“I would guess your father is not worried about your safety here. If he really thought I was a murderer, I doubt he’d have let you stay.”
“You’re probably right.”
“So we can assume I’m harmless enough.” The comment made him smile. She was winning him over. “If you work for me this summer, and I hope you do, we’ll have time to get to know each other.”
“If I work for you this summer, would I be staying here, in this house?”
“Yes.”
“Alone? No one else will be here?”
She choked out a laugh. “That’s really up to you. I know I won’t be here, and as far as I know, the place isn’t haunted. Are you afraid to stay alone?”
“No, ma’am.”
“You can drop the ma’am. Pearl is fine.”
“No, I’m not afraid to stay alone. Just trying to figure it all out before I make a commitment.”
“This sounds like I’ll need another cup of coffee.” She got up and poured herself another one, then sat back down. “Okay, shoot. Next question.”
“What would I be doing? Specifically, I mean? I know you said to empty the house and get it ready to sell, but I’m not sure what’s involved in doing all that.”
Pearl leaned over to pick up her purse, pulled out a folder, and handed it to him. The outside of the folder was labeled with her name, the address of the house, and her contact information at Pine Ridge Hollow. Inside were forms giving him permission to hire others on her behalf and to conduct business with a resale shop in town called Secondhand Heaven. Another few pages had the contact information for a lawn service, gutter cleaning company, housecleaning business, pest control company, and painter. The last page detailed how much he would be paid. She saw his eyes widen when he got to that part. Fifteen dollars an hour for forty hours a week for a term of ten weeks. Double what he would have made in construction, and more than four times the minimum wage.
“You were pretty sure I’d do this,” he said after a few minutes of reading through the paperwork. “My name is printed here.” He tapped on one of the sheets.
“I wasn’t entirely sure. Hoping is more like it, I guess,” Pearl said. “I need this done, and I want to see it happen before I leave this big, bad world. I have a will, and my wishes for how my health should be handled at the end are very clear. This house, though—it’s a sticking point. I’d like to see it cleaned out and sold. And if I can get acquainted with my grandson at the same time, all the better.”
“Ten weeks seems like a long time to empty a house and clean it up.” He looked around the kitchen. “What if I get it done sooner than that?”
“You won’t,” she said and took a sip of coffee. “There’s an attic full of family items and a barn that hasn’t been looked at in years. God knows what you’ll find inside. You’ll have to start off by inventorying everything in the place.”
“Inventorying?”
“Yes, nothing fancy, just a list of each item, but you have to go through all of it. Every cupboard, closet, and storage area. It’s a huge task. Then things will have to be sorted, packed, and moved. I’ve rented a large pickup truck to be delivered later today. It will be here for the duration of your stay.”
“Again, you seem pretty sure that I’d be on board.”
She continued, not addressing the comment. “You can move some of the things on your own. The bigger pieces you’ll need help with, but I have all the details in the folder. The young woman who owns Secondhand Heaven is named Kathleen. I talked to her on the phone, and she’s willing to take the furniture on consignment.” She sighed. “At this point, though, it doesn’t really matter if things sell or not. I’ll be dead as dead soon enough, and all the money in the world won’t help me then.”
“That’s a cheerful thought.”
“It is what it is, and there’s nothing to be done about it.” She glanced back down the hallway. “If there’s anything you want for yourself, feel free to take it. Just note it on the inventory sheet.”
“Me? I can take what I want?”
“Of course—you’re family. Who better to take family items than my own grandson? Keep your sister in mind too, and take anything you think she might like. I doubt I’ll ever meet her. Not if that father of yours has anything to say about it.”
Joe turned his attention back to the paperwork. “So I start off by taking inventory. Once I’ve done that, then what?”