Kelly’s apartment had been packed up and sublet, her belongings moved over to Jack’s house on the water in Fairfield. She and Jack headed there right after the ceremony. She followed his car for the thirty-minute trip, and was relieved to have that time to herself.
When she was around Jack, Kelly felt as though she couldn’t breathe. Her whole body tingled when he looked at her, and she was mortified by the thought that he might realize exactly what she was thinking whenever they were together.
She wasn’t used to trying to hide what she was thinking and feeling, but it seemed like she shouldn’t let him catch on to how insanely over her head she was.
Kelly gasped when they turned into the driveway of what would be her home for the next year.
“Wow,” she said to herself as she pulled to a stop. “Just…wow.”
‘Sprawling’ was all that came to mind. His home looked like a beach house on steroids with its cedar siding, rooflines that sloped and met at varying angles, and what Kelly thought might be called gables. She pulled into the circular drive behind his car and laughed. Her little Honda Civic seemed wildly out of place behind Jack’s Jag.
“This is it,” he said, as he stepped out of his car and looked up toward the house.
Kelly stared at the building. “It’s amazing,” she all but whispered.
“Come on,” said Jack, handing her a key, his warm fingers brushing the palm of her hand. “I’ll show you inside.”
She looked down at the key. She was amazed how quickly Jack had thought of everything they needed. He had pulled this charade together in a matter of days. Her head hadn’t stopped spinning since she walked into his office.
She took a deep breath and vowed to have fun with this. After all, she’d had the guts to walk in his office and pull off this little deal…so why not live up to that new image that had bubbled up to the surface that day?
“I’ll need to get you a garage door opener and show you how to work the alarm codes. Mrs. Poole lives in an in-law suite over the garage and takes care of all the cooking and cleaning. You can leave her a list of the food you like and what you want her to stock in the house, and she’ll see that it’s taken care of,” Jack explained as they walked in through the front entry.
“Oh, that’s really not necessary,” she said hurriedly. “I honestly don’t want her to have to do things for me. I mean, I don’t want you to have to change things for me. And you don’t need to buy my food. Maybe I can just have a shelf in the fridge?”
This really wasn’t what she had in mind when she thought up this insane plan. Truth be told, she hadn’t even thought it through this far, or thought about what their lives would be like for the next year.
Jack stopped and turned to her, his gaze incredulous. “A shelf in the fridge?”
Kelly cringed. Okay, yeah, so that sounded like they were college roomies or something.
A slow smile split his face and he shook his head. “It’s all right, Kelly. Let Mrs. Poole take care of you. She does things for me, so there’s no reason not to do them for you, too.”
Kelly glanced to the house and then back at him, teeth worrying her bottom lip.
“Come on,” he said as he headed up, taking the stairs two at a time on his long, lean legs. “I’ll show you the house.”
Jack showed Kelly the house and went back to the office to work. Her furniture had been put in storage, but all of her clothes, books, and personal items had been put in the largest of the guest rooms.
Kelly climbed the stairs to her new room and looked out the window to the view of Long Island Sound. She did have to admit, it was stunning here. She was going to be spoiled this year in Jack’s fairy tale house.
Walking to the bed with its flowered coverlet and throw pillows, she ran her hand over the blanket and sat. It was plush and luxurious.
Kelly stood to unpack her belongings when a plump woman in her late fifties, with short graying hair that once was brown, and kind smiling eyes appeared in the doorway.
“Oh!” Kelly jumped up. “You startled me.”
“I’m sorry.” The woman smiled and came into the room.
“I’m Mrs. Poole. I saw Jack leave and thought I’d come get you settled in. Did he show you where everything is?” She had a singsong voice that Kelly found soothing and comforting as she immediately started to make herself useful.
Kelly responded to the woman’s genuine and warm smile with one of her own. “Thank you, yes. I’m Kelly.”
Mrs. Poole opened the curtains and blinds, pulled towels out of the linen closet and brought them into the adjoining bath. She even started to help Kelly unpack.
“Jack showed me around, although I think it will take me a while to get used to it all. With one sister and two brothers, I grew up in a fairly large home, but it was nothing like this.”
Mrs. Poole laughed. “It takes a bit of getting used to. You holler if you get lost, and I’ll come find you and get you to where you need to go.”
The woman whirled around busily, putting clothes away as she chatted about the room. “I’ve always loved this room. Jack brought in a designer to do everything when he bought the house. I wouldn’t have thought of putting yellow with Wedgewood blue, but it turned out beautifully. So light and airy with the white wicker furniture and trim.”
“Oh, you don’t need to help me unpack,” Kelly said, embarrassed to be waited on. “I really don’t want to be a burden. I mean… I don’t mean… that is I don’t ….” Kelly stumbled nervously over the words, not knowing how to explain the situation to Mrs. Poole. She didn’t know if Jack had told Mrs. Poole about their arrangement yet or not, but he must have if Mrs. Poole didn’t think it was odd that Kelly was staying in a separate room.
Mrs. Poole smiled kindly at her as she crossed to hang several dresses in the walk-in closet. “It’s all right, dear. Jack explained what’s going on. He thought it would be best for me to know about the arrangement. I have to say, it’s one of the funnier pickles he’s gotten himself into, and I do find it entertaining that the whole thing was your idea. I’ll bet that caught him off guard. Jack is used to being in charge of things. I bet he damn near jumped out of his skin when his ‘fiancée’ walked into his office.” She laughed a full belly laugh as her eyes sparkled with amusement.
Kelly let out her breath and smiled at Mrs. Poole. The older woman’s blunt manner put her at ease, and she had a feeling she would like getting to know this woman.
“Besides, it’ll be nice to have someone else around this big place. All of my kids are long grown, and it’s too empty here when it’s just me and Jack. I like having people around the house to spoil.”
Kelly started to relax and felt better about the whole bizarre situation.
But Mrs. Poole’s next comment caught her off guard again, and she realized she’d need to stay on her toes.
“That man needs this, though. You’ll be very good for Jack, even if it is only for a year,” Mrs. Poole said with a wink and walked out of the room.