A Conard County Courtship Read online

  Opening the door and leaning in, Tim called out, “Ms. Welling? It’s me, Tim, and I’ve brought your lawyer with me. Earl Carter.”

  As he and Earl crossed the threshold, he heard hurried footsteps from the back of the house. Still wearing her jacket, with her hands stuffed in her pockets, Vanessa managed a smile.

  “So you’re Earl Carter.”

  “One and the same.” Earl smiled. “Lots of time on the phone, but nothing like face-to-face.” He stuck out his hand, and Vanessa freed hers to shake it. “Well, what do you think?”

  “About the house? Besides the fact I don’t want it? It needs work, Earl. I supposed Mr. Dawson knows how sound it is generally, but paint is sagging on some of the walls. Sagging! I don’t think I’ve ever seen that before.”

  “Bad paint job,” Tim remarked. “Old paint. Lack of care. Nothing that can’t be fixed.”

  “This place looks like a headache,” she said frankly. “I wish you could have stopped Bob Higgins from doing this to me.”

  Earl shook his head. “He did this all on his own. I never knew about it until he died. Then everything landed on my desk.”

  “It landed on me like a ton of bricks,” she said. “I never wanted to come back here. Never.”

  Tim decided it might be a good time to step out of the conversation. “I need to go put this valve on the heater so I can get it up and running again. It’s getting cold in here. There’s a pot of coffee in the kitchen. Why don’t you two help yourselves?”

  He headed down to the basement, acutely aware that without heat, given the coming cold, this place could suffer a lot of damage now that he’d turned on the plumbing again. Eventually that heater should be replaced, but he had a feeling Vanessa Welling wouldn’t be the one to do it.

  * * *

  In the chilly kitchen with Earl Carter, Vanessa pulled out a chair and sat at a table she remembered all too well.

  “Bet you remember this house,” Earl remarked.

  “I don’t want to talk about it.” She really didn’t. Good memories had been turned into a nightmare by the man who had inflicted this house on her, and she had little desire to look back.

  “You used to play with the Higgins kids, didn’t you?”

  She looked at him. “I think I said I didn’t want to talk about it.”

  “You did,” he acknowledged. “But I don’t want to talk about your memories. That was a lead-in to how you’re sitting here. After Bob Higgins was arrested, his wife took their two kids and left. I got to wondering why she didn’t sell the house at some point, then I learned why. She never owned it. It was his, lock, stock and barrel.”

  “That fits,” Vanessa said tautly. The guy didn’t even take care of his family. He’d made sure everything was his, even their house.

  “So, anyway, I only looked into it to find out how it had come to you. When you said you didn’t want it, I hunted his ex-wife up and suggested that you might be willing to give it to her. She was as interested as you were. Didn’t want to even think about it. So here we are.”

  “So he ruined everyone’s lives.”

  “That’s how it looks. She’s remarried. Even changed the last name of the children.”

  Vanessa nodded slightly and looked down as Earl put a mug of coffee in front of her. That looked better than anything she’d seen since arriving here. Well, except for Tim Dawson. “I hate this, Earl,” she said, reaching out to grip the mug in both hands for its warmth.

  “No better man than Tim Dawson to take care of it for you. He’ll be quick, he won’t overcharge and he won’t do more than you want and need him to do.”

  She raised her gaze to his. “But what about selling it?”

  “We’ll get that done somehow, too. We haven’t got the busiest real estate market, but a house like this, reasonably priced, should sell. And you can afford to price it reasonably, because your only sunk costs are going to be for basic repairs and taxes.”

  She hadn’t thought about that, and it made her feel slightly better. She could sell it for a song, then it wouldn’t be her problem anymore. Or maybe she could even find a place to donate it, once she was sure it was safe. A house left basically abandoned for twenty years might have all kinds of safety problems. No termites, though, according to Earl. That had been the first thing he had checked out.

  So...it would be okay, she told herself yet again. Lately that had become a mantra.

  Earl let her have some silence, for which she was grateful. She was still trying to deal with the mess of emotions coming back here had awakened in her. She had a lot to be angry about, a lot to be sad about, and feelings she had put away long ago had all surfaced with her return, with having to deal with this house.

  The past had become present, through no choice of her own, and for the first time she considered just how much she hadn’t been able to get over. No, it seemed more like she had plastered over all the cracks and the plaster was giving way. She’d even started having bad dreams again.

  Some things were better left buried, and she wished all of this had remained in its grave. What the hell had Bob Higgins been thinking? He’d had no conscience about robbing her family into abject poverty. Why would he have gotten one at such a late stage in his life?

  Chilly air stirred suddenly, and she heard a distant whoompf that probably indicated Tim had started the heater. Considering that he had the water running now, that was an excellent thing.

  A minute later he appeared, wiping his hands on a rag that he jammed into the back pocket of his jeans. “All set. They make much more efficient models now, but this will do. It shouldn’t break down, anyway. And when you’re ready to go, I’ll winterize the house again.”

  He grabbed some coffee of his own and joined her at the table.

  “I was just getting ready to leave,” Earl announced. “I have a three o’clock meeting. If you need anything, call me.” He handed her a business card along with a warm smile, then walked out.

  When Vanessa remained silent, Tim spoke. “I guess this hit you like a ton of bricks.”

  “To put it mildly.”

  He just shook his head, unsure what he could say. “I’ve got to run soon as well. I need to pick up my son from school. I’ll bring him back here so we can have some time to discuss what has to be done and whether you want to do any more than that.”

  She nodded. “How old is your son?”

  “Seven. Anyway, we’re going to be getting a sharp temperature drop anytime now, and I don’t want him out there walking in subzero temps.”

  “I’d forgotten.” If she’d ever really known. “It can change fast, can’t it?”

  “Very fast. And we’re just sliding into winter, so nobody’s really ready. Blizzard tonight, maybe. If you can stand it, you might want to stay here rather than at the motel. We can get you some food in so you don’t have to hoof it or drive to get a meal. The thing about the motel is that it’s used mainly by truckers and transients. You might feel safer here, much as you hate it.”

  “I’ll think about it.”

  He stood. “I’ll be back in fifteen or twenty minutes...unless you’d rather I didn’t come back.”

  For once since getting here she didn’t feel like hesitating. “No, come back. I’d like to meet your son.”

  He nodded once with a smile, then left the kitchen. She listened to his boots cross the foyer, then the front door opened and closed.

  Earl had done his best, Tim was a nice guy and maybe she could survive this trip after all.

  But the thought of being snowed in here? She shuddered. There’d be no way to avoid the memories then.

  * * *

  From what Earl had told him, Tim guessed this visit had to be a painful one for Vanessa. Although she’d been a child his own son’s age when her family’s life had fallen apart, she
probably remembered enough to find it uncomfortable to return. While it was old news, when Bob Higgins had died in prison, people had recalled his life and crimes, and inevitably Tim had learned something about the man.

  He’d apparently set himself up as an investment adviser and had a few impressive pieces of paper framed on his office wall. He’d even been licensed by the state. Everyone knew him, most people liked him and it hadn’t taken him long to get his business rolling.

  It must have rolled well for ten or twelve years before it caught up with him. Tim didn’t understand exactly how the scheme had worked, but Bob had persuaded people to entrust him with their money to invest, and most had only given him amounts they never needed back, or if they needed to pull something out, they’d been able to.

  But Vanessa’s parents had been different. They’d thought their investments were growing so well that Bob Higgins had managed to persuade them to give him even more, promising them a fortune. They’d mortgaged their ranch and had learned the bleak truth when they needed money from their investments to pay that mortgage.

  Tim didn’t pretend to understand how it all had worked or why Higgins had persuaded the Wellings to mortgage their ranch. Maybe because he was getting to the point where he needed money to pay clients a return?

  Regardless of it all, the Wellings had left town, and Bob Higgins had been exposed and sent to jail.

  But he could see no earthly reason why the man would have deeded his house to Vanessa. No good reason.

  He joined the line of parents waiting in their vehicles at the elementary school. The temperature had begun to drop, and the teachers were blowing clouds of fog when they spoke and hurried the children along. Cheeks quickly brightened to red, and there was little of the usual horseplay. The cold had shocked the kids, too.

  Tim started to smile as he watched his son, Matthew, race toward the truck. The boy reminded him of his mother, Claire, with his round face, a splatter of freckles across his nose, and a dark blond hair. Every time Tim saw him, he felt an ache for Claire.

  Leaning over, he unlatched the door and threw it open for the boy. Matt scrambled in then used both hands to close the door. As usual, Matt did everything at top speed.

  The door was open long enough, however, for Tim to feel the dangerous cold deepening outside. If the forecast held, they might need to close school tomorrow. Occasionally it grew too cold to expect children to walk to school or to bus stops.

  “How was your day, kiddo?”

  “Okay,” Matthew answered. He grinned as he struggled to buckle himself in, showing off the two new front teeth that were emerging. He’d just outgrown the child seat, but was still having trouble with the regular seat belt.

  “Just okay?” Tim asked.

  “Well, Orson turned green around his neck and got all ruffed up.” Orson was an exotic lizard who lived in a large aquarium. “Ms. Macy said something must have scared him. That was probably Tommy. He kept banging a penny against the tank.”

  “Why did Tommy do that?”

  Matthew shrugged. “I guess it was fun. Everybody was pretty mad about Orson, though. He doesn’t bother anybody.”

  “I don’t imagine he does. Lots of homework?”

  “Not much. Two work sheets.”

  At last able to pull out of the line, Tim drove back toward the Higgins house—although he supposed it was the Welling house now—and listened to Matthew’s cheerful recounting of the day and his pride in bringing home his very first library book from the school.

  It wasn’t as if Tim hadn’t been taking him to the public library all along, but the school library was something special.

  “Where are we going, Daddy?”

  “Back to the house I’m working on. There’s a lady there now—she owns the house. So...”

  “Company manners,” Matthew said with a sharp nod of his head. “Is she a nice lady?”

  “I think so, but I just met her before I came to get you.”

  “She’s not a witch?” Matt asked, scrunching up his face and making his small hands into claws.

  “What have you been reading?” Tim asked, eliciting a giggle.

  “Fun stuff. Ms. Macy says I’m too young for Harry Potter, though.”

  “Oh. Did you want to read it?” He suspected Ms. Macy’s objection arose more from what some parents around here thought of children reading about wizards and magic.

  “Joey’s brother did. He loves it.”

  “Well, I’ll see what I can do about getting a copy from the library. You can try it and see.”

  For that he received an ear-to-ear grin.

  Occasionally when he talked with his son, Tim felt a nostalgia for his own childhood, when everything had been simple and magical. Other times, though, when Matt was having a problem of some kind, Tim was more than glad to be so much older. He suspected that feeling would grow when Matthew hit his teens.

  This time he pulled up right in front of the house. Vanessa had parked in the narrow driveway, so there didn’t seem to be any reason to leave curb space. Especially with the temperature dropping so rapidly.

  Matthew started to pull his backpack out with him, and Tim stopped him. “You won’t need that until we get home.”

  “But I want to show the new lady my library book!”

  Tim let him go but wondered if Vanessa would be pleasant, bored or annoyed. Matthew wasn’t her child, after all, and for all he knew she had little patience for youngsters. Still, how annoyed could she be over a library book?

  “Company manners,” he reminded Matthew as they walked toward the front door.

  “I know, Dad.” The boy’s tone was a touch exasperated, making Tim smile faintly. How fast they tried to grow up.

  Vanessa was still sitting in the kitchen with her coffee. Apparently she’d felt no urge to explore the house. Sooner or later, she would have to do a walk-through with him. He could understand her being angry with Higgins, but the house? No, she hadn’t wanted it, but surely she didn’t have anything against the house. It was an inanimate object.

  “Ms. Welling, this is my son, Matthew.”

  She had lifted her head at the approach of their footsteps, and now she managed a faint smile. “Hello, Matthew. If you want, you can call me Vannie.”

  “Vannie?” he repeated as if memorizing it. “I got a new library book. Wanna see?”

  Kids, thought Tim. They got through the rough spots as if they weren’t there, skipped over the awkwardness of first meetings and just accepted everyone as a friend.

  “I’d love to see,” she answered. Her expression remained pleasant and her tone neutral. Okay, she’d be polite.

  “We can’t take too long, Matthew. Vannie’s going to need to get some groceries before the snow starts.” He looked at Vanessa. “The cold out there will snatch your breath.”

  “Already?” She frowned faintly. “Here or the motel, huh?”

  “Well, I have a guest room, if you’d rather. No problem for me.”

  The offer was out before he knew it was coming, and then Matthew seconded it. The idea of having someone new in the house seemed to appeal to him.

  Vanessa’s hesitation appeared obvious. Matthew was already running on about how they could read his library book together, but she had drawn away. He could feel it. Pulled back into herself.

  “Look,” he said finally. “I’ll guide you to the motel if you want, but like I said, mostly truckers and transients stay there. This house is okay if you want to stock it up. I was only thinking about you being here alone if the blizzard gets bad. You’d be stuck, and the phones here aren’t working. Cell phones can become unreliable when the air’s full of blowing snow.”

  He could have sworn she felt torn in a bunch of different directions. But then she surprised him.

  “If you’re sure I
won’t put you out...”

  That settled it, he decided. A night or two. As soon as she’d made her decisions about the house, she’d drive away.

  Matthew was ecstatic. Tim watched him with a faint smile, but once again reflected on how much that boy must miss having a mother. He hoped a couple of days wasn’t long enough for him to fit Vanessa into that role.

  Chapter Two

  Vanessa hoped she hadn’t made a mistake. Tim Dawson seemed like a laid-back sort of guy, however attractive, and his son was a trip. It ought to be okay for a few days.

  But honestly, the thought of being stuck alone in Bob Higgins’s house because of a blizzard had been more than she could face. As she’d sat there, waiting for Tim to return with his son, memories had clamored, and maybe the worst part was that they were so confused.

  So much for thinking she’d dealt with the past and put it away. The house had dug it all up again. It would have been okay if the memories had been bad, but the thing was, they were good memories, which made Bob Higgins’s betrayal all that more difficult to deal with.

  When she stepped outside to follow Tim to his house, the icy air astonished her. The temperature had fallen that fast? She wore what she’d thought would be an adequate wool coat, but it wasn’t enough.

  She hurried to get into her car and out of the wind. Matthew had told his father he wanted to ride with her, but before she could say anything Tim had squashed that. Good. She liked the kid as much as she could, having only just met him, but she was far from being ready to drive him around. Also, she knew next to nothing about children.

  Maybe she should have gone to the motel. The town had only one, it seemed, and the reviews hadn’t been exciting. Truckers and transients? And what if she got snowed in there?

  She shook her head at herself. She wasn’t usually a ditherer, but then she’d never faced a situation quite like this before. Not as an adult making her own decisions.

  A town she had nearly forgotten that held secrets about her family that might cause people to judge her. Her dad had certainly thought so. A house from the man who’d destroyed her family. She couldn’t imagine staying there by herself to deal with the good memories that refused to jibe with later reality. Worse, the bad memories from later were more sharply engraved on her mind. She didn’t want to relive her dad’s deterioration and death. All that bitterness. Her mother’s despair.