Love Unexpected

By Michelle Tschantre'

Jim Madison never expected to own a thriving marina, but he does. Kendra Millen always expected to go to the junior college, with a desire to learn and grow, but she can’t. With four siblings still at home, Kendra needs to bring in some income. Her parents had been raised in the “work hard” school of thought, but “work hard” was being automated and her parent’s skills were left wanting. Suddenly facing a locked door and a lost job, she resorts to the temp job service and meets Jim Madison while doing some food server work at his marina’s Open House event. There it was, her image in his mind, Kendra, nothing specific, but when he later needed a temp employee in a hurry, her name and face came up. That was meeting number two. By meeting three, when he hired her to go with him on a boat retrieval event, he realized how much he enjoyed seeing her again. He even talked to a friend about the decade of age difference and was assured by Jeff Banning, now married to Andrea nearly ten years Jeff’s junior, the social beating Jim would take was worth the end result. Beyond the age issue, there was the question of child care for Jim Madison’s niece who had suddenly arrived on his doorstep. Would Kendra believe a marriage proposal was about Jim loving her, or was it about obtaining full-time child care for Lily? Which would win out in her mind?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Michelle Tschantre'
• Release date: Oct 23, 2017
• ISBN: 9781370611300

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.

Book preview

Love Unexpected

WINDMERE series – book eight

Michelle Tschantré

Smashwords Edition

Love Unexpected

Copyright © 2017 Michelle Tschantré

All rights reserved.

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.

Love Unexpected 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:

…finding true love when least suspected.

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

Chapter Twenty-One

About the Author

Preface

Jim Madison never expected to own a thriving marina, but he does. Kendra Millen always expected to go to the junior college, with a desire to learn and grow, but she can’t. With four siblings still at home, Kendra needs to bring in some income. Her parents had been raised in the work hard school of thought, but work hard was being automated and her parent’s skills were left wanting. Suddenly facing a locked door and a lost job, she resorts to the temp job service and meets Jim Madison while doing some food server work at his marina’s Open House event. There it was, her image in his mind, Kendra, nothing specific, but when he later needed a temp employee in a hurry, her name and face came up. That was meeting number two. By meeting three, when he hired her to go with him on a boat retrieval event, he realized how much he enjoyed seeing her again. He even talked to a friend about the decade of age difference and was assured by Jeff Banning, now married to Andrea nearly ten years Jeff’s junior, the social beating Jim would take was worth the end result. Beyond the age issue, there was the question of child care for Jim Madison’s niece who had suddenly arrived on his doorstep. Would Kendra believe a marriage proposal was about Jim loving her, or was it about obtaining full-time child care for Lily? Which would win out in her mind?

Chapter One – First Encounter

Sure, thanks. Just tell whomever you send to check in with me and we’ll go from there…. you’re sending Kenny? Okay; I’ll be looking for Kenny. Jim Madison disconnected the call. He didn’t really care who arrived to fill the need, just so someone did who was clean, presentable to the public, and ready to serve his guests. It was the usual After Hours meeting of the Chamber of Commerce being held this month at his place of business. He rather enjoyed going to other persons places of business, and now it was his turn. The process was that the hosting business would provide an open-house sort of tour for Chamber members after the daily close of business, usually starting at six PM to allow other members to get off work or do whatever else might be necessary, like sitters. Some would attend as individuals, some with spouses or significant others but never spouse and significant other at the same time, some members never attended, and some attended but would never host the event for any number of reasons. Subsequent to the hosted event, some would retire to a restaurant for an evening meal and to continue the conversations initiated during the After Hours. Whether or not he would sell any boats was not the issue; it was creating a familiarity in potential buyers; there was also the plus of many other unrelated things he had learned in casual conversations over the few years he had been owner of the operation. Although it was true many of the boats in his marina were much smaller than those he had operated during a stint in the Navy, he enjoyed the familiarity with all sizes. It was somewhat of a chance occurrence that after his Navy experience, he had gone to college for a degree in marketing, then almost by accident landed a job at the marina. People didn’t seem to distinguish much between sales and marketing, and he did need a job of some sort to keep him solvent until something better came along, maybe something more in line with his education. So, he hired on at the marina as a marketing consultant, which in truth was as a salesperson. The learning curve was fairly steep at first but with no family to occupy his after hours, Jim immersed himself in the business to better serve his customers. The original temporary aspect of the position slowly became permanent as he learned the finer nuances and enjoyed that ‘feel good" reward when a sale was completed. He was tall although not a particularly handsome man in the GQ sense of things plus he kept himself in excellent physical condition. His general demeanor exuded confidence in self, an important asset in sales processing, although his customers would leave believing they had made the important decisions on their own recognizance. It was not necessarily so; often times he provided subtle steering cues that would forge a link between what the customer might be thinking they needed and what would best suit their needs. It was a delicate balance not always achieved, but those times when the balance failed it was at the customer’s insistence and understanding it was their decision. It was rare that anyone ever came back and blamed the marina for the self-imposed discontent they might be feeling. As his own sales performance figures soared it became more and more evident to the owners that when they decided to retire in their advanced years, he was a natural candidate as the new owner. That had taken some unusual footwork in a financial sense but it was done just before his 32nd birthday; based on the subsequent performance in paying down the business loans, the decision proved to be a good one. Those considerations were important to him, but what was more important at this specific moment was that the server person promised by the temp agency would arrive in a timely manner and in appropriate dress.

It had been a difficult decision thrust upon a young Kendra Millen, deciding she would have to delay any further educational opportunities in view of more pressing current demands. Her life had not been particularly rewarding during her primary and secondary education years, but neither had it been particularly difficult, made easier by a loving family. It was a fact that opportunities of choice were rare for the eldest in a family with six children and not a lot of income. Her parents were solid people, no question there, but neither had advanced much beyond entry level employment during their work years. Their parents before them had not seen the promise held out by more education, only hard work as a means to earn a living, but hard work was being automated on a regular basis and such positions were difficult to find and sustain. Kendra had been born when her mother was eighteen, to be followed by five more children in somewhat close succession. As much as she wanted to look down the road, her realization was that in the greater scope of family history the older children were expected to help the younger children as they grew up and expenses mounted. After an assortment of fairly good but short term jobs, she had landed at a high end custom bakery located in a strip mall. She worked both the front counter in sales and in the back room doing whatever product finish work was required, maybe icing cupcakes or applying drizzle to a Bundt cake. It was going well for her, finally, and she was starting to make plans to maybe take another look at the local junior college. Then came the day she arrived for work and along with others standing at the locked door saw the notice the bakery was closed, period. She would learn later the owners had looted the till and fled the country with everything they could get their hands on, leaving an unpaid staff and mounting vendor bills. Devastated by the event, but resilient in character, she once again went to the temp agency and was working her way up the ladder by reporting on time, not restricting what she would take on as a job, all those things she knew would make her more in demand than those less willing to expand their horizons. Her brothers and sisters were depending on her for some level of support and she would make every effort to see they had opportunities she yearned for but could not reach. She had been working a job today doing house cleaning when the call came asking if she would consider doing a few hours in the evening at some sort of social event. After quick trip home to grab a shower and change into something a little more presentable, Kendra headed for the marina and some additional income. The tasks had not been clarified, only that she was to find the owner and report to him, or her, as the case may be. The agency was less concerned about her well-being than how their services could generate more calls; they would not knowingly endanger any of their temp workers in any respect, but their concern was because of their legal liability, not any respect for individual beings. A couple of questions asking directions once she arrived on site and Kendra was on the clock again.

Hi; I’m told you’re Mr. Madison, the owner. I’m Kenny from the temp agency.

Jim Madison looked up, then looked again with perplexed interest. This person said she was from the temp agency, as he had requested, but Kenny was a man’s name, and this person clearly was not a man in any respect. Somehow that didn’t make sense. Yes, I’m Jim Madison. I’m sorry if I seem a little confused; the agency said someone named Kenny would be sent here. I guess maybe I stereotyped from the name. What he said was very true; he was having some sort of issue matching the name with the person in front of him. It was no major crises, but a puzzle at the least.

My real name is Kendra; when my siblings were real young they couldn’t say that quite right, so it became Kenny, and stuck. I’m sorry for the confusion, and surprised the agency used my nickname. Anyway, the agency sent me and said you would tell me what needs to be done; that’s as much as I know at the moment. Okay?

Yes, sure, okay. Jim was still trying to make sense of things in a small remote corner of his mind, but for the moment needed to forge ahead with the reality in front of him. We’re hosting a sort of open house this evening for a select list, the Chamber of Commerce members to be exact. This is the finger food table, snacks if you prefer, and over here is a speed bar set up. We limit drinks to beer and wine for these events, but most of the people will only want a soft drink, maybe some ginger ale, something like that. It starts about 6 PM and runs until 7 PM, not much beyond, so you have about an hour to get set up, familiarize yourself with things and so on. I haven’t used the temp service previously, so if I seem a little unsure, please bear with me. Let’s head to the break room and I’ll show you where the food is being stored for the moment. The drinks are on ice in the tubs over there. Okay?

He seemed nice enough, even dealing with the error in gender identification name stereotyping without misfiring in the process. It was looking like a good two plus hours extra she could earn this evening, and Kendra looked forward to getting the food set up, beverage supply checked out, things like that. The break room refrigerator was stuffed to the doors with the finger food; it seldom held much of anything under normal conditions, being more of a convenience to staff for that occasional lunch item that needed refrigeration. There was also a medium sized electric chafing tray full of hot Vienna sausages on one end and Italian meatballs on the other, not an inexpensive treat to put forth. Whatever company had provided the food had also provided the disposable items to be used by patrons. She decided the first step was to get the table covering in place, paper plates, napkins fanned out, wooden skewers made accessible by standing in cups, and minor plastic utensils arrayed in some orderly fashion, then see if the catering company had provided any serving utensils. There were enough things available for a good set-up, and fifteen minutes before the event was to start she brought out the food trays and the hot chafing dish, arranging the table so there was access from both sides for the guests to help themselves. She hadn’t specifically seen her present employer since their brief meeting, but that was of little consequence, until she needed her time slip signed of course. At the bar she extracted one container of each flavor beverage to show what was available, helped herself to a bottle of cold water, did a quick trip to the restroom, donned the provided decorator style apron with the May I Help You? logo, and was ready for business. Although she had not seen Jim Madison, ever the good manager he was aware of the preparations being put in place in several respects, including the food being set out just in time to serve the early arrivals. During the course of the event he would pass by Kendra’s location several times, finding each time she was there, being attentive to her patrons and keeping things neatly arranged on the food table.

It was nearly 7:30 by the time the visitors had departed the premises and Jim Madison returned to her location to close out the evening. She had packed up the remaining items as best she could, cleared the table, rinsed the serving utensils before putting them back into the carrier, and removed, then folded the apron that had been provided for her use. All that remained was getting her time slip signed by her employer who was now approaching, and a ride home after waiting in the evening darkness at the bus stop. Jim opened the conversation.

I think that went well; big turnout from what I could see, and plenty of questions to staff. Looks like things are wrapped up here. The catering company will be by in a few minutes to pick up the remains, but if there’s any food or things like that you might want to take home, please feel free. It’s all part of the package. In fact, they were supposed to provide a server as well but had some sort of staffing problem and referred me to the temp agency. So, anything else need to be done here?

If you would just sign my time slip I’ll be on my way. I appreciate the offer of food but that could be a problem to carry on the bus. I will admit I did a couple of samples, just a couple of bites, no more than that; hope that was okay. Kendra was sure of the probability he had passed her location more than once in making his rounds that evening, and may well have seen her minor foray into the food supply. Might as well be honest up front, just in case. In fact, he had not seen her sampling activities and in the here and now decided it was a non-issue. She was neat and very presentable, smiled, served with a cheerful attitude, and had done everything virtually on her own once he had shown her the items being supplied. Sampling was a non-starter, but maybe the transport of leftovers could be negotiated. Jim Madison was not given to wasting anything of value and correctly assumed the catering company would discard the remains.

I don’t think any minor sampling is a problem, none. If you don’t mind my asking, do you do this for a living? You did a really good job here, and I will admit that was with very little guidance on my part. You just seemed to know how to handle this.

No, not a lot, although truthfully this evening was sort of fun; I could stand a lot more of that. I’ve been with the temp service a few months now, ever since my regular job blew away. I just do whatever they think I can do, housekeeping, light yard work, commercial dishwashing, and by the way I passed the food service and sanitation course I had to take or I couldn’t do things like this event. Anyway, if you would verify the hours and sign here, I’ll be on my way.

Jim checked the time slip, noted the hours covered the time from her arrival to the present, and in a brief instance realized at any other similar event she would have had a tip jar somewhere around her work site. With that in mind, he added time to the total, signed off and handed the slip back to her, noting as he did so her last name: Millen.

One glance and she knew it wasn’t right. Sir, Mr. Madison, this isn’t correct. I won’t even be here at 9 PM but that’s what you put on the time slip.

I know, but it’s the least I can do for a job well done. Please understand, I’ve been to a lot of these events; you did really well and deserve to be rewarded. It isn’t much but it is better than no tip jar. At the moment I have to run to the restaurant, but one more quick question: if you didn’t have to take the bus, would you like to take some of the food?

Sure, but I…

A brief scan of the showroom area provided a possible answer: Hey, Lyle? Can you run her home after you lock up tonight? She has some stuff to carry and the bus would be a problem, especially if any of the other passengers are hungry. Okay?

Assured by Lyle, one of the sales staff, that he would see her safely home, Jim Madison left at a near run for the post tour dinner location. Lyle let Kendra know he would be a few more minutes, waiting only for the catering company to pick up their material; during that wait she could pack up whatever goodies she wanted to take home. Much like her temporary employer, Kendra Millen was not given to wasteful habits, although she would limit her take to what she believed her family would consume in the next day or two. It wasn’t that they were starving or anything that dire, but it was really good food and as an extra in their home would be welcomed. Fifteen minutes later she was riding along in a full dress tricked out Escalade; it seemed to her being in boat sales must be a good occupation, not to mention the extra hours on her time slip and some leftovers her siblings fell on like a ravenous hoard. It had been a long but very good day and her sleep that night was both deep and restful.

Chapter Two – Remembered

James Madison had spent the remainder of the open house evening at a good restaurant with some good company, good conversation, traded some interesting information on liability insurance for staff, and in general enjoyed himself. He felt the Chamber event had gone well and although the point was to familiarize other Chamber members with his company and what it had to offer, not specifically to sell boats, he felt getting the information out there on all they could provide was important to the company well-being. It was when he was leaving the restaurant and heading home that an associate reminded him they would meet again that Friday evening. Not only was it the week for Jim to host the Chamber event, it was also his turn to host the monthly poker party. That event had only recently come into existence, one of those things that a group of men having an after closing time happy-hour libation decided was a good idea among friends. The group of six players had rotated location through each of five homes, and this month it was at the sixth home, that of Jim Madison.

Shortly after becoming the owner of the marina, at another Chamber event no less, a longtime friend had approached Jim about potential home buying. The friend was a Randy Shaker by name, a well-known and very successful real estate agent, who had recently purchased a home of his own at a fire sale price. Randy knew Jim was living in a fairly nice condo but there were homes out there on the market that were just too good a deal to miss. Randy had learned about his own deal when a mortgage banker with whom he regularly did business had called him about a bailout purchase. Randy also knew he could resell the house within a couple of years as the real estate market got well, probably at twice what he had invested, maybe even more. Another unit had recently come on the market, one people had constructed with the intent of turning it over for a quick profit; the downturn had caught them unprepared with insufficient financial resources to weather the storm. The banker had salvaged the bank’s investment when Randy had stepped in; today Randy had been asked to move another house with an underwater mortgage. It was true Randy had been single when he acquired his home, but the move paid off when he recently acquired a wife, her two children, and reportedly a third child on the way. For the single James Madison, he had no real need of a four bedroom three car garage amenity loaded home sitting on two manicured acres, but Randy was a good salesman and Jim recognized a worthy investment when it was in front of him. For no more than he was paying on the condo contract, he could buy the house, need it or not, and he made the move. This Friday the house would provide the game room, poker table, chips, all that, but Mr. Madison was otherwise unprepared and Friday was staring at him up close and personal.

Thursday morning in his office and on his second or third cup of coffee, Jim realized he needed to make preparations for hosting the poker party. He had hosted parties before, but not recently, and not with people more mature than beer guzzling fraternity brothers living in an off-campus house. As he briefly recalled the previous evening’s open house, he remembered something the temp worker had said, that she did housekeeping or whatever she was hired to do. His own housekeeper had notified him she would be out of service for at least a month while she got a hip replaced. At the time he was notified it wasn’t a big deal; the house stayed rather clean with only one person living there, he had no pets, and if needed could do his own laundry and things like that. It was true he didn’t actually do any laundry, preferring to use the bundle service at the laundry where his company had a contract for their logo embroidered work shirts to be processed. It was still two weeks before his housekeeper anticipated her return to service, and it just seemed to him six weeks without so much as a vacuum being run was probably longer than he should allow given the forthcoming poker party. What to do? The temp; what was her name? Kenny; no; Kendra; that was it: Kendra Millen. For some unknown reason her image floated through his mind at the moment; he did not find it displeasing in the least. Five minutes later he had an agreement with the temp agency she would arrive at his digs the next morning by 8 AM, ready to do the housekeeping. He would be there to tell her what he needed done; things were coming together.

The Madison doorbell rang slightly before 8 AM, and there stood Kendra Kenny Millen, ready to go to work. Invited into the kitchen, they sat for a moment while he explained the situation, providing her with a cup of fresh coffee in the process. It amused him just a tiny bit in his mind that this woman was coming into the house at this hour, while there had been occasions when a woman was leaving the house at this hour, having entered the previous night. He was quick to realize it was most likely none of those women would have been prepared to do anything like cleaning or running the vacuum, but then, that wasn’t their goal at all; James Madison was their goal, although he would prove to be an elusive one at a minimum. For the present moment he explained what he needed done, why he suddenly needed a housekeeper, where the cleaning things were located, although he really didn’t know what constituted cleaning supplies, and assured her she would have all day since he would be at work most of the time. He did note that she appeared to be carrying a lunch, so was apparently ready to spend the day even without knowing the tasks ahead of her. She had come prepared; he mentally stored the fact.

Ten minutes later Mr. Madison was on his way to work, leaving Kendra to her own devices in the big house. It had amazed her that, to the best of her knowledge, only one person lived in this place, a house that just had to be twice the size of that in which she had been raised with five siblings. Yet, James Madison didn’t seem to be one of the snobby newly rich people she had come to dislike just a bit for their better than thou attitude. She realized that the up side of the newly affluent was that most times both partners worked long hours and had little time for housekeeping chores; that in itself gave her opportunities that might not have otherwise existed. For the moment, there appeared to be no Ms Madison, only a Mr. Madison who needed her help. He had told her about his usual housekeeper being laid up, and about hosting the evening’s poker game, to feel free to use whatever facilities she needed in the pursuit of her work, and to call him at the marina if something went awry. He had no concept of what could go awry, but then, he also had little concept of how chemically dangerous a full cleaning effort could become. Kendra started in.

By the 5 PM end of the day, she was worn down, having put in her time by constantly being on the move. Even her lunch time was cut a bit short