But as he slid into his black Lexus, he wondered how long it would be before Miss Gage, too, put the house up for sale. Everyone did.
Chapter Nine
With the help of Jordan, Rex, and many of the G & J Renovations crew members, she and her treasured bedroom set moved into the house a week later after she’d paid a professional cleaning crew to scrub it and then painted every wall herself.
They partied with pizza and beer well into the night with spouses and their kids joining in the fun. Ashley wanted her new home to be one where everyone felt welcome, and that first impromptu party felt like a great way to start a tradition.
Once everyone left, she cleaned up the mess and took a long, hot shower, working some shower lotion into her muscles made sore by the moving of furniture and boxes, some of which were too heavy for her small frame. But it was her habit not to let the guys do all the heavy lifting. After she towel dried her long, dark hair, she pulled the covers tightly over her as she dropped into bed and slipped almost immediately into a deep, exhausted sleep.
“I see you. I’m watching. I know you’re here. One day you’ll know me.” Then there was a scraping sound as though someone or something was raking its fingers or claws across a chalkboard again and again as though trying to dig a hole or sound an alarm. She wasn’t sure if she was dreaming, having a nightmare, or hearing real words and sounds.
It was on that very first night when she awoke two hours later feeling as though she heard someone in the house. Had one of her family or friends forgotten something and returned? She looked at the bedside table and saw it was after 2 a.m. Even if they’d left something behind, they wouldn’t have returned at that hour. They would have waited until morning. She got out of bed, put on her robe, went to her dresser and pressed her fingers to the finger identification lock on the steel box she had hidden there. When it opened, she removed her Glock 29. Ashley enjoyed spending time practicing at the firing range and could see no reason to check out the house without being protected by her firearm.
“Hello, is someone there? I’m armed. Leave or you’ll wish you did,” she yelled. Then she stopped to listen. The sounds had ceased. She crept from room to room sneaking into each, looking behind doorways like a detective from a TV drama or a soldier checking for hostiles in a war film, but no one was anywhere in the house. As she traveled the house, which suddenly seemed too expansive for her needs, she went to each window to be sure the locks were secure and found that some were broken from age. She decided some of the first restoration she’d do would be to replace all the windows in her home. The money spent would save on heating bills, nearly paying for themselves in the long run and would add the security of being lockable as they should be. The front and back doors and the outer and inner door to the basement were locked also, and there was no sign anywhere of forced entry.
I must have been dreaming, she thought. But it did sound so real and so nearby. She shivered even in her robe, not from any cool temperature exactly, but a slight breeze that passed her quickly and was gone just as rapidly as it had come. Now, my mind’s got the better of me, she thought. I just need some rest. I’ll call about windows in the morning and lock this breeze right out of here.
She prepared herself a mug of milk and microwaved it to heat it up believing it would help her fall back to sleep and calm her nerves. As she sat in the kitchen sipping the soothing drink in the alcove where the kitchen table and four chairs were, she felt the breeze again, but it remained, and she pulled her robe tighter around her to fight the chill. When she finished her warm milk, she rinsed her cup, put it in the dishwasher, and with her Glock in hand climbed the ornate staircase to her bedroom.
Rather than return the Glock to its lock box, she kept it on her night table. There were no children in the house she had to concern herself with who might accidently find the gun and use it. She felt comforted to have it nearby even though she was sure the house was empty of intruders. It took a while, but eventually, Ashley did drift off to sleep and woke up refreshed and greeted by a room full of bright sunlight when morning arrived. She loved that the bedroom had three very large windows that she’d hung sheer curtains in because she enjoyed being woken by sunlight. As she stretched and started her day, she thought how lucky she was to have such a beautiful bedroom with full sun in the morning and a full adjoining bathroom. She finally had her dream house. It was time to get to work on it.
Ashley always worked hard for what she wanted. The renovation of this new home and the start of G & J Renovations New Hampshire would be no exceptions. She had a day full of appointments lined up already, but mentally added calling and meeting with a window installer to her list for the day. All the windows in the house had to be replaced, but most urgently those that were unlockable. She loved a challenge, so that day was started just as she liked it, busy. Before she left, she locked her handgun into its box for safe keeping while she went about her day.
Had she known that everywhere she went within her home, she was being watched by very interested eyes she knew nothing about, she might have kept the gun with her at all times, but Ashley was clueless about the one who was watching her.
Chapter Ten
Each contact Ashley made throughout Nashua and the adjoining towns of Amherst, Bedford, and Manchester, she visited in person rather than making phone calls. She saved time by calling ahead and arranging to meet with managers and/or owners of building supply companies, painting supply companies, and appliance suppliers. With each she met, she introduced herself and left dozens of the thousands of G & J Renovations New Hampshire business cards she and Rex had had printed for just such a necessity. Some stops were quick—just a meet and greet to let the owners know she was in town and would be looking to deal with them if they could offer the best discounts on the products G & J needed. Offering her contact information, she asked for them to provide estimates of discounts she could expect on various products they sold. Except for one small paint shop, each of the firms she stopped at knew G & J by reputation and was eager to deal with them.
Other visits were more extensive with the managers or owners bringing her into their offices, introducing her around to key employees, and offering suggestions about other providers she should and shouldn’t use for her needs. Some even provided names of craftspeople she might want to contact who were known for excellent work that G & J would likely appreciate on their crew. This information would be invaluable in developing her first team in the area. She called Rex with the good news about how successful the day had been when she was on the way back to her house to meet with the window installer. That meeting would be important to discuss windows and prices for her own home and the business.
“Remember to tell him that if he gives you the windows at cost, we’ll be using him for all our projects down the line,” Rex reminded her. Ashley laughed.
“You do know this is not my first rodeo?”
“I know, but I don’t want you short changing yourself thinking you’re doing G & J a favor. Drive a hard bargain.”
“I will. I promise,” she told him. “Gotta run. He’s waiting in my driveway now,” she said.
Right away Ashley noticed the guy in her driveway was handsome and strong looking. Immediately she thought she’d like to add him to her team if just to have him around to drool over all day long. But then she’d never get anything done, she reasoned. She didn’t dare pull down the visor to check her lipstick or he’d notice, so she just had to trust that the lipstick label that promised 24-hour staying power wasn’t bullshitting her.