Total pages in book: 85
Estimated words: 82165 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 411(@200wpm)___ 329(@250wpm)___ 274(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 82165 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 411(@200wpm)___ 329(@250wpm)___ 274(@300wpm)
Cadie slipped out of her coat and handed it to me.
After hanging up her coat, I pointed to a door. “Um, to the right is a half bath,” I said as I opened the door to show her the bathroom. “This hallway will take you to the first guest bedroom.”
We walked down a small hall and into the first bedroom. It was decorated like the main part of the house, with exposed wood from floor to ceiling. There was a queen-size bed, and the large picture window had a view of the lake.
“This door is a bathroom. It’s not connected to the bedroom, so my mother always called this the backup room.”
“The backup room?” she asked.
“Yeah, if someone showed up late or came to visit last minute, they went into this room.”
She nodded and followed me into the bathroom. It was my least favorite bathroom, and I felt my mother made it that way on purpose.
“Back out here is the living room.”
“Wow, look at that fireplace! It is massive!” She gasped when she looked up. “You have a moose head on the fireplace!”
I laughed. “We do.”
Turning to look at me, she asked, “Who killed it?”
I studied the moose and replied, “I think my grandfather, or maybe one of my father’s brothers, I don’t remember. It wasn’t my father. He hates to hunt.”
“And you?”
With a shrug, I said, “I like to sit and watch them. Not much of a hunter myself.”
Cadie looked around. “All the wood. It’s breathtaking.”
“Yeah, this room is mostly for show, as you can tell by the furniture. It’s not very comfortable to sit in.”
She pointed. “That nook looks comfortable.”
I laughed. “Macy used to love to sit there and read.”
“I can see why. Look at that lake view!”
“Those doors slide open so you can walk out onto the deck. Kind of feels like it brings the outdoors in.”
“I bet,” she replied.
I nodded and started toward the kitchen. “You have to walk through the dining room to get to the kitchen if you’re in the living room; otherwise, just turn to the left once you walk in, and the other entrance is near the steps that lead upstairs. It’s not an open floorplan like most of the homes today. My grandfather built this in, I think, 1947, maybe.”
She nodded and took in the dining room. “The table is huge!”
“Yeah, too bad we hardly ever sit at it.”
Cadie frowned. “That’s a shame.”
“This is the kitchen.”
We walked into the large open kitchen. “We spent much of our time in this area of the house.”
“The wood on the ceiling! And those beams!”
I glanced up to the tongue and groove wood ceiling. Large beams ran crisscross across the length of the kitchen and small family room.
“The island seats a lot as well,” Cadie noted.
I nodded. “Through these doors, you can head out to the deck. It has a beautiful view of the lake as well.”
Cadie opened the doors and stepped outside, taking a breath at the view before her.
“Oh, wow. It’s just beautiful.”
When you first walked out to the covered deck, there was a table where we had eaten most of our meals when our parents were home. My mother loved to be outside as much as she could when she was home. I figured it had to do with living in New York City and wanting fresh, clean air. A large stone fireplace with a love seat and oversized chair sat in the corner.
“Let’s head inside, and I’ll show you the second and third floors.”
“Three floors?”
“There’s a basement, too, but it’s the game room. If you like to play pool, we have a pool table down there.”
She smiled. “I love to play pool.”
“You do?” I asked, my brows raised. “We’ll have to play a few rounds.”
“I’d like that.”
We walked upstairs and stopped at the landing. “My parents’ room is here to the right. They keep it locked for whatever reason; just know it’s decorated in the most obnoxious display of their wealth.”
Cadie laughed.
“There is a bathroom here, then two bedrooms down this hall.”
We peeked into each room and then went to the other side of the house. “This area is above the foyer downstairs. My mother didn’t like that it was just a large open area, so she added this fireplace to the existing fireplace and put a piano up here.”
Cadie sat down at the piano and played a few keys.
“You play?”
She smiled. “I do, but I haven’t played in years.”
“No one ever uses it, so please feel free to play it. The only person who knows how is Macy.”
Cadie stood, walked around the fireplace, and looked down over the railing to the living room below. “Great use of this open space up here.”
I nodded.
“This is the bedroom Sally and I thought you would like. French doors open to a balcony with a killer view of the lake. You can see the boat house from up here as well.”