Chapter 3

A very bemused Kenny decided to do an evaluation of the area and the equipment that he would be responsible for. He had Marta make him a map of the boundaries of the property and went to check it out. The lodge was located on a well wooded and hilly area. Bulldozers had leveled areas skillfully to keep most of the trees intact and to allow the outlying cabins to have privacy amid the vegetation. There were several outbuildings that saw little use now. Most of what they had stored had been moved to the large barn. Some areas had obviously been planted with specific flowering bushes and plants and had been allowed to become overgrown. Ken made his own map of these areas for future attention. When he got back to the barn he found that besides the tractor and all of its attachments there was a lot of other lawn equipment in it as well as a large Ford truck. He had seen the truck when he was working on the Tractor of course, but he had not paid it much attention then.

Now he looked in the dash and found that it was a 1997 Ford F350 with a 7.3 liter Powerstroke Diesel. It was a crew cab truck with the older style square body. He had to wonder just what Marta's husband had needed such a large truck for. He found the keys in the ashtray and checked out the mammoth white vehicle. The registration was up to date and the truck seemed to be in good repair, obviously it had been used more recently than the tractor. If he could use this he could move everything from his apartment in one trip.

He decided to check out the cabins next to see what kind of maintenance they needed. Maybe Consuela could help him with that; at least she should have the keys. With that in mind he set out to find the beautiful girl.

As he walked past the main house he saw Consuela's mother at work in the kitchen. Not seeing Consuela he went to her cabin and knocked at the door.

Consuela answered the door quickly. "Yes Mr. Jacobs, how may I help you?"

"Consuela, I asked you to call me Ken please. I would like to see into the cabins and I thought that you might have the keys. I didn't want to bother Mrs. Horne if I didn't have to."

"I do have the keys Mr. Jacobs," she reached to the right of the door and pulled a set of keys off of a hook, "and you are going to be above me so I cannot call you by your first name sir."

"I'm just the maintenance man; I won't be in charge of you Consuela."

"I saw how the Ladies were looking at you sir, you are to be the master here."

"You're imagining things Consuela; they were just thanking me for helping them. Please call me Ken; I would like to be your friend while we are both working here."

The Latin girl immediately got hot, "You think that because I have a baby and no husband that you can have your way with me? I don't need that kind of friend Mr. Jacobs."

"No, no Consuela. I don't think that at all. I would never treat you, or any other woman, that way. I just want to be friendly and work together to help each other. I don't mean anything else by that. I certainly wouldn't think that you would want anything to do with me; no woman does, let alone someone as beautiful as you. I'll leave you alone if you wish, but please don't think that I meant any harm."

Ken took the keys that Consuela was holding out to him and hastily retreated to the cabin at the other end of the row. He had no idea what had just happened. That poor girl must think that all men are like the one who abandoned her. He would have to get a little more information about Consuela from the sisters so that maybe he could keep from upsetting her again.

As Ken moved away Consuela slammed her door in a fury. The noise startled Stefan and the child began to cry. Comforting her baby allowed her to calm down a bit and Consuela was able to examine what had happened. She thought that maybe she had jumped to a wrong conclusion. Ken might just be trying to be friendly. He didn't act like the boys in school had; sniffing after her skirt when they learned that she was pregnant. But she knew that she was not wrong about what the sisters had in mind for him. She could hardly blame them; lord knows that they have had no gentlemen callers. Maybe she was just a little jealous of them and that was why she had reacted as she had.

In the meantime Ken had discovered several leaking faucets and some cabinet doors and drawers that needed work. These would be things that he would do after the landscaping was done for the week. He could see that he would not lack for work here and he would earn his way; but it still seemed too good to be true. He would be able to send more money to Belinda, pay off his bills, and still live much better than he had been doing for a while.

There were 12 cabins total, six in a line across from the main area where Selena, Consuela and Ken lived, then six more larger cabins situated around the property in their own little clearings. After he closed the door on the last cabin Ken stood there holding the keys in his hand trying to think of a way to get them back to Consuela without having another confrontation with her.

He returned to the main house looking for Marta, and instead found her sister. For some reason, maybe because she no longer looked like his teacher, it was easier to use Mrs. Friedman's first name than it was to use Mrs. Horne's.

"Hi Marcia, I was looking through the cabins and saw a lot of stuff I can do in them. Would you give these keys back to Consuela for me? I don't want to disturb her again."