“Actually, she had to give us our freedom in 1864, and—”
“Three,” Joce said before she thought, then wished she hadn’t. “Sorry, you were saying?”
“I see…1863. Emancipation Proclamation. Can you tell me the day?”
“January the first,” she said cautiously, not sure if this would get her labeled as a know-it-all or worse.
“January the first, 1863. Well, Miss Minton, I can see that you and I are going to get along quite well.” There was a change in his voice as he went from teasing banter to more serious. “What can I tell you?”
“I don’t know where to begin. I want to know about the house, the town, about the people. Everything.”
“It would take much too much time to talk about all of this over the phone,” he said. “My suggestion is that you come here to Edilean and we sit down and talk about everything in person. How about if we have dinner and discuss this at length? Shall we say Saturday next at eight?”
She drew in her breath. That was just eight days away. “I don’t know if I can get there by then.”
“Shall I send a car?”
“I, uh, no, that won’t be necessary. I have a car. How do I keep the roof repaired?” she blurted.
“A practical woman,” Ramsey said. “I like that. I’m not at liberty to say the exact extent of what Miss Edi left you, but I can assure you that you’ll be able to keep the roof in great repair.”
She smiled at that. She didn’t relish the idea of having the responsibility of the care of a very old house and no way to support it.
“Miss Minton, what is your hesitation? The beautiful town of Edilean is awaiting you, plus a magnificent old house, and Colonial Williamsburg is right next door. What more could you want?”
She started to say “Time,” but didn’t. Suddenly, she had one of those moments that rarely happen in a lifetime. In an instant, she knew what she was going to do: She was going to change her life. Since Miss Edi’s death, Jocelyn hadn’t made a single change. She had the same job she no longer liked, the same routine, the same dull, dark apartment. Her friends now looked at her with sadness because Joce was no longer part of a couple. They were already talking about fixing her up with blind dates. The real difference in Jocelyn’s life was that her best friend was gone. Now, if she went “home” it was to her father’s house, to motorcycles outside, NASCAR on the TV inside, and the pitying looks of her stepmother. Poor Jocelyn, she had nothing and no one.
This was Friday, and if she quit her job tomorrow morning, then she’d have days to sort out all the things she needed to do, like turn off the water, and—
“Could I wire you some money?” he asked, seeming to think her silence had to do with expenses. “No, wait, that’s no good. You’d have to give me your bank account numbers and you shouldn’t do that. For all you know I’m a…” He hesitated.
“A lawyer?”
“That’s right. Scum of the earth. We spend years in school learning how to rip people off. How about if I overnight you a check?”
“I have enough to do what I need to,” sh
e said. “It’s just that this is a big step.”
“If you know the date of the Emancipation Proclamation, then you love history. So how can you wait to see a house that was built in the eighteenth century? No velvet ropes anywhere. You can explore all you want. Did you know that the stables were recently rebuilt? And there’s a cellar that’s intact. And I believe the attic is full of trunks of old clothes and diaries.”
“Mr. McDowell, I think you missed your calling. You should be traveling around the country on a covered wagon and selling snake oil.”
“No, no snake oil. I sell Miss Edi’s Golden Elixir. It’s made from rainbows and flecked with gold dust from the leprechauns’ pots. Guaranteed to cure anything that ails you. You have a boyfriend?”
“And what will the elixir do to him?” she asked, smiling.
“No,” he said, seriously, “do you have a boyfriend?”
“Not since he asked me to marry him and I ran away screaming.”
“Ah,” he said.
Joce wished she could take back her comment. “I mean, it wasn’t actually like that. He’s very nice and I’m not adverse to marriage, but—”
“No explanation needed. My last girlfriend led me into a jewelry store and they had to take me away in an ambulance.”
“A kindred soul.”