Part 20 (1/2)
Caity quirked an eyebrow at me and grinned. ”Really? I bet that means that they want to talk terms on the house! Honey, this is great!”
”Calm down, baby, we don't know that yet. Let me get cleaned up and you go put some clothes on. Then we can find out, Okay? No putting pressure on them either.”
Caity half danced into the bedroom and I couldn't help but laugh as I heard the tune she was humming. The strains of Matchmaker from ”Fiddler on the Roof” floated across to me as I turned to get ready for breakfast.
As we entered the kitchen, there were Gina and Pauli, sitting at the table waiting for us with a carafe of coffee and covered platters of eggs, bacon, and pancakes.
”Look at this feast, honey! I think we should have them over more often,” joked Caity.
I waited a second as I looked them over. ”I don't think so, this looks like they want someone to help them move heavy furniture.” I grinned at them as the nervous expressions fled from their faces. ”I happen to know a few big, strong guys I can suggest for the job... and we might be able to arrange the schedules to make it so that you are all off at the same time.”
Gina jumped up and hugged me, then quickly backed off. ”I'm sorry, Donny, I didn't mean...”
I just laughed, happy that things had worked out for them. ”It's okay, Probie. Around here the only command structure is that Caity is in charge and we all listen to what makes her happy. Right, honey?”
Before I could duck, an oven mitt hit me in the chest and everyone laughed.
Over breakfast we worked out the details of getting the younger women set up in the house and Caity handled the financial end of things since it was her house. They cleared out after breakfast and I turned to Caity as they pulled out of the driveway to get Gina's car. ”I think those two have a good chance. Don't you?”
Caity looked down the road another minute then turned to me and said, with a twinkle in her eye, ”Yeah, as long as Pauli learns that Gina is in charge sooner rather than later.” Tossing me a smirk, she ran for the house as I chased her down.
CHAPTER 19.
”HERE YOU GO!” Caity proclaimed proudly as she handed me a check.
Puzzled, I took it and glanced at it. ”What's this for?”
”My half of the mortgage here.”
”Caity, I told you, I'm fine with paying the mortgage. You don't have to worry about it.”
”And I told you that once I had my house handled, I wanted to pay half here. Pauli and Gina just took over the payments and now I can afford to pay more here.”
I sighed. We had helped move Gina and Pauli into their new home last week, but I hadn't thought about how that would affect anything at home. ”Baby, I was paying the mortgage here long before we started seeing each other. I can handle it. You do help out with the other bills and stuff.”
”Chloe, I hate to feel like you have to support me. I can afford to pay half of the mortgage, so please, take the check.”
”But Caity, I make more than you do. Shouldn't I pay more than you do? It only seems fair.”
”Fair? You want to hear what isn't fair? It isn't fair knowing that I live in your house, with you paying the mortgage, and half of the other bills, while I have almost no expenses. It isn't fair that I'm not a full partner with you here.” Her volume had increased as she continued and I didn't know what to do or say.
”This house is our home, not just my house. We share everything, Caity, I don't think of it any other way.”
”Yeah? You have a funny way of showing it! Why is it that whenever we go out to dinner or order in, you have to pay? You drive most of the time when we go places, and you don't let me pay for household purchases? How is that fair?”
I was stunned. ”I didn't know that stuff would bother you. I thought I was showing you that I could take care of you and the house. You know, be a good provider and stuff. I like taking care of you, Caity.”
A small smile whispered across her lips then faded. ”Honey, we have to come to a more fair solution. I'm not a fifties housewife, and you aren't my bread-winning husband. I know you're used to being in charge and taking care of things, but it is time to share the responsibilities.”
”Do I really treat you like that? Like Donna Reed or June Cleaver?”
She nodded. ”Sometimes, yeah, you do. You don't do it to be mean, I know that, honey. But I don't need to be insulated from reality. I have a good job too and I can afford to pay bills and share the duties around here.”
”I'm sorry, I really hadn't thought of it that way. I guess chivalry is dead after all.”
”Honey, that isn't what I'm saying at all. If you want to hold my door for me, drive me places, or do any of the other wonderful things that make you the sweet woman you are, then please do. What I'm saying is, let me be a partner to you. Let me help with the bills and stuff. I want to be your equal, not a kept woman.”
I thought it over and decided she was right. Maybe I was shouldering too much for no real reason. ”I'll make you a deal. I'll share the bills but we pay based on percentage of earnings. We'll figure out who makes more and break down the bills so that it is equal based on percentage of pay, not on dollar amount. Deal?”
”Let's try it. I think I'll feel easier about this being our place if I'm actually helping to pay for it.”
I hesitated but then plowed ahead. ”If you don't like it here, we can look for a place to buy together. I can sell this place if you want to move.”
I didn't want to sell it. I loved the house, but I loved Caity more and I wanted her happy with our home.
”We don't have to move, Chloe. I love this place almost as much as you do. You are sweet to suggest it, but we can work it out, honey.”
I gave her a hug, accepted the check, and promised to sit down with her and the bills on our next day off to figure out the new financial arrangements.
There were more adjustments to make like the one about money, but we worked through them one by one as they came up. Gina and Pauli were doing well in their new digs and I was training Gina to take over my old spot as a field supervisor after I was promoted to senior field supervisor just about a month after they settled into their house.
Caity and I spent a lot of time working on the house and changing things around to reflect both of us. We were even talking about getting a fur kid of some kind as practice for the real thing eventually. We were coming up on our one-year anniversary as we worked on the yard one day. I decided to suggest something to Caity just as she turned to speak to me. As we chuckled, I told her to go first.
”I was just thinking, would you mind if we had a small party for our anniversary? Nothing fancy, just Pauli and Gina, maybe Tony and his girlfriend, Kristy, and whomever else you want to invite from the station. What do you think?”
”I think you have been sharing my brain with me again, woman! I was about to suggest the same thing. I didn't have a much different list either.”
We discussed plans for a small backyard s.h.i.+ndig as we worked on the landscaping and agreed on a menu. Things were coming together in our lives and we wanted to celebrate and share that with the people we spent the most time with and considered family. For both of us, that meant department members.
”You didn't mention inviting Bran. Something going on?” I asked Caity as we finished clearing the tree tr.i.m.m.i.n.gs from the ground. I turned around to see Caity looking a little bashful. ”Okay, out with it, what happened?”
Caity pulled off her garden gloves and threw them down on the ground. ”Those two stubborn women don't see how good they are together! I'm tired of trying to get them to see it. I have washed my hands of them.”
Puzzled, I had to ask. ”What do you mean? What have you been doing to get them to see it?”
”Well, I may have mentioned to them how good they looked together. I might have told Bran about how we started out as best friends first.”
”And? Out with it, Caity, I can tell you're keeping something back.”
Looking frustrated, Caity threw herself on the ground next to her gloves. ”I might have taken Kristy to see some cheesy movie about a woman coming out late in life that was playing in the art district last week.”