~ Her Tenant ~

by

Sherry Derr-Wille

"DeVona Williams, this is Bryce Devlin."

Bryce pulled himself from his memories to the introduction Grant was making. "It’s nice to meet you," Bryce said, accepting her outstretched hand.

"I heard Grant and Lane had a houseguest. I do hope you’ll call me Dee, though. All of my friends do. Lane told me you’re from Chicago. I hope you like living in Minter. It’s not like being in a big city, but then a small town does have a lot to offer."

It certainly does. I can’t remember ever seeing anyone as beautiful as this woman back home. Of course, maybe I wasn’t looking. Too many of Sue’s friends were ready to shake their fingers at me if I so much as thought about straying from her memory.

"Do you mind if Bryce and I check out the house while you girls chit-chat?" Grant asked, before Bryce had a chance to acknowledge the woman’s comment.

"Suit yourselves. I hope you find lots of stuff you want."

Bryce turned away when the women began to talk about the sale. The sadness in Dee’s eyes and voice hit him hard. He remembered the feeling of loss all too vividly.

Once inside the duplex, he was suddenly at home. He recalled his mother saying she always knew which houses they should buy as soon as she walked through the door. At the time he’d laughed at the very idea of such a thing. Now he knew exactly what she meant.

The living room was spacious. Some of the former tenant’s furnishings were scattered in the places they had occupied for years. To his right, a small table sat in front of a large window. Just outside, several birdfeeders, which were now empty, waited for someone to fill them and enjoy the birds that came looking for food. Following the flow of the floor plan, he stepped into the galley kitchen with its over abundance of cupboards, then made his way to the bedroom area. From the hall, he noticed two good-sized rooms with double closets as well as a small bathroom.

"So, what do you think?" Grant inquired.

Bryce turned to face his friend. "Are you trying to push this place on me?"

"In a way. Dee is very vulnerable right now. Who knows what she might get in the way of a renter? Don’t get me wrong, she’s a very capable woman, but she doesn’t know the first thing about being a landlord. Lane and I--"

Bryce held up his hand. "You certainly haven’t changed. As I recall, you always did look out for everyone else."

~ * ~

"What do you think of Bryce?" Lane questioned, as soon as the men went into the house.

Dee couldn’t help but smile at Lane’s question. "Let’s see, I shook his hand and said I hoped he’d buy lots of Mom’s things. It’s a little hard to form an opinion on such a casual meeting."

"Well, I have an opinion," Ellie declared. "He’s a hunk. What is it about you, Lane? First you’ve got Grant drooling over you, now your house guest shows up and he’s... well, you know." She shook her hand as though she’d just touched a hot stove.

"The reason I asked the question," Lane began, ignoring Ellie’s comment, "is that Bryce is in the market for a place to live. He’d be a perfect tenant for you."

Dee bit her lip. "He’s not exactly what I had in mind."

Ellie started to laugh. "She wants to rent to a nice gay couple. As if she could just advertise for one in the paper. In the first place, it would be discrimination and in the second this town is too prudish. No one would answer the ad."

"Why would you consider such a thing?"

"I was just joking, but it’s sounding more and more appealing." Dee shrugged. "I worked at Carsons when the kids were little. The guy who was in charge of the displays was, well, you know. He was one of the nicest people I’ve ever met. If I could get someone like him, I wouldn’t have a thing to worry about."

"Are you talking about Johnny Wagner?" Ellie asked. "I remember him. If I recall correctly, he wasn’t bad in the looks department. Are you sure he was--"

"Positive. He used to bring his dates to the Christmas party just to shake up the management. They were pretty straight-laced. Johnny said it gave him a kick to see them swallowing hard when they had to be polite to the lover of the evening."

"Just remember, not everyone is like Johnny. You’re all alone in this, Dee. You have to be careful."

Dee got up from her chair and busied herself refolding some of the linens people had been looking at earlier. Her friends made sense. In this day and age, she needed to be particularly careful. Perhaps she should consider a nice young couple. Newlyweds would mind their business while she minded hers.

The sound of people talking caused Dee to look up. Another carload of potential buyers examined the things in the driveway.

I hate this, she silently shouted. I should have never allowed myself to be talked into a rummage sale. I’d rather give everything away than have all these strangers pawing through Mother’s things.

"Does this mixer work?"

Dee turned to see a woman who looked as though she hadn’t bathed in the past month holding up one of the hand mixers Dee had found in the basement.

"Everything works," Dee replied, trying to be sweet even though the words tasted like vinegar on her tongue. "You’re welcome to plug it into the power strip and test it if you like."

The woman shoved the plug into the outlet. As soon as she turned the switch, the mixer sprung to life. "Are you firm about the price? I could get a new one at K-Mart for five dollars."

Dee could feel her temper start to flare. The mixer, like many of the things she had found in her mother’s basement, was of good quality and purchased as a gift, then forgotten. She wanted to shout then buy the damn thing at K-Mart. Instead she merely smiled at the woman.

"If you check the price tag on the box, you’ll see it originally cost almost forty dollars. It’s a very heavy-duty mixer. As a matter-of-fact, my mother bought one for me at the same time and I just love it."

The woman clucked her tongue and put the mixer back in the box. "There’s no use in arguing with you. I can certainly tell you don’t know the first thing about running a rummage sale."

Once the woman got back in her car and left, Dee returned to her chair. "Good riddance. I didn’t want to see that old bat buying anything that belonged to Mom anyway. She certainly wouldn’t have known how to take care of it."

"Meow!" Lane and Ellie hissed in unison.

"Would you like your saucer of milk warm or cold?" Ellie asked.

"I wasn’t being catty, you guys, just truthful. I can tell you one thing, this is my first, last and only rummage sale." The smiles of her friends were not lost on Dee.

Shoppers came and went over the next half hour. They were so busy, Dee almost forgot about Grant and Bryce still being in the house.

"How much are you asking for rent?"

Bryce’s question made Dee jump at the intrusion on her thoughts. "I--I hadn’t given it much thought. It’s going to be quite a while before I have everything cleaned out and ready for renters."

"I’ve got a great idea," Lane said. "Why don’t you and Bryce go get some lunch and talk about it? Grant can run up to Mickey D’s and get us some burgers while Ellie and I run the sale."

Dee could hardly believe her ears. They weren’t teenagers anymore. Whoever heard of a fifty plus woman playing matchmaker?

Slow Down, Dee, she silently admonished herself. Just because Bryce is a handsome single man doesn’t mean--

"Would you like to go out to lunch with me?" Bryce’s question silenced Dee’s inner voice.

"Ah--well--I guess there wouldn’t be any harm in talking about the place. Just remember, it will take a lot of work before it’s ready." Dee glanced at Lane and Ellie. They were both smiling as though they had pulled off a major coup.