Claire picked up Pebbles, and we made our way down the concrete steps.
A lone light bulb flickered to life when I flipped the switch. The dusty, sixty-watt bulb barely illuminated the first fifteen feet.
But that was enough.
“Wow,” Claire muttered.
Wow was right.
The basement was full of furniture and boxes, some of them open with random items peeking over the top.
My shoulders slumped. “Well, now I know where most of the stuff upstairs went.” This had not looked like this when I toured the building.
“I guess let’s each grab a box and start taking stuff upstairs. It all has to go, right?” Claire moved forward toward a box with glassware peeking out the top alongside a statue of a bear.
I sighed. “Yeah, eventually.” With so much chaos and the enormity of how much stuff was down here hitting me, my legs refused to propel me forward, my body frozen in a state of decision paralysis. I simply didn’t know where to start. “Maybe we should leave it for Luke’s team. They can clear it all out.”
Claire paused, her hands on the box. “We should at least look through things down here and see if there’s anything you want to keep.”
I cast a skeptical look at her. “I doubt there’s much I want to keep.”
She shrugged. “Maybe so, but let’s look. At the very least, it keeps me from going home to an empty house.”
Sympathy for my friend finally set my feet in motion. “Oh, all right.” I crossed to the stack of boxes opposite Claire’s and opened the flap.
“So, has Ozzie been working a lot of long hours?” I shot a quick glance at Claire to gauge her reaction. She kept her eyes on the box and its contents.
“Some. No more than usual. It’s just the end of the week, you know? I was looking forward to unwinding with him after we were done here, then he got called in. Now I have no idea when he’ll be home.”
“You said it was a burglary investigation, right?”
She nodded.
“Well, then, it shouldn’t take too long, should it? I mean, it’s not like a murder.” Thank goodness. We’d had enough of those around here for a long time.
“True. I guess it depends on how good the leads are and if he catches the perpetrator.” She waved a hand. “Ignore me. I’m being melancholic. It’s just been a long week, and I’m tired thanks to a certain fluffball.” She turned her head to eye her black lab puppy, who currently had her nose stuffed in a crevice between the shelving units lining the wall to my left.
I smiled. “You’re the one who bought the dog.”
Claire huffed a short sigh, then chuckled. “I know.”
Over the next couple of hours, we worked our way through the pile of boxes and furniture, taking a few pieces upstairs that I intended to keep. Claire found a few things for her home and office as well. By the time we reached the back of the basement, I was happy she convinced me to go through things. I was also happy we were done.
“I need ice cream,” I muttered, rubbing the small of my back.
“Hey, that sounds good.” Claire glanced at her watch. “And the parlor’s still open. Let’s go.” Bending over, she scooped Pebbles off the floor.
Laughing, I followed suit and picked up a dusty Betty. The little dog squirmed in my arms, then looked up and licked my chin. “You want some ice cream too? I bet we can convince your new mama to get you some.”
Claire glanced back at me as she put a foot on the bottom step. “Like she needs sugar.”
I shrugged. “Make it a small and ask for two cups. You can split it between her and Pebbles.”
As if agreeing, Pebbles barked.
“See?” I chuckled. “She says, ‘Yeah, Mom. I want ice cream.’”
“Fine,” Claire sighed.
