Hard Hat Man (13 page)

Holding her temper, she described the mess she’d found and told him about the broken water pipes a
nd the break-in a
s well.

“I’m sorry to hear about all this, but you really shouldn’t blame me. I did what I thought was right,” he said.

Frustrated, she said goodbye and hung up.

Soon after talking to Mr. Andrews, Harry appeared at her door. He was a portly man in jeans and a red Tee shirt
with the words
, “Minnesota Twins” on it. His belt hung very low under his pot belly
and his brown hair had a large bald spot on top.
“Kyle says
you need a new lock and for me
to see if I can jerry-rig your water pipes
so you can have water
temporarily,” he said.

“Thanks, that would be great,” Jan said
, showing him where the basement stairs were. “I didn’t see a problem up here, but Kyle says there is water all over the basement.”

“Should be a drain down there to take care of that,” Harry said. “I’ll see what I can do.”

Jan went back to
repacking the boxes she and
Laura
had packed
earlier
and the burglar had dumped out. Then she moved
on
to
sorting her aunt’s things
in the parlor furniture
.
Much of that had been dumped out, too, but apparently the burglar hadn’t found much interesting, because it wasn’t so scattered as the papers in Horace’s office.

She found boxes of yarn and books on knitting and crocheting in one cabinet along with a large, almost finished afghan in a lovely, rippling pattern in shades of yellows, oranges and browns. Her fingers itched to finish it
, so
she packed it and the matching skeins of yarn in a box to keep.
T
he rest of it could go to the charity site.

Later, Harry came back upstairs. He’d made several trips to his truck
earlier
, but this time, he sought her out.

“I
put in a new lock and
bypassed the upstairs and basement pipes and made it so you can have water in the kitchen and downstairs bathroom.
Wil
l that
work? You won’t be able to use the laundry facilities or the outside faucet, though.”

“That will be great, Harry. I hope to only be here for a few more days.”

“Okay. I’ll be going then.”

“Thanks again.”

A few minutes later, her cell phone rang again. This time it was Lani
Mellon
, her roommate at her Chicago apartment.

“Guess what?”
Lani
said,
the excitement in
her voice dancing over the airwaves.

“What?” Jan returned
, trying to imagine the cause of her friend’s sudden happiness.
She could just see the tall, willowy blonde girl dancing around their apartment, her cell phone glued to her ear as usual.

“Billy Joe got that teaching job in China! And they’ll hire me as well, though my job is only part time at first. Can you believe it? We leave in just four weeks!”

“What?” Jan’s heart plummeted.
Yikes. Evidently good news for Lani spelled bad news for herself. She was losing her roommate and best friend.
“But…but I thought you were going to renew your contract here?”

“I changed my mind. Billy Joe proposed!”

“Oh. Well, that’s great, Lani. I…
c
ongratulations! So you’re getting married, too?”

“Yes.
In three weeks.
Mom’s doing it all, can you believe it? She screamed that it wasn’t enough time, but when I told her
then
we’d just get married at a justice of the peace, she threw a fit and said, fine, she’d get it done somehow.
So we’re having just a small
garden wedding at Mom and Dad’s house. Every other place is booked up months in advance, you know.
”

“Oh, my goodness. I mean,
I’ll really miss you! And
what about our apartment?”

“
I’ll
miss you, too. I’ll
just store my stuff in the folk’s garage so I don’t have to pay for a storage unit
until we get back to the states
.
I’m sorry about that, Jan. About leaving you without a roomie, I mean. But you know what a great opportunity this is…I really have to go. Maybe someone new at school will need a place, you know?
I’ll pass the word around with the gals I know there.
”

Jan’s stomach tightened. She hated getting acquainted with a new roommate’s quirks and habits. It usually took her months to become comfortable with them. But Lani had been a good friend for years. She couldn’t spoil her happiness with her own worries. “Sure, Lani, don’t worry about it. Someone will need a roomie.”

“You’re a sweetheart. Oh, someone’s at
my
door.
Probably Billy Joe.
Gotta run.”

Jan pocketed her phone and sank into the nearest chair. Yikes. Her budget was always tight, now it was in big trouble. Without Lani paying half the rent and utilities for the apartment, how would she manage? Heat, electricity and phone would likely remain nearly the same.

Where could she cut back? This trip was taking most of her savings. She glanced around. Harry had
the water working to the kitchen and downstairs bathroom, he’d said. She could check out of the motel and stay here. That would save some money at least. She could use the laundromat in town for what little she needed to wash. Yes, that would work.

She went to the bedroom, gathered up sheets, a blanket and towels. Then went back to the kitchen and took dishcloths and towels, then loaded them all into her car
. Back in
town
, she found the laundromat,
put them in the washer and
went back to
check out of the motel. Then back to the laundromat to move he
r laundry
to the dryers.

When her cell phone rang, she was surprised to see Kyle’s name. “Hi,” she said.

“Hi yourself. I came to pick you up for dinner and the motel’s attendant says you checked out.”

“Oh. Yes, I did. I’m going to stay at the house.”

“Okay. Wish I’d known that. I just came from the farm. I’ll come back out and get you there, then.”

Jan glanced at her watch, amazed to see it was almost six-thirty. Yikes, she should have changed before going to dinner. Cleaning up a bit at the rest room here would have to do. “No, Kyle, actually, I’m in town at the laundromat, just finishing up some wash. How about I meet you at the restaurant in fifteen minutes?”

“Fine. I’ll go ahead and get us a table. See you then.”

It took twenty minutes
before she arrived
,
and
the restaurant was again crowded. After scanning the many faces,
she found him at a back table
and hurried to join him
.
A pot of coffee and two cups sat in front of him.

“Sorry to be kind of a mess,” she
apologized. “I decided to move on the spur of the moment and lost track of the time.”

He frowned at her and lifted the pot and a cup. “Want some coffee? You were doing laundry?”

She nodded to the coffee. “Well, yes. The sheets, towels and dishcloths were pretty dusty. Besides, there were mouse droppings in the kitchen drawers and I couldn’t see washing and drying dishes with those…”

He grinned and held up a hand. “I get the picture. But what made you decide to stay at the house? I thought you were going to stay at the hotel so as to get done out there as soon as possible.”

She grimaced. “The best laid plans…and all that. My roommate in Chicago called and dropped a bombshell on my budget.”

“Oh?”

Jan explained the new situation.
“I really like my apartment and it’s close to the school where I teach. But it’ll take me a while to find another roommate, so money will be tight through the summer, at least. So saving the cost of the motel by staying in Esther’s house is important right now. Do you mind?”

The waitress interrupted to take their orders
.
They b
oth ordered the special, walleyed pike dinners
and
s
he
retreated to the kitchen.

Jan eyed Kyle, who sipped his coffee. “You don’t mind my staying there, do you? I mean, I guess it is your house now, so I should have asked. I didn’t think…”

He raised an eyebrow and shook his head. “No, I don’t mind if you stay in the house while you’re sorting stuff. It’s just that I was hoping you would be done in just a few days, but if you’re spending time doing cleaning and laundry and cooking…”

“Only what I have to, to make it livable,” Jan protested. “Harry said he’d fixed the water problem so I could use the kitchen and downstairs bathroom, but not the rest of the house. And the refrigerator is beyond salvaging, so I’ll continue to use my ice chest for
food and drinks. Or eat out.”

“
But you were doing laundry. You didn’t bring enough clothes for a week?”

“Of course I did. Though I misjudged the work clothes I’d need, so bought more at the farm store. But I didn’t plan on need
ing
clean towels and sheets and dishcloths, you know?
”

“I understand.”

The waitress brought their salads and rolls. Jan buttered one and bit into it. “Oh. Delicious. I’m starved.”

“Me too,” Kyle said
, helping himself to a roll as well
. “I missed lunch. The guy who’s taking down the barn was having problems with his help. Seems like one thing after another is going wrong lately.”

Jan raised an eyebrow. “Unusual problems?”

“More like sabotage, I suspect,” Kyle said. “Somebody doesn’t want me to build this project, so they buy off the help or cause trouble in one way or another.”

“That’s awful.”

“Yeah. Welcome to the world of business. Cut-throat tactics aren’t that unusual.”

Jan shuddered. “In that case, I’m glad I’m only in education. Though, come to think of it, some dads get pretty nasty over their son’s little league positions, too.”

Kyle laughed. Their waitress brought their walleye dinners and they dug in. “Oh, this smells great,” he said as he forked up some of the flaky white fish.

“
S
ure does. Tastes delicious, too
,” Jan agreed, savoring a bite.
“Have you lived here long, Kyle?”