Chez Stinky (14 page)

Kat devoted most of the rest of the day to more cleaning. It was slow going. The more she cleaned, the more she found to clean. It was like an archaeological dig, unearthing new layers of dirt and trash. Clearly, she was going to have to take a trip to the local dump. Her date with Larry was tonight and she considered the idea of asking if she could borrow his ugly truck.
How romantic
.

After taking the dogs out for another walk, Kat focused on trying to make herself look like a girl again in preparation for her evening out. Getting dressed up seemed like a distant memory, even though she’d been here in Alpine Grove for only a few days. But she was starting to understand why most people tended to wear the clothes they did. Between all the dog walking, cleaning, and associated filth, even Kat’s recently acquired Kmart-based wardrobe was taking a beating.

She stood in front of the closet where she had hung up her clothes, pondering her options. Kat loved bright colors and fabric, but she had zero fashion savvy. Looking through her clothes was an exercise in frustration. She was clueless when shopping, which led to a mismatched collection of partial outfits that mostly didn’t work together. When she was a kid there had been a clothing line that made it easy for kids to select outfits by matching little animal tags. If you matched a giraffe shirt with giraffe pants, you knew the outfit worked. Why had no one come up with the same thing for adults?

When she was in high school, one of the worst and most absurd teenage angst-laden fights she’d had with her mother was what she now thought of as the dress-for-success argument. Kat had been getting ready to go to work at her summer job, and Mom had gone on a long tirade about how it was important for her to wear a suit. And if she didn’t adhere to this rigid rule of workplace fashion, she’d never make anything of herself. Kat had argued that perhaps competence and skill might have some impact on employment success along with the suit, but Mom wasn’t having any of it. To this day, Kat had yet to ever wear a suit to work, just on general principle.

Part of the problem with deciding what to wear this evening was that she wasn’t sure where Larry was taking her and what dress codes were like in Alpine Grove. Presumably, people didn’t wear flannel everywhere. In the end, she decided on the safe approach: her favorite blue dress, which matched her eyes. Every other woman in the world had a little black dress; Kat had the little blue dress instead. And given that it was getting late, it would have to do.

At 7:00 p.m. there was a knock on the door. Freshly pressed and primped, Kat answered it and found Larry standing on the blue-carpeted landing with an uncertain smile. She was relieved to see that he was dressed as he had been at his office, in a conservative jacket and slacks, as opposed to his L.L. Bean look. That implied they might be going somewhere more upscale than an RV park, so her little blue dress wouldn’t seem too out of place.

“Hello, Kat. You look very pretty tonight.”

Kat looked down at her dress, blushing slightly. “Thanks, Larry. Do you want to come in?”

“I made reservations for 7:30, so just for a minute.”

Larry walked through the door into the hallway and looked around. “It certainly smells better here. And it looks like you’ve done some cleaning.”

Kat laughed, “You have no idea. I don’t miss the stink either. I haven’t been able to get in touch with Bud to get the hole in the wall fixed. Do you know if he’s still out hunting?”

“I’m not sure. Did you ask him about repairing the roof?”

Kat shrugged. “Yes, but I haven’t heard about that, either. I hope it doesn’t rain.”

“Where are all the animals?”

“The dogs are downstairs. My cat Murphee is in the bedroom, and the other cats are wandering around. Louise told me there are two more cats outside, but I’ve never seen them.”

Kat had a feeling that Larry might be checking up on her for Louise, but she wasn’t sure. Maybe he was just being polite and asking about the critters. It was hard to tell. Although she wasn’t sure exactly why, he was difficult to talk to. He was always respectful and courteous, but it always seemed like he was evaluating her and she came up short in his estimation.

Larry turned toward the door. “We should probably go now.”

As they exited the house, Kat was relieved to see that Larry had come up with a newer, cleaner vehicle to transport her to the restaurant. Instead of the grungy, salmon pickup truck, a generic, dark-gray sedan was parked in the driveway. As she climbed in, Kat’s brain was racing to try to think of something to say. Since they’d covered most of the small talk related to the repairs and animals of Chez Stinky, the conversation had ground to a halt. Driving to the restaurant in silence was going to be uncomfortable.

“So, how long have you lived in Alpine Grove?”

Larry looked over at her and then back at the road. “I grew up here. My parents own the hardware store in town.”

“Really? I need to get a new knob thingie for the shower. Mine broke.” She wasn’t sure if she wanted to get into
that
whole story. If he was a spy for Louise, breaking the plumbing wouldn’t exactly improve the old woman’s impression of her caretaking abilities.

“I’m sure they could help you with that.”

Kat mentally groaned and tried to resuscitate the conversation. “Did you go to college around here?”

“I went to the UCLA School of Law.”

“You went off to the big city?”

“Yes, but I didn’t enjoy it. I missed Alpine Grove. So as soon I passed the bar, I came back here.”

Clearly, Larry wasn’t a big storyteller. Kat tried to think of something else she could ask that wouldn’t result in a yes, no, or three-word answer. She hoped the restaurant was close by. It could be a long car ride.

“So, what are your hobbies?”

“I don’t really have hobbies. I work and then go home and relax.”

Kat gave up, and they rode the rest of the way to the restaurant in silence. When they got to the restaurant, their table wasn’t ready, so they were escorted to the lounge to wait. The restaurant served Italian food and the air was heavy with the aroma of freshly made spicy tomato sauce, garlic, olive oil and artisan bread. The lighting was cozy and romantic. Quite a few Alpine Grove marriages might begin here with a proposal at the tables that surrounded the huge stone fireplace.

Kat pulled up a stool to the long mahogany bar, and Larry pulled another barstool over next to her, so he was sitting uncomfortably close to her. Kat knew that she probably had an overdeveloped sense of personal space, but his proximity made her anxious. In her family, they weren’t huggers. She leaned away from him, trying to increase the distance. It would be better if she could just have a conversation with him.

Kat cleared her throat and decided to go with a situational question, since asking about Larry’s life had been a flop. “So, what do you like to eat here?”

“I love Italian food” he said enthusiastically. “My favorite dish is the gnocchi con salsiccia. It has homemade sausage and gnocchi in a basil tomato sauce topped with plenty of mozzarella cheese. I also enjoy the scallops, which come in a light cream sauce with fettuccini noodles. The scallops are perfectly cooked, so they just melt in your mouth. The house salad and dressing is also good. It has olives, chickpeas, and carrots. I like to have dinner with a medium-priced, yet bold Chianti.”

Kat raised her eyebrows. Larry certainly knew his food. “I usually prefer vegetarian options. Do you have any suggestions?”

“You might enjoy the Rigatoni al Gorgonzola. It has gorgonzola cheese in a creamy vodka sauce with walnuts on top. It’s just wonderful.”

Larry continued to expound on the various menu options. Kat came to the conclusion that given his encyclopedic knowledge of the menu, he must eat here a lot. Like maybe every night. She was getting hungry and her stomach growled loudly. How embarrassing.

“I guess I’m getting hungry.”

“Yes. I am, too. I’ll check on our table.” Larry lurched off his bar stool, colliding with Kat and pushing her off her stool onto the floor. She landed unceremoniously on her rump, painfully reminding her that she still had the big bruise on her butt from falling on the bathroom floor. Alpine Grove seemed to be hazardous to her health.

With a horrified look on his face, Larry reached down to help Kat up off the floor.

“I’m so sorry! Are you okay?”

With as much dignity as she could muster, Kat collected her legs under her and stood up. She moved the bar stool farther from Larry.

“Yes, I’m fine. Could you see about our table?”

“I’ll be right back.” Larry hustled off to the hostess desk and conferred with a tall blonde woman he seemed to know well. Kat could hear them laughing and hoped they weren’t laughing about how she had ended up splatted on the floor. The grin on his face became more subdued as he turned back toward her.

“They’re getting a table ready now.”

The blonde woman, who it turned out was named Traci (with an i), led them to a table near the fireplace. Kat was relieved to be sitting across the table from Larry, instead of next to him.

The rest of the meal passed relatively uneventfully, if quietly. Once they had their food, the menu topic was off the table (so to speak) and Kat had run out of ideas for small talk. She’d unsuccessfully covered family, work, and home in the car.

Larry paused in his meal and asked, “So do you think you’ll stay in Alpine Grove?”

“I’m thinking about it, but I’m not sure. I asked my boss about telecommuting, and he wasn’t particularly encouraging about the idea.”

“You could quit your job.”

“I’m not sure I want to do that. I have friends there, and I’m not sure what I’d do instead.”

Kat didn’t elaborate and Larry resumed his enthusiastic eating. She wasn’t sure she wanted to share her decision-making process, since whatever she said to Larry might get back to Louise.

Larry raised his fork and pointed it at her. “Well, if you don’t stay, you need to think about finding homes for the dogs and cats.”

Kat’s heart clenched a bit at the idea of finding a new home for Linus, Lori, and Chelsey. Even Tessa. It had been only a short time, but she was becoming attached to them. She gave herself a mental shake.
I don’t have to figure that out now.

After finishing the meal and experiencing another quiet, uncomfortable drive back to Chez Stinky, Kat was more than ready to say goodbye to Larry and end the long awkward evening. They stood on the blue-carpeted stairs as Kat leaned over to unlock the door.

Larry reached out to put his arm around her. “I had a great time tonight. Can we do this again?”

Had he been on the same date she had? She deftly maneuvered herself out of his embrace and opened the door. “Um, we’ll see. I should get in. The dogs need their walk now. Thank you very much. The food was just as good as you said. Really great. I have to go. ’Bye.”

As Kat scuttled into the house and closed the door behind her, she leaned back on it, relieved to have avoided what could have been the most awkward good night kiss of her life. Or maybe the history of the world.

She went down the stairs to see how the dogs were doing. With some trepidation, she had boldly put Tessa inside with everyone else, and everything seemed okay. “Hi guys.”

The dogs jumped up from the various beds they’d been sleeping on, and with tails wagging, the pack ran over to greet her. She used both hands and reached out to scratch the fuzzy ears crowding around her. “You all look fine. Were you good? I missed having someone I can talk to!”

The next morning, Kat sat at the kitchen table eating a piece of toast, reflecting on the prior evening’s conversation, or lack thereof. Although the date with Larry had been arduous, he had asked a good question about the roof. Kat knew she had been avoiding dealing with Bud on construction-related matters. But eventually rain or another weather event could cause the roof to fail in its primary mission of remaining over her head. So she couldn’t ignore it forever.

As she picked up the phone receiver, she considered what she could say to Bud. Because she was still annoyed about the hole in the wall, she was afraid she’d blurt out something like, “So Bud, are you done hunting yet? Are you ever going to fix the wall?” But that probably wasn’t a good approach.

This time when she called, Kat didn’t get the answering machine. After five rings, Bud picked up the phone. “Hiya, this is Bud.”

“Bud, this is Kat Stevens. I left a message the other day about the hole in my wall.”

“Yep. I was out huntin’ in the mountains. I got some food now. It took some time to prep, but there’s going to be good eats at my house. It feels good to have a full freezer!”

“So does that mean you can come out here and fix the hole in the wall? I’d also really like an estimate on how much work needs to be done to fix the roof and an idea of the cost.”

“Yeah, I’ve been working on thinking about fixing that roof. It could be complicated. I gotta talk to the guys at the lumberyard and get out my calculator.”

Kat tried not to think about what lurked in Bud’s freezer. Or about his calculating abilities. Maybe she didn’t want this estimate after all. Never seeing or talking to Bud again was having some appeal. She had an idea. “I was thinking that I’d like to talk to some of your prior clients. Do you have references I can talk to about the quality of your work?”