Dada: Chapter 12a

     "I apologize for Sam's behavior.  He was being a little rude."
     "Don't worry about it.  I have three brothers.  I know how teenage boys can be,"  Carol replies.  "Let's go on in."
      The door opens into a short hall.  It's not really a mud room type of thing, but a chair is next to the door, as well as a pile of shoes.   On the right, a door leads into the rather spacious laundry room.  It is almost as big as my bedroom growing up.  A washer and dryer, as well as two tables and a cabinet. There is also a door on the far wall.  The hall ends at another hall.  Sam had run on to the right; I'm guessing to a bathroom.  At least he didn't seem to have another accident running off.
     To the left was the door to a pantry, again very large.  Shelves lined the walls and filled up the center of the room.  However, most were empty, save some cookware.  Only a few had food on them. I guess a small family doesn't need so much food, even with a teenage boy.  The far wall had a large metal door, probably to a walk-in freezer.  I've seen restaurants with smaller ones than this!
     "This place is huge, and I've only seen two rooms," I said as we walked through the pantry into the equally large kitchen.  The entire side facing the back yard was covered with windows and a double glass door that opened onto the patio.  Cabinets lined the other walls, mixing with the usual appliances.  Strangely enough, everything was clean.  Not a single plate was left out, nor was there any food left out.  Not even a fruit bowl.
       "It really is.  Apparently, the original owners had a large family, and your great-grandfather thought he wanted one as well, " Carol read from her notes.  "Unfortunately, he only had only a son, but he was something.  He was groomed to take over the business.  When his father died, he took over his place on the board of directors.  He helped lead CFB Manufacturing into a new era, nearly tripling its profits in just ten years."
      "Wow.  Yet why did he keep such a big place.  It feels so empty."
      "My notes say he wanted a large family, but married a little late in life," Carol continued.  "Didn't marry until his late thirties.  They had three children, but only your father lived past childhood.  An older sister, Patricia, died when she was nine of leukemia.  A younger brother, Sean, died at two due to an allergic reaction.   It looks like they were thinking of adopting some more children, but your grandmother died when your father was twelve.  Not sure how, but the plans obviously didn't go through."
       "That's a lot of information you've got there," I mention as we sit down at the small table by the windows.  "Why do you have so much of it?"
      "Like I said, the family was thinking of selling the place.  I guess they realized it was just too big for them.  I've only been working on this for the last two weeks, so I've been trying to get everything ready for the realtors.  This place has a lot of history.  This is my first time here myself, so I didn't know what to expect.  I never even met your parents."  Carol just kept going on.
       "Father only.  My parents 'divorced' soon after I was born, and he remarried and had Sam.  I never even met him either."
      "Oh, I'm sorry.   I guess I should have realized.  I was only hired a few weeks ago.  As I said, I am still getting used to this assignment," Carol apologized.
      "There's no need.  I guess you have information about how my father died."
      "No.  Not here," Carol said as she looked through her notes.  "If it's here, I can't seem to find it.  Since it happened so recently, it might not be a part of this package."