Chapter 47: A New Pattern

The day dawned to organized chaos. Boxes were stacked on the kitchen Island. Mostly it was office work that Cleo needed to take back to the city with her. In the hall were her suit cases. The bathroom counter was overflowing with items she need for 'last minute'. Molly kept breakfast simple, a breakfast sandwich like what you could get at any fast food place. These we wrapped in a paper towel and ate as we moved about the house checking and double checking that she hadn't forgotten anything.

"I don't know why he insists on bringing the paper work instead of simply taking it to the office." Cleo complained. "It would be so much easier.

She toted the next box out to the trunk of her car.

"Don't ask me, I've yet to figure out Jake." I followed her with another load. The only things left were her suit cases, makeup case, and a box where I'd guess she'd hidden her toys of sexual pleasure. Always the last to go and the first to arrive. "Maybe he trusts you to make sure they go directly into your office instead of being loaded with general junk all over the building."

"That has to be it!" Cleo blew the bangs of her hair up and out of her eyes. "I hate growing out a hair style."

"Come on, one last trip." I paused in the kitchen for a bit of my breakfast.

"Are you going to be ok here? Alone I mean?" Cleo asked.

"I'm not alone. I have Molly every morning. Billy around the corner." I waved at Molly who was bringing down Cleo's smaller cases. "Then there is Gus, and Earl, and Nick and ... Lot's!" I said with a smile.

"Hmm." Cleo made a noise through her nasal that said she wasn't convinced.

"Go. Get the last case. I'm finishing breakfast." To prove my point I took a large bite.

Cleo headed upstairs and pulled down the case with her clothes. She dragged it down the stairs with a thump-thump-thump. I couldn't help but laugh.

"Is it THAT heavy?"

Cleo just sent me a look that said 'you don't wanna know' and continued out the door.

"Be sure the ass end of the car isn't dragging when you pull out!" I said joking to her when she came back in.

She sat down at the island and picked up her drink, water. She'd said now that the fun was over she'd have to watch her weight, there'd be no more swimming and horses exercise like there was here.

Breakfast was over. Cleo and I sat there looking at one another. Molly was up stairs stripping her bed, ready to take care of the linens.

"I ah." I started and tried again. "Look, I'm glad you drug me down here. I mean..." I shrugged. How did you thank someone for bring you back to life? "I got a new job, met some interesting people." I had to grin at that. "Learned a lot about myself and..." I shrugged again.

Cleo hopped off her stool and hugged me.

"What are friends for? I'm leaving if you're gonna get all mushie on me." And Cleo left. Just like that.

I walked to the door and watched her pull away. The house seemed very quiet.

I looked around the area. The place was already feeling empty. There wasn't anyone on the path. No lovers in the bushes. Most had already gone home or were heading out today. The area seemed still and quiet. I looked down the path towards Eddie. Had he left? I stepped back and closed the door. The house looked large. Oddly. It was the same as it had been since I'd arrived. I shook my head and decided to go to my office and work.

I worked into the late afternoon and hadn't noticed the hours speeding by. I stopped only when the light from outside had dimmed so much that I had to turn on a lamp.

"Geeze." My voice sounded loud. "Ok, that's enough of this." I stood up and rushed downstairs. I turned on the music and turned up the volume.

The very next song was "Summer Lovin" sung by Oliva Newton-John! I started laughing till I had to sit down shaking my head in disbelief.

Going to make dinner I sung along, "Summer Lovin' had me a blast!" I was shaking my hips as I walked. I grabbed a wooden spoon and used it as a mic. "Summer Lovin' happened so fast" I spun on my heel and opened the fridge. I sang the harmony and back ground while Travolta did his bit and I searched for something quick and easy. Cold cuts. Molly kept my first night alone quick and easy. "We went strolling, drank Lemon-aid." I piled up the meats on wheat bread and slathered a gob of mayo. "Summer fling don't mean a thing" I smiled and put the mayo back in the fridge and reached for a coke. I hummed a bit and shook my ass looking for something to have with the sandwich. "Tell me more Tell me more". I came up with a jar of pickles.

"I'll tell you more." A deep voice said from behind me.

I turned, screaming as I dropped a soda and sent it rolling across the floor. "Billy!"

"Do you always drop a soda before you drink it?" He said over the music. He was watching the can roll to a stop by the stove.

"You scared me to death." I plopped the pickles on the counter and went to turn down the music.

"I knocked but Travolta out did me." Billy said with a grin. "Nice moves by the way."

"Geeze." My heart was still racing. "I'm going to have to tie a bell on your neck!"

Billy shook his head. "Still wouldn't have heard it."

I knew he was right. I picked up the soda and put it back in the fridge. "Want some?"

When he didn't answer I peered back, puzzled by the grin on his face.

"Yeah."

I rolled my eyes and tossed him a fresh can, and pulled the meats back out of the fridge. "Make it yourself."

Once we were seated and my heart rate back to a more normal pace I asked, " ... and what brings you to my humble abode?"

"Humble?" Billy made a point of looking around.

"Yeah well." I shrugged and took a big bite of my dinner.

"Cleo."

"Cleo?" I repeated. "She's not here."

"I know. She asked me to come over and check on you tonight. So..."

"Oh." I smiled. That was sweet of her.

"But looks like Travolta's got you covered."

"It was too quiet so turned up the music." I explained.

"Well that worked." Billy said grinning at me.

"Since you're here..." I began slowly.

"Yessssss?" Billy drug the question out.

"Wanna watch a movie or something?" I didn't want him to leave. The place was spooky big alone.

"Spooked are ya?" He teased.

"No." I said quickly, then, "Not really. Just." I shrugged.

"I'd love to, what do you have?" Billy tilted his head and gave me a look out of the corner of his eye, "not a chick flick hey?"

I laughed. "Agreed, no chick flicks. Not even Grease." I said naming the movie to which the song I'd been singing when he walked in. "Nor Dirty Dancing, but maybe I can slip Gone With the Wind in on you." A good 4 hours and I'd be safe from the boggie man.

"Bye." Billy made to stand up and leave. We both were laughing.

"Movies are under the TV." I waved towards the living room and cleaned up our mess while he went to sort through em.

"I don't think you'd like anything with Chucky hey?", he said naming a horror flick.

"Not tonight, no." I said and turned off the music. I sat folding my bare feet under me on the sofa.

"Avatar? New enough, different enough?" He asked, both brows raised.

I nodded.

He popped in the DVD and sat beside me on the sofa. I leaned into him and the movie started. With only the kitchen light on the room was comfy and I sighed, content.

The time flew by, we watched one more movie after that, an older one with Mel Gibson, Lethal Weapon. I made pop corn between the two and got us fresh sodas. The night was very pleasant when he left I went to bed with a smile on my face, very relaxed.

This was repeated for the next three days. About dusk he'd come over and I'd feed him dinner. We'd watch a DVD and he'd go home and I'd go to bed. At work it wasn't so easy.

"Hey gang, we're looking good." I said in the way of a greeting to the crew working on the old kitchen. It had been stripped down to it's original walls. Years of wall paper and paint had been removed until we decided to take even the sheet rock off. Now only the slats were up. "The historian should be here today to advise and oversee the reconstruction of this room. The bricks there at the old oven, well. I'll let him tell you." I ran my hand over the old oven. Most of it was fine, but parts were going to have to be taken down for safety and replaced. "Today mainly I want you to take stock of your tools, clean the area up so there's nothing, No piles of soda cans," I nudged this with my foot giving them a look, "and your tools are out of the way."

Cords and tools were still everywhere. Trash was everywhere. "I want only the walls and the floors when he gets here. When that's done do the same outside. Let's stay ahead of the mess. After lunch he'll be here and we can begin." I stepped carefully over several cords and headed outside.

Earl was working over a saw horse, his naked torso looking far too good in the sunlight.

"Kat, come here a second will ya."

Since the night of the Ball Earl was no longer shy around me. He wasn't rude, just ... different.

"Yeah?" I said putting my clip board down on the plyboard sat over the two saw horses.

"The wiring in this place is like a mass of spiderwebs, a lazy sloppy job back in the oh, 40's I'd guess." Earl began.

I looked over his shoulder feeling the heat from his body. "Yeah. I knew that. Just another reason to take it all out, it's dangerous now."

Earl went on talking about how the wires were hidden into the construction of the house and a lot more was going to be damaged with the removal of it. Mean while his arm had found it's way to wrap around my back and rested on my right hip. I ignored it.