Cold Heart

by Sheila Dryden

  “Hi Nancy, this is Lexi Thomas, Tucker’s mom.

  That made Lexi smile despite her earlier anger. At that moment a man in a white coat appeared through one of the doorways. He was escorting an elderly lady who was clutching a little black dog.

  “See you in a couple of weeks, Mrs. White,” he said.

  “Thank you Dr.,” the woman said and kept going. Nancy opened the door for her and then locked it again.

  “Carter you’re back already?” he said.

  “This is Lexi,” Carter said. “Lexi this is Doc Walters. Lexi would like to see Tucker.

  “Sure,” he said. He was in his mid fifties Lexi guessed. He led them to the back room where Tucker lay on his side in a large elevated cage. He was sleeping and a tube ran into his mouth and an IV into his front leg and his front feet were bandaged.

  “We are keeping him sedated,” the vet said. He is on fluids and some IV antibiotics as he is at risk of infection from the damage to his lung tissues.”

  “Why are his feet bandaged?” Lexi asked. “Did they get burned?”

  “No, he must have been digging at the door and the floor trying to get out. He lost a couple of toe nails and his toes are cut up pretty badly,” the Vet said.

  Lexi had gone pale and Carter put an arm around her shoulders for fear she might go down. She did not resist.

  “I know it looks bad, but I want to keep him quiet enough to keep the IV and the breathing tube in for another day. The tissues are swollen in the trachea and the lungs and the breathing tube helps to keep the airway open. Things should settle in a day or so and then we will want to get him up and moving to reduce the risk of a pneumonia setting in. By then his feet will be a lot better.”

  The vet had opened up the cage door and Lexi moved over to pet the sleeping dog and to whisper in his ear. She hoped that somehow he would know her voice and it would help. She realized that in a very short time she had come to love and rely on Tucker and she so wanted him to be alright.

  “Well we should go,” Carter said. “Thanks for opening up for us.”

  “Yes, thank you Dr, Walters,” Lexi said struggling to keep from crying. “Please keep us posted.”

  “I will,” he promised.

  Lexi was quiet on the drive back to the Lodge and when they pulled into the driveway she said,

  “I think I need some sleep.”

  “Yeah, I think that is a good idea,” Carter said.

  “I promise to call you if I hear from the vet first, otherwise please call me if you hear.”

  “I will,” she said.

  Lexi went inside and locked the door. She undressed as she went up the stairs throwing her clothes on a chair in her room. She went into the bathroom, grabbed her pajamas from the back of the door, brushed her teeth and crawled into bed.

  9

  When Lexi woke a few hours later her first thought was of Tucker. She decided she would call the clinic and check on him. She got dressed and went downstairs, got her cell phone from the hall table, where she had left it earlier. After looking up the number, she dialed the clinic and asked the receptionist for a report on Tucker. She was put on hold and was very surprised when the Vet himself came on the line.

  “He’s doing well Lexi,” Dr. Walters said. “I’m very pleased with how he is coming along. I think I may be able to take the breathing tube out later this evening or first thing in the morning. As soon as we can do that we can start letting his sedation wear off. I would think by this time tomorrow or later in the evening; he should be able to come home.”

  “Really?” said Lexi. “That would be wonderful. I miss him so much.”

  “I’m sure you do, he is a wonderful dog,” the Vet said. “I’ve been treating him since he was a puppy.”

  “Oh, so you knew my Uncle Max.” Lexi said.

  “Oh yes, very well, actually. We went to school together,” Dr. Walters said.

  “Well I’d like to talk to you sometime about him if that’s okay,” Lexi said.

  “Sure, I don’t know what I can tell you, but I’ll try,” he said.

  “But about Tucker, can you tell me what breed he is and how old he is?” Lexi asked.

  The vet chuckled. “He is a Chocolate Lab and he is almost three.”

  “Thanks, I know that probably sounds stupid,” she said. “But I know nothing about dogs and have never had a pet of any kind. I thought he was a lab but wasn’t sure if he was a purebred or not. Thanks for taking the time to talk to me.”

  “You’re welcome. I will call you in the morning to let you know how it goes tonight.”

  “Thanks,” said Lexi.

  She was elated. By the sounds of it she would have Tucker back by tomorrow. It was already two o’clock and she realized she wasn’t going to get anything much accomplished today if she didn’t get moving. She decided that she would go into town and get some boxes. Then she could begin going through Uncle Max’s things. Today might be the best day to get them as once Tucker came home she was not going to want to leave him for a few days. Some groceries would be a good idea as well.

  Lexi grabbed her keys and locked the front door and headed out to her SUV. She made the short drive to town and stopped at the rental place she had seen on her first day driving through town. She wasn’t sure if it would be open on a Sunday but it was. The business rented trucks and moving vans and also sold moving boxes. She went in to the office and purchased quite a few boxes. Satisfied she headed for the grocery store but on the way she noticed the upholstery place that had been closed the last time she was in town, so she pulled in, parked nearby and walked over to the shop. She was surprised to find it was open.

  There was a pleasant looking lady behind a counter at the back of the shop. She was talking to someone on the phone but when Lexi entered she looked up and smiled and put her hand over the receiver saying,

  “Be right with you.”

  “Sure,” said Lexi.

  Lexi wandered over to the wall where there were row upon row of fabric samples. There were too many. Making a choice was going to be really difficult. The lady finished up with her call and walked over to Lexi.

  “Wow! No one can say you don’t have a great selection of fabrics,” Lexi said, turning to look at her.

  “Yes, we do have lots to choose from. Did you have anything in particular in mind?” the woman asked.

  “I have a major project,” Lexi said. “I’ve just inherited a Lodge from my Uncle and I am trying to get it ready to open. There are some pieces that need recovering. The fabric is not to my liking and is dated.”

  “Is this Max Thomas’ place?” the woman asked.

  “Yes,” Lexi said. “Did you know him?”

  The woman smiled. “Max was one of the most eligible bachelors in town. Everyone of a certain age knew him. I know a lot of people were very upset by his untimely death.”

  “Yes, I suppose that’s true. As far as the eligible bachelor thing, I can understand that. He was a handsome man and it is strange that he never married,” Lexi said.

  “Well the word was he was carrying a torch for someone. She left him and he just never got over it,” the woman said.

  “Really!” said Lexi. “That’s interesting.”

  At that moment another customer walked through the door and the woman smiled and told her she would be with her shortly. Lexi was frustrated as she would have like to have questioned the woman further about Max. She would have to wait for another opportunity.

  “We should make a date for me to come out to your place and have a look at the items to be covered. I can bring some samples if you give me an idea of what you like,” the woman said.

  “Yes, of course,” Lexi said. “I’m not even sure where to begin to pick anything out though.”

  “Mondays I have someone in the shop so that is the day I usually make calls. Would a Monday work for you?” the woman asked.

  “Yes, any Monday,” Lexi said. “I am pretty much working on the place everyday so I am available.”


  “Let me get my book,” she said.

  Lexi followed and the woman went over to the main desk. She opened a day planner and turned a few pages. I don’t have anything tomorrow but I have enough time the following Monday.”

  “Perfect,” Lexi said.

  “How about one thirty?” the woman said.

  “Works for me,” Lexi said. “I’m Lexi Thomas.”

  The woman wrote Lexi’s name in her book and handed her a card. Her name was Marjorie Hanson.

  “Thanks Marjorie,” Lexi said, reading the card.

  “Now, do you have any sort of colour palette in mind?”

  “Yes,” Lexi replied. “There are several leather couches that are like new and are a light brown. I really like the style and want to coordinate any fabrics in the great room with them. In the cabins there are upholstered pieces that just need a fresh look and we can start from scratch there.”

  “I will bring a lot of samples and we can see how they look in the various spaces,” Marjorie said.

  “That sounds like a place to start,” Lexi said.

  “What sort of time frame are we looking as far as completion of the work?” Marjorie asked.

  “I am hoping to open Wildwood in the spring,” Lexi said. “So we have months to get this done, but there are a lot of pieces.”

  “Okay, well I may need to use several upholsterers so the sooner we get started the better,” she said. “I wouldn’t want to be the one holding up the opening.”

  “Thanks,” said Lexi. “See you next Monday.”

  “Yes,” said Marjorie.

  Lexi left the shop and returned to her car. She drove to the grocery store and parked. Once again she had forgotten to make a list, so she would have to wing it. She got a cart and began going down the aisles. It might be nice to have Carter for dinner one night she thought, strictly as a friend of course. After all, she was newly out of a relationship and should take some time. Besides, with so much work ahead of her, a romantic entanglement was the last thing she should be thinking about. Still, she was very glad to have Carter at least as a friend and having some company for dinner would be very pleasant. Lexi picked out a roast and some vegetables that would be special. Maybe she would ask him for tomorrow night. Once she had her other groceries she made her way to the checkout.

  It was close to five by the time she got out to her SUV. She noticed a pick-up truck parked next to it as she approached and she realized with alarm that it belonged to Mitch. She didn’t want to run into him. As she got closer she could see that there were gas cans in the back. Lexi was livid. She was certain he had set the fire and felt helpless because there seemed to be nothing she could do about it. She hurried to get her groceries stowed in her vehicle and get out of there before he appeared.

  She was just pulling out of the parking lot when she saw Mitch and he saw her and tipped his hat to her. Lexi felt a wave of nausea. She did not acknowledge him in anyway and turned quickly onto the street and sped away. She realized she was shaking a little and slowed the vehicle and tried to calm down. It was a distressing feeling to think that you were being threatened by someone and the police were on their side. Well, she was assuming they were but Carter hadn’t really indicated anything different.

  When she reached Wildwood, she parked in her usual spot and then sat for few minutes just staring at the charred ruins that had been the barn. Max had died there and Tucker had almost died there in the fire. She realized something else at that moment; the boxes that had been up in the loft were now gone. Who knew what secrets they might have revealed? Well, maybe nothing of course but she was beginning to think there was a lot more to learn about Uncle Max and this mysterious woman that he had loved.

  Lexi carried her groceries into the kitchen and put them away. She went back out to the truck for the boxes and carried them upstairs to Max’s room. She put them on the bed and looked around at all the pictures. Once again, she regretted that she had not made that visit here after she had seen Max at the funeral. She was certain she would not have so many questions now, if she had. Maybe she would find some answers when she went through his things. It seemed invasive but there was no one else to do it and it had to be done. It was too late for that today, though.

  Lexi closed the door and went downstairs. She missed Tucker. She was surprised at how quickly she had come to love that big brown dog. Hopefully by tomorrow he would be home. There was no barn for him to sleep in, so maybe from now on, he would finally join her in the house. She would feel safer she thought and realized that she was more than a little afraid now, living in this huge place, all by herself.

  As she made some dinner, she thought about what Marjorie at the upholstery shop had said about Uncle Max. She could imagine many of the ladies in town were probably very interested in him. He was a good looking man, with his sandy coloured hair and those dimples, even deeper than hers. He had also aged well, despite what must have been a lonely life. When he came to the funeral, he would have been just fifty and he looked much younger. It was such a shame that he had died so young and just for a moment she wondered if there had been something more sinister involved.

  Lexi was sipping what was becoming her usual glass of wine. She had to admit that Montgomery’s winery produced a really good Merlot and that he had seen to it she had one of every type they produced. He did seem pretty determined to own this property and expand the lodge. Was he determined enough to have had Uncle Max killed and burn down her barn? That just didn’t seem possible to Lexi. People did that sort of thing in the movies but it just didn’t happen in real life, to people like her.

  Still, according to Carter, he had been trying to buy the land from Max for years. She was certain he had lied about there being a deal in place yet he’d had plans drawn up and models created anyway. Had he thought that with Max out of the way, the land would be available? After all, Max’s entire family was gone except for Lexi and who would think that a thirty-two year old woman would want to take on starting up a business like this, all on her own. It did seem a little crazy Lexi thought, smiling. She was glad she had decided to hire someone to help with a business plan.

  The truth was this was a multi-faceted undertaking as there was the hotel side of it and the restaurant side. Plus, if she wanted to offer some amusements on the property or within the community as well, that was a whole other project. A business plan would be a good place to start and then lots of research. It was good that she had Marjorie coming out to sort out upholstery but that was only one tiny thing in the scheme of things.

  Lexi sat down with her dinner, her wine and her pen and paper only this time she didn’t limit her list in order to keep from overwhelming herself. Instead, she thought she should write down every single thing she could think of that she would need to do. She would also write down every single professional person she would need to see in order to accomplish what she wanted. It was a long, long list when she was done and she was pretty sure there were going to be a lot of things that she had not even thought about.

  She went out to the kitchen and poured herself another glass of the Merlot. Then she got her laptop and took both into Uncle Max’s office. She set them down and looked around. Tomorrow she would clear out and organize this place. She would bring down the photos from Uncle Max’s room and unpack the ones she had brought with her and incorporate them into the decor here. Then it would feel like her space and she would feel that her family was watching over her.

  Lexi started to look for information on the internet about starting up hotels and restaurants and quickly became overwhelmed, but in a good way. There was a lot of information out there that would provide some guidelines for her to follow. She would print some of it out, once she had her new office set up. It was clear though, that there was a heck of a lot that would have to be accomplished if she were going to achieve her goal of a spring opening.

  It was still relatively early and Lexi felt a little at loose ends. She would like to have taken a walk, but
was reluctant to do that this close to sunset without Tucker along. She decided she would get a head start on tomorrow. She went upstairs and got some boxes from Uncle Max’s room and took them down to the office. She started with the desk, leaving anything that pertained to Wildwood in their hanging files and removing anything that was outdated or personal and packed it into one of the boxes. She made one box for burning or shredding and had it filled in no time. She found lots of booklets on how to use the appliances in Wildwood and was particularly interested in the instruction manuals on using the big industrial washers and dryers in the laundry room. She still needed to wash all the sheets that had been used as dust covers.

  She came across an envelope addressed to Max and her stomach did a little flip when she realized it was her mother’s handwriting and the return address was her home address in San Francisco. She couldn’t make out the whole date, but the year indicated that it was after the last visit here some twenty years ago. It was a nine by twelve manila envelope, the sort with the bubble wrap inside. It most likely had contained a photograph Lexi thought, but there was nothing in it now. Wait. There was a slip of paper. She pulled it out. It said ‘Here’s our girl’. That was all.

  There was nothing new here thought Lexi. She already knew her mother had sent all the photos that were up in Max’s room. She went through more drawers and pulled everything out but didn’t find any other envelopes. Once the desk was empty of all Max’s things, Lexi moved on to the built-in unit on one wall and began looking through the cupboards on the bottom. She found a box with old income tax records and receipts and she thought she had better keep that. It was her understanding, that all of the paperwork pertaining to Max’s estate had been taken care of but she wasn’t one hundred percent certain. Mr. Beatty was the executor of Max’s will and she presumed that he would be looking after any tax documents that needed filing. These all looked to be quite old but perhaps she should check with him, just the same.

  There was not much on the open shelves above and this would be a wonderful place to display all her family photos. She wondered why Max had not put any of his down here but instead chosen to keep them up in his most private space. Another question she would never get to ask. Pleased with herself for the progress she had made today, she admitted that she was beginning to feel tired. Despite the sleep she had had during the day today it was not equal to a full night’s sleep. She should probably go to bed and hopefully tomorrow she would be back on a normal schedule.