She shook her head. “I don’t need any of the food and have plenty of bottled water. It’ll all be dropped off on the way to the next house.”
They finished up with Ephraim taking the garbage out while Sophie finished cleaning the floors then putting her full bucket of cleaning supplies out on the stoop before locking the door. When Ephraim returned to the door and picked up the bucket he studied her. She didn’t look tired but doing a cleaning job on a house that large, five bedrooms and a mess at that, she had to be exhausted at the end of the day.
“How many of the cleaning jobs are like this one?” He put the bucket in the opened trunk and slammed it shut.
“This is rare. I’ll get unwashed dishes and sometimes the bathrooms are messy, especially in renters with kids. But a lot of the renters also strip their beds and start laundry and dishwashers for me. I’ve even had people leave me presents like a box of candy or something.”
“It’s a hard job, though.” He got in and she punched in an address for the next house then started the car and headed into the light winter traffic.
“Not any harder than waitressing or working an assembly line. And I’m my own boss.” She made a turn onto the state road and headed back toward Appalachicola.
The next three houses were a breeze, compared to the first. Ephraim took over the sweeping and mopping and they were finished within two hours. When he looked at Sophie, he notedher hair, which she’d pulled back in a low ponytail at the beginning of the day, now had come from the elastic and spilled around her cheeks. “Your ponytail is gone.”
She nodded wryly and yanked the holder from her hair then gathered the blonde strands and replaced the elastic, then relaxed her shoulders. “That’s what I get for cutting it last summer.”
His stomach growled and he grunted at her chuckle. “Can we stop for lunch? I know it’s past that.”
She nodded and pulled into the next fast-food place. They entered and, to his chagrin, Ephraim remembered he had nothing on him, not even his ID. Sophie bought the burgers and drinks and led the way to a booth then sank into it. Ephraim stumbled a bit, dizzy at turning suddenly and noted her frown.
“Sorry. I usually work through lunch. I might drink a soda or water that’s left over and it there’s some snack there, I’ll eat it, but I like getting stuff done.”
“And I’m slowing you down as well as mooching off you.” He took a bite of the burger, noting the dry bun and lukewarm meat.
“I would owe you a lot if I was paying you as an assistant.” She grinned when he repeated the last word in mock horror. “Anyway, we’ve gotten a lot done today. We’ll be done well before five.”
He wondered at the hours she put in. They’d left the cabin at eight and would make it back by five. “Is your schedule full?”
She nodded. “I take on more jobs in the summer, of course, with the increased rentals. Like most people who depend on the seasonal crowds, I make most of my income during spring and summer, but I can stay busy all year.”
“Have you thought of taking on a helper?”
She shook her head. “Not really. I don’t know if I could get enough work and I’m not particularly fond of working with people.”
Yet, they’d done well, working as a team.
He didn’t press the issue but wondered at this woman. Everything in him knew she worked beyond her energy level allowed at times, though he hadn’t seen it. Yet, she wouldn’t take on someone to help. Was it because of her past?
They finished up the late lunch and headed for the last house, a small bungalow at the end of the street in downtown. Sophie described the house as being one of several small houses that had been lovingly preserved by their families. “The family has owned this property for over one hundred years.” She said as she unlocked the old-fashioned door. The keypad looked odd against the screened in porch and oak door.
“Why rent it out if they love it so much?”
“The economy,” she replied shortly. “The family was in the oyster business for decades. When the oyster beds died out because of pollution, storms and everything else, people had to move away. After Michael in 2018, this family decided to start renting the house as a vacation home.”
“Michael?” he carried the bucket in behind her and stopped, mesmerized. Unlike the other houses they’d cleaned that day, this house looked like a hundred-year-old home, dearly loved. Chaise lounges, old cabinetry and more abounded, along with polished wood floors and muted pastel walls.
“Hurricane Michael. It wiped out the last of the oyster beds. Some of them are coming back but most workers had to find other ways to make a living. Anyway, the estate agent that rents this place out is very particular about who she rents to. It’s one of the easiest places to clean too. I think renters realize the value of this place.” She ran a hand along the surface of an old rolltop desk in obvious appreciation.
They cleaned for less than an hour on the house, making sure every surface was spotless and the surrounding yard had nothing that needed attention. Sophie also showed him therefrigerator. Someone had left an unopened key lime pie. “This we’re taking back home,” she grinned.
He took the pie and bucket to the car and watched Sophie lock the door and run a hand along the porch banister. She loved the house, he realized, the town, and even that old cabin she lived in.
They were on the road and headed to the national park road when Ephraim saw something in his peripheral vision. He focused on the side mirror and sure enough, there was a dark blue car three cars behind them, speeding along and passing, though the two-lane road didn’t feature a passing lane.
“Blue car behind us,” he said in a calm tone, regretting the symptoms that had kept him from driving.
“Same one?” Sophie asked, her tone equally calm.
“Think so. Is there another road to the cabin?”
