George unlocked the dark, arched wooden door and welcomed her inside, with a smile. They stepped into a foyer, with a closet on one side and an old-fashioned coat rack on the other. Beyond the doorway, Linda saw varnished wood cabinets and shellacked, hardwood floors. To her left, a small sink beside a stove and oven, to her right, a sitting room with bookshelves and a desk built into the walls.
The bedroom and bathroom lie behind a door on the far wall of the sitting room. A four poster bed with a high, inviting mattress and an exquisite gingham quilt awaited her there. While the cottage was small, somehow there was room for a walk-in closet and a bathroom with checkerboard tile and a claw-foot bathtub. Linda excitedly turned toward George. "This house is a dream! Can I live here? Please?"
He allowed himself to smile widely. "Yes, dear. You can."
Linda giddily moved her things there the next weekend. Though the cottage seemed like part of a wonderland thousands of miles removed from her academic life, it only took her ten minutes to drive to campus. When she signed the lease, George and Jean Glienke presented her with their list of strict rules. She must keep the cottage spotlessly clean, top to bottom, on a weekly basis. No drugs or drinking were allowed. No loud music. No male visitors.
Jean Glienke, apparently sensing that the rules slightly overwhelmed Linda, spoke up. "My mother lived in the cottage," she said softly. "Mr. Glienke had it built especially for her. She was very happy there, for more than ten years. She passed away a year ago last March."
"I'm sorry," Linda said, reflexively.
"We wanted to be very careful about who we allowed to live there," George said. "But you seem like a fine young lady and we're glad to have you with us."
Linda loved her little cottage. She loved to cook herself meals with the small stove.
She loved the fine German dining ware and flatware that had been provided. She loved the claw-foot tub, which contained a curtain and a showerhead. She loved the loft above the bed, where she would sit and gaze out of the cathedral window at the back, whenever she wanted to relax.
The first weekend after the semester started, she brought Lauren and Naomi out to the Glienke's to see the cottage. Both of them had to meet George and Jean first, of course, and after he ushered them outside, Lauren's eyes widened and her jaw dropped when she saw the cottage.