Iris Avenue by Pamela Grandstaff Page B

out. She took the key to the apartment back to the lodge house and saw that Knox’s car was gone.
    When she rang the doorbell a different monk answered. This man was tall with cocoa-colored skin and warm, friendly brown eyes. He too wore the camouflage undergarments that seemed so bizarre underneath the orange one-shouldered robe. He backed bowing to the kitchen and Hannah followed. He led her through the kitchen to Theo’s old study where Caroline Eldridge sat staring at a stack of paperwork that looked like contracts.
    “Sorry to bother you,” Hannah said.
    Caroline obviously hadn’t heard her enter the room; she jumped, startled, and quickly covered up the paperwork.
    “No bother at all,” she said.
    Caroline’s eyes darted back and forth from Hannah to the paperwork on the desk. She offered Hannah some herbal tea, and Hannah, whose terminal nosiness compensated for her dislike of healthy food, accepted. As Caroline led her back into the kitchen, she started talking again. Hannah sat down at the kitchen table, plopped her elbows on top, and rested her chin on her hands. She knew she might as well get comfy.
    “I’m hosting the monks because their temple burned down in a California wildfire and their abbot died,” Caroline said. “The woman who’d been taking care of them basically dumped them on my doorstep and ran back to California. She said they did nothing but meditate, chant, eat, and sleep. I thought they would be easy to take care of.”
    “Like a large bowl of Buddhist fish,” Hannah suggested, but Caroline wasn’t listening.
    “The actual amount of work involved is overwhelming,” Caroline said. “I hired staff to take over most of the household work. That’s made a huge difference, but an expensive one. I hate bookkeeping or anything to do with finances, but I finally sat down this morning with a calculator and a stack of bills, and I can’t continue on this way indefinitely. Sacrifices will have to be made.”
    Hannah thought to herself, ‘There goes my grant match.’
    “But what can I give up?” Caroline said as she poured hot water over what looked like a handful of dried sticks and leaves. “I’m not giving up Callie; she’s a vegan chef and prepares all the meals, plus she does all the shopping and cleaning up afterward. I’m not giving up Petula; she cleans the lodge and washes all the sheets and towels, which in itself is a full-time job. And I’m certainly not getting rid of Sven; he takes care of the grounds and keeps all the vehicles running, including the snow blower and the truck with the plow blade. I can’t do this without them.”
    Caroline poured Hannah a cup of tea from a pretty porcelain teapot and sat opposite her at the table. Hannah considered the vegetation floating in her cup and decided not to risk it.
    “I thought you had a big trust fund,” Hannah said. “Didn’t Theo leave you some money?”
    “Theo’s bequest will be tied up in probate for at least a year,” Caroline said. “The majority of my family trust payments are pledged to other charities.”
    “What will you do?” Hannah asked, mustering up her most sympathetic look.
    A quiet rustling sound and a slight stir of the air caused them both to look up, and they saw one of the monks standing in the doorway opposite. He bowed to Caroline and Hannah. Caroline turned, then rose and responded in kind.
    The monk handed Caroline a note, which she read to herself.
    “Fine,” she said, although Hannah detected more than a little irritation in her tone. The man bowed his way back the way he came in.
    “It’s a list of more supplies they need,” Caroline said as she sat back down. “Please excuse me while I say a quick positive affirmation to release the negative feelings I’m having.”
    “Sure,” Hannah said. “Knock yourself out.”
    “I am one with the universe,” Caroline chanted. “Omni padme ohm.”
    She repeated this several times before she opened her eyes and took a deep