Cold Heart (3 page)

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 when 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.

First things first though, she wanted a better look at what was under those sheets that were covering everything.  She began pulling them off one by one and then stepped back to have a look. Wow, the sofas were covered in taupe leather. This was wonderful. There were several occasional chairs also. They were covered in a fabric that she was not crazy about though she liked the style of them. The pattern was pretty outdated and not something she would have chosen even then. It was too bad too because they really had no wear on them. Hopefully she could have them reupholstered and since there was so many of them she could get a good price.

Lexi hauled all the sheets into the laundry room. She would deal with them later. She went to get some of the cleaning supplies she had purchased yesterday and hauled the vacuum cleaner down from upstairs. She was puffing from the exertion by the time she had it in the great room. She would definitely need to purchase another one as no one was going to want to haul this heavy thing up and down stairs. Maybe even another one for the cabins.

She set to work dusting and polishing and vacuuming and a couple of hours had passed before she knew it. She was just going to head into the kitchen area when she heard a bark from Tucker and went to the door to see what or who he was barking at. She caught a glimpse of herself in the hall mirror as she passed and cringed. Her hair was falling out of her ponytail and her face was smudged with dirt. She was a bit of a sight. Oh well. Hopefully it wasn’t Carter. Then she chided herself. So what if it was Carter, what did she care if she wasn’t looking her best?

When she opened the door and saw Carter giving Tucker some cuddles she groaned inwardly anyway, upset that she wasn’t looking her best. Carter sauntered over to the stairs and up onto the porch.

“Good morning,” he said. “Doing a little cleaning I see.”

Lexi tried not to let her embarrassment show. “Yes,” she said.

“You know, there are people you can hire for that,” he said.

“I’m not afraid of a little hard work,” Lexi said defensively, then seeing him cringe ever so slightly she said. “Besides I am sort of taking stock of everything at the same time.”

“So what’s the plan?” he said and he walked right past her and headed into the entry and on into the great room. People certainly made themselves at home out here in the sticks

“I see you’ve already had a gift from Montgomery,” Carter said nodding at the box of wine that still sat on the dining table. “Did he come himself or send one of his lackeys?”

“It was a guy named Mitch,” Lexi said a little miffed at the forwardness of his just walking inside without an invitation. “Tucker did not like him one bit either.”

“Well Tuck is a good judge of character, aren’t ya boy?” he said giving the dog a pat on the head. “Just watch out for Montgomery and his boys. He’s had his eye on this place for a really long time and kept pestering Max about it.”

“Well I knew he wanted to buy it as I was approached almost the moment I learned I had inherited it,” Lexi said. “I was told by Bert Beatty, Uncle Max’s lawyer that Max was intending to sell it to Montgomery.”

“Well, that’s just not true,” Carter said and continued to look around the great room surveying the work that Lexi had already done.

“Really?” she said. “Why would he lie?”

“Because he’s a bottom dwelling, low life, scum bag just like Montgomery, who by the way, keeps him on a very sizeable retainer to do his bidding for him. Max was sick to death of being pestered to sell. He said he’d never sell it to that no-good you know what,” Carter said turning to face her, his face a little red.

“Well, tell us how you really feel,” Lexi said, smiling for the first time since Carter had shown up.

Carter laughed a little. “I guess you can tell I don’t think much of the works of them.”

“Yes. That does kind of show. It’s funny though, the more I check out the place, the more I don’t understand why Uncle Max never opened for business. It’s got everything really and is pretty much ready to go. I just don’t understand why someone would spend all that time and money and then not do anything with it.”

“I hear you,” Carter said. “Afraid I don’t really have any answers to that question. I did ask him one time and all he said was it was a dream he had shared with someone else. Then she left town. He thought that if he built it maybe she would come back and share it with him. But she didn’t come.”

“Oh my, I wonder who that someone was,” Lexi said.

“Beats me,” Carter said. “We only talked about it that one time. Which makes me remember what I was going to ask you yesterday, why’d your family stop coming here?”

“I have no idea, really” Lexi said, “Just that there was a big fight between my father and Uncle Max and I remember all the yelling and my mother was crying. I was twelve. No one would tell me anything. After that visit, everything changed and we never came again. I learned not to ask about it because it got things all stirred up between my mom and dad and I would hear them fighting again. I never got to see my Uncle Max again. It wasn’t until my Mom and Dad’s funeral that I saw him and I barely even got to talk to him then. I always intended to come out here and visit him after that and well I ...” Lexi’s eyes began to well with tears, “I was always too busy with work and then it was too late.”

“I was very sorry to hear about your parents, by the way,” Carter said. “I wonder what the fight was about.”

“I should get back to work,” Lexi said brushing a tear aside and wishing she hadn’t confided so much personal information to him.

“Sure,” Carter said. “Just wanted to check on you and make sure everything was going okay with Tucker and all.”

“Thanks, its fine,” Lexi said, feeling bad if she had sounded unfriendly. “It’s kind of nice having him here.” Tucker had come and sat down beside her and she was suddenly aware than she had been gently patting his head while she and Carter had been talking.

“Yeah,” Carter said. “It looks like you two have hit it off just fine. Well I’ll be on my way. I can let myself out.”

“Okay, bye,” Lexi said, then, trying to sound a little friendlier, added. “Thanks for coming by.”

Tucker followed him out and then returned to the barn. Before going back to her cleaning Lexi made a call to the company that had helped her with the business plan she had done when she opened the deli. They agreed to get together in a couple of weeks. Someone from the firm would come up to the property and meet with her there. With that settled she went back to work and began cleaning all the surfaces in the kitchen but instead of thinking about all the exciting dishes she would like to put on the menu, which she might have been earlier, instead she was wondering who Uncle Max had been building Wildwood for and why Bert Beatty had lied about Uncle Max wanting to sell.

Maybe Carter was wrong and Uncle Max had just recently decided to sell and hadn’t mentioned it to him. Just because he didn’t like Mr. Montgomery didn’t mean that they were being dishonest. Still, it was all a little puzzling and Lexi found she was thinking about it for most of the afternoon. She didn’t come up with any answers that made any sense. By three thirty she decided she’d had enough. She went upstairs to shower and it felt good. She was looking a lot more presentable when she came back downstairs at four. She went looking for Tucker and found him in his usual spot in the barn.

“This can’t be much fun for a young dog like you Tucker.” Lexi said. She wondered how old Tucker actually was. She was assuming that he had been a puppy when Uncle Max had got him but she realized now that she didn’t really know. She would ask Carter the next time she saw him. In the meantime, maybe Tucker would go for a walk with her. She coaxed him up and he followed her out of the barn and she headed off to see if she could find the pond. Tucker followed along closely behind.

She found the pond easily and was surprised to find it was quite large. Definitely large enough that you could have a few paddle boats or canoes for people to ride around in. There was even a little dock that went out about twenty feet or so into the pond. It might be nice to have a pathway that went around it. Perhaps a paved pathway and then it would be wheel chair accessible. She liked that idea. Lexi laughed at herself. She was going to have to be careful. She had quite a bit of money to put towards the upgrades but she would have it spent ten times over if she kept coming up with ideas.

Tucker dropped a stick at her feet. She picked it up.

“You want me to throw this?” she asked.