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Disclaime is in part 1 and spoilers in a sense. Thanks to Niceole and Paula for urging me to finish this . . . . .
The House That Jarod Built
5/?
by Trish
"So you want to know about the Sutterfield estate?" Thomas laughed," Now there's a story that tells itself. You know that the house that you are working on isn't the main house. 'Seawyn' is located further back on the estate, where it overlooks the river below from its ... foot cliff. The house, Braydon is restoring at the moment is called "Widow's Retreat". Charlotte Sutterfield moved into it after the death of her husband, Lucien in 1945."
" 1945, huh. Killed in action," Jarod replied as he held the piece of dry wall in place for Thomas who screwed it in place at the top. Handing the screwgun to Jarod, Thomas climbed down the ladder and continued on with his narrative.
" No, he was murdered. The murder was never solved but Charlotte always believed that it was his brother, Philip."
"Why?"
" No one knows, the murder remains unsolved to this day. The family still has strong ties to the community, in fact the doctor that has taking over care of Cole is Lucien's grandson, Dr. Lucas Redmond."
"So he's restoring the estate."
" Along with his sister, August," Thomas informed him, as started to put his tools away for the evening.
"That's why the name sounded so familiar. The Hilliard/Sutterfield stainglass window that's been missing for what, almost a decade?"
" Uh huh! Lucien had it specially made from a pattern that Charlotte designed. She wanted to replace the palladian leaded glass window that overlooked the grand staircase. She had a passion for roses, her design was of two yellow roses entwined. The window is supposedly remarkable and illuminated the staircase, it's a combination of leaded and stained glass, the technique of combining them was unheard of in those days, but Charlotte was adamant. It's been on the news and in the papers. Antiques dealers have been turning the country upside down trying to find it. Rumor has it that Braydon found it, but no ones seen it."
"That's why you wanted to restore the house."
"No, it's more than that, I felt the love within the house, the minute I walked into the carved oak entrance hall, even though the house has been unlived in. Lucien had the red-brick mansion built for Charlotte as a gift. It took three years to complete. The wood work alone cost $100,000, back then, to do that today it would cost over a million dollars. Black walnut, cherry, and oak, it's a carpenter's dream. The main house really is in excellent condition. Other than locating the stainglass window that Charlotte designed, restoring the black iron-wrought balastraude around the curved patico, replacing some roof tiles and the chimneys need to have their corbeled caps replaced and there are some stain-glass doors in the library that need to be repaired. Those show scenes from the Canterbury Tales. It's the house that you are working on that's in rough shape, after Charlotte died, the house had been unoocupied and neglected for over 10 years. Some of the brick on the back of the house was covered over by clapboard siding, and needs to be removed and the red-brick repaired. The arched dormer windows upstairs add to the elegance of the home and the decorative copper gutters make the home truely remarkable, but some of them need to be replaced and the woodwork restored. Did you get a chance to check out the formal dining room, with its gold le
ad ceiling medallions and there is a truely remarkable unique glass wall made of decorative steel and brass, it opens up and there are French windows that lead to a board patio and Charlotte's rose garden, it's a copy of the room from the main house. Craftsmanship at it's finest. You don't see that nowadays."
" I get the picture, Thomas," a chuckle escaped his smiling lips as he plugged in the cord of the shop vac, and quickly vacuumed the debris that covered the floor.
" You must think I'm an idiot. Talking about houses having feelings."
"No, I don't. I know someone that feels the same way, only . . . ." he stopped.
" Only what?" Thomas inquired.
"She refuses to acknowledge it. Her feelings, that is, regarding a cottage that played a rather special part in her childhood. She's rather hard to get to know."
"That's a shame, a house needs to feel that it's loved just as much as we do. If you every want me to try and convince her of that," Thomas said, only to be interrupted by the ringing of the phone.
Jarod watched as Thomas' expression changed, radically. He finished putting the power tools away and was in the process stacking the drywall in the corner of the room.
" That was Alex. He wants me to come to the hospital. He asked if you would come to. Cole has been asking for you."
"Sure," Jarod placed the last remaining piece of drywall in the pile as Thomas pulled his keys from his pocket.
****
They walked into the messy waiting area and found Alex alone, sipping a cup of coffee. Catching sight of the two, he placed the cup on the table that held outdated magazines and rose to greet them. It was the look on Alex's face that prompted Thomas to place a hand on his shoulder.
" What's wrong?"
"Everything," he said as he ran his fingers through his hair," Dr. Redmond wants to talk to me about Cole and his injury. I told him only when you arrived."
Thomas shook his head and walked back over to the ugly orange vinyl couch, taking a seat and waited as Alex joined him. Jarod found a spot and leaned against the beige colored wall. A man entered the waiting area, dressed in surgical scrubs. He was over six feet tall and had dark wavy hair and easy air about him.
" Lucas Redmond, Cole's doctor," he said as he extended his hand to Jarod, who imagined that most people liked him immediately and felt both comfortable around him and in awe of him.
" Jarod Taylor," he responded, as they shook hands.
" So, you're Jarod. Cole hasn't stopped talking about how you helped him." Turning to the two figures on the couch, the man extended a hand to the figure next to Alex. "Thomas, good to see you again. Sorry about you losing out on the contract but the Foundation decided to award it to Braydon. Man's an ass, if you ask me. I warned them, but. . . ." he smiled.
"It's business," Thomas said, releasing the hand.
" Now about Cole. The area is still swollen and he hasn't any movement below the injury since the fall."
" Lumbar or sacral? At the accident site, he complained about not being able to feel his legs as well as his back being on fire." The voice was that of Jarod's, who had moved away from the wall and stood next to Lucas.
"It's the sacral area, but like I said the area is still swollen," he was cut off mid-sentence.
" Bottom line, Lucas, is Cole going to walk or not?" Thomas asked, clearly fustrated at the situation," the emergency room doctor wasn't very optimistic."
"I prescribed a steroid to help reduce the swelling, it'll prevent any secondary injuries, as well."
"You prescribed methylprednisolone and once the swelling goes down, you'll put him on SygenAE to see if he'll regain some movement in his legs."
" You been reading my files, Jarod? the doctor grinned, yet a perplexed expression graced his finely chiseled features, briefly.
" No, just did some research, last night, and I happen to find an article in the Medical Journal written by . . . ."
"Me. You sure you aren't a doctor, Jarod?" and Lucas patted him on the back, the smile never leaving his face.
"Not today, construction's the name of the game," the pretender smiled back.
"Well if you don't mind me saying so, you missed your calling. Cole said that if it wasn't for you. . . ." Lucas shook his head.
"I'm just glad that Jarod was there when it happened." Alex said softly," I don't know that I ever thanked you. But the question still remains will Cole walk?"
"Look I can't make any guarentees on whether Cole will walk again or not. It's to early to tell and I'm sorry that I can't. Yet with therapy and support from his family, he'll make it. It's going to be tough and he's going to want to know why him. There's a wonderful rehabiliation centre in Connecticut. The Gaylord Centre has made spinal injury research its priority."
"And I'll bet it's expensive. Look Dr. Redmond, it's just my brother and I."
"Alex, don't worry about the expense. I already contacted my sister, August, she's going to make all the arrangements. Since Cole was hurt working on a Foundation project, it'll be taken care of. As well as making sure it's investigated throughly. That was one of the reasons that I didn't feel comfortable contracting with Braydon. His accident rate was too high, too damn high for my liking."
" You sure know a lot about the business, sure being a doctor is the right profession for you?" Thomas quipped to lighten the mood.
" I get my hands dirty, so to speak. I'm still going to work with the crew this weekend or is this you're way of saying that I've been replaced by Jarod."
" Wouldn't dream of it, Lucas." Thomas laughed," I just like watching Braydon's expression when you show up on my jobsite dressed in flannel, jeans, a tool belt strapped around your waist and a hammer in hand, instead of a scapel."
" Alex, I'll have August get you the information packet regarding Gaylord, tomorrow morning. After that we wait, and hope for the best."
"Thank you," Alex said," Thomas, Cole's been asking to see you. You also Jarod."
"You two go first, I'll be there momentarily."
The two men walked down the corridor and turned left and disappeared into a room. Jarod turned and looked the other man in the eyes.
" You gave Alex and Thomas a reason to hope."
"Hope is important, Jarod. Gives people a reason to go on. Once the swelling subsides, we will know more."
"If he doesn't regain movement once the swelling goes down, he won't walk."
"That's it, basically, no movement or feeling, then no, he won't walk."
"It should never have happened."
"Then why did it?" Lucas quiered.
"That's what I plan on finding out. Now I better get in there and see Cole. Nice talking to you, Dr. Redmond."
"Lucas, please
Feedback please : Ractrish@aol.com
5/?
by Trish
"So you want to know about the Sutterfield estate?" Thomas laughed," Now there's a story that tells itself. You know that the house that you are working on isn't the main house. 'Seawyn' is located further back on the estate, where it overlooks the river below from its ... foot cliff. The house, Braydon is restoring at the moment is called "Widow's Retreat". Charlotte Sutterfield moved into it after the death of her husband, Lucien in 1945."
" 1945, huh. Killed in action," Jarod replied as he held the piece of dry wall in place for Thomas who screwed it in place at the top. Handing the screwgun to Jarod, Thomas climbed down the ladder and continued on with his narrative.
" No, he was murdered. The murder was never solved but Charlotte always believed that it was his brother, Philip."
"Why?"
" No one knows, the murder remains unsolved to this day. The family still has strong ties to the community, in fact the doctor that has taking over care of Cole is Lucien's grandson, Dr. Lucas Redmond."
"So he's restoring the estate."
" Along with his sister, August," Thomas informed him, as started to put his tools away for the evening.
"That's why the name sounded so familiar. The Hilliard/Sutterfield stainglass window that's been missing for what, almost a decade?"
" Uh huh! Lucien had it specially made from a pattern that Charlotte designed. She wanted to replace the palladian leaded glass window that overlooked the grand staircase. She had a passion for roses, her design was of two yellow roses entwined. The window is supposedly remarkable and illuminated the staircase, it's a combination of leaded and stained glass, the technique of combining them was unheard of in those days, but Charlotte was adamant. It's been on the news and in the papers. Antiques dealers have been turning the country upside down trying to find it. Rumor has it that Braydon found it, but no ones seen it."
"That's why you wanted to restore the house."
"No, it's more than that, I felt the love within the house, the minute I walked into the carved oak entrance hall, even though the house has been unlived in. Lucien had the red-brick mansion built for Charlotte as a gift. It took three years to complete. The wood work alone cost $100,000, back then, to do that today it would cost over a million dollars. Black walnut, cherry, and oak, it's a carpenter's dream. The main house really is in excellent condition. Other than locating the stainglass window that Charlotte designed, restoring the black iron-wrought balastraude around the curved patico, replacing some roof tiles and the chimneys need to have their corbeled caps replaced and there are some stain-glass doors in the library that need to be repaired. Those show scenes from the Canterbury Tales. It's the house that you are working on that's in rough shape, after Charlotte died, the house had been unoocupied and neglected for over 10 years. Some of the brick on the back of the house was covered over by clapboard siding, and needs to be removed and the red-brick repaired. The arched dormer windows upstairs add to the elegance of the home and the decorative copper gutters make the home truely remarkable, but some of them need to be replaced and the woodwork restored. Did you get a chance to check out the formal dining room, with its gold le
ad ceiling medallions and there is a truely remarkable unique glass wall made of decorative steel and brass, it opens up and there are French windows that lead to a board patio and Charlotte's rose garden, it's a copy of the room from the main house. Craftsmanship at it's finest. You don't see that nowadays."
" I get the picture, Thomas," a chuckle escaped his smiling lips as he plugged in the cord of the shop vac, and quickly vacuumed the debris that covered the floor.
" You must think I'm an idiot. Talking about houses having feelings."
"No, I don't. I know someone that feels the same way, only . . . ." he stopped.
" Only what?" Thomas inquired.
"She refuses to acknowledge it. Her feelings, that is, regarding a cottage that played a rather special part in her childhood. She's rather hard to get to know."
"That's a shame, a house needs to feel that it's loved just as much as we do. If you every want me to try and convince her of that," Thomas said, only to be interrupted by the ringing of the phone.
Jarod watched as Thomas' expression changed, radically. He finished putting the power tools away and was in the process stacking the drywall in the corner of the room.
" That was Alex. He wants me to come to the hospital. He asked if you would come to. Cole has been asking for you."
"Sure," Jarod placed the last remaining piece of drywall in the pile as Thomas pulled his keys from his pocket.
****
They walked into the messy waiting area and found Alex alone, sipping a cup of coffee. Catching sight of the two, he placed the cup on the table that held outdated magazines and rose to greet them. It was the look on Alex's face that prompted Thomas to place a hand on his shoulder.
" What's wrong?"
"Everything," he said as he ran his fingers through his hair," Dr. Redmond wants to talk to me about Cole and his injury. I told him only when you arrived."
Thomas shook his head and walked back over to the ugly orange vinyl couch, taking a seat and waited as Alex joined him. Jarod found a spot and leaned against the beige colored wall. A man entered the waiting area, dressed in surgical scrubs. He was over six feet tall and had dark wavy hair and easy air about him.
" Lucas Redmond, Cole's doctor," he said as he extended his hand to Jarod, who imagined that most people liked him immediately and felt both comfortable around him and in awe of him.
" Jarod Taylor," he responded, as they shook hands.
" So, you're Jarod. Cole hasn't stopped talking about how you helped him." Turning to the two figures on the couch, the man extended a hand to the figure next to Alex. "Thomas, good to see you again. Sorry about you losing out on the contract but the Foundation decided to award it to Braydon. Man's an ass, if you ask me. I warned them, but. . . ." he smiled.
"It's business," Thomas said, releasing the hand.
" Now about Cole. The area is still swollen and he hasn't any movement below the injury since the fall."
" Lumbar or sacral? At the accident site, he complained about not being able to feel his legs as well as his back being on fire." The voice was that of Jarod's, who had moved away from the wall and stood next to Lucas.
"It's the sacral area, but like I said the area is still swollen," he was cut off mid-sentence.
" Bottom line, Lucas, is Cole going to walk or not?" Thomas asked, clearly fustrated at the situation," the emergency room doctor wasn't very optimistic."
"I prescribed a steroid to help reduce the swelling, it'll prevent any secondary injuries, as well."
"You prescribed methylprednisolone and once the swelling goes down, you'll put him on SygenAE to see if he'll regain some movement in his legs."
" You been reading my files, Jarod? the doctor grinned, yet a perplexed expression graced his finely chiseled features, briefly.
" No, just did some research, last night, and I happen to find an article in the Medical Journal written by . . . ."
"Me. You sure you aren't a doctor, Jarod?" and Lucas patted him on the back, the smile never leaving his face.
"Not today, construction's the name of the game," the pretender smiled back.
"Well if you don't mind me saying so, you missed your calling. Cole said that if it wasn't for you. . . ." Lucas shook his head.
"I'm just glad that Jarod was there when it happened." Alex said softly," I don't know that I ever thanked you. But the question still remains will Cole walk?"
"Look I can't make any guarentees on whether Cole will walk again or not. It's to early to tell and I'm sorry that I can't. Yet with therapy and support from his family, he'll make it. It's going to be tough and he's going to want to know why him. There's a wonderful rehabiliation centre in Connecticut. The Gaylord Centre has made spinal injury research its priority."
"And I'll bet it's expensive. Look Dr. Redmond, it's just my brother and I."
"Alex, don't worry about the expense. I already contacted my sister, August, she's going to make all the arrangements. Since Cole was hurt working on a Foundation project, it'll be taken care of. As well as making sure it's investigated throughly. That was one of the reasons that I didn't feel comfortable contracting with Braydon. His accident rate was too high, too damn high for my liking."
" You sure know a lot about the business, sure being a doctor is the right profession for you?" Thomas quipped to lighten the mood.
" I get my hands dirty, so to speak. I'm still going to work with the crew this weekend or is this you're way of saying that I've been replaced by Jarod."
" Wouldn't dream of it, Lucas." Thomas laughed," I just like watching Braydon's expression when you show up on my jobsite dressed in flannel, jeans, a tool belt strapped around your waist and a hammer in hand, instead of a scapel."
" Alex, I'll have August get you the information packet regarding Gaylord, tomorrow morning. After that we wait, and hope for the best."
"Thank you," Alex said," Thomas, Cole's been asking to see you. You also Jarod."
"You two go first, I'll be there momentarily."
The two men walked down the corridor and turned left and disappeared into a room. Jarod turned and looked the other man in the eyes.
" You gave Alex and Thomas a reason to hope."
"Hope is important, Jarod. Gives people a reason to go on. Once the swelling subsides, we will know more."
"If he doesn't regain movement once the swelling goes down, he won't walk."
"That's it, basically, no movement or feeling, then no, he won't walk."
"It should never have happened."
"Then why did it?" Lucas quiered.
"That's what I plan on finding out. Now I better get in there and see Cole. Nice talking to you, Dr. Redmond."
"Lucas, please
Feedback please : Ractrish@aol.com
