Bodies & Buried Secrets: A Rosewood Place Mystery (Rosewood Place Mysteries Book 1) Read Online Free

be jammed, so we haven’t been able to look inside.” Annie pushed her hair back from her eyes. “I’m not too concerned with the barn just this minute, though. What we really need is the house in livable condition, at least part of it. My mother,” she sighed, “sold her house this week, so we need a place to stay while we get the place in shape for business.”
    Rory raised one eyebrow. “Now, why would you go and do a thing like that, Mrs. Purdy? I mean, this place looks sturdy enough, but I’m not sure it’ll be what you call livable for a few days at least.” He took a deep breath, then pulled out a small notepad and a tape measure from his pocket. “Let me take a look and see what needs to be done first, if you don’t mind. Then I can get started.”
    Annie seemed surprised. “We haven’t talked about costs or your work schedule yet,” she exclaimed. “How do we know you’re not going to charge through the roof for your services?”
    Rory looked back at the house, squinted one eye, then headed to the back of his truck, where he pulled out a well-worn ladder. “Because, I’m not in the business of screwing people over. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to take a look at that roof. I don’t think it’s gonna rain tonight, but if your mama has her heart set on moving in right away, I’m going to need to make sure she doesn’t get wet if it does.”
    Annie didn’t know whether to be offended or impressed by his gung-ho attitude, but she had to admit that he was right. If they were going to get moved into the house any time soon, repairs needed to be made, and Rory was the only contractor willing to do them. She turned to Bessie, who was digging through the boxes in the back of Annie’s truck. “I guess we need to call the electric company,” Annie suggested, helping her mother lift out a box filled with dishes.
    “Oh, no need,” Bessie shooed her away, carrying the box towards the house on her own. “I called them this morning while you were in the shower. Charley said they’ll have the power on by noon.”
    Annie grinned as she watched her mother make her way up the steps and into the house. She had to admit when Bessie Mae set her mind to something, she got things done. Annie pottered along behind Bessie, trying not to fixate on where in the house Rory was at any given time. She held her breath as she heard him shimmy up the ladder and stomp around on the roof, and she found herself re-sweeping sections of the floor as she got distracted by thoughts of him falling through the ceiling or off the roof and onto the ground. She held her breath most of the time she listened to his knocks and taps until her mother scolded her.
    “He knows what he’s doing. Do you?” She pointed at the pile of dust Annie had missed completely, and her daughter blushed.
    “I can’t help it. I’m a worrier.” Anne decided to stop sweeping and move to the upstairs bedrooms. She needed to find at least one of them that they could set up camp in for the night. She paused on the landing halfway up the stairs to look out the window at Devon, who seemed to be talking to Rory as he worked on the roof. Her son still had the little orange kitten tucked tightly in his arms, and for the first time since she could remember, he looked content. Maybe not happy, not yet, but she hoped that would come.
    There were eight bedrooms in the farmhouse, three large ones and five smaller ones. Annie had already begun envisioning the rooms as they’d look when she finished decorating them. The three larger rooms overlooked the front lawn and majestic views of the surrounding mountains. The best view, at least in her mind, could be found only in the smallest, coziest room at the far end of the house. It overlooked part of the pasture that had once been used for growing cotton and part of the pond, where she imagined the former owners had spent many hours fishing or even swimming if they were brave enough.
    She opened the windows of