my
eye on the pile so I can bring more when you need it.”
“ Thank you, that would be helpful,” Elizabeth
admitted, heading for the steps again.
“ You and your husband have a pleasant stay,”
Bud called.
Elizabeth stopped on the middle step. “What makes you
think I have a husband?”
Bud nodded toward the window. “I saw him when I drove
in.”
“ Oh, he's not my husband,” Elizabeth said. She
regretted how quickly she blurted out that truthful information
when she saw the farmer's surprised face.
“ I see,” Bud said cryptically.
“ He's just a friend that wanted some time away
from the city,” she explained quickly. “Good-bye.” As she hurried
inside, she wished she hadn't tried to explain at all. The pickup
motor started. She breathed a sigh of relief when she couldn't hear
the rumble any longer. The farmer was gone.
“ That went well,” Hover criticized as he looked
out the window. “I see the rubble is still there.”
“ Don't pick on me. I'm not in the mood for it.
That was just a farmer leaving us wood to put in the fireplace to
keep this place warm. Seems my father gave him instructions to do
that if anyone showed up in the winter. So he had a right to be
here.”
“ I see. My mistake.” Hover looked out the
window again. “How did the farmer know so fast that someone is
staying here and needs wood to burn?”
“ Oh, dear,” Elizabeth cried. “I don't know. I
didn't ask him.”
“ Who is going to pay for the wood?”
“ My father, of course.”
“ Will your father think it strange that there
is a need to be billed for wood when he knows no one has asked him
if they can spend the winter in this house?”
“ Oh my, Hover. You're right. What am I going to
do?”
“ May I make a suggestion?”
Elizabeth sighed. “When have I ever been able to stop
you?”
“ I think the total sum is never. You should
find out this man's phone number. Call and ask him to bill you for
the wood.”
“ Good idea,” she praised.
“ Of course, it was,” boasted Hover.
Elizabeth looked out the window again, thinking about
the situation. “You know what? I won't have to go to the trouble to
hunt him up. The man says he goes down that trail every morning to
check his cows in the timber. I can stop him to talk to him. That
is if he will even want to stop when he sees me after the
unfriendly way I treated him.”
“ Maybe you should send your husband or
boyfriend out to stand in the middle of that trail so he has to
stop,” Hover snipped.
“ Why am I not surprised you were
listening?”
“ Hard to miss what was said through these thin
walls. In 1910, the only insulation in the walls was oat hulls. The
mice moved in and ate the insulation long ago in this
house.
Besides that, I have excellent hearing and hear even
better yet when you are yelling. You have a sharp pitch to your
voice when you yell,” Hover criticized as he left the room.
Right after the Maidrite Diner opened the next
morning, Bud Carter walked in. He was Susie's first customer.
“Morning, Sis.”
Susie stopped wiping the counter surface and dropped
the cloth out of sight in a pan of water under the counter. She
dried her hands on her apron. “Morning, Bud. What are you doing in
town so early?”
“ I needed to gas up the pickup. Figured I might
as well come in for breakfast.”
“ Breakfast coming right up.” Susie said and
headed for the kitchen. She looked over the divider as she cooked.
“Hey, did you happen to meet the visitor at Mr. Winston's house
yesterday?”
Bud snorted. “Yip. She sure is a sassy thing. She
gave me a chewing out.”
“ What did you do?” Susie asked
accusingly.
“ I didn't do anything I wasn't supposed to do.
After you called, I went right over with a load of wood. She
thought I was dumping rubbish in the yard. That's a city woman for
you. Where do you suppose she's from?”
“ I asked. She told me Northern Minnesota. Did
you get a look at the man that's with
Madeleine St John
Kate Wrath
Natalie Haynes
Alex Walters
Richard Woodman
Elizabeth Hand
Laura Wilson
Steven Naifeh
Diana Cosby
Kitty Burns Florey