Chapter 3
Liz watched as the woman standing on the porch of the house across the street lowered her binoculars and hustled down the steps.
“She’s coming our way,” Gloria said.
The woman, her flip-flops clip-clopping, scurried toward them. The binoculars she’d been using to spy on them were still dangling around her neck.
“Hello.” The petite blonde gave a friendly wave as she drew closer.
“Hello.” Liz offered the woman a hesitant smile.
“I live across the road and couldn’t help but notice someone over here. Are you Pierre’s family?”
“Pierre?” Liz frowned .
“Pierre Gagnon, my former neighbor. He’s the man who owned this property.”
“I don’t know Mr. Gagnon. My husband, Floyd Rasmussen, bought this place.”
“Bought it?” The woman’s brows knitted, and Liz could almost see her wheels spinning. “I didn’t know it was for sale.”
“Neither did I,” Liz mumbled.
The blonde waved dismissively. “I suppose it was merely a matter of time before Pierre’s children sold it.”
“So this place has sat empty for a few years,” Gloria said.
“Ever since Pierre’s wife, Avril, died. He passed on not long after. When are you moving in? I noticed a pickup truck here a short time ago. Is the man who was driving it moving in, too? Are you from the area?” the woman asked. “Do… ”
“Hang on.” Liz lifted a hand, cutting her off mid-sentence. “I’m sorry. I don’t believe I caught your name.”
“Oh. Yes. Where are my manners? I’m Christi.” The blonde extended a slender hand. “Christi Kravitz. My husband and I own the farm across the street. It’s nice to see some activity, other than those men with the heavy machinery who were poking around a few days ago. I tried to talk Darren into running over here to see what they were doing, but he told me to mind my own business.”
“Men with machinery,” Liz repeated.
“They were digging up dirt.” Christi enunciated her words, as if talking to a small child. “You know…excavating.”
Gloria pointed to the woman’s binoculars. “I suppose you don’t miss much with those.”
“These old things?” Christi shifted her feet. “I’ve taken up bird watching. They’re fascinating, really. Each species has its own quirks. Some are inquisitive while others are standoffish.” She began rambling on about birds and the various methods she was using to attract them.
Liz’s cell phone chimed. “It was nice meeting you. Unfortunately, I need to take this call. If you’ll excuse us.” She grabbed Gloria’s hand and dragged her toward the house.
Gloria shot the woman an apologetic look as she struggled to keep up with her sister. “She wasn’t done chatting with us.”
“She might not have been, but I was. Besides, I need to take this important call.” Liz tapped her cell phone. “Hello? Yes, this is Liz Rasmussen. Can you hold it for me until I can get over there to pick it up? Perfect?” She finished talking to the person on the other end, thanked them, and ended the call. “Finally, some good news. My new Dolce and Gabbana shipped.”
“Dolce and Gabbana? Didn’t you just drop some cash on new duds the other day? ”
Liz pursed her lips. “It’s nail lacquer, a fabulous new shade of red from D&G.”
“You’re gonna need some nail hardener before you start cleaning this place up,” Gloria joked as she shot a glance over her shoulder.
“She’s still watching us, isn’t she?”
“Yeah. Judging by the look on her face, I give her a 50/50 of following us in hot pursuit.”
“Not anymore.” Liz hustled up the front steps. She nudged the front door open and waited for her sister to step inside before slamming it shut. The force of the slam loosened a corner trim piece. It torpedoed to the floor and wedged in a crack. “I guess I’ll add securing trim pieces to Floyd’s growing list of projects.” She peeked through the side window. “Christi is still standing there. I’m having my doubts she’s a bird watcher. More like a neighbor watcher. ”
Gloria grinned, and then she burst out laughing. “You should’ve seen the look on your face when she started her round of fifty questions.”
“How did I get so lucky?”
“Maybe you two will end up best friends, although she doesn’t strike me as your type.”
“She’s reaching for her binoculars, picking them up and…she’s spying on us again.”
“This place is getting more interesting by the minute.” Gloria fumbled inside her purse and pulled out her cell phone.
“What are you doing?”
“Researching the previous owners, Pierre and Avril Gagnon. I wonder how the last name is spelled. Never mind. I found it.” Gloria clicked on the link. She slipped her reading glasses on and read the story aloud:
“The body of Pierre Gagnon, a local business owner who was reported missing ten days ago, was found near the back of his property on Cash Creek Road in Green Springs. It’s a tragic conclusion to a heartbreaking story that began when Avril Gagnon, Pierre’s wife, died only hours before he went missing after succumbing to a rare heart disease.”
Liz shivered. “Great. I knew I was getting bad vibes. The house is probably haunted.”
“It’s a sad situation.” Gloria cleared the screen and slid the phone into her pocket. “Are you going to show me around?”
“There’s not much to see. This is the foyer, or whatever the fancy French people call it. There’s a kitchen, a formal reception room, a living room and a dining room. After the incident with Floyd’s foot busting through the rear stair tread and then finding the dead raccoon, I was ready to run.”
“Well?”
“Well, what?”
“Show me around. ”
Liz stubbornly shook her head.
“Fine. I’ll take a self-guided tour.” Gloria reached behind her and flipped the light switch. It flickered before going out. “Floyd might need to call an electrician to come out here to take a look at the electrical box and check the wiring. You don’t want the place burning to the ground.”
“Says who?”
“Liz,” Gloria chided. “Poor Floyd. Hopefully, you haven’t spent all morning complaining about the place.”
“Of course not. More like ninety percent.” Liz sucked in a breath and stared at the corroded copper lantern dangling from the ceiling. “I had no idea the French liked farmhouse chic.”
“Perhaps the owners had eclectic tastes,” Gloria said. “Where did you find the raccoon?”
“Follow me.” Liz trudged down the hall, into the kitchen and to the stairs. “Do you smell something gross? ”
Gloria sniffed. “Yeah, but it’s not overpowering. Stop pouting and give me a tour.”
“Fine, but I would start lowering your expectations. This place isn’t the Taj Mahal.” Liz showed her around the kitchen, followed by the butler’s pantry and, beyond that, the formal dining room. They circled past the living room and returned to the grand foyer.
“What a beautiful medallion in the center of the floor,” Gloria said. “I wonder what it represents.”
“Someone else’s style.” Liz grabbed the piece of trim that had fallen and tossed it into the corner. “I think it’s too pointy.”
“Too pointy?”
“It reminds me of a compass.”
“Then, tear it out.”
“And ruin the integrity of the original architecture? ”
“Do I detect a smidgen of sarcasm? I think it’s very nice.” Gloria wandered over to the grand staircase and tested the handrail. “This staircase looks sturdy. These stair treads are beautiful. I thought you said the steps were rickety.”
“I was talking about the other ones, the ones off the kitchen.” Liz eyed the tread, roughly estimating the value of the polished marble. She swiped at the grimy surface with the tip of her designer shoe. “We might need to keep these.”
“Up we go.” Gloria motioned toward the upper level.
“Who cares what’s up there? I’m going to gut the place.”
Gloria rolled her eyes. “You haven’t been upstairs?”
“No. Like I said, we never made it that far. The deceased raccoon put an end to our tour.”
Gloria began climbing the stairs .
“You’re really going up there?”
“I am.”
“Fine.” Liz grudgingly tromped along behind her. “You can’t hold me responsible for whatever we might find.”
“Duly noted.”
A spacious landing was at the top, with long hallways branching off in different directions. Starting on the right, they found bedroom after bedroom, some with adjoining baths, while others shared one.
“This place is huge,” Gloria said. “You could open a bed-and-breakfast.”
“Bite your tongue.” Liz crossed the bedroom, making her way to the ornate oval window overlooking the front yard. “I can see Christi’s house. She’s sitting on her porch facing our direction. What is that woman’s problem? ”
“Maybe she’s bored. You should give her a chance. I mean, maybe she’s not good at first impressions.”
“Great. She’s looking this way.” Liz leaned back. “I think she saw me.”
Gloria took Liz’s place and peered out the window. “You’re right.” She waved, and the woman waved back.
“I’m tinting the windows right after I replace every single one of them. Or better yet, maybe I can pay a little extra and replace them with built-in privacy shading.”
The sisters finished the tour and headed back downstairs. All the while, Gloria threw out suggestions on improving the place. “You have more than enough money to fix this up to your heart’s content.”
Liz struggled to see the potential, looking past the uneven flooring, the dated cabinets and ancient appliances. “I could get one of those stoves with lots of burners. I’ve always wanted a sub-zero refrigeration system and maybe even put in one of those single basin copper sinks that cost an arm and a leg.”
“I wouldn’t blow all of your budget renovating the kitchen,” Gloria cautioned.
“Why not?”
“You don’t like to cook.”
“So? I’ll hire a cook, a chef, someone to prepare our meals. They can live in the dreadful mobile home out back.”
“It’s not dreadful.” Gloria said. “It’s nice. Nicer than this place, at least right now.”
“It doesn’t scream luxury.” Liz tilted her head, eyeing the room critically. “I’m trying to see the vision. Truly, I am. This place just needs so much work. ”
“I’ll admit it’s a major project and will take some serious cash to bring it up to your standard of luxury.”
“Instead of living in the lap of luxury, I’ll be living in a lack of luxury,” Liz said. “It’s not fair.”
“Life’s not fair. Besides, adversity builds character. Think of it as character building.”
The sound of tires crunching on gravel echoed through the open side door. The women watched as Floyd exited his truck. He grabbed a toolbox from the bed and tromped inside. “I noticed our new neighbor is sitting out on her front porch. She seems like a friendly gal. She waved as I drove past.”
“Are you sure she wasn’t flagging you down?” Liz joked.
“We should go over and introduce ourselves.”
“We’ve already met. Her name is Christi Kravitz. She knows a lot about the previous property owners. ”
“She knew Pierre Gagnon?”
“Yes. How did you know him?” Liz eyed her husband suspiciously.
“He was a regular at the farm auctions. Pierre was a good man, although he didn’t know much about farming. I ran into his son at an auction late last year. We got to talking, and that’s when he told me he and his siblings were thinking about selling the place. Looking back, it’s almost as if this place fell right into my lap.”
“Or more like dropped on your head,” Liz mumbled under her breath.
“What did you say, sugar lips?”
Gloria snorted, and Liz shot her a death look. “I said she seems rather nosy. The neighbor. Gloria is giving me ideas on renovating.”
“I’ve been thinking, this house is bigger than I remember and too big of a project for us to tackle by ourselves,” Floyd said .
“We need a designer and a crew of construction workers,” Liz said.
Floyd clasped his wife’s hand. “I’m glad we’re on the same page. In fact, I have a surprise for you. It should be here shortly.”
“Another surprise? What kind of surprise?”
“Now, I don’t want to spoil it.” He held a finger to his lips. “I think you’ll like this one more than the last. In fact, I’m certain you will.” He excused himself to work on the leaky faucet while the women stepped out onto the front porch.
A stiff breeze blew across the open field, whipping Liz’s bangs into her eyes. “There’s an awful lot of wind around here.”
“It’s an open field, not uncommon when you’re surrounded by farms,” Gloria said. “You grew up on a farm. Surely, some of this is coming back to you.”
“I was a young child. It was decades ago.” Liz chipped away at the porch’s peeling paint with her fingernail. “It looks as if my life has come full circle. ”
“In a surprising turn of events.” Gloria called her pup, who had trotted off to investigate a dilapidated gas pump. “C’mon, Mally. It’s time for us to head home.”
Liz followed her sister to her car. “I should give Andrea a call. She has a knack for décor and might have some ideas about fixing this place up.”
“I think that’s an excellent idea. Andrea turned the old Johnson place into a real showstopper. I’m sure she would be happy to give you some pointers.”
Liz waited for Gloria to coax her dog to join them. “Thanks for the fish and for the pep talk.”
“You’re welcome.” Gloria leaned a hip on the bumper of her car. “The rash on your forehead is going away.”
Liz tentatively touched her forehead. “I thought I was scarred for life.”
“Hey!” Floyd flew around the corner of the house waving his cell phone in the air. “Your surprise is here.”