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this.”
    “ I hope he will,” Mary said gently and swept her gaze over the grand living room that was painted in subtle reflections of the flame in the fireplace. “I can't imagine how lonely Harry must have felt in his last days.”
    “ But how did he know they were his last days?” Suzie asked thoughtfully. “He says that he made recent discoveries about his life coming to an end.”
    “ Maybe a medical diagnosis?” Mary suggested with a slight shrug.
    “ Maybe,” Suzie hesitated and then shook her head slowly. “Something just doesn't seem right about the tone of the letter. It feels as if he was afraid, not so much of a medical issue, but of a person.”
    “ A person?” Mary scooted to the edge of the couch to look more closely at Suzie. “What makes you think that?”
    “ I don't know,” Suzie shook her head. “Maybe I'm just reading too much into it.”
    “ Well, no matter what inspired him to write the letter, the fact that he did is a treasure. Jason should get some relief from this, if not now, hopefully in the future,” Mary murmured and then stretched her arms above her head as she yawned.
    “ Yes, it sounds like Beverly's death really tore Jason and his father apart. How sad to think that at a time when they needed each other the most, they were isolated from one another,” she glanced over at Mary just as she was finishing her yawn. “I second that,” she laughed as she stifled her own yawn. “Let's get some good rest.”
    They had chosen bedrooms to stay in earlier in the day. The rooms in the home had been quite neglected, but at one time it was clear that a good amount of care had been taken to select decorations and paint colors. Each room had its own theme from nautical, to whimsical, to medieval. It was only noticeable if close attention was paid to the subtle decorations and nuances of the texture of the bedding and walls. They chose two rooms close to each other, as the house was rather spooky in the dark. Suzie chose a room that had a Victorian feel to it with thick, long curtains and a four poster bed. Mary chose a room that had a more Mediterranean theme, with bright colors and simplistic furnishings. Neither of them noticed the décor in either room by the time they fell into bed, exhausted from all the hard work they had done.
     

Chapter Four
     
    When Suzie's eyes fluttered open the next morning she felt as if she was floating. There was something liberating about being away from home without any set date of return. She found herself looking up at the ceiling beyond the four posts that towered above her bed. The ceiling was weathered but strong and could use a fresh coat of paint. Before she was even up for the day she was already planning what they would attack next in the refurbishing. She walked to the door of her bedroom and listened, but only heard silence. She expected that Mary was still sleeping.
    As Suzie stepped into the bathroom attached to the bedroom she could feel the hard work of the day before in the muscles of her upper arms and the strain of her lower back. She was sure that a hot shower would be a good cure for that. She wrapped her hand around the bar of the old handle and turned it. The pipe offered a loud groan and spat out a few drops of water.
    “ Oh no,” she muttered to herself. She walked over to the sink and turned on the water at the sink. A thin stream of water dripped out. It was obvious that there was some kind of clog in the line. As she gave up on her hot shower she realized that she would need to call a plumber to resolve this problem. She tugged on a robe over her flowing silk, white nightgown and headed back out into the living room. The scent of the fireplace filled the room, still clinging to the furnishings. It was a nice smell, but it did not compare to the heavenly aroma of coffee and toast coming from the kitchen. She found that the counter had been scrubbed, a coffee maker was hooked up and brewing, and the toaster was hard at