Hard Hat Man Read online

  “I’ll open a couple windows on the south side of the house. The wind is from that direction, so it should bring in fresh air and blow the smoke away from the house,” he said.

  Jan carried the linens to the bedroom and began making up the bed. “I don’t get the arsonist’s reasoning,” she said over her shoulder as she spread out the bottom sheet.

  Kyle grabbed the opposite corner and tucked it in on his side of the bed. “What do you mean?”

  “What does he gain by burning the barn? You were tearing it down anyway.”

  “True. But now he’s got the state fire marshall and the county sheriff involved in my business. I think he’s hoping all their investigations and red tape will slow down my project enough to stop me from succeeding. I have a time limit on my contract.”

  “Oh. That’s why you are in a hurry about getting the house cleaned out.” She tossed him a pillowcase.

  He stuffed the pillow inside it. “Yes. And somebody probably knows I’m hocked to the gills and will go under if I can’t pull this project off.”

  Jan paused, a worried frown creasing her brow. “Oh, dear! I’m sorry to hear that. If…if you don’t make it, what happens to the sale of the farm?”

  Kyle’s lips twisted in a wry grin. “Don’t worry. The bank already paid your mom. I’m just in hock to the bank for it.”

  She blushed, embarrassed. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to sound unsympathetic.”

  “That’s okay,” Kyle said. “I’ll survive. Even if I have to start over from scratch.”

  She nodded and finished tucking in the blanket.

  He hesitated, then said, “Jan, I don’t think you should stay here tonight. Why don’t you go back to the motel? If money’s a problem, I’ll pay for the room.” He swallowed, reminding himself that money was a problem for him as well.

  “No,” Jan said. “I’m not going to be intimidated by that guy. He’s not going to drive me out of Aunt Esther’s house.”

  “But…what if he comes back? Starts a fire here at the house?”

  “I’m not leaving,” Jan said, her back straight and a stubborn frown on her face.

  “Then will you let me sleep on the couch? If there’s two of us, we’ll have a better chance of hearing an intruder or of fighting off any trouble.”

  “Well…” Jan thought a moment. She mentally weighed the problem of a man staying under the same roof with her fear of an intruder. The smell of smoke from the torched barn still burned in her nostrils. Through the kitchen window she could see the flashing lights of the firemen still on duty dousing the flames. Between the two, her stomach churned with worry. Common sense won. “I guess that would be okay.”

  “Thanks. That makes me feel a lot better.”

  And makes me wonder if I’ve lost my mind. I want to invite him to join me in my bed instead of letting him sleep on the couch. She swallowed hard. Before she could change her mind, she said, “I’ll get you a blanket and pillow.”

  Chapter 5

  Jan disappeared down the hall, her face wreathed in a smile and her eyes glittering. Kyle grinned. Good to know that his attraction for her was returned.

  But the way she’d fled and their opposite lifestyles spoke volumes against that attraction. He gave a heavy sigh and moved to the window. Enough flames remained to light up the scene and cast the firemen moving about in silhouette. As instructed, they were merely keeping the fire from spreading. A light breeze still picked up embers and carried them like fireflies into the night. Any one of them could easily spread the fire to another building or the dry grass or trees in the farmyard.

  His temporary office and several new houses were already under construction at the other end of the complex. Thankfully, the arsonist hadn’t chosen that area. What was the point of the arson? What message did the person intend to send me by burning the barn that I was already having dismantled? Was it only to warn me of the possibility of other fires to come?

  Jan spoke behind him. “Here’s a sheet, blanket and pillow.”

  Kyle turned and took the items from her. Her face was still flushed, her brown hair reflected the red of the fire truck’s flashing lights and the light freckles standing out across her nose. God, she’s cute. Dare I kiss her? “Thanks.”

  “Shall I make up the sofa for you?”

  “No, thanks, I can do it.”

  She turned away before he could decide whether he dared try for the kiss. He sighed and called after her, “Goodnight.”

  “Sleep tight,” she replied, a smile in her voice.

  ***

  Jan lay in her bed for a long time, unable to fall asleep. Occasionally, she heard voices out by the barn. Peeking out the window, she saw firemen still at work, making sure the fire remained contained to the remains of the barn.

  Once, she was sure she heard Aunt Esther weeping, but when she turned on the light, nothing was there. I’m sure not going back upstairs to see if she’s in the rocking chair in Nancy’s room. Pulling her pillow over her head, she lay still and at last fell asleep.

  When she awoke the next morning, Kyle was already gone, his bedding neatly folded on the end of the sofa. Darn, I planned to at least send him off with coffee and some of the sweet rolls I bought for breakfast.

  She stepped into the kitchen. He’d found the rolls she’d put on the counter the night before. The delicious scent of coffee floated on the air. Kyle had evidently made it for her instead. How sweet of him.

  She grinned, poured a cup and sipped the hot, fragrant brew. She gazed out the kitchen window as she ate one of the rolls. The fire trucks had all left. Kyle stood talking to another man near the black piles of ash where the barn had been.

  She went outside to see what was left. The morning was bright and sunny, but the air still carried the smell of smoke. The stench of smoky ashes grew stronger as she neared the site.

  “Not much left, is there?” she commented, coming up behind Kyle. She stared at the blackened piles of wet ash. Twisted metal pipes lay about, where stanchions for Horace’s herd of milk cows had once stood. Thank goodness the animals had all been sold months ago, so no lives had been lost in the fire. A large water tank stood off to one side, partially buried under a collapsed barn wall. Jan shivered at the sight.

  “No, there’s not,” Kyle agreed, turning to greet her.

  “Thanks for making coffee. I meant to be up early enough to do that.”

  The other man eyed her, a disgruntled look on his face. He wore farmers’ blue and white striped denim overalls and a blue chambray work shirt similar to what she remembered her Uncle Horace had always worn. On looking closer, she recognized him as Alex Porter, the man they’d met at the restaurant the day before.

  Kyle said, “You remember Alex.”

  Jan nodded. “Hello, Mr. Porter.”

  “I live right over there,” the man said, pointing across the field to a white farmhouse at least a half mile away. “So you can see why I don’t want no big apartment building and a bunch of businesses close by me.”

  “Oh? Why not? Surely you’re too far away for the traffic to bother you.”

  Alex snorted and ran a beefy hand through his graying hair. “Trust a city gal to not see the problem.” He turned to Kyle and snapped, “Don’t forget what I said. I’ll stop you one way or another.”

  Kyle raised an eyebrow and pointed to the pile of ash in front of them. “Was this your way of doing that?”

  Alex flushed angrily but didn’t reply. He stomped off to an older blue pickup parked off to the side of the driveway. Climbing in, he roared away, dust from the graveled drive circling in a cloud behind him.

  Jan gazed after him, worry forming a knot in her throat. She turned back to Kyle. “Do you think he started the fire?”

  Kyle nodded. “I wouldn’t put it past him.”

  “That’s awful. I mean, opposing a project is one thing, but arson is a crime.”

  “Sure it is, but I can’t prove he did it. Just as I can’t prove he’s behind any of the
other problems I’ve been having.”

  Jan shivered. “This is getting dangerous, Kyle.” She turned at the sound of loud motors coming closer. A truck and tractor with a front-loader were heading their way. Obviously, his men were about to start cleaning up the mess.

  “Don’t worry about it. I’ll handle it,” Kyle reassured her, raising his voice to be heard. “You’d better go back inside. It’s chilly this morning and you aren’t wearing a jacket.”

  “I suppose. I just wanted to see the damage for myself.” Jan sent a last glance at the muddy, blackened debris and hurried back down the path to the house.

  ***

  Throughout the day, Jan found herself glancing out the windows to the men loading the debris from the burned barn onto trucks. She made do with a frozen entrée heated in the microwave for lunch. The piles of sorted belongings had grown. She’d resorted to putting everything she thought the historical society might want and the things for the thrift store in separate rooms. She filled a couple of boxes of things she wanted to keep: Aunt Esther’s recipe box filled with her favorite recipes, handwritten on cards. A couple of her cookbooks. A large notebook filled with recipes and newspaper clippings. She put them in her car. She’d go through them later to see what she wanted to save.

  She’d dreaded going to Nancy’s room upstairs, but thankfully, today the rocking chair sat unmoving. No ghost appeared. She chose a few keepsakes: Nancy’s diary, her favorite doll, a couple of Nancy Drew mystery books they’d read together that summer before Nancy had disappeared.

  Jan sank onto her bed and opened the diary. Her throat clogged with tears, she paged through it. Where are you, Nancy? Why didn’t you ever write to me after you left? I thought you loved me enough to keep in touch. You never even said goodbye.

  She read a few pages that Nancy had written that last summer. Nothing about leaving or even about a romance. How odd. And why hadn’t she taken her diary or most of her clothes? The things hanging in her closet were all things she remembered Nancy wearing that summer. I’ll probably never know the answer. With a sigh, she took the items she’d chosen downstairs, leaving the rest of the clothes, bedding and furniture for the thrift store. Perhaps some other girls would choose them and wear them again.

  By sundown, only blackened soil remained where the barn had been. The gray silo stood alone off to one side. It was made of cement staves, so hadn’t been touched by the fire, other than being covered in black soot.

  Kyle appeared at the house, very dirty and carrying a duffle bag. “Do you mind if I take a quick shower and change? Then I’ll take you into town for supper.”

  “Of course,” Jan said. “Though you don’t have to buy me supper. I have some frozen entrees here.”

  Kyle turned up his nose at that suggestion. “We’ve both worked too hard today to be satisfied with those. Humor me. I don’t like to eat alone.”

  He went down the hall to the bathroom and closed the door. A moment later, Jan heard the shower running.

  She swallowed, trying not to imagine him naked. She’d seen those muscular forearms and knew the rest of him would be just as toned. She closed her eyes, leaned back against the sofa and listened to the water running. Pictured it running over his naked shoulders, down his hairy chest and over his washboard abs. What would they feel like under her fingers?

  Shaking off the images, Jan opened her eyes, getting up to pace the living room. Suddenly she stopped and stared.

  Esther’s large family Bible lay open on the end-table. She reached out to touch it, wondering for a moment if she was really losing her mind. Hadn’t she packed the Bible in the box she planned to take back to Chicago?

  Yet here it was, open to the family records page. She ran her fingers over the names of family births, baptisms, weddings and deaths.

  Nancy’s record was filled in completely. Date of death, too!

  She stood there in shock. She hadn’t noticed the water had stopped running or heard the bathroom door opening. Then Kyle spoke behind her.

  “What’s so interesting?”

  Jan jumped, then turned, her hand to her mouth. Kyle had changed into clean slacks and a shirt. He looked handsome, very different from when he wore his jeans and hard hat. “Yikes, you surprised me. I didn’t hear the shower stop.”

  “Sorry.” Kyle leaned forward to see the page she’d been reading. “Something interesting here?”

  The clean scent of soap and man tickled her nostrils and made her want to touch him. She swallowed hard and resisted the urge. “Yes. I thought I packed this Bible in my car, but here it is. And look at this: Nancy is recorded as having died.”

  “Oh? Is the date the day she disappeared?”

  “I think so. I’d have to look it up to be sure.”

  “They say old Horace was a strange one. Maybe he decided she was dead to him and their family because she left him?”

  Jan swallowed. “Maybe. But look, here’s Esther’s record, too. Oh, my God!”

  “What?” Kyle asked. “Didn’t you say she died of a heart attack?”

  “Yes,” Jan whispered, her throat too dry to form the words out loud.

  “So what’s got you upset about that?”

  “The handwriting,” Jan whispered, swallowing hard. She cleared her throat and tried again. “It’s Aunt Esther’s handwriting! She recorded Nancy’s death and her own. How could she do that?”

  Chapter 6

  “Are you sure it’s your aunt’s handwriting?”

  Jan nodded. “I was just looking at one of her recipe notebooks. Her handwriting is very distinctive.”

  “Maybe she had a premonition?” Kyle asked, raising an eyebrow.

  “And decided to record her death as a fact? Or did she commit suicide?” Jan said. “And wanted to make sure her date of death was recorded in their family Bible?”

  Kyle lifted a shoulder and ran a hand through his still damp hair. “I thought you said she died of a heart attack. Wouldn’t a doctor have known if she committed suicide?”

  “Who knows? I doubt they did an autopsy. Don’t you think this is suspicious, though?”

  Kyle nodded. “Yeah. But at the moment, I’m starved. Let’s go into town and get some food.” He led her through the front door and locked the house behind them. They got into his car.

  “I hope we don’t run into as many people as we did last night.”

  “Yeah,” Kyle said, starting the motor. “On second thought, how about going to the next town instead? It’s only about ten minutes farther.”

  “Good idea.” Jan smiled and leaned back against the seat. “Look at that huge moon coming up in the east. It’s been years since I’ve noticed it rising.”

  Kyle nodded. “Yeah, it’s pretty. Guess your apartment doesn’t face east?”

  “No, it doesn’t. And even if it did, there are too many tall buildings blocking the horizon to see the moon rise when it’s breathtakingly huge. Same with sunsets.”

  He laughed. “Well, it’s nice to know there are some advantages to living out in the sticks.”

  She grinned back. “I miss those advantages. We lived in small towns when I was a kid. Then Mom got this chance for a part in pictures and off to the city we went.”

  They found a nice restaurant that was busy, but not overly crowded.

  When a waitress appeared, Jan said, “That roast beef smells delicious. I’ll have that.”

  “Me, too,” Kyle said. “And I know you serve fresh popovers here, so we’ll have those with it.”

  They went on talking as they waited for their dinners and then ate them.

  “So what have you been up to since the days when I pulled your pigtails?” Kyle asked.

  She told him about college, her current roommate and her teaching job in Chicago. He told her about working multiple construction jobs until he had enough experience to start his own small company.

  “My dad taught me a lot before he died a few years ago,” Kyle said. “I guess I got my love of building things from him.
So I just have to make a go of this project,” Kyle said with a grimace, forking up another chunk of beef. “If I don’t, it’ll be back to square one, starting over again.”

  “I hope it works out for you, then,” Jan said.

  “So what about your dad? What did he do?”

  Jan swallowed hard and sipped her coffee. “Dad was a teacher, too. He died the same summer we lost Nancy and Esther. That’s why we think of it as the summer of tragedy in our family.”

  “I’m sorry. What happened to him?”

  “A car accident on the way home from the airport. He was teaching English in Japan that summer to earn extra money.”

  “That must have been hard losing him when you were only, what, ten?”

  “Yes. After that, Mom decided she wanted to pursue the career she’d started before I was born. So she moved us to the city on Dad’s insurance money and went to acting school. She loves it and does pretty well at it.”

  “So then she remarried?”

  “Yes,” Jan said with a sigh. “Carl was one of the rich men who backed a couple of the shows she acted in. They hit it off and got married and moved to his winter place in Florida. But whenever she’s in a movie, they both live near wherever it’s set.”

  Kyle eyed her and sipped his water. “From your tone of voice, I’m guessing you’re not exactly fond of Carl.”

  Jan made a face. “Definitely not. And the feeling’s mutual. But Mom thinks he’s great and she’s the one who has to live with him, so…whatever.”

  He laughed. “There’s no accounting for taste, eh?”

  “Right. But to be fair, Mom paid for my college from money she earned in her acting career, so she deserves some happiness for herself. And because Carl is rich, Mom insists I shouldn’t pay her back. So I should be grateful to him.”

  “But you’re really not,” he guessed, a twinkle brightening his eyes.

  “No,” she agreed. “I try to keep a healthy distance between us, like the Atlantic Ocean separating us right now.”

  “That is a good distance.”

  “So what happens now with your project?”