“Well, yeah, the shed will be fine, but this, this is too much money. I’d rather not be in charge of this kind of cash,” he admitted.
“Then stick it in the cookie jar in the kitchen, whatever; I’ve allocated this money for repairs. You are doing the repairs so it’s more or less for you.”
“But I haven’t even said yes to this job yet,” he pointed out. “I’ve only just met you. I haven’t even looked over the entire house yet.”
“Oh,” she said rather put aback. It had never even crossed her mind that he wouldn’t be doing the work. “Right.” She felt terrible for not having thought along those lines. She had assumed too much and suddenly felt very uneasy for putting him in such a position.
After a moment of thought she said, “I’d really like it if you would help me with the house…”
“Jeremy. My name…it’s Jeremy. Jeremy Hickey,” he interjected.
“Right. Jeremy. I’d really like it if you would help me with the house, Jeremy. I’m Ella. Ella McKaye,” she said suddenly slipping back to her old shy self as she reached out to shake his hand in greeting.
“Nice to meet you, Ms. McKaye. Not to be unappreciative of your offer, but why me? You haven’t even talked with anyone else about the job. You don’t know what my rates are, my qualifications, or anything about me. I could be a serial killer—you don’t know. You just hand me a wad of cash and say, ‘Buy whatever you need’? Are you insane? That’s just trouble waiting to happen,” he lectured.
“Wow. You’re right, I suppose. I hadn’t really thought about it like that.”
“Well, you should. There are a lot of bad people out there that would surely take advantage of you. You need to be more careful,” he said firmly.
He was right. She had been naïve. She’d never had money like this and no doubt there would be those who would take advantage of that. His concern revealed to her that HE had been taken advantage of and hurt somehow. His concern had revealed more of him than he probably wanted, but it only assured her that she had found the right person for the job.
“How about this? We go to the diner next door, talk a bit, and go from there,” she said insistently.
“Fine,” he conceded.
*****
They both were seated and orders had been taken when Ella finally broke the silence.
“I’m sorry that I assumed that you were going to work for me without really asking. I guess when Marlin had sent you, I thought you had already been hired.”
“He asked me to get the lights on and make sure the house was sound to stay in—beyond that we hadn’t discussed anything.”
“If you couldn’t tell, I’m a bit new to all this. I never even knew my grandmother had the house, let alone that she was giving it to me. When I got the news about her dying, I was packing up my things at college. I just graduated and was about to come back home.
“I suppose all this house stuff is good, though, it’s kept me rather preoccupied with it instead of balling up in bed and mourning the loss of my grandmother.”
“You were close?” he asked.
“Very,” she answered.
“What about the rest of your family?”
“All I have now that Grandma is gone is my mother, and she threw me out of the house this morning before I could even get dressed.”
“That explains your attire this morning, but why would she do that?”
“I guess she felt the money should have been hers, when my father died, but when I told her Grandma didn’t include her in the will she went berserk. She started insulting my grandma and I just couldn’t have her doing that.”
“Why didn’t your grandmother leave any money to your mom?”
“She did—she has. She’s been supporting my mom since my dad died a long time ago. Her house is paid for and she gets a monthly check to live on. Above and beyond that, though, is a bit more strained. My mom had some trouble with drugs after my dad died, and Grandma felt if mom had money lying around, she would indulge again.”
“Hmm. Drugs. That’s messy business.” He sounded as if he had some knowledge in this area.
“Right. So here I am, with no family, just this big old house.”
“And what exactly do you want to do with the house?” he asked.
“Well, it must have meant a great deal to my grandmother since she refused to sell it after all these years. I think I’d like to get it back into shape and live in it. I think that’s what Grandma would have wanted.”
“Isn’t it kind of big for just one person?” he asked.
“Yes. It is, but I’d like to think I won’t be alone all my life,” she joked, but with an air of truth.
He smiled a bit at this comment. He had obviously understood her meaning.
“So you now know my name and MY story, so what is yours? How does Marlin know you?”
“I’ve done some side jobs here and there over the last few months for Mr. Howard. He’s been pretty kind to me, throwing jobs my way here and there,” he said.
“You’re not from around here are you?” she commented.
“No. I don’t really have any one place I call home.”
“No family?”
“No.”
“Where’d you grow up?”
“All over the place.”
“That’s pretty vague for someone who suggested I get to know who I’m hiring,” she remarked.
“It is,” he admitted but gave no sign of giving any more info.
“And that’s it? You’re not going to tell me anymore?”
“Pretty much,” he said bluntly.
“Are you in trouble? Like with the law?”
He shrugged his shoulders and stared at the glass of water in front of him. Dew had formed on the glass and dripped down its sides, puddling at its base. His eyes were full of remorse and blue as a faded pair of jeans, when he said, “I have been.”
“Is that how you know Marlin?”
He nodded. She could see he was ashamed by this fact.
“You didn’t kill anyone or hurt anyone did you?” she whispered across the table.
“No. I didn’t kill anyone,” he said heatedly, but in a low voice so as not to let the whole diner hear.
She smiled at him when he finally looked up at her. She could tell he was not happy about revealing his past troubles to her, but based on his reactions, he had been truthful with her no matter how vague and that meant a lot to her. She knew from experience it was not easy to divulge such intimate parts of oneself to another, especially a stranger. He had won her respect.
She knew he would not tell her much more than he already had, so she changed the subject to something she felt sure he would be more comfortable with.
“So what are your qualifications?” Ella asked him as the waitress set down their food.
“Well, I’ve been working as a handyman and carpenter for as long as I can remember,” he answered munching on a fry.
“Are you licensed?” she asked, while applying catsup to her open-faced burger.
“Yes,” he said before taking a large bite of his burger.
“Have you worked on old houses before?” she asked, assembling her burger, then cutting it in half to make it more manageable for her small hands.
“More than I can recount.”
“If you were to work for me, what would you like to see done to the house?”
“I’d like to see it brought back to its original state of beauty. It’s a beautiful house, it’s just been neglected by time. From what I can see, the masonry and foundation are sound, but there is some dry rot and the moss and ivy are eating away at the wood siding. The plumbing could use some work, as could the electrical. It would take a lot of time and a good chunk of money but it would be worth it in the end to upgrade them both. The roof seems intact, but only just. I don’t think it’s had a new roof in a long time and the moss and ivy are wreaking havoc on it too.
“Landscaping would be nice. I noticed there was a garden hidde
n away to the west of the house that would be nice to restore. The boathouse is barely standing and could use all new pilings, deck and roof, as well as paint.”
“So the prospect of working on the house intrigues you?”
“I…I don’t know…why do you say that?”
“Well, it’s the most you’ve said to me all day and seems you could go on and on.”
“Houses like yours are treasures. If given the proper attention they can outshine any new house. Houses like that have character and a personality all their own.”
“And they don’t talk back to you…” she joked.
“Yes. I suppose that’s true. I guess you can tell I’m not really good with people. I can’t seem to understand them—how they work and think. People are a puzzle to me but an old beauty like that house—that I understand and know what it needs.”
She smiled at this hidden passion he displayed and then quickly hid it away again.
“What do you charge?” she inquired.
“I usually charge two-fifty a day plus materials and expenses.”
“Seems more than reasonable. Are you presently working on any other?”
“No,” he quickly answered.
“Do you live in town?” she asked.
“Kind of,” he answered uneasily.
“You are either living in town or you are not…which is it?” she said, puzzled by his answer.
“I’m kind of in between places,” he replied, showing his embarrassment.
“You’re not living in your truck are you?” she said, wondering if she could remember any thing about the interior of his truck that would relay the truth.
“No. I’ve been sleeping at the shelter in town.”
“Hmm,” she said as she reached in her purse and pulled out the envelope with cash in it that she had given him earlier. She pulled out a twenty, laid it on the table for the food, and then slid the envelope in front of Jeremy.
“Again with the envelope? Haven’t you learned anything? You don’t go around giving strangers this kind of cash, Ella. It’s dangerous.”
“The way I see it, we’re not strangers any longer. I’m hiring you to do the work on my house and you’re going to need the money to do all the things you talked about. Consider this a deposit. Oh, and I think you should move into one of the bedrooms in the house,” she explained.
“We’ve had a lunch together, that doesn’t mean you know me. I’m not a stray cat. You can’t just take me into your home. I have a past and not a very pretty one. What you are doing is very dangerous—especially waving that money around.”
“First off, I’m not waving it; I’ve casually handed it to you and have now slid it across the table. No one knows what’s in it but you and me, well, and maybe the waitress, but the point is, I’m not ‘flashing’ it as you put it.”
He shook his head in disagreement.
She continued, “I may not be street smart, but I think I know you better than you might think. You’re honorable, principled, and honest despite or maybe because of your checkered past and your conscience plagues you with it.”
His mouth dropped open and when he composed himself he stammered, “How can you know that? You don’t know that for sure. You don’t know me.” The tone in his voice hinted at uncertainty.
“If you weren’t honorable you would have taken the money at the hardware store and skipped town the next instant you could. If you weren’t honest you would have made some story up about your living arrangements and your past troubles, twisting it to your advantage. Your conscience grieves you because the shame you feel about your past reveals too much of yourself. Whatever has happened to you has hardened you against people and made you wary of their motives. You distance yourself from others in order to protect yourself. You use that reserve of passion you might have once exercised on people and utilize it in your work.”
She paused for a moment. He looked dumbfounded by her insight.
“Are you some kind of psychoanalyst?” he asked.
She smirked at him and continued, “No. I just know Marlin would have never sent you my way if he thought you were dishonest or dangerous. We’re practically family. He sees the good in people despite their mistakes. I like to think I’ve learned that from him. Having grown up with an addict, I tend to lean towards being an introvert myself. I guess I just recognize the similarities between us in that respect. The rest, I guess, is just what I’ve noted from our conversations.
“I really do hope that you will work with me on the house. I want someone with your passion to bring it back to its full glory. I know we don’t know each other very well, and your first impression of me was less than I would have hoped for. I’m really not a nut or a psycho analyst. I’m just someone who needs a carpenter and possibly… a roommate.”
Ella saw in his eyes that he was about to start arguing again.
“Even if you had a place in town, I still would have suggested it. It takes a good twenty minutes to get to town. Between getting supplies and coming and going to work, all you’re going to be doing is driving, not working on my house,” she said feeling she had a valid argument. She could see he thought so too, and might actually be considering her points. She let him reflect on all she had said. It was a lot to take in, for anybody.
After a few moments of silence, she asked, “So, Jeremy, will you come work for me? You can pick which bedroom you prefer. When I was exploring upstairs I found there were two bedrooms that shared a bath and two that had their own; all are very spacious and someday they will all have great views,” she giggled then continued, “I was going to set up in the big room at the end of the hall with the partial glass ceiling and fireplace. It’s not really a bedroom, but I figure I can make it whatever I want it to be. I love to paint and the light in there is wonderful. Plus there’s the view of the lake.”
He didn’t say anything and seemed to be heavily weighing the offer.
She added, “You’d be doing me a favor too. It would be nice to have someone around, especially at night. I know it seems stupid, but I’ve never really lived alone.”
A tiny smile appeared on his lips.
He looked reluctant, but he finally offered his hand to her in a handshake and said, “I accept your generous offer and thank you for your hospitality.”
“Good, then we need to get shopping. We need bedding and food before nightfall,” she said as she handed him her cleaning supplies list. “Oh, and could you get Boo a kitty box and some kitty litter? You go to the hardware store and get what you need and these few things on the list. Marlin told me he would be setting up an account at the hardware store in your name and in mine, so just put it on the account. I’m going to walk to the department store and get some blankets and pillows for the beds.”
“Okay,” he agreed looking a little overwhelmed as they left the diner heading back to the hardware store. “You named the cat Boo?”
“I did. I think it’s appropriate since she’s black and on our first meeting she scared me,” she answered.
He shook his head in disbelief and she thought she might have even seen a little smile on his face.
“I’ll meet you at the appliance store in an hour. You can help me pick out a stove, washer and dryer, and fridge,” she said as she spun on her heel and waved at him without looking back.
Chapter 6
When they finally did get back to the house the sun had just fallen behind the mountains, making long, creeping shadows that seemed to be crawling ever closer and eventually covering everything in their path.
A little chill ran up Ella’s neck as she thought back on the morning’s happenings with the mirror. She had been avoiding that hallway all day while she explored and got to know her new home.
While they had been shopping, a business card had been shoved into the doorjamb of the front door. Obviously someone named Harold Morton had been by long enough to crush a cigarette butt into the wood porch and write on the back of a business card, “Sell this Dump! Big $$$
Harold.” She wadded up the business card and tossed it in a bag of groceries as they entered the front door.
“What was that?” Jeremy asked curiously about the business card.
“Nothing important,” she said unconcernedly.
Boo came scampering to meet them, full of energy after her nap and ready for someone to play with her. Ella greeted her with a ‘hello’ and a scratch behind the ear.
Jeremy helped bring a bed into the large room Ella had picked as her bedroom. It was a spectacular room with a giant bay window and windows on all three walls and a window that took up about a third of the roof. They centered the bed under the ceiling window in the center of the room. From the door way it looked ridiculous. The double bed looked miniature in the huge room with no other furniture.
She made up the bed and went to look for Jeremy who was picking his room. He was just dropping his duffle bag near a bed when Ella found him. He had picked the farthest room from hers—a straight shot down a very long hallway. It overlooked the front of the house and the shed that would be his workshop could just barely be seen from his side window. She helped him make the bed and get settled all the while Boo played under the covers with each layer that was added to the bed.
“I didn’t buy you a bedspread or quilt since I thought maybe you’d like to decorate the room the way you like, but I bought you a down comforter. You can later buy a cover for it in the color you choose, making it match your own style,” she said kindly. “If you would be so kind as to make a fire downstairs after you show me how to light the burners on the stove, I’ll start some spaghetti for dinner.”
“Okay,” he replied almost happily, she thought.
Boo followed them down the stairs and when they split in the hall for different destinations she followed Ella to the kitchen. This time she took the path by the mirror, speeding past it and not looking in its direction.
Mirror of Shadows Page 4