. 02

[Author’s note: A reader pointed out that Katherine’s age changed from 27 in Chapter 1, to 24 in Chapter 2. Katherine’s age is 24, the age of 27 was a misstatement. Thank you, and sorry for any confusion.]

Chapter Two- part 2.

At the top of the stairs, Rachael found herself looking at a short hallway with three doors and two hall closets. From the hallway, the upstairs seemed much smaller than the ground floor. She opened the first door and gasped. It was a bathroom, but it was more spacious than any bathroom she had ever seen before. There was a separate shower and bath, a two sink vanity and even a couch. Imagine, Katherine thought, a couch in a bathroom! Only in California.

The next door opened into a room with a perfectly made bed, stately furniture and few personal effects. It was obviously a guest room, and seemed to be where Vic was staying. At least he has the decency not to stay in my Aunts own bedroom, she muttered inwardly.

Opening the third door, Katherine heard herself gasp. There was no doubt who this room belonged to. Even though she had never seen it before, Katherine got the impression that the room had been virtually untouched since her aunts death. The large vanity was cluttered with knickknacks, pictures and jewelry draped over the mirror. The chair itself, was a Queen Anne style made of dark cherry wood, with a cream colored embroidered cushion seat. Over the back of the seat, there was actually a flamingo pink feather boa. Katherine laughed, feeling certain that she’d discover high healed Malibu slippers in the closet as well.

The bed was made of a dark ornate wood and was clothed in the bright colors and patterns of a middle eastern design that didn’t really match with anything else in the room. The pictures on the walls all seemed to be large posters representing the natural world. On one wall, a large window gave a glorious view of the ocean below. To the left of the window, she had a poster of a water fall shown in slow motion, and to the right was a travel poster of the Cascades in Jackson Michigan. The giant water fountain backlit with bright reds, greens and blues seemed to glisten right off the paper.

The wall that held the bed and nightstand boasted a picture of the burnt orange waves of sand in a desert somewhere, a grouping of smaller framed prints including a lizard, a scorpion, and a beetle, another large print of revelers around a bonfire, and one of a bright yellow painting of a smiling sun. Except for the concept of dry heat that made Katherine feel vaguely thirsty, there seemed to be no real pattern to the wall.

The vanity wall, besides being home to a closet who’s only door was a beaded curtain, showed a snowy mountain top, several wolves in a winery setting, and a sky diver in a clear blue sky.

Turning to see were she had entered, the door with the wall on it was also festively decorated. The back of the door sported a very long poster of an apple tree in full blossom. It’s white flowers made the tree almost look as if it were covered in snow, but from the greenery all around it was clear that the picture had been taken after the last frost. Another poster showed a girl in a field holding a daisy, and there where several pictures of baby animals in the woods, fawns, rabbits, birds nests, even a mother and baby bear.

The room itself was quite large, and filled with surfaces. There where two tall dressers, and one bureau style dresser and several cabinets, tables and stands all loaded down with knickknacks jewelry, picture frames, cosmetics and other odds and ends. She had several bookcases which held a few potted plants, stuffed animals, and assorted pottery in a addition to the magazines, binders, and books that not only made there home in there rightful place, but could be found scattered on nearly every surface as well.

The room, was not remotely tidy, didn’t give an impression of being dirty or messy but rather one of business. There was simply too much going on everywhere to take it all in. Everywhere she looked, Katherine discovered something she hadn’t seen only moments before. Now, she realized that the vanity was not up against the wall at all, but moved forward quite a bit, and behind it was not only plenty of room to stand, but also a door.

Katherine walked to the door which it seemed had been hidden in plane sight, but was distracted when she thought she saw something moving out of the corner of her eye. She turned and moved quickly, only to realize that it was a glint of sunlight dancing off one of the glass beads her aunt had used as a closet door. Once in front of the closet, however she couldn’t resist going inside to look for those Malibu slippers she had predicted would be inside.

She didn’t find the feathery shoes, but what she did find was nothing short of amazing. The closet itself was a spacious walk in, nearly as big as the room. There were racks and racks of clothing, boxed on shelves, and even a few more dressers. One dresser, nearly as tall as Katherine was solely for jewelry, it seemed and was especially made for that purpose. The inside of the closet was just as busy as the rest of the room. Katherine had brushed against no less than four wind chimes- in a closet!- and seen every type of clothing from elaborate Halloween costumes to formal wear, to beach wear, to professional and casual. There where hats, shoes, belts, scarves and accessories of every kind. Her aunt seemed to have a large collection of different styles of sunglasses from silly to practical to glamorous.

Katherine knew that her aunt had done well for herself as a media consultant, and she knew that her aunt had eclectic tastes and was somewhat of an eccentric but the scope of what she was looking at took her by surprise. Hadn’t her aunt ever thrown away a single thing in her life? Compared to the airy openness of downstairs, the bedroom and closet resembled a museum of her life, or maybe a flea market.

The colors and patterns in the closet where beginning to overwhelm her so Katherine made her way back into the room and sat down on the bed to clear her head. She had to admit that a small part of her was impressed by the luxury her aunt had been accustomed to. On the other hand, she couldn’t help but think of the waste. In practical terms, no one needed more than they could use and enjoy in one lifetime and her aunt seemed rather to err on the side of extravagance. Perhaps the ocean air had effected her, or the climate of waste and access that was all around her, here on the west coast.

She wanted to think the best of her aunt, but it was beginning to seem as if Aimee had traded in her good old northeastern values for the godless bohemian lifestyle her mother had always warned her of. Katherine loved her aunt and immediately decide to forgive her. It wasn’t her fault, she decided. It was the influence of those around her that had tempted her into this carefree and careless lifestyle.

People like the young man downstairs, who even now was living off her aunts generosity of spirit like some later-day Kato Kaelen. She would show him. First thing in the morning she would be speaking with her aunts attorney and she would get this no account loafer out of her aunts house once and for all. Then she could get to the business of boxing up her aunts things for charity and putting the house on the market. The sooner she sold this property and got herself back home, the less likely it would be that she would succumb to the same temptations as her wayward relative.

Certainly there was no danger of that, Katherine attested, as long as she stayed focused on what she came to do, and kept her head on her shoulders. Katherine Banks would be back home in the real world in no time.

Author's note: Thanks for the feedback and votes so far. A Match Made in Heaven is the working title for the romance novel that I am working on. It's been in my head for a good long time, and it's about time I did something to get it out, and share it with someone. I hope that you will enjoy it. I am looking forward to your feedback, but remember it's a work in progress so please be gentle. I could use all the encouragement I can get at this point, and I promise to try to keep the installments coming at a fairly steady rate.