“Of course you will,” Mel said. “But your world will inevitably expand. Jack said he fed you dinner. How would you like a cup of tea? With honey?”
“That sounds perfect.”
“Let’s go inside and make it together. There’s a small refrigerator and microwave in the guesthouse. We can poke around in the kitchen for a few things you can take with you for the night.”
Kaylee followed Mel. “As a matter of fact, I brought a cooler and picnic basket with some groceries. I knew that once I got to the Templetons’ house, the nearest grocery store would be at least a town away and it might be a day or two before I could shop.”
“That was smart. There’s a small store in town but you’re probably going to have to drive to Clear River or even to Fortuna to stock up. Sit down while I put on the water and make our tea.”
Kaylee looked around the spacious kitchen adjacent to the great room and dining room. “Your home is beautiful.”
“Thank you,” she said. “Jack and some of his friends built it. Then his sister and her husband built the house next door. Brie is an attorney with an office in her home and she loves to hike. If you decide to hang around a while, she can give you some great tips on hiking trails. Sometimes a little bit of nature is just the thing. The views are spectacular.”
“I’ll probably go back to the LA area, since the house isn’t going to be available.”
“LA? I went to school in LA and worked there for a long time.”
“What kind of work?” Kaylee asked.
Mel put the tea in the pot to steep, bringing it to the table. “I’m a nurse practitioner and midwife. I work with Dr. Michaels in town, right across from Jack’s. Here’s an idea. Jack knows everyone. That’s kind of a by-product of having the only watering hole in town. Why don’t you ask him to make a couple of phone calls and check with a Realtor or two, see if there are any vacation properties for rent around here. Maybe you won’t have to hurry back to LA.”
“I don’t want to impose…”
“He wouldn’t mind,” Mel said. “I’m sorry you can’t just use the casita for the whole time you want to be here, but Jack’s got family coming the end of next week. Besides, that little guesthouse wouldn’t do. You need a real house with a real kitchen.”
“And a porch,” Kaylee said.
“It wouldn’t hurt to ask. I’ll call him right now. What are some of the specific things you want?”
“A cozy place. A view would be nice, like the Templetons have from their front porch. The weather is going to cool off; a fireplace would be good. I don’t think I could be happy in some fishing cabin buried in the woods. Do you know the Templetons’ house?”
“I’ve met Bonnie and Gerald and a couple of their sons, but I’ve never been to their house.”
“It’s bigger than I need—four bedrooms. But it has a nice living room and kitchen and a porch in front and back. And their view isn’t as great as yours, but you can see down the hill and the mountains to the east and west. I remember shiny hardwood floors, old quilts and wood paneling. It’s not fancy but it’s homey. Comfy. As I remember it, it feels like it kind of hugs you.”
“Wonderful description. You should be a writer.” Then Mel grinned and said, “Stand by.” She pulled her phone out of her back pocket. “When I first got here about ten years ago, we had no cell service anywhere. I used to carry a pager—that’s how antiquated this place was. The internet was dial-up. Jack,” she said into the phone, “Kaylee is here, we’re having a cup of tea and got to talking.” Then she repeated everything Kaylee had said about a rental. She said she’d see him in a while and signed off. “See. He’s happy to make a couple of calls on your behalf. Let me get your number. I’ll put it in my phone. And I’ll give you mine and Jack’s.”
They chatted while they finished their tea, and then Mel walked with her to the guesthouse and opened the door for her. It was perfectly charming and certainly adequate but she wouldn’t choose something that small for a six-month stay. It was hardly more than a motel room and she wanted to spread out and work, if possible.
Kaylee went back to her car and moved it to the side of the guesthouse. She brought in her suitcases, cooler, picnic basket and a couple of boxes of stuff that she wouldn’t bother to unpack until she found something long-term, if that even happened. She had a special suitcase with some mementos of her mother, things she couldn’t bear to be away from for too long. She was fairly sure she’d be putting everything back in her car and heading south in the morning. She’d start making a list of people she could call who would put her up for a while, until she found something semipermanent. In fact, she could call Lucy and talk with her about finding a rental somewhere.