Disclaimer: Although Montrose, Colorado and Brownsville, Kentucky are real towns, the people and addresses in this story are fictional and any one or place that may be similar is coincidental. This story contains scenes of two women in sexual scenes.
Missing: Part Two
By M. E. Tudor
CHAPTER FOUR
This past week had been the best of Kelly's life. She had never felt this free. She dyed her hair blond, which was something she would have never been allowed to do before. She got to sleep in for the first time in more than twenty years. She only had to spend a half an hour cleaning and she hadn't done any cooking.
It had only taken her two days to come to a final decision that she was staying in this incredible place. She desperately wanted to go south to where she could see the mountains meeting the sky line but that would have to wait until she had transportation.
She knew at some point she was going to have to deal with the problems she had left behind but she wasn't sure how she was going to go about it. It was probably better for her to wait for a little while and let everyone back home cool off before she let them know what she was doing.
Kelly had struck up a friendship with Marge, the owner of this motel. She was a spirited old gal who Kelly decided had never allowed anyone to control her. Kelly wished that she could be like Marge. Maybe if she spent enough time with her, she could learn how to be as independent as Marge is.
She had been up since five this morning and was now bored. It was just approaching seven and Kelly knew that Marge wouldn't open the office until nine today because it was Sunday. She had spent the past week taking a walking tour of Montrose, which turned out to be larger than she originally thought it was. It's a little bigger than her hometown in Kentucky but still too small to really be considered a city.
She decided to go out to the newspaper machine and get a Sunday paper. She left her room and went out to the paper machine which was in front of the motel office. She had gotten her paper and was on her way back to her room when she saw Marge dragging an old vacuum cleaner out of a storage room. She went over to where Marge was, "What are you doing?"
Marge gripped her lower back as she straightened herself. "I'm going down to clean units eight and twelve. The people who had been staying in them left yesterday."
"You don't need to be doing that kind of cleaning," Kelly stated. She knew Marge had arthritis all through her body and was in pain most days.
"Yeah, but the room has to be cleaned and I can't afford to hire someone to do it."
Marge said as she stepped back into the storage room to get a bucket of cleaning supplies.
"Why don't you let me do it?" Kelly offered.
"I just said I can't afford to pay anyone to do it," Marge said mildly irritated.
"You don't have to pay me. I'm bored out of my mind and would love to have something to do."
Marge studied the younger woman for a moment. She had come to like Kelly a lot. She was relatively sure she could trust her to do a decent job and she really didn't feel up to cleaning this morning. "Okay."
Kelly beamed. "Great! I'll take these things and get started and you go relax and read the paper." She handed Marge the paper she just bought and took the vacuum cleaner from her.
Marge handed Kelly the room keys, stepped back and watched as Kelly grabbed up the bucket of cleaning supplies. She headed to unit eight, walking with a purpose. Marge shook her head. Kelly still had not told her too much about her past but Marge was sure that she was a good person.
Kelly opened the door to unit eight and stepped inside. It was completely trashed. She was not really surprised. There had been about five guys living there that were working for a local construction company. When they weren't working they were drinking but they hadn't been very rowdy. Kelly was sure Marge would not have let them stay for long if they had been too loud.
Kelly really liked the fact that most of the people who stayed at the hotel were relatively quiet. There had only been one small incident during this past week and Marge nipped it very quickly. Kelly felt the fact that Marge lived on the premises helped keep things pretty quiet. It was harder for people to act stupid when they knew the owner was within hearing distance and would call the police without hesitation.
Kelly jumped right into the cleaning. It took her about two hours to get the unit to the point that she felt satisfied with it. She went to unit twelve and it wasn't as bad. There had been a Hispanic family living there. They were very quiet. Kelly hadn't even realized that there had been two little children and a woman living there with the quiet man that had come and gone each day during the past week. She suspected that they didn't have green cards and were trying to keep a low profile.
Unit twelve only took her an hour to clean. The lingering smell of the Hispanic food that had been cooked there had made her hungry. She took the vacuum and cleaning supplies back to the storage unit and took the keys back to Marge.
Marge was sitting in the office drinking coffee and still reading the paper Kelly had given her. She looked up in surprise when Kelly came in. She looked at the clock and back at Kelly. "You done already?"
Kelly smiled, "Yeah, I'd have been done sooner but unit eight was a mess."
Marge started to get up but Kelly came around the counter and handed her the keys. She sat back down. "I really appreciate you doing that for me. My arthritis is killing me this morning."
"Have you taken your medicine?" Kelly asked with concern.
"Yeah but sometimes it's just not enough. I've used and abused this old body over the years and I'm paying for it now. You better make sure to take care of yourself if you don't want to end up like me." Marge said with a slight smile as she got herself comfortable again.
"I'll keep that in mind," Kelly grinned, "I'm going to walk up to the Mexican restaurant downtown and get some lunch. Do you want anything?"
"A taco salad would be good." Marge said and started to get up again to get Kelly the money.
Kelly stopped her, putting a gentle hand on her shoulder, "I'll get it. You can deduct it from my rent next month."
"Planning on being around that long, huh?"
Kelly smiled as she and looked out the window where they midday sun was bouncing off the small tree at the side of the building. "Yeah, I really like it here. I think I'm going to stick around for awhile."
"Good," Marge smiled, "I like having you around."
Kelly patted Marge's shoulder fondly. "I'll be back in a little bit."
"You can take my car if you want." Marge offered, surprising Kelly.
Kelly thought about it for a minute, "It's beautiful outside, I'll just walk. Plus I think I'm going to see if the lady a few blocks up will let me have some of her lilacs so I can put them in my room."
"Okay," Marge said, "See ya in a little while." She looked back at her paper and Kelly left with a slight jingle of the bell on the door.
CHAPTER FIVE
Marge had been waiting for Kelly when she came back with the Mexican food. She had been impressed with the way Kelly had cleaned the units. "Those rooms haven't been that clean in years." She struck up a deal with Kelly. She would let Kelly stay there at the motel for half price if Kelly would clean the units for her. Kelly gladly agreed.
They next week was fairly busy for Kelly with several people leaving and her getting to clean the units. She also started cleaning up around the motel. She picked up all the trash and pulled weeds. She even talked Marge into buying some simple flowers for planting around the motel.
Kelly had even started cleaning Marge's small apartment that week to help the older woman out. Kelly had grown even more fond of Marge. She was a warm and caring person underneath the gruff appearance that she first gave people. One evening, after she finished cleaning Marge's apartment, Kelly got her to talk about her husband, Barney.
Marge had pictures of the two of them all over her small unit. Kelly could tell that they had been very much in love and Marge missed him very much.
One evening after Kelly had finished cleaning Marge's apartment, Marge told her what a sweet man that her husband had been, always very caring and attentive. They had not been able to have children so it just been the two of them for almost forty years and then Barney had a heart attack and died.
Kelly's heart broke for Marge as she told the story of how devastated she had been when Barney passed. "I would have probably killed myself if it hadn't been for my friends here. Most of them have sense passed too. I still have a few friends who call but I don't really see anyone anymore. We all have gotten too old to be out driving around too much."
"You can't be that old." Kelly said. She had figured Marge to be about sixty or a little older.
"I'm seventy-six." She stated, "but my body feels like it's eighty-six. I've had rheumatoid arthritis for twenty years now and it just keeps getting worse."
"I would never have thought you were seventy-six." Kelly said sincerely, she had known many women in their sixty's who didn't look as good as Marge did. "I'm sorry about you having arthritis."
"Don't be sorry," Marge said and patted Kelly's leg. "It runs in my family and like I said before, I've worked this old body hard over the years."
"Any time that you need help with anything you just let me know. I'll be more than glad to do anything you need done." Kelly said with feeling.
Marge smiled. "I'll keep that in mind." Marge's look turned somewhat serious. "I've told you some of my past. Why don't you tell me what a pretty young gal like you is doing out here all alone."
Kelly sighed. What should she tell her? How much should she tell her? "I left behind a very bad relationship."
"Were you married?" Marge asked gently.
"Yeah, for twenty years and almost all of them were bad years." Kelly said looking away.
"Did he hit you?"
Kelly still didn't look at Marge. She thought back to her younger years when her husband had been working very hard at breaking her spirit. He had smacked her several times and she had learned just to do what he asked. Really, the hitting had not been as bad as the verbal and emotional abuse. Kelly nodded.
Marge patted her hand. "You stayed a lot longer than you should have. Do you have children?"
"Yes but they're grown now," It was only a small lie. Her son was nineteen and her daughter was sixteen but her daughter was pregnant and about to get married that made her an adult in Kelly's eyes.
"What made you decide to leave?"
Kelly sighed and looked at Marge. Kelly decided she could trust Marge with the truth. "It had been a particularly bad day from the start. My husband had been very hateful to me all morning before he left to go to work. Shortly after my husband was gone, my son came in with a bunch of his hoodlum friends. He demanded that I fix them all something to eat and when I refused he came at with me with his hand raised like he was going to hit me. He had been verbally abusive to me for many years, courtesy of his father's teachings, but he had never raised his hand to me. Even his friends were quite shocked and ready to leave. He got right in my face and told me to fix them something to eat and I was actually afraid that he really might hit me so I fixed them all sandwiches. A couple of his friends apologized to me as they were going out the door. I believe that they were really sorry they had been a part of my son's abuse."
"Wow, that is the start of a pretty bad day."
"Well, it got worse." Kelly stated and sat down at Marge's table across from her. "My daughter came in and announced she was pregnant. I wasn't really all that shocked because I had suspected that she had been having sex for awhile. She told me that her father said that her boyfriend, who she was pretty sure was the father of the baby, was moving in. When I started to protest she said that her father had already said it was okay so there was nothing I could do and that was true. Once my husband made a decision, nothing I had to say or tried to do mattered."
"My God," Marge patted Kelly's hand, "That's awful."
"It gets worse." Kelly sighed and went on, "I ran into my sister at the gas station. She said that there was a rumor in town that I was sleeping with my best friend's husband. My best friend, her husband and I had all been friend's since high school. I had never been interested in him but I knew that my sister and mother both stayed a breast of all the gossip in town. My sister said that my best friend was not going to speak to me again and that my mother was waiting for me to come over to her house so she could chew me out."
"All of this based on rumor?" Marge was shaking her head.
Kelly nodded, "Oh yes, as far as my sister and mother are concerned, anything they hear on the rumor vine is the gospel truth. Of course I have never been able to do anything right as far as my mother is concerned. My older brother and I were both very close to our father and when my baby sister was born she was the only child in the world according to my mother."
"Is your father still living?"
"No," Kelly's eye's began to water but she dried them up quickly. "He died when I was eighteen. I probably wouldn't have gotten married at all if he had lived but after he was gone, I couldn't stand living with my mother so I began looking for a way out." Kelly gritted her teeth, "I started dating this guy Steve and got pregnant. Our parents insisted we get married. I was glad to have a way out of my mother's house but it turned out that I was going from one hell to another."
"What about your brother?"
"He left town the day he turned eighteen and has only been back a couple of times. He and I talk over the phone a couple of times a year and send each other cards. We were very close as children but after I got married we haven't seen much of each other."
"Did you tell anyone that you were leaving?"
"No," Kelly said looking out the window at the fading colors as the sun was setting. "It's just for the best that my family doesn't know where I am for a little while. They are all on his side about things, except for my brother. He hates Steve. If Steve finds out where I am he will just make me go back and I don't want to go back."
Marge nodded and patted Kelly's hand again. "Don't you worry about it. Those people can't hurt you here and I won't tell a soul about your past. Why don't you run along and get you a shower after cleaning this nasty old place."
Kelly smiled at the older woman. Marge's place was very clean even before she came in, it just needed a good dusting. "I'll do that. Let me know if the people in unit fifteen move out tomorrow and I'll get down there and clean the unit."
"Will do," Marge said as Kelly got up and walked to the door. Kelly stopped and looked back at her as if she was about to say something. Marge smiled, "Things are going to get better for you, hon. I can just feel it."
Kelly smiled, "They already have. See ya tomorrow."
Kelly's smile faded as she left. She was going to have to deal with her soon to be ex-husband and her family so she could move on with her life. She was glad that Marge had lived a good life and had a good husband. Kelly would give anything for someone to love her that much.
CHAPTER SIX
The next day when Kelly started cleaning unit fifteen she discovered that there was a lot of water damage to the cabinets. She brought Marge in to show her. Marge sighed heavily, "I'll have to replace those. I'll call Rick Bryant and have him come over and give me a quote."
Kelly stood looking at the cabinets. "I could probably replace these myself if you order the cabinets."
Marge looked at her in surprise. "You know how to do stuff like that?"
"Yeah," Kelly smiled, "I used to do cabinet with work with my dad and then my husband. These are pretty simple cabinets. It wouldn't take a lot of work to replace them."
"I'd let ya, but my insurance says I have to have a licensed contractor do it. You should talk to Rick when he comes out. I bet he would give you a job." Marge said as she walked away to go to the office to call Rick.
That would be nice, Kelly thought to herself, if I can get him to pay me cash. She started cleaning the unit and was just getting done when a blond man driving a red Ford F250 pulled in front of the unit. He was tall, slender and boyishly good looking. He smiled at Kelly as she came out of the unit with the vacuum in tow. "You must be Kelly." He said holding out a large hand. "I'm Rick Bryant. Marge was just telling me about you."
Kelly took his hand and gave him a firm handshake. "Nice to meet ya."
"I'm really glad you are here to help Marge out. I know her arthritis kills her when she has to clean these units." Rick said as he assessed Kelly. She looked strong and intelligent like Marge said. He wondered if she really knew anything about cabinets.
"I'm glad to help her out. It gives me something to do." Kelly studied Rick just as openly as he had studied her. She had known a lot of contractors in her life, some good and some bad. This guy must be good or Marge wouldn't trust him.
"Marge said you might be looking for a job." Rick stated as he leaned back against the hood of his truck and folded his arms.
"I could use a job but I don't have any transportation." Kelly said as she put her hands in her pockets.
"I might be able to get you a ride."
Kelly looked into his sky blue eyes, "I'd have to be paid cash." Rick raised a questioning eyebrow. "I just left my husband and I don't want him to know where I am. I would be very bad for me, if you know what I mean."
Rick nodded. Marge had told him a little about what was going on with her. "I can do that but I'll have to pay you less than I would normally pay a laborer so I can cover the taxes."
"That's fine."
"When can you start?"
Kelly smiled, she couldn't believe it had been that easy. "When ever you want me to."
"I've got a guy coming over here to start working on these cabinets. He's going by the hardware store first and picking up the new cabinets. You want to give him a hand taking these out and putting in the new ones?" Rick stood upright as he asked.
"Sure but don't you need the measurements from these?" Kelly was surprised that the guy would order cabinets without doing measurements.
"Naw, I've replaced a lot of cabinets in these units and I've got the measurements stored on my computer. I'm sure there'll need to be some minor adjustments but the units are all basically the same." Rick stated.
"Okay," Kelly said with a shrug, "I'll go ahead and start tearing these out if you want me to."
"Works for me," Rick said as he opened the door to his truck, "The guy coming is Timmy Drake and I'll be back at about five to see how things are going."
Kelly nodded, "See ya then."
Kelly put up the cleaning supplies and started tearing out the cabinets. She had done this a thousand times before and had all of the bottom cabinets out and the upper cabinets ready to come out by the time Timmy Drake got there. Timmy was a short, pudgy man in his mid-fifties. He had short, salt and pepper hair that had been jet black at some point. He was driving a beat up blue Mazda that looked like it was on its last leg and coughed when Timmy turned it off.
Timmy got out of his truck and waddled over to where Kelly was standing, hammer in hand. "Damn girl, you just about got it all done."
"Yeah, everything but pulling out these top cabinets. I thought I'd better wait for you to help me with those." Kelly smiled. She could tell she was going to like Timmy right away.
Timmy held out a rough hand, "Rick told me your name is Kelly and I'm sure he told you mine is Timmy."
Kelly took his hand and gave it a hardy shake. "Yep."
"Well, let's get those top cabinets out and the new ones in."
Kelly and Timmy worked together and got the upper cabinets out and put in the new cabinets. By the time Rick got back at five, all they lacked was putting in the new trim around the cabinets and floor.
"Wow," Rick said when he walked in the unit. "That is amazing. I've never seen a crew work this fast."
"It was all her, boss. She worked me like a dog." Timmy said with a wink in Kelly's direction.
Kelly laughed, "I've got a lot of pent up energy and Timmy just needed a little encouragement."
Rick laughed too, "Timmy needs a lot of encouragement."
"Kiss my butt, Rick," Timmy laughed too.
"You definitely got yourself a job." Rick said looking over the work. "You weren't kidding when you said you knew what you were doing."
"I've been around construction, mostly cabinet and trim work, all my life." Kelly stated as she stood looking too at her and Timmy's handy work.
"Tim, would you mind picking Kelly up tomorrow on your way in?" Rick asked Timmy who had leaned against the doorway.
"Sure can."
Rick patted Kelly on the shoulder, "I'll see you in the morning at the office." He turned and headed out of the unit. Timmy stood upright and moved out of his way. "I want you there by six."
"We'll be there," Timmy assured him.
Kelly moved up next to Timmy and stood in the doorway watching Rick drive away. "What time you going to be by here to get me?"
"About five-thirty," Timmy and moved back into the unit. "We might as well finish this. It won't take but about another hour."
"Sounds good to me." Kelly said as she picked up a piece of trim.
CHAPTER SEVEN
Timmy was there the next morning at five-thirty on the dot. He took Kelly to McDonald's and bought her breakfast before they went to the office. Kelly had tried to refuse the food but Timmy assured her that she would need a good breakfast before they got started. "It's going to be a long day, I promise ya."
When they got to the office there was six other guys there. Three of them were a crew of subcontractors that worked for Rick on and off and the other three were Rick's regular guys. Timmy introduced Kelly to the other men on Rick's crew. There was Jerry who was probably twenty-five. He had a short dark-brown hair, a goatee and was wearing a cowboy had. He reminded her a little of the country singer Tim McGraw. Bob was another older man. Not quite as old as Timmy but a little older than Kelly. He was a huge man with collar length, shaggy black hair and a thick beard. The other guy was Paul, he was a little younger than Kelly. His hair was blond like Rick's and he looked like he could be Rick's brother with the same boyish good looks. Kelly learned later that Paul was Rick's cousin. Rick didn't have any brothers and just one sister who was a real estate agent in Ridgway, a smaller town to the south of Montrose.
Rick gave them their assignments for the day. Kelly was going to work with Timmy and Bob at house just outside of Montrose. Paul and Jerry were going to a house in Ridgway.
Kelly and Timmy rode with Bob is his blue king cab Ford to the job. It was a brand new home that was being build in a subdivision outside of Montrose. Kelly was amazed by the ride. It was absolutely beautiful country. She couldn't believe they were headed for a subdivision until they came over the top of one of the many hills and there the subdivision sat in a small valley.
The day went by quick. The three worked out a good system very soon after unloading the tools. They got a lot done. Timmy and Bob were both very impressed with Kelly's work ethic and strength. Kelly had only stopped briefly for lunch where Timmy and Bob had taken full breaks and almost an hour for lunch. "Girl, you're going to work yourself to death." Timmy had called out at one point.
Kelly was exhausted by the end of the day. She had wore jeans, a t-shirt under a sweat shirt and new boots she had bought at Wal-Mart the night before. She had taken off the sweatshirt during the day because she had got hot. Now she was chilled. It was amazing how quickly it got cold out here once the sun started to go down. Kelly's feet were killing her. It had been a long time since she had been on her feet all day like that.
They arrived back at the office at about six. Rick's red Ford was there and there was a black Jeep parked next to it. Kelly stared at the Jeep. It looked very familiar. Surely it wasn't the woman from the grocery store. Kelly followed Timmy and Bob into the office. Rick was sitting behind his desk and across from him was the woman from the grocery store. Her hair was a little darker blond than Rick's and when she turned around her brown eyes collided with Kelly's.
Kelly felt her breath stop in her throat. It was her. She felt nervous. She didn't know why she felt so nervous. She ran her hand through her hair that was a mess. The woman studied her for a moment then recognition set in. Kelly remembered that her hair had been dark auburn when they first met and now it was a dark blond from when she dyed it.
Rick looked at Kelly and the woman. "Pat, this is my new laborer Kelly. Kelly, this is my sister Pat."
Pat held out her hand to Kelly who took it shyly with a slight squeeze. "Nice to meet you."
"Nice to meet you too." Kelly said stepping back, surprised by the electric jolt she felt when she touched the woman's hand. Maybe she didn't really remember her.
"Did you like the coffee I suggested?" Pat smiled easily.
She does remember me. Kelly was surprisingly pleased by that. She smiled too, "Yes, it is wonderful. Thank you."
Rick looked at the two women, "So you two have met before?"
"Kind of," Pat turned to look at her brother. I saw her in the grocery store a few weeks back and suggested she try the organic Mountain Grown coffee."
"Oh," Rick said with a slight shake of his head. "Well, Kelly has been a great addition to our team. She's quite a worker."
"Good," Pat smiled looking back at Kelly, "I hope that means you'll be staying around for awhile."
The way Pat was looking at her gave Kelly butterflies in her stomach, "I'm not planning on going anywhere anytime soon."
Rick looked from one woman to the other and frowned, "Okay. Did you guys get that job done?"
Timmy began telling Rick what they had accomplished that day and Kelly was glad to be out of the limelight. She fidgeted nervously as she leaned against the wall and listened to the men talk. She could feel Pat looking at her but didn't dare look back. She had no idea what these feelings meant that she was having. No one had ever made her this nervous.
Pat studied the quiet woman while Rick and Timmy were talking. When she turned to look at Rick he was frowning at her. She decided it was a good time for her to leave. "Rick, I've got to get home but I'll call you next week about the work I need done on the house out on Last Dollar Road."
"Okay Sis," Rick didn't smile, "I'll talk to you later."
Pat got up with a nod and left Rick's office. She got in her Jeep and headed home. She knew what that comment about talking to her later meant. Pat's family had known she was gay since she was a teenager and accepted that about her. She had made the mistake of getting involved with some married women around the area and caused quite a stink for a little while. She had sworn herself off married women altogether. It didn't matter if they were separated, going through a divorce or just bored. Until they could show her documents saying they were divorced, she was not messing with them.
She knew that Rick was giving her dirty looks because she was checking Kelly out. She was a very attractive woman and Pat couldn't help herself. Kelly must be married or going through a divorce. Or, maybe Rick had his eye on her and didn't want Pat trying to step in. At any rate, Pat would keep her distance. She had enough going on with her real estate business and she didn't need to get involved with a woman she knew absolutely nothing about.
Kelly had watched the interaction between Pat and Rick. There was a tension suddenly right before Pat left that had not been there when the crew first came into the office. She wondered what had silently transpired between the two siblings to cause a problem. It could be anything. She knew from her experience with her siblings, especially her younger sister. Sometimes all her sister had to do was look at her a certain way and she would know what her sister was thinking and it would make her mad. She was glad her family was far away. She became more glad about that everyday.
She turned her attention to Rick, who was giving out the instructions for tomorrow. She was very excited about this new job and wanted to do the best she could for Rick. He was a really nice guy who treated his employees with respect, something that she had seen little of in the past.
As for Pat, Kelly didn't know how to describe the feelings that she caused but it didn't matter. Kelly had to focus on putting her new life together right. She wanted to stay focused on this opportunity that Rick was giving her. She had never had a chance to stand on her own like this before and she wasn't going to let anything get in the way of her succeeding.