Chapter 1

Bill Black was frustrated. His wife had died a few years ago and he just couldn't keep up with the house. That wasn't the only thing he missed about his wife, but it was what was really irritating him at the moment. He finally decided, after a lot of persuasion, that he needed a housekeeper.

Their house had been their dream home. It was a three bedroom ranch style house with an office, two baths and extra thick walls. It was perched on the edge of a national forest on the shoulder of a slight rise so it could overlook a broad valley. It was located just 20 minutes from a pretty little mountain resort town that just happened to have a state university.

Bill had tried girl watching at the university like he used to do at the valley college but it wasn't the same. It seemed the local college was overrun by granolas. For those of you that don't know what a granola is, they are girls that cultivate the earth mother look. At least they try to cultivate their version of the earth mother look but certainly not Bill's. If these girls version had been the correct earth mother look the reproduction capabilities of the human race would have been seriously curtailed.

Despite the local college shortfalls, it was still a nice location for his home. The floors of the house were heated to keep it warm in the winter without breaking the bank. The heating theory assumed it used less energy to heat a large volume to a low temperature than a small volume to a high temperature and continually spew the high temperature out to heat the house. The latter method is what is used in most buildings. The former method proved to Bill that it was correct. The house was situated facing south so it would stay cool naturally during the summer heat when the sun passed to the north of the house. The south facing windows caught the sun in the winter so very little heat was required to keep the house warm. A patio ran the length of the south side of the home with the west end enclosed to form a sun room. The floors were also heated in the sun room to ensure it stayed somewhat warm in the winter so the Jacuzzi could still be used.

Bill liked the house, but it was just too much to keep clean. There was a three mile gravel road to get to pavement and the dust from the dirt road kept the house dusty. He liked a clean house and he liked well prepared meals on time. He had tried the maid services and they just didn't work. He had hired several housekeepers in the last couple of years that came in every day, but they could never get there as early as he would like or stay as late as he would like. Furthermore, they insisted on regular hours. He had to live his life around their schedule and he didn't like that at all. The way he saw it, he could either sell the house or get a live in housekeeper. Having a stranger live in his house with him made him a little uncomfortable. He was leaning toward selling.

A conversation with his son persuaded Bill to at least try a live in house keeper. Selling was an irrevocable step and he could always fire a housekeeper. He could still sell the house if the housekeeper idea didn't work after a couple of tries.