A Marvelous Monday Read online

  Chapter Four – A Thursday Throwback

  Chandler never appeared at dinner, raising the hackles on Zelda’s emotions. The next morning, Diamond, up early and ready to tackle the world, arrived in the kitchen, full of energy. The ball of white fur scurried about begging for attention. Scott walked her out the back door to a grassy spot nearby to take care of her morning needs.

  “If Chandler wants space, I will give him some space,” she said to herself, sipping on the coffee.

  Chandler entered the kitchen, his back rigid, his face taut. The evidence of surprise upon seeing her sitting at the table registered on the dark-skinned face for only a second. Had she not been looking directly at him, she would have missed it.

  “Good morning, Madam,” he said to her, going to the counter for coffee.

  “Chandler,” she said, not wanting to bum rush him with her needs before he had his morning jolt of lightning.

  He watched from the window above the kitchen sink as Scott played ball with Diamond. She was a nice dog. Spoiled, but adorable. Never one to care a great deal for animals inside the home, Zelda had successfully trained the animal to go on the paper or wait until she got outside.

  “I made eggs and bacon,” she said.

  “Thank you, Madam,” he said, looking at the dishes on the table over his shoulder.

  She couldn’t take it anymore. The silence. The indifference to her as if she’d done a bad thing to him and was unaware irked the shit out of her. The words wouldn’t come to her in the right order to address the coldness from the shoulder turned towards her. Giving up on finding the right words, she used the only ones currently in her head.

  “Did I do or say...anything to disrespect you or to hurt your feelings?” she asked. “If so, I can’t apologize for an infraction that I may have made and don’t know it.”

  Chandler also didn’t know how to address the subject of the discomfort he had experienced in witnessing Zelda and Scott in the chair. It was not his place to discuss such delicate matters with her. He’d spoken to Scott. It was her man’s place to tell her or at least prevent it from occurring again.

  “No, Madam,” he said softly. “I have a great deal of work to get done, and I am feeling a bit of jetlag from Mexico. Nothing to trouble yourself over.”

  “Liar!” she said, standing up to meet him at the sink. “You are feeling weird because you saw me and Scott in that stupid chair.”

  The slight raising of his eyebrows told her that she’d hit the nail right square on the top. However, the nail was bent. It would take a bit of gentle tapping to get it back straight to be of use. Hammer in hand, she started to tap lightly around the subject.

  “I will endeavor to ensure that going forward, we secure the door to avoid any other uncomfortable sights in this home,” she said. “My heart would shatter into a million pieces at the thought of you being ill at ease around me. I have grown to love you almost as much as I love Scott.”

  “Duly noted, Madam,” he said, taking a drink of the coffee.

  “That’s it?”

  “I am uncertain of what you wish for me to say,” Chandler replied.

  “Dude,” she told him, her hand on her hip. “Get over it. You saw us doing some freaky shit. It won’t be the last time because if had my way, it would be me, Scott and that life-sized Danny doll having a party.”

  Chandler burst into laughter. “I do not want to see that, ever!” he said.

  “See, now that we have that out the way, can we please move forward?” she pleaded.

  “Of course,” he said, still not looking at her.

  “It would help if you at least made eye contact with me,” she told Chandler.

  He sighed softly, turning to face her. She was indeed a lovely woman. Scott having a woman in the home wasn’t anything new to him, but he’d always been very discreet. The other women Chandler didn’t care for one way or the other. Zelda, he felt differently about. Protective. He felt protective towards her. Seeing her in such a position, in such a manner, bothered him. Scott’s lady treated him as an equal. His children, should he ever find a woman willing to have him, would butler for her children. They would forever be linked.

  “Say what’s on your mind, Chandler. I can see it in your eyes,” she said.

  “I have a great affection for you, Madam,” he said. “My sons will be the first companions and playmates to your sons. We shall forever be linked.”

  “And?”

  “I thought you were having a stroke or the two of you were being electrocuted,” he said with his forehead furrowed. “Honestly, I was two steps from running in to separate you, and this compromises me. It compromises my job. I am not supposed to react to anything I see in this home, let alone have such a rejoinder to it.”

  Zelda folded her arms across her chest and leaned against the counter, crossing her feet at the ankles. She’d heard what he said, but her focus was on the words he had yet to speak. The underlying issue which truly made him uneasy.

  “Can we be honest, Chandler?”

  “I would expect nothing less, Madam.”

  “The first night I stayed in this house, I had an incident,” she said. “You remember, that don’t you?”

  “I do,” Chandler said softly.

  “I was nude, running through the house, trying to leave, and you brought me a robe,” Zelda said to him, watching Scott head towards the back door.

  “This is true,” he said.

  “Chandler, then let’s just put it all on the table. The problem is that you have come to love me, and seeing me that way makes you feel odd because you don’t want to see me in that light,” she told him. “I am flawed, slightly broken but never bent. You are central to Scott’s world, but you need to get out there and start dating.”

  “Excuse me,” he said.

  “You heard me,” she said, shifting her position. “You children can’t be playmates or anything else to my kids if you aren’t in the position to make any. How is it going to look that the butler for my five-year-old son has yet to be born?

  Chandler smiled at her. “You have a point,” he said.

  “I love you, Chandler,” she said, touching his arm.

  “And I you, Madam.”

  “Good, now that we have that out the way, come get breakfast. There is a great deal on the list today to cover before we head to New York,” she said. “Did you plan to travel with us? If so, I need to get an additional ticket to ComiCon.”

  “Actually, Madam, I have a great deal to handle this weekend, preparing the house and staff for the arrival of your family,” he told her.

  “Staff?”

  “Yes,” he said, taking out his phone. “Sunday’s dinner is catered, plus the cleaning, meals, and details are handled by a staff to take care of the guests. Then there is Monday.”

  “Oh yeah, then there is Monday,” Zelda repeated.

  “Madam, are there any areas you want me to focus on while you are away?”

  “Only if you can paint this kitchen,” she said, moving away from the sink to meet Diamond coming in the back door. The ball of fur ran to her as if she hadn’t seen Zelda in years, freely dispersing dog kisses.

  “Morning, Chandler,” Scott said.

  “Morning, Sir,” Chandler replied.

  “All is well?”

  “Yes, Sir. Ms. Fitzsimmons and I were going over the schedule for the weekend, Sunday dinner and potential meals. We have settled upon Cornish game hens,” he lied to Scott.

  “Sounds good. Zelda, can we do a walkthrough this morning of what you want to be changed in the house?” Scott said.

  “Not much really, I want all the shag carpet up, and the blue velvet took off the wall in the foyer. I was thinking of leaving one wall in each room the current color and painting all the others in a whisper-soft grey or light beige,” she said. “That’s all I want to do right now.”

  “That sounds easy,” Scott said. “I want to make sure this feels like home for you as well. Anything else?”


  “Well, yes. The cottage by the pond,” she said. “I was thinking, you know since it is not being used, that maybe Wilke can live there?”

  Scott turned his lips downward. He hadn’t been inside the cottage in years. It was more than likely full of snakes, vermin, and everything else. The idea of Wilke being close to Zelda as an ever watching eye was understood. She needed to have family nearby to her.

  “It needs some work,” Scott said. “I haven’t been in it in years.”

  “Can we go take a look?”

  “Sure, but it may be full of vermin and critters,” Scott told her.

  “Only one way to find out,” she said, carrying Diamond out the back door. Chandler wasn’t as anxious as Zelda, holding up his hand for Scott to wait a moment. He disappeared into the main portion of the house, returning a few minutes later with a Judge.

  “That is a big ass gun,” Scott said.

  “You will want it if you come across a big ass snake,” Chandler said. “Plus, it was the last one I cleaned.”

  Scott took the keys for the golf cart and the cottage from the cabinet and met Zelda outside. She noticed the gun but said nothing. Scott held onto Diamond as they rode around Scotty’s Pond to the adorable little house with blue shutters in need of painting. The small front porch was perfect for two rockers and boasted a wondrous view of the pond. The grass, neatly cut and trimmed, gave room for the colorful pots of flowers which bloomed.

  “This house was for the caretaker,” Scott said. “I haven’t had one in years. The girl who collects the eggs from the hen houses, her brother, Romeo, takes care of the lawns now.”

  “Romeo?”

  “Handsome kid. The girls love him, but he was trying to live up to his name. His sister, Carla, asked me to give him a job to help him keep his junk in his pants, so now he takes care of the yards,” Scott said.

  “Yards, as in plural.”

  “Yes Ma’am, from the end of my property line all the way to the church,” Scott said, “and he even takes care of the church. It’s a nice chunk of change each month.”

  The golf cart rolled up to the cottage. Scott decided it would be best for Zelda and Diamond to stay on the cart as he did a walk around the house to check for broken windows or openings of opportunity for critters. He also checked for droppings and carcasses to see if space had become a hunting ground for a predator. Thus far, everything appeared to be in order. Scott entered through the back door and came bolting out the front chased by a pissed off possum Mama trying to protect her babies.

  Zelda, trying not to chuckle at the light-footedness of her big man, stifled her laughter as he ran past the cart, circled back, and jumped in the seat. The possum was still cursing at him, hissing, and threatening him over her babies. Scott started the cart, but the possum blocked his path.

  “I will run over your possum ass if you don’t move,” Scott said, pressing down on the pedal.

  The possum, unfazed, reared up on her hind legs like she was daring him to come at her. Scott picked up the Judge and pointed it at the animal, who took off running at full speed into the house. He watched the mother with her babies attached to her back waddle away.

  “Damn right you need to find somewhere else to live,” he said, shaking the gun at the rodent. “I’m sending in an exterminator, you little shit!”

  “I take it you don’t like possums?” She said.

  “Zelda, she was being overly aggressive,” he said with his lips tight.

  “She has babies to see about. I am certain I will be the same way about our babies,” she said.

  All thoughts of the possum, painting, and everything else left his head. All he could think about was carrying her up the stairs and trying to make their first joint venture, a little Berger.

  “Damn, I love you,” he said, staring at her.

  “I hope so since come Monday, I’m going to be our wife,” she said.

  “I know,” he told her, giving a slightly buck-toothed smile. “Oh crap, Ellison will be at the house by now. We need to meet with him about the menu for the reception.”

  “Let’s ride!” she said, holding tightly to Diamond, who also hadn’t cared much for the possum’s high-handed antics. Zelda also noticed that Scott didn’t go back to the cottage and lock the door.

  ELLISON LAMAR WAS AS tall as he was wide. A round head housing an equally round face with chubby reddened cheeks, deep-set blue eyes, and a bulbous nose greeted them with a wide grin coming from behind fleshy lips with tiny teeth. A shock of red hair stuck up on his head as if his barber had been in the midst of providing him a Mohawk and suddenly changed his mind. A sunken chest was in juxtaposition atop a rounded belly which seemed to have spent many a night at a buffet table.

  “Damn you are looking so fine Scott Berger, that if I didn’t already have a man, I would climb you and ride all that buck-toothed sexiness until my belly quivers,” Ellison said. The beady blue eyes were wide in appreciation of the cosmetic changes he visually enjoyed on the doll maker. “Man, you must be one hell of a woman to not only get that old rooster down the aisle but to get him to do a bit of man grooming. I have to say it again, damn you are looking so fine. All them muscles!”

  “Ellison, thank you for that uncomfortable compliment,” Scott said. “This is my fiancée, Zelda. Honey, this is Ellison.”

  “Wow, look at you,” Ellison said. “I love them eyes. You got some Asian in you? I did one once. Nearly snapped that yummy eggroll in half.”

  “I am so happy to meet you, Ellison,” Zelda said, trying to get the man on track. “Let’s talk menu for this party on Monday.”

  “Cake!” Ellison offered, opening the very large picnic basket. The first thing that came to Zelda’s mind was Yogi Bear in a pink body. “I brought samples of everything Imma gonna cook for this party of yours, but first, you have to taste this lemon cake. I kid you not, I put three drops of angel tears in the batter and St. Peter sent me a thank you.”

  “Well, let me taste this cake so I can join in St. Peter in his review of your work,” Zelda said. “However, let me make myself clear, Mr. Elllison, you hit on my man again, and I will carve you up like a Christmas ham.”

  “Oh feisty, and you said ham. Honey, you ain’t had a ham until you’ve tasted mine,” Ellison said, shrugging off the threat.

  “Ellison, that is a wonderful idea!” Zelda exclaimed. “I don’t want heavy finger foods but a meal. Ham, maybe a turkey for those who don’t partake of pork, two sides, some crudités and cake for dessert.”

  “Oh, you want a sit-down dinner? Scottie, where you want this soiree, in the B Wing?”

  “No, let’s use the C-Wing, it’s larger to accommodate the number of guests,” Scott replied.

  “C-Wing? What’s that?” Zelda inquired.

  “The connector between my house and my parents. It’s set up to hold large groups. It has several dining tables, bathrooms, a mini kitchen, and the like. We fitted it years ago after Sarah had the kids. Once Rebekah and you have a few, space will be great for holiday dinners,” Scott said.

  “Speaking of large groups, Scott can you calculate the number of people and food I will need to prepare?” Ellison asked.

  “Wait. I am still on the C-Wing. You mean the space covered in Popsicle sticks?” Zelda said.

  “Yes, the spaces aren’t empty,” Scott said. “B-Wing has a movie theater. The space between Sarah’s house and my parents has a bowling alley. We are self-contained here, Zelda.”

  “To say the least,” she said, arching her brows.

  “So, let’s see. I think ham, turkey, my famous mac and cheese, some stuffing, and a pasta salad. How does that sound, Ms. Zelda?” Ellison asked.

  “Sounds like a real fine meal,” she said.

  “I will start decorating on Saturday,” he said. “Scott, see that I have access to the space.”

  “Will do, Ellison. You need a down payment to buy the groceries?” Scott inquired.

  “You know I do,” Ellison said, sticking out a
chubby paw.

  Scott handed the man a credit card, reminding him it had a limit. Ellison lumbered out of the house, happier than a porn star at a sex toy convention. He waved goodbye as he rolled his girth into the large SUV, gave a toot of his horn, a chubby fingered wave, and drove off.

  “He is something,” Zelda said.

  “Darling, you don’t even know the half,” Scott said, stretching with a loud yawn. A frown crinkled his brow as if suddenly hit with a secondary thought. “I need a cookie.”

  Chapter Five – A Frickin’ Fantastic Friday

  Zelda couldn’t sleep. All through the night, she tossed and turned, mulling over the rapid wedding plans, the new life with her big hairy hunk, and flying to New York in a few hours. Her thoughts were plagued with the idea of tiny feet pitter-pattering throughout the crazy pod from little hairy children with Asian eyes and bucked teeth. A shiver ran down her back as she looked at her shoes, parked on the floor next to Scott’s big clodhoppers, and the sheer idea of hairy kids with bucked teeth and big feet made her sit up in bed.

  What are you doing Zelda?

  Doubt slumbered between her and Scott as she looked at him sleeping peacefully, his mouth slightly agape from the huge front teeth. He looked adorable. Insecurity made her want to Blue Book the value of the car he’d given her as well as the ring, but she swatted away the negative, opting to get up and shower. Her belly grumbled as she made her way to the bathroom to wash away the remainder of her questions and get her ass in gear.

  She was missing Michael. He’d been a constant in her life, and now he would be leaving her for a year. A whole year of him and Pip traveling the world, seeing all the places she’d been to without him while he worked to keep a roof over their heads. Starting the taps, nimble fingers toyed with the stream of hot water before stepping into the shower to rinse off the feeling of unworthiness at earning such a good man to be her husband. The hard work in therapy had paid off, even in dealing with her Grandmother, whom she would also be stuck with for a year.

  Honeymoon.