Read Online TAKE A CHANCE (Chance Colorado Series) by Melissa Mayhue - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Melissa Mayhue
Ads: Link
the old key Dulcie had given her clutched tightly in her fist.
“Enjoy!” Dulcie’s voice floated up the stairs after her. “Hope you find a trove of buried treasure.”
Treasure. Right. Allie’s biggest hope was that she didn’t encounter mice or an inordinate number of spiders. If she hadn’t been so consumed with whether she’d get to see Logan again, she might have remembered to bring some plastic gloves.
At the top of the stairs, she turned to her left and opened the first door she came to, inching her way inside. As her cousin had promised, a lamp stood next to the doorway and she flipped the switch.
Light settled over the cluttered room, but hardly made a difference in beating back the shadows that clung stubbornly to the far corners. Odd shapes danced in those shadows, created by furniture and stacks of boxes and plastic bins.
Allie vaguely remembered the downstairs looking very much like this the one time she’d peeked inside as a child. A creepy, scary-movie feeling had filled her chest and she’d avoided the old building after that, in spite of her grandfather’s invitations to join him.
That same feeling tightened her breathing now.
“I’m not a child now.” She spoke aloud into the silence to reassure herself.
Besides, it was only dust filling her lungs, not some Hollywood-type premonition of monsters and knife-wielding murderers wearing goalie masks.
She lifted the antique floor lamp and carried it with her as far into the room as its cord would allow.
“Wow.”
For as long as she could remember, her grandfather had haunted estate sales, auctions and generally any place he could haggle for a bargain. If he didn’t have the entire second floor of this building to store it all in, he’d make a perfect candidate for a study on hoarding.
Though the original facade of the building made it appear misleadingly small from the outside, it was, as her cousins had reminded her, really large.
Chairs of every description occupied the room, along with a variety of tables, all neatly stacked. If the other rooms held even half as much as this one, her cousins had been correct. She’d have no problem furnishing an area to serve as a bookstore and lending library.
A huge old bookcase stood against one wall, peeking out from behind two tall stacks of classic cardboard storage boxes. From here it appeared she’d found an excellent piece to use in setting up a bookstore downstairs, though she’d need to move the stacks to get a better look.
She stuffed the key she still held into the pocket of her jeans. Dulcie had told her she’d need it to lock up after herself if she stayed up here very long, since they’d be leaving soon. Allie had taken it, though, in truth, she doubted she’d need it. She didn’t plan to be here long tonight. In the bright daylight with the windows wide open, it would be much easier to explore this area. And much less creepy.
Still, it wouldn’t take long to move the boxes and quickly inspect the bookcase to make sure all its shelves were intact.
The boxes turned out to be extraordinarily heavy for their size. A closer examination revealed the word BOOKS scrawled on the side of each one.
Her breath caught again as she lifted the first lid, but this time neither dust nor fear was involved.
Hardbacks stacked two layers deep filled the box.
W. Somerset Maugham, James Joyce, Harper Lee, Mark Twain, William Faulkner and John Steinbeck.
This find was too good to be true. If she actually did set up a lending area, these books would provide a great head start.
She lifted another lid and found paperbacks in this box. Romance, science fiction, mystery. The third box held more hardbacks, and she still had four more boxes to look through.
Obviously she’d been too quick to scoff. Papa Flynn had indeed accumulated a wonderful trove of treasure.
“We’re leaving now!” Her cousin Desi’s voice echoed up the stairs. “You want us to lock you in?”
“No!” The idea of
“Enjoy!” Dulcie’s voice floated up the stairs after her. “Hope you find a trove of buried treasure.”
Treasure. Right. Allie’s biggest hope was that she didn’t encounter mice or an inordinate number of spiders. If she hadn’t been so consumed with whether she’d get to see Logan again, she might have remembered to bring some plastic gloves.
At the top of the stairs, she turned to her left and opened the first door she came to, inching her way inside. As her cousin had promised, a lamp stood next to the doorway and she flipped the switch.
Light settled over the cluttered room, but hardly made a difference in beating back the shadows that clung stubbornly to the far corners. Odd shapes danced in those shadows, created by furniture and stacks of boxes and plastic bins.
Allie vaguely remembered the downstairs looking very much like this the one time she’d peeked inside as a child. A creepy, scary-movie feeling had filled her chest and she’d avoided the old building after that, in spite of her grandfather’s invitations to join him.
That same feeling tightened her breathing now.
“I’m not a child now.” She spoke aloud into the silence to reassure herself.
Besides, it was only dust filling her lungs, not some Hollywood-type premonition of monsters and knife-wielding murderers wearing goalie masks.
She lifted the antique floor lamp and carried it with her as far into the room as its cord would allow.
“Wow.”
For as long as she could remember, her grandfather had haunted estate sales, auctions and generally any place he could haggle for a bargain. If he didn’t have the entire second floor of this building to store it all in, he’d make a perfect candidate for a study on hoarding.
Though the original facade of the building made it appear misleadingly small from the outside, it was, as her cousins had reminded her, really large.
Chairs of every description occupied the room, along with a variety of tables, all neatly stacked. If the other rooms held even half as much as this one, her cousins had been correct. She’d have no problem furnishing an area to serve as a bookstore and lending library.
A huge old bookcase stood against one wall, peeking out from behind two tall stacks of classic cardboard storage boxes. From here it appeared she’d found an excellent piece to use in setting up a bookstore downstairs, though she’d need to move the stacks to get a better look.
She stuffed the key she still held into the pocket of her jeans. Dulcie had told her she’d need it to lock up after herself if she stayed up here very long, since they’d be leaving soon. Allie had taken it, though, in truth, she doubted she’d need it. She didn’t plan to be here long tonight. In the bright daylight with the windows wide open, it would be much easier to explore this area. And much less creepy.
Still, it wouldn’t take long to move the boxes and quickly inspect the bookcase to make sure all its shelves were intact.
The boxes turned out to be extraordinarily heavy for their size. A closer examination revealed the word BOOKS scrawled on the side of each one.
Her breath caught again as she lifted the first lid, but this time neither dust nor fear was involved.
Hardbacks stacked two layers deep filled the box.
W. Somerset Maugham, James Joyce, Harper Lee, Mark Twain, William Faulkner and John Steinbeck.
This find was too good to be true. If she actually did set up a lending area, these books would provide a great head start.
She lifted another lid and found paperbacks in this box. Romance, science fiction, mystery. The third box held more hardbacks, and she still had four more boxes to look through.
Obviously she’d been too quick to scoff. Papa Flynn had indeed accumulated a wonderful trove of treasure.
“We’re leaving now!” Her cousin Desi’s voice echoed up the stairs. “You want us to lock you in?”
“No!” The idea of
Similar Books
