Three Alarm Tenant. Christa Maurice

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      That mistake she wouldn’t make again. The next time she married, if she married, she refused to marry a hero.

      * * * *

      When Jack got home, he greeted Archer, cleaned up the newspaper Archer had shredded all over the apartment, and had sat down to fill out the application when the phone rang.

      “Hello?”

      “Jack. It’s Kevin. There’s a place for rent on Jefferson.”

      “On Jefferson? Did you get a number?” Jack frowned. He hadn’t noticed another For Rent sign on Jefferson, but all the way home, his eyes had been full of Katherine Pelham.

      “No number on the sign.”

      “White Colonial?”

      “Yeah.”

      Jack nodded. “I looked at it on the way home.”

      “And?”

      “Nice. Big fenced-in yard, and a door that lets into a little room at the back. She said I could put in a dog door.”

      “And the deposit?”

      “One month’s rent. Nothing extra for Archer. I don’t think she’s done this before. It’s cheap. I want to get the application back to her today.” Jack scanned the next question. Employer. While he talked, he wrote in ‘Arden Fire Department.’

      “Are you sure there’s nothing wrong with it?”

      “I’m sure. She’s just new at this. I looked the place over thoroughly. It needs work, but I’ll talk her into letting me do it.”

      “Or you could buy a house, and then you wouldn’t have to ask.”

      Jack shot the receiver a dirty look, knowing his friend expected one. “It takes a long time to buy a house. I need a place for Archer now.”

      “The landlord is a woman?”

      Jack felt a spark of desire he hadn’t felt in a long time. “Yeah.” Definitely a woman. Long auburn hair. Great curves. Sparkling chocolate brown eyes. A little formal, but vulnerable too. Just his type.

      “Good looking?”

      “Oh, yeah.”

      “Anybody we know?”

      “I don’t think so. I haven’t seen her around. It’s only a couple blocks from the station.” He wondered about the other half of her ‘we’. Was it an old family home? Or was she divorced and saddled with a house she couldn’t afford? Or did some other little tangle cause the tenseness around her eyes?

      “So you can run home when you forget your St. Florian medal.” Kevin chuckled.

      “Very funny.” Jack shifted to read the next line of the application. References. “Can I use you as a reference?”

      “She asked for references? I guess so. Do I have to tell the truth?”

      “Only if it’s good.”

      “Should I tell her what a hero you are? How you run into burning buildings to save kitties who have already vacated the premises?”

      “That was a long time ago, and I thought the woman said kiddies. You’re welcome to tell her how much you admire me for my sheer masculinity though.” Jack filled in Kevin’s name and number on the last line. Mrs. Wilson would give him a reference, and Dale was so happy he’d taken Archer that he’d sell Ms. Pelham on Jack without encouragement. Still, he’d give them both a call to let them know.

      “You know you can’t date the landlady, right?”

      “Ha ha.”

      “Hey, you coming over to help me with my plumbing tomorrow?”

      “Okay if I bring Archer?”

      “Sure. See ya tomorrow.”

      “See ya.” Jack hung up and double-checked the phone numbers. Then, he called Mrs. Wilson and Dale to make sure they didn’t mind being his other references. Mrs. Wilson was happy to help, and Dale promised to convince her Archer was well behaved.

      Jack inspected the application, wondering how to skew the decision in his favor. The apartment was perfect. And the landlady wasn’t anything to sneeze at.

      Archer put his big head on Jack’s leg. Jack looked at him. He looked like a Rottweiller, but he didn’t have the typical markings and his face was longer and leaner. He couldn’t be happy in this little apartment. The apartment on Jefferson would be big enough for him to move around without bumping into things and had lots of yard to chase squirrels in. “What do you want, boy? Do you want to go meet the landlady?”

      Archer’s ears perked up. All he heard was ‘go.’

      “All right, come on. Let’s go.”

      Archer danced around the tiny kitchen, crashing into the cupboards and the table. Jack grabbed the leash and his keys. She’d seemed interested in the dog. She might like the idea of having one around. Maybe meeting him would convince the lovely Ms. Pelham.

      Aw, who was he kidding? He wasn’t going back to drop off the application as soon as possible, or so she could meet Archer. He was going back so he could see her.

      * * * *

      Katherine gathered up the graded quizzes and put them into her book bag. She hadn’t assigned enough homework last week. She’d finished grading, and the weekend wasn’t halfway over. What was she supposed to do with the rest of it? She grimaced. Maybe she should devote time to her bustling social life. Why, she had two books checked out of the library. That alone was a huge time commitment. She moved away from her desk and studied the room.

      She’d lined the walls with shelves constructed of milk crates and boards. Most of the shelves bowed under the weight of books. Shortly after they bought the house, she’d talked to the school janitor about building real shelves, but Gary nixed the idea. He said he’d make them himself. He never had. Time ran out.

      Katherine hung her book bag on the doorknob. Maybe she was wrong. Maybe the office did have bad memories. She wandered to her living room, trying to think of some way to waste the rest of the weekend. Her friends told her to move on. It had been four years. Get out and date. Have fun. Start over. The whole idea made her feel ill.

      She’d never been outgoing, and the notion of hanging around a smoky bar trying to meet a nice, intelligent guy who wasn’t trying to get himself killed for a living didn’t sound like fun. She’d rather live alone. There had to be other ways to meet men who weren’t heroes, teachers or, heaven forbid, school janitors. Maybe one would move in downstairs.

      Like the guy she’d shown the apartment to this morning. He seemed nice and looked even nicer. She could recall the clever glint in his eyes and the timbre of his voice. Wrapping her arms around herself, she remembered how it felt when he caught her after the door burst open. The way his arms supported her. If he brought back the application, СКАЧАТЬ