Chapter 30
Thirty
They found the kitchen easily enough and the mudroom.
Along a hallway behind the kitchen, they discovered four separate bedrooms, a sitting room, and a bathroom.
The house had clearly been designed for live-in staff.
He led the way back into the kitchen and took out his notebook.
“One thing this room has in its favor is it’s not a fitted kitchen.
Everything in here looks as if it can be picked up and taken outside or moved around.
I like the wooden table and the chairs. They’re in good shape and I don’t think we need to replace them, but I figure I need to get a kitchen fitter to rip out everything and rebuild it with the top-quality cabinets, benches, and appliances.
I’ll get onto it as soon as I get back to town. ”
“The old wood stove is probably over one hundred years old.” Julie shook her head.
“It would have been used to cook on and heat the kitchen for all those years and it looks in really good shape.” She bent to open the hatch at the front.
“Get a new electric stove for cooking but I think you should keep this for its historical value to the building.”
Rhett nodded, glad to have her along. Being suddenly wealthy was making him reckless. “I’ll need to get someone to check it out before we use it. I’m sure there’s someone in town that deals with old stoves.”
“You might want them to check the furnace at the same time.” Carter walked up and down the kitchen opening cabinets.
“Winter will be here before you know it and this place is gonna take a ton of power to keep it warm.” He indicated with his chin toward the cabinets.
“There’s more dinnerware than you’re going to need in a lifetime.
” He opened a few drawers. “Same with the silverware.”
Staring own at his ever-growing list of things to do and purchase, Rhett lifted his gaze.
“I figure a quick tour of the bedrooms and then we’ll head out to speak to Bowman again.
I don’t believe we’ll have time to do a complete tour of the property.
Maybe when I come back with the kitchen fitters, I can take a better look. ”
They dashed upstairs and found eight bedrooms. One of them had been converted into a nursery, and toys still sat on the counters.
Brett walked into his parents’ bedroom and it was just as they’d left it on the day they’d died.
Their clothes still hung in the closets with shoes neatly in lines below them.
The dressing table had makeup and perfume bottles.
The bed had been stripped and the mattress covered.
They found the same in each of the other bedrooms. He swallowed hard when he saw his parents’ belongings sitting there as if waiting for them to return.
Guilt gripped him. Should he feel sad? He noticed Julie’s distressed expression, but he had no actual attachment to anything in the house.
It was as if he were seeing everything through another person’s eyes.
He had no feeling of belonging, only the obligation to make things right.
“I won’t use this room, but I will have all the clothes picked up and taken to Goodwill.
I don’t want this room to become a shrine to people I don’t even remember. ”
“I figure you should take the bedroom at the top of the stairs.” Carter smiled at him.
“When we came up, the last three steps creaked loudly and so do the floorboards all the way to that room. It would be a room I would take because as sure as heck no one is gonna creep up on you at night without you hearing them.”
Nodding, Rhett smiled. “That sounds like a plan, but it will be some time before I move in. I can’t live in a museum.
I’ll get the valuables secured and the old furniture placed into storage first.” He looked at Julie.
“Will you help me select what I need? I figure this house needs a woman’s touch. ”
“I’d love to.” Julie squeezed his hand. “I love shopping. Maybe Dad can fly us to Helena and we can look at some of the stores there.” She glanced around the house. “Or we could look online. You’ll need a ton of things.”
Glad to have Julie at his side, he leaned into her.
“I have a few interviews for positions I’ve applied for coming up and I’m sure you do too.
I’d love to have this place ready to move into before I start work.
It would make life easier.” He frowned. “I can’t stay at your house for much longer. It was meant to be a short stay.”
“I’ll speak to my dad.” Julie frowned. “He’s easier going than you imagine. He just wants the best for me, is all. I figure he likes you.”
“He does like you.” Carter rolled his eyes. “He told me. Now can we stop all this mushy stuff and get back to the tour?”
Laughing, Rhett headed for the door. “Yeah, let’s just hope we don’t run into any problems.”
After taking a tour of the outbuildings and stepping around cowpats and massive puddles, Rhett had seen enough for one day.
Both of the leading hands had taken their crews out to work moving cattle or mending fences, so apart from a few people cleaning the stables, the place was deserted.
The buildings had been well maintained, the bunkhouses fitted with separate rooms that offered privacy, rather than what he’d envisaged.
He noticed a number of women working in a huge cookhouse.
“Those women, are they regular or seasonal workers?”
“We have four regular cooks.” Bowman smiled. “We offer our workers four meals a day here. Our running crew is at least a dozen full-time workers. During the busy season, we might employ another ten or more, depending on the workload.”
Rhett scanned the mass of buildings. “Where do you live?”
“In the first house.” Bowman indicated to four separate residences set apart from the main buildings. “The leading hands take the other two and we have one spare.”
As they walked back to Bowman’s office, Rhett took the man to one side.
“It seems to me you’re doing a fine job managing the place.
Once I get the place fixed up, I’ll be living in the house, but I have no intention of getting in your way.
The kitchen in the house needs to be upgraded and I’ll call someone to examine the furnace.
If I’m not available to supervise these workers, I’ll need someone in the house with them to make sure nothing goes missing.
I’ve noticed valuables spread throughout the house. ”
“That’s not a problem.” Bowman nodded slowly.
“Just call me when they’re expected and I’ll make sure they’re never left alone.
What you might not have noticed is that every door has a key.
They’re left in the locks but there is a spare set in the desk in the study.
You would need to lock only the kitchen door to isolate the kitchen fitters.
The access to the basement is in the mudroom, which is adjacent to the back door, so no problem there either.
” He led the way inside his office, opened a drawer in his desk, and took out a set of keys.
“These are the house keys. If you want to keep things private from now on, you should lock the house before you leave. The cleaning service isn’t due back again this week, but they will be back next Wednesday.
If you want them to clean the house, you will need to leave a key with me. ”
Rhett nodded. “I’ll speak to Mr. Cross and hopefully by the time the house requires cleaning again we’ll have the kitchen fitted and a housekeeper to run things. I’m sure he’ll find someone suitable we can trust. He hasn’t let me down yet.”
Seeing Carter’s skeptical view as he turned to walk back to the truck, he walked beside him. “I’ll be happier when I get some of those valuables into storage. There are some beautiful pieces in the house but they’re a temptation for thieves.”
“They’ve been safe so far.” Julie frowned and stared into the distance. “It’s a beautiful place. Let’s hope the person who threatened your parents is long gone.” She indicated toward the office. “Bowman seems okay. He has run the place to expectations. He didn’t act like a threat to you.”
He appreciated Julie’s insight into people and, like her, hadn’t found Bowman deceitful at all.
“He’s younger than I expected.” Rhett rubbed his chin.
“Cross mentioned doing a regular inventory on the items in the house. It might be a good time to get another. I don’t really want valuables left lying around.
The paintings are great, but the entire house needs to be brought up to date.
The kitchen is a priority, but I need a family room too and right now there’s no TV. ”
“Why not build a vault in the basement? Some of those things might be family heirlooms that you’re not aware of.
It would be foolish to sell them without doing the necessary research.
” Carter cleared his throat. “As the letter from your pa doesn’t name names, we have no idea who might have been involved.
Until you can evaluate the risk of living here, you might want to consider a security alarm and maybe ask Raven if you can have the dog he trained for the woman who died recently?
I figure if anyone out here is a threat to you, you’ll need to take all the precautions you can.
Seems to me your dad had the same people around him and they didn’t do anything to save him, did they? ”