Room for Rent

"If you can put up with the three of us, then...the room is yours. If you want it."

"I do, and thank you. This is really perfect," Trevor told her, another smile on his very handsome face.

"You say that now," Henley said as though they, and not him, were the concern.

"I think I'll still be saying that when I get ready to leave for OCS after graduation," Trevor told her.

"Oh Cee Ess?" she asked.

Trevor explained it to her, and Henley admitted she knew almost nothing about the military.

"But I do respect our men and women in uniform."

"Are you a sojer?" a wide-eyed Jonah asked.

"I was and I will be, but right now I'm just a civilian like you."

"What's a cilv...ciliv..."

Trevor chuckled, knelt down, then said the word again for him before explaining what it meant.

"Oh, okay!" a satisfied little boy replied. "So are you gonna live here now?"

"Well, as long as your mother is willing to have me," he answered.

"I'm willing," Henley told him with a smile on her face which looked like an older version of her daughter's; a smile that was still bigger than any she'd smiled in a very long time.

"Okay. Then I guess this is...home!" Trevor said before asking when he could move in.

"I suppose the first thing to do is give you a key, huh?" Henley told him.

"Do you have a lease for me to sign?" he asked.

"No. It'll be month to month if that's okay."

"Oh. I just assumed we'd have something longer-term. But that's okay."

"I could get something drafted up if you'd like."

Trevor smiled then told her there was no need.

"I'm a pretty decent judge of character, and I can tell you're someone I can trust, Henley."

"I...I have the same feeling about you, Trevor, so...let me get you that key."

She stopped after two steps and said, "Before I forget. There's a huge trunk I'm sure you noticed in your room. I need to put it it the attic, but I can't lift it by myself. Would you mind helping me?"

The pulldown for the attic was in the hallway just a few feet from the room, and Trevor had indeed noticed it. He pulled his coat off, put in on the foot of the bed then turned around and gave the hanging rope a tug. The foldable ladder came down, and he went back into the room then pulled the carefully pulled trunk to the bottom of the ladder.

"Let me help you with that!" Henley exclaimed just as he began hoisting it up and over his head exposing an abdomen that was unlike any she'd ever seen in person. Her fears of him dropping it on himself were forgotten as she stood there staring at the small squares that seemed to be cut into his stomach.

"I've got it," he told her as he rested it on the stairs and began pushing while he also climbed. "Maybe just steady the ladder for me?"

It was a little rickety but stable enough to be safe, and Henley was now worried it would collapse, Trevor would be hurt, and...she'd be sued. But just seconds later it, along with him, was safely up in the attic.

He came back down, closed the trapdoor, then turned around and smiled at her.

"Problem solved!" Trevor announced before picking up his coat.

"Thank you, and I can't believe you lifted that monstrosity up by yourself."

"It was a little bulky making it awkward, but it wasn't all that heavy."

The truth was it weighed a good 70 pounds, but he'd raised it up like it was empty.

She wanted to ask him how he'd 'done that' to his stomach, but that would require her to admit she'd been looking when his tee-shirt came up, and the kids were still right there, too, so she just told him 'thank you' again before leading him back downstairs.

Henley gave him the lowdown on their daily schedule, and Trevor promised to be as invisible as possible starting with moving in the next day which he told her he'd take care of when they were out of the house.

His new landlord told him that was fine then asked when his first day of school was.

"Day after tomorrow. I only have two classes, though. I have three the next day, and it varies from there. So most of the time I'm here I'll be in the room with my laptop and some books or sleeping. But I do go out to run nearly every morning, so I'll figure out a way to slip out and back in as quietly as possible, so you don't think someone's breaking into your house."

Henley felt like she'd hit the jackpot with Trevor, and hoped there'd be no reason to think differently as she handed him the key to her home with the full realization he could take any number of things from it or...worse. But she had a good feeling about his very unusual college student who was still very young but a few years older and plainly more mature than most and far more than anyone else she'd met during the 'open house' fiasco.

When she and the kids got home the next day, Henley didn't see Trevor's car out front, and that made her wonder if he'd already moved his things in. Once she got the children inside, she went up straight upstairs and quietly walked down the hall and peeked into his room.

The bed was made as nicely as she'd ever seen, and she smiled when she saw a blanket on top with an Army tank on it. She didn't go in, but she could also see male clothing hanging in the closet, and that answered her question. Out of curiosity, she took a peek in the bathroom across the hall and was shocked by what she saw.

Everything had been thoroughly cleaned from floor to ceiling. There was no soap scum whatsoever in the shower, the glass had been scrubbed so clean she couldn't tell it was there from most angles, and even the chrome faucets had all been wiped down and were free of water spots. Even the toilet was exceptionally clean and had some kind of blue cleaning liquid in it.

"Can I pick 'em or what?" Henley said to herself with a hint of pride and self-satisfaction even though she knew it was mostly dumb luck that this particular tenant had seen her ad and shown up before she lost her nerve and pulled the ad.

When she went back downstairs, she was feeling good for the first time in far too long when Jennifer said, "Mom! Come and look!"

She lead her mother into the kitchen where there was a small bouquet of pretty flowers and a thank-you note from Trevor.

"Henley. Thank you for trusting me and giving me the opportunity to share your home. I hope I can repay your generosity in some small way. Trevor."

There was also a check with the first month's rent in it, something she'd forgotten to mention before he left. The kids needed school supplies and new shoes before their own classes began in two more days, and this extra money allowed her to do that.

"Oh, my goodness!" she said as she set the note down and took another look at the beautiful flowers even as she blinked back tears again.

"They're from Trevor, huh?" Jennifer asked.

"Yes. Yes, they are."

"That was really nice of him," the young girl said, a rare smile on her face.

"It was, wasn't it?" her mom replied, a smile on hers, too.

"I like Trevor," her daughter said.

"I'm very happy to hear that, honey. And remember, we don't ever go into his room unless he invites us, okay?"

"I know," she said very sweetly before turning around and leaving the kitchen.

Just as she was starting to think about what to make for dinner, Trevor's car pulled into the driveway. Henley watched him get out then go open the trunk, and after his head briefly disappeared, it popped up again along with his upper torso which was blocked by the grocery bags he was carrying with both arms. She hurried to the door and opened it just as he got there.

"Thank you!" he told her as she took one of the bags from him.

"What's this?" she asked.

"Well, if I'm going to live her, the least I can do is contribute some food. I didn't want you cooking for me—no offense as you may be an excellent cook—but I do need to eat, and it's my responsibility to buy my own food which you and your children are welcome to."

He sat the remaining bags on the counter and noticed Henley smiling at him.

"What?" he asked as he grabbed something out of one of the paper bags.

"I...nothing," she replied before remembering to thank him for the flowers.

"Oh, right. I hope you liked them."

"I did. They're beautiful, Trevor," she said before asking if she could help put things away.

"Thank you, but I can take care of it. I'm sure you have other, more important things to do with your time."

When he glanced over at her, Henley smiled again then said, "Well, one thing I won't have to do us clean your bathroom. It looks like you hired a professional to do it for you."

Trevor laughed then explained how he'd lived in the barracks on post all four years of his enlistment.

"So one of the things the Army teaches you is how to clean a room," he said with a chuckle. "I used to hate GI parties—that's what we called the big weekly cleaning of everything to include the latrine...the bathroom...and all of the common areas. But as time went by, I learned how to knock it out pretty fast just using the tricks I'd picked up along the way like using toilet paper to remove water spots on faucets and mirrors."

"Well it looks amazing, Trevor, so thank you for doing that."

"My pleasure. I can't imagine living anywhere and not taking care of everything I'm responsible for. And since you've been kind enough to allow me to live here, I'll pitch in and help out with other things, too."

"No. You don't have to that. I'm just thrilled to have a...a tenant...who's so...fastidious."

He chuckled again as he put a gallon of skim milk in the fridge and said, "I've been called many things before but never 'fastidious'."

"Sorry. I'm not sure why I chose that particular word, but I can tell you I'm very glad to have you here."

He looked right at her, smiled, then said, "The feeling is mutual, Henley."

"Oh. And thank you so much for the check!"

"Of course. I've never been late paying a bill, and my goal is to never be late, so you'll always have it on time or a day or two in advance."

She smiled back then said, "Thank you that, and for what it's worth, I'm actually a pretty good cook, so if you'll let me know what you like, I'm happy to make it for you. Well, dinner anyway."

"I'm kind of health food junky, and I don't want you to go to any extra trouble for me. But thank you for offering. That's very kind of you."

"Okay. Well, if you change your mind, just ask, okay?" she told him very pleasantly.

"I will. I promise," he replied with another smile before going back out for the rest of the groceries.

Not sure what else to say, Henley stood there and watched him as she thought yet again about how lucky she'd gotten. She knew no one was perfect, but so far she hadn't found anything she didn't like about Trevor Michael, the Army veteran with two first names. He was polite, thoughtful, conscientious, responsible, and yes, she had to admit he was also very good looking.

The last thought Henley had before he interrupted her daydream once he was back inside with more groceries was how lucky some young woman was going to be one day.

"Henley? You okay?" she finally heard him say.

"Oh. Yes. I'm...I'm fine," she told him, embarrassed that she'd been staring at him and aware that he'd most likely asked her once before.

She was even more embarrassed when she told another lie to cover it up.

"I was just trying to decide what to make for dinner, and I think I zoned out for a moment."

Trevor laughed politely then said, "Whew. For a moment, I was wondering if I'd grown a third eye or something."

Henley laughed, too, but it was a kind of nervous laugh brought on by yet another violation of her own code of ethics. It was a white lie, to be sure, but it was still a lie, and she hated doing that. Again.

She then let him know she was thinking about making fried chicken. At least until Trevor made bit of face and a little shake of his head.

"I could bake it instead," she told him before he could explain the slight wince which obviously came from the notion of eating it fried in oil.

"Now that's exactly what I meant," he replied. "You obviously prefer it fried, and I'm not going to let you change the way you do things in your home. I'll get something a little later, so don't give it another thought, okay?"

"All right, but it's really no trouble. At all," Henley told him as he smiled at her again before starting to fold up the paper bags.

"What would you like me to do with these?" he asked once there was a neat little stack in front of him.

"Oh. Well, we line the recycle bin with paper bags, and I keep them in the laundry room. I'll show you where if you'll follow me."

"Lead the way!" he said cheerfully.

"Oh. While we're here, you didn't mention laundry. Did you want me to do yours for you?" Henley asked after Trevor put the bags away.

"Again, that's very kind of you, but I can do my own laundry. And don't worry, I'll only wash full loads unless there's some pressing reason why I can't."

"Eco-conscious, too? You're quite the amazing young man," Henley told him with a warm smile.

"Just doing my part, ma'am," he replied with a smile and little bow.

She laughed a little too loudly, but she felt so good it didn't matter.

"Okay, I guess I'll get dinner started then," she said after standing there for several seconds in silence.

"And I'll get started on the advanced reading for one of my classes," Trevor told her as he waited for her to turn around and leave so he could, too.

She only saw him one more time that evening, and that was when he came downstairs and got something to eat. They both said 'hi' but beyond that she didn't hear a sound from his room the rest of the evening.

He was up at oh-five hundred hours the next morning and after drinking a cup of coffee, out for a five-mile run in the cold morning air to start his day. He'd showered, had breakfast, and was putting dishes away before Henley called the kids to come and eat.

Trevor said good morning to them then apologized for having to run—in a figurative sense this time.

"I've got a 9am class, and I need to take care of a couple of things before that, so I hope you'll excuse me if I leave without being a little more sociable," he told Henley.

"Of course. And good luck, Trevor!" she told him.

"Thank you, and I hope all of you have a great day," he said, making sure to smile at each of the kids who both said, "You, too, Trevor!"

Each day during that first week, Henley came home to some new, pleasant surprise. On Trevor's first day of class the garage had been swept out, and Henley knew how much sweeping needed to be done. The garage was such a disaster she not only couldn't park the car in it, she rarely went in it at all. The following day all of the things that were strewn around on the floor or on the workbench were neatly stacked or put away. The third day a leaky bathroom faucet that had been driving her crazy for months wasn't leaking anymore.

Because the morning was almost the only time she saw him, Henley made sure to thank him for whatever he'd done the previous day during their brief time together. Each time he'd smile and tell her it was his pleasure before grabbing a bagel or a piece of fruit and heading off to campus—even on days when he didn't have class because he preferred spending his time in the library or using one of the university's gyms for free.

That Saturday morning, during their first weekend together, Henley asked him if he had any plans for the weekend.

Trevor laughed quietly and said, "If you mean other than studying and working out, no, not really."

Henley laughed, too, then asked if he'd care to have dinner with them that evening and/or on Sunday.

"Unless, of course, you have a girlfriend to spend your time with."

Trevor laughed politely then said, "No. No girlfriend. There'll be plenty of time for that once I get reestablished in the Army."

Henley looked surprised.

"You don't date...at all?"

Trevor had no intention of telling this very nice woman who'd been so kind to him that he did spend time with girls on campus. And he most definitely wasn't planning on explaining that the time he spent with them was usually only for a couple of hours and in either their dorm or sorority rooms.

He had no trouble finding willing companions, he just didn't want anything more than that. He'd be 26 a few days after Easter, and since he started 'dating' back in high school, anything more than casual sex seemed like a kind of death sentence to him.

Before he could give her a respectable answer, she said, "I guess I find that surprising because you're a very nice looking guy, Trevor."

"Oh, gosh. Thank you," he said in his typically modest way. "And yes, I'd very much like to have dinner with you all."

It wasn't pronounced like 'y'all' and didn't sound southern, it just made sense to say it that way, and that prompted her to ask him where he was from.

"Just down the road in Topeka."

Topeka was maybe 55 miles to the east, but it was less than an hour away, and in Kansas, that qualified as 'just down the road.'

"I spent a year at Fort Bragg in North Carolina after basic training then a year in Germany, and the rest of my time was done with the 1st Infantry Division right here at Fort Riley. With KSU 'next door', I just moved off post and into a dorm room once I left the Army. I spend summers, holidays, and occasionally the weekend at my dad's, but during the school year I prefer being here."

"Don't your parents miss you?" she asked.

"My mom died when I was 15, and as much as I love my dad, he has a new wife now. We get along well enough, and she's actually a very nice lady, it's just not the same thing. I have a younger sister, too, but she got married and moved to Tennessee last year, so hanging around here is fine by me."

"I'm so sorry about your mom."

"Thank you. Me, too. She had breast cancer, and we thought she had it beat when it came back with a vengeance."

"I do apologize for asking, Trevor. It was really none of my business."

"No. That's fine," he told her. "I enjoy talking with you, and I'm pretty much an open book, so feel free to ask me anything."

"Okay. Well...maybe I'll do that," she told him before letting him know he could ask her anything, too. "Well, almost anything!"

"May I ask if you're from here?" he said taking advantage of her offer.

"Oh. No. I'm from Portland. Oregon. I...I met my former husband when we were going to college there, and after he got his PhD, he got an offer to teach here at KSU, and we've been here ever since."

Henley realized how that sounded, but only made it worse with her attempt at clarification.

"It's not that we're here. He and I. Not together anyway. I live here. Alone. He uh, he lives...well, he has his own place, and we...my children and I...we...we live here. Alone."

Trevor managed not to laugh and told her he understood.

"Good," she replied with a nervous laugh, "because I'm not sure I even understood what I just said."

"How about you, Henley? Do you date or...are you seeing anyone?"

"Me? Oh. No. I haven't...well, there was one guy I went out with a couple of times, but that...that was...it didn't work out."

She almost told him it was a disaster, but this time she stopped her 'stream-of-consciousness' babbling and kept it short.

"I'm not just saying this because you said it to me, but you're an attractive woman yourself, so I just thought you'd maybe have a boyfriend or...a special someone."

"No. Just two great kids," she told him before thanking him for saying that.

She was amazed at how good those few kind words made her feel, and she found herself wondering how it was possible to even have those kinds of feelings when she barely even knew him.

Trevor meant what he said, but the truth was he hadn't really looked at her like that before. But as he took another, longer look he thought she was at least above average in terms of looks but certainly not gorgeous or even what most men would call beautiful. How she dressed or wore her hair was none of his business, but it was his subjective opinion that she would be close to beautiful were she to make a few changes.