Chapter 9
Knox made a hard right turn and stopped the truck at a locked gate.
Beyond it was a cattle guard and pastureland.
Roman Wilcot must have deliberately left a few trees here, there, and yonder to provide shade for his cattle during the hot summer months.
Knox didn’t intend to cut down a single one of them when he started his project.
He shaded his eyes with the back of his hand and could see sunlight reflecting off a gray metal roof of either a barn or a house.
“Are you in a hurry to get back to the lake? I would like to take a better look at this place,” Knox said.
“Not at all, but I was more than happy to leave so I wouldn’t have to talk to Bernie,” Lottie answered. “Haven’t you at least walked over it or taken a look at the house?”
“Nope, but Tripp did, and I trust his judgment,” he answered.
“Do you have a key for that lock? The sign on the fence plainly says NO TRESPASSING.”
He pulled a ring holding two keys from his shirt pocket and dangled them in front of her. “The place isn’t officially mine until we sign all the paperwork, but we shook hands on the deal, and that’s binding.”
“Uncle Jack taught me that the passenger has to open the gate and then close it when the driver goes through. I can’t see that house from here, but I’m in no mood to ruin my best high-heeled shoes in that gravel, so you better wait on me when you drive across the cattle guard.”
He reached across the console and took the keys back. “You could ruin those shoes just going to the gate. I’ll get the gate while you change into your tennis shoes. They are in the back floorboard. The house has been sitting empty for six months, so the yard is probably a mess.”
She removed her shoes and tossed them over her shoulder. She was tying her last shoe when he slid behind the steering wheel.
“No sense in closing it until we leave,” he said. “Roman sold all his cattle to Remy when he got too sick to take care of them.”
Could Aunt Bernie be right about Lottie being attracted to him even in a small way? He wondered as he swung the gate open. He shook his head at the very idea.
If Lottie had been interested in him, she would have flirted rather than bluntly asking him to be her boyfriend.
This was nothing more than a business deal.
He came to the end of the lane to find a white picket fence around the ranch-style house with a wide front porch.
Rosebushes were leafing out and needed a good pruning.
A brisk wind blew dried leaves from the pecan trees surrounding the house across the porch.
Two rocking chairs with chipped white paint sat on either side of a small table with round stains in the middle—probably where coffee cups had been set while Roman and Eula Faye watched the sunrise each morning.
“That’s kind of spooky,” Lottie whispered.
“Why? Because it’s empty?” Knox asked.
“No, because those rocking chairs are moving back and forth like someone is sitting in them,” she answered.
“Maybe it’s Roman and Eula Faye welcoming us,” he said.
“Well, if that’s the case, let’s go tell them hello,” she said and got out of the truck. She was halfway to the porch when he caught up to her and tucked her hand into his.
She pulled her hand free. “We don’t have to convince anyone we’re together out here in the boonies.”
He unlocked the door and stood to one side. “Got to keep up with things or we might forget when we are around folks.”
“You sure you don’t want to go in first?” Lottie asked. “After all, this is your new home.”
“Ladies first,” Knox answered. “I want to see your first impression.”
Lottie stepped into the house and took a deep breath.
“Does that mean you think I should raze it and build a new one?” he asked.
“Absolutely not. This is like stepping back in time to my grandparents’ house.
They lived on a farm, and I spent a few weeks with them every summer.
Daddy moved around a lot back then with his job, so their place was my stability.
I still miss them even though they passed away more than ten years ago. ”
He took in the living room with a sweeping glance.
Spots on the walls showed where the blue paint had been brighter originally.
Geneva must have taken the family pictures that had hung there back to southern Louisiana with her.
An old trunk served as a coffee table, with a blue and burgundy floral sofa and matching wing-back chairs, one on either side of it.
“Does that mean you wouldn’t throw out this furniture and start all over?”
“Not a single piece. It’s not very masculine, but that big old burgundy leather recliner would fit your frame really well. Does all this stuff come with the house?”
“Geneva told me that she had already removed what she wanted, and the house went with the property just as it is.” Knox wandered into the kitchen.
Cast-iron skillets hung from hooks below shelves that held pots and pans.
He didn’t remember Eula Faye being very tall, so that meant there would be a stepladder hiding somewhere.
The stove and refrigerator were green and matched the ivy on the wallpaper.
Salt and pepper shakers sat next to a sugar bowl in the middle of a yellow chrome table with four matching chairs around it.
“What’s the first thing you will change?” Lottie asked.
“Nothing for a while, other than maybe painting the walls to cover up those spots where pictures used to hang,” Knox answered. “What would you make different if you had just bought this place?”
“I took a quick peek into the rooms down the hallway, and I would put a king bed in the master bedroom, but that’s about it,” she answered.
Knox walked through the rest of the house and then headed back to the living room. “It will be easy to add onto the existing place by using that bedroom on the end as an office and turning the window into a doorway to a new master bedroom, a walk-in closet, and a second bathroom.”
“Why would just one person need that much more room?” she asked.
“For now, the place is totally livable, and it’s peaceful set back here in the woods. But the closets are small, like they were when the house was originally built. And I would want a room big enough that a king-sized bed would not take up all the floor space. I also would like a private bathroom.”
“Good solid reasons,” she said with a nod.
“Would you have bought it?” he asked.
“Maybe not before I even looked at it, but after being in here a few minutes, I would have written a check in a heartbeat. But to buy more than six hundred acres would take a lot more than I have in the bank,” she answered.
“So, if we were a real couple, you would move into this house with me when we finish the project we are working on?”
“Maybe. I really like the place and the location, but we are not a real couple,” she answered.
* * *
At the burger shop, Lottie wadded up the red-and-white-checkered papers that lined the plastic containers with their hot dogs and fries in them and tossed the two balls into the nearby trash can.
“Thank you for supper and, again, for leaving early with me. And FYI, I do not intend to go with you every weekend.”
“We promised Bo we would help with the senior thing in two weeks,” Knox reminded her.
She groaned. “I don’t make promises I won’t keep, so we’ll drive up in two vehicles that day. I’ll come home after the event is over, and you can stay as long as you want. Besides, since I don’t leave very often, I usually stay on the site to prevent any vandalism.”
“You do remember that Aunt Bernie will be at the bar that day,” he reminded her.
“I can avoid her for a couple of hours, but not a whole weekend,” she told him.
“Well, well, well!” a familiar voice said. “Is this the new boyfriend that Thomas told me about?”
“Damn it!” She swore under her breath.
“Yes, it is,” she answered. “Micah, meet Knox. Knox, Micah, who is Thomas’s brother. What are you doing here? The next crew isn’t supposed to be here until Wednesday evening.”
Micah extended a hand toward Knox. “We finished up early, and Jack said he could use an extra hand if I wanted to help finish framing the first house.”
Knox shook with him and then draped an arm around Lottie’s shoulders. “We can always use an extra set of hands. Did you bring a trailer?”
“Nope,” Micah answered, but his eyes lingered on Lottie.
“He usually bunks in with Thomas,” she explained.
“I’ll be going. See y’all in the morning bright and early,” Micah said.
“We’re about to get snow cones. You are welcome to join us. My treat,” Knox said.
“I never turn down beer, food, or snow cones,” Micah said with a bright smile. “Eddie told me that it’s your turn to cook for us one day this week, Lottie.”
“Yep, and I hope you all like soup and sandwiches.” Never in her life had she wanted to strangle someone as much as she did Knox right at that moment.
Micah was an incurable flirt, and there was no telling what he might say or do.
She didn’t want Knox to flare up in mock anger and cause a scene that would get him fired.
“If you’ll stir it with your finger, it will be amazing,” Micah teased.
Knox brought her hand to his lips and kissed the knuckles. “I keep telling her that, but she argues with me. Now, each of you name your poison and decide if you want a small, medium, or large snow cone.”
“A small pina colada,” Lottie said.
“Medium with cherry on one side and banana on the other,” Micah answered and slid a sly wink toward Lottie.
“Y’all don’t have to stand in line,” Knox said. “I’ll take care of our orders and bring them over to one of those picnic tables.”
Lottie shrugged his arm away from her shoulders and walked away. Forget strangling Knox. With a glancing look, she imagined him graveyard dead and his body sinking into the lake for the fishes to nibble on for supper that night.
“Thank you,” Micah said and walked beside Lottie to one of the wooden tables.