Magnetic Love: The Attraction of Opposites

By Michelle Tschantre'

As the Windmere series expands, we meet Rob Roberts and Marti Martin, both thirty-something, living in the same community, but each with no knowledge of the other...yet. Rob’s position is suddenly erased when his employer moves off shore. He is unmarried but encumbered, helping to support his mother and a young niece, taking whatever a temp job service can feed him. Marti is successful in operating her own business but has the bitterness of a failed marriage residing within her. She is distrustful of nearly everyone, yet the undisguised honesty of Rob Robert’s refreshes her being. They are very much opposites, but like opposing pole magnets find a growing attraction they cannot deny. Will they find a way to make it all work? And what about Emily, the young niece, the skunk, and the big dog?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Michelle Tschantre'
• Release date: Jul 1, 2014
• ISBN: 9781311998224

Michelle Tschantre'

Michelle Tschantre' has accrued years of "people" lore, mostly listening and encouraging, letting them find their own way past whatever issue prompted the conversation. The WINDMERE Series of fictional events uses some of those experiences, a little science here and there, some reality now and then, a belief that there may be powers greater than we know, and an everlasting belief in good outcomes for good hearted people. It is what the author has come to believe over the years: plan for the worst, hope for the best, deal with the reality. In “Laura's Big Win”, the foundation is built for the books that have followed, with some of the same people, some new faces and problems, and Windmere in there somewhere keeping it all going.

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Magnetic Love:

The Attraction of Opposites

WINDMERE series – book three

Michelle Tschantré

Smashwords Edition

Magnetic Love: The Attraction of Opposites

Copyright © 2014 Michelle Tschantré

All rights reserved.

{3nd Edition © 2017}

Cover Design & Formatting by: Laura Shinn Designs

http://laurashinn.yolasite.com

Smashwords License Notes:

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only.

This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this ebook with other people, please purchase an additional copy for each person. If you are reading this ebook without purchasing it and it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy.

Thank you for respecting the hard work of the author.

Magnetic Love: The Attraction of Opposites is a work of fiction.

Though actual locations may be mentioned, they are used in a fictitious manner and the events and occurrences were invented in the mind and imagination of the author. Any resemblance of characters in this story to any person living or dead is strictly coincidental.

Dedicated to:

…the power of true love.

CONTENTS

Preface

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Seventeen

Chapter Eighteen

Chapter Nineteen

Chapter Twenty

About the Author

Preface

Magnetic Love – The Attraction of Opposites: As the Windmere series expands, we meet Rob Roberts and Marti Martin, both thirty-something, living in the same community, but each with no knowledge of the other…yet. Rob’s position is suddenly erased when his employer moves off shore. He is unmarried but encumbered, helping to support his mother and a young niece, taking whatever a temp job service can feed him. Marti is successful in operating her own business but has the bitterness of a failed marriage residing within her. She is distrustful of nearly everyone, yet the undisguised honesty of Rob Robert’s refreshes her being. They are very much opposites, but like opposing pole magnets find a growing attraction they cannot deny. Will they find a way to make it all work? And what about Emily, the young niece, the skunk, and the big dog?

Chapter One – Tending the Bar

Martina Marti Martin was exasperated to say the least. The agency simply did not seem to understand the importance of the crises: Now listen to me; you people promised me three days ago I’d have a housekeeper Saturday morning, and now you tell me no one is going to show up. You don’t understand; I’m hosting a group tomorrow afternoon for some really important clients and this place has to look great. I cannot accept your response; I just can’t. You come up with something, anything, but get this done, okay?.....no, not acceptable…..no…..Okay, I’ll ask him, but that doesn’t make much sense to me. This better work or you people are off my list forever…..Well, that’s one hell of an attitude. Goodbye. Marti clicked the cell phone off. The discussion with the temp agency had been about as useful as a discussion with her ex-husband; neither of them understood she made a living by providing client services, and the surrounding environment had to support her efforts. His only concern had seemed to be about himself, and her only service he seemed interested in was also about himself. It had taken her a couple of years into the marriage but the light finally dawned that he was primarily interested in matching her income to his outgo; that was about his only interest other than a little personal gratification now and then. Even that had left her wondering why what went on between the two of them in private seemed more like exercise than love making. At the end of the marriage, Marti conceded to herself it had been an error in judgment, but it nagged her as a woman that maybe the dissolution wasn’t entirely her ex-husband’s fault either. Still, the money issue had been the final nail, especially when he wanted alimony from a marriage to which he had never contributed a single asset; her lawyer had slammed that door closed, but there was little satisfaction in the end. At the moment, there was a much more pressing issue to be resolved.

Briefly musing back over her life, she decided it truly was a strange combination of events that brought her to this position. She had been rather drifting through college, working toward a BA in nothing particular, with no specific goal in mind for after the four years, supported by parents with adequate means to keep her in school. In the spring of her sophomore year her house had held a fund raising scavenger hunt, more for fun than funding but successful in both respects to some degree. Marti had enjoyed the excitement along with the other girls, but unlike the others, the excitement of the hunt stayed in her mind. She explored the area of hospitality service as a career, which would include finding things guests wanted, and excelled in the course of study, particularly when they considered what constituted excellence of service. After graduating, she obtained employment in the hospitality industry, working at several major high-end hotel/resort locations in their business office as well as concierge positions. Her future husband was also employed at one of them as a recreational director, tennis player, activity leader, bon vivant in the bar, and so on. It seemed like a natural pairing, and things went well at first. Marti had considered the things that marriage brought: security, companionship, love making, maybe even children. Having children was not very high on her list; there was plenty of time for that later, and she slowly came to realize that while her husband had talked a good game before they were married, his enthusiasm not only waned quickly, it reversed itself. It became apparent he felt their assets should be expended solely for his benefit, and that children would only dilute that stream. Once Marti realized children were off the list, they suddenly notched up in importance. Certainly that was not the only issue between them that led to the divorce, but it may have been more important in her mind than she would admit. Subsequent to the divorce, she decided to strike out on her own by forming a small company that conducted specialized seek and find operations for demanding clients, locating and obtaining things they wanted but either had no clue where to start their search, or had little time to spare on such things, or both. The time spent in the high end of the hospitality industry gave her a sizeable readymade list of clients, and her reputation grew, the list of satisfied clients grew, and her income grew in proportion. For all her success, her ex-husband went the other direction, and cursed the day he let the golden goose slip through his fingers. For Marti, the here and now posed yet another challenge to be resolved, and she walked purposefully toward the bar.

The bar in the A/V room was being patronized rather steadily by her client’s guests at the moment. The bartender had been sent by the temp service at her request, a nice looking man about her own age she judged, pleasant without being obsequious, well tanned and toned from what she observed, and evidently competent at tending bar. She had passed by earlier as she circulated through the group to make sure things were going well, and had overheard him making idle chatter with her clients; if it was notable at all, it was the low register of his voice, clear without being loud, that had made an impression on her. At the moment, however, she needed his time more than his tone. Approaching the bar she waited for an opportune moment, then mentioned quietly that she needed to see him after the event was concluded.

It was the very nature of Robert Rob Roberts to do his best at whatever he happened to be doing at the moment, and at this moment it was tending bar. There could have been some minor question about having to be a licensed bartender, but the temp agency had assured him that was not an issue where no exchange of money was taking place. The only money he was seeing in the present was in his tip jar, but that spent like any other money and he was grateful for the donations. The temp pay was not exactly something to be proud of, but the tips made it palatable overall. He didn’t mind bar tending, just didn’t feel he was very good at it; still, these people were easily pleased, as well they should be getting free drinks poured from good stock. His lot in life had taken a turn for the worse recently, but Rob forged ahead, shouldering the burdens that came his way unsolicited, but which could not be avoided without tearing the very fabric of his character. Now an early 30 something, this was certainly not what he had envisioned for himself, nor for others in his immediate family for that matter. His father had died early in Rob’s life, most probably from a heart weakened by early childhood disease, or maybe just from more life stress than his heart could stand. It took Rob a long time to forgive his father for the double name; he had taken a lot of teasing for it growing up, however mild it may have been. Now he found his name to be more of a curiosity than a liability, almost a memory tool in some respects. He had worked his way through college at a variety of odd jobs, catching dishes, radio announcer, dog walker, deck hand on a pusher boat, contractor’s helper, all sorts of things, and he looked at each as an adventure in learning. Although his mother had worked outside the home as he was growing up, it was mostly at domestic work, and when his father died suddenly, the family found itself with little in the way of resources. Even then Rob had helped where he could and developed a strong work ethic that would serve him well all his years.

After graduation, Rob landed a position with a sizeable local manufacturing company, primarily in plant operations engineering and with opportunities to move up in the ranks. He enjoyed the position, the challenges it posed with cantankerous machinery, and the good pay and benefits. He had dated some, but not with serious intentions, and eventually the women he knew found other men or married or simply disappeared from his life. By his late twenties, he had started thinking more about family, marriage, and all those things that come with life in the slow lane. It was about that time his sister moved home, frightened and pregnant at twenty-four. He had been very careful to not criticize, understanding that those things happen from time to time, but was less than thrilled when the father skipped town with no forwarding address. They would eventually hunt him down, for all the good that did at the moment. The strange thing was that while Elizabeth seemed to love her baby girl, she didn’t seem able to take care of her, often leaving her unattended for hours at a time, soiled diaper, unfed, other things that should have been a matter of routine, yet left undone. Rob didn’t know any of that until his mother sat him down one day after he returned from work and explained the situation. She had known for some time there was a problem of clinical depression with her daughter, the same thing that had haunted her husband for years. Connie had hoped it would simply go away, but she knew it wouldn’t, not really. Then with the birth, things deteriorated further, even to the point of approaching suicide attempts. Connie could not let her grandchild suffer the consequences of neglect, and with great reluctance she called the mental health people for help. It was not pretty, and would not get better without treatment and medication; at worst, Beth could not adequately care for herself let alone her infant; grandmother would become a mother again. And then Beth was gone, absent from the house, leaving only a note saying she was heading for the coast and would call them when she was resettled. In the process of leaving, she cleaned out their checking account, such as it was. Connie called the local mental health people and talked to them at length, receiving assurance that they in turn would call people they knew on the coast to watch for Beth, and to help her as best they could. It was not very reassuring, but it was something to cling to, and both Rob and Connie held out the hope that in the end things would work out. Maybe the constant sunshine would help their sister and daughter, but in the meantime, there remained Emily.

Already working as the primary support for the four of them, and now three of them, Rob saw his obligations grow larger since his sister was no longer there to contribute something to the family kitty. Still, things were fairly well within his capacity to sustain; then the plant closed without warning and moved off shore. Virtually trapped by his own perceived moral obligations to his family, he sought work where he could, landing on the call list for the temp agency. His only other possible route was to leave the city and seek a position elsewhere; it would not have been abandonment, since his whole goal would be to better their overall position, but he couldn’t bring himself to shift the entire burden to his mother for however long that might take. No one was hiring engineers at the moment, even experienced engineers, but the temp agency fed him a lot of basic employment opportunities. Rob could do a lot of things, some better than others, and when compared to a lot of people on the agency list, he was reliable, clean, polite, competent, and arrived on time, while many did not meet one or more of those attributes, or did not show up at all. With his paycheck and his mother’s, they were if not around the corner at least seeing some light ahead. Rob and Connie tag team cared for little Emily, who was growing rapidly into a beautiful child in all respects, charming in her youth, reserved in demeanor, and apparently with a budding artistic flair. She was as much his daughter as his sisters daughter, and maybe more so.

By late evening the guests, being more of the older generation and less likely to party late, dispersed a few at a time until all were gone. Rob busied himself cleaning up and re-stowing the glassware, polished and ready for reuse. He prided himself on leaving things as good as and usually better than how he found them; tonight was no exception. His tip jar had done well; Rob thought briefly about a barkeeping stint he had served where someone looted the tip jar when his back was turned for a second. At least these weren’t that kind of people. If anything nagged him a bit it was the woman who evidently had hired him saying she wanted to see him after the party, in a voice that was directing, not asking. He didn’t know of anything he had done that wasn’t quite right, but clearly she was not happy about something. ‘Ah, well’ he thought ‘guess we’ll see how this comes out eventually.’ And ‘eventually’ was now walking his way.

Marti opened the conversation: Just so you know, I’m Ms Martin; I called the agency for your services. My apologies for not introducing myself earlier; I’ve been a little busy with my clients the last few hours. Anyway, you are….? Marti didn’t really feel she owed an apology for anything, but it was a way to open a conversation and besides, she needed this rental person to be amenable to what she would set forth next; a little warmth, however fake, couldn’t hurt the proceedings. Her voice said differently.

Rob heard Marti’s tone of voice, realized she was being rather condescending, but chose to ignore it for the moment as not being relevant to the present. Robert Roberts, Rob if you prefer. Pleased to meet you. Oh….here’s my time sheet I need to get signed for the agency so they know I actually arrived here. No chit no check.

No what?

No chit no check. Don’t know where the term came from but I got it from my dad; chit was a term he used for paperwork of most any kind. Anyway, if you would just sign here, that will take care of all the paperwork for the evening.

Marti signed where indicated, noting the hours claimed were actually slightly less than those worked, counting the clean-up time he had just spent. She was not accustomed to someone who put as much stock in doing a good job as in getting a good paycheck, and while the thought didn’t make much overt difference at the moment, it did register somewhere in an otherwise unoccupied corner of her mind. I see you’ve finished for the evening. Looks like everything is back in its place.

I am and it is. It’s almost congenital with me, having to put things back where I found them, or maybe just one too many thumps on top the head for not doing so. The sink had some strange residue in the bottom to start with, but I got that cleaned up. Place is ready to go for the next time. Is there anything else I can do for you?

Marti was having a hard time staying on the rails. She had not expected someone to talk to her as an equal, yet this person didn’t seem to be making any particular point of it. He was simply responding to her statement, no more and no less, and appeared to care little about her status one way or another, remaining at the same time unassuming and unaffected in his presentation. He had poked a little fun at himself but none at her and was neither obsequious nor overbearing. And for all that, Marti was not flustered but did take just a second to choose her words carefully before continuing; this was turning out to be a real conversation, not just employer/employee. Yes, there is. The agency was supposed to have a housekeeper here in the morning but they called and cancelled for some unknown mystical reason. They did say you could come back in the morning to take the housekeepers place, and that I should let you know that’s what I need you to do. So, about 8 AM would do fine. I’ll see you then?

That’s rather unusual. The agency always calls first to see what my schedule is rather than just signing me on somewhere. But, it really doesn’t matter anyway. I can’t be here in the morning; there are other things I have to do. Hope you can find someone. And Rob really did wish her well, in spite of her tone and general attitude.

Marti was caught. He seemed to know the agency had indeed not told her that at all; they had told her to ask him, she had demanded, and he said no. This was not going well, not at all. Maybe I just misunderstood them about hiring you back. Anyway, I do still need you here in the morning. I have an afternoon meeting with some important people and I need the place neatened up some, outside and in. Take only a few hours at the most. That isn’t too much to ask, is it? Oh, I know; it’s the weekend and you want more money. Okay, time and a half. Alright?

I’m sorry; maybe I didn’t make myself clear: no. I have other things I have to do. Look, it isn’t the money, although it all helps, but I really am committed to something tomorrow morning, all morning and most of the afternoon. I can’t just take a walk on that, I really can’t. So, again, I do hope you find someone. I need to be going now.

No, please wait, just for a moment. Marti was now slipping off the rails entirely. She had tried to bully; that didn’t work. She had tried money; that didn’t work. Now what? Look, whatever it is you have to do, can’t you call the people and put it off a day or two? Surely there is some way we can make this work; I’m really in a pinch here.

No, I can’t do that. I’d be more than willing to help if I could, and I do hope you can find a way through this. I’m already late getting home so if you don’t mind, I’ll be on my way.

Marti had lost, and while she did not like it one bit, there was apparently nothing she could do to change what this man had set forth. She would try the agency again in the morning, or maybe another agency; this was not going good. I guess I’ll have to find some other way to get this done. Sorry if I kept you over; I can change the time slip if you want; it was a little short anyway. For a change, her tone sounded real.

No, that’s fine. Please call the agency again. It isn’t that I don’t need the work, I just can’t do it right now. Have a good night, and he was out the door, headed to his elderly truck and home.

Marti considered locking up the house, maybe pouring herself a stiff drink, and thinking about how to get through things tomorrow when the knock came on the back door. Answering it, she found Rob standing there, head somewhat down and apparently not too happy at the moment.

Sorry to disturb you, especially after our recent conversation. My truck won’t start and if I could I’d like to use your phone to call my mother to come get me. I’d run it, but I’m already sort of late. I’m sorry about this, really.

Marti realized she had a wonderful opportunity to get even as it were, and it would not be the first time she had done so when someone failed to do her bidding, but this just didn’t seem to be the time to be vindictive. And then there was that other little thing she was curious about: the apparent absence of a cell phone in his possession; she mused to herself she had thought everyone had a cell phone.

Sure, please come in and call. No cell phone?

No, no cell. We retired those when we had to cut a lot of corners, and to tell the truth I don’t miss it much. Anyway, this won’t take a minute; I’ll wait for her out on the curb, if that’s okay.

No, that’s not a problem, but how long will you have to wait?

She’ll have to bring my niece with her; we don’t leave a seven year old home alone, so maybe fifteen minutes or so at most.

Marti thought about the situation briefly, and somehow found herself considering what this other person must be dealing with in his life at the moment. It was rather out of her usual line of thought, considering someone else, but didn’t really seem all that foreign either. Look, that doesn’t seem fair to a young child, or even good for her to wake her at this hour. I’ll make you a deal: you tell me why you can’t work here in the morning, and I’ll loan you my car to get home. You can bring it back in the morning, and whatever you need to fix your car. Sound reasonable?

Rob thought it over briefly. This woman was right; he really did not want his mother to have to get Emily up and take her out into the night at this hour, and his commitment the next morning was no state secret. He just had one reservation: I appreciate that, and I don’t mind telling you why I can’t come, but if anything happened to your car….. I only carry PL and PD on my truck; it has virtually no resale value, and I sure couldn’t stand the loss if anything happened.

No problem; I don’t own it personally anyway. It’s a company car, and the insurance covers whomever drives it at the time. If anything goes wrong, you’ll be on company business as far as I am concerned, since I loaned it to you. Okay? Do we have a deal?

Yes, we have a deal. I really didn’t want to make that call; mom works hard enough as it is. You see, that’s the problem with tomorrow. Mom has a part time job at the mall on Saturdays. We can’t exactly afford to lose that revenue, and you know how quick she’d be canned if she missed one day. Guess I couldn’t blame them. Anyway, I keep Emily with me on Saturday so mom can go to work. That’s the commitment I have, and why I can’t be here. I’m sure you don’t want a seven year old loose on the premises, even if she really is a great kid.

Now wait a minute. Tell me what you do on Saturdays.

Mostly, I do the house stuff, you know, like laundry, yard things, and whatever needs fixed; Emily pretty much entertains herself with cartoons, and she likes to sit and draw sometimes; pretty good for her age. Anyway, I can’t just leave her alone.

So, how would being here be any different than being at your place? I have a nice rec room, and a big screen TV. You said you need the revenue. Or is it that you don’t like to admit you do housework, you know, some male thing? I don’t much care for housework myself; but, that’s no excuse for turning this down, and I already agreed to time and a half. Just a few hours, okay? What can it hurt?

Rob knew inside she was right in every respect, and they could make good use of the extra money. Besides, he was going to have to spring for a new battery for his truck, like it or not. The house seemed safe enough for Emily, and he could look in on her often. The answer seemed obvious: Okay, deal. I don’t know how you did that, but I’m convinced. Only thing is, it’s going to be time to be back here before I leave if I don’t get a move on. You’re sure it’s okay if I bring her along, no problem?

No problem. Now, here’re the keys; it’s the black Navigator in the drive. Enjoy the ride. See you about 8 AM?

Yes ma’am; 8 AM at the latest. Thank you for working this out for me, and by the way, I do not have a male aversion to housework; it’s all just a job to me. See you in the morning. Good night. And Rob Roberts was out the door, again. If anything about the deal scared him at all, it was when he thought briefly how much it would cost to replace the big black Lincoln if anything happened to it.

Chapter Two – Minding Emily

Connie was up early on Saturday morning, in plenty of time to get breakfast for three of them and still make it to the mall well before her starting time. She knew it had been rather late when Rob had returned from his bartending job; maybe he had worked some extra hours. She felt bad about the situation he found himself in, and was grateful for her son’s internal fortitude that kept him from jumping ship. None of this was his doing, yet he stayed alongside her in keeping things going. In truth, her part time job barely brought in grocery money; Rob was the main support, and had been for some time now even after his good job had evaporated. Elizabeth was virtually gone from their lives, at least as far as any assistance was concerned. Their existence was not meager by any means, but there were few leftovers at the end of the month. Still, they had a home, food, and transportation and some of the other amenities that make things go around. It did occur to Connie now and again that Rob had virtually no social life at all, but when she’d mention it he would laugh it off, saying engineers aren’t exactly known for their social skills anyway. He didn’t seem unhappy, but maybe he was being too tolerant in letting life bypass him. It didn’t seem fair to her, and then she glanced out the window and saw the big black SUV sitting in their driveway where his truck should have been.

Rob, is there something you haven’t told me? What’s that big black thing doing in our drive? Do I want to know what’s going on?

Dressed in more utilitarian clothes and ready to go to back to work, Rob told his mother about the deal he had made, mentioning the time and a half aspect, assuring her Emily would be safe, and that he would look in on the little girl frequently. He also told her about Marti, at least what little he knew, and noted she appeared to have a personality switch she could use at will, from aloof and demanding to more personable and asking. In spite of the somewhat negative description, when his mother asked him what Marti actually looked like, Rob found himself thinking of the woman in more considerate terms, almost in spite of himself. "Okay, I guess; it was late and the end