“If you have changed your mind about doing this now, I completely understand. I have other jobs I can do. I’ll charge you my travel fees and for my time today and we can leave it at that.”
For an instant, Eleanor looked tempted by the offer but she finally shook her head. “That would be the coward’s way out. Eleanor Roosevelt was certainly not a coward and neither am I. No. This won’t be easy but I think I just have to push my way through the hard, don’t I? That is what life is all about.”
Oh, she liked Eleanor. The woman’s grace and dignity made it very tough to maintain a cool, impersonal business relationship. Jess wanted her as a friend.
“Come on,” Eleanor said. “I’ll show you the rest of the rooms, then we can decide where to begin.”
In the end, they both chose to start in one of the spare bedrooms on the south, lesser-used wing. That took most of the morning, during which they cleared away several boxes of old holiday decorations that hadn’t been used in years as well as various knickknacks from previous generations.
She carried some of the boxes down to her pickup truck, which left several more boxes and an old velvet rocker recliner in the room.
“I don’t want you to have to carry everything by yourself. Let me get Nathaniel to help you.”
“It’s my job, Eleanor.”
“But it’s all my old junk. I can call him. He might be busy but he can probably come later.”
“How about this? Now that this room is mostly cleared out, let’s use the space for a clearing house of sorts for this wing of the house. We can put the things going to a charity shop on one side and the things you might want to sell yourself at an estate auction on the other.”
“I don’t know about an estate auction. Unless you or your partner can run it for me, the whole thing seems like so much bother for a few hundred dollars.”
“From what I’ve seen, you might be looking at substantially more than that.”
“I wouldn’t mind being able to donate to Sophie’s college fund. Her grandfather would love that.”
“Good idea. You don’t have to decide that right now. We can sort through things and you can make up your mind later. If you decide it’s too much bother, we can donate everything to the charity shop.”
Eleanor sighed. “You’re trying to make this as painless as possible on me, aren’t you?”
“That’s the idea.” Jess smiled.
They broke for lunch shortly after that. Eleanor looked tired and said she needed to rest for a half hour before they started up again.
“Perfect. Would you like me to take Charlie for a walk?” Jess suggested.
“Oh, he would love that. His harness and leash are by the back door of the mudroom. Thank you, my dear. I only need a few minutes, then I should be right as rain.”
Jess quickly found the dog’s leash and a chest harness that took her a moment to figure out while the dog watched on with clear anticipation.
Finally they were ready and she headed with the little hybrid dog on a trail that wended through the trees along the rocky cliffs overlooking the Pacific.
The air was sweet with the scent of redwoods and pines, with a salty underlayer from the ocean.
She would never get anything done if she lived here, Jess thought. The scenery was just so beautiful, she wanted to sink onto a fallen log and just watch the waves.
“Should we go back?” she asked Charlie after a few moments. He gave her a quizzical look but trotted ahead of her back toward the house.
This was one of the downfalls of her itinerant life. She had always wanted a pet but didn’t think it was fair to leave one in a tiny trailer all day while she worked. Clients who had pets were her favorites because she could shower all her pent-up cuddles on them.
When she returned to the house, she found Eleanor back in the kitchen, looking much more energized.
“How was your walk?”
“Beautiful. I can’t get enough of your views here.”
“Aren’t I lucky?” Eleanor said with a smile.
Jess had to agree.
The next room they worked in after lunch turned out to contain a treasure trove, a big walk-in closet that was filled with clothing of every possible style and color. It was like something out of a vintage boutique.
“For years, I’ve been throwing everything I don’t know what to do with in this closet,” Eleanor confessed.
“These have some value. Vintage clothing in this kind of condition is always hot and I’m sure we could find a vintage clothing store maybe in one of the bigger communities that might take some on consignment.”
Eleanor snorted and stuck on a particularly ugly yellow hat. “I remember my late mother-in-law wearing this to church on Sundays, without fail. She was quite a dragon, trust me. She didn’t want me to marry her precious Jack because my blood wasn’t nearly blue enough.”
She looked at herself in the mirror. “All I see when I look at it is her frowning face at Sunday dinner, criticizing me for not using enough yeast in my rolls. I can’t believe anyone would want this ratty old thing.”
“You may be surprised. It looks like something you might find on a Paris runway right now. I’m not an expert on fashion so I’ll leave that determination to my partner.”
Yvette had a fantastic eye for design and fashion and they typically consulted together frequently. Jess would snap a picture of several of the items and send them to her to see if her instincts were right, that they carried resale value.
They spent a few more hours going through the clothing, with Jess taking pictures here and there of things that caught her eye.
She could tell Eleanor was tired, though the older woman refused to rest when Jess suggested it.
“We’re almost done with this room. It will be so nice to say we have two rooms done.”
“It would, but I need to stretch and I think Charlie needs to go out.”
Eleanor shifted her attention to her cuddly little dog, who was staring at both of them from the doorway with an intent look.
“You’re probably right.”
“I’ll take him out.”
“Thank you. I believe I could do with a snack. And I just realized Sophie should be coming home on the school bus soon. She usually hangs out here in the afternoons until Nathaniel comes home from work.”
How wonderful of Eleanor to be there for her granddaughter, Jess thought as she opened the door for the dog into the fenced area of the gardens.
Charlie finished his business then ran back inside quickly. When they both returned to the kitchen, she found Eleanor setting out a snack of fruits, vegetables and cheeses.