“You didn’t upset me.” Libby glanced at her. “But it probably would have been more helpful if we’d made the list together.”
Madeline hadn’t thought of it that way. She was so used to charging ahead, with no objections from anyone, that she hadn’t really thought at all. “You’re right,” she conceded, earning a surprised look from Libby. “I’m sorry.”
Libby nodded and went back to wiping the countertops.
Madeline took herself out of the kitchen before she stepped on any more toes.
The papers were where Libby said they would be, spread out, as if Libby had been studying them, too. Madeline read through the requirements, making mental notes of all that remained to be done. Fortunately, Jackson had taken care of a lot of it. The big party tent that would serve as shelter and a gathering point for meals was sitting down by the fence, waiting to be put up. They had portable toilets and camping tents. The barbeque pits would be delivered in a day or two. The big project left was the construction of temporary showers at the bunkhouse. Madeline would have a look just as soon as she brought the rest of her things in.
She went out to her car for her carry-on, and carried it up to the second floor. Libby, she noticed, had taken up residence in what Madeline thought was the master suite and attached bath; her clothes were spread over the end of the bed.
At the end of the hall on Madeline’s left, she found Luke’s room. There wasn’t really anything inside, none of his “stuff” to go through, really. There was a stripped-down bed and a bureau.
Madeline rolled her carry-on into the room. She peeked into the closet, and was happy to see blankets and sheets, but nothing else. She noticed some marks on the bureau that looked like hatchet marks, as if someone had tried to chop the top of the heavy pine bureau. She ran her fingers over the scars before very tentatively opening a drawer to look in. She found a single athletic sock and a few yellowed pictures. She picked one up; it was a photo of a much younger Luke—she would guess him to be about fifteen—and a boy who looked very much like him. The boy was wearing an irrepressible grin and a blue football jersey. Luke’s brother, obviously; they had the same eyes. She put the picture into the drawer and closed it.
Madeline walked to the window and opened the blinds. She was surprised to find a medal hanging there. First place Roping, it said. She looked down, noticed the low-slung red building on the other side of the garage. Too big for a shed, too rectangular for a barn. That had to be the bunkhouse.
She walked out of the teenaged Luke’s room, leaving her bag just inside the door.
Outside, sunlight spilled over her, warming her. It was another gorgeously blue day, and it inspired Madeline to try and hike up one of the trails.
As she walked past the garage, Libby emerged carrying another box. “Oh, hey,” Madeline said. “I’m going to have a look at the bunkhouse.”
Libby paused and glanced back over her shoulder at the bunkhouse, then at Madeline. “Are you asking me?”
“No, I—I’m just letting you know. I mean, unless you want to come along. The more the merrier.”
“That’s okay,” Libby said. “I have some cleaning to do.” She walked on.
Madeline shook her head and continued, pausing at the open barn door to peek inside. The stalls were empty, but it smelled of manure and hay, and there were several hay bales stacked along the back wall. Horse tack hung just inside the entrance.
She carried on to the bunkhouse, passing through a small fenced area where it looked as if someone had tilled rows for planting at some point, but where weeds now grew. The place looked closed up. Madeline opened the screen door and tried the handle of the door, but it was locked.
She let the screen door close with a bang and stepped off the little porch, walking to the one picture window, and peered in. The light inside was dim, but she could see pages from a newspaper on a chair next to a worn-out lounger. There was a small, flat screen TV mounted to the wall. She couldn’t make out anything else. She walked around the corner to the back and was surprised to find a large deck with built-in seating and two barbeque pits. The kitchen was clearly visible through sliding glass doors. It was much larger than Madeline would have guessed, with a huge fridge and a freezer. Like the main house, the wallpaper was fading and the Formica countertops looked worn.