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Love Makes a House a Home

By Kimberly Rae Jordan

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CHAPTER ONE

Jessamine Collingsworth stepped into the bedroom and set down the boxes and the handful of garbage bags she carried. She wrinkled her nose at the stale air that filled the room. These rooms had been closed up since Gran’s death. Jessa’s last time in the large suite had been to pick out an outfit for Gran’s burial. She would have been content to leave them for a while longer, but even from beyond the grave Gran was forcing the issue with her renovation plans.

The room still looked like it was all original to when the house had been built. Jessa wasn’t aware that Gran had done any updating to her suite of rooms except for a new toilet and bathtub in the master bath. At one time it had probably been considered beautifully decorated, but now with its antique pieces of furniture and heavy curtains over the dark walls, it just looked dated.

A light layer of dust coated the top of Gran’s dresser. It wasn’t much, but it would have driven her crazy. Even after she’d retired from taking care of the rest of the house, Sylvia Miller had come to the manor once a week to clean Gran’s rooms. She had been the only one Gran had trusted to care for her things, but Jessa was sure her grandmother had paid her well for her work.

With a sigh, Jessa looked around, trying to gauge just how much stuff there was to sort through. Gran actually had a suite of rooms which consisted of a decent sized bedroom, a smaller sitting room, a master bathroom, and a small room that had once been used as a nursery.

As she stood there, Jessa thought again about keeping this suite as it was. Not the décor, but the setup. Though she hadn’t spoken to the others about it yet, she was considering turning the manor into a bread and breakfast. Having a suite of rooms like this for herself and, hopefully one day, her husband, would be ideal.

Violet would be moving out once she and Dean got married. Though there was no engagement yet, Jessa was sure it was just a matter of time. Rose was going to move in with Laurel and Matt, which just left her and Lily. And Cami. But she was pretty sure whatever plans her younger sister had, they didn’t involve moving into the manor on anything but a temporary basis.

She would have to ask Lance for another look at the plans to see what Gran had done to her set of rooms. If she hadn’t left them in the plans, Jessa hoped Lance would be willing to consider some changes to accommodate keeping them.
Lance. Even just the thought of him caused her stomach to knot. It looked like he had managed to get on with his life quite nicely after he’d dumped her. Back then she’d told people they had broken up because of Gran. The truth was he’d been the one to end it. Gran had made her dislike of him clear when she’d found out about them dating. And when she’d come upon them just as he was leaving after breaking up with her, she’d yelled at him to never come back. So most people believed her story that Gran had forced them to break up, but, unfortunately, she knew the truth.

Though she noticed he didn’t wear a ring, she knew he’d gotten engaged shortly after that horrible night when he had broken things off. So while he may have been the love of her young life, she certainly hadn’t been his. It had been bad enough that the relationship had ended, but the knowledge that she could be so easily replaced had hurt more than anything. He’d said it was because they were moving, but with the way things had unfolded after that, it was more likely that he just hadn’t loved her. She had been dreaming of a future with him. It had no doubt been too much to expect of an eighteen year old boy.

“Jessa?” A knock accompanied her name. She turned to see Laurel standing in the doorway. For all that she’d gone through in the past few weeks, her sister looked so much better.

She smiled at her. “Hey. What’s up?”

Laurel stepped inside and looked around. “This room used to scare me.”

“Yeah. It’s not the most welcoming place,” Jessa agreed. “If only these walls could talk though.”

Laurel visibly shuddered. “I’m not sure I’d want to hear what they’d have to say.”

Jessa laughed. “True. I’m just trying to get my nerve up to start going through all of Gran’s stuff.”

“Do you need some help?” Laurel asked as she ventured to Jessa’s side.

“It would definitely go faster,” Jessa admitted.

“Oh, I almost forgot the reason I came up in the first place,” Laurel said as she held up her cell phone. “Did you get Cami’s text?”

“No. I heard an alert on my way here, but my hands were full, so I didn’t check it.” Jessa pulled her phone from her pocket. “What’s up with our absent sister?”

“She said she’s coming in on Thursday and wondered if someone could pick her up.”

“Finally she makes contact, eh? Nothing like leaving it until almost the last minute,” Jessa said, trying to stem the irritation she felt toward her younger sister.

“Yeah, I know, but at least she’s coming. I thought I could drive down on Wednesday, spend the night and come back on Thursday with her.”

Jessa nodded. “That would be good. I imagine you’d like to spend some time with Matt.”

A smile brightened Laurel’s face and her eyes sparkled. “Yes, I would. I wish he had let me go back with him today, but he was sure I wouldn’t rest much there like I would here. However, I think he’d let me come home for one night.”

“And you’re in luck. Rose won’t even bug to go with you this time,” Jessa told her.

“Why’s that? I thought I might have to bribe her.”

“She has a birthday party and a sleepover on Wednesday. She’s been looking forward to it since the end of school so she won’t want to miss that.”

Laurel nodded. “I remember her mentioning that the other day. I’m glad she’ll have something to do while I’m gone.”

Jessa frowned. “Are you up for the drive though?”

“I think I’ll be okay. Every day I’m feeling stronger. But, if necessary, Cami can drive back.”

“That’s true.” Jessa looked around the room again before walking to one of the windows and throwing open the curtain. She lifted the window to let some fresh air into the room. “Guess we’d better get started, if you’re up to it.”

“I am. Can’t lift anything heavy, but I can certainly sort stuff.”

“How about you work on the bathroom?” Jessa suggested. “I guess most stuff should be tossed, but anything new you find we can donate.”

Jessa carried a one of the boxes into the bathroom and got Laurel set up to begin sorting in there. She returned to the bedroom and debated where to start. The few boxes she’d brought upstairs weren’t going to even put a dent in what needed to be moved out. With a sigh, she walked to the large closet and began to take clothes off hangers and lay them on the big bed. Once the hangers were all empty, she folded the outfits carefully and put them in the black garbage bags. They would hold a lot more clothes than the boxes would. While Gran no doubt would have objected, putting the clothing in the garbage bags was the easiest way to pack them away.

As she folded the clothes, Jessa recognized so many of the outfits Gran had worn over the years. She ran her fingers over the soft fabric of a silk shirt. Gran had always cared very much about her appearance. Her hair and makeup had always been done perfectly if there was any chance she’d see anyone outside the family. And her clothes had been nothing but the best.

“It is expected of us as Collingsworths to look the part of a founding family,” Gran had always said. Although who had decided what a founding family had to look like was still a mystery to Jessa. She just hoped there were others out there who liked to dress like Gran, because there were a ton of clothes to donate.

Abandoning the pile of clothes for a moment, Jessa walked to the bathroom to check on Laurel.

“Gran has more new products than you might have thought,” Laurel said as she waved her hand at a counter full of bottles. “Did she have a bit of a shopping problem?”

Jessa shrugged. “Not that I’m aware of, but I wasn’t always with her when she shopped.”

“There’s a lot to throw out, but also plenty to keep or donate. You might want to look through them before you decide. There’s some nice stuff here.”

“Feel free to keep what you want,” Jessa told her. “And speaking of donating, would you be willing to take a load into a thrift store in the Twin Cities when you go?”

“Sure, but why not donate here?” Laurel asked as she checked another bottle before tossing it into the trash bag.

“I think Gran would come back to haunt me if I let her clothes go to a local thrift store. She’d probably be afraid that people would recognize them and buy them with evil intent.”

Laurel laughed. “Like what? She’s already passed on. Not much more anyone could do to her.”

“True,” Jessa said. “But I’d still feel more respectful of her memory if we didn’t donate her more recognizable things to the store here. Stuff like the cosmetics and toiletries I don’t have a problem with and even the furniture if we decide to get rid of some of it. But her more personal things...I think they should go somewhere else.”

“You’re probably right,” Laurel agreed. “Sure. I can take whatever you’ve got ready to go by then. We can fill the car right up. They are usually pretty good about helping unload stuff at the one store I’ve donated to before.”

“Thanks. I would feel a lot better doing it that way.” Before returning to her own sorting, Jessa said, “Be sure to take a break if you need one. I don’t want you to overdo it. Matt would be one very unhappy brother-in-law if I let that happen.”

They worked in silence for another hour before Laurel came out of the bathroom. “I think that’s pretty much all done. I’m going to go downstairs and start lunch. Want anything?”

“Sure. I’ll be down in a few minutes. Just want to finish this up.”
Alone in the room, Jessa pulled out her cell phone as she sank down on the edge of the bed. She debated making the call, but really did want to preserve what she could of the bedroom suite before it was too late.

Out of practicality—or so she’d told herself—Jessa had put Lance’s cell number in her phone after he’d left them with a business card at their last meeting. Her thumb wavered over his name, but then she touched the screen and pressed the phone to her ear.

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