Chapter 16
Spring gave way to summer, lightening Athen’s mood. School was out, the sun was warm, and the good people of the town enjoyed the renewed vitality of a well-deserved vacation. Winter had aged many homes around town, but it was not until the spring rains showed these changes to the homeowners. Yet, it was not until summer that many could fix up their dwellings. Winter took a toll on the houses, and the icy streets and window-high snow drifts kept people indoors. All of the close quarters took a toll on this or that marriage or business partnership. Which is to say that once summer had arrived, Evan’s handyman business was hopping. He was in high spirits, fixing houses little by little but providing peace of mind to household after household around Athens.
Evan’s application of Katherine’s application of “Man’s Search for Meaning” caused her chest to swell with pride. Finally, her husband was someone she could brag about to her friends. Finally, they had consistent funds to spruce up the house. Finally, she was living the very definition of the American Dream.
One Saturday morning, after Evan had left for the day to replace, honestly Katherine couldn’t remember what he’d left the house for, she gathered her clutch and shopping bags and headed out to get a few things. It was a beautiful day, perhaps a bit on the humid side, but the breeze was consistent, and there was plenty of shade on her side of the street. Katherine had come to enjoy these small shopping sprees. She enjoyed the dappled sun shapes on the sidewalks, the dancing twitter of the western meadowlark high in the cottonwoods, and the sight of boys and girls flying past her on their bicycles.
Downtown Athens was only a short ten-minute walk, which afforded Katherine the joy of casually peering into the front windows of homes from a safe distance to see how others were decorating their homes, to spy how flower gardens were arranged. This activity filled her with excitement as she imagined what her home would look like once she had pulled it all together.
Katherine turned the corner from 8th Avenue onto Commercial and headed south. She needed to pick up some cleaning supplies from Graves Drug and then, if she had time, she would poke her head into Brown Shoes to see if there were any steals. She pushed the door on Graves Drug and head the tinkling bell welcoming her to the store. All Katherine needed was a new canister of Bon-Ami bathroom scrub and a few scouring pads, (she was hosting a tea in a few days and wanted the guest bath to gleam), but she also wanted to keep an eye on prices and inventory. As she said to anyone who happened to shop with her, you never know when you might need to grab something for an extraordinary deal.
She made her way through cosmetics and toiletries and was about to turn down the cleaning supply aisle when Sandra Forsythe flagged her down. Katherine’s heart sank a little when she saw Sandra. Sandra was not known for her economy of speech and Katherine really wanted to check out the shoes before she needed to head home. Katherine smiled her best simle to hide her disapointment at being stopped.
“Good morning, Sandra. I didn’t expect to see anyone I knew. I was just popping out for a few things before lunch.” Katherine figured if she presented an excuse to cut of the conversation early, she would appear less rude later on.
“Me too,” said Sandra. “Charlie is out playing golf and I figure he’s going to be gone for a few hours, so I would, too.” Sandra laughed at her mischievousness. “Though I don’t know how frivolous I’m being getting odds and ends for the house.”
“How is Charlie?” Katherine heard her manners say, but she wanted to stop her mouth from moving.
“Never better. Thanks for asking.” Sandra touched her pearl necklace with pride. “He was made partner last month.”
“Really?”
Sandra nodded. She couldn’t be prouder of him. “Only took three years. I don’t know much about these things, but Charlie said its the fastest anyone has become a partner in the firm’s history, so things are looking up, up, up. We can now start thinking about starting a family, maybe start looking, you know I was driving by a place up on Canterbury?”
Katherine strained a smile. Canterbury was in the new County Club Heights district. As proud as she was of her modest home with Evan, the Country Club area was where her heart longed to move. The homes were cleaner, the yards were bigger. The yards came with swimming pools and the rolling hills and winding roads made every turn seem like an expanding dreamland. Everything about those homes made her feel like she would be a better person with such an address.
“You should really come with me to check it out,” Sandra continued. “You have such great taste, and I could use another woman’s opinion.”
“That would be fun,” Katherine lied.
Then, as if remembering an agenda item, Sandra said, “You must be so proud of Evan.”
Katherine was, but was suddenly curious why Sandra thought she should be. All Katherine could do was smile and nod.
“His name is really getting out there. Almost every person I talk to these days is talking about how Evan Gold has been such a help to them.”
“Really?”
“Yes! I was speaking to Carol Harvey just the other week. You know Bill’s been laid up for months. Well, the work your husband did to get him back on his feet, Carol said he was her White Knight.”
Katherine knew Carol Harbey tended to be on the dramatic side, but she couldn’t imagine why fixing a fence and some plumbing would be that important to her or how that would help get Bill out of bed.
“Well,” Katherine said, at a loss for words, “you know Evan.”
“I heard it was Evan’s work that is why all of the changes are going on over at Bluestem. Seems they weren’t up to safety codes and now they have to update the whole lumberyard. Which is a mercy. That poor place has been an eyesore for, well, for I don’t know for how long.”
Things were not adding up in Katherine’s mind. Her smile started to fade.
“Then Carol told me Evan’s helped the Wests, the Jensens, the Turners, I can’t remember everyone she said. Every last one of them was at their wit’s end with one thing or another. I had no idea Evan was such a keen investigator. You know, you get an image of that kind of thing from the television, but you never think of the good they do. I mean, I think if Carol Harvey could have any more kids, she’d name the next one Evan whether it was a boy or a girl.” Sandra laughed at the absurdity of her own joke.
“I’m sorry,” Katherine stopped her, “Evan’s not investigating. I mean he did, but he gave it up. He’s been a handyman for those people. He’s fixed things up like mending floorboards and painting rooms.”
“Oh!” said Sandra, “I know. That’s what I mean. He’s just a Jack of All Trades. One minute, it’s building and installing Jackie’s Martin house in her backyard, and he’s proving her husband wasn’t guilty of embezzlement the next.”
For the next several seconds, Katherine watched Sandra Forsythe’s mouth move, but she didn’t hear a word she said. She had felt the stab of betrayal, and her head was spinning. When she left the house, she’d understood everything there was to know about the world. Now it was all falling like cardboard walls. Where had Evan said he was going that morning? Shoot! She couldn’t think of it at all. Maybe if she could, she could see that every family he’d gone to over the last several weeks had also been in a bit of legal trouble – the kind of trouble that could use an investigator.
Grave’s Drug was becoming too confining. She had to get away from this woman. Katherine abruptly excused herself from Sandra and almost ran out onto the sidewalk. He’d lied to her. He’d kissed her on the cheek and said he was going places, but he’d lied to her about what he was doing there. She was going to have to make him pay. Katherine knew that was true. She was going to have to make him pay. But should it be quick and explosive or slow and agonizing? Katherine meandered up and down the Commercial, piecing together past comments and conversations she’d had with Evan. Now that she thought of it, he’d made some odd comments here and there that she’d ignored, thinking she’d not heard him fully. She could simply kick herself for letting her guard down. So enamored she’d been with the money and what it would buy her… Katherine stopped cold in front of Ken’s Barber Shop. The money. If she let Evan know what she knew, he’d go back to… no, she couldn’t think of it. It didn’t matter about the money. She couldn’t live under the same roof as a man who lied to her. Lied to her without a second thought. But the lies were getting her the life she’d always dreamed of. The lies were getting her a husband she could be proud of.
Katherine spent another hour snaking her way back home, not sure what would happen when she saw Evan’s face again.
