toilet and gave in to a sigh of despair. “I thought it would at least be livable.”
“Will be. Soon as we get it cleaned up. This used to be a real nice place. Won’t take much to make it that way again.”
Charity looked over at Maude, saw the determined set of her jaw, and took heart from the older woman’s words. She had come here seeking adventure. She was hardly going to let a little thing like a dirty house get her down.
“You’re right.” She stood up from the commode. “We’ll put it back in shape. It’ll just take a little more time than I expected.” And money, but she left that part out. “Once we get it cleaned up enough to live in, I’ll go back into town and hire workmen to make the necessary repairs.”
Maude smiled her approval. “Electric works real good. Mose put that in just a couple years ago.”
The power ran off a generator, Charity discovered, which was turned on each morning and evening. It seemed to be the only thing working in the house.
“I’ll bring in the cleaning supplies,” she volunteered, beginning to get into the spirit. “We might as well get started.”
Maude helped her unload the Explorer and the two of them set to work. If Charity had any doubts as to whether or not a woman Maude’s age could handle the grueling job of scrubbing walls and floors, cleaning out the fireplace, dusting cobwebs, and hauling trash, it didn’t take long to squelch them. Maude Foote had more energy than most women half her years. There were times Charity would have rested, but Maude’s boundless energy kept her working.
“We’ll burn the trash in the morning,” Maude said. “There’s some rotten food in it and we don’t want to attract any bears.”
Her head came up. “Bears?”
“Don’t worry, most the time they’re more afraid of you than you are of them.”
Most the time?
Charity shoved the disturbing thought away and continued filling the old tin bucket she had found, with ashes from the fireplace. By the end of that first day, when Maude climbed into her battered blue truck to make the short drive to her house down the hill, the kitchen was spotless, the cupboards cleaned out, the dishes all washed and put away. The fireplace held a cheery blaze made from the last of a stack of wood they had found in one of the sheds, the pellet stove was lit and hopefully would keep the house warm through the night, and Maude had helped her rig slats to prop up the sagging box springs.
She was grateful for the air mattress but even without it, as tired as she was, Charity had no doubt she’d be able to sleep. The bad news was, until she got the plumbing repaired she would have to use the outhouse.
Just part of the adventure, she told herself, never having had the dubious pleasure. She thought of the bears Maude had mentioned, thought of having to go outside in the middle of the night, and set the glass of water she had been drinking back down on the rickety table next to the bed.
CHAPTER THREE
At the pounding on the door, Charity’s eyes cracked open. Her little travel alarm clock said it was only 6:00 A.M. Groaning, she tossed back the covers. She had thought it would be cold when she got up, but the pellet stove had done its job, thank God, and the house was still fairly warm. Charity pulled on her thick terry cloth robe and stumbled toward the door.
Maude Foote stood on the porch, she saw when she peeked through the grime they hadn’t yet washed off the living room windows. Charity slid back the bolt and pulled open the heavy wooden door.
“Figured you’d want to get started early,” Maude said, shoving past her into the house. “I’ll fire up the cookstove and fix us somethin’ to eat while you get dressed.”
That was the deal Charity had made. Maude had been hired as advisor, cook, and general all-around worker. Charity just hadn’t figured her employee would be so eager to get to work.
With a weary sigh, she shoved back her tangled blond hair, hooking it over one ear, and stumbled back into the bedroom. She dragged on the same jeans and sweatshirt she had worn the day before and pulled on her hiking boots for a quick trip to the outhouse.
She was shivering by the time she got back inside. The shower wasn’t working but she could at least wash her face. Pouring water from the old porcelain pitcher they had found in the closet into a matching basin, she plunged a washrag into the chilly water and began to scrub off yesterday’s dirt.
There was a mirror over the dresser, missing most of its silver but good enough that she could see her reflection. She brushed the tangles out of her hair and clipped it back and began to feel a little better.
She wasn’t used to going without makeup. Applying a little base that included sunscreen, a whisper of light brown eye shadow, and a stroke of blush to each cheek, she added a dab of lipstick and walked toward the kitchen, feeling almost her old self again.
“Thought we’d start by fixing up this here furniture a little.”
“Fix it? You mean like paint it?”
“Needs it, don’t it?”
Charity thought Maude must be the queen of the understatement. “Absolutely.” Though she had never been particularly handy, out here there really was no other choice. “Unfortunately, we didn’t buy any paint.”
“I brought some I had down to the house.”
Charity eyed her warily. “What color is it?”
“There’s a can of bright red or kind of an olive green. You can take your pick.”
Catching a whiff of coffee on the stove, Charity went over and filled her cup, giving herself time to mull the notion over. She wasn’t handy but she had always had a good sense of style and taste. “Red or olive green.” It sounded a little too much like Christmas, but hey, when in Rome …
She glanced down at the peeling white paint on the breakfast table and chairs and tried to imagine them painted bright red. She didn’t think she could handle red but maybe the green, if it actually was more of an olive. She envisioned the aging dresser in the bedroom and thought of it also painted green. If the knobs were painted red along with the ornate iron headboard of the bed … if she used bright-red accents throughout the tiny cabin, it just might look pretty.
“We’ll have to brace ’em up a little, make ’em more sturdy,” Maude said.
“Okay, but sometime today I think we should go back in to town. I want to get the workmen started on the plumbing and we’d better get something done about the roof.” So far the place hadn’t leaked but she wasn’t sure how much longer the sagging timbers would hold out. Better to be safe than sorry.
As soon as breakfast was over, they dragged what furniture they’d found in the house out onto the porch and started bracing each piece up so it wouldn’t wobble.
“We’re gonna run outta nails,” Maude grumbled. “I’ll see if I can find us some out back.” She ambled off to look through one of the wooden sheds behind the cabin while Charity continued to hammer away. She was pounding, making quite a racket, when she looked up to see a man striding down the path along the creek, headed in her direction.
He
