Hard Hat Man (21 page)

“Hello
,” Kyle said
.
“
We just got here.”

“I
saw you drive in and thought I’d drop over to see if I could help.”

“Looks like I’ll have to replace these patio doors. I’ll board them up for now. Did you see anyone suspicious over here today?”

Sylvia shook her head. “No, but I’ve been gone all day. Just stopped over a while ago on my way home and saw the damage as I looked through the window. So I called you.”

“Thanks, Sylvia. I’ll take care of it.”

“Shouldn’t you report it to the sheriff?”

“Yeah, I’ll let him know. He’s busy on the murder case right now.”

“Oh, yes, I heard about the body you found. How awful.” She shuddered
and then eyed Jan
.
“And I hear it was a relative of yours, too, right?”

Jan nodded, leaving it at that.

Kyle said, “We won’t be sure until they finish their tests in a few weeks, but we think it’s Horace’s daughter, Nancy.”

“How dreadful.”

“I’ll just check out the rest of the house to make sure nothing else has been damaged
and find some plywood and tools to cover this patio door
.” He disappeared down the hall.

Slyvia eyed Jan, her brows dipping in a frown. “So how come you’re out here with Kyle?”

“We were on our way to a restaurant to get some dinner when you called, so we stopped on the way.”

“You’re dating him?” Her incredulous tone said that was unbelievable.

Jan smiled. “Don’t worry, Sylvia. I’ll go back to Chicago soon and you’ll have him all to yourself again.”

Sylvia flushed
. “I was against Kyle doing this project from the start. I warned him no good would come of associating himself with Horace’s property. He was one weird dude.”

Jan gasped at her rude reference. “Horace was eccentric all right, but I would hardly call him weird.”

Sylvia lifted a shoulder. “But you weren’t here to know him like the local people, were you?”

“Well, no, I live in Chicago. I hadn’t really seen Horace since Aunt Esther’s funeral.”

“Well, ask anyone around here. Horace and that group of men who call themselves a church are a pretty odd group. They go door to door preaching on a regular basis. People see them coming and lock their doors and pretend they’re not home.”

Jan laughed. “Well, we have people like that in other places, too. Mostly they’re sincere about what they believe, even if no one likes
having it shoved down their throats. But that doesn’t make them weird.”

“Think what you like. But don’t think you’re going to walk off with Kyle. He’s a local boy, through and through. That’s why he’s building this house. His roots are here. He isn’t likely to go off to Chicago and build skyscrapers.”

Jan flushed at the way Sylvia was clearly marking her territory. “I’m sure you’re right.”

Sylvia looked about to say more
, but Kyle came back
, so she
just snorted. “Humph.”

“
I don’t see any other damage
,” Kyle said
.
“
Thanks for letting me know about the damage here, Sylvia.”
His
voice clearly dismissed her.

Sylvia flushed
,
murmured, “You’re welcome,” and left. She gunned her car’s motor and spun her wheels as she backed out of the driveway and drove off.

“Sorry about her attitude,” Kyle said. “She can be clueless. Are you okay?”

Jan
drew a deep breath. “I’m fine.
”

“What did she say?”

Jan shrugged. “She claims to have warned you not to buy Horace’s farm for your project. Thinks it’s
jinxed because he was odd.”

Kyle nodded. “Yeah, she’s been talking like that ever since I started these plans. Not sure what her beef with progress is. She’s so proud of being a Chamber of Commerce member, so it really doesn’t make sense that she’s so against me building here.”

“Does she object to your house, too?”

“Oh, no, she likes that. Though I wish now I’d found another spot. Dad gave me this land, so I went ahead and used it, not realizing she’d be a pain living
close by
.”

“Oh? She’s a pain?” Jan smiled and sent him a coy look from under her lashes.
“
I thought maybe you’d built this house with her in mind.”

“What? No way,” Kyle said.

“Besides, she shouldn’t complain about Horace pushing religion door to door. She and that bunch of ladies she hangs out with are constantly having sales parties and pushing stuff like make-up,
clothes,
kitchen tools and dishes. My
secretary
is always complaining about being invited and trying to get out of going to them. They even have sex toy parties.”

Jan laughed and winked at him. “You object to sex toys?”

He reached for her and took her in his arms, his lips claiming hers. After another probing kiss, he answered, “Hell, no
, I don’t object
. I like them as well as the next guy. But I don’t want to buy them in public, at a party.”

“That does sound a little embarrassing and odd
,
”
she agreed and ruffled his hair. “I like my sex private as well.”

He released her.
“Let me secure this door with plywood and then I’ll show you around.
But remember, there’s still a lot of work to be done here.
”

“Okay.”
She swept up the glass while he
cut the
plywood
to size
and covered the door. By now, it was getting dark, so he turned on lights as they walked around, showing her what he’d planned for each room. In a couple of the rooms he’d already put up the drywall
. I
n others, only insulation covered the walls.

He showed her the plans he’d laid out on the kitchen counter. “I want to put a fireplace along this wall, and bookcases on either side of it. Then a bay window
on
this
wall
with a place to sit and read, overlooking the garden here.”

“
I love gardens. Someday I’m going to have one myself.
”

“You can’t have one in Chicago?”

She shook her head. “Well, I have a couple of pots on my patio. Other than that, everything is maintained by the managers for the apartment building. Nobody gets any garden space. I’d just like a bit of dirt to call my own, you know, to plant a few flowers, maybe a raise a few fresh tomatoes. Yours sounds like it will be lovely, Kyle.”

“Yeah. If I ever get the time and money to finish it. Right now, that seems far off.”

“So where are you living now? When you’re not staying with me, I mean.”

“The back bedroom suite is done
,
so I have a bed and bath there and I use this kitchen
.
M
y office is in Blaine, so I work out of that most of the time.”

“I see.” So, mostly, he did live
close
to the willowy blonde. No wonder she acted as if she owned him and his house. In spite of his denial, Jan’s gut tightened with jealousy. And she had no right to feel that way. She’d be leaving soon and Sylvia would be handy.
A brief love affair with him didn’t change those facts.

“I’ll just grab some changes of clothes, then we’ll go get some dinner. It’s getting late.”

***

Hours later, they cuddled in her bed, making slow love and enjoying each other’s bodies.

Afterward, Kyle fell asleep, but Jan lay in bed, wide awake and thinking. What had really happened on this farm fifteen years ago? Who had killed Nancy? Had she suffered? Been afraid? Known she was about to die?

A rhythmic noise from upstairs captured her attention. Jan sat up, looking over at Kyle. Dare she wake him? He looked so peaceful lying there. A light snore came from his lips. She knew he was exhausted after all yesterday’s excitement. He needed his sleep.

The noise continued. She sighed. Nancy’s room was directly overhead. It was probably Aunt Esther’s ghost, making the noise rocking again. She should ignore her and go back to sleep. What good would it do to go see her crying? She never said anything, just cried and disappeared again.

And why was she the only one who could see her, anyway? If Aunt Esther wanted to tell her something, why not just tell her and be done w
i
th it?
Why just sit there and cry? That didn’t tell Jan anything.

The rocking continued.

With a sigh, Jan got up, threw on her robe and made her way upstairs. She was not afraid of her own timid, loving aunt. As far as she knew, Esther had never hurt anyone intentionally. She wouldn’t start now.

Switching on lights as she went, Jan hurried up to Nancy’s room. The door stood partly open. She could still hear the rocking noise.

Pushing the door open, she stepped inside. Once again, Esther sat in the chair rocking as she had the first day Jan had seen her.

Jan suppressed a nervous shiver. Perhaps if she tried talking to her? Could ghosts talk? “Aunt Esther? It’s Jan, your niece, remember me?”

And this time, Esther looked straight at her. “Yes, dear, I know who you are.
Laura
’s daughter.”

“You can talk?”

‘Yes.”

“Why are you crying?”

“Nancy’s dead.”

Jan nodded. “Yes, I know. I’m so sorry, Aunt Esther. We found her remains under the silo.”

“That’s where they buried her? How awful. She needs a proper burial.”

“Mom and I will see to that. Don’t worry.”

“There’s an extra plot I bought for her. Beside my body in the family plot. Not beside Horace. On the other side.”

“Okay.” Jan nodded, hoping she could find that information. Maybe Louise could help her with that.

“And a stone marker. I wrote down the date in our
Bible
.”

“Yes, I saw that. You moved the
Bible
from the box I’d packed it in, didn’t you?”

Esther nodded. “Yes. I needed to make sure you found it. I didn’t know then that they would find her body. How did that happen?”

“Kyle bought the farm. He’s building some apartments
and a swimming pool
where the barn and silo were, so they were removing them.”