn’t take them.  I just wouldn’t feel right about it.”

“Even if it made you rich?”

“Yes Marie, even if it made me rich.  Sometimes it is better to have friends than to be rich.”

“I’ve heard you say that before, Daddy.  Can we at least see them?”

“Ask Mrs. Winslip.  They belong to her.” 

Ashley smiled at Marie and Lindsey.  “We will all be here and you can see them.  Someday, if they are what your father thinks they are, we may go to a museum to see them. If they aren’t, at least we can display them in the house.”

“Enough of that, kids.  Saturday is the fourth of July and that means big parade.  I want to go down and stand in front of my old restaurant and watch it.  I want to speak with any of the people that used to work for me.  That is if any still work there. Does that sound like fun?”

“Yeah! Is Mrs. Winslip going with us?”

“I think she will.  We are all going up to camp in the afternoon and spend the night. We might as well go to the parade and go on from there as it is on that side of the city. Besides there is room enough in Uncle Calvin’s old jeep and we will go in that.  We might just get through the mud hole now.  It has had two weeks to dry up.”

Ashley and I did the dishes and cleaned up.  The girls had preempted the sectional and both were zonked out.  Ashley was getting ready to leave, but I asked her to sit awhile and have a cup of tea with me. 

“Milo, how do you do it?  You haven’t seen your kids for four months, and yet they have been here only a few hours and it is like they were with you all the time.”

“I know and I was worried about that.  But they were almost literally ripped from me and we all want to reconnect and get back the way we were.  Now I have to worry about them returning to live with Jean.  I was going to ask you about the support I pay.  It is supposed to be used for their welfare.  Jean is using it to feed her new spouse and family.  Can she do that?”

“Probably as long as she gives Lindsey and Marie reasonable care.  If she doesn’t deny them the basics, she can get away with it.  Why, what did they say?”

“One of them just said that when my check came they all ate good food for about a week.  The rest of the time they ate chop suey and cheap stuff.” 

“I don’t think you can do anything about that. How could a family have separate menus?  At least they are eating well part of the time.”

“I guess so, but it doesn’t seem right.  Lindsey said the boys were mean to them.  If you gain the girls’ confidence, maybe you can find out what that is all about.  If it is anything, Jean will say I pumped them for information.  I want to be able to deny that I did.”

“Okay.  They will be here for a month.  I can do that.  Now I want to ask you a question?  Why are you taking work from outside?  I don’t mind, but you are working for me.”

“Ashley, unless you come up with much more for me to do, I will have finished your work in about two months, three at the most.  Mrs. Brown needs some work done and she knew of my situation through Mrs. Hamlin.   

“I need to work all the time to pay my rent.  I can’t do a lot of things here early in the morning because it is an exclusive neighborhood, and there is a noise ordinance.  So your work may be extended out for awhile, because I want to stay in my home as long as I can.  I love it here you know.”

“I want you to stay in your new home too.  Do what you think is right, but you don’t need to feel pressured about the rent.”

“Ash Baby, we have had this conversation once before.”

“I know, I know.  Damn Milo, you are prickly.  Okay, go ahead and manage things the way you need to.  You always seem to come out right.”

“I’m so afraid you and the people around here are going to think I am taking advantage of you. I need to bring myself up to where I can have confidence in myself again and I am not going to do it on the backs of my friends.  Can you understand me?”

Ashley looked at me trying to decide what to say.  “It is the same with me.  You did me a favor and apparently I have done one for you.  Let’s ease up on each other and just be friends.  If you feel I am encroaching on the way you want things to be, tell me.  I’ll do the same with you.  We can back off on trying so hard and be the friends that Calvin would want us to be.  Now walk me to the foot of the stairs and put your two lovely children to bed.  I envy you having them.  I wish they were mine.”

I did as she asked, but she was a woman and had the last word. At the edge of the lot as she was leaving, “Milo, I can always reconsider what you are paying for rent you know.”  She turned and hurried up the path to her house, leaving me to stare after her.

The girls and I had a leisurely breakfast.  “We have a lot to do this morning.  You know I lived with Patrick and Linda after your Mom and I sold our old house.  Well I have something to give Linda to thank her.  We’ll load it on and take it over to her.  She’ll love to see you with me.”

“Are you sure Dad?  We were with Mom at the mall when we met her and she would hardly speak.  Mom cried after she left.”

“She wasn’t mad at you.  She was just upset that your Mom and I weren’t together anymore. You’ll see I am right when we get there.”

Patrick wasn’t home, but Linda was.  Lindsey, with Marie right beside her, rang the doorbell.  I stood back and grinned as Linda opened the door and squealed as she gathered the two into her arms and hugged them to her.  “Oh, I have missed you guys so much. Come in and tell me all about yourselves.”

“We can’t stay Linda.  I came over to bring you a thank you present.”

“Not the hall tree? Oh my god, you didn’t, did you?”

“Yeah I did.  You visit with the girls and I will bring it in.”  I said we had to be going after Linda oo’d and ah’d over her present.  “We will get together next week.  I have one more thing to do this morning and the girls have to work this afternoon.” 

“What do you mean work?”

Lindsey explained and said she and Marie might even get paid for it. This made Linda laugh. 

I went to the rental store and rented a portable stump grinder to remove the roots of the five trees that I had cut down.  I needed to get them out before the gazebo was delivered tomorrow morning.  It only took an hour and by eleven-thirty the girls and I were having a sandwich and a bowl of soup.  At exactly noon we presented ourselves at Mrs. Brown’s door ready to work. Value for the money, I had rented a hedge clipper to do the hedge and shape some of the shrubs.

Mrs. Brown took the girls inside and I set to work.  It took almost as long to pick up the clippings as it did to do the trimming.  I tried to keep my progress balanced across the width of her estate as I worked.  I wasn’t coming back until Monday and this was a holiday weekend.  Oh, crap.  Monday would be a holiday, because of the weekend.  Well I would mention it and if she didn’t mind I would work anyway.

At two forty-five, Lindsey came running out and said Mrs. Brown wanted me to come into the house.  I went around and entered into the kitchen.  She was pouring me tea as I entered and had some little sweet cakes sitting beside the cup.  “Daddy, these are scrumptious.”

I had never heard the girls say scrumptious and it struck me as funny.  When I stopped laughing Marie said, “Why are you laughing?  Mrs. Brown said they are and I think they are too.”

“It’s just that I hadn’t heard that word for many, many years.”

It was Mrs. Brown’s turn to laugh.  “That kind of dates me doesn’t it?  It is a word not used too often now.  Mr. Burns, if I’m not prying, what is this great treasure that you found and gave away?”

“I don’t know for sure and the girls shouldn’t have said anything.  As long as they did, I suppose it is all right to tell you.  Mrs. Winslip gave me the contents of the building where I am living.  I was looking it over and there was a large wooden box in the back under a lot of old furniture.  I unscrewed the top and found that it had some paintings in it. 

“I pulled up one from the middle section and it was signed by an artist named Eakins.  I have never heard of him.  The second one was signed by Wyeth.  I’ve heard of him so I figured they might be valuable.   I closed the box up and told Ashley… Mrs. Winslip about them.  She said she gave me everything in storage, but I said I couldn’t accept the box of paintings.  She is having someone from the museum come tomorrow afternoon and look at what the box contains.  Mrs. Winslip and I used the word treasure in front of these two kids of mine and they think maybe I shouldn’t have given it away.”

“Why did you?”

“Because Mrs. Winslip has been very generous in giving me employment and providing me with a place to live.  You see, her husband was my very best friend and I miss him almost as much as she does.  If I took advantage of her, then it would be like taking advantage of my friend.”

“You are very quixotic Mr. Burns.”

“What does that mean, Daddy?”

“It means I am a romantic and unrealistic.  I think the way Mrs. Brown used it was a compliment.”

“I did, indeed I did.”

“In that case would you like to come tomorrow afternoon and see the so-called treasure when the box is opened?”

“I’d love to.”

“Good and if you would be so kind, would you drive around and give Mrs. Hamlin a ride so she can see too.  I’m afraid she can’t walk across the lot.  If you give her a ride, it will be only a few steps for her.”

“I certainly will.”

It was nearly six when I went to retrieve my little workers.  They were all smiles and each carrying a shopping bag. “Daddy, we earned ten dollars for helping Mrs. Brown and she gave us each a present for when we grow up and get married.”

“Mrs. Brown, that is too much.”

“No, I have thoroughly enjoyed myself and these are things I was giving to the Salvation Army. As far as the money, they ran and ran and saved me innumerable steps.  I will see you tomorrow and I will have Mrs. Hamlin with me.”  What could I say?

It was ten a.m. when the crane backed into the driveway.   It backed across this end of the lot and close to where the gazebo was to be placed.  Immediately a crowd gathered on the street.  This was an occasion in this stately neighborhood. I had been promised that the transport would be right behind the crane.  As soon as it arrived, it backed right up next to the crane.  The sling was already in place on the building.  It was zip, zip and the gazebo was up in the air and swinging over one of the trees and into place.  It was gently lowered onto the foundation that had supported the original structure.

The crowd of spectators clapped.  One man approached me as the flatbed pulled out with the crane right behind it. “Are you the boss of this job?”

“Yes I am.”  I waited to see what this person had on his mind.

“What concern do you work for?”

“I don’t work for a concern.  I rented the apartment above the garage here.  Mrs. Winslip hired me to clean up her brushed-over lot.  She gave me free reign to do what is needed.”

“Well you are doing a wonderful job. What else are you doing?  This lot has been an eyesore for years, but no one has wanted to approach Miss Nelson about how it looked.  Too bad she can’t do something about how plain this building looks from the street. We have all of these beautiful estates and then you come to this right in the middle of the block. Well this is an improvement anyway.  Tell her I said so.”

“You might tell me your name.”

“Oh sorry, I’m Ralph Peterson.  Did I see you doing work for the Browns?”

“Yes, just a little shrub work.”

“More’n a little. Bernie doesn’t get things done much.  Mrs. Brown has to keep after him.  I’m glad he found someone to keep the place up.”  I thought to myself that this was a typical busybody neighbor.  I wondered what his home looked like.

There were still several people around and some kids standing off to one side out of the way.  Lindsey and Marie went over to them and asked, “Would you like to play in the gazebo?  My dad wouldn’t mind.”

“Okay.” My two, four other girls and three boys went scooting across and into the enclosure.  This was the biggest gazebo I could find. It was twenty feet across.  Inside there were built-in seats on all eight sides. I could hear the kids chattering away getting to know each other.  I had a dilemma.  I needed to get to the garden center to pick up the new shrubs I was planting in place of the trees I had cut down and taken out.  Just then a young couple about my age and the woman very pregnant came along asking if I had seen a boy and girl of six and eight. 

I pointed to the gazebo. “I think they may be over there.  Say, if you have an hour or so, could you stick around, I need to leave to pick up some stuff.  I hate to break up the kids. They sound like they are having a great time.  Could you hang around and watch them?”

“Sure, we would like to see it ourselves.  We will wait here until you get back.”

They were slow at the garden center loading my plantings, and I was beginning to worry.  I needn’t have.  When I got back, the kids were still closeted in the gazebo.  The husband was waiting patiently for his wife and kids.  When he saw me, he asked if I needed a hand unloading the trees.

I did and I drove over to where they were going to be planted and he helped me unload.  All I had left to do now was to prepare the bed and pull the sacking off the root system and put them in the ground. Lindsey and Marie didn’t even know I had been gone. The couple, Kim and Will, collected their two and I asked the rest of the kids to leave, but said they could come back whenever my kids were here.  Ashley heard me tell them this as she came across the lot. Kim and Will were gone before I could introduce them to Ashley.

“You’re home early,” I said to Ashley.

“Yes.  Nothing for me to do and as I am on vacation the next two weeks and needed to be here this afternoon, here I am.”

“You didn’t tell me you were on vacation.”

“You didn’t ask.  Besides you are very free in inviting people to use my property.  I think I’d better be here to protect it.”

“You don’t mind?”

“No, of course not.”

“Good, because I invited a couple of older ladies for the opening of the treasure this afternoon.”

“How come?”

“I didn’t intend to, but the girls were talking about me giving away some treasure, so I had to explain to Mrs. Brown.  As long as she was invited, I thought it would be a good idea to have Mrs. Hamlin come too.”  I was waiting for the explosion.  There was none.

“I’m glad Mrs. Hamlin is coming and as long as they are friends, I’ll welcome Mrs. Brown.  I suspect that there will be a newspaper man here too.  The museum asked if it would be okay. They do everything they can to promote the arts.  There may or may not be a story, but the museum has it covered.” 

She turned to the girls.  “Lindsey and Marie, I think our lunch has cooled off, so we will have to nuke it.  You may ask your father to join us.  That will show him he isn’t boss all the time.”  She smiled as she said this so I knew she wasn’t really upset.  We strolled along to her house and I washed up as Ashley set out paper plates and pulled the local KFC’s cuisine out of the microwave.

———————————

Two o’clock sharp, Ashley’s doorbell chimed.  The museum curator was a balding, glasses wearing individual with a ready smile.  “Mrs. Winslip, I am Walter Gainsborough and you contacted me about some paintings.  One you said was an Eakins.  Thomas Eakins lived mostly here in the east, but did travel west in 1888 and we assume he painted there too.  If there are enough identifying marks on the canvas we might find it is an original and one the art world knows nothing about.  I very much would like to see it.”

“Of course.  Mr. Burns and I will take you across to the property that fronts on the next avenue.  We can walk there from here.”  Just as we came out of the house, a van emblazoned with the name of a newspaper pulled in behind Gainsborough’s vehicle.  I took the driver to be a photographer from the equipment he hauled out of the van. 

The passenger was a female reporter.  She was a beautiful example of womanhood and knew it.  The woman had everything and everything was in the right place.  I had been married to beautiful and I was not impressed.  “I’m Miss Trevor.  I’m here to do a piece for a Sunday supplement if there is anything to the paintings. I might do a human interest slant to things too.”  She was gushing to Ashley and to me.  Ashley introduced her to Marie and Lindsey and Miss Trevor immediately ignored them as unimportant.

The photographer was snapping pictures of the house and when we went around the corner of the garage, he started taking pictures of the building we were heading for.  When we came abreast of the gazebo he asked me who was doing the work.   I just said I was.  The shrubs lay there for me to plant later this afternoon.  That was my plan anyway.

I was having my problems.  Ashley and Walter Gainsborough had gone on ahead.  Miss Trevor had latched onto me. The heels she was wearing were making it difficult for her to walk on the dirt path as the spikes sunk into the soil. She was clinging tightly to my arm and her breast brushed against me with every step.  It was embarrassing.  We were falling farther and farther behind and it was me that had to open the box.

Disgusted, I made the comment, “You didn’t come very well dressed for getting a story.”

She wasn’t through yet.  “How would you like to see me dressed, more or less?”

I stopped and faced her.  “Look Miss Trevor, I’m beginning to doubt you are a reporter.  You certainly don’t act like one.  There is a story here if you would stop acting like a woman of the streets.  My two pretty girls over there should tell you what their mother looks like, and you don’t hold a candle to her.  Enough of that.  Mrs. Winslip is a well-respected prosecutor for the county.  She is also a widow.  Her husband was killed in Iraq and he never knew that his wife was to have a child.

“That’s rough, but that’s human interest.  Look at that old lady sitting in front of the building that we are headed for.  Her family was the first family to build in this section of the city and Mrs. Winslip’s family came shortly after.  Sure, they have money, but they all have given to society by serving the city in different capacities, just as Mrs. Winslip is doing. 

“Now I don’t know what these paintings are going to be, but you were sent out to get a story, so why don’t we go right along and see what they are?”

Miss Trevor stepped away from me and when she did the heel snapped off one of her shoes.  She fell on her cute little butt. She was so embarrassed and looked ready to cry.  I reached with my hand so she could stand.  I squatted down and removed the shoe that still retained a heel.  I snapped the heel off and slid the shoe back on her foot.  I picked up the two heels and tossed them into one of the holes waiting for a shrub.

“Shall we continue on and find out if you have a story or not?”  Miss Trevor quietly nodded.

I worked for about fifteen minutes moving the items I had used to keep the box hidden.  The photographer was busy snapping pictures.  Miss Trevor really was a reporter, for I could hear her asking pointed questions.  Finally I dragged the box out in front of the garage and used my speed drill to remove the screws holding the top board on.

Mrs. Hamlin spoke to me.  “Mr. Burns I remember when Mr. Nelson packed that box with paintings. I was playing with Ashley’s mother the day her grandfather said he was sick of them.  He wanted landscapes and not portraits on his walls. I can even tell you what the paintings are. 

“I always wondered what happened to the box, but I guess I forgot about it until I saw it just now. I think you will find only four paintings in there.  The fifth section has a bundle of lithographs done by a Nat Currier.  He later paired up with a man named Ives.

“The story was that Currier was married and he had a little girl whom he thought the world of.  She died and then a few months later his wife died.  He remarried and his new wife gave birth to a boy who lived less than a year.  All this time he was doing lithographs and the subjects were sad and dismal.  Some of them were pictures of tombstones with no name on them. People could purchase a lithograph and put their own deceased person’s name on the tombstone in the lithograph.”

Walter Gainsborough clapped.  “That is your art history lesson of the day and she has it perfectly correct.  Currier came out of his dark period when he took Ives on as a partner. Hurry Mr. Burns and let’s see what we have here. I hope these that have been stored for what--seventy years, haven’t deteriorated.”

I removed the top and I gently pulled up and out the portrait of the cowboy.  Gainsborough gasped.  “It certainly looks like an Eakins.  Let’s look at the back.  Yes, it was listed in a Chicago art gallery and from this it was most likely purchased during the time of the world fair.  It will take further investigation, but I would say it was authentic. What else is in there?”

Marie spoke up. “Daddy, is it a treasure?”  I looked at the curator.

He answered Marie directly.  “Yes little dearie, it is a treasure.  It is hard to tell what it is worth, thousands of dollars, that is for sure.”

“Daddy, you gave away thousands of dollars.”

Miss Trevor picked up on that right away.  “What did she mean?”

I said, “Later.  Let’s not interrupt.”

The Wyeth came out and then the bundle of lithographs.  Again Gainsborough said they were Currier’s.  Not only that, he declared they were of the first run and therefore more unique.  A Remington followed and then one that was unsigned. 

That was a big disappointment, but not to Walter Gainsborough.  “It is in the manner of Whistler.  We can analyze it and it cannot be sold as ‘by Whistler, but with a designation as attributed to’ and if enough experts look at it, some day it will become one of his known paintings.”

Miss Trevor was busy now taking notes and writing what information she could glean from the curator, Mrs. Hamlin and finally, Ashley.  My work done, I went back to planting shrubs.  Marie and Lindsey hung around the paintings and the people talking about them.  I glanced once and saw Mr. Gainsborough talking on his cell phone.  It was an hour later that a small truck came into my yard and two men got out and loaded the box of paintings into it.

Lindsey came running down to me and asked if she could show Mrs. Brown her bedroom and Mrs. Hamlin needed to use the bathroom.  I said of course and I surmised Miss Trevor had to use the facilities too, as she went up with the two older women.  The two older women came back down and stood talking to Ashley.  I saw the photographer go into my house.  I guess I was providing facilities for the whole bunch.  Well the girls were with them and Ashley was nearby.

Mrs. Brown and Mrs. Hamlin waved goodbye and Ashley went into the house as well.  Walter Gainsborough had left with the paintings.  Me, I was out here trying to get these plants into the ground.  I had two hundred feet of garden hose strung out and I headed for the garage to turn the water on.  Just as I reached for the faucet, everyone came down from my apartment.  The photographer started taking pictures of me.  Miss Trevor came over.

“Mr. Burns, I would like to apologize for my actions earlier.  I was being an ass.  Truthfully, I thought this story of the paintings was a hoax and if you had nibbled at the bait I was displaying, I was going to shoot you down.  Ashley tells me you have only been in this area three weeks and everyone points out what you have accomplished.  Ashley tells me the ceilings aren’t finished yet.  I would very much like to come see them when they are.

“I can even understand why you wouldn’t accept the paintings now. Speaking of which, it will be a month or more before my report on them will be in the paper. I still have a lot of background to do on the story.  I would like to include a small bio of you in the story of how you found the paintings if you would give me permission.”

“Well maybe, but I would like to read it before it is published.”

“I expect you would after the way I acted this afternoon.  May I take that as a yes?”

“Yes, and I am sorry if I humiliated you in any way.”

“Too bad we couldn’t have started out this way earlier.”

“I know.  I do think you are going to make a good reporter and I don’t think you need to use your beauty to pry a story out of anyone.”

“I hope so.  And if I am, I think some of it will be because of you.  I’ve learned a lesson here today.”  She and the photographer walked back to Ashley’s house and their van.

Chapter Five

“Milo, what did you say to the reporter, and it also looked like you pushed her and she landed on the ground.  Whatever you said or did certainly straightened her out.”

“I was a little rough on her at first.  Remember I have had experience with beautiful women using their guile to get what they want.

“I just told her that she was here to get a story.  She had said she was looking for human interest and I pointed out where she could get some.  As far as landing on her butt, she fell when her shoe heel broke off.”

“I wondered what you would say.  She told me everything you said.  You called her a whore.”

“No I didn’t. I said she was acting like one.  There is a difference. Look, beautiful women are like goldfish and they don’t mean much to me anymore.  I had one once and they are always twisting and turning and showing their glitter for some man to catch them.  My ex was all glitter and gold.   Burgess started fishing in my waters and Jean swam right up and was caught.  Where does that leave me?”

“Milo that is the most bitter comment about Jean I have ever heard coming from you.”

“Miss Trevor struck a nerve with her beauty.  Just because I decided not to fish doesn’t mean I didn’t want to.  After all I am a man.”

“You are that, Milo.  You certainly are.”

“Ash Baby, would you watch the girls, I really have to get some water on those shrubs.”  It was nearly nine p.m. when I finished and knew things would last over the weekend.  When I got upstairs the girls were in bed and Ashley had soup on the stove ready to heat.

“You didn’t have to stay now that the girls have gone to bed.”

“I wanted to stay.  Milo, I have to talk to you.  You are driving yourself way too hard.  Your diet is crap.  Only once have you taken the time to prepare yourself a decent meal.  What you are feeding the girls isn’t any better than what they got with their mother and you bitched about that.”

“You sound like my mother.”

“If I do it is because she was a smart woman.  First, I am going to reduce your rent.  I’d like to say forget it entirely, but I know you won’t allow that so I won’t.  The six hours you feel you have to work to pay the extra rent, I want you to work in the kitchen providing meals for your daughters and yourself, and yes, sometimes for me too.  Would you agree to that?”

“I know you are right about the meals.  I will have to balance working so much against wanting to get ahead as soon as possible.”

“If it is money that bothers you, why did you give away a million dollars?”

“Ashley, you gave me the stuff downstairs in good faith to help me out and it will help me out a lot when I sell some of it.  Your primary concern was to empty out the space down there.  But if you knew you were giving me a million bucks, you wouldn’t have.  Say all you want to about it, if I had taken the stuff and made a million bucks off it, wouldn’t you have resented me?  Think about it.”

Ashley was silent and I could see that she was considering what I said. Finally, “You’re right of course, but are you sure my feelings are worth a million bucks?”

“Here let me show you how sure I am.”  I took Ashley in my arms and kissed her like I had wanted to ever since that first night at the cabin when we had watched the moon come out while sitting on the little porch.  Ashley momentarily resisted and then she let herself go and returned the kisses as passionately as those I was giving her.

“How did you dare do that?  You’ve been so careful to not cross any line.”

“I dared do that when I saw how mad and jealous you were of Miss Trevor this afternoon.”

“Am I that easy to read?”

“I don’t know, but you were this afternoon.  Was I wrong?”

“No you weren’t wrong.  Where do we go from here?”

“Maybe I was too forward, but where would you like it to go?”

“Can we discuss this before we go any further?  I’m single, you’re single so we wouldn’t be breaking any laws if we started a relationship. In that context, would you like to continue?”

“Yes I would.  I agree though that we should sort this out.  First of all I have two little girls in the next room.  I am hoping someday they will be living with me.  I don’t want to jeopardize that situation so I am going to have to be very careful not to give Jean anything to use against me.”

“I want them living with you too.  That way I can see them as often as I like if we do get closer.”

“How close is close?”

“As like being mother to them? If you fell in love with me and proposed.  Yes, I would mother them.  There is one thing though I would insist on.  My child is to bear Calvin’s name when it is born.  If any wedding comes about, it would have to be after December fifteenth of this year.”

“I could go along with that, but that is an awful long time away.”

“Yes it is, but that would be only what the world sees.  If a couple were discreet there might be some physical interaction before then.”

“Why Ash Baby, I do believe you are willing to be seduced.”

“It appears that way doesn’t it?”

“When would that be happening?”

“Not tonight, but as soon as possible.  We are tied up this weekend and Tuesday you are having the ceilings done. By Wednesday I will be having the screaming meemies.  All you have to do is find a discreet place and tell me when and where.”

“I can do that and I will work it out.  Count on it.”  Ashley stayed awhile longer.  I didn’t push her and she didn’t ask for more.  Funny how I felt like a school kid again.  That night my dreams were all nice, especially as Calvin was in one of them.  I didn’t remember much of it when I awoke in the morning.  I do distinctly remember him slapping me on the butt and saying “Congratulations.”

———————————

Ashley backed the jeep out of the garage at her house and we loaded it with snacks and the extra bedding for the kids. This was to be a relaxing day for me and I didn’t plan on doing anything except maybe a hike in the woods.  First it was the parade.  It was one of the smaller ones that the city supported that wound in and out through some of the neighborhoods on the south side. 

I put the jeep in the same lot where I had parked for nine years when I owned the restaurant. We were early and went inside to get a beverage.  Some of the people that had worked for me greeted me as a long lost friend and I was. The girls were often here before the divorce, but hadn’t been in since that event. They didn’t say much until we got outside.  Lindsey said, “It is not as clean as when you owned it, is it Daddy?”

“Doesn’t appear to be.  There aren’t as many patrons either like there could be on parade day.”  In one way I missed my old business, but I was pretty damned satisfied with my life right now, especially with Ashley coming into the picture.  Standing where I did, I met several of the people I had served in the restaurant and all were glad to see me and said they missed my presence.  All in all this would be the last time I would be coming here to visit and I certainly wouldn’t be eating here.

When we hit the road for the camp, my spirits were lifted.  Soon I would be back where my life had changed for the better.  I looked over at Ashley.  God, I was glad I had been at camp that day.  How bad it would have been if I had been a half hour later and Ashley had been able to accomplish what she set out to do.  I shuddered at the thought.

I was able, just barely, to put the jeep through the mud hole.  I left the chains and grasshopper poles still hidden in case we got stuck getting out of here.  The girls were bouncing around on the back seat, not only from the rough trail, but from the excitement of seeing the camp again.  “Here we are, kids, you help Ashley carry the groceries. I’ll bring the cooler and then I will come back for our bag with our nightclothes.”

Shortly after we arrived Marie came in saying, “Daddy, how come the bathroom doesn’t stink like it did the last time we were here?”

“First of all, it isn’t a bathroom, it’s an outhouse.  And it doesn’t smell because nobody has been using it.”

“I didn’t want to come because it is usually so gross.  I’m glad I came this time.”

“It will be better this summer for I brought some lime to help take away the smell.  That’s the white powder in the coffee can I set in the corner.”

“Why didn’t you do that before?”

“Because before it was usually me and Uncle Calvin and we were macho men.  Now that there are three young ladies here it is different.”

Ashley laughed and said, “Yes and they ran around pounding their chests like George of the jungle.”  This set the tone of our camping out.

Home fried potatoes and thin sliced pork were the main dish, cooked with my secret ingredient.  I had four large thick-sliced ripe tomatoes swimming in oil and vinegar flavored with garlic and onion powder with just a couple packets of sweetener. Curious, Ashley wanted to know what my secret ingredient was.  “Accent shook on a hot frying pan with a minimum of pan grease to fry the pork in.  Of course if you add a little mountain air and some sweet companions, a person can’t go wrong.”

My efforts were well received.  Ashley watched me. I suppose I showed off my cooking expertise a little more than necessary.  So she was rich. I had to do something to counter that and what I was doing was a form of wooing.  I had pretty much declared my intentions. 

Not her fault that she was well-to-do.  Of course thinking on her situation, her position as prosecutor couldn’t return much more than I did when I was running my restaurant.  It was just that she was from old money and I was still trying to make mine. I’m sure we would discuss this sometime in the future.

After our meal, we all hiked up to the mountain peak behind the cabin.  There we sat down on the stone that comprised the mountaintop.  The view from the cabin was spectacular, but this was even more so.  We stayed until it was almost dark and even though it was July, the breeze was chilly.  The girls took off for camp and this gave me a chance to ask Ashley if she was happy.  “Milo, when I’m with you I think I’ll always be happy.  You are just such a together person. Do you ever lack confidence?”

“Of course I do.  I have just learned not to show it.  So far the Lord has seen fit to reward me by keeping my secret when it looks dark and troubles beset me.”

“I have never heard you speak of God before.  Are you religious?”

“Not really as most people look at a religious person.  I do believe in God. I don’t go to church much, although I did as a child so I know my way around the Bible.  God has been good to me, and I send up a word of thanks now and then.  Like now for instance, He is being very good to me.  I have you and I have the girls and it looks like I have a very good chance of things getting better for me.”

“Did you feel that way when Jean left you for another man?”

“Not at first, but then I sat back and waited … waited for the Lord to show me the way.  In the meantime I helped my friends out, giving them a hand to make their life a little easier.  I lived with Patrick and Linda.  My being there wasn’t a burden for them. 

“I helped with the kids and it gave them a chance to show their love for each other instead of keeping their nose to the grindstone after several years of parenting. To be honest I came up here the day we met because I was ready for something to happen.  It did, and it was you that happened.

“From that moment on it has all been good.  While I was waiting all that time until you came along, I kept my hands busy for my friends and my head clear for the opportunity that someday would present itself.  I figured the Lord would get around to me eventually and He did.”

“But you work so hard.  Is that part of the plan?”

“What I do isn’t hard work for me. I love to keep busy and I love helping people.  Right now I’d like my two girls with me permanently.  That is what I am working on. Would you like to help me set Jean up?”

“Of course. What did you have in mind?”

“I’ve already hinted that I would sell my share of the camp in return for custody of Lindsey and Marie.  I would like full custody, but I would share if that is the only way I could have them with me. What I would like is to sweeten the pot just a little. Would you write me a note agreeing to advance me $5,000 until I have sold the furniture you gave me?  Just make it clear that this is a loan only, for it really is.”

“How is that going to help?  How will she know all of this?”

“Jean is a snoop.  I thought I would ask her to baby-sit the girls at my home Wednesday night.  I’ll leave my desk unlocked and I know she will go through it.”

“What excuse are you using for having to go out?”

“I’ll just say I have a date.  By-the-way, how about a date?  I’m going to have a room at the Best Western.  Would you be interested?”

“You’re serious about following up on this aren’t you?”

“Yes I am.  I can’t imagine being with anyone but you.”

“Overnight?”

“All night.”

“So Jean is going to be spending all night in your bed and I’m going to be spending all night in a motel?”

“Yes, but I’m going to be with you and she’s going to be sleeping alone.”

“Okay, it’s a date.”

We came down to the camp and the girls questioned what took us so long.  “We were just enjoying the view.  It is dark enough now for the stars to come popping out.  Let’s go out on the porch and watch.”

“But Daddy, it isn’t big enough for all of us.  There are only two chairs.”

“I know, but if Marie sits on Ashley’s lap and I hold you, we can all see them come out together.”

“Okay, I guess so, but aren’t we too big to be held?”

“Nope, never too big to be held.” 

An hour later we took the sleeping girls and put them in the bunk beds.  Ashley and I sat and held hands until three in the morning. At that time Ashley went in and put pajamas on and came back out and sat on my lap.  This was the closest we had ever been.  “Am I being unfaithful to Calvin’s memory?”  Ashley asked.

“I don’t believe so. Do you feel this is wrong?”

“No, but for tonight let’s just snuggle a little and wait for Wednesday.”

“Okay, but I’m going to make you pay for making me wait.” 

There was a pause and then she continued, “I never thought I was a passionate person, but Calvin opened me up to a whole new world.  Are you a passionate person?”

“I used to think I was, but Jean killed it for awhile.  Being with you has awakened feelings I thought were long dead.”

“I can tell.”

I couldn’t help it, Ashley was a desirable person and she was sitting on my lap.  I did a little exploring until Ashley whispered, “I think I will go in and crawl in with Marie.  What are you going to do?”

“I’m staying right here and watch the sun come up.  I’ll see you in the morning.  Is it too early to say I love you, Ashley Winslip?”

“Not if you really do.”

“I do.”  My hand lingered in hers until her fingers slowly slipped from my grasp as she passed into the cabin.

“Wake up Daddy and see the sun.  It’s like a big red ball.” I could smell coffee.  I guess I overslept or didn’t want to let go of the dream I was having.  Ashley brought out a cup of what she had brewed and sat next to me.  The kids watched with us until the sun was completely sitting on the horizon.  I made my excuses and headed out back to the outhouse.  Ashley had put the washbasin out with a jug of water. 

I came in asking, “Does anyone want a bath?”

Ashley snickered.  “Not me, the tub is too small and you have to stand up in it.”  I laughed out loud and Ashley blushed. 

“Someday it will happen.  You taking a bath in the wash tub.  It will be an experience.”  I almost said “again.”

“Maybe.”  We were flirting and it had to stop before the kids got on to it.

Pancakes, eggs, bacon and orange juice out of the cooler and more of that mountain air made breakfast.

We all hated to leave.  It felt as if Ashley and I had a nest here and the two girls our chicks. They turned around as we passed down the trail and I could see they felt something for this place as well as Ashley and I.  “We’ll be back kids, and it won’t be long either.”

After we hit the blacktop we motored right along at a steady pace.  I was happy.  Going up to the cabin always did that to me. I hadn’t been checking behind me.  I was startled when I heard a short burst on a siren.  I pulled to the side and waited for the trooper to get out and come up to me. “License and registration please.”

Ashley sat looking straight ahead.  The girls sitting behind me were afraid that I was going to jail.  “Was I speeding?”

“No, but I recognized the jeep.  I didn’t realize the Prosecutor was a passenger at first.  I was just checking.  Also I see you have two passengers in back.  I’m glad to see you have them restrained.  This address you have on your license.  Is that current?”

“No.  I have only just rented an apartment from Mrs. Winslip.  Before that I haven’t had any permanent address for a few months due to a divorce.”  I waited for the next question. 

Ashley spoke.  “Officer Hanify isn’t it?  Why did you stop us?”

“Ma’am, when I realized you were the passenger, I just wanted to make sure you were okay.”

“You will be seeing this jeep often if you patrol along here a lot.  Mr. Burns and I own a cabin up in the hills together.  It is my jeep, but Mr. Burns will be driving it alone and with me.  He is my employee and also my tenant.  Is there anything further you need to know?”

“No Ma’am.  Maybe I was a little quick to stop you, I apologize.” 

This was awkward for him.  I honestly thought he meant well. “I’m glad you did stop us.  At least I am reminded to notify the DMV of my address change.  I also thank you for watching out for Ashley along the road here.  I will feel safer if she travels here alone with you on the job.  These are my two children, Marie and Lindsey, sitting in the back. Oh, and thank you for only giving Ashley a warning for speeding the last time you stopped the jeep.  It would have been embarrassing for her to get a ticket.”

“Milo is right.  I did appreciate just the warning you gave me last time.  I have been watching how I drive since then. Honest.”

“I believe you have.  Nice talking with you Mr. Burns.  You have two lovely children.  I have two boys myself.  Nice seeing you again Ma’am.”  He went back and got in the cruiser and pulled around us and went on down the road.

“That was a nice little social visit.  How do you do it, Milo?  Didn’t you feel bad about being stopped?”

“Not really.  I knew I wasn’t speeding.  If something was wrong with the jeep I wanted to know about it.  You of all people should know the police are here to protect us.”

“I know.  You are right as usual.  Why did I resent being stopped?  You almost forced me to thank him again.”

“I know that too, but aren’t you glad you did?”

“Now I am, but I wasn’t to begin with.  I felt he had no right.”

“But last time he did have a right.  This time he didn’t really and he pretty much apologized, which he didn’t have to do. I suspect he is one of the better officers on the force.  At least that was the way I read him.”

We passed him later as he sat waiting for a speeder.  We all waved as we went by and Ashley smiled.  I glanced at her later and could see she had a satisfied look on her face.

We were home early enough for Ashley to make a potato salad and I built a little charcoal pit near the gazebo.  I had found some camping utensils in the garage and one item, although used for toasting bread, I found could be used for holding hamburgers and you could cook six at a time.  Ashley was making patties when two kids, a boy and girl ran up and said hi to the girls.  “Can we play in the house like we did last time?”

I looked at Lindsey and Marie and I could tell they were hoping I would say yes.  I nodded okay and didn’t even look at Ashley.  I knew this was something she wouldn’t have done.  Hell, she wouldn’t even be out here cooking where the neighbors could see her.  Just as all the little ones disappeared into the gazebo, Kim and Will came around the corner looking for their two offspring.  I waved them over and they came hesitantly and started to apologize.

“I’m glad you came along.  I’m just putting burgers on and you can help us eat them.  The kids will want a hot dog, but that is about all.  Ashley, meet Kim and Will from down the street.  Will helped me unload the shrubs.  Kim is the pretty lady with the big tummy.  I say this so you don’t get Kim and Will mixed up. Kim and Will, meet Ashley Winslip. She is my employer, my landlady and is the widow of my very best friend who died a short time ago in Iraq. 

“She also has a condition that he wasn’t aware of when he died.  Kim, maybe you could fill Ashley in on what and when to expect changes that will be happening to her very soon.  Feel free to use my apartment.”

“Milo, damn you.  You did it to me again.  You wait, I’ll get even.”

The two women headed for my place and some privacy. Will asked, “What was that all about?”

“The day I met Ashley about a month ago she was down, I mean as far down as a person can be.  I stopped her from going any further down.  I found out since that time that even though she has lived here most of her life, she didn’t have any friends.  The worst of it is, she didn’t know how to go about finding any. 

“I don’t know if your wife and Ashley will become friends, but she at least has an opening.  She is going to need a lot of support getting over Calvin, her husband, and getting through her pregnancy.  She thinks she is plain, but if my friend picked her for his wife, she has to be beautiful underneath her exterior features.”

“That’s sad.”

“No, I think that is life.  That is for her anyway and I hope all of her heartbreak is in the past.  Good, the burgers are almost done.” I shouted into the gazebo, “Hey kids, I’m cooking hot dogs out here.  Come grab yours.  We Dads are going inside to eat.  There are Eskimo pies upstairs when you finish playing.”

Upstairs it was the usual, what do you do, where did you grow up, go to school, etc.   Will and Kim were the Grovers.  Kim had a law degree, but Will kept her pregnant, so she had never practiced.  Will worked in a bank as a finance officer.  Ashley shared her life and I shared mine.  The kids came in for their ice cream two times to be exact. 

Will was looking out the window overlooking the gazebo.  “You have company.  It is Mr. ‘Busybody’ Peterson. I kind of feel sorry for him.  He is in his seventies and lost his wife last year.  Since then, he has become quite a bother.”

“What did he do?”

“He was an architect, I think.”

“Good, just the person I want to see.”

I went downstairs and met him as he was leaving.  “Mr. Peterson, I have an extra hamburger and a beer.  Won’t you join us?”

“Well I might.  I like what you are doing with the Nelson lot.  I still say it is a shame the way this building looks from the street.”

I opened the door and led Ralph into my apartment where the Grovers and Ashley were sitting.  “You know the Grovers and this is Mrs. Ashley Winslip.  This is Ralph Peterson.  I’ll get your burger and beer.  Tell Ashley what you think about this building and I apologize for blindsiding you, but someone has to tell her.”

Ralph was speechless.  Ashley was laughing.  “Mr. Peterson, don’t mind Milo, he does this to everyone.  You are right about the building.  It hasn’t bothered me that much, because I don’t have to look at it, but I can see why it would to people going by.  Do you have any ideas?”

“Well not really.  Just something to break up the plainness of it all.”

“Well, ask Milo.  He has ideas about everything.  He hasn’t said anything, but knowing him, he will hit me with something someday, and it will be just what is needed.  Go ahead and ask him.  I’m as curious as you are.”

“Will tells me you are an architect.  If you can tell me if what I have in mind is feasible from a safety, structural standpoint and don’t charge Ashley anything, I’ll get her to foot the cost of it while we build it. I’ll even let you boss the job.  How’s that for a deal?”

“God, I’d give my right arm for something to do. Tell me your ideas.”

“Okay, visualize this.  The building has five windows equally across the expanse of the front.  There are no openings in the lower levels and that is good I think. Now this living room takes up exactly one half the expanses on the outside and we have three of the windows in this room, one in the kitchen and one in the bedroom.  Say we build a balcony outside of this room.”

“Stop right there.  How are you going to hold up the balcony?” 

“The building is basically a New England saltbox.  Say we bring the roof out flat from the drip edge of the short part of the roof that is facing the street.  Visualize this again.  Five columns from the ground to the roof, one on each end and two on the corner of the balcony and one in the center.  Those three will be holding the balcony and the only one that would obscure the window would be the one in the center. But that shouldn’t bother because it would be out ten feet from the building.

“That’s the basic construction. Thoughts to dress it up in line to make this compatible with these estates, you could start adding and that is where you are going to have to get Ashley to loosen her purse strings. Doorways, one in the kitchen, one in the bedroom, going out onto a curved extension to the balcony.

“Roof treatment—short posts with a railing, similar to what you would find around a widow walk up in the Massachusetts’s seaports.  The same treatment again for the edge of the gallery and the curved entrances.  Window peaked eyebrows with a little fake gallery for the two windows on the end.  On the ground level, nothing except some flagging in and around the columns.  How I’m doing so far?”

Ralph sat in his chair with his eyes closed and then he looked at me.  “I can see it.  It is beautiful.  You really are serious in letting me be part of this?”

I looked at Ashley and she was smiling.  “Will this stop you from telling everyone I own an eyesore?”

“I’m sorry, can you forgive an old lonely man?” 

“Nothing to forgive.  It is an eyesore and I’m ashamed I haven’t done something about it sooner.  But then the man with the vision wasn’t here to show me what was needed.”

Will and Kim had been sitting quietly.  Kim spoke, “Milo, before you start this, could you do the room we are making into a nursery, please?  I want it just like the one where your two girls are sleeping.”

At that moment Ralph Peterson’s eyes traveled upward.  “Jesus Christ, who did this ceiling?  I haven’t seen this done in years.”

I was laughing. “Ashley, who worked the hardest and got the most plaster on her?”

Ashley blushed. “Milo did it and I helped.  In fact the little stars and some of the moons are mine. But it isn’t done and Milo won’t tell me how it is going to look when it is finished. He is going to have a viewing Tuesday evening after the ceiling men leave. Would you like to see it?”

Kim spoke up, “You should see the other two rooms.  They are beautiful.”

Ashley proudly led Ralph around.  He didn’t say much.  While he was with Ashley, I promised Kim I would do her nursery before the baby came.  I had approximately six weeks.  They left and Lindsey and Marie came in.  Ralph asked when I would have time to get together on the new project and I promised to be available on Thursday. 

I said as we went downstairs, “I was out of work for over four months and willing to do anything.  I couldn’t find a thing.  I met Mrs. Winslip and look at me. I have all kinds of work.”

“People just didn’t know you were an artist, Son.  They will know soon when the house is completed.  You better plan on hiring some help and go into business.  You are too good to not do what has just been a hobby for you.  Ashley said you used to have a business and lost it from no fault of your own.  And she also said that you took her and had her doing things that she would never attempt to do on her own.  You have the knack to go somewhere, now that you have got started.”

I shook his hand and went back to Ashley and the girls.  The girls had gone to their room.  “Well?”

“I was upset with you, Milo, when you left me with Kim like that.”

“And?” 

“Now I’m glad you did.  She told me all about being pregnant and I’m going to a Lamaze class with her and Will.  He is her coach.”

“And?”

She looked hopefully at me. “Would you be my coach?”

“I have already planned on it.  If you don’t believe me ask Mrs. Hamlin.  She agreed that as long as it was my friend’s baby and he couldn’t, it would be appropriate.”

“When had you planned on telling me all of this?”

“When you asked me to.”

“Will you do whatever I ask you to?”

“Pretty much.”

“Then kiss me.”

Chapter Six

I wanted to be at Mrs. Brown’s at six in the morning.  I could see Ashley staggering sleepily across the lot on her way to get breakfast for the girls.  I waved and got a half-way one in return.  I edged flower beds and did things that wouldn’t make much noise until nine-thirty and then could start clipping the shrubs with power equipment. 

This was the official July Fourth holiday.  I saw Mrs. Brown look out the window once and Mr. Brown came out at ten-thirty and asked me in for coffee.  I had coffee and pressed, I ate more than half of a coffee ring that they set out for me.

I worked until one p.m. and said I would be back to finish tomorrow morning. I wanted to be done here by ten-thirty to be ready for the painters at eleven.  Ashley was letting them in at eight to get ready for the real work by the time I got there.  This afternoon I hoped to finish all of Ashley’s mowing on her lot. 

After this, it would be just a matter of only using a lawn mower. To be done right, the ground should be ripped up and reseeded, but this wasn’t the time of year to do it and have a good catch on the seed.

When I got home, Ashley had dinner ready for me.  Fried fish, carrots, mashed potatoes, green salad and a cake for dessert.  “You treat your handyman damned good.  That was a fine meal.” 

Before I went out to mow, I called Jean.  A young female answered with a grunt.  “Hi, this is Milo Burns.  May I speak to Mrs. Burgess please?”

“I guess so.”  Attitude!  “Jean, it’s your ex.”

“Milo, I didn’t expect a call from you.  Are the girls okay?”

“Sure they are great.  I need a favor.  Would you be free Wednesday night to baby-sit?”

“I could, I guess.  For how long?”

“I was hoping you could come and stay all night. The girls would love to have you.  They have a lot to tell you about what we have been doing.”

“Where are you going to be?”

I was silent for a minute acting like I didn’t want to answer.  Jean got the message.  “Okay that was out of line. I don’t need to know.  You can leave your cell number.” 

“That would be great.  Why don’t you come for dinner and we can eat together like we did when the girls were younger.  It will be nice for them.  Bring your husband if you want to, although I don’t have many good feelings toward him.”

“I’ll come alone.  Can you pick me up?  My car isn’t working right now.”

“Sure, I’ll have the girls with me so they can show me which house it is.”

“Lindsey and Marie, Wednesday night I have to go somewhere on business.  Your Mom is coming to stay here with you. We’ll have dinner together just like we used to. I’ll be home early Thursday morning and maybe we can go out for breakfast or something.  I have to meet with Ralph Peterson about ten, so I will have to take your mother home before then.  Are you okay with this?”

“Just Mom and nobody else?”

“Yeah.”

“Okay.  I miss Mom, but I don’t like living where we have to with her.  Can’t we stay here with you Daddy?”

“I don’t see how Sweetheart, but I will ask her.”

“Try awful hard Daddy.”

Ashley was taking all of this in and when she had a minute she just said how sad for the little ones.  I went to work and when I finished, I looked back over what I had accomplished.  Pretty damned good I thought.  The gazebo, the shrubs and the huge expanse of ground that would green up and become lawn someday.

I showered and took Ashley and the girls out to Wendy’s.  Ashley wasn’t impressed and made the comment that someday I was going to have a live-in cook.  Then she flashed me a smile and it made my day.

Tuesday morning I finished a little early.  Mr. Brown saw me picking up my tools and loading the last bit of trash.  He came out with a check in hand.

 “You gave Tildy an estimate for eighteen hours and it could have been twice that and I would have been happy.  This is the check for that and here is a tip for working so hard and keeping it neat while doing the job. I would like to ask if you could keep an eye on the shrubs and when they need trimming, you go ahead and do what needs to be done.  Thank you so much and I am curious to see your apartment tonight.  I’ll see you then.”

I rushed home and met the painters.  They were all set to begin.  They had already covered the floor and everything that needed it. I had them make the bluebells in the girls’ room just a little darker than they would be in nature.  The roses, a few were almost crimson and others fading to pale pink.  Thank God I had a big spray to work with.

When we reached the living room, I didn’t know what I wanted and wouldn’t know until I saw it finished.  The painters were fabulous to work with and patient when I kept changing my mind. Finally about three in the afternoon I had what I wanted. 

The painters went to work and put the sparkle coat on and by four they were loading up.  I asked one worker to stay and help me mount a special light I had contrived in the center of the room and attached it to the wires that so concerned Ashley originally.

Ashley and the girls had been banished to the house on Bellevue Avenue and that is where I was fed some nourishment.  I was beat, but I had people coming this evening to see what the effect I had created amounted to.  Mr. and Mrs. Brown, Mrs. Hamlin, Kim and Will Grover and family, and finally Ralph Peterson.  Ashley, this was her project as well as mine, and I was hoping the special effect I had worked into it would draw us closer.

Everyone was gathered together and I asked that they all look at the bedrooms first and not pay too much attention to the living room.  Everyone was impressed with the bluebells and the roses. Lindsey and Marie wanted to go to bed so they could look up at the colored flowers on their ceiling.

“Not yet kids.  I would like everyone out in the living room to find a seat.  All of you people that can get down on the floor, I want you to lie there looking at the ceiling.  Ralph, Mrs. Hamlin and Kim, please lay back on the couch and everyone close your eyes.  It will take a minute, because I am closing all of the shades so it will be dark in here.

“Okay you can open your eyes now.”

“Daddy I can’t see anything.”

“Just a minute Marie.”  I started the fan hanging from the center of the ceiling turning ever so slowly.  On the end of each paddle I had installed a small light which was on a dimmer. As the paddles gradually made their first revolution, I slowly brought the lights brighter and increased the speed ever so slightly.  The whole effect was like stars popping out of the night sky little by little as the evening progressed.

The moons in the far corners, I had the painters cover with gold glitter and had them do a silver glitter on the stars that were Ashley’s contribution. I spoke.  “Lindsey and Marie, what does this remind you of?”

“Our night at camp last weekend.  It is beautiful Daddy.”

“I seem to have produced the effect I was reaching for. Ashley and I were unacquainted up until a month ago.  We discovered that through the death of my friend and Ashley’s husband, that we were co-owners of a camp on a mountain. We both were at a low point in our lives. We watched the moon come up and the stars come out. It was a life changing experience for me and my life has turned around for the better since that night.  This is my thank you Ashley for experiencing this with me.”

“Thank you Milo for this.  It is as the girls say, beautiful.  And thank you too, for being my guardian angel.  That night was a wonderful awakening for me too.”

“Okay, one more thing before I turn the lights on, and this is strictly for the kids.  Do any of you know what a kaleidoscope is?”  No one did.  “It is where you look into a lighted box and as you turn it, the light creates different shapes and the colors change. So hang on because you are now in a kaleidoscope.” 

I sped up the fan and had colored lights positioned on the blades, giving everyone the feeling they were spinning around and around. I soon stopped for I knew it would make my guests dizzy.  I turned the lights on.

Mrs. Hamlin almost made me break up when she said with tears in her eyes, “Milo, I’m glad I lived long enough to experience this. I haven’t seen the stars this bright for years and years.  You recreated one of the most beautiful sights on earth. Ashley said she saw the stars when she was at camp, but I had no idea what she was talking about until now.  You are a wonderful unique person.  Thank you so much.”

Mr. Brown came up to me.  “Ashley may have the plainest building on the street, but I’ll wager there isn’t one better decorated on the inside.”

“Ashley has hired me to improve her property and I asked Ralph Peterson to come up with something to change all of that.  He is working on plans right now and is going to show them to me on Thursday.”

Ralph overheard this.  “Don’t let Milo kid you. I may be drawing the structural plans, but it is entirely his vision.  I have never been so excited by anything in years.  You wait this is going to be a showplace.”

Later after everyone had left, “You’re quite the showman, Milo Burns. Where is all this going to end?”

“I don’t know.  It could end tonight, I’m that bushed.  So far, do you think you have value for what you have hired me to do?”

“Yes, of course, and more is coming.  The city tax assessor is going to love this when he comes to reevaluate.”

“Is that a problem?”

“Christ no, not with the value you keep adding to the place.  Milo, won’t you take tomorrow off?”

“I could sleep in.  The Browns paid me.  I worked sixteen and a half hours and they paid me for the eighteen I had estimated.  Mr. Brown gave me a two hundred dollar tip, he was that pleased.  Why does everyone want to overpay me?  Also, he said to watch his grounds and when they need attention, to just go ahead and do the work.”

“I can think of at least three reasons.  One, they see how hard you work, two, they can see you do quality work and three, they know you are honest.  No person would give away a million or more dollars when they had it in their pocket.  I can think of a couple more, like taking the time to be nice to Mrs. Hamlin.  One other that will be known by everyone shortly.  You got old Mr. Peterson off the neighbors’ backs.”

“Of course Ash, we could lose it all if they knew you and I were having a tryst at the Best Western tomorrow night. You haven’t forgotten?”

Ashley didn’t answer, but the look I received told me I had asked a foolish question.

———————————

I did sleep in, but I was putting water on the shrubs when Ashley came over to get the girls some breakfast.  “I ought to make you get your own,” she said as she went by me.  I made sure she only had a few drops of water from the hose in retaliation.  She shrieked anyway.

I showed Ashley and Lindsey how to run the lights and the fan in the living room with the caution that it was not to be turned up too high.  They took off and I sat down to make sure my ex-wife didn’t have any idea I was seeing a woman tonight.

In my notebook I scribbled a name and indicated that he could only meet me for an hour at the airport on his way to Florida.  The airport was two hours from this city and I indicated again that I might stay in one of three motels instead of driving home.  Thus was the reason for needing a baby-sitter all night.

Lunch time I went down and got a sub sandwich at the deli.  Henry, the owner, asked a question, “Old Peterson was in saying you and him are going into business together.  What’s that all about?”

“Not much, really.  Peterson has been complaining that the building that houses my apartment looks terrible.  I put him on the spot by introducing him to Mrs. Winslip and together we are going to change the looks of the place.  He is drawing up the structural plans and I’m going to see that the work gets done.”

“You wouldn’t have time to rebuild my wheelchair ramp would you? The safety inspector was in and said I’d better get someone on it right away.  I called a couple of carpenters and both said two, possibly three months. I’m in a bind on this.”

“Let me look at it.”  It was in bad shape.  Two of the timbers were rotted and the deck was splintered in three places.  One section of the railing had been removed.  “Friday afternoon and Saturday until I get it done.  $32.50 an hour and cost of materials.  I’ll dispose of the old ramp at cost also. If I have a helper, I charge half my rate for him.  My two girls will be with me on Saturday. You keep them occupied in the store while I work. They mind and will be good.”

“This Friday?”

“Yes, I can’t do it before or after.”

“Christ, you’ve got a deal. You don’t know what a relief this is for me.”

When I returned with my sandwich, Ashley and the girls were waiting for me, saying they had eaten already.  “Milo, Lilly Trevor called and wants to take pictures of the apartment now that it is completed.  She will be coming over about the time you get back with Jean. I said I was going to be out of town.  I hope this is okay with you?”

“I know what you are doing.  You don’t trust me with my ex-wife, do you?”

“Oh Milo, don’t think that. Think maybe I wanted to twist her tail a little and make her envious that you have a fun life without her.”

“I know.  I was kidding.  Oh, by the way, I took another small job.  I am building a ramp down at the deli for Henry, Friday afternoon and Saturday.”

“What about the girls?  Where will they be?”

“I’m going to ask Mrs. Hamlin to watch them Friday and they are going to be in the store on Saturday.”

“I could watch them you know.”

“I know, but this way you can visit across the street one day and come in to the deli and maybe get them in the afternoon on Saturday when they get sick of the store.  This keeps up the charade of you just being my landlady and nothing more.”

“Okay, but someday they are all mine.”

“That is what I’m working for.  Now I have to prepare dinner for my ex.  I’m putting a roast in the oven.  You know it is going to be close to nine tonight before I see you.”

“And I’m all a-twitter about it.  Look at my hands shake.”

“You’re not alone.  Me too.”

***************

I put the girls in the car and went to pick up their mother. There was a tall, gangling youth mowing the lawn as we pulled up.  “That’s Mark.  He is kind of nice to us.”

“I thought you said he was mean?”

“Not really, but he calls us “little squirts” all the time and knows we don’t like it. Other than that he is good to us.”

“It sounds like he likes you and shows it by teasing.  Go say hi to him.”  Lindsey and Marie ran over and the boy stopped the mower and gave them a hug.  The girls were all smiles and shyly led him over to where I was standing waiting for Jean.

“Hi Mark, I’m the girls’ dad, Milo Burns.  Do you miss them?”

“Actually I do.  They are kind of fun to have around.  It is just that the house is so crowded when they are here, but yes, I do miss the little squirts.”

“Are you working this summer?  I see you mowing the lawn.  It looks nice.”

“I couldn’t find a steady job, so all I have is three lawns to mow.  I just got my license and wanted to save up for a car.  I’ll have to wait until next year now I guess.”

“I could give you some work part time.  I’m a handyman so you would be a handyman’s handyman.  Mostly fetch and carry and maybe mow lawns and stuff like that.”

“I’d love to have something to do.  When?”

“I’ll pick you up Friday morning about eleven here in front of the house.  I have a job for that afternoon and all day Saturday.  Pay is nine dollars an hour, but I have to take taxes.  Would that be satisfactory?  If it works out, I may have other things I can use you for.”

“That would be great Mr. Burns.”  He was grinning from ear to ear. 

Jean came out with an overnight bag and the girls ran to her shouting, “Hi, Mommy.”

She got in the car.  “I see you met Mark.  Why was he looking so happy?”

“I just hired him to work for me for a few hours.  He said he needed to save up to buy a car.”

“Milo, why did you do that?  You don’t know anything about him.”

“The girls said he was kind of nice.  That’s enough recommendation for me.”

“You never change do you Milo.  You trust everyone and it always comes out right.”

“Not always, Jean.  Not always.”

Jean was silent and then said, “I guess I deserved that.”
————————————

We pulled around back of my apartment and Lilly Trevor was already there.  She rose from a chair to meet us as we got out of the car.  She was gorgeous! She was in a little black cocktail number. “Hi Lindsey and Marie.  Hello Milo, nice to see you again.  I’m glad you could make time for me this evening.  I have a date later, and I appreciate you squeezing me in.”

“Jean, this is Lilly Trevor.  She works for the newspaper.  Lilly, this is my ex-wife, Jean Burgess.  She is the mother of Lindsey and Marie.”  Two strikingly beautiful women were appraising each other.  Jean, of course, had dressed up to tease me and I wondered if Ashley hadn’t told Lilly she was going to meet my ex-wife. 

“Excuse me ladies, I have a roast in the oven and dinner to prepare.  Lilly you know where the bedrooms are if you want to do your thing with the camera.  Say, why don’t you stay for dinner if you have time and I’ll let Lindsey really give you a show immediately after.  I absolutely have to leave myself by a quarter to nine at the latest.”

“Why Milo, I’d like that.  I have to leave by eight.  I’m headed out for an interview over cocktails about that time.  I’ll stay, and thank you.”

I had the girls help me put dinner on the table.  Jean followed Lilly around as she took pictures of the bedrooms and some in the living room.  Both were in awe of the completed effect.  It was an interesting meal.  Two beautiful women that never in this world would tolerate each other and here they were sitting down to dinner together.

It broke open when Jean asked how Lilly knew me.  “I was here to look into a story and was walking from the other house beside Milo.  He acted like he didn’t want to be near me and I was acting like an ass.  I admit I was coming on to him just a little.  Halfway here he stopped and pointed out I was acting like a street walker and not like a newspaper woman. 

“It shocked me and I stepped back and the heel of my shoe snapped off.  I fell on what I had been acting like.  He could have left me on the ground, embarrassed, with no way except to hobble the rest of the way. 

“Instead he leaned down, took my good shoe and snapped that heel off and put the shoe back on my foot.  He gave me a hand up and we walked along just as if nothing embarrassing had occurred to me.  Milo is one of the most interesting personalities I have ever run into.  Anyone who can give away a million dollar treasure just because he can, earns my respect.  So Milo, what is new since I saw you last?”

“Not too much.  I’ve been making some new friends.  You must have seen the gazebo when you arrived.  That turned out well. Mrs. Winslip, Ashley, has been very nice by letting me do some work for other people instead of insisting that I work strictly for her as I originally agreed.  I’m reconnecting with the girls, so all-in-all I’m pretty satisfied with my life right now.”

“I shouldn’t ask, but is there any love interest between you and Mrs. Winslip?  She is a very nice person.  You two would make a nice couple.”

“I like Ashley a lot, but she is very well-to-do and I don’t have much.  That’s an obstacle.  Besides her husband was my best friend and like a brother to me.  That is a complication, along with her being pregnant and him dying.  She should go out and find a suitable mate from her own class to help her raise their child when it is born.”

Jean was bursting with questions.  “Ashley is pregnant?”

“Yes and Calvin never knew it.  Pretty sad, isn’t it?”

Lindsey spoke up as the girls never tired of talking about the treasure.  “Dad or somebody tell Mom how you gave away a million dollars.”

“I didn’t really give away a million dollars. I didn’t feel it was mine in the first place.  Lilly, you tell it.  That was the story you were here for the day we met.”

Lilly told it and then finished by saying that when her story came out in the Sunday supplement there was going to be a sidebar on how the paintings were found and a little about one Milo Burns, the one that found them.

Marie, who was my quiet one, looked very much like she wanted to say something.  “What is it Marie?”

“Can I tell how Lindsey and I worked and we each were paid some money and given something for when we get married?”

“Of course you can, sweetheart.  Go get them.”  I explained that when I worked out, it was always predicated on their being looked after.

“This Saturday, Lindsey and Marie are going to be helping out in the deli down the street.  These things they are getting were given to them by a Mrs. Brown while I was trimming hedges.  The girls helped her in the house and received ten dollars apiece.”

Marie came out carrying a fairly large box that was about all she wanted to lift and set it in front of her mother.  “It’s awful heavy, Mom.  Mrs. Brown said it could become a hairloom.”

“That’s heirloom, Marie.”  Jean opened the box to twelve napkins and one tablecloth big enough for a table that would seat twelve people.  It was made of Irish linen.  Even Lilly was envious.

Lindsey was standing there with a wooden box that had a handle.  She plunked that up on the table and Jean opened it to show a twelve place setting of silver plate along with several serving pieces.  Jean exclaimed, “I never had anything this fine in my whole life. Milo where do you find these people to work for that give away things like this?”

I laughed.  “They find me.  I was walking down to the deli for sandwiches for us.  Mrs. Brown beckoned to one of the girls and it ended with me doing work for her.  She paid me very well and it looks like she did Lindsey and Marie too.  I had them hand deliver a thank you note.  Ashley helped them write it as she knows more about things like that.  How to word it I mean.”

“Milo, that thank you note from the girls will be a treasure to Mrs. Brown.  She will be as impressed with that as you are with the gifts.  That shows class and that is important.  I’m impressed that you made them do it.”

“Sometimes Lilly, I’m more than a rude handyman.  It was obnoxious of me to talk to you like that the first time we met.”

“Maybe, but I deserved every bit of what you said.”

“Okay, enough girls.  Lindsey you get ready to show your Mom and Lilly the living room.  Marie, you pull the shades.  Lilly and Jean, I hate to ask you but would you both go in and lie on the living room floor.  I don’t think it will harm your dress just for the few minutes you will be there.”

We went in and I positioned the women where I wanted them.  Marie turned out the lights and it was dark.  Lindsey turned up the rheostat so the blades of the fan just barely moved and then turned the outer lights on very dim.  This was at first and then increased the lights and the fan so that it seemed that stars were appearing in the heavens.
 
“Lilly, this is what I wanted you to see when you first saw this room.  And Jean, I wanted you to see it too.  I worked hard to get it completed last night so I could show it to you tonight before I left.  Ashley made the stars that are scattered about the ceiling and did most of the moons in the corners.  I’m thinking she was pretty depressed from losing Calvin and all and then having to deal with a fatherless child coming.  I guess you could call this therapy for her.”

Suddenly Lindsey switched into kaleidoscope mode and I had to tell her to stop, but how the two girls laughed.

I helped Jean up to her feet and Lilly laughed when I pulled her up.  “This is the second time I’ve been on my butt and you’ve given me a hand up.  You’re going to have to watch that, buster.”

Lilly was going to help with the dishes, but Lindsey said that she and Marie promised me they would do them so their Mom wouldn’t have to. Lilly left after thanking me profusely for a fun dinner and show.

I had to leave in an hour.  Jean was watching me constantly.  Finally she said, “Milo you’ve changed.  I don’t know you anymore.  I was so bored with you when we were married.  I went and found excitement.  Now it seems like you are the one that has found the excitement I was looking for.  Even the girls’ lives seem exciting. Why?”

“Our life was pretty boring.  I worked for years doing the same old thing and never was really getting ahead.  All that time, though, my mind was active and I suppose it was a fantasy world I was in.  When you cut me loose, I was pretty down, but then I said to myself that this could be an opportunity to change.  So I did.  Now if I want to do good for somebody, I go ahead.  If I want to work hard, I know it is for my self and maybe I’m helping someone at the same time.

“It shouldn’t change much from now on. I’m slowly building up some clientele that give me work.  I have work lined up ahead of me all the time now and I have to hire help to keep up.  I hired your stepson Mark for a few hours.  Maybe he will work out and maybe not, but while he is with me, rest assured he will be treated fairly and maybe he will learn a little from me.” 

I then got around to what I really wanted to bring up.  “I would like you to consider letting Lindsey and Marie live with me.  They have asked me to ask you and I said I would.  I know the court said they should be with you and I guess they are right, but I miss them.  They have been here a week and I have been totally happy. If I had them with me, you still would be their mother and you would have full access to them at all times.”

“But they need a woman’s influence. You can’t give them that.”

“I think I can. Mrs. Hamlin, eighty-five and lonely with a full cookie jar and a wealth of information about people.  Mr. and Mrs. Brown, wealthy and class with the sense of the older values.  Kim and Will Grover, under thirty with two kids the girls’ age with another baby due in six weeks.  I’m doing their nursery over starting on Monday.

“Patrick and Linda love the girls as if they were their own.  By the way, Linda says hi and is looking forward to finding out what is happening in your life so she can gossip about you. Then there is Ashley.  She thinks a lot of the girls.  This is a nice community and I would like my kids to grow up here.  I think they would have a better childhood than you and I had when we were growing up, so would you at least think about it? 

“You and I are always going to be their parents and should consider what is best for them. After our divorce I planned to get the kids away from you somehow, someway.  Eventually I decided it wasn’t about me and how you treated me, but just about them.  I guess it boils down to your decision.  You have the court on your side and I know you love them, but damn it, I love them too.”

Jean didn’t answer and I didn’t expect her to.  “Hey, I have a long drive ahead of me and have to get going.  I’ll say goodnight to the girls and I should be home by nine in the morning.  My bed is pretty comfortable even if it is centuries old.”

Just as I was leaving Jean said, “Lilly said something strange to me.  She said you told her you were married at one time to a very beautiful woman.  Do you still consider me beautiful compared to her younger, more vibrant beauty?”

“Jean, I’ll always consider you beautiful.”

Chapter Seven

Ashley was sitting in her car in the parking lot waiting for me. I ignored her and went to the office to check in and get my key. I had dressed in khakis and a white shirt with a suit jacket over it.  I carried an overnight satchel. It had been packed and sitting in my bedroom when Jean had put hers in there and I suspected that she had opened it and looked.  All that was in it was a clean shirt, underwear and socks along with my shaving equipment.

When I opened the door to my motel room, Ashley was behind me and entered the same time I did. “Kiss me, Milo.” 

I did and then I kissed her again. “Hi sweet, God I’m exhausted.  I just entertained two women that were equally beautiful and could hate each other just because of that fact.  I want to thank you for the distraction of having Lilly there tonight.  I only had to spend less than an hour alone with Jean.”

“You invited Lilly to dinner didn’t you?  Oh God, now I am going to have to worry about her too?”

“Ashley, were you like this with Calvin?  Jealous, I mean?”

“Some maybe.  But he didn’t have a beautiful ex-wife hanging around and a beautiful reporter that thinks the sun rises and sets on your butt.”

“You know, you are going to have to learn to trust me.  Another thing, look at my situation.  I trusted someone I loved and she destroyed that trust.  So it is me that should be wary of trusting a woman.  Ashley, I’m placing my trust in you and hope that you aren’t going to hurt me.  Can’t you please do the same for me?”

“It is just that I’m so uncertain.  When I see you, I tingle all over. I want to rush up and kiss you.  I want it to be love, but what if it is just that I feel sexy.  The feelings I have for you are as deep as or deeper than those I had when I was near Calvin.  I don’t want to disappoint you either and I will be crushed if I can’t live up to your expectations.  Frankly, I’m a little fearful of all of this.”

“Don’t be.  I’m as uncertain as you.  Look, I need a shower.  Why don’t you get into bed and I will join you very soon.  We will take it slow.  I want to make love to you and I think you want me to.  We’ll get into bed and see what develops.  That will give me a chance to hold your body and just maybe you will give me your heart as well.  That is what I’m hoping for.”

It was an hour and a half later that we had each other’s body to our mutual satisfaction.  I dozed for a little while and then I was fully awake.  I asked very quietly, “Are you awake, sweet lover?” 

Ashley squirmed a little closer to me as we spooned together.  “Yes, wide awake.”

“Can I tell you all about tonight?  There is one new development you don’t know about yet.”

“What is that?”

“I hired a young man to work as my helper.  He will be a senior in high school this coming year.  He has his license and wants to buy a car.  All that he could find for work was mowing lawns.  I saw his work and it was very much up to my standard.  I also had two people give him a good recommendation.”

“Somehow, I think I’m going to be surprised when you tell me who it is. You’ve dragged it out so long.”

“You are right.  His name is Mark Burgess.  He is Jean’s stepson.  The two people that I took recommendations from are Lindsey and Marie. When they said their stepbrother was mean, it was just because he teased them a little.  I saw genuine affection going both ways.  So I hired him for Friday and Saturday and told him it was just part-time.  If it doesn’t work out I don’t have to use him anymore.”

“You always read people just right.  I anticipate you will be using him a lot. Are you going to be setting up a business with a name, books and the whole process?”

“I’d like to.  I really don’t think it will interfere with you and me and our original agreement. The makeover of your house is going to be an eye-opener in the neighborhood.  My work will be out in the open and it will generate even more work.  What I did on your front yard has brought me work.  If I become more established in your community and people see that they can trust me,” I paused, “you will see that you can trust me as well.”

“You’re serious about all of this aren’t you?”

“You know it, Ash Baby.”  She squirmed even closer if that was possible.

“So tell me about what you and Jean talked about.”

I told her what I had said to Jean about wanting the girls with me. When I quoted Jean’s observation that the girls wouldn’t have a woman’s influence, I repeated my reply word for word.  “All of this ended with my impression that Jean will at least consider my proposal to let them come to stay with me.  It could be that she wants to discuss it with James and I feel this would be a plus for me.”

“Why is that?”

“I think their house is crowded and he probably will lean toward his own kids, which is only natural.  He married a woman and I don’t think he thinks too much of the baggage she brought with her.  I don’t see Lindsey and Marie as baggage, but he might.”

Ashley agreed with me that I was right in thinking this. We slept after that, awakening in the morning, hating to think we would soon be apart and yet seeing each other close almost every day. And it was hard in never being sure when we could engineer another night like this. It would happen, we were both sure of that.  I held her body in my arms and knew for sure her heart was not very far out of reach.  Someday, I was confident it would be nestled next to mine. Again we came together before our stolen tryst ended.

We sat together now as two friends and ate our breakfast, never touching or indicating that there was love for each other in our hearts, hidden from the world around us.  Ashley was off to stay with one of her friends that worked in the prosecutor’s office with her.  Her friend was one of two staff members that helped prepare cases for her.

When I returned home to my apartment the girls ran to me for hugs and I kissed each one as they expressed how much they missed me.  I could tell that Jean was upset about something and I was going to be hit with it very soon. Curious, I wanted to get it over with.  “Lindsey and Marie, why don’t you go play in the gazebo for a few minutes and I will get your Mom packed up and ready.”

“Milo, how could you give away more than a million dollars that was rightfully yours?  Ashley gave everything to you and the girls said that she wanted you to keep the paintings.  What kind of a fool are you?”

“First of all, it isn’t any of your business, but I will explain.  Those paintings were purchased by her ancestors years and years ago.  They were her heritage even though she didn’t know about them.  I had very little claim to them and if I had kept them and the people here found out about it, I would have no future at all.  I balanced that against a pile of money.  To tell you the truth I never considered keeping them for one instant.”

“Well I would have kept them if she had given them to me. Think what I could have done with all of the money.”

“Like what?”

“I don’t know, but with that money, I could be somebody.”

“Jean you are somebody and I’m somebody too. I’m still somebody with or without that money the paintings would have brought.  When I look in the mirror, I see somebody and pretty much like the person I see looking back at me.”

“Damn it Milo, you always twist things around so you make sense.  Don’t you ever do anything that doesn’t make sense?”  She was thinking about what she said.  “I know what you’re thinking.  If you had any sense you wouldn’t have married me.”

“Not at all Jean, you gave me a lot in our marriage.  I had the love of a beautiful woman for several years and I gloried in that.  You gave me two fine children and I’ll always be thankful for that.  For awhile I wanted your new marriage to blow up in your face, but I don’t feel that way so much anymore because I know the girls would be the ones hurt. If I had begged and pleaded and promised you the world to come back to me, that would have shown poor sense. 

“I have thought about this some.  As far as you are concerned I think you were like an ice cream cone.  The first bite of a cone has the best taste.  I had that and I ate it down until it didn’t taste so good anymore. Then I let the rest melt away.  I still remember that first taste and the kids are the memory that lingers.”

“I don’t know if that was a compliment or not.  I’d like to think it was, but I never know with you.  You are pretty deep and I can’t always follow your analogies.”

On the way back to the Burgess’ house, Jean asked if I had a good time last night.  “Okay I guess.  I had several things to go over with someone about some things coming up later in the year.  Yes, I guess the meeting was satisfactory.”  Boy, if she only knew.
——————————

Mark knew I was bringing his stepmother home this morning and he was out in front waiting to say hi and make sure I was really going to hire him.  Before Jean was able to get out of the car, the front door opened and this provocatively dressed young girl, almost woman, came out.  “Oh damn, Becky is out to show herself off.  I’m not going to say what I think she is and she is just barely sixteen.”

“Have you talked to her?”

“Ha, as if she would listen to me.”  Jean exited the car and went into the house.  I got out and removed her bag from the back.  Lindsey went running into the house with it.

“Hi Mark, not working today?”

“Nope, all caught up.”

“Well if you aren’t doing anything think about this, I don’t have any work today either, but if you want to see what we are doing tomorrow, I have to order the material.  I have a meeting with an architect in a little bit on a different job to go over some plans.  Also before I bring you home, I can show you what we are going to be working on Monday.  There is no pay in it, but you might be interested.”

“Sure, I’d like to see what is going on.”

“Marie, run in and get Lindsey and tell your Mom thank you for staying with you.  Tell her Daddy appreciates it very much.”

The girls jabbered away at Mark all the way back.  When we reached Ralph Peterson’s house I sent the girls over to see Kim Grover to tell her that I thought I could start on her nursery on Monday next week. Also to ask if they could play there until I finished with Mr. Peterson.

“Mr. Peterson, this is Mark Burgess.  He is going to be helping me for awhile.  I thought he would like to see what we are doing.”

“Fine, I was wondering who was going to help you.  You are going to need more help than him though.  This is more than a man and boy can do alone.  Have you got a carpenter lined up?”

“No, not yet.  I’ll worry about that later and I’m sure I can find someone before we are ready to start.  Let’s see the plans.”  I turned to Mark, “I’m pretty new at this construction business.  I’m willing to learn and you might as well learn right along with me.  Mr. Peterson is the onsite boss and is going to tell us how to put this project together.”

“I’m going to work your tail off.  If my name is on this project, you bet it is going to be done right.  Okay, this is the material list, right down to the finish nails you are going to need.  What is going to take the longest time to get is the balustrade system of posts and rails.  The two curved sections will ultimately be the most expensive components. 

“The columns we can build up out of standard lumber that will be strong enough to hold the porch and roof.  I’ve indicated the window treatments and we can find standard ones most anywhere.  All in all it will take about a month before construction starts. 

“You’ve got all that old furniture and stuff in the garages.  Get rid of that.  The rough timbers you can order and hold at Home Depot.  The finish stuff should be stored where it is at hand and that would be right here on the premises.  You are lucky to have Miss Nelson, I mean Mrs. Winslip, financing this.  She said when the money was needed, it would be there. 

“I still have a few contacts and I will share with you, but you are the one that will be looking at the items you order for quality, etc.  So get on it and get started.  Of course you know you have to have permits and all that.  You write up the application and I will review it for accuracy.  A poorly written application has held up more than one job in my experience.”

Had I taken on a bigger job than I could handle with my inexperience?  Peterson could tell from the way I looked I was concerned. 

“Hey, everyone has to start somewhere.  This may be difficult and you will lose some sleep while thinking about it.  The job is doable, mostly because it is a simple construction job, so hang in there and work at it.  If you get into a bind, I’ll find someone to get you out of it.  There are still a few old friends of mine out there that would love to have a hand in this project of ours. It may be a simple job to me, but the end result is going to be mighty impressive.”

——————————

“What do you think, Mark?  Do you still want to work for me?”

“I do, I just hope I get to work on the house project before school starts.”

“Oh, I will see that you are involved. I don’t suppose you have a digital camera do you?  I want to start a visual record of the work I do and put it in a scrapbook for the girls.  Someday they may want to look back and see what their dad has done with his life.  Come on, we have to get those kids from Mrs. Grover.  I have to do a job there on Monday.”

“What are we going to be doing tomorrow?”

“I’ll show you presently.  A lot of these rich people may have little projects in mind and I try to accommodate them.  Have you ever done any painting?”

“Not much, although I helped a neighbor last summer.”

“That is about the way I started getting interested in this kind of work. When your step-mom divorced me, I was pretty broken up over it.  I had a business of my own, but had to give that up. So I started going to building supply places and just hanging around to kill time.  It made me aware of what different materials were used for different jobs.

“I was fortunate in meeting Mrs. Winslip in that she gave me paying work and I was able to have a place to live.  I worked seventy-seven hours the first week for her.  I don’t work quite so much now as I have to watch the kids this month, but they are worth every dollar I lose while I have them with me.  The courts say children should be with their mother and I basically agree, but god I miss them.”

“I can see that.”

I pulled up in front of the Grover house.  Lindsey and Marie came running from around back and shouted to Mark to come meet their friends.  I heard, as I headed to the front door, Marie tell someone that this was Mark, their big brother.  Somehow, that made me feel real good. 

The room Kim showed me that was to be converted was already a beautifully decorated room as were most of the rooms in the house.  It was their money and they could have it decorated as they wished. 

Kim wanted figured wallpaper with farm animals. It was a fairly long room so when she asked what I would propose for the ceiling, I suggested a series of circles done in the plaster. I could outline an animal in each of the circles down the center of the room.  I also suggested that as you entered the room, on the opposite wall, I could make a plaster likeness of a baby right in the wall.  When I asked how permanent she wanted it, she said make it forever. It would make a great conversation piece. 

When we got around to the color scheme, she had things she wanted that I didn’t feel confident in doing.  I suggested she use the same company that I had employed to do my apartment. 

“No, you hire them and put in your markup on top of their bill.  That way I will have to write only one check.” I warned her that although the bulk of the work would be done on Monday, Tuesday and part of Wednesday, it would be a week before the painters could do the ceiling because the plaster had to cure.  That was fine … the baby was still nestled in a safe place for another five weeks.

 As we drove away I said, “Okay Mark, talking to the lady was a billable hour.  Sometimes if you have a difficult customer, that won’t show up on their bill, so your overhead has to be high enough to absorb it.  Everyone advertises free estimates, but in one way or another, the customer pays.  Your father can explain it for he does the same with his clients.”

“I wish he had more clients so he would have more billable hours.  Sometimes he doesn’t make very much.”

“Maybe he needs to partner with another firm where each can work to their own strengths.”  Nothing further was said as we headed for the deli.  I swung by the Home Depot and told Mark this is where I was getting the materials for tomorrow’s job and then I showed Mark where we were going to dispose of the debris from the ramp. 

I bought subs for all of us and we went to the apartment to eat.  Mark had of course heard me make suggestions to Kim Grover about doing her ceiling.  He asked many questions as I showed him the ceilings here where I lived. “So while you are plastering, what will I be doing?”

“You will be helping.  This is a job that pretty much has to be hurried right along.  The living room here was too big for me to do alone, so I asked Mrs. Winslip to help.  We were both a mess when we finished, but we got the job done.  The two bedrooms I did by myself, but I sure could have used someone.  You’ll see when we do the Grovers.”

“Who is Mrs. Winslip? Jean has mentioned her several times.”

“She is my landlady, my boss, and the widow of a man that was my best friend.  I like to think she is becoming my friend too.”

“How old is she?  Is she pretty?”

“I think she is about twenty-eight.  She isn’t beautiful by some peoples’ standards, Jean’s for instance, but she is warm and friendly and a person you just want to be around.”

“Do you love her?”

“Mark that is too personal a question.  I’ve only known her a short time and really that would be our business and definitely not yours.”

“I know and I’m sorry.  I guess I read too many novels.”  Mark was flustered now and I knew he had asked without thinking.  “Would you forget I asked?  I am sorry!”

“Forget it.  Say, what happened to your mother?  No one has ever mentioned her.”

A look of sadness came over Mark’s face. “Mom is sick and Dad put her in an institution.  She is pretty good if she takes her medication. Sometimes the state lets her out and we see her, but then she thinks she is fine and stops taking her medicine.  She ends back in the institution. When I’m eighteen I’m planning on becoming her guardian and am going to make sure she does what she is supposed to.  She is really nice and all of us kids miss her.”

“How come your father divorced her?”

“Dad said he needed a woman all the time, not someone he just had to take care of and not someone that was in an institution part of the time.  I guess he is right in a way, but it hurts when it is your mother.”

“Where is your mother staying if she isn’t in an institution?”

“The state has what they call halfway houses.  One time they closed the one that Mom was in and didn’t tell us.  We found her out on the street wandering around.  That was about the last time Dad had anything to do with her.” I let the matter drop.  My estimation of James Burgess hadn’t been raised any during this conversation, that was for sure.

I had Mark sit down and we filled out the forms I needed to employ him.  While I did more paperwork I had the girls take Mark out to look at the gazebo.  I reflected on what Mark had told me about his mother.  No wonder the Burgess kids resented Jean.  I suppose they lived with their father because they had to. 

I bet I could work up more than a little dislike for the son-of-a-bitch.  He was married to a woman and when she got sick, the bastard dumped her.  More and more I wanted Lindsey and Marie with me.  I didn’t want them growing up near him.

———————————

The girls and their stepbrother were gone quite a while and I was wondering where they were.  Did I know this boy?  Should I be worried?  I went down the stairs and toward the gazebo.  I was almost there when the three of them came around from Ashley’s house.  They had been visiting Mrs. Hamlin, and to prove it they had saved me a cookie.  I decided it was time I took Mark home. 

When we got there, Jean invited me in for coffee.  I declined, but I did talk a minute with her, asking if Mark was a good driver in case he had to drive the girls somewhere while he was working with me.  She said he was good and she had ridden with him.  Before I left with the kids, she thanked me for letting her babysit Lindsey and Marie.  She said it was nice to be away from home where there wasn’t so much tension. I deduced that Jean’s wonderful lawyer husband wasn’t the easiest to live with … too, too bad.

I spent the morning making calls and ordering material for the house job. I finished the paperwork that Peterson needed to review and handed it to him when I went for Mark.  I would make application sometime this afternoon when Mark was deconstructing the deli ramp.  I picked Mark up and he was waiting just as he said he would be. I put him to work with a sledgehammer and wrecking bar while I went to make application.  Ralph said I was right on the money with the permit forms and to go for it. 

That done I helped Mark load what he had pulled apart and sent him to the dump with the first load.  This ramp may have looked ready to fall down, but it didn’t come apart that easy.  We struggled where it was bolted and attached to the cement posts. We got all but one of the nuts off.  On that one we broke the bolt itself and I sent Mark down to the hardware section at Home Depot to get a replacement for all of them because of the rust.

To end the day we put up a barrier and some police tape so no one would think there was a ramp there.  When we got back to the apartment, I handed Mark the keys and said I would meet him at Home Depot at seven in the morning.  “You mean you want me to take the truck home?”

“Yes. I was thinking if you didn’t have a date or anything you might want to go see your mother or something.”

“That’s going to put an extra twenty miles on the truck.”

“Your mother would like to see you wouldn’t she?”

“Yes.”

“Okay then, I’ll see you tomorrow morning.”

——————————––

I hadn’t seen Ashley for two days.  I missed her.  I was sitting in the living room thinking about her just before midnight, when the lights went on in the house across the lot.  I rang her number.  I got a tentative, “Hello.”

“I’m going to be in the gazebo in about five minutes.”

“Okay.”  Click.

There was no moon, but the stars were out, even though with the city lights, they weren’t too well defined.  In the gazebo it was night black.  “Milo?”

“Here, Ash Baby.”  She fell into my arms.

“God I miss you.  Hold me.”  We both wanted to let ourselves go, but knew this wasn’t the place for it.  We sat and cuddled and told each other what we had been doing since Wednesday night, our glorious night we had spent together.

“How is your new employee working out?”

“I think enough of him that I let him take the truck tonight so he could visit his mother. Any teenage kid that is looking forward to the day he comes of age so he can become the guardian of his sick mother deserves a little help from me. More and more I want my girls here with me.  Not so much away from Jean, but away from her husband.”

“I want them with you too.  What a nice family we will have if you get them to live with us.”

“You really mean that, don’t you?”

“Yes I do.”  We kissed and then Ashley asked what I was going to do with them tomorrow.

“Well I’m going to get you to feed them breakfast and then they are working in the deli until you come for them.”

“That’s going to be hard on them isn’t it?”

“I don’t think so.  They will be close to me and close to Mark.  They get along great with him.  I have heard them introduce him as their big brother, proud as punch.”  We kissed a couple of more times and then we left for our respective beds.

Mark was at Home Depot waiting when I pulled in with my car.  The first thing he said was, “I saw Mom last night.  I took Steve with me.  I think he misses Mom more than Becky and I do because he is younger.  He was only eleven when she started to get sick.  I told Jean where I was going and she thought that was nice.  Dad just grunted and didn’t say anything. I can’t understand him sometimes.”

“Becky didn’t go?”

“No, but she wished she had when I told her how happy it made Mom to see us.”

Ashley brought the girls into the deli at eight-thirty.  She was laughing and said they were mad at me for not waking them up so they could come in with me.  She promised she would return in the afternoon for them.  Karen the cashier, and Henry the owner, made much of the girls and put them to work filling the candy counter.  They were surprised when they refused a candy bar when offered.  “That’s all right, Dad will buy us one just like he used to when we helped him in the restaurant.”

“Your dad used to run a restaurant?”

“Yes, but he had to give it up when Mom left.”  Nothing more was said.  Too personal, especially with me within hearing.

Mark was doing just what I hired him for.  If I needed the saw, it was in my hand and as he became more familiar with what was needed, I didn’t even have to ask for a particular tool.  Ashley was there in the afternoon for the kids and watched Mark and I work. 

My estimate, time-wise, was pretty close, maybe a half hour longer than I had told Henry.  He was very pleased and wanted to pay when we finished the job. I said I would have to figure up the costs of the material, etc.  I’d bill him in a day or so and give it to him next week.  When Mark and I drove away, he was standing there pleased as could be with the job we had done.

“What do you think Mark?  Do you like this kind of work?”

“Yes and it makes me feel good that Henry liked it so much.”

“I don’t ever expect to get rich at this, but having money isn’t all there is to living.  I love working like this, one day here and another for someone else.  Of course it is Mrs. Winslip that is making this possible.  She hired me to do work for her, but doesn’t mind my working for others as long as I plan on finishing her work someday.”

“Maybe she wants to have you stay around.  If you finish her work she wouldn’t have any way to keep you here.”

“That thought crossed my mind.  I have done some things for her she appreciates.  Say, I’m not using the truck tomorrow.  You can have it to use again if you want.  We’ll stop at the house and I will pay you for yesterday and today.  I’m working for Mrs. Winslip tomorrow.  I’ll meet you at Home Depot to pick up the stuff for the Grover project early on Monday.”

“You’re being awful good to me.  Why?”

“Well my kids like you and you treat them just as if they were your sisters.  That means a lot. They have had it pretty rough in the last few months without me being able to see them.  I know you have helped them when they missed me so much.  This is my way of thanking you.  Not only that, you are a good worker and want to learn how to do different things.  Not one minute have you goofed off and again, thank you.”  Mark was all smiles at my approbation.

When I came to pay him, he had almost one hundred and twenty-five dollars coming after taxes.  “Can you keep a hundred for me and give me the twenty-five dollars in cash?  That will be more than enough for the weekend.  I don’t have a way to cash a check or keep much money except in my wallet.”

“Sure, I can do that.  I’ll just set up a separate account that you can draw on if you wish until you get to the bank.”

We had dinner that night at Ashley’s.  She, with the help of my two young girls, had prepared a delicious meal. Later, while the girls were watching television, she questioned, “I see your truck left with your hired man again. Do you think that is wise?”

“It is matter of trust.  Ashley, over the years I had all sorts of people I hired when I was running the restaurant.  Some I trusted and some I didn’t.  Usually it didn’t take long for me to decide which ones I did and which I didn’t, and I usually was correct in my assumptions.  There is only one person in my life that I trusted who failed me.  Thinking back on it, the signs were there that my trust was being misplaced.”

“Okay, I just wondered if there was something connected to Jean that was influencing you.”

“No.  Mark has gained my trust on his own.  Any kid that can have two little girls come into his home that are lost and lonely and befriend them, will have my trust.  The boy is trying very hard to do a credible job in his work too.  He has accomplished that.  Honest, I can’t think of one thing I have directed him to do that he hasn’t done to my satisfaction.  Bottom line, I trust him.”

“But you don’t know, he may have taken the truck and gone out and picked up some girls and some beer and made a night of it.”

“He did pick up someone last night.  He took his fourteen-year-old brother and went to visit his lonely mother whom his father has discarded. He made her very happy.”

Ashley broke into smiles, “I guess you are right, Milo.  I watched you two this afternoon.  I could see he was trying to anticipate what your next move was so he could have the correct tool or material ready for you.  He wasn’t sucking up either.  I guess your trust will bear fruit over time.”

“Let’s change the subject.  Lindsey is going to have a birthday next Saturday.  I’d like to surprise her.  Last year I was home with Jean.  This year we aren’t together, but I would like to invite her to be present at the birthday party.  Would that upset you?”

“No definitely not.  This is for Lindsey.  Her mother should be here.  You should invite Mark and his sister and brother too.  What are you giving her for a present?”

“I don’t know.  Maybe I will ask someone to take her shopping.  That reminds me, I’m working on your house tomorrow.”

“You can’t, Milo.  You work all the time.”

“Yes I can. I haven’t worked for you at all this week.”

“Doesn’t matter.  I only have one more week of vacation.  You can work all you want the week after I go back to work.  What were you going to do anyway?”

“I thought I would start painting the front porch here on the big house.”

“Just the morning then. We need to do something together with the girls in the afternoon.”

“Geeze, you’re sounding more and more like a wife everyday.”

Ashley looked in on the girls and found both sleeping, tired from the busy day at the deli.  “Milo, I have something that has come loose in my bedroom.  Could you take a look at it and see if it needs adjusting?”  I looked and it did require immediate attention.  I made adjustments and promised to make more when needed. 

It was still light when I carried Marie in one arm and guided a sleepy Lindsey with the other, home to bed.  As I entered my building I looked at the stuff still in the garage and thought, crap, I have to get rid of all of this soon.

After I put the girls to bed, I called Linda and Patrick.  “Linda, you know about antiques and old stuff.  You saw what I have in my garage.  How would you like to sell the stuff for me?”

“You got to be shitting me.  That’s good stuff and you want to get rid of it?  I can do it, but once it’s gone it’ll cost you a mint to replace it.”

“I won’t want to replace it.  I would like to make a few bucks on it.  I’ve decided to set up a little business and I need the space.  I’m going to have a truckload of stuff coming in the week after next.  Can you help me?”

“What’s in it for me?”

“What do you want?”

“You know what I want, but Pat would object to you giving me that so how about I get ten percent of what I sell the stuff for?”

“No.”

“What do you mean no?”

“You get twenty percent, the use of my little truck and a young man to help move stuff.  All except on Monday, I need both for myself.”

“You got a deal.  Are you going to be around in the morning so I can look at it?”

“I am in the morning, not in the afternoon.  I’ll be over at the big house working so just come over and get the key from me.”

Linda was at my door before I had the girls fed.  She had notepads and books to look up the value of the items she remembered seeing when she was here before.  The two girls were all over her and would stay with her until she left.  She came over to the big house and talked to me, saying she needed to see a viable statement from Ashley giving title of ownership to me.  Ashley sat at her desk and produced one, with Linda watching her write it.

I was busy and only glanced at it, tucking it away in my wallet.  Then Linda wanted authorization to sell the items with the terms that I had stipulated.  Ashley typed up the agreement and I signed it giving it to Linda. 

“I know who I can place most of this with.  Those items he wants, he will buy outright and the more valuable items he may want to place on consignment.  You will have to wait until the items are sold, but I will keep on his ass and it shouldn’t be too long before you get your money.”

“The main thing is to empty out the garage.”

“Maybe, but a few thousand won’t hurt.  You got some landlady there, Milo.  One in a million, I’d say.”  Linda had a smirk on her face when she left.  Something must have been said while Ashley and Linda were doing the paperwork that Linda needed.  I’m sure it had something to do with me and I’m sure eventually I would find out what it was.

Ashley took us out to lunch at a club she belonged to.  I guess she didn’t go there often for she had to show her membership card to get in.  After a short wait and an apology for keeping us waiting we were seated and served.  I was proud of the way my girls behaved. Being a former restaurant owner, I had seen the best and the worst of diners of all ages.  My two were taught how to behave and always received good marks from me.

Later, I asked what everyone would like to do.  Marie wanted to go to camp, but too far, too late, and not enough time.  Ashley wanted to go down by the river and watch the boats.  Lindsey wanted to go to the zoo.  This was another, too far.  “How about going to a petting farm to see the little animals and you can even touch them?”

“Goody!” 

Ashley had as much fun as the little ones.  She cuddled one rabbit all of the time we were there.

I asked the attendant if they had any ponies that the girls could ride.  They didn’t but he gave me the name of a place that did have them. They would be closing before we could reach there.  We wound up the day at my place eating waffles and sausage.  Later we went in and watched the stars pop out on the ceiling. I knew Lindsey was really tired for she let me run the lights and fan.

Ashley said she would put the children to bed.  I went in to hug and kiss the girls goodnight.  “Daddy, would it be all right if we kissed and hugged Ashley?  Marie and I really love her a lot.”

“Of course, sweetheart, I think she would like that. I’ll send her back in to say goodnight again.”

I lay on the couch with Ashley cuddled next to me.  I guess we both dropped off, for when I woke up she was still in my arms and it was after midnight.  “Ash Baby, it is getting late.”

“I know.  I haven’t slept.  I was just lying here thinking how wonderful this was being here with you.”

“You want to get married sooner than we planned in December?”

“I do, but I don’t want Calvin’s child to be lost from the heritage of his father.”

“We could give the baby Calvin’s name.  If a boy, we could name him Calvin Cody Winslip Burns or if a girl, she could be Kallen Cody Winslip Burns.”  I waited for Ashley’s reaction.

“You given this some thought too, haven’t you?”

“How could I help it?  I think if Calvin could tell us, he would be okay with our plans to marry and give his child his name.”

“Okay, let’s move our nuptials up. It is going to create a lot of gossip, but I don’t care.”

“I know.  People are going to say I seduced you into bed and made a baby as soon as your husband was killed.  And people are going to say I seduced you so I could get your money.  You are the one that could be hurt by all of this.  I hate the thought of that.  I love you and don’t ever want to see you hurt.”

“Nothing in this world could hurt me again like I was hurting the day we met.  Calvin aside, you are my rock and you are making me very happy.  I feel I am stronger and ready to face anything as long as you are here with me.”

“I plan on being around for a long, long time.”

“Good, how about the six-month anniversary of the baby’s conception?  That would be the fifteenth of September.”

“How is this going to affect your work?”

“I plan on resigning just as soon as I finish up a couple of cases on the docket.  I won’t have to spend all of my time at work either, only when something pertains to those two cases.”

“You know, I want to support you on what I make.  I really want to get this little handyman business going.”

“I can live with that if you let me help you get it up and running.  The only thing that should be kept separate is this property and the expenses related to it.  Otherwise I think I can live on what you make.  Our agreement still holds then, if you work on this place or the big house, I pay.”

“Then I pay rent too, the same as always.”

“That’s foolish, Milo, but I’ll put it on the books that you owe me.  I want you to use the money for the business.  That way you will be in the black that much sooner.  Enough talk of business, I’m going up to the house.  You go to sleep.  I think you have a job in the morning.”

Chapter Eight

Mark was there in the morning as requested.  I didn’t see Ashley to speak to, but she was coming across the lot to be with the girls when they woke up.  As we were loading up the material for the Grover’s nursery, I could tell that Mark wanted to say something.  He realized that we were going to be very busy so nothing was said until lunch time.

He burst out with, “I worked the truck for five hours yesterday after I got my lawns done.”

“Good, I’m glad you had it with you.”

“I charged money for it.”

“Good, you should.  Why don’t you tell me about it?”

“This man who lives a few houses down was moving to a new house.  He wanted me and my brother to help him and needed the truck.  When we finished he offered me two hundred dollars for what we did.  I said that was too much.  I thought maybe seven dollars an hour for the truck and you charge fifteen dollars an hour for a helper and I didn’t know how much you would get for Steve, so I charged ten dollars for him.  I have a check for one hundred sixty-five dollars for you to pay us with.”

“Why didn’t you just keep the money?  I never would have found out.”

“Would you have if you had been in my place?”

“No.”

“I wouldn’t either. You can put my wages in my account, but maybe you could give me some money to give to Steve.  I told him I thought you might pay him seven dollars an hour.”

“We’ll put Steve on the payroll then.  Ashley is going to keep my books so we will talk to her before you go home tonight.  She’ll have the money for him.”

“One other thing, my Mom showed me how to do calligraphy before she went away.  Can I letter the truck with your name on the door?”

“Sure, that would be good advertising. Go ahead, I wish I had thought of it.”  Mark was all smiles the rest of the day.

After work, Ashley listened to Mark’s explanation of where the check made out to me came from.  She treated Mark the same as she would any adult, saying when finished that it was a good piece of work.  “There is going to be a birthday party for Lindsey on Saturday.  Would you invite your family for me?  I will take a minute to talk with Steve when you come and we can fill out a couple of forms for him the same as Milo did for you.”

“Uh, what happens if Becky comes and is wearing something that isn’t appropriate?  She is apt to.  She does it to us all the time.  I’m ashamed to call her my sister sometimes.”

“Milo will be watching for her.  He will think of something.”  Turning to me, she said, “Won’t you?”

“I guess I will have to.  Don’t worry about it Mark.  Just plan on coming and having a good time with your stepsisters.  Oh, and Mark, tomorrow when you come, come here to the garage.  A lady is going to be moving stuff out of here so we can have room for the house project.  You will be using the truck and helping her all day.  She will talk your ear off and you will hear some swear words you have never heard before.  She doesn’t mean anything by them, that’s the way she is. She was my neighbor when I lived with Jean and still is a very good friend.”

“Okay, sounds like a plan.  What are you doing now that the Grover’s ceiling is done?”

“I still have the plaster baby image to create and Kim wants the walls papered.  She also wants the floors sanded.  I am not going to attempt the floors myself. I’m afraid I will mess it up, but maybe later we will try it.  Next week when the color and glitter goes on the ceiling, you and I are going to watch the painters.  We might as well add that to one of the services we can do.”

As soon as Mark left, Ashley stated, “I can see why you trust him. He made eighty dollars for the business and you didn’t even know you had a job going.”

“Yes, well, put that money towards an account for bonuses at the end of the year.”

The next morning I didn’t see Mark.  I went over to the garage at noon to see how things were progressing.  Linda had gone home, but would be back.  There was quite a hole in one section of the garages. 

Mark said that Linda was pretty excited about an antique washing machine.  It was a Maytag square tub that had a gasoline motor to run it.  Another find were some oak fold-down book cases.  There were twelve sections and three tops and three bases. She said they were stackable and you could have two, three or basically any of several combinations.

I looked at the lettering on the truck.  Only the driver’s door was finished.  Mark had lettered, Milo Burns Handyman Services.  Under that he had my phone number.  Then there was a small drawing off to one side.  I laughed when I saw it.  It showed a man standing in a campfire.  Across the little person’s chest he had lettered, Milo.  I got the connection immediately, “Milo Burns.” 

When Ashley looked at it, she said, “Milo that will make a perfect logo for your company. We might even get your crew tee shirts to wear.  It will be good advertising.”

I laughed when she said, “my crew”.  The crew she was talking about were two girls, one six and the other days away from being eight, one pregnant widow, one seventy-five-year old retired architect and two brothers, one seventeen and one fourteen. When asked why I was laughing so hard and I explained, she went into gales of laughter too.  She said she would still order them.

I called Jean to find out what she was giving Lindsey for her birthday.  I took it she wasn’t going to get too much as Jean said money was tight at the Burgess residence.  She made me promise that I wouldn’t buy a whole lot either so that she wouldn’t be shown up.  “I may hire a pony for her to ride on her birthday.  She loves animals.”  Jean was okay with that.

I made the comment that Mark was doing a good job for me which made Jean a little jealous.  I said I hadn’t really met Steven or Becky yet, although I had seen Becky when I picked up Mark.  “She acts like a slut and won’t listen to me at all.  I’m afraid she is headed for trouble.  Do you know she wears the same size clothes that I do, except she is bigger in the bust than I am?  Milo do you have to invite her to Lindsey’s party?  She will show up half naked if you do.  I don’t want her there.”

“Jean, I have to. She is Lindsey’s stepsister.  I’ve invited Mark and asked him to bring Steve.  I can’t not invite her.”

“I suppose you’re right, but she’ll make a scene.  She just has to flaunt herself and I have no control over her at all.”

Wednesday, when I was finishing the Grover’s nursery, I had a talk with Kim.  Kim, her kids and Will were invited.  Patrick and Linda and family were too. I made arrangements for Henry, owner of the deli, to cater the cake, ice cream and soda pop and invited any of his workers that wanted to drop in to wish Lindsey a happy birthday.  Mrs. Hamlin, the Browns and Peterson were invited too.  I requested no gifts, please. 

I had no idea what Ashley had planned.  She was excited about having a pony for Lindsey to ride.  She suggested I get another pony for the other kids that were going to be there.  She said she would take care of it, if I was busy.  One last detail was to tell Mark that if his mother was up to it, she might like to meet his stepsisters.  This might upset Jean, but she would have to deal with it the best she could. 

Thursday and Friday I worked on the big house for Ashley.  I went over and had tea and cookies with Mrs. Hamlin while Ashley had the two girls out shopping.  There was a twinkle in her eye when she asked, “How are you and Ashley getting along?  It must be difficult with two youngsters to find time to be alone together.”

“Why do you think Ashley and I need to be alone together?”

“Because she loves you, that’s why.  Don’t tell me you don’t love her.”

“I love her all right and I just hope I am the right person for her.  What is the neighborhood going to say when they find out we are getting married?”

“You leave the neighborhood to me.  You just make that woman happy.  Some here in the neighborhood have taken you for their own.  I have and I still count around here.”  I guess Mrs. Hamlin had become Ashley’s confidant. “How would you like to have the girls come over and stay with me tonight?  I’m sure you can find some way to occupy yourself.”

Saturday was a beautiful day for a birthday party for Lindsey, me too for that matter.  I had sent Ashley home at four-thirty, just as the day was dawning.  Ashley kept saying it was going to be a busy day.  At eight I went by the big house and across the street to Mrs. Hamlin’s to see the birthday girl as agreed.  Mrs. Hamlin had prepared breakfast for me.  Ashley joined us before we were finished and had coffee.  I surreptitiously held Ashley’s hand.  Mrs. Hamlin smiled when she saw this.

“Lindsey, your mom is coming over to wish you a happy birthday this afternoon.” 

“Goody, I miss her.  I knew she wouldn’t forget my birthday.  Is her husband coming?”

“I don’t think so.  Mark and Steve are coming and maybe Becky.”  She was all smiles when I mentioned Mark, seemed okay with Steve and made a face when I said Becky.  I knew before this how she felt about her stepsister. Today though, I didn’t chide her or tell her she had to be nice.

Mark and Steve were the first to arrive.  They had their mother Shannon with them.  She was a pleasant-faced woman, somewhere between forty and forty-five, I judged. At least ten years older than the new Mrs. James Burgess.  Shy, I invited her to spend time in the apartment where she could watch the kids ride the ponies. 

These came while Lindsey and Marie were putting on the pretty dresses they wanted to wear.  I knocked on the bedroom door.  “Lindsey, I think you better put your dungarees back on.  Come look out the window and you will see why.”  It only took a few minutes before my two girls were watching the ponies come down the ramp from the horse transport.

I was some surprised myself.  I had ordered one pony and Ashley had overruled me and said she would get one more.  Instead there were four ponies and one docile mare for the older kids to ride.  Almost immediately Linda and Patrick’s two were there and then Will and Kim’s. 

I was left alone with Shannon Burgess and introduced myself more formally.  “I know all about you.  Mark has told me you have given him work for the summer.  Steve has proudly said that he is on your payroll too.  Believe it or not you have shown more interest in them than James ever did.  I appreciate it.  You know I’m medicated all the time, don’t you?”

“Yes, Mark said you needed to be.”

“I really want to thank you for inviting me.  I don’t see my children enough anymore.  Becky will probably be here although she doesn’t know I am.  She doesn’t come to see me as much as the boys.  Mark said it would be better if she didn’t come, but I would love to see her.”

“He told me.  I think your Becky is going through a phase. She and Jean don’t get along although Jean has tried hard enough.  You know my ex-wife will be here.  Is that going to upset you?”

“No, I need to meet her sometime. I wish I could warn her about James.  I almost feel sorry for her.  Well, I don’t want to say anymore about that, but if she loves him, she is in for some heartbreak.  Now go down and join your party.  I’ll just sit here and watch from the window.”

I came up to the ponies just as Lindsey was dismounting.  She came over and gave me a hug, telling me this was the best birthday ever.  “Thank Ashley.  She made it possible for everyone to have a ride without having to wait forever.”  Lindsey went running away to do as bidden. 

I saw Jean arrive.  Linda made a bee-line to her to fill her in on what was going on. Jean just waved at me and smiled.  I eased over toward the garage.  I expected Becky any minute.  Mark had whispered that she was getting a ride from one of her many boyfriends.

I was right, and she soon came around the corner of the building.  She was alone and I could almost read her mind.  She wanted to make a statement, but the people, family included, would not have approved of her choice of apparel.  She would have made a statement all right.  The outfit she had on was more than revealing and it practically showed everything.  She turned to retreat.

I spoke to her as she turned away.  “Becky Burgess, Mark said you were coming to your stepsister’s party.  I’m glad you could make it.  Come, I’ll introduce you to everyone.”

She was in a spot.  Her transportation had left and although brave, she was having second thoughts. “I don’t think I am dressed right for this party.  I thought it would be just a few people.”

“What is it, your dress?”  Red-faced, she nodded. “I tell you what.  Why don’t you sell me what you have on and I’ll furnish a different dress for you to wear.  It will be much more appropriate.”

“But I like this dress, just not for here. I paid a lot of money for it.”

“I’ll double what you paid for this one.  You have about a half minute to make up your mind.”

“Do I get to see the other dress first?”

“No you don’t, but you can trust me that it will be more appropriate than the one you have on.”

“Okay, I’ll do it.  Mark says you are a pretty good guy.  You owe me thirty-seven dollars and a new dress.” So she had paid eighteen-fifty.  It would have been a lot for a girl in her circumstances.

I gave her the money.  “The new dress is upstairs in my apartment.  There is a lady up there who will help you get changed.  You can leave the dress you have on in the rose bedroom after you change.”

Uncertain about what was going on, with trepidation Becky went up the stairs.  I went back to watch my kids on their rented ponies.  I did keep my eye on the doorway.  Twenty minutes later, Shannon and Becky were standing there.  “Mark, why don’t you go escort your mother and sister and introduce them to some of these people?”  He looked to where I indicated, seeing his mother, but not recognizing his sister at first.

He was all smiles when he came back to us.  He first introduced the original Mrs. Burgess to the new Mrs. Burgess.  Surprised, I couldn’t see any tension between the two.  Jean addressed Becky, “Becky you are a beautiful young woman.  Where on earth did you get that exquisite dress?”

Becky started to say “Your ex”, but instead said, “Mr. Burns and I made a deal for one I had on when I arrived.  My Mom helped me change.  She gave me the necklace she had on to wear with it.  Thank you for saying I am beautiful.”  I think she was seeing Jean, the hated stepmother in a new light.

Ashley, who had been watching all of this, was smiling.  She came over to me.  “I wondered how you were going to deal with Becky.  What did she have on when she came and where did the dress she has on now come from?”

“She had on a slutty little number, just as we suspected she would.  The dress she has on belonged to Kim Grover.  I found out what size Becky wore from Jean and Kim had this one she said she never could wear again. I bought it from her for Becky.”

Ashley laughed and whispered,   “Milo Burns, I can see where life’s going to be really interesting living with you.  Now I have a surprise for you.  There are two sawhorses in the garage next to the jeep.  Would you put one in front of the big house and one on the sidewalk by your apartment?  Take Steve with you.”

The signs attached to the sawhorses said, “Free pony rides for kids.”  It wasn’t long before the lot filled up with several more kids from the neighborhood, some with curious parents. The next time I saw Marie and Lindsey, they had on a tee shirt over their tops.  It was black and across the back it had the advertising and logo that Ashley had copied from my truck door. 

Mark and then Steve and then Kim’s two kids and then Linda’s two were sporting them and then it seemed as if all of the kids had one on.  There was a sea of them.  God love Ashley!

Just then Henry’s catering truck pulled in with the cake, ice cream and pop.  Lindsey was served first and then came over and sat on the ground next to me.  “Daddy this is the best birthday ever.  I have a million new friends and Becky even gave me a hug when she said happy birthday.  She is pretty isn’t she?  She said it was all because of you.  I just love you to pieces.”

Becky left her mother and Jean talking together and made her way over to me.  “Mr. Burns, I was shocked when I went upstairs and found my mother there.  I never wanted her to see me in the dress I had on.  Then when I opened up the box and found this dress, I knew she was going to forget how I looked.  I want to thank you again and again.  I know why Mark likes you so much and for once he acted proud to walk beside me.  He usually wants to stay as far away from me as possible.”

“Becky, you’ll do fine. Actually that dress isn’t anymore appropriate than the other for this type of gathering, but it doesn’t label you like the other one did.  If you are ever in doubt about what to wear, ask Jean.  She is a beautiful woman and instinctively knows these things.  Let her be your guide, you can’t go wrong.”

“I should think you would hate her after she left you for my father.”

“I hate what she did to me, but you must remember she is the mother of my two daughters.  How can I hate their mother?  If I did, that would hurt them and I can’t ever do that.”

Becky looked at me, puzzled a little.  “Jean said you were weird sometimes, but I think it is a nice kind of weird.  Can I call you Milo, just like my two brothers do?”

“Sure, I’d like that.”

I was a very happy man sitting in a chair watching the kids having fun.  It was almost time for the ponies to leave.  Even I could tell they were getting tired.  Suddenly, someone came up behind me and covered my eyes. 

“You want me to guess who this is, right?”  I got a grunt of assent.  “Well, let me think, it has to be a woman.  It also has to be someone that I know by sight very well.  It has to be someone that hasn’t been here yet today, but is familiar with the place.  I can’t tell by sight, because I can’t see you and I can’t tell by sound, because I can’t hear you.  The only thing left is smell.  I think it is Lilly Trevor behind me.  I recognize the scent you wear.”

I got the tinkling laugh that was Lilly.  After greeting her I asked her to take a picture of the kids in the black tee shirts standing around the idled ponies. She did this and then took one of the kids turned so you could see my logo written on the backs. 

Having a minute alone with me, she asked about the lovely young woman dressed in the beautiful tan sheath.  I explained how and why she was dressed that way.  “In other words, she was Milo’d just the same as I was.  Oh, by the way, the supplement will be out tomorrow in the Sunday paper.  The story is about you giving away some valuable paintings.  You will be surprised at what the final appraisal for them is.”

“How much?”

“Oh, I’m not telling.  Read it in the paper tomorrow.”  Again the laugh and she was gone.  The girls got a hug, ditto, Ashley.  Jean came in for a friendly greeting before Becky was asked to relate my little episode with her.  Again the expression that she had been “Milo’d” was repeated. 

Some of the neighbors questioned what she meant and she related what had happened to her on our first meeting.  She went on to say, “Believe me, it is an honor to be singled out to be “Milo’d.”  She worked the crowd telling everyone to read the supplement in the Sunday paper.  She came by me saying she had to leave and we all watched as this beautiful creature hurried away.

When the ponies left the neighbors slowly came by Lindsey to wish her happy birthday.  Many knew Ashley by sight, but had never met her personally.  They thanked her as I had indicated it was she that had supplied the ponies and the location.  I disclaimed any knowledge of the tee shirts and said it was a surprise to me.  Whether believed or not didn’t matter.

Jean came to me as she was leaving.  “Would it be okay to have the girls with me tonight?”

“Of course, I was going to suggest it.  You might consider taking them out for pizza.  Do you need any money?”

“No, that is taken care of.  Look, I don’t really understand what happened here today.  I met my husband’s ex-wife and actually like her.  My stepdaughter turned from being a possible juvenile delinquent to a semi-refined young lady and all of my stepchildren are getting along with each other and with me. 

“As Lilly would say, I think I have been ‘Milo’d.’  Anyway, thank you for a wonderful day.  The girls are going to be here one more week.  Let’s sit down before they come back to me and reach some kind of agreement where we can share them with some degree of fairness.”  The hug I received was especially warm.

I spent the night at the big house in Ashley’s arms.  “Milo, I have regained my zest for life.  Actually, I have more zest now than I had with Calvin.  I loved Calvin, but he was nowhere near as outgoing as you are.  My life now is opening up. 

“With Calvin, he and I were as one, which meant we were enough for each other and self-contained.  If he had lived we probably would have been ecstatically happy together, living and excluding all around us.  We would have lived on this street not knowing many more people than I did growing up.

“With you, I’m going to be the center of the community.  I just feel it.  It is like either scenario would be wonderful.  I can’t have one, so I’m embracing the other with open arms.  Both different, but both lives would make me happy.  I’m not saying this well.  Don’t be mad if sometimes I travel back in my mind to when I was with Calvin.  Just know that I’m with you now and so happy you are by my side.”

“I think you just said you love me and that you loved Calvin.  I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

Over coffee in the morning, we both heard the Sunday paper hit the porch.  I went to retrieve it and Ashley grabbed it when I came in.  She spread it out on the table and together we opened it to the supplement.  The story was in the centerfold.  Eight columns of text and several pictures.  One of the columns was a sidebar split halfway between Ashley and myself with a bio. Ashley’s service with the county prosecutor’s office was recounted. Her widowed status and that her husband was killed serving in Iraq.

My business as a restaurant owner was mentioned, as well as the fact that I was divorced, and shared custody of two daughters with my former wife, Jean.  Jean, now married to James Burgess, attorney, of this city. Also that I claimed to be a handyman, but in actuality was an artist working in plaster, doing ceiling treatments.  Lilly had taken a photo of the bluebells in the girls’ room and a small likeness was shown in the sidebar.

The curator of the city’s museum raved over the find that a local handyman had discovered stored away for more than fifty years, unattended, in a garage.  Full descriptions of the paintings were given as well as the possible auction value of each. There was speculation as to what Ashley’s ancestors had paid for the items.  It was determined that they had made an unbelievably good investment. “Still glad you gave them back to me?”

“Yes, no regrets at all.  I just don’t see where I had any claim to them.”

“That’s what I love about you, your unswerving sense of what is right. You wouldn’t have asked me to be your wife if it wasn’t right.”

As far as I was concerned, the paintings were a non issue.  They made Ashley richer and I suppose that was nice.  I wasn’t after her money so it didn’t matter to me.  The phone rang.  “Ashley, this is Jean.  I can’t seem to contact Milo.  The girls want to show the Burgess kids the camp.  I know you own half of it so I thought you might give me permission to take them all up there for the afternoon.”

“Milo is around the place somewhere.  I’m sure he won’t mind.  Is your husband going with you?”

“No.  He doesn’t have much to do with any of the young ones anymore, even his own.  He goes off somewhere every chance he can.”  Jean didn’t say anything for a moment.  “If you are not doing anything and can find Milo, we could meet you up there and he can bring the girls home with him.”

“I’ll look him up, and in fact I’ll stop at the deli and pick up some picnic stuff.  It’ll be fun.”

“Do you think it would be okay to bring Shannon Burgess too?  She could ride in Milo’s truck if he won’t mind Mark driving it up there.”

“By all means, bring her.  She was telling me yesterday she never gets away from the half-way house very often.  She can leave anytime as long as she is with family.”

Ashley had motioned to me to listen on the phone with her so I knew what was developing.  When Jean disconnected, I asked Ashley,   “You don’t suppose James is running around on Jean already?  Maybe she will get a good dose of what it feels like to have your spouse cheat on you.”

“If he is, and she is free again, are you going to want your wife back?  It would certainly solve the problem of you having the kids with you permanently.  Where would that leave me?”

“Think, sweetheart?  Would I do that to you?  To fall in love with you and then drop you?  I was committed to Jean and she broke it.  I’m committed to you totally now.  If my commitment gets broken, it will have to be you that breaks it.”

“I knew that, but I had to say it.  She is beautiful though, and no one would blame you.”

“I couldn’t live with myself if I did that to you.  I think I can be friends with Jean, but I can’t ever love her again.  The trust just isn’t there.  Do you want to go up to the cabin then?  You can say you couldn’t find me to go with you if you don’t.”

“I want to go. I can go there under any circumstances.”

————————————

The cabin had been Calvin’s and my retreat.  Jean had been there only once before that I remembered.  For some reason I resented seeing her there.  I felt this was mine and Ashley’s now.  I found out that Lindsey and Marie were the ones to convince their mother to ask us to take them to the cabin on the mountain and this eased my resentment.

I totally relaxed when we reached the cabin.  Shannon Burgess and I sat on the porch and looked down the mountain and over the valley.  We watched a hawk soar in huge circles hunting.  Neither of us said very much. Jean, Becky and Ashley were putting the picnic lunch together.  Mark, Steve and the two girls went up the mountain to the big rock.

Shannon spoke quietly, “You know your ex-wife is a beautiful creature.  She doesn’t deserve to be married to James.  No one deserves to be married to him.  I’ll admit he can be quite charming when he wants to be, but basically he is dishonest.  If she is smart she will dump him the first chance she gets. 

“This isn’t just his ex-wife talking.  Ask anyone who has been associated with him very long.  He barely escaped being disbarred at least two times that I know of.  I put up with his cheating for years. Oh well, I’m out of it now and he is Jean’s problem.”

“They have only been married a little over six months.  They should still be on their honeymoon.”

“Most likely her money is about gone.  She must have had quite a bit or he wouldn’t have married her.”

“I could tell you to the penny how much, for it came right out of my pocket.  That is behind me and my little business is growing.  My life is finally looking up.”

“It should.  According to Mark, you work all the time.  I want to thank you for giving Mark some work this summer.  Steve, too for that matter.  I could wish you could find something for Becky to do.  She is the one I worry about the most.”

“I’ll keep it in mind.  Something may present itself.  I understand you have been sick a lot.  How are you now?”

“I have been diagnosed with schizophrenia.  That pretty much limits my future.  Mark has been my mainstay.  He wants to be my guardian when he gets old enough, but it is an awful burden to put on him. He is so much different than his father.  James just dumped me and turned me over to the state.  Actually I am better now than I have been in a long time.  I feel pretty much normal.  The doctors caution me that I must take my medications.  Skipping just a few doses would put me right back in an institution.”

“In other words you need constant care, but just lightly.”

“That pretty well sums it up.”  Ashley came looking for me as the picnic was being laid out.

I went back to the porch after the lunch and dosed off.  I sensed someone take the other seat.  Thinking it would be Ashley, I spoke without opening my eyes.  “Hi, Ash Baby.  Having fun?”

There was silence.  It was Jean staring at me in disbelief.  “Well this is a surprise.  Were you kidding when you said that or is there something more between you two?”

I hesitated, then I thought she should know sometime.  “More, a lot more.”

“Good, Ashley needs a husband and you certainly qualify.  Is the baby she is carrying yours?”

“No, it is Calvin’s baby and it will bear his name.  I am going to raise the child as my own though.”

“Is there any love involved between you two?”

“As much and more than I had for you when we were first married.  I suppose we noticed each other because both of us had lost our spouses.  Calvin being killed and mine with the divorce.”

“I’m happy for both of you.  I was going to approach you today about having Lindsey and Marie come to live with you permanently.  James and I aren’t getting along at all. I made a mistake and I’m paying for it now.  His kids don’t know yet, but I’m filing for a divorce very shortly.  I don’t want our two to be present when it all comes to a head.  You and Ashley must have plans.  Will having the girls upset those plans?”

“No, in fact it will make us all the happier.  Ashley has come to love them as much as I do.  We were hoping they could come and live with us and we will welcome them.  When you and I were first divorced, I wanted to rip them right out of your arms any way I could.  Now I want us to share and be a part of their lives together.  Jean, I am really sorry things aren’t working out for you.”

“Well, after the way I treated you, I suppose it was bound to happen.  You know, what goes around comes around.”

“What are your plans?”

“When I’m free again you mean?”

“Yes.”

“I plan on going after the house we live in.  Not for myself, but for the Burgess kids.  Mark could make it, but Steve is way too young and Becky needs a lot of guidance.  You have helped a lot, especially with Becky.  Yesterday morning she was out of control.  Making sure her mother saw her dressed as a slut shamed Becky.  Then when you followed through and made the mother proud, it showed that other people cared how she appeared.  Becky and I had a long talk last night.  At least now she is headed in the right direction.”

“I’ll help in any way I can.  Ashley will too.  You might not know this, but Ashley didn’t have a friend in the world to turn to when Calvin died.  All her life she never was close to anyone.  Now she sees that people need friends.  Just a few weeks have made a big difference in her outlook on life.”

“Yes and we know who made the difference don’t we?”

“Some maybe, but she was ready.  Someday she might tell you what turned her around.  I can’t because it is her story.”

“I bet you were involved somehow.” 

I was smiling just as Ashley came around the corner of the cabin and up the steps.  “Hi, Ash Baby.”  Ashley was shocked.  This was my pet name for her and here I was sharing it with my ex-wife.  “Come sit in the chair and I’ll perch on the railing.

“Ash, Jean has asked me to have the girls come live with us permanently.  Are you still all right with that?”

“What do you mean, us?”

“Just what I said.  I confessed that I loved you and she thinks it is great.  She was concerned that the kids might interfere with our plans, but I assured her that we want them to live with us.”

“You’re sure, Jean?  Milo told you that you would have all of the access you wanted even if they were staying with us didn’t he?”

“Yes, he did. I want to know that they are safe and happy.  They shouldn’t be with me with what is going to be happening at home shortly.”  Jean told Ashley what she was planning.  Ashley thought it was very generous of Jean to watch out for James’s kids. 

She continued, “Milo said he would help by keeping them occupied with his business.  By the time school starts, I should know how difficult this is going to be.”  We all agreed that nothing would be said to any of the children today.  Lindsey and Marie were to be with me, anyway.

Ashley and I received a hug from Shannon, thanking us for letting her be included in the get-togethers, both yesterday and today.  Jean gave me a warm hug just before she got into her car.  Becky came to me.  “May I hug you too?  Jean and I had a long talk last night.  I told her I thought you were a special person and she agrees with me.  I’m glad you and her are still friendly.  I’ve had a lot of fun the last two days.  I’m hoping to have more.” 

On the way home, Marie spoke from the back seat, “Daddy, you like Mom again don’t you?  Are we ever going to live together like we used to?”

“No sweetheart, I don’t think so, but you are going to see us together a lot.  We are good friends again and both of us love you.”

Lindsey had other things on her mind.  “Dad did you know Becky gave me all of her Beanie Babies for my birthday?  She gave Marie two dolls too.  She said she didn’t play with them anymore.  What made her change?”

“I think she is growing up.  That was really nice of her to think of you. Both of you.  Did you remember to do for her what you did for Mrs. Brown by writing a thank you note when she gave you the nice things?”

“I forgot.  Is it too late?”

“No, we will take time in the next few days to do it.”

“Dad, how come you are holding Ashley’s hand?  I’ve been watching you.”

“Ashley is our special friend.  By holding her hand it is my way of telling her that she is.” Ashley was laughing and squeezed my hand a little tighter.

Chapter Nine

Ralph Peterson was outside my door when I came down in the morning.  The girls were still sleeping.  “About time you started getting your building materials together if you are going to do this job.  Have you done anything about hiring a carpenter yet?”

“No, I haven’t found anybody.  You know of anyone?”

“No, but I was reading the classifieds.  There are a couple of possibilities listed.”

“Good, I’ll give them a call.  Would you help me on the interview if they are interested?  You can tell if they are what they say they are.  Look at me, I can use a saw and hammer, but that doesn’t make me a carpenter.”

Ralph looked pretty pleased that I would ask him.  We went into the garage and inspected the place we were going to warehouse the material until we needed it.  We were going to make up the columns here too.  Mark showed up and he had Steve with him. “I wasn’t doing anything and Mark said I could hang around and that you wouldn’t mind.”

“Good, you can help him.  First you can pick up all of the papers and stuff around the lot here that was scattered from Lindsey’s birthday party and you can sweep out the garage.  By the time you two have that done we will start bringing in stuff to store from Home Depot.  I will want six sawhorses to work on so we don’t have to bend down too much.  We will build those this afternoon.  Have you guys had breakfast?”

“Yes, Jean was up and made some for us.  Dad didn’t come home last night so it was just the three of us kids.”

“Okay then, if you need anything I’ll be upstairs.  I need to make some calls.  Ralph how about you?  I’m making pancakes for the girls.  Would you like some?”

“Yes, by God I would.  You cook do you?”

“Yeah, ran a restaurant for awhile.” The phone was ringing when I got upstairs.

“Mr. Burns, I read about you in the paper yesterday.  It said you do odd jobs and stuff.  I need some work done on my house.  I’ve got three broken windows and a door that sticks shut when it rains.  I don’t suppose you do any plumbing do you?” I took down the man’s address and said I would be over at six this evening to see what I could handle.

Ralph was laughing at me. “Boy, by evening you are going to have enough work for ten men.  When the people around here read about someone trustworthy to do their work and he lives right in the neighborhood, they fight to line him up.”

He was right.  There was a call while I was cooking breakfast.  I knew that I would get nothing done if I was on the phone.  I called Jean.  “Jean do you think Becky would be any good taking information over the telephone for me?  I can write down some guidelines for her to follow.”

“She takes down information for her father sometimes.  You can talk to her.  She is right here.  Where is Ashley?”

“Ash had to work today.  I’d ask you, but I don’t think it would be proper.”

“I know.  Here’s Becky.”

I hired Becky to take names of those who called and relay that I would return the calls the minute I had a chance.  It would be this evening though.  The truck hadn’t been loaded yet, so I sent Mark after her.  Before they returned I had two more calls. 

I made a call to the employment agency and arranged to have a person who said he was experienced come to me for an interview.  He asked if I had any need for a plumber.  He said his brother was working on his license, but needed time on the job before he could apply.  “Bring him along if you can.  I’ll talk to both of you.”

Ralph was looking over my shoulder as I was dealing with the phone calls, arranging to pick up supplies, and drawing up a form in long hand for Becky to use as a guide.  There were certain details I needed to know about before I started returning the calls to a potential customer.  Most of it was a given, like name, address, phone number, etc. I also wanted to know what was needed for work and how the caller had come to hear about my handyman service.

Mark came back with Becky.  Steve wasn’t in the truck when they pulled in.  Then I spotted him still at work down by the gazebo.  He hadn’t gone with his brother, but had stayed and worked.  I was impressed!

The first thing Becky said was, “Milo I didn’t know what to wear.  I didn’t think anyone would be seeing me, so I just wore jeans and a top.”

“That’s fine.  You will probably be alone upstairs in my apartment, although I will be checking on how things are going. I can leave the girls with you or take them with me.  Just to let you know, I didn’t hire you to baby-sit, but if you don’t mind they can stay with you.”

“I’d love to have them keep me company.  Where can I reach you if I need to?”

“This morning, I’ll be in and out.  This afternoon we will all be working downstairs.  There are two men coming to apply for work.  Have them wait.  Sit them in the living room where they can see my ceiling.  That may give them some idea of the quality of work I expect.” 

I talked to Becky telling her how I wanted her to address the customers and went over the guide for her to elicit the information I wanted from the caller.  I had just finished when the phone rang.  Becky handled the call very professionally. Ralph and I left her and I admonished Lindsey and Marie to remain quiet if Becky was on the phone.  Mark and Steve were loading what they had picked up out in the lot and backed up to the garages to put the sweeping from the floor on top.

Ralph and I went down to Home Depot and checked the special order items that had arrived.  We put a lot of the smalls on the dock and waited for Mark to arrive after going to the landfill.  I made arrangements to have the bigger lumber and crated buttresses delivered. The roofing, boards and dimension timbers were coming on the same load.

There was a well kept van pulled to the farthest side of the garages. Hans and Bijorn, the two brothers from the employment agency, were waiting upstairs when I went up.  Hans was the carpenter.   He was about my age and had a family.  The concern he had been working for wasn’t starting another job for a month or more.  I took it he only worked when they won bids on different jobs.  He said they were always being underbid so he didn’t work steady.  Bijorn was single and very quiet, never saying much.

I asked what Hans made for wages.  If he was any good he was being underpaid.  “Hans, I’ll tell you what.  I’ll want to see what you can do before I hire you permanently.  Right now I only have one construction job lined up myself.  That is on this building right here.  I’ll show you the plans in a few minutes.  I am not a construction company.  I’m a handyman and I and anyone who works for me will be called a handyman even though I will be employing some women for different things. 

“Right now my youngest employee is fourteen and my oldest one is seventy-five.  I need a journeyman carpenter and I would like to have a plumber and an electrician working for me.  I don’t know how much work I will be having for you or others.  But I do have a lot of odd jobs coming in. This area is full of well-to-do people who don’t mind paying if they get quality work done and fast. 

“They want their estates kept looking nice and running well.  For anything really complicated, I will hire professionals to do it if I can get them.  For instance, the ceiling above your head was done by me and the landlady.  When it came to painting it, I hired a painting company, because I knew I might mess it up.  I knew it was good, but if the painting wasn’t done right, it would be crap. 

“The same with another ceiling I just did.  Painters are finishing it, and sanding the floor in the room because I wanted to walk out of there when the job was done, proud of my work.  I will be paid very well and will have more work because of it.  I’ve had a couple of jobs pruning shrubs and have done some lawn mowing.  I have built an access ramp for a store.

“What I’m trying to say, this company will do anything as long as it can be done well, on time and as soon as possible after we are contacted.  I want customers to trust me, trust my work and trust my employees.

“Now as far as pay is concerned, all deductions apply both yours and mine.  I also pay for workmen’s compensation.  I don’t pay any other insurance at this time.  If you work at your licensed job, you get scale. Otherwise I pay you fifteen bucks an hour for any handiwork I assign and I guarantee forty hours. That will get you six hundred bucks a week and more if I have scale work for you.”

“What kind of handiwork are we talking?”

“Who knows, but it will be something that you can do and do well.  It may be painting a porch, mowing a lawn or even washing windows.  This winter it will have to be inside work, so I want to have all the outside work that I have contracted for done by the first of December. Whatever job you do, I’m going to require quality work.  If I assign something and you know you can’t do it correctly, tell me and I’ll give it to someone else or hire a professional.”

“When do you want us to start?” 

“I have handiwork this afternoon for Bijorn.  Hans, you will be working on scale.  We will be starting on the construction project just as soon as the material is delivered.  I want you to plan every move so there isn’t any hitch as we go forward.  My landlady, my partner in this will be home before you finish for the day and make out the required paperwork.”

“Will there be any overtime?”

“I’m not sure.  It depends on how anxious customers are to have a job done.  Probably some Saturday work.  Those jobs that are complex enough, maybe.  I can’t justify paying time and a half for someone to mow a lawn.  Let’s take a look at the jobs I have been contacted to look at.” 

I spoke across the room to Becky who had been manning the telephone. “Becky, would you bring me a list of those customers that have called?”  Ralph had been very quiet through my interview.  He was looking over my shoulder as I went down what she had written. 

“Milo, it looks like you are going to be busy.  You are definitely going to need an electrician.  There are two garages on this list and they will need to be electrified.  You will need building permits for them as well.”

“Okay, I’ll find an electrician before he is needed.  Ralph, would you go with me this evening in case the owner wants something special? How about you Hans, can you go with me? 

“Becky, would you ask Mark to come up here?  I want him to make a poster to put in Henry’s deli saying we need to engage an electrician.” I explained that Mark knew calligraphy.

Mark came up and I introduced my new hires to him.  I took the job sheet and went down it.  “If this work is what it looks like and we get to do it, there is work here for everyone.  Becky, I most likely won’t need you on the telephone much after today.   Have you ever mowed lawns before?  There is enough here for both you and Steve.

“Okay let’s talk tools. I don’t have many except for personal ones.  The bigger ones, I rent, mainly because I don’t have a place to keep them.  As time goes on we will buy the ones we use the most frequently.  I imagine we will have to rent or buy a place to work out of in a more industrialized setting.  Until then we will use the space downstairs. For today, Mark, when you get the poster finished, pick up some sandwiches for all of us at Henry’s.  I’ll put you all on the clock at one o’clock.”

Ashley came home a little after four.  She was somewhat dumbfounded at what had transpired during the day.  In the garages were stored the majority of the material needed for the addition on this building.  Sawhorses were put together to lay the columns on as they were constructed. One was completed and another in progress.  Hans and Ralph had planned the sequence of the construction and the footings for the columns were to be dug first thing tomorrow.

Hans had suggested that a small office should be constructed in one corner of the garage.  Myself, I had worked on some of the estimates for customers.  Lindsey and Marie had gone with me when I contacted them.  

“Ashley, in one way I think we are going to finish this porch and columns as soon as I projected.  There are going to be some days we will not be working on it much.  Some of the people that contacted me will pay a premium to have their work done ASAP.  But with the added help, I think I can do both. 

“Plus I have Becky who is willing to do some things.  This is the only chance she has ever had to earn some money and when Mark told her what he had earned so far, she wants the same.  She has done a whale of a job on the phone today, so I want to give her the chance to continue.”

“Okay by me.  Oh, I don’t have to work tomorrow, so if she is willing to do other things, I can man the phone.”  I looked around and knew we were momentarily alone, so took advantage of the opportunity to show my love how much I missed her for the few hours we had been apart.

The three Burgess teenagers left in the company truck.  I thanked them all and especially Becky.  “You know, you are going to have to be careful.  That girl is working up to having a powerful crush on you.”   Ashley was laughing at me.

“I don’t think so.  She knows she doesn’t stand a chance with you in the picture.”  Ashley thought that over.

“Okay, but I’m going to keep my eye on her.  I trust you but I don’t know about a sweet nubile young teenager.”

Thirty minutes later the phone rang.  It was an excited Mark.  “Milo, Jean has been hurt.  I called 911 and she is on the way to the emergency room at Mercy Hospital.”

“How bad is she and how did she get hurt?”

“I don’t know what happened.  We found her when we got home. She was lying in the corner of the living room moaning when we came in. She recognized us so I think she will be okay.  That is what the EMT said anyway.  He said it might be an hour or more before she is put in a room.  We kids are going over there then.”

“Where is your father?  Have you contacted him?”

Mark didn’t say anything.  “I think he caused what happened.  The police are going to question her as soon as they can.”  He was silent for a second.  “Could you and Ashley come to the hospital too?  Steve needs someone to be with him.  I don’t want to tell Mom.  She doesn’t need this.”

“Sure, we will be there.  I’ll bring the girls and if Jean is well enough, she will want to assure them she is okay.”

The girls were scared when we told them their mother had fallen and was hurt.  We didn’t hurry as we knew it would be awhile before we could get to see her.  Ashley met one of the police officers as we were passing by the emergency room.  He was just completing his interrogation.  I left her with him and we went to the cafeteria, as we hadn’t eaten yet. 

Ashley found us and said that Jean had been moved to a room.  Mark and Becky were with her.  Steve held close to Ashley’s heels, lost boy that he was.

When we got to Jean’s room, Mark and Becky came out and I took them to the cafeteria so they could eat too.  Ashley went in with the girls and Steve.  A half hour later we returned.  Ashley and the girls came out.  When I went in Steve was sitting sadly in a chair.  He saw me and went out to join those waiting outside.

Jean smiled wanly at me.  “I beat you up mentally and here I get beat up physically.  What goes around, comes around really is a truism isn’t it?”

“James did this to you?”

She nodded.  “I wasn’t as passive as you were when you found out I was cheating. I challenged James about cheating on me.  We had quite a fight.  It was verbal for awhile and then it got me this.  The police are looking for him for domestic abuse.  That pretty much ends our marriage.  To be honest he didn’t do all of this.  He slapped me and I fell on the footstool and broke a couple of ribs.”

“Maybe.  What time was this?”

“About three this afternoon.”

“And he left you there on the floor? Did he know you were hurt?”

“He must have. I don’t know.  I guess I hit my head and don’t remember anything after I started falling.  What is going to happen to his kids?  Who will take care of them?”

“Don’t worry about them.  Ashley and I will see that they have anything they need.”  I tried to be funny.  “Hey Jean, I’ve got mine and yours, I might as well have yours and someone else’s as well.  But if you collect anymore, warn me, will you?”  I was making a joke.  How was I to know how prophetic it was?

“Milo, thank you.  I’m tired, let me sleep.  Ashley said she would see me in the morning.  You’ve got a winner, hang onto her.”  She closed her eyes and soon was sleeping. Maybe, maybe not.

Mark and Steve stayed in Lindsey and Marie’s bedroom that night.  The girls all spent the night with Ashley in the big house.  Tragedy wasn’t through with us.  I received a call from the police.  “I am informed that Mark, Becky and Steve Burgess, children of James Burgess, are staying with you.  Is that correct?”

“Yes, it is.”

“Well their father is dead and they have to be informed.  Burgess was committing the felony of arson on his home and when challenged, he fired on an officer. The officers at the scene returned fire.  Burgess didn’t survive.  Would you take on the task of telling them, or do you want Social Services to do it?”

“No, I’ll make sure they are told.  I know them all very well.  I should like to have their mother and their stepmother present when I do though.  How long before the media tracks them down?”

“A few hours, I would imagine.  Most likely not before ten or eleven this morning.”

“Okay, that should give me enough time.”  There was a click as the officer hung up.  I shook my head.  God, why me?

Mark and Steve were asleep.  I walked over to tell Ashley and then made my way to the hospital.  I talked to the nurses at the station on Jean’s floor explaining the situation.  The nurse called her doctor and he said that although he preferred Jean not leave, he understood and would release her if she would come to his office after the situation was resolved.  I went in to tell Jean.  The nurse followed me in to help her get dressed.

I will say this for Jean; her main concern was for James’s kids.  It was like she didn’t give James, himself, a passing thought. I took Jean to my apartment and put her into my bed.  At five, I was at Shannon’s door explaining the situation and why I was there. 

Again, like Jean, the concern was for her children.  By six I had coffee perking and was ready.  I called Ashley and asked her to send Becky over and for her not to waste time in getting dressed. She came sleepily up the stairs and into the kitchen.  She was shocked to see her mother and Jean sitting on the couch.

Mark and Steve came out of the girls’ room when they heard their mother, looking happy to see her, but mystified.  It was Shannon who told them.  “Kids, your father passed away early this morning.  It was not under pleasant circumstances.  There is no easy way to tell you this, but he was committing a felony at the time.”

Mark was the one with the question.  “How did Dad die?”

“He died at the hands of the police.  He fired on a police officer while setting fire to your home.  The building is severely damaged.”

Mark received this news without expression.  Becky, who was a favorite of her father, was standing in front of her mother crying.  Steve was almost catatonic.  Jean slowly got up from the couch and put her arms around Becky.  “I’m sorry Becky, believe me I am.”

“I know Jean.  I know you loved him at one time.  And you did too, Mom.  I guess we all did.”  She straightened her shoulders and shrugged away from Jean.  “Was there a woman with Daddy when this happened?”

None of us knew.  “I met his new girlfriend a few days ago.  Daddy wanted me to go away with them.  I refused and said I wanted to stay at home with Mark and Steve.  Maybe I caused all of this Jean, you getting hurt and what he did tonight.”  She went and slumped down on the couch. 

Then she looked up at me.  “Milo, the woman he was with was dressed just like I was when you saw me the first time.  I decided then that I would not be that same kind of person as she was.  The woman with Daddy was only four years older than I am.  Daddy was more than twice her age.  That is when I looked at Jean and Mom real close. I think life sucks.  Nothing is as it should be anymore.”

“What are we going to do now?”  Steve mumbled this.

I spoke up.  “I talked to Ashley before I went to get Jean.  She has invited you to stay in her house until we find a place for you to live.  Jean told me on the way here that she wants to continue in her role as mother to you.  She also said that if it can be arranged she would like Shannon to come live with you all when you get settled.

“I know you will miss your father and remember him back to the times when he loved you. Even Jean and Shannon had some very loving times with him so they both will have fond memories of him, too.

“I guess this is the time to tell you all that I have asked Ashley to be my wife and we have set a date of September fifteenth to wed.  You know she is pregnant and going to have my friend Calvin’s baby.  It has been a chore in a way to find time for us to be together as much as we would like to.”

“Why don’t you move into the big house with her?  You could be together all of the time that way.”

“What about the girls, Jean?  I want them to look up to their Dad.  Would they do that if I did move in with Ash?”

“Lindsey is way out in front on that.  She knows you love Ashley.  She told me the first week she was here.  Of course your jealous ex-wife had to ask her.”  This was the first smile from anyone today.

I don’t know how people get through tragedies, but they do.  The construction started on the building I lived in the next day.  Hans and Bijorn were as competent as I hoped they would be.  Wednesday, Mark, who I had asked to watch the painters do Kim and Will’s nursery and learn what he could about technique, was there although I had said he didn’t have to.

Ashley took over and helped Jean with the funeral arrangements.  The funeral was on Friday of that week.  There was a young lady crying in the rear of the funeral home and we assumed she was James’s latest conquest.  She did not come down to say good-bye and disappeared before he was laid to rest.

Steve was the one that took his father’s death the hardest, but then he transferred all of his affection to Jean.  Becky seemed to mature overnight.  The first few days Shannon stayed with Jean and Becky in my apartment.  Steve was so lost and sad he wanted to be near his mother and especially Jean. Becky then came to the big house with Mark, Lindsey, Marie and of course the happiest one of all, me.  Well maybe not the happiest one, for Ashley reveled in helping out the Burgess clan as she called them.

The Burgess house was almost a total loss.  There was very little insurance on it and the company refused to pay even that. To pay for arson by the one that had purchased the insurance and was the person to torch it was against policy. 

Ashley stepped in as Jean’s attorney when the insurance company refused to pay.  No threats were made, but with Lilly Trevor at Ashley’s side wanting to interview the president for their side of the story, things changed immediately. (Poor destitute family, bereaved wife and disabled mother of three teenagers.) It came about that the refusal was reconsidered and the bank mortgage was paid off.  

Jean and her stepchildren did salvage some personal items.  Those that were away from the kitchen, dining and living room areas.

In one way, I suppose my business purchased Jean and her step-family a new house.  I employed all of them in different capacities and paid them well. The bare lot, the saved wages and the stipend that Shannon received from the state was cobbled together and although we didn’t know it at the time, they would be in new quarters by Christmas.

My business took off.  The remake of the building that housed my apartment was finished before Ashley and I were married.  Everything I did seemed to be an advertisement for my fledgling business.  It seemed as if I had at least one ceiling to do every week and I became known as the “ceiling man.”  I was lucky in the help I hired.  I didn’t feel as if I was a difficult employer, but I did demand quality from everyone. 

If something did go wrong, I was there immediately to have it resolved.  My little deal with Linda on the antiques gave me a boost.  She handed over seventeen thousand dollars to me with a wish that I had more garages for her to clean out.

——————————

Our wedding was small.  Ralph Peterson stood with me and Lilly Trevor stood with Ashley. We did have some friends present.  All of the Burgess’s were there, including Jean and Shannon.  Ashley’s previous boss, the county prosecutor and his wife were present. 

Mrs. Hamlin, of course and the Browns.  Will and Kim Grover, Linda and Patrick and a few others.  In all there was a total of about twenty-five including the children.  The reception was short and reasonably quiet for we were soon leaving for a place in the Colorado Rockies.

There was a small ensemble to play music.  Ashley wanted to dance, but at six months pregnant, she didn’t want anything wild for music.  My wife came into my arms with happiness showing on her face.  “I never said much about the first time we met. I just want to repeat my thank you for being there that day.  I love you so and you have made me the happiest person on earth. We are going to have a wonderful life together.”

“I know Ashley.  It has taken a lot of heartbreak and loneliness to get to this point.  I would go through it again if I could be sure you would be here waiting for me.”

“You are so sweet and always know just what to say. It isn’t just the way you say it either for I know you wouldn’t say it if you didn’t mean it.”

It seemed as though I had a woman in my arms for the next hour.  Lilly came and wanted a dance.  “You know if it wasn’t for Ashley, you would be seeing a lot more of me.  I just hope I find a man to love me as much as you love Ashley.  How did you come to pick her for the love of your life?”

“Lilly, ask her sometime.  Someday we may tell you, if you are interested.”

“I’m interested.”

Becky kept eyeing me.  Jean had found a gown for her that made her look much more mature than her sixteen years.  “Hi Becky, may I have this dance?”

Becky flushed pink.  “Thank you.  I would love to.  I was hoping you would ask me.  I saw you dancing with Lilly.  She is very pretty, isn’t she?”

“Yes she is.  There are a lot of beautiful women here today.  Look at Jean; she has the most classic beauty.  Your mother, although older and has been sick, still retains much of her beauty.  I think you are going to take after her and be as beautiful as she once was.  Look at Ashley.  See how she glows.  To me that’s the most beautiful thing of all, especially when I know it is me that is causing her to glow.”

“I wish I knew someone like you to love.”  Becky was looking pensive.

“You will, Becky.  Knowing me is just one of many people you will know before the man of your life comes along.  When you find him, use your head as well as your heart to commit.  If either one troubles you just look a little closer at him.  He may be the one and he may not be.  Ashley and I have looked at each other, both with our heads and our hearts.  That is why we are married today.”

The dance ended and I escorted Becky back to where Ashley, Jean and Shannon were standing.  “Ashley, I never get close to Milo but what I get a lesson on how to live my life.  You are so, so lucky to have him.”  She walked over and hugged Ashley.  She then turned to Shannon.  “Mama would you like to leave now?  You are looking tired.”

“What was that all about?”  My wife asked me this as I took her into my arms for the next dance.

“I don’t remember if it was you or Jean that said Becky would end up with a crush on me.  I’ll give the girl credit.  She envies you, but she never would do anything to hurt either one of us.  She has had a lot of lessons in the last few years.  First her father practically kicked her mother out when she got sick.  Then he went out and broke up a happy home by seducing Jean away from me.  Being able to do that made Jean less in his eyes and he turned around and decided to break up his own family. 

“You and I come along with baggage of our own, and prove that we can come together and be happy.  Her feelings for Jean, too, have changed.  At first she hated her and then when she got to know me, she hated what Jean did to me.  Then when her father tore her world down, Jean comes through and stands by her brothers and her.

“I have pointed out that she has had some pretty good role models and it is all a learning experience for her.  When she comes to pick a mate, think with her head as well as with her heart and she will be fine.  I’m taking it as a compliment that she is hoping to find someone like me.  And what she said to you is she is hoping she is as smart as you in recognizing someone like you did when her man comes along.”

“Okay, I believe you, but I bet she is a hot little number.”

“Maybe, but I bet I know someone that is as hot and with a lot more experience.”  The dance ended as we stood right there in the middle of the floor and kissed with passion as those that hadn’t left yet clapped.

“Having a good time as a married man again?”

“Yes Jean.  I feel complete again.  Is this hurting you too much, seeing me with someone I love and it isn’t you?”

“It hurts a little of course, but my gift to you is really to want the best for you and Ashley.  I mean that.  Maybe it is a little atonement for the hurt I placed on you.”  She giggled when she said this.  “Come on Milo, give me some of that sage advice you are always passing out.  What should I do?”

“Do just what you have been doing.  I think you are happier now than you have been in a long time.  You act it anyway.  You are young and in three or four years the responsibilities you have taken on will have lessened when Mark, Steve and Becky are grown. 

“Keep your eyes open and you will find someone that loves you and that you can love.  You might even want another child if that happens.  Lindsey and Marie are growing up fast and it won’t be many years before they are teenagers.  You and I are closer now than we were last year at this time, and I think being friends now is better than the marriage you and I had at that time.”

“You are right.”  I thought she was going to cry.  “Would you stop dancing with me and take me back to my seat.  I think I need to go to the washroom for a minute.  I still love you Milo, but it is a good kind of love and more solid than what I had for you before.”

Epilogue

I suppose I could stop writing this now by just saying the rest of my life with Ashley looks to be happy.  And it was and is, but couple of things to note though.  I found a close-by mini-mall that was for sale.  Ashley and I discussed buying it to house the Milo Burns Handyman Services.  Where would the money come from?

“Milo, I made out a bill of sale for you to verify that you owned the contents of the garages, do you still have it?”

I looked for it and handed it to Ashley.  “Look at the date on it.  Now remember what day you tried to give me back the paintings?”  I did.  “Okay, now show me any paperwork you have that you gave me anything after the date on the bill of sale.”

I couldn’t because there was none.  “I think, husband of mine, you own those paintings.  If you want to buy some property, you can use them for collateral or sell them if you want to pay cash. You own them, use them, for they don’t mean that much to me.  I have had the value from them in showing me just what kind of a man you are.  I’ve got a hell of a deal already.  Now come put some oil on my stretch marks.”

Calvin Cody Winslip Burns was born right on time.  “Winnie” weighed in at seven pounds ten ounces on December fifteenth.  He was a happy baby, especially when he was with his mother, or me, or Jean, or Becky, or Mark, or Mrs. Hamlin.  You get the picture, he was a happy baby!

Jean and Shannon had rented a nine room home with a mother-in-law apartment from Bijorn.  It had been his folks and he had bought out Hans when Hans needed a down payment for his family. He soon sold it to Jean and family and rented the smaller apartment to live in himself.  Milo Burns Handyman Services went through it and it was ready two days before Christmas.  Ashley, I and Winnie were there for the holiday.  Bijorn of course was invited.

The apartment where I first lived was kept empty, although we did keep the facilities turned on. Every once in a while someone of the extended family stayed there.  Usually Jean or Shannon and sometimes Mark.  Ashley and I often went there too, remembering the fun we had doing the ceiling in the living room.  Winnie would go crazy with joy seeing the stars pop out.

Easter morning, Ashley said to me, “Bijorn called yesterday and asked if he could use the apartment last night.  Would you go over and ask him to come for breakfast?”

I went bounding up the stairs and across the living room and flung open the door.  “Oh God!”  I slammed the door and went back into the living room with a very red face.  It was a few minutes later that Bijorn and Jean came out holding hands.

“Milo, Bijorn has asked me to marry him.  I have accepted.  Would you congratulate us?”  I did by shaking Bijorn’s hand and giving Jean a kiss. I waited for them to dress and we walked back across the lot.  When we went by the gazebo, Jean asked if she could be married there.  Walking into the house, Ashley had assembled our Lindsey and Marie, Shannon, and Jean’s three stepchildren so everyone could congratulate the betrothed lovers.

———————————

I was snuggled next to Ashley early in the morning on the last day of June.  Winnie was now a little more than a year and a half old.  I knew my wife was awake and I had the feeling that she was about to say something.  She would move and lay perfectly still for a few minutes and then she would move again.  There was a tenseness about her that was unusual. 

“Ash Baby, what’s up?  Is something wrong?”

“Milo, I was thinking back over the last two years.  There hasn’t been a day that you haven’t worked.  I think you need a vacation.  I mean, Hans is your foreman and he can handle the business until it gets real busy for the summer season.  Besides he has Mark.  He’s twenty and one of the most responsible young men I have ever known. 

“Jean and Becky can handle the office.  The girls don’t care where they stay, here or with their mother. You both have given them a wonderful home even though you are married to me and Jean is married to Bijorn.  Shannon is well taken care of especially with Steve there for her.”

We lay there discussing where we would like to go. Maybe I could convince Ashley to have another baby.  It would be nice to have a boy.  We might even name him Junior. Before I could voice this thought Ashley wiggled closer if that was possible.

“Milo, you know what Lilly Trevor uses to describe you and what happens when you are around?”

“You mean a person has been Milo’d?”

“Yes, that one.  Well I have been Milo’d.

I was silent a minute.  “I think you are telling me that I’m going to be a father.”

“Yes I am.”

“Ashley, let’s go back to you and your vacation idea. I agree we need one and I know just the place for one.  Of course the facilities there aren’t too modern.  There is no shower and the toilet smells.  There is a tub though.  The only bad thing is you have to stand up in it.  Let’s start our vacation at the camp.  Winnie is old enough to be left alone for a few days.  Then we’ll come back and get the girls and Winnie and go wherever you want to as long as you want to.  How would that be?”

“Milo, what about the baby?  I just told you I was pregnant. Aren’t you excited at all?  Is a vacation all you can think about?” There was disappointment in her voice at my apparent lack of joy of what she thought was momentous news.

Ashley squirmed around until she could see my face.  She read there just how happy I was!  Just before she mashed her lips to mine, she muttered, “Milo’d again.”

The End