Cold Heart

by Sheila Dryden

  Once she had made a quick scan of the aisles she did the perimeter where all the really important things were. After a stop in produce for some salad fixings, the bakery department and dairy, she hit the meat department for a steak and some meat for a couple of other meals. Perfect she would be good for a few days and could get to work. On the way to the checkout she passed a display of local wines and picked out a couple of bottles and added them to her cart. She may as well celebrate her new life she thought. Lexi passed a display of dog biscuits and after looking at all the boxes decided on a brand that had a picture of a dog that looked just like Tucker. She put the box in her cart.

  The cart was very full and the bill was large but Lexi was pleased. Later she was not as pleased when she had to carry it all in and put it away. It was nearly six o’clock when she finally went out to her vehicle and dragged her suitcase from the back. The rest would have to wait until tomorrow. She pulled the bag up onto the porch and through the door, then pulled it up the stairs all the while wishing that maybe she had let Carter help her. It wasn’t that she was a weakling, far from it. Her five foot ten frame, while slim, was well muscled. She was tired though.

  Lexi had been going through stuff for days, packing up what to take from the apartment and what to leave for Michael. A great deal of it had been hers when she moved in but after two and a half years, it was common property now and she tried to be fair about the division of assets. Not that he deserved that. She had kept nothing from the deli but the knife collection her parents had bought for her on her graduation. Everything else had gone to the new owners. She walked out of there yesterday, after turning over the keys and had wished the new owners all the luck in the world and meant it. The husband and wife who purchased the deli had plans to expand it, just as Lexi had once wanted to.

  She would always have fond memories of her the time spent there. She had a regular clientele and a wonderful staff and it had helped a great deal to stave off the loneliness that had threatened to engulf her when her parents were killed so suddenly. It was where she had met Michael. Fresh out of culinary school, she’d begun working in an upscale restaurant and planned to work her way up the ranks from grunt to head chef but the inheritance had meant she could buy the deli. Still she would rather have had her family. She missed them terribly.

  Her father, a successful lawyer in San Francisco had taken up flying about a year before the accident and had finally convinced her mom to fly down to LA with him for a weekend away. The plane, a Cessna 150, had crashed and they had both been killed. Her mom had been so reluctant to go on the trip. She hated flying and was particularly afraid of small planes. Her dad had bullied her mom as he did with everything and she had finally relented but it had cost her her life.

  Her father hadn’t always been like that though. He had once been the perfect father and she didn’t think it was just the naivety of her youth that remembered that. He had been a loving Daddy, the kind that bounced you on their knee and cuddled you when you were sad. She remembered when he had changed. It was the last visit here when he had fought with Uncle Max. His attitude toward Lexi and her mother had completely changed after that and Lexi had no idea why.

  Lexi put those thoughts aside. She had things to do. She got her pajamas and her toiletries out of her suitcase for later and then headed downstairs and into the kitchen. The sight of the dog food reminded her of Tucker. She put the requisite amount of dog kibble in his bowl as she had been instructed to do by Carter and filled the water bowl also. Then she opened the box of dog biscuits and tucked one in the pocket in her jeans and headed out to the porch with the bowls. She put them down and went over to the barn to see if Tucker was still there. |

  When she opened the barn door there he was lying in the same spot. His tail smacked the floor rapidly at the sight of her which made her smile.

  “Hi Tucker,” she said. “Would you like a biscuit?”

  She pulled the dog biscuit from her pocket and held it out. The dog rose and walked over to her.

  “Come and get it,” she said and walked out the door of the barn and Tucker followed. She led him to the porch, showed him his bowl of kibble and plopped the biscuit on the top. Tucker dove in. Feeling immensely pleased with this accomplishment, Lexi went back to the kitchen. She opened one of the bottles of wine and poured herself a glass then returned to the porch where she sat on one of the benches there. Tucker finished up his food and came over to where she sat and lay down with a thud placing his head on Lexi’s foot. The sweetness of that gesture took her by surprise. She gave him a real pat this time and sat for longer than she had intended, not wanting to disturb him and enjoying the physical closeness of another being.

  When she finally decided she had best go in and cook some food she tried to coax him to come with her but he chose instead to return to the barn. It was so sad thought Lexi but admirable that he was so loyal. As she passed through the entry hall she saw her phone on the table. There was no one that she expected to be hearing from, well except for Michael, maybe. She couldn’t help herself and checked it for messages. There was one from Michael. She didn’t play it. Instead she headed for the kitchen.

  Lexi rummaged around in the meagre kitchen supplies and found a cast iron fry pan she could cook her steak in that. She would need to purchase a BBQ eventually. She made herself a little salad and put a potato in the microwave to cook, not the ideal but good in a pinch. As she was running the water she realized there was no hot water. Of course, everything had been turned off. She did think she had seen a hot water tank in the utility room but she had no idea how on earth to turn one on. She went into the utility room and in fact there were three hot water tanks. She supposed because there were so many bathrooms in the place.

  Fortunately there were some instructions on the tank. She was very relieved. She didn’t think she needed all of them on so she looked for an indication of which tank supplied water to which rooms. Uncle Max had been a very organized man and thankfully each tank had a list of the areas it supplied. She turned on two of the tanks and hoped that she had done everything correctly. Lexi went back to the kitchen and poured herself a second glass of wine.

  When the meat and the potato were cooked, she plopped a dollop of butter on the potato, put some salad on the plate along with her steak and then took her simple dinner into the dining room to eat. She had put a pen and paper next to her utensils earlier and now began to make a list as she ate.

  The summer was nearly over and there were many things she would need to do before the cooler weather set in. She would need to be careful with her money because there was so much to be done and despite a sizeable nest egg and the wonderful surprise of how far along the renovations to Wildwood were she would have no money coming in for some time. There was a tremendous amount of cleaning that would need to be done, so she made that the first thing on the list then broke that down into several categories.

  First she would clean the main floor, the second floor and then the cabins. As she cleaned she would assess all the furnishings for condition and all the linens and draperies and so that she could order any replacements that were necessary. She would need to outfit the kitchen and order some smaller tables and chairs for the dining room and of course dishes as well as table linens. She would need to do the same on a smaller scale for the cabins as they appeared to have kitchenettes and she had no idea what supplies they would need. Then there might be repairs that would be necessary in the main lodge or the cabins.

  There were flower beds to be planted and maybe window boxes to be put up and well she would need a kitchen garden in which to grow herbs and fresh vegetables. It was all very exciting and again she must be careful not to get too far ahead of herself and become overwhelmed. She knew nothing about growing things so she would need to do some research. The first thing she would need to do tomorrow was to organize some internet for the place and maybe some cable or maybe satellite for television because she supposed that visitors to Wildwood would want that. Lexi hop
ed their focus would be to unplug and enjoy the great outdoors and exploring the area but she would want to supply all the amenities.

  Lexi needed to consult someone to get a feasibility study and a proper business plan and she decided she would call about that tomorrow. Then she would see about getting internet and do a bunch of cleaning. That was all she would focus on for the first couple of weeks. There was no way to know exactly how much time all that would take and rather than overwhelm herself she would wait until she was farther along with this list before creating another one.

  Her goal was to be open for business by spring. She would need cleaning staff, cooking staff, wait staff and a menu and an advertising campaign. It was going to be hard not to think ahead she decided. Perhaps she should just make a big list so it wasn’t all tumbling around in her head keeping her awake at night though she doubted staying awake tonight would be an issue as she was so tired.

  She may as well put it all down on paper as it came to her as she couldn’t stop imagining what it was going to be like when it was all done. She could already picture guests arriving excited children in tow, the wonderful cozy rooms she would create and the fabulous meals her kitchen would provide. Yes, there would be a very long list of things to do but she was ready to immerse herself in the project.

  Lexi supposed that she might eventually live in one of the little cottages. She certainly didn’t need a lot of space. All that she possessed was in the back of her SUV and that was just fine by her. A wave of loneliness struck her. The hurt Michael had inflicted was still fresh but she would get over that she reminded herself. Clearly if her father and Michael were an example, males were not to be trusted to be loyal, except maybe male dogs. She thought of Tucker and smiled.

  Almost at that instant she heard him bark. It was a really loud bark and he kept it up. Lexi hurried to the main door and opened it as a dark haired man in kakis and a golf shirt stepped up onto the porch. Tucker rushed to Lexi and stood right in front of her. He continued to bark.

  “Shh Tucker, sit,” Lexi said. “It’s okay.”

  “Yeah, it’s okay boy,” the man said. He reached his hand out to Lexi saying, “I’m Mitch, from the Montgomery winery up the hill.” Tucker stopped barking and instead let out a long low growl.

  Lexi accepted the hand and shook it very briefly. Tucker continued to growl.

  “Protective isn’t he?” Mitch said.

  “Apparently,” Lexi said, more than a little pleased.

  “Just wanted to bring over a little welcome gift from Mr. Montgomery, the owner,” Mitch said. “I’ll just get it from the truck.”

  He turned and walked down the stairs and out to the pick-up truck that was parked in the driveway and retrieved a large box from the passenger’s seat. Tucker, who had quieted, started to growl again when Mitch came back up the steps. The gift was a case of wine.

  “I’ll carry it in for you.” he said and walked right past her.

  “No, that’s not necessary,” her voice trailed off.

  Mitch was already on his way in and put the case on the dining room table. He stood there and leaned against the table resting his hands on the edge.

  “You could have just given it to me. That’s very nice of you to bring it over,” she said as she followed him in. “Please give Mr. Montgomery my thanks.”

  “I will do that,” he said.

  Tucker, who had followed them both in, continued to growl. Mitch walked across the great room and out the door with Lexi on his heels. He headed out to his truck, got in and drove off. Only when his truck was out of sight did Tucker relax. Lexi turned to go inside and to her surprise Tucker followed again

  “Thanks for the protection Tucker,” she said patting him again and rubbing his back. “Good boy.”

  Tucker wagged his tail then and as she walked into the dining room he followed her. She had a small piece of meat left on her plate and she picked it up and gave it to him. He wagged his tail and made no effort to leave so Lexi took the glass of wine that was still half full and walked out to the porch and sat down on the bench where she had been earlier. Tucker followed and sat down as he had before only this time put his head on her knee and she stroked the soft brown fur. It was very soothing for both of them.

  The sky was darkening. It was late August and almost eight o’clock. Lexi was beginning to nod off already. She supposed that it was partly the wine and partly that she had been up since five am and it had been an incredibly busy day. She decided to leave everything and just go up to bed. She tried to coax Tucker to come inside but when he would not she put his bed out on the porch. Instead of curling up on it however, he headed for the barn. That was so sad she thought. Lexi closed the door and locked it. She put her dishes in the sink and then she went around and made sure everything else was locked up. Turning the lights out she headed upstairs to the room she had readied for herself.

  She had to admit she was a little nervous to be sleeping alone, somewhere new, out here in the sticks. It helped to know that Tucker was outside even if he was in the barn, well for now at least. She was pretty sure he would come running if anyone approached the front door. That was definitely reassuring. Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad having a dog after all. Lexi got into her pajamas. She tentatively turned on the hot water tap and was more than a little pleased when hot water actually came out. All she had done was follow instructions but still it was one of those things that men usually did. She didn’t need a man. She gave her face a quick wash and brushed her teeth, then crawled into the centre of the big king bed. She wasn’t there long before she was sound asleep.

  3

  Lexi was absolutely shocked by the time, when she awoke the next morning. It was eight am. She couldn’t remember the last time she had slept so late especially in a strange bed. It was comfortable though, she had to admit and she had been profoundly tired. It’s not that she never slept in she had taken the odd day off from the deli and sometimes let the staff close up so she could have special times with Michael.

  Most days though, she would be up by five am and headed downtown to the deli by five thirty. It opened at seven and there was much to do once she arrived at six. A few of the main staff came in at six thirty so she had help but there was still a lot to do to be ready for customers who wanted a coffee and a breakfast sandwich or sweet bread on their way to work. Many would also pick up something to take for lunch so an hour to basically get ready for the day, was not a lot of time. Much of the preparation was done late the night before so Lexi was used to putting in long hours every day.

  She supposed that her relationship had suffered because of that. No, that was still no excuse for what Michael had done. She was not going to think about that anymore she decided and climbed out of bed and headed for the shower. The hot water felt good on her achy shoulders. She wasted no time lingering under the spray however, knowing that she had a big agenda for the day. The very first thing she was going to do was to get the rest of the boxes out of her SUV.

  Once she had dressed and dried her hair she went down to the kitchen and managed to find a coffee maker. She found a coffee grinder too but she didn’t need it as she had ground the beans at the store yesterday, just in case. The coffee smelled wonderful. While she waited for it to brew she went out to the porch and got Tucker’s bowls. He was nowhere in sight and she presumed he was still at his post guarding the spot where Max had died.

  Lexi took Tucker’s dishes into the kitchen and filled them and then went back out to the porch and laid them down. When she returned to the porch a few minutes later she glanced at her phone on the table on the way by, but decided not to check it, instead she went out to the porch with her cup of coffee. Tucker was chowing down and wagged his tail at the sight of her.

  “Good morning Tucker,” she said giving him a pat as she went by. “Did you sleep well?”

  She was talking to a dog for heaven’s sake. Well, it was better than talking to herself. Lexi took up what was becoming her usual spot on the bench and wh
en he was done Tucker sauntered over and put his head on her knee.

  “Hi boy, it’s good to see you. I felt pretty safe last night knowing you were here looking out for me.”

  The two enjoyed the morning sun that hit the porch as it was still low in the sky and then Lexi decided that she too needed some breakfast. She went through the front door and Tucker headed out towards the barn. Lexi made some scrambled eggs and a piece of toast and then refilling her coffee took it out to the dining room and sat down at one end of the massive table. Her list still lay there from the night before.

  As she ate she looked around the large area trying to decide how she would arrange furniture in the space to get the most seating and the most dining tables. Obviously the sofa and cozy chairs should be arranged around the massive rock fireplace at one end of the room. There should also be some chairs for reading at the opposite end of the room near the two story windows. The area in and around the dining room could be set up with many tables that would seat groups. The large table where she sat now could be pushed against a wall perhaps and used as a serving table for buffets.

  Lexi liked that idea. Buffet breakfasts would be a good idea she thought when she had a full house. Oh, she so hoped she would have a full house most of the time. At Christmas time she would decorate, well she could decorate for every occasion really. People would come to love coming here for those special occasions instead of having to do the work at home. There she was getting ahead of herself again but that was what would keep her motivation up knowing all the fun and exciting things that would be coming in the future. Lexi gathered up her dishes and took them into the kitchen. She washed up those and the ones from last night and left them on the counter to drain. It seemed pointless to run one of the two really large dishwashers for just a handful of dishes.

  In the entry hall she picked up the keys to her SUV from the table then decided she should plug in her phone to charge it, just in case she actually needed it. She went out to the vehicle and began hauling the boxes to the porch. From there she moved them to the bottom of the stairs. Then she took the ones marked bedroom upstairs and the ones marked kitchen into the kitchen. There were about six other boxes which Lexi knew held all kinds of different things like memorabilia. Things that spanned her whole life really, photos, school records, papers from her parents. Those she took into the office on the main floor. She would unpack them later once she had been through all of the paperwork that Uncle Max had left in that space.