Chapter 5: Guests and the Good Life

When Karen awoke, she heard birds chirping outside her window, a faint humming noise- a vacuum machine, perhaps- and male voices. Reluctantly she got out of bed in search of slippers. To her pleasant surprise, the floor was warm!

“My goodness, they think of everything in New England,” she murmured appreciatively.

She entered the bathroom, plugged the tub and opened the faucet. No water came out. She frowned and opened it wider. Still no water came pouring out. Frowning, she opened a few of her suitcases to search for a robe. Walking around naked was alright in one’s room, but you never know what you may bump into out there, she thought.

With a bit of difficulty, she put the thing on. Then she headed for the yellow and white bathroom down the hall.

It too had no water.

“Great.”

She could not shower with a cast on- especially if it was only cold water. So she had only one choice.

Harold was chatting to Jay about something. Karen could see them from the second floor but couldn’t make out the topic, so she slowly made her way downstairs. On Jay’s landing she stopped, hoping to get their attention.

A few minutes later, they still hadn’t noticed her, so she cleared her throat. The two men stopped talking about the local music circuits and looked in her direction.

There was a moment of complete silence, for even the humming of the vacuum cleaner had stopped. Karen flushed a little at the dramatic pause occurring as the men gazed up at her.

“Good morning, gentlemen.”

“Good morning,” Harold managed, having never seen Karen in such a state of undress- even though technically she was completely decent.

Jay smiled. “Morning, Karen.”

There was another pause and she realised then that her sudden appearance had them both a bit puzzled. Harold more so than Jay; the latter actually looked quite used to seeing women on his staircase in silk gowns.

“Jay, there’s no hot water on my floor.”

His smiled melted into a frown. “How do you mean?”

“I opened the faucets on both baths and nothing is coming out.”

The vacuum started again, just as Harold began to speak.

“I’ve brought your dogs.”

Karen, instantly distracted, laughed and ran lightly down the stairs. Her pale yellow robe, not to mention her hair, was a burst of colour next to their sober suits.

“Lead me to them, Harry. I doubt the water situation will be fixed immediately and you’ll want to go to work, won’t you, anyway?”

“Er- yes,” he said reluctantly, enjoying her presence too much to respond enthusiastically.

He headed outside, towards his car. Almost immediately, her dogs began yapping.

Harold went to his car and just barely managed to grab their leashes before the two puppies charged forward.

Curious as ever, Uffizi and Prado made their way to the door, where Karen waited patiently, their noses down and tails wagging wildly.

Karen didn’t even notice Jay go upstairs, she was so happy to see her puppies. Nor did she see him stop on the landing to watch her kneel on the orange striped rug to greet them.

“Uffizi, there’s a good girl! Prado, easy boy! Sit. Good Prado, good boy!”

Uffizi, as careful as possible of Karen’s right hand as a dog could be, was licking Karen’s face, her front paws on Karen’s leg.

Harold’s eyes were riveted to the expanse of creamy thigh that got exposed in the process. When it was Prado’s turn to greet the mistress, he planted his paws on her chest, pulling the material down slightly.

Harry decided to leave then.

“I should be off,” he declared, fighting the flush rising up his neck.

Karen looked up at him. “Thank you so much. For yesterday and today. You really are a star.”

Harry smiled, “Yeah, well you always know what to say!”

He took the dogs’ basket and bowls from his trunk and placed them nearby. “Tell Jay I said goodbye.”

“I will,” she promised, realising then that her host had disappeared.

“And that wonderful Mrs. Brown!” Harry called from the car.

“Ok!” she hoped she would get to meet her soon.

Harold reversed halfway down the driveway before jumping out to shout, “Oh, Karen, we parked your car in the garage, in case you’re wondering.”

“Thanks!” she stood up and closed the front door as Harry drove away and told the dogs to stay put.

“Oh, let them play,” a woman said behind her.

Karen whirled around to face a grand and graceful-looking woman with an English accent.

“You must be Karen,” the woman said kindly.

“And you must Mrs. Brown,” she responded, sticking out her left hand.

Mrs. Brown laughed. “Poor dear. Jay told me how the two of you met.” She shook her head. “I just can’t understand how... would you like some breakfast, my dear?”

“Not just yet, ma’am, but could my dogs eat?”

“Certainly. Harry left the food in my kitchen yesterday. Just hand me those leashes and you can run along and get dressed.”

“Thank you.” Karen handed over the pink leash saying, “This is Uffizi,” and the teal leash saying, “and this is Prado.”

“It’s going to be a pleasure to have them,” Mrs. Brown chuckled and led them away.

Karen straightened her robe a bit and went upstairs. Halfway up to her floor, Jay called out her name.

She turned and went down to his rooms.

He stood outside his bedroom and said, “You’re right, there’s no water coming out of the pipes into the tubs, so I’ve called my architects to send the necessary blue prints to the plumbers.” Pause. “For now, you’ll have to bath down here or shower.”

“Oh. Ok.” She lifted her hand saying, “I’m off showers for a while.”

He nodded and turned to head back into his room.

“Can’t believe she never mentioned,” he muttered quietly to himself.

Who’s she, Karen wondered.

Obviously not Mrs. Brown. An old tenant, maybe.

For nearly eight months, Roxanne and Rachel had lived in those rooms and neither of them had said anything about the bath not producing any water! Jay shook his head in wonder.

It amazed him to know that one could discover a new facet of a person’s character which, in Roxanne’s case, cancelled out several perceptions he had already formed. Most of the more recent ones were not to her credit in the least… but this seemed to prove him wrong.

He ran the bath for Karen, knowing her left hand wasn’t entirely healed from the fall. He put towels for her on the rack and exited the bathroom.

They met again on the landing.

“I’m off to work now. Enjoy your day.”

“Thanks. It’s my day off, so I intend to take it easy. Unpack a box or two.”

“You should try to rest yourself!” he insisted. “Unpacking is hardly restful.”

Karen shrugged, flexing her arm a bit. “It’s not so bad, but maybe you’re right.”

Jay liked the way that her I’s sounded like sighs and came out like ah’s, such that right came out like ‘raht’.

He passed her on his way down the stairs and all he said was, “Indeed.”

How British is that, she thought amused.

Heading into the bathroom, she found the water just the right temperature and thought it a pity she couldn’t immerse her entire body in it. Bathing quickly she jumped out and grabbed one of the available towels before throwing on a towelling robe and wandering back upstairs. To save time, she put on a long gypsy skirt and a tank top.

When she went to the kitchen, Mrs. Brown –who was elbow deep in dough- directed her to the breakfast nook where the curtains were thrown open and the sun bathed every possible surface.

Karen took off the surprisingly light silver food cover to find a small bowl of steaming oatmeal porridge. Beside it were a small bowl of sugar and a jug of milk. Next to that, ham and eggs in a covered plate and toast.

She enjoyed every spoonful of the oatmeal, in which she’d found real chunks of apple and could taste the cinnamon. The ham reminded her of the kind she used to eat in her parent’s house in South Carolina and was absolutely delicious.

Mrs. Brown, hands clean, appeared to take all the plates away, leaving her with tea and the paper.

“Jay told me to see that you rested, so take your time over tea. Then I’ll show you the gazebo out back.”

“Thank you. You’re both definitely spoiling me!”

Mrs. Brown smiled and said, “Guests are meant to be spoiled.” Then she returned to the kitchen.

After perusing the business pages and finishing her tea, Karen stood up and went to the kitchen.

Mrs. Brown smiled at her yet again. “Through are you? You can read the paper outside, while there is still some sun to enjoy. Follow me.”

Her dogs were playing with butterflies near a group of blossoming trees behind the massive garage. Karen was surprised that there was quite a bit of room behind the house. More than she had first noted from the window upstairs.

There were three cobblestone paths planted in the evenly trimmed grass. One led to a cottage to the left of the house, another shorter path to a swimming pool and placed squarely between the two was the one that led to gazebo amidst a garden of ferns, cherry trees, tulips and lilies.

The gazebo was spacious with four cushioned benches. There was a wrought iron handle on the door to each of the four entrances. Karen noticed these because the one Mrs. Brown opened for her was in the form of a J and M.

The kind housekeeper plumped the cerise and pale blue pillows and left her in the little haven with the newspaper, birds and bees for company. She could hear water flowing somewhere, so she went out the back of the gazebo to explore.

Stepping into an orchard with a stream running round it, Karen could see the line of trees only ended a few yards from Mrs. Brown’s cottage, situated at an angle from the main house.

Not inclined to discover further, she returned to the comfortable resting place that had been designated to her, pleased to be in such a beautiful place.

Sitting cross legged on the bench, she read the paper from front to back and then decided to sleep a bit. Lying back, Karen couldn’t help but smile. The water from the stream reflected on the arbour ceiling and underneath that reflection were the initials JHM.

She dozed off thinking to herself, I wonder what the H stands for…

When she awoke, a solitary bee was buzzing somewhere outside the gazebo. Opening her eyes, she realised a throbbing pain in her right hand. Sitting up, she saw a tray in front of her and on that tray was a light food cover and a small pitcher of juice.

Lifting the cover, she found a sandwich and carrot sticks. The roast beef sandwich was already cut in four pieces.

“The woman thinks of everything,” Karen smiled, picking up a triangle.

Just as she was about to take the third quarter of her delicious sandwich, she noticed a note on the side of the tray.

In lovely legible script was a telephone message for her from Jay Madison.

He wanted to take her out for dinner. And to see her work at Basil Carter.

“How the heck am I supposed to get dressed?” she wondered.

She finished the sandwich, drank some juice and leaned back against the cushions, nibbling on a carrot. By the time all the carrots were finished, she still hadn’t found anything in her current wardrobe that could be put on for an evening out... singlehandedly. She wasn’t even wearing a bra because it was too tricky to put on with one hand.

She dozed off again, trying to find a strategy.