Katie Pearson took the For Sale sign off the front yard. This was a big purchase for her. Flipping houses for resale had proven very profitable for her and now this three-story, turn of the century home was going to be one of her best investments yet.
She had found this property, the former Knox Estate, entirely by accident. She had been reading the morning paper while having breakfast in a café up the road a few weeks ago. At the time she had been just passing through. There had been another property she’d come to look at here in the quiet Oregon town of Port Cable, but that one hadn’t worked out. Driving back to her hotel she’d stopped at that café, and there in the paper was a listing for this place.
It had been love at first sight.
The house was going to need a lot of work, certainly, from completely replacing the roof to repairing some of the brickwork to repaving the driveway. That was just the outside cosmetic work. She’d been inside three times so far and she knew that the real cost was going to come from replacing old copper pipes and wiring that predated the 1950s. There were suspicious stains on the walls in several of the rooms and she wouldn’t know how bad that would be for her until she started tearing down paneling and drywall.
Hopefully it wasn’t black mold. That could add thousands of dollars to the repair costs and cut into her bottom line.
The house sat on ten acres of forest, too. The acre or so immediately around the house had been meticulously landscaped just a few years ago when the bank had taken over the property, with flower gardens in the front and a three-tiered water fountain out back. The fountain was still there--it just wasn’t running anymore. She was hoping to get that added to the repair list as well.
After the Knox family had moved out there had been a series of tenants up through the 1970s. That was the last time it had been occupied. For a home that had been empty for decades, it was in pretty good shape.
Whistling a happy tune Katie took the small ring of keys out of her windbreaker and spun them around her finger. It was Autumn--September--and the days had been getting progressively cooler. Today the wind was blowing through the trees all around her, making them whisper things that she couldn’t quite understand.
Katie took a moment to watch the gently swaying branches of pine trees all around her. It reminded her of another house, where secrets had been whispered by the ghosts of the dead.
Well. Thankfully all of that was behind her now. She could get on with being the smart, successful businesswoman who had cleared five hundred thousand dollars last year in net worth.
Spinning the keys again, she selected the one for the front door and let herself in.
The front foyer was narrow and long, with doors leading off to the living room on the right and a dining room with its attached kitchen on the left. The appliances in there were relatively new, bought as she understood it by the last tenants, but the refrigerator was sea foam green and the stove was black. Extremely out of style. Everything would need to be changed over.
As she went, she kept a running tally in her head like a ledger sheet. This was something she had done for years. Now, at the age of twenty-six, she knew the business well enough to know what different sorts of repairs would cost her at a glance. That’s why she was so good at this. She knew what houses were profitable, and which ones were not. This one? This was money in the bank even with everything that needed to be done.
She stepped into the living room and frowned. The paneling was a nice, neutral beige color. The molding around the ceiling was intricately carved and probably original. Bookcases lined two opposite walls, made from heavy oak or cherry wood that wouldn’t need a lot of refurbishing. The carpeting was--to be honest--ugly as sin, but that could be easily replaced.
What concerned her was the dark blotches that had seeped through the paneling on the far wall.
It could be nothing more than weather stains, perhaps. Only there were similar stains in one of the bedrooms upstairs, and that made Katie worry this was an indication of a bigger problem. Mold, or wood rot, or something worse. That was going to have to be her first priority when she found a contractor to begin work on the house. Hopefully she could accomplish that tomorrow.
There were other rooms downstairs. A bathroom, a sitting room, storage and closets, then the room at the far back of the house that had the huge stone fireplace prominently centered in it. A family room of sorts. There were lion reliefs at either side of the mantel and an enormous flu chain, and the whole piece was just beautiful. This was the sort of thing her trained eye looked for when she was inspecting a new property.
The stairs to the second and third floors were back here as well. Switchback stairs with landings at each level. They creaked as she went up, and the second floor hallway was full of musical creaks with each step she took, too. There would be no sneaking around this house, that was for sure.
The long central hallway of the second level had several doors to both sides. There were three bedrooms up here, and another full bathroom with an old claw-footed bathtub, and one very spacious room that seemed to serve no purpose other than to give a gorgeous view of the property through plate glass windows. Yes. This house had everything.
She smiled at herself with her hands on her hips. “This is going to be fun.”
That was her habit, to talk to herself and sort of narrate her life. Her friend Mel was constantly telling her that she did it because she was lonely. She needed a man in her life, Mel would say. Then again, Mel had never met a man she didn’t like. Katie was far more choosy when it came to male companionship.
Choosy to the point that she hadn’t been on a date in two years.
“There’s more to life than men,” she argued with herself. The words echoed up and down the hall, and no one contradicted her.
There were just as many rooms up the stairs on the top level. Down below the first floor there was a full basement too, where the boiler sat waiting for winter and boxes of odds and ends from the previous tenants sat waiting for Katie to go through them and throw out anything that couldn’t be immediately used, sold, or given away to charity. She didn’t have time to store other people’s things.
She hadn’t had time to go exploring for treasure down there yet. Sometimes people left behind the craziest things. Big screen televisions, old coin collections, that sort of thing. When she bought a house like this she always specified that it was ‘as is.’ Whatever was there, was hers. Exploring would have to wait, though. It was getting closer and closer to noon and her stomach was telling her that the breakfast burrito she’d grabbed from the gas station down the street was not going to be enough to last her through the whole day.
“Guess I can start making a list after lunch,” she told herself. “I’ve got plenty of time.”
Down the stairs again she took an extra few seconds to look up and into the chimney of the fireplace. She could see up to the damper. She could feel the cool breeze coming in from the outside. It looked okay to her, but she’d have to get someone in to check it out too. These days she was paranoid about fire.
Her mind drifted to food and what she wanted for lunch. There weren’t a lot of choices in Port Cable. That was part of its appeal, being a small town away from the big city. There were more choices in nearby Yellow Fish, but she didn’t want to drive an hour away just to eat. There was the café, of course, and two pizza places, and some sort of pub that served hamburgers and sandwiches and other light fare. Actually, a burger sounded really good right now...
At the door, hand on the knob, she stopped. Then she retraced her steps back to the living room entrance. There, kneeling down on one knee in front of the far wall, was a man.
He was dressed in blue jeans and a black t-shirt that clung to the muscles of his arms and chest. His blonde hair was short and shaggy. His eyes were a cool ice blue. The toolbelt around his waist held a variety of things a workman might use if--say for instance--they had been hired to work on the renovations of an old house.
Only, Katie hadn’t
gotten around to hiring anyone yet.
“Excuse me,” she said as calmly as she could so she wouldn’t spook the guy. “Can I help you? Is there some reason you’re in my house?”
He turned to her with a smile--it was a beautiful smile, she couldn’t help but notice--and stood up. “Your house? I thought this was the Knox Estate.”
“It is,” Katie snapped. “Or, it used to be, I mean. It used to be the Knox place. But I bought it. That makes it mine.”
She realized she was babbling but she just couldn’t help herself. It wasn’t every day that a gorgeous man literally walked into your house and got down on one knee with a smile.
Um. That wasn’t exactly what she meant...
“Got some stains here,” the man pointed out, hooking his thumb at the wall behind him. He turned back to it now. “They’re pretty deep. Probably have to tear out the entire wall to get it removed.”
“That’s what I was thinking, too.” She stared at him. There was a stranger in her house and she should probably be calling the police, but she didn’t feel the least bit afraid of him. Just the opposite, actually. There were times when you met someone and you were just instantly at ease with them. That’s how Katie felt now. “But this is my house. So, would you mind telling me who you are and what you’re doing here?”
There was that smile on his again. “My name is Bill,” he said, “and what I’m doing here is easy enough to explain. I heard you needed a good contractor to help fix up the place. I’m here to apply for the job.”
Chapter 2
Two days later Katie was lying on the new mattress and sheets that she had purchased for the wonderful wooden frame bed in the master bedroom upstairs. It was morning. Just before sunrise. The travel alarm clock that she brought with her to all her new investment properties showed her it was only just after six-thirty. It was early, but sleeping in was not something she had the luxury to do when she was flipping houses for profit.
If she wanted to earn money, she had to work. “Because, Katie Pearson, there aren’t any money trees in the world to pluck twenty dollar bills off.”
Laughing at her bad joke Katie sat up and stretched. The hem of her t-shirt rose up until she tugged it angrily down. It was comfortable to sleep in just her underwear and the old shirt. Not exactly presentable but after all it was just her in the house. The new contractors were hired but they couldn’t fit her into their schedule until tomorrow, which sucked, but she was a big girl and she knew her way around both ends of a wrench. For now she would do small things like replace the faucets in the upstairs and downstairs bathrooms and maybe check out the extent of the damage to the roof.
“Breakfast first,” she told herself. “Then work. I’m hungry!”
Scratching at her side, she stretched again and padded barefoot out into the hallway. The wooden floorboards were cold under her toes and she shivered. Central heating. She was going to have to look at central heating for the whole place. These old houses. Always drafty.
She was just thinking that when she walked past the last bedroom before the stairs. Her teeth almost chattered when a draft that was positively frigid caressed the skin of her bare legs. Clutching her arms over her chest she glanced in through the open doorway. This was the room with that nasty stain on the wall. Now it was drafty as well?
Her breath puffed out in a little cloud. Brr.
After a bowl of cereal and a bagel she would start here. That window might need to be replaced along with a good section of the wall. Fun, fun.
Downstairs it was warmer. The banister was loose on the stairs she noticed, and she added that to the list of things she could look at later.
“Good morning.”
The strong male voice took her by surprise. She spun around, the long strands of her dark brown hair whipping across her face. He shouldn’t be here. He couldn’t be here.
Bill. The handyman with his blue eyes and his beautiful smile. That smile was turned on her now at full voltage, and she felt it down in her core.
It occurred to her to tug the bottom of her t-shirt down so that she was at least covering her hips. Her panties were pink with little butterflies on them and this was so not how she wanted him to see her! She could feel her cheeks burning as she tried without much success to glare at him.
“What are you doing in here?”
“Working,” was his answer. He hooked a thumb back at the living room doorway. “Still trying to fix the stain on the wall in there. Nasty thing. Figured I should get started early.”
“I didn’t hire you,” she reminded him. “You asked for a job and I said I’d think about it.”
“Good.” He took a step closer. “Did you have time to think about it?”
“Bill, I’m not even dressed yet!”
“No problem.” He lifted his hands to calm her. “You take your time. I’ll get started in here.”
“But...I didn’t hire you!”
He was already gone, but before he turned away she caught where his eyes went. There wasn’t a part of her that he hadn’t taken a great interest in staring at.
Katie practically flew back upstairs and down the hall to her bedroom. All of her clothes were still in her two suitcases. She found a pair of jeans and socks and a cable knit sweater to throw on over the shirt that she’d slept in. What she wouldn’t give for a shower, but the lock on the bathroom door wasn’t locking currently and with Bill in the house--well, she didn’t want to take the chance he might see more than he already had downstairs!
This time, she took a moment at the top of the stairs to prepare herself. With her fingers she combed her hair out and over her shoulders and then tied it into a ponytail. No makeup, no perfume, just herself. She should just tell him to get out. There were professional contractors coming tomorrow to look things over. What could one more guy do for her?
She felt her cheeks heating again. There was something about this man. Something that she found strangely alluring. This was not the time for that. Not when she had this big, fantastic house to think about.
So she was decided, then. Bill was out.
Downstairs she heard the banging of a hammer and cringed. What was this man doing to her newest purchase?
Rushing to the living room she found him there on his knees again, toolbelt in place around his waist, and yes a hammer in his hand. He was using the claw side to pull out the molding around the bottom edge. She knew the boards were full of dry rot and needed to be pulled out and replaced but she still cringed every time he sank the edges of the claw in.
“Bill?” she called to him, and then louder again: “Bill!”
He heard her that time and stopped, turning to her with a piece of the board in his hand. “Gotta get rid of this whole piece. Figured if I removed it now we could see what the wall in behind looks like.”
“You need to stop,” she told him. “Look, I’ve hired a company to do the work on the house. I don’t have the budget to hire an independent contractor plus a group of men besides. There’s a lot of work to do here and one man just isn’t going to be able to do it all. I’m sorry, but I just can’t use you on this project. If you want to maybe leave me a business card I’ll keep you in mind for anything in the future.”
He stared at her. Then he flipped the hunk of molding over in his hand. “If you’re going to use somebody else to work on the house you’ll need to tell them a few things. See the grain of the wood on this side? This was all hand cut, and hand carved. If you’re going to keep the original look of the house you’ll need to find someone who does this sort of work by hand. I know a few people in the area. Jackson Moreno would be my pick. I can get you his address.”
Katie couldn’t see what he was talking about but she was familiar with the concept of matching replacement parts to the original materials. It wasn’t always possible, but sometimes a house just didn’t look right if you couldn’t use identical replacement pieces. It would be like putting a jigsaw puzzle together with pieces from several different boxes. Eve
n if everything fit the final result wouldn’t look right.
Okay, so maybe this guy did know his stuff. “Have you had a chance to look at the rest of the house?”
Sensing that Katie wasn’t going to throw him out on his ear right away, Bill smiled at her. “Yes. I have. You know there’s big stuff to fix like the roof and the driveway. This wall, too,” he said, slapping his palm against the dark, irregular stain. “That’s all fine, but have you seen what’s under this carpet?”
Katie looked down at the wall-to-wall rug. She still thought it was ugly. Yellow and pink swirl patterns spread across the shag in repeating patterns that reminded Katie of barf. “I’m going to have this whole carpet removed. It’s on the list.”
Nodding his head as if he figured that would be her response, Bill knelt down right where he’d broken up the strip molding from the wall. It exposed the edge of the carpet as well. The claw end of the hammer dropped down abruptly and caught at the fabric. Bill pulled, and up came a strip of the rug with a fierce riiiip.
A good two feet of the carpet peeled back to show that the stain Katie had been so worried about on the wall had worked its way into the floor, too. Under the rug it was more brown than black and she wondered if that was because the rug had kept it from being exposed to the open air.
“How’d you know that was there?” Katie asked.
Bill let the torn piece of rug flop back down, and then he shrugged. “I’m good at what I do. Plus, I grew up in this area. I could tell you stories about this house, and this town, and the people who lived here. This place used to be the center of town, once upon a time. A meeting place for everyone to come and have parties and social gatherings. I know what the original house looked like and I can help you make it great again.”
“That’s a pretty bold statement. You sure you can back it up?”
He nodded confidently. “Give me a try.”
She considered that. There wasn’t really a timeframe when you were flipping houses for yourself. You could plan to do two or more a year, or you could end up doing several right after each other if the right deals came along. Katie was on a roll recently. Getting tied up on one project meant less money in her pocket. She didn’t get paid for all her hard work until someone bought the house. Anything that would help her finish the project quicker was something she was in favor of.
Sight Unseen Complete Series Box Set Page 13