Please Use the Door

By KC Kendricks

Tanner Reddick learned the hard way a man needs his own place to call home – one that is legally his. The last guy set his belongings on the curb and Tanner vows it will never happen again. It's time for him to be in charge. Embarking on the next phase of his life, Tanner buys a fixer-upper bungalow and gets to work. He's looking forward to living on his own for a while. His interest in his boss, Alex Crewes, could change that.

It's moving day and Tanner notices a few things about the house, things his friends disavow knowledge of. The porch is swept and the breakers on. Then Tanner smells a hint of Bay Rum cologne, which no one he knows uses. When unseen hands paint a few rooms in the house, he has to face the facts - he's not really alone.

Bodhi introduces himself and welcomes the newest resident in the house he built a century ago. This one Bodhi likes, and he's determined he and Tanner will coexist in harmony. Maybe they can even be friends. And if he's lucky, maybe a little more – unless Tanner's deepening relationship with Alex throws a wrench into his plans. 

• Language: English
• Publisher: White Deer Enterprises/White Deer Books
• Release date: Aug 14, 2018
• ISBN: 9781536547061

KC Kendricks

KC Kendricks calls herself an accidental writer. After completing her first novel writing as Rayne Forrest, she was urged to submit it to a publisher, and everything snowballed from there. Today, the author has had over seventy books published. In July of 2021, she tried to retire but her employer offered her a deal to work at home. She accepted. Now she balances work, writing, and hearth and home in a controlled chaos. A native of scenic western Maryland, the author enjoys most activities that don’t include snow. In warm weather she might be found walking the dog, biking on the C&O Canal towpath, planting delicacies in her garden for the deer to munch on at night, playing in the creek, or lazing on the patio with her Kindle reader or laptop. She recently began to research her family history and can't drive past a cemetery without stopping to search for family sites. Her mission is to photograph old tombstones before the elements erode the stones and the names are lost to time. For more about KC Kendricks and Rayne Forrest’s writing life, please visit the Between the Keys blog at http:kckendricks.blogspot.com . If you’d like to know more about the author’s country lifestyle and her daily activities full of simple country pleasures (and a lot of work), please visit the Holly Tree Manor blog at http://hollytreemanor.blogspot.com . KC can be reached through her blog, Between the Keys. All comments are strictly moderated by the author and personal messages are treated as such. Follow the author on Twitter for up-to-date announcements at Twitter.com/KCKendricks.

Book preview

About Please Use the Door

Tanner Reddick learned the hard way a man needs his own place to call home – one that is legally his. The last guy set his belongings on the curb, and Tanner vows it will never happen again. It’s time for him to be in charge. Embarking on the next phase of his life, Tanner buys a fixer-upper bungalow and gets to work. He’s looking forward to living on his own for a while. His interest in his boss, Alex Crewes, could change that.

It’s moving day, and Tanner notices a few things about the house, things his friends disavow knowledge of. The porch is swept, and the power is on. Then Tanner smells a hint of Bay Rum cologne, which no one he knows uses. When unseen hands paint a few rooms in the house, he has to face the facts - he’s not really alone.

Bodhi introduces himself and welcomes the newest resident in the house he built a century ago. This one Bodhi likes, and he’s determined he and Tanner will coexist in harmony. Maybe they can even be friends. And if he’s lucky, maybe a little more – unless Tanner’s deepening relationship with Alex throws a wrench into his plans. 

Chapter 1

His grannie used to tell him to be careful what he wished for because he just might get it. It always sounded like a dire warning, one that any sensible person would heed. Then again, she always accused him of not having the sense God gave a pigeon. Tanner Reddick suspected his grandmother knew more than she ever let people know and said things like that as misdirection. What if her words were true now? He feared they might be. 

The man beside him handed him a sheet of paper. Here are the specs on the house. As you can see, it’s typical of the Bungalow style. It’s a two-story with an attic that could easily be converted into a bonus space. Deep porch with stone pillars. The classic Bungalow rooflines. Five bedrooms with three baths, dining room, parlor, morning room, a big kitchen, and a breakfast nook. It’s got pocket doors on the first floor and solid doors on the second floor.

Tanner scanned the sheet. It was built circa nineteen hundred. Does that mean before or after the turn of the century? I wonder when it was painted that horrible dingy gray?

The realtor chuckled. Our old city hall records get a bit sketchy if construction took place a long time ago, but it’s definitely Edwardian period. It’s probably got seven layers of paint on it.

And it needs one more, Tanner replied. Shall we go inside?

You’re a brave man, Mr. Reddick. No one else has asked for the tour. He climbed out of the car and came around in time to close the passenger door behind Tanner. Don’t expect too much. It’s a true fixer-upper.

But you have certifications from the city that everything is up to code, right?

I do. The mechanicals were updated by the current owner and are good to go, but the roof does need to be re-shingled within the next year or two. Most of what needs to be done inside is cosmetic, but I won’t lie to you. It’ll be a big job. Three thousand square feet is a lot of house.

Tanner opened the wrought iron gate, and it fell off its rusted hinges. That was not reassuring. Nor was the foot-high lawn. Or the vine-shrouded front porch. This place would take months to coax into shape.

But what else did he have to do with his time? Not much and getting out from under Mama’s watchful eye was his top priority. He needed - desperately needed - to move out of his mother’s garage. At least the porch steps and decking felt solid under his shoes.

The realtor opened the front door, and a blast of cold air hit Tanner in the face. He shivered in its wake although he was curious where it came from. It was at least eighty degrees Fahrenheit this afternoon.

The inside of the house was a pleasant surprise. Stripped bare of furnishings, it appeared to need nothing more than a good cleaning and a fresh coat of paint. The floors were tile and hardwood and in decent shape, and the mahogany woodwork was amazing.

Tanner found no signs of water damage, and he checked into every corner and closet searching for it. He’d need to update the kitchen in stages. The layout was functional, but he’d need to purchase appliances immediately, and that was a significant expense. He could replace the countertops next year and maybe re-face the cabinets at the same time.

After they’d been in every room including the basement and attic, the realtor told Tanner he’d wait in the car so he could get a better vibe from the house.

Tanner stood in the middle of the kitchen and closed his eyes. The old house was still. No air stirred, but he had the sense he wasn’t alone. Someone had loved this house, once upon a time. It had everything he wanted and needed from a great front porch to the nifty drive-through carport on the east side to the mature maple trees in the south corner of the yard. It even had a separate garage out back big enough for his pickup and a riding lawn tractor.

He could put together a makeshift sleeping area in the dining or morning room until he finished painting the master bedroom and bath.

This was crazy. What he ought to do was rent a nice, cozy apartment and let the landlord worry about mowing the grass and handling the snow removal. Or maybe take Alex up on his offer and move in with him. The problem with that was he liked Alex, perhaps too much. And maybe his ex had known he was attracted to his new boss right from the start.

If there was one thing he’d learned in the last year it was he needed his own home. His place. If he’d had a place of his own, he wouldn’t have needed to move into the garage when he and Bryce split up. Never again would an ex-lover be able to dump his stuff on the curb and change the locks on him.

Tanner started at the sound of a floorboard creaking above his head. He stared at the ceiling. Not funny, house. I know I’m in here alone. Are you going to do that to me in the middle of the night?

A sudden stirring of air teased his skin as if more than a proverbial door had opened. Once he was moved in, he’d investigate where those breezes originated.

Yes, he could be very comfortable in this house. His house.

It had a nice ring to it.

*     *     *

Tanner signed the last form and leaned back. Buying the house had been a rather painless procedure. None of the mortgage horror stories friends had shared had happened to him. In fact, it had been a mere two weeks since he’d first seen the house. It was as though everyone involved couldn’t wait to make the property his problem.

A secretary handed him copies of all the paperwork, and the mortgage officer dropped the house keys in his waiting palm.

Good luck, Mr. Reddick. May you find happiness in your new home.

Tanner stood and held out his right hand to the banker. Thanks. If there’s nothing else, I’m eager to go over to the house and make a few plans.

The banker shook his hand. No. We’ve covered everything. I’m sure you’re going to love the house.

Tanner nodded and turned to leave. Saying he had to make plans was a bit of a fib. He knew what he needed to do first - get his bed moved. He climbed into his pickup and stared at his phone. It was time to call Alex and get the move started.

Alex. The man he’d lost his head over the moment they’d met – when Alex interviewed him for a job. It would have been easier if Alex hadn’t gotten zapped with the same lightning bolt of attraction. That flame had cost Tanner some sleepless nights, but he couldn’t be sad about it.

So far, they’d managed to keep their hands off each other. Tanner didn’t think it was right to sleep with a new guy when the situation with the current man wasn’t resolved. Then he’d been living in the lack-of-privacy garage at his mother’s home. Now all that had changed. He hit the speed dial on his phone.

Alex answered almost immediately. Hey, Tanner. Green light?

Green light. Mobilize the troops.

Aye, captain. See you there.