Kelly stood in the stairwell holding a tray of sandwiches and a fresh pot of coffee. She had been on her way down to offer the men some lunch when she caught sound of their voices and had to stop for a moment and listen to their amusing conversation.

"Seriously, John, there's no way that King Kong could kick Godzilla's ass. Godzooky's, perhaps…" Kevin's voice had that certain playful tone that guys often impart amongst themselves when the bullshit factor is high.

John was in full gear challenge mode. "You're full of shit. Kong would send that lizard's sorry ass back to Japan where he'd be served up as sushi at an all night karaoke bar."

"Are you suggesting that Japan consists of nothing but karaoke bars?" Jeff had chimed in with his voice of experience on the matter and Kelly had to fight to keep from giggling.

Kevin finished marking off a length of bead board and glanced over at Jeff as he sat his tape measure down on the floor. "Not at all - they have pornographic comic books, too."

John shook his head sadly. "Kev, I worry about you sometimes."

Kevin smiled innocently. "Hey, I read about it in Newsweek."

They'd been going at each other all morning. Good natured banter on a variety of important topics in the way that men often do when among friends. Jeff, John Biebe and Kevin Boyer, contractor extraordinaire, had been building display cases and setting up shelves to help ready Kelly's shop for its grand opening the following week. Kelly had offered to help as they first began to set up and they had initially accepted, but when she had ended up being nothing more than in the way, Jeff had asked her to keep busy upstairs for a while instead. Was it her fault that she couldn't tell a Phillip's screwdriver from an Allen wrench? And just who gave names to their tools, anyways?

"Hey guys, time for a break," she announced, as she entered the room to join them, sidestepping tool chests and a stack of various lengths of lumber. "I hope you like roast beef sandwiches. I also have a fresh pot of coffee."

Jeff came over to help her with the tray. "I'd say that a break is definitely needed. I was just going to suggest that someone make a hamburger or taco run, but this is much better." He cleared off a corner of one of the completed display shelves and set the tray down. "Wow, these are some sandwiches"

John arched his back and let out a low growl as he came over to join them. As much as he hated to admit it, he wasn't as young as he used to be, and the stiffness in his joints reminded him of this. "You didn't have to do this Kelly, but much appreciated."

He brushed his hands on his shirt before reaching for one of the meat and vegetable stuffed Kaiser rolls and Kelly smiled when she noticed the flecks of sawdust sprinkled in his beard.

"You guys have been busy." She felt a surge of excitement as she glanced about the room, noting the three newly completed display racks mounted across two of the walls. There were also two long tiered tables and several storage cubes that caught her attention.

"Guys, I wanted to thank you again for taking time out of your own schedules to do this. I've been real nervous about getting everything ready in time, and Jeff's been keeping me on track."

"This has been a nice break in my usual routine," Kevin assured her. And he meant it. He hadn't had many opportunities to speak with Jeff much. He was always busy with reworking or adding to the Inn and other major projects over the past years and he always thought Jeff to be a bit on the stuffy side. But after working with him and John that morning, he was pleasantly surprised to see a rather wicked sense of humor underneath the starched oxford shirts and dignified manner. "I also had a poke around the basement like you asked, and it looks like the previous owner had taken care, making sure everything was well sealed. I don't think you'll have much problem with moisture, but there's a small louvered window with a broken latch that could allow raccoons or squirrels to get in and move in for the winter. It's easy enough to fix, but that furnace might need some servicing, have you tried it out yet?"

He caught the look of apprehension on Kelly's face and tried to reassure her. "It may just need some seasonal cleaning and tuning, but you'll want to get someone to look at it right away. I know a guy. I'll give you his number. He's honest and won't jerk you around."

"You definitely don't want to put that off." John added. "Coming from California, you got no idea how cold it can get up here. You have a nice fireplace upstairs, but don't wait until the first snow storm to stoke up the furnace up and discover it's not working right." He glanced over at Jeff to make sure he'd have her follow up with Kevin's suggestion.

Jeff met Biebe's gaze and nodded his head in agreement. "I'll call him first thing tomorrow morning and set up an appointment"

Kelly felt the comforting sense of being looked after by these three good men, and Jeff's taking charge of the matter made her feel cared for and protected. She wasn't yet fully accustomed to having such a willing set of knights in shining armor, but she was learning to enjoy it more every minute.

As they finished up their lunches, Jeff went out to stand on the porch for a bit of fresh air before going back to the shelving project. It was one of those marvelous Vermont autumn afternoons where the leaves proudly displayed their crimson and gold colors and the air required the donning of a comfortable warm sweater. As he had done several times in the past few weeks, he reflected over his sense of peace in the decision to settle here.

"Hey big guy, are your glasses fogging up?"

He turned and smiled affectionately at Kelly as she came over to stand next to him. "Honey, thanks for lunch and the coffee." Setting his cup down upon the porch railing he wrapped both his arms around her shoulders and gave her a tight squeeze.

Wrapping her arms around his waist in return she melted into his embrace. "I can't believe how much you guys have accomplished in just a few hours."

"Kevin's a fine carpenter and John's skills are excellent as well. I have to admit that it feels good to work with my hands after all this time. And guess what? Kevin just made me an offer that I couldn't refuse."

"What kind of offer?"

"He owns a cottage a quarter mile up the road, and he's offered to rent it to me. I can give Riles and John back their guest suite, and…" He kissed the top of her head for emphasis, "…be closer to you."

"Oh, that's such a great stroke of luck!"

"Seems like we've both had nothing but luck ever since you plowed into me on the road."
Kelly gave a soft chuckle and had to agree with him. Life had surely taken a real upswing since arriving in Vermont.

***

They were finished by late afternoon, and as they all said their thanks and goodbyes from the front yard Kelly turned to Jeff and announced that she was going to be brave and go down to the basement all by herself to take a good look at the furnace.

"I can do this."

Jeff realized that her affirmation was directed towards herself more than at him. "Do you want me to stand at the top of the stairs while you explore?"

"Please…I think I'd appreciate that." All her life she'd had this fear of dark places. While she felt safe and comfortable in every other room of her house, the basement had just always given her the creeps.

It wasn't as bad as she had imagined as she made her way downstairs. Jeff had replaced the light bulbs in the fixtures at the top and bottom landings, and although it needed a good sweeping and there were several boxes that needed to be inspected and removed, the space really wasn't all that scary. Maybe knowing that it had passed Kevin's initial inspection had helped to set her mind at rest.

"You okay down there?" Jeff called out, smiling as he listened to her move around. "See any raccoons?"

"No, but I think you should come down here and see what I did find."

His curiosity piqued, he jogged down the steps to find her leaning over a box set back in the corner. "What'd you find?"

As he went over to stand beside her, he heard an unmistakable soft mewing sound. Glancing into the box he looked straight into the frightened eyes of a black mother cat with two very new kittens nursing away. "This may be what you've been hearing down here. She's probably been looking for a safe place to have her babies."

"She's so small. She can't be much more than a kitten herself." Her heart went out to the poor kitty as she gently reached over and let her sniff at her hand. The cat began to purr immediately and gave a soft meow. "Poor little thing - look at her ear…looks like another cat bit it off."

"She's probably been on her own for some time, and this is most likely her first litter. Kind of unusual to have just two kittens, but maybe that's simply because she's so small." Jeff reached in and let the cat sniff at his own hand before petting her, but she seemed to feel safe and continued to purr loudly, seemingly pleased from all the attention. Jeff noticed the expression on Kelly's face and he knew what would follow next.

"Looks like you finally have your cat. Think you'll want to keep the kittens as well?"

Kelly thought about if for a moment and smiled. "Perhaps. I'll keep an open mind about adopting them out if I think they'll go to responsible homes. I think this little mama's just found her safe haven, however. Would you help me move them upstairs where it's warm and safe?"

Jeff took on the task of transporting the little family while Kelly ran ahead of him and set up another box in the den, lining it with some old soft towels. Throughout it all, the mother cat didn't panic or bolt. She seemed to sense that these two humans were kind and that her lot in life was about to improve. Kelly dug through the cupboards and found a can of tuna, which the cat gratefully devoured, leaving her babies just long enough to scarf down her meal before jumping back into the box.

Within the next 24 hours, the mother cat had been christened with the name of "Shalimar" and the kittens were dubbed "Digby" and "Watson." And Kelly never would offer them up for adoption, having fallen so completely in love with her new furry family from the first moment she laid eyes upon them. After all, one could feed three cats just as easily as one could one. The litter box, however…