A Thousand Yesteryears Read Online Free PDF Page B

high school. Within days, he’d fallen in love with her, declaring she was more important than fame and music, and he couldn’t live without her.
    Such schoolgirl silliness.
    But her heart had done a little pitter-patter at seeing him again.
    An hour later, she and Caden sat at the dining room table, just as she had done with Ryan, and he went over the list of suggested repairs.
    “Some of the items are obvious.” He slid the paper across the table for her to take a look. “Plaster repair and painting, the damage to the screened porch and kitchen door, but there are some others you might not have noticed.”
    “Such as?” Eve glanced down the list, a sinking sensation eating at her stomach. It wasn’t the financial setback that would hurt as much as the time involved. Aunt Rosie’s estate had been considerable, even if a good portion was currently tied up in equity. The biggest problem was she didn’t want the estate hanging over her head.
    “Some of the wiring has been exposed in the dark room. If I’m ripping out walls, that should be reworked and brought up to code. And the chemical spills have eaten through the finish on the hardwood floor by the closet. If your intent is to sell, you can market ‘as is’ or fix the items I’m suggesting and hope for a boost in resale value. I’ll have to subcontract the electrical.”
    “You sound like you know what you’re talking about.”
    He shrugged and stretched in the chair. “I’ve got a Realtor who calls me frequently when he needs repair work done on a client listing.”
    Another connection that would save time. “Can I get his name?”
    “Sure thing. I thought you might be interested and brought a card just in case.” He slipped it from the front pocket of his jeans and passed it across the table.
    Eve glanced at the embossed gold letters: James Dixon, River Real Estate. “I’ll call him.” She wanted the house sold as quickly as possible. “Can you give me an idea what the repairs are going to set me back?”
    “I’ll work up an estimate and drop it off tomorrow. I’ll break it out by item. That way if you don’t want to do everything I suggest, you don’t have to.”
    “That sounds fair. When do you think you can start?”
    “Depending on what you decide, I’ll probably have to pick up supplies, possibly order some lumber, but there are a number of things I can get started on right away.” He shook his head. “Odd how most of the damage was to the dark room and your aunt’s bedroom.”
    She’d thought the same. “Almost as if the rest was an afterthought.”
    Caden narrowed his eyes. “What does that mean?”
    “Oh…nothing.” She was likely being silly, but now that she’d had a chance to scrutinize each room thoroughly, she couldn’t help notice the dissimilarities. Aside from the kitchen, which had been the point of entry through the screened porch, most of the other rooms had sustained minimal damage. It was almost as if the vandals had targeted the dark room and her aunt’s bedroom, then hit the others so the damage wouldn’t seem selective. “Ryan thinks it was kids having fun, but I’m not so sure.” She bit her lip, thinking of the man she’d spied from her bedroom window.
    Caden shifted uneasily, his posture relaying a hesitant thought.
    She pounced on his silence immediately. “What aren’t you saying?”
    He frowned, tapping his pen against the table. Judging from the look in his eyes, he was uncertain how forthcoming he should be. At last he cleared his throat and dropped the pen as if reaching a decision. “I don’t want to alarm you, but I’ve seen my share of damage before. Whoever trashed the rooms upstairs was either looking for something or did it in a fit of rage.” He held up a hand as disclaimer. “Just my opinion.”
    Her heartrate increased. “Wouldn’t your brother have told me that? He’s a cop. He would have recognized—”
    “Ryan might be in law enforcement, but he tends to see the