Mysteries of Holt House - A Mystery (6 page)

“Well, you could end up with a real nice
little hotel here.”

“I wouldn’t call it a hotel, exactly. I
also have to pick up my business license, I have an appointment with the health
inspector, and... There’s so much more involved than I realized.”

“I can imagine. Go ahead and go to bed.
I’ll clean up the cups and things.”

“Thanks, Lucy. See you in the morning.”

I changed into my nightgown and climbed
into bed, and my last thought as I drifted off to sleep was that I was glad to
have found Lucy. I wouldn’t have to stay in this big old house alone again.

Chapter Seven

On Tuesday I called a few pool companies
and they said they’d have sales representatives out on Wednesday to give me
estimates. I also called some construction companies, two of which would send
someone out right away. They could handle both the tennis court and the patio.

I met with an agent from the County Health
Department, ran errands in town and arrived home about ten minutes before the
construction company people began showing up.

By dinnertime I was famished and not
looking forward to cooking. I was surprised to hear the clank of pots and pans
when I neared the kitchen. The smell of food wafting out the window made my
stomach growl, and I found Lucy in the kitchen fixing dinner. She stood at the
stove, stirring something in a pot.

“What’s this?” I asked.

“You’ve had a busy day, so I went to the
store and picked up a few things for your dinner. I figured you’d be too pooped
to cook.”

“Lucy, you’re a lifesaver. But you
shouldn’t feel you have to start helping already, and I’ll write you a check
for what you spent at the store.”

“Forget it. I have to eat too, so I
figured I’d make enough for both of us. It’s just spaghetti, and it should hold
us for a couple of days with leftovers and all.”

“
Just
spaghetti? That’s my
favorite.”

“Good.” She grinned.

After the garlic bread was toasted we sat
down to eat.

“Did you get all your errands done?” Lucy
twisted spaghetti around her fork.

“Amazingly enough, I did. I’m not sure
about these construction estimates though.” I tapped the papers lying on the
table. “I honestly don’t know that much building and renovations. I feel like
I’m in over my head.”

“Let me take a look at them. My husband
was in construction and I learned a few things from him.” She set her fork on
the edge of her plate and dabbed at her mouth with a napkin before picking up
the papers.

“Here’s your best bet,” she said, placing
her choice on the top of the stack. “You can’t go wrong with this company.”

“How can you tell?” I asked.

“Blake Construction Company will give you
the best deal and they’ll use better materials. They’ll get the work done in a
hurry, and it will be done right.” She looked very pleased with herself.

“How do you know so much about them?” I
asked.

“My husband worked for this company at one
time and I know their work. We used to live around here. Guess I forgot to tell
you that little detail. Maybe that’s why I came back. I never really wanted to
leave this area in the first place.”

“I can’t say I blame you. I love it here.”

Lucy and I worked together and cleaned the
kitchen. When we were done we walked out and sat on the front porch.

“It feels so good to put my feet up,” I
said, settling into a chair and propping my feet on the railing.

“I wish those crickets would pipe down,”
Lucy said irritably.

“You’ll have to get used to them. They’re
not gonna go away.”

“I know.” She sighed and settled deeper
into her chair.

I shrugged my shoulders and leaned back.
Lucy was chatting nonstop and the next thing I knew she was shaking my
shoulder.

“If you’re going to sleep, you might as
well go inside and go to bed, Kelly.”

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to fall asleep.”

“Don’t fret about it. I know you’ve had a
busy day. I’m just going to stay out here a bit longer. Then I’ll come inside,
too. I’ll lock up for you.”

“Nobody locks their doors out here,” I
said, yawning.

“I do. Earlier today I kept feeling like
someone was watching me. I guess I lived in the city too long. Paranoia, you
know? Who on earth would be watching us out here? There’s no one else around.”

“Right,” I said. “You won’t need to worry
out here. Well, I guess I’ll see you in the morning.” It was interesting that
Sharon and I had both had that same feeling, but I knew there was nothing to
it. It was probably just a matter of living in such an old house and being
alone until people started moving in. Still, it bothered me that we’d all had
the same feeling.

There’s an old saying about burying your
head in the sand, and that was the evening my head began its descent toward the
sand.

I overslept on Wednesday and Lucy had to
wake me. “The pool man is here. Hurry and get up. Come on now.”

I yawned and stretched, feeling groggy,
but after glancing at the clock I leapt out of bed. “Good grief! It’s after
eight o’clock. I guess I forgot to set my alarm.”

“I guess so,” Lucy said. “I’ll keep him
busy while you get dressed. And breakfast is waiting. I’ll keep it warm for
you.”

“Thanks!”

I took a quick shower and brushed my
teeth, threw on my jeans and shirt, pulled on my shoes and ran a brush through
my hair. I wouldn’t have time to put on any make-up, although I did take the
time to put on some lipstick and a touch of mascara.

So began another day of business, business
and more business. I talked to all the pool people who showed up that morning,
and sat down with Lucy to get her now valued opinion.

By then it was past time for lunch. I’d
missed breakfast and Lucy made a point of reminding me about the food she’d had
to throw away. I fixed myself a jelly sandwich, turning down her offer of a hot
lunch, and sat down by the telephone to call the construction company. I spoke
to the young Mr. Blake, son of the owner, and it turned out they had a crew
that had just finished a job and could begin my work on Monday.

“We were going to start another job,” he
explained, “but the people who needed the work had a death in the family so
they’re going to wait a few months. We can get to your job first. In fact, I’ll
be working with the crew. I need to get out of the office for a while.”

“Spring fever?” I asked.

“Something like that,” he replied.

“Well, I guess I’ll be seeing you on
Monday.”

“If you’re going to be home, I’ll come by
on Friday with the contract and we can finalize things.” He seemed to want
everything in place before they began the work. I did, too.

“That’ll be fine. I’ll be here all day.”

We hung up and I called the pool company
I’d decided on, appropriately named Waterman’s Pools, and made arrangements
with them. It would be two to three weeks before they could begin work, but
that was okay with me. I had so many other things going on that it would
actually make things easier. I called the other companies and let them know
their services wouldn’t be needed.

The rest of the day passed quietly, much
to my relief. I was beginning to wonder if I’d bitten off more than I could
chew. It was the second time I’d had thoughts like that in two days.

Sharon called that evening and I whined
about all the things I hadn’t thought of when I put my plan together. She
convinced me that once I got through these beginning details, it would all be
downhill.

I told her about Lucy’s expertise and she
was delighted. “I’m glad you’ve got someone there who’s familiar with
construction. That in itself should make things easier.”

“I guess it will. I’m just down in the
dumps because I’m tired. It seems like until today, all I’ve done for weeks is
run in circles. And you have to bear in mind that this is all new to me.”

Sharon took a moment before she replied.
“Don’t forget, we did a lot of talking before you moved out there, and
basically you knew what you were getting into.”

“True. It’ll be okay. It’s just going to
take time to get things running smoothly. They’re going to start work on the
tennis court and patio on Monday. A guy named Blake is coming over on Friday
for me to sign the contract.”

“See? You’ve got it more under control
than you realize.”

“I guess so.”

“I’ll be moving in on Saturday, so maybe I
can help with everything.”

“Good. I can use all the help I can get. I
have to admit I’m really glad Lucy showed up when she did. She’s already been
pretty handy to have around.”

“I’m glad she’s there, too. I can’t wait
to meet her.”

We talked a while longer before hanging
up.

Lucy had gone to her room to write a
couple of letters to friends. I took a book to my room where I read until I
fell asleep. It took a while because I was reading a good mystery.

Sometime during the early morning hours I
woke up, startled by a noise. I couldn’t pinpoint what I’d heard or where the
noise came from. After listening for a couple of minutes, I turned over and
went back to sleep.

It had probably just been the old house
settling.

Chapter
Eight

On Thursday Lucy and I spent most of the
morning making out lists of things we’d need to buy before the guests actually began
moving in, including everything from bed linens to food. With Sharon and David
coming on Saturday, we decided food was first on the list.

After lunch Lucy drove into the city with
some of the lists to pick up as much as she could. There were some white sales
going on, so our timing was good. She said she’d go grocery shopping on Friday.

I spent the afternoon making up the beds
and preparing the rooms for Sharon and David. Sharon had already told me she’d
like to have the room nearest mine. She explained that she’d prefer to be
downstairs with me instead of upstairs with a bunch of strangers. David would
have to take the last available room in the servants’ quarters.

When Lucy returned from town, we put all
of her bargains away. I noticed she was careful how she spent my money, and I
was pleased she was a careful shopper. She also stopped at a few other places
while she was out. She made a deal with the butcher to buy in bulk at a
discount, and made a similar deal with the grocer. She even talked the department
store into giving her a discount over and above the sale price on the bedding
because she was buying so much. I just shook my head.

We enjoyed a peaceful evening, figuring
there wouldn’t be too many more of those.

Friday dawned and I was up and about
early. Mr. Blake was coming and I wanted to be ready for him. I cleaned up and
headed to the kitchen to fix breakfast. I found Lucy already there and putting
bacon and eggs on the table.

“Good morning,” I said.

“You look perky this morning. What’s up?”

“Nothing. Aside from signing the
construction contract this morning, I have absolutely nothing to do today, and
I’m thrilled to have a day of quiet before all the craziness begins. I guess a
good night’s sleep didn’t hurt either. Sharon and David will be moving in
tomorrow, too.”

“I’m anxious to meet Sharon,” Lucy said,
pointedly leaving David out of the conversation. “It’s nice to see you looking
so cheerful.”

She looked at me with a smug grin on her
face.

“What’s with you?” I asked. “You look like
the cat that swallowed the canary.”

“Nothing. You look very nice this morning.
Slept well last night, huh?”

“Yeah, like I said. How about you?”

“I slept just fine,” she replied. She
still had that smug look on her face, and I was suspicious.

“Mr. Blake will be here in half an hour,
so eat and get out of my kitchen.”

“Okay, okay. You don’t have to get pushy.”
I smiled at her.

She grinned.

I still felt like she had something up her
sleeve, but decided to let it pass. I ate my breakfast as fast as I could and
got up to leave because she seemed to truly want me out of her hair.

“You could use a tad more mascara, and why
don’t you change into that blue blouse you had on the day I met you. It does
great things for your eyes.”

I was halfway out of the room and stopped
to turn back to her. “Just exactly what
are
you up to?”

She put her hands on her hips and didn’t
answer me.

 “Never mind.” I decided to change
into the blue blouse and see what would happen.

Returning to the kitchen, I grabbed a
leftover piece of crispy bacon. It was cold, but I didn’t mind.

“Go take a walk,” Lucy said to my back.
“It’s going to be a beautiful day. The fresh air will do you good.”