Romantic Interludes by Janet Woods

Author:Janet Woods [Woods, Janet]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Romance Short Stories
Publisher: Belgrave House
Published: 2011-12-17T16:00:00+00:00

11 . . . . . ANGEL QUILT

The day couldn’t make up its mind what mood it was in. It blew hot and cold. So did Lexi. Had she made a mistake moving into this ramshackle house in a country town?

But sweet smelling roses rambled over the porch, and there was an orchard at the bottom. The grass and weeds were sky high, though.

‘Who owns it,’ she’d asked Pete Smith, rental agent and general store owner.

‘Henry Tebbit. He’s in a home now. He went downhill after his daughter died and the place has been standing empty for a couple of years. I’ll lower the rent if you tidy the place up a bit. And I’ll provide the paint and get the grass cut. I’ve packed Joe’s personal stuff in a couple of suitcases and stored them in the top of the linen cupboard. They don’t take up much room there.’

Lexi was pleased the rent had been reduced. Her money didn’t stretch very far, especially since the maintenance for Jilly had dried up. ‘If you hear of a job going will you let me know?'

‘What do you do?’

‘Secretarial. I can work from home.’

‘Not much call for secretaries around here, but I’ll keep my ears open.’

‘I’ll consider anything.’

The house had other faults, Lexi discovered. The pipes shuddered. Frogs had set up home in the toilet tank, and most of the cupboard doors in the kitchen sagged on their hinges.

At least the roof was sound. But not soundproof. The night before it had poured with rain and the sound of it on the tin roof had frightened her daughter. Jilly had scrambled into Lexi’s bed and hidden under the covers.

Over the past week Lexi had painted all the ceilings. Perched on top of the stepladder she now drew the roller carefully down the wall, leaving a streak the color of sunshine against the dirty grey. No matter how hard she tried not to, she always managed to splatter the paint.

She smiled at the cheerful color. Jilly liked yellow.

A knock rattled the door and she placed the paint roller back in the tray. 'Not Kevin, please,’ she whispered.

Then she remembered he’d left the country a year ago. Lexi had divorced him. So had Jilly. No father was better than a man who’d given them cause to fear. It was another man standing on the other side of the door. Tall, dark-haired, straight and tanned, he had hyacinth eyes that looked her over thoroughly before he smiled. ‘You must be Lexi. I’m Seth Williams.’

Lexi wiped her hand on the frayed overalls she wore, then gazed past him to the van parked in the drive next to her aged Commodore. ‘You’ve come to cut the grass. Great! I was worried in case it caught fire.’

‘After all that rain last night it will be twice as high by this time next week.’ He chuckled. ‘I haven’t come to cut the grass; I’ve come to offer you a job.’

‘You’d better come in. I’m in the middle of painting

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