Madam of Maple Court Read Online Free PDF

Only later did Pam find out that Vin had added bedrooms, baths, and a second family room until the final plans called for a building of almost seven thousand square feet, not including the three-car garage. There were two fireplaces, one a unique arrangement that could be opened to either the dining room or the living room and one in the master suite. There was an area set aside for a large, covered outdoor patio with a built-in grill, sink, refrigerator, and spacious cabinets. The twenty-five by fifty in-the-ground pool and some distance behind it the hot tub that seated ten were surrounded by a decorative wrought-iron fence with a locking gate to protect them from children. It would all be elaborately landscaped so that the pool would be surrounded with flowers and flowering trees. People bathing in either would barely be able to see the house.
    As they looked at the final drawings together Pam was speechless. "When did all these changes happen, and why on earth do we need five bedrooms?" she asked.
    "I know we haven't got any children," he said, and by his expression she felt he was again digging at her inability to give him a son, "but we'll be doing lots of weekend entertaining. Folks who don't want to go back to the city can sleep over."
    When he used the "no-children bomb" she lost her desire to rein him in, so she shut her mouth.
    Vin started DePalma Advertising several months after ground was broken, and both the house and the business were going so well he pooh-poohed Pam's suggestions that he forgo some of the amenities. In the end "the house" took the better part of six months to complete but Pam had to admit that Vin, the builder, and the architect had created something special.
    The downstairs was dominated by a cathedral-ceilinged entrance hall and enormous living room with a full guest bath, a dining room that could house a table for twelve, a media room that would eventually be filled with two big-screen TVs, a game console, VCR, CD and DVD players, and the biggest speakers Pam had ever seen.
    The kitchen was a wonder. Red and gray granite counter-tops and what seemed like acres of cabinets, a built-in range top with four ovens—one conventional, one convection, and two microwaves—and what looked like an industrial stainless-steel refrigerator that was big enough, as Pam told people, to hold several dead bodies. As she shopped for furniture Pam kept trying to get Vin to set a budget, but he assured her that they could afford anything she wanted. "Get the best," he said. "You never know who we might want to entertain."
    Pam was usually a judicious shopper, but at Vin's insistence she'd hired a decorator named Carlys who'd selected antique after antique for both the downstairs and the upstairs. Pam finally accepted that she could and should spend outrageous amounts on things she cared nothing about, but, she reasoned, Vin cared and that was enough for her. With Carlys's help, the entire house looked like something out of
House and Garden
magazine. To Pam it was more a showplace than a home, but each time something was added Vin's smile was her reward.
    Outside, the landscaping cost a small fortune since the builder had been forced to remove several big trees. Once it was done, however, even Pam saw that it had been worth every penny. The house, set back a hundred feet from the base of the driveway, looked like it had magically grown out of a beautiful forest glade, surrounded by azaleas, rhododendrons, and lilacs, with bulbs of every description and dozens of hybrid rose bushes, enough that in addition to the lawn care service to mow and fertilize, they had to hire a separate landscaper just to tend the plants. Vin also insisted that she hire a full-time housekeeper. "You'll be busy with committee meetings and entertaining my clients, so you won't have time to look after such a big house." She'd sighed and allowed herself to be steamrolled. It was always easier just to go along.
    The other five houses on