Chapter 6

After the excitement of the attempted break in, Ken's life at the lodge settled into a routine. Ken started each day with morning exercises. After that he would do the landscaping. Every day he expanded the cleared areas by a little more. The lodge occupied a little less than 5 acres just south of Point Lobos on Hwy 1. On Hwy 1 meant that you entered the half mile of curvy driveway on the Hwy. The neighbor to the south was a winery, and the one to the north grew apples and peaches and kept bees. The right of way for the lodge split the two properties. To the west was a riding and boarding stable with horses wandering the pastures.

The Kubota had just about every attachment available and proved to be invaluable in caring for the place. There was even a log splitter powered by the Power Take Off (PTO) on the tractor. There was a pile of dead trees back behind the barn left over from when the lodge had been a going concern. Much of the wood was rotten and useless for firewood, but the chipper attachment turned it into good mulch.

Ken enjoyed the work and the time spent alone allowed him to reflect on his life. He still missed his little girl, but for the first time he had the hope that he would see her again. The lodge was looking better all the time and Marta expressed her satisfaction in many ways. For one thing, she gave Ken a $200 a week raise. When he protested that it was too much, she countered that all the work that he had done would have cost her a lot more than she was paying him if she had to contract the work out.

Ken was also responsible for making repairs to the cabins and the main house. He even worked as a chimney sweep making sure that the fireplaces in the cabins would be safe to use again. He learned many new skills, such as setting tile and installing wood flooring, thanks to the folks at Home Depot. By the end of the second month that he had been there, all of the units were ready for occupancy and all the public areas were clean and trimmed.

Ken himself was also clean and trimmed. The diet and exercise had taken away over 50 lbs of flab and turned a lot of the rest into muscle. He didn't realize it yet, but Ken had turned into a hunk.

He had also put his mechanical skills to work. Selena and Consuela drove a 1999 Cavalier and had been having trouble with it. Selena complained that the car would stop sometimes, and then start back up an hour later as if nothing had happened. It finally happened one day as she was coming home and Ken attached a tow dolly to the truck and brought the car back to the lodge. He found that the problem was with the fuel pump. The pump itself was fine, but the fusible links would pop when they got hot. Changing the links did no good; the power requirements were just more than the circuit could handle. He finally put in new wire one size larger than the original and ran it directly from the battery all the way to the connector under the back seat. He couldn't find an empty fuse circuit that would work with the key, so he put in a toggle switch under the dash and an in-line fuse for safety. The driver would have to switch on the fuel pump before starting the car, and turn it off after stopping. This had the side effect of making the car almost impossible to steal. The thief would have to know about the switch to get the car to run. Of course, no one wanted to steal an old Cavalier.

He also had to put on a new power steering pump and alternator on the truck and change the oil in it and Selena's and Marcia's cars as well. The Mercedes was serviced by the dealer; if Ken touched it the warranty would be void.

The lawyers kept Ken and the sisters up to date. They had an investigator watching Belinda and her family to see if there would be any way to wrest custody of Mallory from her. The discovery of her attempted deceit with the payments from Ken caused the judge to reinstitute Ken's visitation privileges, but the investigator wanted him to wait a while before he saw the little girl. They wanted to set it up so that he would be able to take the girl home with him and keep her there. They expected Belinda to make a big mistake; they just had to give her time. Ken was all for that result, but the waiting was torture for him.

Consuela was able to go to the dances and clubs to try to find a young man of her own. She went out on a few dates and seemed to be doing alright. She and Ken occasionally interacted around the lodge, and finally became friends. There was a distance between them that they both wanted to keep though. Consuela still did not approve of Ken's affair with the sisters, and Ken did not want to get too close to a woman who had been hurt so much and had such a fiery temper.

The situation with Marta and Marcia continued. Every second or third night one of the two would visit with Ken. Marcia always spent the night, while Marta still would not. Both women were very happy with Ken and with the result of their scheme. Ken, on the other hand, was beginning to feel uncomfortable with how things were going.

One Friday evening after dinner he sat down with the women and talked to them about it.

"Marcia, Marta, there is no way that I can express my thanks for all that you have done for me. You were correct Marcia that I was ready to end it all that day you saw me at the mall. You saved me with your kindness. I love working here for you and Marta and I feel a large amount of satisfaction when I complete another task to improve the lodge. You have also made me feel much better about myself with the nights we have spent together. The problem I am having is with those nights."

"What is it Kenny?" Marta asked, "Are we not coming over often enough, or maybe too often?"

"No Marta, it is not that. My problem is the way things are going; I kind of feel like I am being used. You never ask me to come to the main house, and we don't go out in public on dates or anything; it's like you are ashamed to be seen with me. It's even shown by how you address me; my name is Ken, not Kenny. I'm not saying this correctly, but something is missing. I know that I could never hope to have beautiful women like you to love me, but I am missing the romance I expected. The sex is great, but it's not enough somehow. I love living here, but I need the romance and the chance that the woman I am with will be with me forever. You have taught me many things to include that Belinda was a huge mistake and I can find someone to love me. I wouldn't have believed that two months ago, and there is no way I can thank you enough for what you have done."

The sisters were stunned by this, but they didn't have a chance to respond. Before they could say anything there was the sound of a horn honking repeatedly outside the house.

Ken immediately jumped up and on his way out of the room he grabbed a police baton from the table near the door. After the attempted break-in he had gotten several more batons and made sure that one was available wherever he was. He even had one in a holster on the tractor. The guns Marta's husband had were out and available as well, but Ken was hesitant to use them. He could control what happened with his baton, but once you fired a gun there was no taking it back. He and both women had done target practice to make sure they were familiar with the weapons, but he still trusted his night stick best.