Page 27 of Just for the Summer

Maria looked pleased.

The house was vintage rustic. Colorful area rugs covered the weathered hardwood floors. In front of a stone fireplace, there was a chunky white couch with a heavy knitted throw blanket draped over the side and plaid throw pillows at each end. There were mismatched armchairs that looked lived in, a hope chest turned coffee table, and a chandelier made of driftwood over the four-person table in the kitchen. The kitchen had a large white farm sink, white cabinets with glass panes with mason jar cups and handmade bowls and plates behind them. No dishwasher, but we’d live.

Maria sighed at the house and shook her head. “Every year I come, I clean and dust. He never comes. Finally I said, ‘Why don’t you make someone happy with this place? You rent it.’ I’m glad he listened.”

“Me too,” Maddy said.

“A place like this should have laughter in it,” Maria said, taking us to the bedrooms. “Memories.”

The bedrooms were off the living room on either side of a short hallway with a single bathroom shared in the middle. The bathroom had a white claw-foot tub, pale blue tile, and an old pedestal sink. I took the room with the cushioned reading nook in the window and Maddy picked the one with the hanging swing chair in the corner.

“Where’s the washer and dryer?” Maddy asked, looking around after the tour was over.

“No washer,” Maria said. “If you bring it to me, I’ll wash your clothes for you. It’s an extra charge or you can go to the laundromat, but it’s not close. Also you have to bring out all your trash. There’s no trash service. You can throw it in the bins in the garage when you get back to the house.”

We both nodded.

“Use the house address for mail,” she said, going on. “I’ll leave it for you in the garage. Any problems you call me.”

Maria gave us the cottage key and her number. Then we drove her back to the mansion to drop her off. Maria had made it look easy, but I was glad the boat was old and junky, because it was actually pretty hard to maneuver and I had a feeling we’d be bumping into the dock more than we liked.

We decided to go into town and get groceries since we were already docked.

“It’s great, right?” I asked Maddy as I pulled out of the mansion’s garage.

“Yes, it’s great.”

“Did you see the cute wall art? All the Minnesota lake-life stuff?”

“Yes.” She let her flip-flop fall off and put her bare foot on the seat to put her chin to her knee. “It’s like we just went back in time to 1950.”

I smiled.

“Who do you think owns that house?” I asked.

“Mister.”

I laughed. “Kind of sad he stopped using it,” I said, pulling out of the neighborhood.