Hard Hat Man (5 page)

Laura
tossed her a scathing look.
“
You know what I mean.
”

Jan sighed.
“
Yes.
Well, if and when I decide to
‘
settle down,
’
as you put it, I
’
ll pick the man, Mom.
Not you.
”

Laura
’s lips tightened for a long moment. Then she said,
“
Someone like Bob, I suppose?
”

Jan cringed at the
reminder of her disastrous former engagement.
Yes, she’d broken up with him, but she still didn’t like her mother’s criticism. It wasn’t Bob’s fault that she didn’t love him.
“
What
’
s wrong with him?
”

“
Nothing, if you like the quiet, studious type.
”

“
I do
. He has a good job
and he
’
s very nice.
”

“
And safe?
”
her mother asked sweetly.

Jan cringed at the
slur to her former fiance.
“
Yes.
”

“
Nice and safe can be boring.
”

“
It also doesn
’
t breed ulcers.
”

The phone rang and
Laura
picked it up.

“
Yes, Kyle,
”
she said sweetly.
“
Tomorrow afternoon at one will be fine.
See you then.
”

Jan frowned as her mother hung up the phone.
“
The closing
’
s not until afternoon?
”

“
His lawyer can
’
t make it earlier.
Which is fine.
We
’
ll have time to get a look at the old place in the morning.
”

“
Sure,
”
Jan said.
“
We can start sorting stuff out.
”
She pushed away the premonition of disaster that clutched at her chest.
What could go wrong?

Chapter 2

The next morning Jan and
Laura
dressed in jeans and tee shirts and ate a quick continental breakfast in their motel
’s
dining
room.
Then they drove out to Horace
’
s farm, which was on the edge of town.

“
I thought Uncle Horace lived out in the country.
Or has this area changed?
”
Jan asked, looking at all the new houses along the blacktopped road.

“
Yes, it
’
s changed.
Mr.
Andrews
said much of the land around here is being split up into five acre plots
for new homes
.
”

“
What do they want five acres for?
”

“
I don
’
t think it
’
s because they want that much land, but it
’
s the smallest division the
county
zoning regulations allow.
”

“
Really?
It seems a waste of good farmland to me.
I thought I read somewhere that we were running out of farmland.
What do the people do with their five acres?
”

Laura
shrugged.
“
Have hobby farms, I guess.
”
She turned into a narrow, dirt drive and headed for a large shabby Victorian style house surrounded by tall grass and spreading pine trees.
A shed, a dilapidated, faded red barn and a gray silo showed it had once been a working farm.

“
It looks like Horace didn
’
t spend much on upkeep, doesn
’
t it?
”
Jan commented, looking around skeptically.
“
Are you sure this is it?
”

Nodding,
Laura
consulted her notebook.
“
I followed the directions exactly.
Besides, I remember the house, don
’
t you?
”

“
Vaguely.
But I thought it was grand-looking, not run-down.
”

Her mother smiled.
“
It was grander back then.
And being a young child probably made it seem different, as well.
”

“
No doubt.
”

They got out and walked up the steps, across the porch to the front door.
“
Did you bring the key?
”

“
Of course.
”
Laura
pulled open the screen door, unlocked the inner door and pushed it open.
It creaked noisily, but swung inward.
Sliding her hand along the wall, she reached to turn on a light.
“
I can
’
t find the switch.
”

“
Will the power still be on?
”

“
No, probably not,
”
Laura
said
, stepping gingerly inside
.
“
But if we open the drapes we can see well enough.
”

“
Oh, it
’
s stuffy in here.
Leave the door open to let in some fresh air.
”

Stepping carefully into the gloomy, stale-smelling room, Jan pulled back the draperies and unlocked and slid the window open. A brisk breeze swept through the room and out the open door. Sunlight streamed in
,
reflecting on a lovely glass chandelier hanging over the wide stairway stretching above them.

“
Why, it
’
s gorgeous,
”
Jan exclaimed, staring at the pebbled, leaded glass fixture above her head.

“
Yes, isn
’
t it
?
I always liked that one,
”
Laura
said
. She
stepp
ed
past
Jan
into the room off to their right.
“
M
ost of the parlor furniture looks the same as it did twenty-five years ago
, a
nd it must
have been antique, then.
”

“
Do you suppose any of it is valuable?
”
Jan asked, peering over her shoulder.
O
ld-fashioned
,
floral pattern
ed wallpaper covered t
he walls and the
wide pine board
floors were
painted gray.
The dark wooden furniture in the room seemed equally out of the past.

“
I doubt it.
More like early attic.
”
Laura
reached out and tied back the heavy draperies, letting in the June sunshine.
Although the room seemed brighter, it looked even shabbier.

The yellowed wallpaper was stained along the upper side of one wall, evidence that the roof had leaked.
An open family
Bible
lay on a square table in the center of the room, and several lamps on small tables against the wall seemed to be the only source of light for nighttime.
Knickknacks and family pictures stood in small frames on elaborately carved whatnot shelves in two corners of the room.

Jan picked up one that looked familiar.
“
Why, this was taken when we were here, Mom.
It
’
s of
you and
me
and
Nancy and
Esther
.
”

Laura
looked over her shoulder at the picture.
“
You
’
re right.
Well, I guess Horace wasn
’
t as bitter as they all said he was.
I understood he
’
d banished anything of Nancy
’
s from their house after she left.
”