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Harry raced upstairs ahead of Lizzie and Trisha, eager to chase whatever dust bunnies he could find swirling around in the morning sunlight that came through over-sized windows on either side of the enormous fireplace.
“What’s he in such a hurry for? Does he have a date with the family ghost?” Trisha let Harry pass her, not wanting to be tripped, laughing as she spoke, her short dark hair bobbing with her head’s movement.
“Harry has his own agenda. And our resident ghost she has hers as well. In fact, I haven’t seen her since we started living all these boxes in.” Lizzie joined her laughter and hurried up the last few steps to catch up with Harry. Who knew what kind of trouble he could get into it with all the boxes that were stacked on the mezzanine floor? When they reached the top stop, Tricia put her hands on her hips and looked around in astonishment.
“Geez Lizzie, what did you do? Bring the entire college library here? Is there even going to be room for the furniture we picked out with all these books?”
“Oh, stop the complaining. It’s not as bad as it looks. Once we put these books on the shelves, there will be plenty of room. Just be thankful we didn’t have to carry all these boxes up the stairs.”
“No, we can thank Mrs. Meadows for that. I think she was eager to get rid of all the books you had all over the place at the main house, plus the boxes you’d brought back from your office at the college. What do you need all these for, anyway? You’re retired now.”
There was a moment of silence, a guilty silence that Trisha recognized immediately. They had known each other since they were children. She knew her best friend as well as she knew herself. Trisha turned her stare from the boxes to the woman standing beside her and didn’t blink, waiting for an explanation.
“About that retirement… It might have to be semi-retired for a while.”
“Oh Lizzie, you promised you were done.”
“And technically I am.” She sighed deeply and quickly explained, hoping to wipe away her’s friend’s disapproval, “The Chancellor asked me to come back just as a consultant until they could find a replacement to take over the horticulture program at the college. Things kind of fell through when my replacement was murdered. Especially when it was the next person in line after her who did the murder. I couldn’t leave Russel Mallery hanging. Not after I’d poured my heart and soul into that program for so long.”
Tricia didn’t answer immediately, thinking back to the murder the two of them had been involved in solving. Then she thought of something else, “And what does Kevin have to say about this?”
“Well, I haven’t come right out and told him. I mean, he knows that I’ve been taking phone calls from the Chancellor and going over to the college periodically, but I don’t think he—”
“Oh, don’t worry about that; Kevin’s probably got this figured out even before you did. But it is temporary, right?”
“Absolutely. I’ve got more than enough things to keep me busy here at Azalea Plantation. And you’ve got quite the list going for me on this renovation filming.”
As she spoke, Lizzie waved her hands around her to emphasize the work ahead of her, and Tricia grinned back at her.
“It’s fun-admit it. And your loving’s every minute of this renovation, aren’t you?”
Lizzie shared Trisha’s grin, and gave a nod, but Harry quickly diverted their attention by clawing at one box, eager to get inside.
“Come on, let’s get to work. The sooner we’re done, the sooner we can go out and decide exactly where we’re filming’s this afternoon segment.” Lizzie step forward and shooed Harry off the box so she could begin emptying it.
Tricia followed suit and after a moment they were busy breaking the seals on the boxes so they could begin placing the books on the shelves. Tricia knew better than to pick up a book herself. Lizzie would have a specific area for each box and made no sense to do double work. She motioned Lizzie towards the shelves and passed the books to her friend for Lizzie to put them on the shelf.
They worked steadily for half an hour, chitchatting about nothing in particular. Then they heard the sounds of the kitchen door opening and heard a woman’s voice yelling a morning greeting. Before Lizzie could return the greeting, there was a sound of a crash, and Trisha and Lizzie turned to head down the stairs to make sure everything was okay. But the woman’s voice stopped in their tracks.
“Be more careful with those boxes. She hasn’t even moved in yet and you’re already breaking things.”
“Oops, somebody’s getting Nora’s wrath,” Trisha looked over at Lizzie and grinned, “glad it wasn’t me.”
The two women burst into laughter and a few moments later, they could hear someone walking up the stairs. When the messy brown hair scattered with gray appeared, followed by a sturdy build of a woman, they called out a morning greeting to Nora Meadows, housekeeper, manager and drill sergeant for Azalea Plantation.
“My, aren’t you two are up and at them early? I don’t know what your rush is, Lizzie. There is no reason for you to move over here yet. You don’t even have furniture. Things were fine the way they were at the bed-and-breakfast.” Grumbled Nora Meadows in the way of greeting.
Lizzie walked over and gave the woman a hug and a kiss on the cheek.
“We’ve been over this so many times, Nora. I’m underfoot over there. Besides, we’re coming into the peak of tourist season and you can use room to rent out to guests. There is no need for a lot of furniture right this instant. I want to make sure when I get my pieces that they are perfect for the look of the house. They need to be as close to authentic as possible. For right now, a blowup bed and a nightstand are all I need in the bedroom, and that way I’m over here while they’re doing work.”
Nora stared at her and slowly smiled, knowing she would not win the argument they had been having for this last several weeks. Right from the time Lizzie made the decision to renovate the old family home and make it her own, Nora understood she would move there eventually. The older woman had been stalling, hoping that it wouldn’t happen so soon. Harry walked over and rubbed against her legs as she bent down and scooped the cat up, giving him a treat from the pocket of her apron.
“Well, you may not have furniture, but you are going to have a well-equipped kitchen. I’m not have you moving in here without being able to fend for yourself.” Scratching Harry’s head, Nora attempted to have the last say.
“A coffee pot and a microwave are all I needed, Nora. You know I don’t cook. I’m taking my meals over the main house with everybody else.”
“Nonsense. You may as will do it right and since the kitchen is ready, let’s make it complete. Now, I came over to let you know Kevin called to say he’d be over in a couple of hours after the film crew has arrived.”
“The film crew! Holy crap, I forgot about them.” Trisha glanced at her watch and shoved the book she had in her hands at Lizzie.
“Thanks Nora. I need to get downstairs and direct them where to go. Unfortunately, it’s a substitute crew today, so I’m going to have to be on top of them every step of the way.”
“You said nothing about a substitute crew. What happened?”
“Our usual crew had to go film a commercial on the other side of the state. It was a bit of an emergency, but they assured me the crew they have lined up to help them out will be just as good and it’s only for a week. Just this one episode.”
Trish didn’t stick around to explain any further. Giving Mrs. Meadows a kiss on her cheek as she rushed by, Trisha headed downstairs, her feet clumping on the old wooden floors.
“Was it my imagination, or did Tricia sound less confident that her words said?” Mrs. Meadow watched Tricia disappear from view and turned back to Lizzie.
“I caught her tone as well. Today could be an interesting day.”
Harry seemed to agree with her assessment and he squirmed to get out of Mrs. Meadows’ arms. Jumping to the floor, he raced after Tricia, intent on being in on any action that might happen.
“I hope he stays out from underfoot when the crew gets here.” Lizzie frowned as she watched him scurry down the stairs.
“Fat chance. If there’s trouble to be found, Harry will be in the middle of it. Now leave those boxes and come down to the kitchen with me; there are a few things I want to show you.” Mrs. Meadows’ voice didn’t allow for any arguments, and Lizzie set the books in her hands down and took one last glance around the mezzanine, which was soon to be her private library. Her eyes lingered on the stem of blooming azaleas that on the mantle. They were there when she arrived in the morning, and she knew they were a sign of welcome. It seemed the family ghost was happy she was moving in.

You have just read the first draft of chapter one; before my beta readers, friends, family or trusted editor! This is what being a supporter is all about. And with the Ream program, you can write notes about what you think, make suggestions or ask questions. Who knows, your input might be just what I need.