Free The Hot Flash Club Chills Out by Nancy Thayer Page B

she strode up the sidewalk, up the wooden steps to the small front porch, and jangled a set of keys.
    “Here you are, guys!” With a flourish, she gestured to the open door.
    They hurried up the steps and through the door.
    “I won’t come in with you,” Kezia said. “Too much bother getting His Highness out of his throne and all that. But here’s a set of keys to Nora’s house.” She handed them to Shirley. “Now if you want to make copies, go ahead, but remember, we’re already having some theft in this house and you don’t want to go making keys and losing them all over the island for everyone else to find.”
    “We’ll be careful,” Shirley promised.
    Kezia smiled. She had a gorgeous smile, as wholehearted and carefree as her son’s. “Okay. If you need anything, my phone number’s on the notepad by the phone. If you have any problems with the house, call me. ’Bye, guys!” With that, she sprinted down the front steps and back into her SUV. She leaned over the seat to give her baby a big kiss, then put the car in gear and roared away.
    “What a little powerhouse!” Faye said.
    “What I wouldn’t give for a fraction of that energy,” Polly murmured.
    “Hey,
guys
!” Shirley bounced up and down, pretending she was Kezia. “Want to see the house?”
    Like kids released from school, they raced off in all directions. Inside, the house was larger than it looked from the street. All the rooms—front parlor, back parlor, dining room, den—were floored with gleaming wide boards. All but the kitchen had fireplaces.
    Upstairs were five bedrooms, each with a fireplace, and two bathrooms, one with a claw-foot bathtub and wooden floor, and a newer one, built out on an ell, with ceramic tile and a shower. Stairs at the back of the house led to the second floor and on to the attic, where another bathroom and several more bedrooms were squeezed beneath the eaves. Another set of stairs led down to a dark, uninviting basement. The walls were brick, and from the ceiling beams, bare lightbulbs hung down like the tubers of tulips and daffodils, giving the basement a very underground ambience.
    “I’m glad the washer and dryer are in the old butler’s pantry,” Polly said as they scurried back up the stairs.
    Throughout the house, the furnishings were mostly antiques of the more sturdy and usable sort, American pine in the kitchen, Empire sofas in the parlors. Many of the chairs had frayed caning or worn needlepoint seats, the Persian rugs were thin in spots, and the swooping drapes were faded. But the sofas were deep and comfortable, the beds were firm, and the cupboards were filled with beautiful old embroidered sheets as smooth as silk to the touch.
    “Five bedrooms,” Faye called out. “Let’s each choose one!”
    “Shirley,” Polly said, “you get first pick, because you’re the reason we’re here.”
    Shirley hesitated, then staked her claim. “I really do want this one at the back of the house, because of the ocean view, but when I’m not here, anyone else can use it.”
    “Who wants the other ocean-view bedroom?” Faye asked.
    Polly said, “I don’t care about an ocean view. I’d love the little side bedroom with the two white iron beds and the patchwork quilts. There’s a cradle in there, too, filled with antique dolls.”
    Marilyn and Faye inspected the three remaining bedrooms.
    “I’ll take one of the two at the front of the house,” Marilyn decided.
    “But don’t you want the ocean view?” Faye asked.
    Marilyn blushed. “I’d rather have the room with the queen-size bed.”
    “Aha,” Shirley said, “for when Ian visits!”
    “Then I’ll take the ocean view.” Faye stepped into her room and sank for a moment onto the window seat. “Heaven.”
    “But what about Alice?” worried Shirley. “That only leaves the smallest bedroom at the front of the house for her.”
    Faye thought about it. “I doubt that Alice will fuss. She doesn’t seem very keen on this little