Hard Hat Man by Edna Curry Page A

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