Dorothy Garlock Read Online Free PDF Page B

taught her to keep doors locked.
    On her way back through the house, she paused at the big oak coffee table and looked down at her picture album. Had she left it there? She must have, she thought, and picked it up to put it back on the shelf under the library table. Oh, well, with so much on her mind, it was a wonder she didn’t forget where she had left her head.
    After repairing her makeup and combing her hair, she locked the back door and went to the car. Kelly was nowhere in sight, but she could hear excited yelps coming from behind the shed.
    “Kelly. Come,” she called.
    When there was no response, she walked across the yard to the shed to see Kelly digging fiercely in the ground in front of the door.
    “Stop that!” The dog looked up at her and whined. “I’m leaving, and if you want to go you’d better get in the car or you’ll stay here locked on the porch. Now come on.”
    She waved her hand and the dog, with his tail between his legs, walked beside her to the car. Before he got in he looked back at the shed.
    “Arrr . . . woof!”
    “There’s nothing in that shed but Grandpa’s old harnesses and things like that. Nothing to eat, except maybe a mouse, and you have never eaten a mouse in your life.” She opened the car door. Kelly jumped up onto the backseat and sat down on the blanket she kept tucked over the seat cushion.
    Nelda drove directly to Mr. Hutchinson’s office.
She parked the car, leaving the windows partially open for Kelly.
    “Don’t let anyone get in the car. That’s your job until I get back.”
    “Arrr . . . woof.”
    “I’m glad you understand. Be back soon.”
    Inside the office she was greeted by a pleasant gray-haired woman who smiled at her when she came in.
    “May I help you?”
    “I’m Nelda Hanson. I’d like to see Mr. Hutchinson.”
    “Have a seat, and I’ll tell him you’re here.”
    The receptionist left the area and Nelda settled in a chair beside the window. Almost immediately the woman was back, followed by a tall man whose face was young and unlined though his hair was iron gray. He wore a dark suit, a white shirt, and dark red tie.
    “Mrs. Hanson.” He came toward her with an outstretched hand and a smile on his face. “We meet at last.”
    “I’m glad to meet you, Mr. Hutchinson. After our many phone conversations, I feel that I know you.”
    “The same here. Come on back to my office.”
    They walked down the hall to the large office at the back. The lawyer offered her the chair in front of his desk, then went around and sat down.
    “Are you settled in? Did you find everything all right?”
    “Yes and yes. Thank you for making it so easy.
The house and all in it was in perfect order. I had no idea what condition it would be in after being vacant for so long. I was pleasantly surprised.”
    “I have good people who checked on it from time to time. When you called to say that you were coming, they cleaned it thoroughly.”
    “They did that all right. Even lined the drawers with fresh paper before the clean linens were put away. I appreciate it. Will the cost be taken out of the farm account?”
    “Yes. The farm has made money the last few years. I invested some of the profit for you, and you have a tidy sum on hand.”
    “I don’t think I’ll need to draw on it. I’ll be all right money-wise for a while.”
    “It’s available, as are the books anytime you want to look them over or have an accountant do so.”
    Earl Hutchinson leaned back in his chair and studied the woman seated before him. He had not pictured her as being so pretty. For a woman so young, she was well thought of in her profession. When he had talked with her on the phone she had been all business, quick and firm in what she wanted. He liked that.
    “I’ve heard from your father . . . several times, in fact.”
    “Oh, dear. Hearing from my father is never good news.”
    “He wants to buy the farm now that he has given up on breaking Eli’s will.”
    “Why does