A Love for all Ages (Crockett County Trilogy Book 1) (6 page)

Chase joins her by the car, together they stand looking up at
the house as he begins telling her a little about the history of Della’s
farm.
It is a working farm of 300 acres, mostly tobacco, corn and
added more recently soy.
The land is leased with the contracts
being redone every five years.
The house was built in the early
1700’s, the barns and outbuilding around the same time.
The
inside of the house has been remodeled over the years; usually
done by the next generation to claim ownership.
He explains the
house is sturdy and has stood tall and proud through all types of
weather.

Fascinated by the history Stephanie stands quietly listening,
when Chase stops speaking she turns to look at him; he is staring at
a window upstairs.
“What’s wrong?” concern in her voice.

“Stay here, the curtain at the attic window moved.”
As
Chase begins walking towards the house he pulls the key to the
front door from his jeans pocket.
Looking at Stephanie over his
shoulder he tells her, “May not be anything but I want to check this
out; you stay out here if you hear anything, you get in my car and
drive to town.”
Giving her a stern look, Chase turns climbing the
steps leading to the porch; stopping to unlock the door he pushes it
open moving inside, walking directly to the stairs.

The man standing at the tree line at the far end of the
property; raises his field glasses focusing on the woman standing by
the car.
He mutters under his breath, he’s sure this is the woman
who inherited the property; he thought he had killed her.
Now she
has showed up and ruined his plans to search for the information.
Since the Sheriff is with her he can’t approach her.
He will have to
find a way to get inside the house.
Bringing the field glasses down
to his side he turns and walks slowly back to his car, after a few
minutes of walking over the uneven ground he wishes he had
parked closer.

Outside waiting Stephanie keeps an eye on the window
Chase had seen the curtain move, not daring to blink she tries to
hear Chase inside the house; trying to track him with his steps.
Unable to hear anything she decides to walk up on the porch; she
could help if he needed her.
Even with only one good hand she
can still throw things or run for help.

Jumping at the sound of Chase calling the all clear signal
Stephanie lets out the breath she was holding.
Watching Chase
walk down the steps she notices he is smiling therefore, she smiles
too.
“You won’t believe what has moved in upstairs.”
At that
moment she spots something small in his hands; Chase has them
cupped around a ball of black fur.

Meeting Chase at the bottom step Stephanie peeks at the fur
ball, seeing black eyes staring back at her, she laughs and takes the
kitten from Chase’s hands.
Hugging the kitten close to her chest
Stephanie begins rubbing its back. The kitten is shaking,
understanding the kitten is nervous Stephanie begins humming
softly hoping the lullaby will soothe it.

With the kitten still laying on her chest she turns viewing the
foyer for the first time, looking at Chase her eyes sparkle delight.
The staircase is wide made of the same mahogany as the banister;
looking up she sees the steps go to the third floor.
Shifting to
stand beside her Chase asks if Stephanie wants a tour of her new
home.
Not waiting for her to answer Chase motions for her to
follow him.

Off the foyer and to the left is the living room the walls are
done in a rich gold color.
The focus point of the room is the
fireplace; it dominates the room, built into the back wall it is in the
middle of two floors to ceiling windows.
The fireplace and hearth
is made from creek rocks and the solid oak mantle is beautifully
designed to accents the rustic look.

Glancing quickly around the room Stephanie sees the same
set of windows to her left; understanding the builder had
intentionally designed this room to be filled with sunlight most of
the day.
The furnishings are traditional, the sofa and matching
loveseat are covered in a deep rosy red plush fabric; the overstuffed
pillows look comfortable.
The four side tables scattered around
the room are overflowing with stacks of magazines and old
newspapers.

To the right is an archway opening leading to the dining
room; the table in here takes up most of the space with seating for
twelve.
The table with the rich medium brown finish beautifully
covers an exquisite cherry veneer; with matching chairs, the chair
cushions have a rich striped chenille fabric cover.
Turning to leave
the room Stephanie doubts she will be using the dining room much,
if ever.

Continuing to the kitchen, Chase tells her it is modernized it
has the latest in appliances.
Following him all the way in the room
she views the oak cabinets, the island in the middle of the floor and
the small kitchen table; oak with a marble top, the same as the
counters for the sink and island.
This room will be ideal for
cooking, having always loved to cook; she can’t wait to try her skills
in this spacious area. Completing the tour of the kitchen she quickly
glances in the mudroom by the back door, functional and spotless.

Back in the foyer, he shows her the half bathroom under the
stairs, they both smile, not sure if he knows about the little boy
whose room was under the stairs at his relatives house Stephanie
remains quite.
However she does check to see if a pair of broke
eye glasses are lying anywhere inside.

Once they are upstairs, Stephanie sees Chase check his
watch, not wanting to detain him any longer she did the fast tour;
master bedroom, two spare bedrooms, full bath, and huge closet.
Later she will explore but at this time, the glance inside each room
will have to be enough.
Telling him the attic was not necessary,
they descend the steps side by side.

Having finished the tour Chase announces he must go check
in at work, placing his hand under her chin he raises it just enough
to lean down kissing her lightly on her full lips.
Lifting his head he
smiles then turns striding out the door.
Moving to the door,
Stephanie looks out in time to see Chase’s car tail lights
disappearing down her driveway.
Dropping her hand to the door
knob, she turns the lock.
The feeling of loneliness embraces her
body; turning around she almost steps on the kitten, stooping she
picks it up and decides they both need a drink.

During the tour of the kitchen Chase had confessed he had
purchased a few groceries for her, he had known she would be
without a vehicle until tomorrow when they pick up her rental.
His
Mother had brought the food this morning when she retrieved
Stephanie’s purse.
The feeling of loneliness was replaced with
gratitude to the Peterson clan.
Looking in the refrigerator she
finds a gallon of milk, getting a bowl down from the cabinet she fills
it then places it and kitten on the floor.
Moving back to the
refrigerator she grabs a bottle of water; she twists the top off while
using her foot to close the refrigerator door.
Not really hungry she
decides to wait to check the rest of the food supply.

Deciding to unpack a few things while she thinks about the
best place to put a mini office, she looks down to check on the
kitten, seeing it curled up on the floor sleeping she smiles as she
walks out of the kitchen.
She heads to the stairs; thoughtfully
Chase had put her suitcases in the master bedroom.
At the top of
the stairs to the second floor, she has a feeling to continue to the
third floor.
Shaking her head to clear it, she strolls to the end of
hallway stopping at the door leading to the master suite. Looking
over her shoulder at the stairs, the feeling to go to the attic is there
in the back of her mind.
Shrugging her shoulders, Stephanie turns
the knob opening the door she walks into the bedroom of her
dream.

Not wanting to keep Chase from work she hadn’t really
looked at any of the rooms on the second floor, more glanced in
then looked.
She now takes the time to just stand and look or to
investigate; standing just inside the door her eyes are drawn to the
queen size bed.
mahogany wood.
Stephanie has ever seen; the design on the headboard for the bed is
hand craved cherubs surrounded by roses.
The same design in
smaller versions on each of the other pieces; the dresser, the
bureau and both side tables.
Moving to the bed she runs her hand
along the smooth finish, the texture of the wood under her hand is
warm to her touch.

The room is both inviting and relaxing; the walls are painted
a deep burnt orange with the trim around the doors a rich brown.
The only item other than the bedroom furniture is a clock on the
side table to the left of the bed.
The clock looks old, Stephanie
notices by the time showing it doesn’t work.
Deciding the clock is
used now for decoration use only Stephanie walks over and picks it
up, careful not to drop it.
Holding the clock in her right hand
Stephanie inspects the details; the ebony case with brass mounts,
and the engraved silver dial is beautiful.
Not knowing anything
about antiques she didn’t know how old or who made it.
But she
does know what she likes and she admits she loves this piece from
the past.
Placing the clock gently back on the table she notices the
bed has been stripped of all bed linens. Shaking her head at her
missing the importance of bed linens, she begins searching the room
for the missing items.
After completing the search she rocks back
on her heels admitting defeat.

Knowing for sure this will be her room she lifts the biggest of
her suitcases placing it on the mattress.
Resolving to at least get
some unpacking done she opens the case and sort through her
clothes; the ones needing to be hung up, in one pile, her personal
items in another.
Not having many clothes it didn’t take long for
her to unpack and arrange the items in the dresser and closet.

As Stephanie carries the small overnight case to the
bathroom she sees the case from the hospital sitting on the floor in
front of the vanity.
Realizing Chase must have brought it when he
came in to check the house.
Walking to stand in the middle of the
The bedroom suit is all Victorian made from rich

The craftsmanship is superior to anything
bathroom she turns a circle to view the whole room.
This
bathroom is bigger than her kitchen at her old apartment.
A
double sink with matching mirrors are lengthways one wall, the
corner shelves sit snug against the mirrors, with another set of
shelves in the middle dividing the mirrors.

The vanity cabinet and shelves are painted a paler burnt
orange then the bedroom.
Stephanie leans against the edge of the
vanity smiling as she stares at the antique claw bathtub.
Deeming
this house perfect she turns back to her overnight case and unpacks
her beauty products.
Deciding to wait on the one from the
hospital, since it was only the bags to keep her cast dry and the tape
to bind her ribs she leaves the bathroom.
Having completed her
tasks she stores the empty cases in the back of her closet. Turning
from the closet she spots the last items to unpack; her computer
and other supplies needed for her work.
Grabbing the handle she
rolls it behind her out the room and down the hall.

Stopping at the top of the stairs she glances again at the
steps leading to the attic.
Maybe she will have a chance to go up
and look around later, but right now she needs to go check on the
kitten then unpack her computer.
As she walks down the steps
carrying her case with her right hand she tries to figure out a name
for the kitten; not wanting to keep calling it the ‘kitten’, she will talk
to Chase to get his input.
After all he did find her uninvited house
guest.

Down stairs she heads straight to the kitchen, glancing at the
floor where she had placed the bowl of milk, she sees the kitten is
still sleeping.
Smiling Stephanie walks to the kitchen table setting
her case on a chair she begins to unzip it; she jumps upon hearing
the ringing of the phone.
She turns towards the sound; during the
tour Chase had showed her the location of the phone.
Shaking her
head at her foolishness; Stephanie moves to the counter and picks
up the receiver, not having had a home phone for years, she is
relieved this one is at least a cordless.

After the first hello, Stephanie listens as Chase inquires
about her day, her health and what she has been doing since he left.
She patiently answers each of his questions then informs him he
needs to help pick a name for their kitten.
After all, he had found
the kitten therefore he was its parent same as her.
Hearing him
laugh through the phone she recognizes she is in trouble; he is
becoming too important to her, she misses him when he isn’t
around and feels better when he is near.
He ends the call with him
giving her his cell phone number, explaining if she needs him to call
anytime day or night. Saying goodbye she clicks the end call button
on the phone.

Self-diagnosing she concludes she has brain damages that is
the only explanation she can figure; she is a loner, she knows
allowing people to get too close is a mistake.
Then to further
verify her brain damage she realizes the past several days she hadn’t
thought about her own cell phone; she wasn’t sure where it was.

On her way back to the kitchen table she sees the kitten
stretching by the empty bowl, bending to pick up the kitten, she
straightens as a wave of dizziness seizes her.
Standing in the
middle of her kitchen, holding a kitten she closes her eyes, hoping
when she opens them the dizzy feeling will be gone.
Counting to
ten Stephanie opens one eye then the other; no dancing spots, relief
sets in as she walks slowly to the table and sits down.
Laying the
kitten in her lap she rubs her eyes.
Remembering Doctor Coup
telling her she would have headaches she reasons maybe the
dizziness was due to a headache getting ready to make an
appearance.