Fallen Stones (20 page)

"But we're not related... I'm sure of it," Stephanie insisted now becoming visibly upset.

Jason, being the engineer that he was began to analyze all of the facts and possible scenarios before him and asked, "But if we weren't somehow at least distantly related, why would this Dwight guy and I look so much alike?" Jason pointed at the man in the painting and looked as if he were starting to believe he might actually be a relative of the man in the photo, and thereby distantly related to Stephanie.

The attorney replied, "I wouldn't bother concerning myself with that if I were you two. As I said, it's probably just a coincidence. In fact, I will be more than happy to have that portrait taken down and replaced with something more decorative and more in line with your personal tastes. Just say the word. Maybe you could tuck it away in the attic until you get settled in and then decide later what you want to do with it." The attorney once again offered the subtle suggestion for the family to consider taking up residency on the property.

Attempting to draw their attention away from the living room and the upsetting painting, he directed them across the hall at the bottom of the stairway to an area of the house he knew was sure to win them over. "I have a great idea," Armstrong suggested. “Follow me over to that side of the property. I have something that will be sure to impress you both."

Jason turned and looked behind him, seeing a short hall leading off to the left of the staircase. It opened to what he perceived must have been the enclosed breezeway connecting the house to the large two-story garage. But even from his location, Jason could see it was not as much a breezeway as it was an incredibly spacious room of some sort. Pulling Stephanie by the hand, he led her away from the living room and its bothersome picture. Then with Jeremy and Cindy following behind them, they followed the lawyer into the substantial space.

What they saw was an unbelievable twenty-foot high peaked atrium-styled glass enclosed living area. The floor of the room appeared to be made of marble or granite and it was bright with afternoon sunshine but the smoked glass dulled the glare just enough to make it perfect. Still holding Sammy in her right arm, Stephanie nudged Jason forward further, deeper into the large and luxurious space.

It was something, the likes of which she could honestly say she had never seen before or for that matter, she had ever dared to imagine. The room was at least thirty or more feet wide and expanded outward about sixty feet to where it met the door to the garage. It was a masterpiece of modern, glass and metal design. Large trees, some of them exotic or tropical in appearance grew from enormous planters scattered about the room.

Several large rock and water features were visible, and Stephanie could hear the soothing sounds of water falling along the stones and could see several large koi splashing in ponds. Strategically placed track lights high above them, provided additional accents to the tops of the tall trees. There were several small modern-looking sofas and comfortable chairs as well as tables with lamps tastefully spread around the space as well. The purpose of the area was much more than simply a way to connect the main house to the garage; it was a veritable oasis, a place to relax and read or listen to music or just unwind.

"Holy cow! Look at the swimming pool!" Jeremy shouted from behind them.

Jason chuckled and corrected the boy, "No, Jeremy. It's not a swimming pool; it's an indoor fish pond."

"Not that, Dad. I know what a fish pond is," Jeremy said with frustration. "I mean out there." He pointed to an area outside the back of the atrium.

Stephanie and Jeremy turned and could indeed see a huge in-ground swimming pool adjacent to a spacious stone patio, surrounded by a decorative stone wall. Jason was certain he also saw what appeared to be a grand outdoor kitchen and grilling area. It was almost too much to imagine.

“I'll show you that later on when we go out back. Like everything else on your property, I promise you it is quite impressive,” the lawyer said. "For now let's go see what the garage and its second floor have to offer.”

As they approached an exquisite set of wooden doors leading to the garage Stephanie looked up and saw an expansive deck area jutting out into the space from the second floor. The doors to the garage were located in the shadows beneath the deck. Off to the right of the doors Stephanie could see a set of curved iron stairs leading up to the second floor.  Armstrong noticed her admiring the stairs and said, “We'll take a quick look in the garage first, and then we'll come back through and head up to the loft.”

“The loft,” Stephanie repeated silently in her mind. That term matched perfectly with the original concept, which had popped into her mind outside in the driveway. She had imagined having a quiet place to do her writing and illustrations. "The loft," she mentally repeated yet again. It sounded so right to her. It sounded so perfect to her. She recalled various interpretations of artists' lofts she had seen depicted in movies. "The loft," she thought once again. The sound of the words in her mind brought an even larger smile to her face.

“Yes, I think you will love it,” the lawyer interjected as if reading her thoughts. “It has its own bathroom and kitchen as well. You'll see shortly.”

Before they could become sidetracked by the mysteries awaiting them on the second floor of the garage, Armstrong opened one of the garage entry doors and reached in to flip on a light switch. The area beyond the doorway was immediately flooded with bright halogen lights, recessed in the ceiling. The space was immaculate. The floor of the garage was made of some type of Epoxy-based membrane material like the types of floors Jason had seen used in high-end NASCAR racing garages. It was mostly white but was sprinkled with silver, blue and dark gray specks.

Not only was the garage equipped with four bays and four automatic garage door openers, but also it appeared to be about one and a half times the depth of a traditional garage.  The floor of each bay tapered ever so slightly downward on all four sides and at the intersection of the slopes in the middle, Jason could see four separate drains. He imagined how this would be perfect for washing his cars inside, regardless of weather conditions.

As if reading Jason's thoughts, Armstrong said, "The garage is heated and completed insulated. So between that and those four floor drains, you will be able to wash your cars inside, all year round."

The back wall of the garage was lined with a stainless steel workbench and a full selection of both wall and floor-mounted black and silver cabinets with a diamond plate pattern on the fronts of the doors. Jason loved to tinker and work on cars but could scarcely afford even the cheapest of the no-name brand tools or tool chests he considered buying. It had always been his dream to someday be able to afford real top-quality tools and to have a shop of his own.

Once again, as if reading Jason's mind, the lawyer explained, "Those drawers and cabinets along the back of the garage are stocked full with virtually every top-of-the-line mechanic's tool you can imagine, in both English and metric varieties."

At the far end of the garage by the last bay, Jason noticed the room made a sharp right turn. Armstrong led the procession to the far end of the garage and as they turned Jason's breath caught in his throat when he saw something he had never expected. Behind the fourth bay of the garage was a complete woodworking shop with walls of hand tools, cabinets and virtually every power tool he could have imagined, including a floor mounted drill press, table saw, radial arm saw, lathe, router, everything.  And in the center was a large custom made thick oak workbench complete with old-style woodworking vises. Looking up at the ceiling, he saw a built-in exhaust system for collecting sawdust as well as an overhead crane and mechanical hoist. He immediately knew this shop was not only his dream woodworking shop, but it went far beyond his wildest imaginings.

"There is an intercom system for communicating with the loft upstairs as well as the main house," the lawyer said pointing toward an area along the right wall. "In addition there is a telephone for making outside calls in case you don't want to bring your cell phone out to the shop when you work."

He reached into a space along the wall at the back of the garage from which the woodworking shop extended and pulled out a hidden pocket style door. "You can close these interconnected doors which all travel on that track in the ceiling, to separate the shop from the garage if you want to keep the dust from getting on your cars as well. This area back here is designated for woodworking, while the tool cabinets and workbenches out in the main garage area are designed for doing work on you cars; that is, if you like to tinker."

"Oh boy! Do I ever!" Jason said, genuinely flabbergasted. "This is beyond amazing. This shop has everything!"

The lawyer replied, "By the way, there is a door on the back right side of the woodworking shop which leads to an enclosed entryway. From there you can either go straight out to the back yard or you can turn right and take a set of back stairs up to the loft. Oh yes, I forgot to mention: all of the larger power tools are on wheels for easy mobility. And one more thing, if you didn't notice, the back of the woodworking shop is equipped with its own automatic garage door in the event you want to open it to enjoy the air on a pleasant day or if you need to get a larger project out of the shop and don't want to bring it out through the main garage.

"Unbelievable! This Washburn guy must have been a genius! He thought of everything!" Jason said.

The lawyer grimaced slightly at this then said, "Well these weren't exactly Mr. Washburn's ideas. You see, he wanted the best garage and shop money could buy, and he put me in charge of the project. I hired a team of designers who specialize in this sort of thing and they came up with some truly innovative ideas. As you will see as we continue the tour, there are many other elements of this house, which you will likewise find quite intriguing. In each case, as with the atrium connecting the two buildings, a specific design team was brought in so I could provide Mr. Washburn with the best of the best, which is exactly what he wanted."

"It's so sad that he passed away before he even had a chance to enjoy his house," Stephanie lamented. Hearing her say this caused Armstrong to perk up and remember how Washburn had instructed him the previous night.

As such, he chose to ignore Stephanie's comment and decided to avoid any further discussion where Washburn was concerned. He had deliberately not told the couple Washburn had committed suicide.  This thought made Armstrong recall the details of the man's bloody death. He was suddenly hit with a vision of how the ravaged Washburn looked in the gore-splattered bathtub with his severed appendage bobbing to the top of the crimson water. The mental image immediately made Armstrong's stomach turn with revulsion, and his face transformed into to a grimace.

"Are you all right, Mason?" Stephanie asked the lawyer noticing the displeasure apparent on his face.

He replied, "Oh... um... yes... I'm fine... most certainly. Sorry. I just have a lot on my mind. You understand... There's always so much work to do, and so little time..."

Having successfully regained his composure and simultaneously deflected the subject away from that of the late Emerson C. Washburn, Armstrong suggested. "Let's all go back out into the atrium and check out the loft upstairs."

"Here, honey," Jason offered. "Let me take Sammy off your hands before we head up those stairs. I have a feeling you are going to want to look around." Stephanie couldn't help but notice how even Jason somehow seemed to know the loft was meant for her. Perhaps it was simply another coincidence, but she knew by the look in her husband's eyes, he was having many of the exact same thoughts she was having.

The group exited the garage through the door by which they had entered, turned left and walked up the stairs to the elevated deck. When they reached the top, Stephanie discovered a large spacious area tastefully decorated with potted plants and a variety of thick-cushioned patio furniture. The outside wall of the loft was lined with three large double-French door units with lacy curtains displayed behind the glass multi-paneled panes.

"These three doors can all be opened fully to allow for a spectacular view of not only the atrium but the outside as well," Armstrong said.

Stephanie turned and looked out toward the railing of the deck and for a moment was hit with a minor attack of vertigo. The view of the atrium area truly was amazing, and when she looked out into the expanse of the back yard, the feeling could only be described as overwhelming. She teetered slightly and Armstrong grabbed her right arm, helping her regain her footing.

"Easy there," Armstrong said. "It might take a while to get used to the view. You just have to be a little careful at first. After all, we can't have anything bad happen to our new homeowner now can we? At least not on her first day in her house, Heaven forbid.” Then he chuckled strangely, and Stephanie got an odd and unsettling feeling, which she didn't believe came from the vertigo alone, but perhaps also from the odd way the lawyer had chuckled. If she didn't know better, she would have thought there might be a trace of madness in that laugh. Again, she forced herself to ignore the bizarre feeling and followed Jason and her kids into the loft area.

Like everything they had seen of the house so far, the loft space was phenomenal. The room was well lit from a wall of large windows across the back. The ceiling was awash with illumination from skylights and the area was decorated with scattered sofas and chairs in a style exactly suited to Stephanie's taste. “Wow, Steph!” Jason said. “It looks as if you decorated this place yourself.”

The entire loft occupied an equal amount of square footage to that of the main part of the garage but the area of the loft above what would be the forth bay of the garage was dedicated to a small kitchen area as well as an additional room of some sort.

Armstrong said, “The kitchenette is state of the art has everything you will ever need from refrigerator to dishwasher to stove to microwave oven.” Stephanie held back a laugh; the so-called kitchenette was actually larger than her present kitchen in their townhouse. If Armstrong considered this small, she couldn't wait to see the real kitchen in the main house.  The lawyer continued, “That room next to the kitchenette is a small bedroom and has a full bath and shower as well. I don't know if Mr. Washburn planned on ever renting out the space at some time in the future, but it certainly would make a nice apartment or guest area someday.”