Mysteries of Holt House - A Mystery (7 page)

Lucy was right. It was going to be a great
day. The birds were chirping, my presence not disturbing them in the least. A
soft breeze ruffled my hair, and it felt good. The blooming flowers left a
sweet scent in the air. I lifted my face to the sun and wondered at the
brilliantly clear blue sky, just a wisp of cloud showing here and there.

I heard a truck pull onto the drive, but
stayed where I was. I knew Lucy would send Mr. Blake to the garden. When I
first saw the garden, I’d begun to think about an addition for the center of
the area, but quickly forgot about it. Suddenly I knew exactly what I wanted to
do.

I could envision an old-fashioned gazebo
in the center of the garden. It would give the guests a choice instead of
having only the patio in which to spend their time. Besides, the truth of it
was that I’d always wanted to live in a house with a gazebo.

I heard footsteps and turned toward the
house. Lucy was coming toward me with a most attractive man in tow.

“Kelly Sanders, this is Michael Blake.
Mike, this is Kelly.”

“Nice to meet you,” I said, and meant it.

“Hi.”

“Well, I’ll leave you two alone to take
care of business. Mike, come up to the house to see me before you leave.” Lucy
had a twinkle in her eyes. She smiled at Mike and me before returning to the
house.

“Mr. Blake,” I said innocently, “I take it
you know Lucy?”

“Call me Mike. Yes, I know her. Her
husband worked for my father years ago, and she and I became good friends when
I did some odd jobs for her around the house. I was a teenager at the time and
trying to earn a few extra bucks. My mother had passed away and Lucy took me under
her wing.”

“Uh huh. She’s decided to be my older
sister.”

“That sounds like her,” he said, laughing.
“She’s quite a gal.”

“Well, let’s get down to business,” I
said. “I’ve been thinking I’d like to build a gazebo out here in the garden. What
do you think? Could you do that work for me, too?”

“Sure. Let’s get this contract signed so
we can start the other work, and in the meantime you and I can get together and
draw up plans for the gazebo. You can tell me exactly what you want.”

“That sounds great. Why don’t we go sit at
the table on the patio and we can go over the contract.”

“After you,” he said, pointing the way.

Mike Blake turned out to be a pleasant
surprise. He was around six feet tall, had light brown hair turned even lighter
from all the time he obviously spent in the sun, brown eyes, and he had a
strong face with the beginnings of deep laugh lines. My heart was thumping – a
little. I guessed he was probably in his late thirties.

I sat down at the table and he pulled his
chair over to sit close to me.

He placed drawings in front of me so I
could see what he’d come up with. I’d decided I wanted a hothouse put in, and a
fairly large shed for storage and tools. He explained it all to me in layman’s
terms, pointing things out and asking what I preferred in certain areas. We
squared away the plans and he pulled out the contract. We reviewed it slowly,
and I signed it.

“Good,” he said. “We’ll be here around
eight o’clock on Monday morning. We can work out a plan for the gazebo later.”

“That sounds great. I’m looking forward to
getting the work started. Would you like a glass of iced tea?”

“Sounds good. It’s nice out here on the
patio. It’ll get the morning sun and then cool off in the afternoon. Can I talk
you into showing me around the house? I’ve heard so much about it.”

“Sure. I think you’ll like it. I’ll be
right back with the tea.”

I entered the back door to the kitchen
quietly and found Lucy busily cleaning the stove top.

“Lucy!” I said sharply.

She hadn’t heard me come in and jumped. “You
just scared ten years off my life, and I can’t afford to lose any years. I’ve
got plenty to do before I give up and kick the bucket.” She was talking too
much, stalling because she knew I was onto her little game.

“Exactly what are you up to?” I asked.

“Now, slow down. I’ve known Mike since he
was a kid, and I thought you two ought to meet each other. He’s divorced, has
been for about five years, and after all, you
are
single. He’s
thirty-seven and you’re thirty-six and I decided you’d like each other.”

“
You
decided...”

“I was right, wasn’t I?” she asked.

“I don’t know, I just met him.” I didn’t
want to give her an edge so easily.

“You’ll be seeing a lot of each other with
the construction going on.” With that she clammed up and wouldn’t say another word.

I took two glasses of iced tea out to the
patio and sat down with Mike.

“So you’ll be taking on boarders as well
as vacationers?” he asked.

“That’s the general idea. I’ll need
boarders for a steady income, but I think vacationers will like it, too. Those
that want to get away and relax can find what they need out here. I’ve got one,
maybe two, boarders already, as a matter of fact. My closest friend is moving
in tomorrow, and Lucy talked to a gentleman who is supposed to call me. I’ve
got an ad running in the newspaper beginning tomorrow, too.”

“From everything you’ve told me, it sounds
like you’ve got it pretty well under control. As a matter of fact, I know a guy
who’s been thinking about moving out of town. I’ll have him give you a call.”

“I really appreciate that. Well, come on
in and I’ll show you around the place.”

We walked round the outside of the house
and came in through the front door. I thought I’d begin the tour of the main
floor with the kitchen and work my way toward the front, but as we passed
through the living room he stopped me.

“That’s quite a painting. I don’t mean to
be rude, but you look better in person.”

“It’s not me, but thanks for the
compliment.”

“If it’s not you, then who is it? Your
mother?”

“No. I guess I’ll have to get used to
questions about this. That’s Mrs. Holt, the last homeowner, and it’s only a
coincidence we look alike.”

“Some coincidence,” he said, with a raised
eyebrow.

“I was going to start in the kitchen, but
as long as we’ve stopped here, I might as well show you the rest of this floor
first.”

“I can see the kitchen when I meet with
Lucy,” he said.

I escorted him around the rest of the
first floor and before we went upstairs.

“I’m impressed,” he said after I showed
him through the rest of the house. “It’s the perfect place for what you’re
planning. Although, with three floors, have you considered putting in an
elevator?”

“No. If people want to stay here, they’ll
have to toughen up and use the stairs.”

He laughed and I noticed he had a
beautiful smile with straight white teeth. It figured, considering what the
rest of him looked like.

Mike glanced at his watch. “I guess I’d
better get going. I’ll stop to see Lucy before I leave for another
appointment.”

“Okay. It was a pleasure meeting you, and
I’m looking forward to getting the work started. I’ll see you on Monday.”

And I
was
looking forward to seeing
him again. My, my – David and Mike. Who would have expected to find men like
these two in such an isolated place? At least the scenery would be nice around
the grounds for a while.

I heard what sounded like someone stepping
on a creaky floor coming from upstairs, but since Mike and I had just been up
there, I knew it was the house settling. I hoped the old house noises wouldn’t
bother the boarders.

Chapter
Nine

A few minutes later I heard Mike’s truck
pull out, and within five minutes I heard another truck drive in. I looked out
the window and saw David.

“
Hi, David!”
I yelled from the
doorway.

He waved and walked to the back of his
truck.

I walked out to meet him.

“Thought I’d bring some tools and yard
equipment out today. Hope you don’t mind me coming early,” he said.

“Not at all. I’ll show you where to put
everything. The coach house was converted into a garage with storage space. I
guess that’s the best place to put your things for now. I’m having a large shed
built, too.”

He pulled two large boxes out of the truck
and set them on the ground. Following me, he carried one of the boxes, and I
showed him where to put his tools. He said, “Thanks,” and again I thought what
a quiet man he was.

“Well, I’ll leave you to your work. See me
when you get here tomorrow and I’ll show you where your room is.”

“Okay.”

Walking around the grounds, I enjoyed the
peace and quiet. I looked around and tried to envision what it would look like
when the construction was done. I wanted to talk to David about putting in some
hedges across the front of the property for extra privacy, too. Privacy from
whom, I didn’t know, but it seemed like a good idea. I suddenly had that
ridiculous feeling of being watched again, and as I turned toward the house the
back door opened.

“Kelly,” Lucy called from the back porch.
“Telephone! I think it’s the man I talked to about taking a room.”

“Coming.” I shook off the funny feeling I
had, realizing it must have been caused by Lucy. I was sure I’d probably heard
the back door opening and the sound may have triggered the feeling of being
watched.

I hoped she was right about the caller
because I was anxious to get things rolling. I knew I’d get boarders before I
got any vacationers, and I was sure they wouldn’t mind the construction that
would be going on. The end result would be to their advantage, after all.

Lucy handed me the phone as soon as I
walked inside.

“Hello,” I said. “This is Kelly Sanders.”

“Hello, Ms. Sanders. This is Joshua
Forbes. Mrs. Daley told me that you’re taking on boarders, so I’m calling to
make an appointment to see the rooms. I also wanted to make sure that you
include meals in the price. Is that correct?”

“Yes, it is. In fact, Mrs. Daley is my
cook.”

“Splendid. I thought I understood her to
say that, but I wasn’t sure. When might I come out to meet with you?” he asked.

“If you’re free, today would be fine.”

“Today would perfect. Actually, I’m
retired, but I just started a part-time job. Retirement isn’t all it’s cracked
up to be. I was bored. Anyway, today is one of my days off. Would three o’clock
be convenient?”

“Yes. I’m looking forward to meeting you.”

I was trying to be friendly and
businesslike at the same time, which is a chore for me since I’m not too
business-minded. Give me a computer and a letter or legal brief to type, a case
file to open, a client to talk to, and I’m fine. But this was definitely
different.

“That was your friend from the motel,” I
said, turning to Lucy. “He’s coming out this afternoon.”

“So I heard. Do you need any help getting
a room ready?”

“Technically, you haven’t started working
for me yet, so just relax. You’ve already done enough for today. Besides,
someone – don’t ask me who – had almost everything set up when I moved in. All
I had to do was dust the furniture. The rooms are ready to show now. As I let
them out I’ll put on the bedding. Right now the beds have bedspreads on them,
but no linen.”

“Just the same, if you need help, let me
know. I intend to earn my keep even though I haven’t really started yet.”

“Believe me, you’re already earning your
way.”

“You have no idea who set up the house?”
she asked.

“Not a clue.”

“That’s odd, don’t you think?”

“I figure it must have been done by the
county agent before they sold me the house.”

“Maybe,” she said, slowly and
thoughtfully.

I climbed the stairs and once again dusted
the bedroom furniture. I picked out one convenient room on the second floor to
show – they were basically all the same – and if they were interested then each
boarder could pick out which part of the house he or she wanted to live in.

After dusting I returned downstairs and
picked up my book to read while I waited for three o’clock to roll around.

Lucy called me for lunch and I asked her
to sit and chat for a while because I was too wound up to get involved in the
book. We were already becoming good friends, which made it hard to think of her
as an employee. I was learning that fifty-four years of age really isn’t as old
as I’d thought it was. I had a feeling that she and Sharon would get along well
too. They were very much alike in some ways.

We were so engrossed in our conversation
that we didn’t realize how much time had gone by, until promptly at three
o’clock the doorbell
bonged
.

“Isn’t that the loudest bell you’ve ever
heard?” I frowned.