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I didn't dare start any machines early in the morning so I set about inventorying the garage items. I had a camera and as I moved things from one place to another I took a snap of it and wrote a brief description. I had most everything done by eight-thirty.
There was a wooden box that was screwed shut leaning against the back wall. It was three feet by four feet and about a foot thick. The top was a single board and had countersunk screws about every six inches or so. The box weighed more than a hundred pounds.
Ever curious, I found a screwdriver and removed the twenty screws that affixed the top. When I looked down into the box I could see that there were five sections and what looked to be a painting in each section. I grasped the middle one and raised it up so I could look at it. It was a portrait of a cowboy and done in oils. I looked for the signature, but it wasn't an artist I was familiar with. Someone by the name of Thomas Eakins. I slid it back into its compartment and pulled another one. This one I did recognize. N. C. Wyeth.
Jesus Christ, if these were authentic they were valuable beyond belief. I didn't even want to know about them. Half the time this building was unlocked and when it was, it could easily have been entered at will. I put the box back together and started piling furniture in front and on top of it. Satisfied that it was well hidden again, I sat down and thought. I had no idea what Ashley was worth, but if those paintings were the real thing, her net was soon to be considerably more than she was aware of.
I tried her cell. "Yes, who is it?"
"Ashley, I need to see you as soon as possible."
"Milo, I'm sorry I am on a case and we start in a few minutes. What is the problem? Your kids?"
"No. I'm sorry to bother you. I just had a thought and called to see if maybe you were free today. I'll see you tonight when you get home."
"Are you sure there is no crisis? You sounded excited and you have never called my office before. Besides, I try to limit any personal calls, and would prefer you not call me here."
"You know me; I have a thought and want to act on it immediately. It can wait. I truly am sorry for interrupting you. Hey, win your case for me, Ash Baby." I hung up.
I started the brush cutter and worked for an hour. I went upstairs to my apartment, showered quickly and put on clean clothes. Taking my tool bag, I jumped into my pickup and drove around the block and parked in front of Mrs. Hamlin's house. She opened the door as I came up the walk. "Right on time, young man. I like that. I'll show you all my problems." I took notes of what I would need and made a fast trip to the supply house.
Mrs. Hamlin asked if it would bother me to have someone watching as I worked. "Nope, it gives me a chance to meet someone new. I'll bet you can't tell me the story of your life in the next twenty minutes, but you can try. You can start now."
I heard it all, the high-points, anyway. "What do you think of my landlady and boss? You were with her for two hours."
"We talked a lot. She really needs a friend. Oh I know she has you. She even confessed she was about to take her life, but you saved her. That was just an expression wasn't it? She didn't really try did she?"
"I don't know. I do know she was overwhelmed with grief and what was happening in her life. Right now she is the most stable, down-to-earth person I know. She does need friends and that is why I came to you. She also needs some extra support with her pregnancy. You must know everyone close by. Are there any women who are in the same condition that you could introduce her to?"
"There are. That is good thinking. This young lady will be going to Lamaze classes when she gets far enough along. Her husband is going to be her coach and helper. Will you be Ashley's coach?"
"I could and I do have the experience. I will if she asks me. It is pretty personal and she may not want me to."
"She will, I'll stake my life on it. Mr. Burns, you seem a little distracted today. Yesterday you were as calm as could be."
"It is about tomorrow. I haven't seen my children for four months and their mother is dropping them off in the morning."
"Yes, I understand your situation. Ashley and I talked about you yesterday. You will bring the little girls so I can meet them. I'll have some cookies."
"Would you have a cookie for me too?"
"Yes, I'll have one for you too. Now it is near lunch time. Do you like pea soup? I mean real homemade pea soup with smoked ham, onions and carrots?"
"Lead me to it." Mrs. Hamlin tried to pay me, but I succeeded in putting her off by saying she could return the favor by watching my kids for a little bit sometime.
I worked my butt off in the afternoon. The kids were going to be here in the morning and I wanted to give them all of me. And then there was that box of paintings that I had discovered. I just knew that Ashley would ask my advice on what to do with them, so that most likely would take up my evening. It was a good thing I made so much money last week, for this one was a bust so far. I had six hours in the backyard and was loading my truck with clippings when Ashley came storming out.
"Milo, I am going to have to insist that you don't call me at the office, except for an emergency, of course. What did you want anyway?"
"You're right and I apologize. It won't happen again. What I wanted to ask you is; do you have any record of your grandmother owning any paintings? I found a box in the garage with five of them in it. If they are authentic they might have considerable value."
"I don't care what they are worth. I intended you to have everything in there. If you make a few bucks on the stuff, all well and good, you deserve it."
"Ashley, listen to me. I said considerable value. I'm talking thousands of dollars if they are authentic. I know I'm repeating myself. I don't know paintings or artists, and I only looked at two. One of them was signed N.C.Wyeth. He is a well-known American artist, I do know that much.
"You said your grandmother used to get sick of her stuff and just have it brought out here and stored. What if her parents or grandparents purchased these and she got sick of looking at them? She must have known they had some value for they are well boxed up."
"Show me the box."
I pointed it out after dragging some of the furniture away from it again. "What were the frames like?"
"I am pretty sure one is made of rosewood. The other was gesso and had gilt on it. That frame alone should be worth hundreds if it is all intact. I didn't examine it that closely."
"You're getting me excited now, Milo. What do you think we should do?"
"There is no we in this. What I think you, and I do mean you, should do is get an art expert to come here and open the box. Tonight you should go through all of your grandparents' papers. I know you must have some, and search for a record of these being bought or gifted to your family."
"Milo, now you are the one to listen to me. I was going to sell this stuff to a used furniture dealer. If I had, I never would have known what I had practically given away. When you came I decided to give it all to you. If it wasn't for you I wouldn't even be alive. Besides, in the last two weeks my life has taken a great leap forward.
"I met Calvin and he was just starting to bring me out of the shell I had been in all my life and then he was gone. I was in worse shape than ever. You stepped in and I find life so exciting. Something that I couldn't even dream of a year ago."
"Okay, okay, I'm a good guy. You made your point and it makes me feel really wonderful that you do, but I am not taking anything valuable from you."
Ashley could see that I was serious and she couldn't move me in my stand. "You are right, I shouldn't give you anything. You keep right on working and earning your wages and keep paying me rent and keep me alive and make me pissed off at you every time you feel like it. Go ahead and do that, but someday I'll get even. You remember these words. I'll keep your damned treasure, but this isn't the end of it."
Ashley was looking at me and I was openly grinning at her. "O
h you make me so mad!" Then she smiled. "You know I was coming down here to chew you out for calling the office on personal business and then I was going to offer you soup and sandwiches. Milo Burns would you like to join me?"
"I'd love to."
When we were clearing off the table, Ashley spoke. "I'm sorry about this morning. I overheard one of the defense attorneys say something and it hurt and I lashed out. You caught it."
"What was it?"
"He called me 'that ugly bitch' and was saying I wasn't getting enough loving. I shouldn't still let things like that bother me. I guess a person never gets used to being called ugly."
"No I don't suppose a person can. What did you do when you heard that?"
"Nothing, I just pretended I didn't hear it."
"And took it out on me, right? What you should have done is confront him with what he said. You should have walked right up and got in his face. Ask him to repeat what he just said. Ninety times out of a hundred, he won't. If he is brave enough to repeat it, just tell him that is his opinion and then you tell him what your opinion of him is.
"You think fast enough so you will think of something. When you get done, smile and say something like, Hey, I like trading insults with you, we'll have to do this again sometime."
"That works?"
"I don't know for sure, but it would be worth a try."
"That doesn't get rid of my big nose. My most wondrous feature."
"Nope, that sticks right out there. Most prominent it is. You're twenty-eight and still have it. You are well enough off so if you really wanted to get it reduced you could have. Personally I think you are hiding behind it. You heard somebody say you are ugly, you believed them and therefore it must be so. Calvin didn't see it and I don't see it, so who are you going to believe?"
Ashley was waiting, expecting more. I backed up. "I always seem to get around to telling you what to do, don't I? If I get too obnoxious, just tell me to bug off."
"You know, you make me see myself through your eyes. So far I like what I'm seeing. Any other things you aren't telling me?"
"I think I'll save any more advice for another day."
"There is more, isn't there?"
"Just a couple of things to detract from what you say are your most wondrous feature. Shorten your hair and have a perm, if you can still find a hair dresser to do them. Put some highlights in it. Remember how we made the ceiling stand out by giving the perception of depth. Same thing here. Lots of tight curls, highlighted, will give the same effect. Don't forget to smile. When I saw you smile the first time, it gave me goose-bumps, it transformed you so much."
"I love hearing you talk about me. You've done my head. What about the rest of me?"
"No, I'm not going there. I'll just say there isn't a thing that should be changed about you. You are as near perfect as can be. Of course it is going to change??and very soon. Your boobs and your butt are going to get bigger, but to me that is frosting on the cake. And now you are just fishing for compliments. I am willing, but the flesh is weak." I tried to finish this conversation on an up note.
"Really Ash, you are a beautiful person, now that you are coming out of your perceived dark past and are opening up to the world around you. Soon you will be the princess of Bellevue Avenue."
"Blarney Burns, blarney, blarney, blarney, all blarney."
"Maybe, but you love it."
"Yes, I guess I do."