March, 2038
Oxford, Ohio
Linda liked the way the house was coming along. She'd written some of the plans from memory, but was astonished when she trained the satellite linkup on her desk server to the old Glienke homestead near Alexandria. It was still there! Not only that, but it also appeared that someone had meticulously kept up the garden and the delightful little cottage house where she'd spent half of her college career. For her golden years, she wanted a house just like it.
The house was being built in the back yard of Matthew's property. He and his wife Patty were doing well since Matthew had invested his NFL money wisely and earned a good income as a football coach at the nearby university. Patty appeared at the patio out back every so often, with cups of hot chocolate or sandwiches. Winter was still hanging on, but Linda enjoyed the invigorating chill on her old bones.
Matthew came home every afternoon at four-thirty. He wore a letter jacket from the university, and he still had most of his penny colored hair, though the color had faded. And he kept himself in fantastic shape. If Linda squinted, her son still looked like the strapping young man who'd won trophies and scholarships in college, even though he was forty-four. When he appeared out on the patio, he sneered disapproval at the miniature house rising and crossed the lawn to the other patio chair Linda had placed there, near the building site.
He lowered himself into the chair, beside her. "So how's the playhouse coming along?"
"Fine," his mother replied. "And please don't refer to it that way."
Matthew snorted. "Sorry." He looked at the frame. "I just don't understand why you're going to all this trouble. We've got two perfectly good rooms inside the house."
"That's for you and Patty," Linda said. "I don't want to be in your way."
Matthew and Patty lived in a huge, six bedroom house, three of which had been converted into studies for Matthew's computer consoles, with the other two serving as a mini-museum for Patty's doll collection and a craft room for her myriad projects. For some reason, the two of them never wanted to have any children. Thankfully Hayley had already made her a grandmother three times over.
Knowing his mother would not relent, Matthew silently picked up his large body from the metal chair and lumbered back into the house.
After only three weeks, the crew of three carpenters had finished the delightful cottage chateau and Linda, who'd gotten rid of practically all the heavy furniture and knickknacks from the old house after Stephen died, moved in two days later. She furnished the little house with a French Provincial four poster twin bed, a white, roll-top desk and a simple chest and recliner to go along with the small stovetop and sink. Unlike her home at the Glienke's however, she did outfit this one with a full bath. In her one concession to advancing age and frailty, she added rails to the bath and a swinging-door design for it. Matthew and Patty also insisted on an alarm system-not because they were worried about a break-in-but because they wanted a way for mother to alert them if she was in trouble.