Christmas With Hover Hill (7 page)

Hover surmised, “This is a twentieth century country
house built in circa 1910. What did you expect it to look like? It
does have a gas cookstove to cook meals on and running water to do
dishes.”

“
Well, aren't you Mr. Look On The Bright Side.”
Elizabeth looked concerned again. “Oh, I hope Dad at least
remodeled enough that I don't have to go outside to use the
outhouse anymore.” She rushed from the room.

Hover droned behind her, “What is an outhouse?”

She called back from the hallway off the living room.
“For us humans that have active bladders and intestines, an
outhouse is an unheated building outside of the house that's most
unpleasant to use especially in the winter time.”

“
Oh,” Hover said. He peered down the hall as
Elizabeth disappeared into a room. She came right back, leaned
against the wall and patted her chest. “Thank goodness. Dad did
have a bathroom put in.”

“
You worried for nothing.”

“
He sure didn't hurt his bank account. I've
seen prettier bathrooms. Come look for yourself. Dad left in place
the old, humongous bathtub with claw feet. All he did was have a
stool put in. The lighting, such as it is, hangs from an old cord
attached to the ceiling. That has to have been there since the
thirties or forties when electricity first came through
here.”

“
I would say be thankful you have a stool,”
Hover returned.

“
I am. Believe me, really I am since nothing
else has changed in this house. Still the same boxy rooms with
dark, carved woodwork and high ceilings.” She walked around the
living room and held her hand in front of a window. “Old drafty
windows. We need to get the fire going while I still have my coat
on.” She stopped to look at the fireplace, a mosaic of rocks with a
walnut mantle. “Logs are probably kept out back. I've never started
a fire before.”

“
I saw an LP tank off to the side of the house.
There may be a furnace installed as well as the cookstove,” Hover
Hill suggested.

Elizabeth searched the living room walls and walked
back down the hallway. “Good for you, Hover. Here's the
thermostat.” She tweaked it and heard the furnace ignite. “We will
be warm soon.”

She opened another door. “This is the stairway to the
upstairs bedrooms. I don't intend to go up there. The rooms aren't
heated. I can sleep in Dad's bedroom next to the bathroom. Where
would be a good place for you to wind down?

“
I power down,” Hover corrected with a
exacerbated sigh as he looked around. “I'm going to stand next to
the fireplace.”

Dusty, gold metal framed family pictures strung
together with cobwebs lined the stairwell walls. Some of them were
Scott and her in 8 x 10 inch school pictures. That stairwell was as
close as her father could come to hiding the pictures of his
children from his girlfriends without completely throwing them
away. Out of sight, out of mind. It wouldn't do to have his flavor
of the month girlfriends think about him with grown children.

Hover tilted his head, listening. He moved to the
living room window that faced the road. He droned, “Do you want to
know a man is dumping tree pieces by the house?”

Chapter 6

“
Tree pieces?” Elizabeth rushed to the window.
The man appeared to be about her age. Definitely a farmer from the
looks of his clothes, tan Carhartt bib overalls, heavy flannel
shirt, zippered tan jacket and green lace up knobby soled
boots.

A black Labrador dog circled her car, sniffed the
driver side back tire and peed on it. Nosing around the car, the
dog turned his attention, sniffing the tires on the beater pickup
parked beside her car.

“
That man has some nerve dumping debris this
close to the house. He parked his old blue pickup by my car. That
means he has to know someone is in here.” She rushed to the
door.

Hover followed her. “What are you going to do?”

“
I'm going to go out there and tell that man to
dump his trash somewhere else. You stay away from the window until
he's gone,” she groused.

“
You should put your coat on,” Hover
said.

“
I won't be gone that long.” Elizabeth tramped
out and down the steps. She demanded, “Who are you?”

“
Hello!” The smiling man pulled a log out of
the pickup bed and twisted toward her as he stacked the log on the
neatly arranged row. “I'm Bud Carter. I'll be done in a
minute.”

“
Stop right now. Tell me why are you dumping
this stuff here so close to the house on private property?”
Elizabeth demanded.

That got the man's attention. He put the last log on
the stack and turned to study her. “I didn't dump anything. As you
can see I made a neat rick of wood.”

The dog whipped Elizabeth's legs with his strong tail
as he raced in circles around her. She stuck a foot out and pushed
him away. “So you dump neater than most. What I want to know is why
you did it?”

The man scratched a blond sideburn as he asked. “Who
are you?”

The dog came up behind her, and licked Elizabeth's
right hand. She jerked her hand away and folded her arms over her
chest well out of reach of the dog's tongue. “Go away, dog,” she
hissed.

“
Buster, leave the lady alone. Load up!” The
farmer scolded, shaking his finger at the dog. The dog tucked his
tail between his legs and ran to the pickup. He hopped into the
back and laid down.

Elizabeth put her attention back on the farmer.
“Thank you for that. Now I asked you a question first. Why are all
these tree pieces here?”

“
All right. Fair enough I guess. The owner of
this house told me if anyone wanted to use the house in the winter
he'd pay me to deliver wood for the fireplace. That's just what I
did,” He said, pointing at the wood.

“
Oh,” Elizabeth said quietly.

“
Now who are you?”

“
I'm Elizabeth,” she stopped, thinking she
shouldn't use her father's last name. She came up with,
“Morris.”

“
Kin to Martin Winston, the owner, I take it,”
Carter said.

“
No, just a friend. Sorry I sounded so
inhospitable. I can see how wood in the fireplace might be a good
idea this time of year. This old house is a bit drafty,” Elizabeth
conceded, shivering now that she noticed the cold air buffering
her. The turtleneck wool sweater she wore wasn't enough protection
from the cold. The only warm place on her was the heated blush on
her cheeks. She whirled around to go inside.

“
How long are you and your husband going to
stay?”

Elizabeth twisted back around. “Why?” She knew she
said that too sharply when the farmer stared at her intently.

“
I just wondered,” he said lamely. “This rick
won't last long. I will have to deliver more wood if you're staying
a while.”

“
Ah, I see. Well, I can't say for sure how long
it will be,” she said.

“
That's all right. I come by here every morning
to check my cattle back in the timber pasture,” Bud said, pointing
toward the trail through the trees behind the house. “I'll keep 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 her?”

Bud nodded. “Just a glance when he peeked out the
window. He dresses like a city dude.”

Susie placed a plate of bacon, toast and eggs in
front of her brother. “They are a strange couple is all I've got to
say.”

Thinking about that, Bud put the toast to his mouth
before he asked, “They probably think us country hicks are strange,
too. Why do you think they are strange?” Then he took a bite.

“
It was right after the lunch hour when they
got to town. The guy sat in the car while the woman came in. She
ordered a maidrite. I asked if she didn't want to get one for the
man in the car. She looked flustered, said no and changed her
answer to yes. She wanted one for him. Wouldn't you think it would
be a given that he'd want to eat when she did?”

“
Maybe he wasn't that hungry. Who knows.” Bud
turned his attention to his breakfast.

Early that morning, Elizabeth decided to go for a
walk while she waited for the farmer. The trees surrounding the
house seemed like a city park. She wanted to explore her
surroundings and get some fresh air. She paused to look back to
make sure Hover had followed her order to stay away from the
windows. She couldn't see him.

She inhaled a smoky smell and sneezed. When she
looked up at the house roof, she saw gray smoke curling out of the
fireplace chimney and down over her. One of those country scents,
she probably could do without. Elizabeth moved on along the trail
until she came to a fence line with a barbed wire gate in it.

A steady, loud rumble came from the direction of the
road. Bud, in a green tractor, was coming to check his cattle. He
had a large bale of hay attached to the back of the tractor. He
waved at her when he hopped out of the cab to open the gate. Once
he drove the tractor through, he released the bale in the pasture,
drove back out and closed the gate.

“
Morning, Lizzy. It sure is chipper out here
this morning. Do you want a ride back to the house?” Bud pointed at
the tractor cab's open door.