Home for the Holidays (5 page)

He glanced at the check Holly, the server, had left on the table.  He dropped a five and three ones on top of the check and slid his chair back.  “Let’s talk outside.”

Gloria popped out of the chair and trailed behind as she followed him out the front door and onto the sidewalk.  He stepped out of view of the large front picture window and motioned her off to the side.  “Just once, Gloria.  I’ll help you this one time,” he caved.  “What do you want me to do?”

Gloria looked around, making sure they were alone.  “Two things.” She lifted an index finger.  “One, I need you to get your hands on the notes.  Not steal them.  Just take a picture of them.” She lifted a second finger.  “Second, I need you to kind of put your ear to the ground, so to speak.  See if you can figure out who is talking bad about Paul.  You know, find out if anyone seems to be gloating…” she trailed off.  She didn’t want to come across as bossy, like she was trying to tell Joe what to do.  After all, he was a cop.  He should be able to sniff out the bad guys, even the ones he worked with.

Joe shoved his hands in his jacket pockets.  “I’ll see what I can do, Gloria, but don’t get your hopes up,” he warned.

Gloria nodded.  “I won’t,” she promised.  “I would appreciate any help, even a little.”

He patted Gloria on the back.  “I’ll try, Gloria.  The best I can do is try.”

It was all Gloria could ask for, could hope for.  She knew Joe would do what he could.  She prayed it would be enough.

Joe glanced at his watch.  “Gotta start my patrol now.  I’ll be at the station later this afternoon and when I get off duty later tonight, I’ll stop by your place to let you know if I got the pictures and if I heard anything worth mentioning.”

She watched as Joe climbed into his patrol car.  He waved as he backed out of the parking spot and headed out of town. 
Dear God.  Please help Joe.

Gloria started for the car.  She abruptly changed direction and headed toward the post office.  Maybe Ruth had heard something. 

When she stepped into the lobby, she ran smack dab into Judith Arnett, who was on her way out. 

Judith nodded at Gloria and sidestepped her as Gloria made her way to the counter.  Judith and Gloria weren’t the best of friends.  Judith was a local gossip and, on more than one occasion, had nearly ruined a Belhaven resident’s life with her malicious rumors.

Judith had mellowed out the last few years and it seemed to Gloria there were less rumors linked to Judith.

Gloria liked to believe that perhaps Judith had turned a new leaf and become a kinder, gentler, Judith.

Judith paused and then spun around.  She took a tentative step toward Gloria.  “I-I’m sorry about Paul,” she said.

Gloria studied Judith’s face.  She seemed sincere.  “I…”

A lump lodged in Gloria’s throat and sudden tears burned the back of her eyes.  She opened her mouth to reply to Judith’s unexpected act of kindness and burst into tears.  She lowered her head in her hands and sobbed.

Judith awkwardly placed an arm around Gloria’s shoulders.  “I-I’m sorry Gloria.  I didn’t mean to upset you…” She looked at Ruth helplessly.

Ruth bolted through the door that separated the lobby from the employee area and patted Gloria’s back.  “It’s going to be okay, Gloria.  We’re here to help.”

“Me, too,” Judith chimed in.  “I’ll help if you want,” she offered.

Ruth reached behind her and grabbed the box of Kleenex from the counter.  She jerked several tissues from the box and put them in Gloria’s hand.

Gloria dabbed her eyes and wiped her nose.  “I’m sorry.  I guess I’m stressed out.”

Ruth slipped her arm through Gloria’s and led her to the back. 

Judith followed behind.  “Ruth has been training me on her surveillance equipment,” she said. “Just say the word.”

Gloria’s mind was mush. Other than asking Officer Joe Nelson to snoop around, she didn’t have a plan, but she needed one. 

“My cousin, Minnie, works part-time at Montbay Sheriff’s Station in dispatch.  Maybe she can help,” Judith offered.

Gloria dabbed at her swollen eyes.  It was a thought.  The woman was probably a wealth of information.  “Do you think I might be able to talk to her?”

Judith nodded.  “Yep.  I’ll get right on it.” She glanced at Ruth.  “Maybe we could meet later tonight, have pizza and kind of butter her up.”

“She loves food,” Ruth explained. 

“Y-you would do that for me?” Gloria wasn’t sure if she was surprised or not. 

Judith shifted her purse on her shoulder.  “One time, right before Carl retired from the Montbay County Road Commission, someone tried to pin an accident on him.  I know what it’s like.  It almost ruined our retirement.” She looked at Ruth.  “If not for Ruth butting in, he would have lost his pension, benefits, everything.”

Gloria had never heard the story.  It sounded a lot like what was happening to Paul, although Paul’s circumstances were even direr since Paul could end up in jail!

“I’ll bring the pizza,” Gloria sniffled.  “What time and where?”

“We can meet at my house,” Judith said.  “Carl is playing poker down at the VFW hall tonight so he’ll be gone.  Course I’ll have to get ahold of Minnie first.”

Judith promised to get right on it and call them to confirm.  After Judith left the post office, Gloria hung back.  “I don’t know what to say, except thank God I ran into Judith.”

Ruth crossed her arms and nodded.  “Yep.  She seems to have softened.  Not sure why, though.”

A customer walked inside the post office and approached the counter.

Gloria averted her eyes, reached inside her purse and grabbed her keys.  “I’ll talk to you later.”

Gloria slipped out of the post office, crossed the street and climbed into her car.  All she could do now was wait.

***

Gloria wandered aimlessly around the house.  She needed busy work and decided the best thing she could do was bake.  Baking always made her feel better. It kept her hands busy and on top of that, kept her out of trouble.

She waited anxiously for the phone to ring and when it finally did, she almost didn’t answer, afraid of what bad news might be on the other end.

It was Judith.  “We’re on for 6:00 at my place,” Judith told her when she picked up.  “Bring a large, extra meat pizza for Minnie.  I’m not picky so order whatever you want for Ruth, you and me.”

Gloria grinned.  “Minnie is going to eat an entire large pizza by herself?”

“Yep,” Judith said.  “Oh, and she loves those twisty breadsticks filled with gooey cheese.”

“Let me guess.  She can eat a whole box of those, too.”

“Yep.”

Gloria stepped over to the kitchen door and stared out into the yard.  “What kind of pizza do you like, Judith?” She wanted to make sure Judith knew how much she appreciated her help.

“I’m not picky. The only things I don’t like are olives,” she admitted.

“Okay.  I’ll make sure there are no olives,” Gloria assured her.

“See you at six.”

Gloria started to say good-bye.  “Judith!”

“Yeah?”

“Thanks.  I mean.  Really, thank you,” Gloria could feel another meltdown coming on.

“You’re welcome, Gloria.” She hung up before Gloria could answer. 

Gloria returned the handset to the cradle and reached for her apron.  It was time to make her grandsons’ all-time favorite holiday treat – Christmas cookies.

Gloria pulled a set of mixing bowls from the cupboard.  Next, she assembled the sugars, the flour, the butter and the eggs.  She spread everything on the counters and began measuring out the ingredients.  After mixing the ingredients, she switched on the radio and turned it to a Christmas classics station.

Gloria smiled as she pulled out the tin with the cookie cutters.  The cookie cutters were the same ones her children and she had used to make the special cookies when they were young.

She sprinkled flour on the counter, rolled out the dough and cut the cookies into various shapes.  There were reindeer, Christmas trees, snowmen, gingerbread men, stars and angels.  She picked up a spatula and carefully transferred the cookies from the counter to the cookie sheets.  After loading three sheets full, she placed the cookies inside the preheated oven and shut the oven door.

While the cookies baked, Gloria mixed the ingredients for the frosting.  James, Gloria’s husband, had loved the Christmas cookies and his favorite part was the frosting, until he found out the main ingredient was shortening.  She tried to explain the shortening was what made it creamy, but after that, he didn’t care for them as much.

Her children and grandchildren did.  She couldn’t remember if Paul liked Christmas cookies and in fact, couldn’t remember if she had even made them for him. 

When the cookies finished baking, Gloria pulled them from the oven and placed the sheets on top of the stove.  After they cooled, she separated the frosting into four separate bowls and squeezed drops of food coloring in three of them.  There was a bowl of green, a bowl of red, a bowl of blue and then she left one bowl white.

She spread thick layers of creamy frosting on each of the cookies and then decorated the tops with sprinkles, colorful dots and cinnamon candies. Her daughter, Jill, didn’t care for the toppings so she left a few plain.

It took another hour to clean up the mess.  After the kitchen was spic and span, she headed to the bathroom to wash up.

Gloria placed her pizza order with Joe, who owned Guiseppe’s Pizza.  “Can you please deliver the pizzas to Judith Arnett’s place?”

Joe paused.  “Did you say Judith Arnett?” Everyone in the small Town of Belhaven knew Gloria and Judith weren’t the best of friends, including Joe Guiseppe.

“Yep.  We’re having pizza at her place.” She didn’t go into detail but knew Joe was most certainly wondering why on earth Gloria was eating pizza at Judith’s place.

She gave him her credit card information, told him to add a $10 tip and then headed for the door. 

Gloria couldn’t wait to find out what Minnie Dexter had to say!

Chapter 6

Ruth’s van was already in Judith’s drive when Gloria pulled up out front.  Parked in the drive was another vehicle Gloria didn’t recognize.  She guessed the vehicle belonged to Minnie.

Both the front porch and the side porch lights were on.  Gloria climbed out of the car and squeezed past the cars as she made her way to the side porch.

Ruth, who had been waiting for Gloria to arrive, flung the door open and stepped to the side to let her in. 

Gloria had been in Judith’s place once before, when Judith helped solve a case that involved Ruth.

Beyond the small mudroom was a large, open kitchen.  Sitting at the kitchen table was Judith and a woman with jet-black hair and olive-colored skin.  The woman turned, her dark brown eyes honing in on Gloria.

Judith smiled.  “Hello Gloria.  You’re right on time.”

Gloria returned the smile.  “I ordered the pizzas from Guiseppe’s.  I hope that’s okay.”

Judith nodded.  “I love Guiseppe’s.”  She pointed to the woman seated next to her.  “Minnie, this is Gloria. Gloria, this is my cousin, Minnie.”

Minnie half-smiled.  “Ah, so you are the infamous Gloria Rutherford, super sleuth.”

Gloria shrugged out of her coat and hung it on the back of an empty chair.  Whatever she had expected Minnie to look like…this wasn’t it.  She was thin, even thinner than Lucy was if she had to guess.  She was also tall, with long arms and gangly legs that stuck out from under the table.

“Yes and it seems I need your help.” There was no sense in mincing words.  She might as well get down to business.

Minnie patted her tummy.  “I don’t work well on an empty stomach.”

Judith agreed. “Minnie will want to eat first and then we can discuss the case.”

Gloria frowned. There was no “case.”  Someone has set Paul up.  Gloria intended to find out who had it in for him.  Simple. 

Still, she needed Minnie…happy and willing to talk.  “Yes, of course.” 

Judith, Ruth and Gloria made small talk while Minnie remained silent.  She wasn’t kidding when she said she wanted to eat.

Thankfully, the Guiseppe’s delivery driver arrived a short time later. 

Ruth met him at the door and handed the pizzas off to Gloria, who carried them to the table while Judith placed a small stack of paper plates and napkins in the center.

Minnie reached for a box.  “Which one is mine?”  She didn’t wait for an answer but lifted the lid on the first one and scrunched her nose.  “Yuck.  Mushrooms.  That one is definitely not mine.”

She shoved the box across the table and reached for the next one.

Gloria held her breath as Minnie peeked inside. 

Minnie nodded. The pizza passed inspection. “Yep.  This is it.” She didn’t bother with a plate but instead, yanked a piece of pizza from the box, lifted it to her mouth and took a big bite.  She wolfed down the first slice, then the second slice before taking a breather.  “I thought there were breadsticks, too.  This little pizza isn’t going to fill me up.”

Gloria’s eyes widened.  Where in the world did this woman put her food?  The other three watched in silence as the one-woman eating machine devoured her entire large pizza, a box of cheesy breadsticks and then reached for another other pie.

Gloria had ordered a third pizza as a spare – cheese only – and it was a good thing she had!  The eating machine was still hungry.

Minnie frowned at the cheese-only pizza.  “Who orders a pizza with only cheese?”

“Me,” Gloria said in a small voice.  “I didn’t know you would want extra.”

Judith gave her a dark look.

Gloria clamped her mouth shut.  She hoped she hadn’t offended Minnie.

Minnie paid no mind as she ate two slices of cheese pizza and one more breadstick.  She glanced at Judith.  “What’s for dessert?”

Gloria looked down at her own plate.  She had just started on her second slice of pizza and taken a single bite of her breadstick.

Minnie had polished off an entire large meat lover’s pizza, two slices of cheese pizza, a box of breadsticks and she was still hungry.

Judith shook her head.  “I-I have some leftover cinnamon rolls from breakfast,” she offered.