Grandma was putting out the dessert plates when Virginia and Greta walked in. True to her word, Greta was carrying a pie.
“What kind is it?” I asked, grabbing forks from the drawer.
“Chocolate cream,” she answered with a smile.
My favorite. Though to be honest anything Greta made was my favorite. And, I suppose if I wanted to take the truth further still, I could say all dessert was my favorite.
Irene walked in as Grandma and I sat the dishes on the table.
“Where’s Hattie?” Grandma asked.
“She’s a comin’” Irene said, sitting down. “She had to stop by Florence’s house first. Apparently, Florence has something for her.”
I cringed. “Please don’t tell me it’s a doll.”
Irene grabbed a plate. “It’s either that or lung cancer.”
“Should we wait for Hattie or just slice the pie?” Greta asked.
A chorus of “slice it” rang out and she happily obliged. Greta wasn’t a proud woman, if anything she was the humblest person I had ever met. But she was great at making desserts of all kinds and she knew it. I could tell it made her happy to share her gift with others, and I was happy to take it.
The pie was sliced and everyone took a piece. Grandma put a piece for Hattie at her place at the table. We all knew she would be coming soon. And sure enough, just a few minutes later she came bounding in the door, carrying a doll.
She held it up for everyone to see. “Isn’t it just the cutest?”
It was not. It had a combination of pink and black hair. It had thin lips like Hattie’s and Lloyd’s larger nose. But the weirdest part were the eyes.
“I couldn’t decide on the eye color, so I went with one green and one brown, that way it has both of our eyes.” She lifted up the lilac dress. “And look! She even made it a speedo!”
“I love it,” Irene said taking it from her. “It looks just like the two of you.”
Grandma, Greta, Virginia and I traded glances. We weren’t as enthusiastic about it as Irene. But Grandma tried to be supportive. “Are you going to name it?”
“Of course!” Hattie said beaming. “I’ll have to talk to Lloyd about it first. I want him to have a say too.” She looked at the pie. “Oh Greta! You really outdid yourself this time!”
Hattie tried to put the doll on the table but missed and the doll fell down with a thud. “Oh fudge nuggets,” Hattie said, picking her up.
Greta laughed at Hattie’s cuss word substitute.
“We only have one more day,” Irene reminded Greta. “And then you’ll have to pay up!”
Virginia chuckled. “I can’t believe you two made it this far. But you still have one whole day left – a lot can go wrong with you two in twenty-four hours.
“Here,” Grandma said, reaching out to take the doll from Hattie. “How about I put her on the counter so she doesn’t get pie on her pretty dress.”
Grandma took the doll and I thought about how sweet that was of her to move the doll to safety. It was always so heart-warming to see how the grannies took care of each other. But then I saw Grandma put her on the counter and cover her with a tea towel. Grandma looked up at me and winced. “It’s ugly,” she mouthed.
Hattie turned around to see where her doll was. “Aw,” Hattie said smiling. “You even tucked her in.”
When we were all seated at the table eating our pie, we got caught up. Greta told us about all the work she had been putting into her blog and how her Hearts Before Parts Sex education program was really taking off. “I have two speaking engagements scheduled for next month,” she announced.
“That is impressive!” Grandma said. “Good for you!”
“I’ve been up to my eyeballs in work too,” Virginia said with contentment in her voice. “I’m having a blast doing these weddings. I signed another client this morning! I had to go down to Sinner’s storage and rent a unit. All the stuff I’m buying for the wedding receptions is taking over my living room!”
“If you ever need help with any of that let me know,” Grandma said. “I love to come up with ideas for parties.”
“I’ll probably take you up on that,” Virginia said. “My latest bride wants a Moroccan theme for the reception, and I have no idea what that even means.”
Grandma’s eyes lit up and I could tell the wheels were already turning. “Let’s do lunch tomorrow and we can talk details!” Grandma said.
“Deal,” Virginia answered.
“What about you two?” Grandma asked Irene and Hattie. “Do we even want to know what you have been up to?”
Irene laughed. “Probably not.”
I expected her to tell us anyway but her and Hattie just giggled together and otherwise kept quiet. That was concerning.
A knock came from the door and Grandma scrunched her eyebrows. “Who could that be?” she asked as she stood and made her way to the door.
It was Lloyd. He walked in and all eyes immediately went to his speedo. I realized I didn’t even feel ashamed anymore. His speedo collection was impressive, and I was now openly curious about which one he was wearing. Today’s speedo had donuts on it.
“You’re just in time for some pie,” Grandma told him as she moved out of the way so he could come in. Grandma went to the hall closet to get him a folding chair and Hattie jumped from her seat.
“Look what I just picked up!” She said to Lloyd. She grabbed the baby and handed it to him.
“Blimey!” he shrieked. “What on God’s green earth is that thing?”
Hattie looked hurt. “It’s our baby!”
“Surely my old parts and your old parts could make something better than this!” he exclaimed.
Hattie snatched it back. “I thought you’d like it.”
Lloyd was quiet for a minute and he could tell he hurt Hattie’s feelings. We all could. “I’m sorry lambchop, I was just surprised. It’s not so bad.”
Grandma and I looked at each other. Lambchop?
“Do you think you could love it?” Hattie asked sweetly.
“I have to love it?” Lloyd said surprised.
“Yes!” Hattie answered. “And we have to come up with a name!”
Lloyd thought it over. “I’ve always liked the name Chantilly.”
Hattie shrieked and put her arms around Lloyd. “That’s perfect! And I always liked that song!”
With that decided, Lloyd sat in the folding chair next to Hattie, and Grandma slid him over a slice of pie. Chantilly had returned to her place on the counter under the tea towel and Lloyd seemed relieved it was out of sight. I think we all were.
“So, what’s new with you two?” Virginia asked Grandma and me. “Did you ever figure out what those codes mean?”
Grandma filled them in on what we knew. And then she told them about today’s discovery and how Delores had been at the shop.
“Oh!” I said, reaching in my pocket. “We never deciphered our latest code.”
I put it on the table where everyone could see it and Irene read the letters out loud.
IVVWGIVKM
As I decoded it, I explained how the code worked. They were fascinated as letter by letter, the word was revealed.
“’Annoyance’?” Hattie said. “I was expecting something more exciting than that.”
“Annoyance…” Grandma repeated. She looked up at me. “Search that boy’s name and see if you can find anything.”
“What boy?” Greta asked.
Grandma told them about the basketball card, and I took it out of my pocket and passed it around before I pulled out my phone and typed in his name.
Before Google had even given me an answer, Hattie piped up. “I know who this is. John Asuza couldn’t stand this poor kid. He was frequently the target of his jokes on his show.”
“That’s why Lucca’s name sounded familiar,” I said as I scrolled down to the video I had watched of John Asuza calling him a “wanna be athlete.” He really bashed that kid in this video. I hit play and we all listened to it for a few minute
s until Grandma had enough.
“Turn that noise off,” she said, upset. “Why would he pick on that kid like that?”
“He picked on everybody,” Lloyd answered. “That’s why he’s dead.”
“Look at Lucca’s stats,” I said, holding the card. “Twenty-eight points and twelve rebounds per game.”
“That’s no wanna be athlete,” Lloyd said impressed. “That kid has talent.”
“So why was Mr. Asuza being so awful to him?” I asked confused.
Irene sighed. “He didn’t like out of towners. Lucca and his family are from Wisconsin I believe…or was it Michigan?”
“I think it was Indiana,” Hattie said.
“You’re both wrong,” I said looking back at my phone. “There’s an article here from the paper that says he’s from Ohio.”
“Well, either way,” Irene continued. “If you weren’t from Florida, he didn’t think you were good enough.”
“That’s awful,” I said looking back at Lucca’s picture.
“Well, that’s John Asuza for you. He’s awful. Or, he was awful,” Lloyd corrected.
“Does Owen have any leads?” Virginia asked.
“I don’t really know,” I admitted. “When I talked to him in his office the other day, he was so distracted. He had a mountain of paperwork on his desk and he couldn’t seem to find anything.”
“He was probably sorting through the list of people who would want him dead. It has to be a mile long,” Lloyd said, reaching for another piece of pie. “Is that okay?” he asked Greta before putting it on his plate.
“Eat up!” She beamed. “I can’t take this home with me because I’ll eat whatever is left and I certainly don’t need to eat all that.”
Well, if that was the case, I’d just have another slice too. You know, to help Greta.
“So, what do you two think?” Virginia asked Grandma and me. “Do you have any suspects?”
“Not really,” I answered. “Kaylee Palmer at the salon acted really weird when I talked to her. And the code that led us to her said ‘adulteries.’ My guess is she was his girlfriend. That couldn’t have made his wife very happy.”
“And Delores being at the store today…” Grandma paused. “I just don’t know. Brittney said she was the only customer this morning. And she’s acting so weird at the paper.”
“And she’s the one who handed me the first code,” I reminded her.
“And she was visibly shaken when we talked about John’s death. She seemed upset by it,” Grandma added. “Could it have just been for show?”
“It must be,” Irene said. “Even his own mother wasn’t really upset.”
“Virginia,” Grandma said looking at her. “Can we postpone tomorrow’s lunch? I think Nikki and I need to have a little chat with Delores.”
“Of course,” Virginia answered.
“You don’t think Lucca is in danger, do you?” I asked the group. “You don’t think whoever put this in our shop would target him…right?”
Grandma looked concerned. “Have you given this information to Owen yet?”
I thought back to our awkward meeting at the shop and shook my head no.
“Well, I think you should,” Grandma said. “You text him and I’ll text Delores.”
16
The next day we sat at Rosa’s cafe, waiting for Delores to meet us for lunch. I looked at my phone. “She’s fifteen minutes late.”
Grandma took a sip of her sweet tea and looked out the window. “I know. I have a feeling she might not be coming.”
We saw Virginia across the street, walking out of a flower shop. I chuckled. “Remember the last time we were sitting here and we saw Virginia walk out of there with a bouquet of flowers and we thought she was getting married!”
Grandma laughed. “And it didn’t help that we followed her all the way to the courthouse. I was really convinced…”
Grandma suddenly stopped talking and I looked from her to across the street where she was staring. Virginia stood on the sidewalk smiling and talking to some man. “What’s wrong?” I asked Grandma. “Do you know him?”
Grandma was speechless. I looked back across the street and watched the two talking and laughing, and then I saw what most likely Grandma had seen moments before – the man leaned over and gave Virginia a kiss.
“Who the heck is that?” I asked, leaning toward the window for a closer look.
“I have no idea,” Grandma said slowly.
We watched them for a minute then Grandma looked at me. “How could she keep a secret like that? From her best friends?”
“Maybe it’s her brother or cousin or something. We do have a tendency to jump to conclusions.”
We looked back over just in time to see the man reach around and grab Virginia’s back side. Okay…so probably not a brother then.
Grandma looked angry. “I have half a mind to…”
Apparently, the other half of her mind caught up to the first half because within the blink of an eye Grandma was out the door and marching across the street. I sat frozen and shocked in my seat.
Rosa, the owner of the café and a good friend of the grannies, walked over to me concerned. “What’s going on?”
I couldn’t take my eyes away from the window. “Virginia has a secret boyfriend. Well, he’s not so secret anymore.”
“Oh boy,” Rosa said, sitting in Grandma’s seat to watch the show.
Virginia looked terrified when she caught sight of Grandma storming toward her. I had no idea what was about to unfold. I held my breath as she approached them, but all she did was stick out her hand to the man.
“She’s just shaking his hand?” I asked.
“Oh, she’s good,” Rosa said. “Your Grandma has too much tact to cause a scene so she’s going full on passive aggressive on this one.” Rosa laughed. “Poor Virginia. She’s standing there frozen while Geraldine strikes up a conversation with her mystery boyfriend. I bet she’s mortified.”
Judging by the look on Virginia’s face I would say Rosa was right.
“Why would she keep her boyfriend a secret?” I asked.
“Well,” Rosa said sighing, “I think when it comes to love everyone kind of walks on eggshells around your Grandma.”
I was confused. “Why’s that?”
Rosa looked at me alarmed. “Oh, uh, well…” She looked around the café. “I better get back to work! Won’t make a shiny dime, sitting on my behind. My mom used to say that and it’s true.”
Rosa practically ran back to the kitchen, leaving me sitting there alone, watching out the window. Her words swam through my head. I had never really noticed the grannies avoiding relationship talks with Grandma. Really the only ones who even had relationships were Hattie and Irene – and I wouldn’t really call them relationships. They were more like encounters. But I had noticed Grandma getting a little teary-eyed when Lloyd said he was going to marry Hattie. Was Grandma missing Grandpa Dean? Or did this go back further than that?
I knew very little about Grandma’s past and she tried hard to keep it that way. I knew she had my mom when she was young and none of us knew my mom’s real father. Grandma Dean married Glenn Dean, her agent and senior by eleven years when she was nineteen. He’s the one who got her into movies and commercials in Europe, where for years she was a pretty big star.
While my Grandma Dean was young and enjoying her acting career, she let her own parents raise her daughter, my mother. And even though their relationship had greatly improved over the years, there was still a rift that I didn’t think would ever be mended.
Suddenly I realized that Grandma wasn’t standing across the street anymore. She walked in the door of the café, her long, beaded necklace swinging as she purposefully walked over and sat down. She looked up at me and smiled, fully in control of herself again, thankfully.
“What was that all about?” I asked cautiously.
“What?” Grandma asked. “I went over there and met Virginia’s secret boyfriend. His name
is Hershel and he seems rather pleasant.” She picked up her phone and started texting someone. Was she really going to leave it at that?
I looked back across the street and noticed that Hershel was gone and Virginia stood there by herself, staring at us. Even from this distance I could see her narrowed eyes, and pursed lips. Virginia was ticked off, big time.
17
Lunch was uncomfortably quiet. Occasionally Grandma would pick up her phone and answer a text, but for the most part we sat and ate our lunch.
I sent Virginia a text apologizing for whatever had happened across the street. She didn’t respond.
Finally, as I was finishing my lunch and noticing that Grandma barely touched hers, Grandma Dean put down her phone. “So,” she said cheerfully, like that whole thing with Virginia hadn’t happened. “Obviously Delores isn’t coming. She finally answered my texts and said she forgot.”
I took the last drink of my Dr. Pepper. “That sounds suspicious.”
“I agree,” Grandma said. “But let’s go see if Lira Asuza, John’s wife, will talk to us. She was on our list, might as well make something positive come from this lunch. “
Well, okay then.
“So,” I said on the way to Lira’s house. “Are we going to talk about what happened back there with Virginia?”
“Nothing happened. I went over to meet her boyfriend, that’s all.”
“No,” I said slowly. “You stormed over there to meet the guy she wasn’t ready to introduce us to yet and I think you upset her in the process.”
“Oh, she’ll get it over it,” Grandma dismissed. “And if anything, we should be the ones upset. We’re the ones she was keeping a secret from.”
We pulled up in front a beautiful Spanish style home. Exotic looking flowers filled the large front yard and surrounded a giant fountain. It looked more like a park than someone’s yard. A large wrought iron gate stood open at the beginning of a long driveway and Grandma drove right in.
I was nervous as we got out of the car. Was it okay to just drive in like that? I guess we’d find out.
A woman who I assumed was the housekeeper answered the door and Grandma asked to see Lira. Grandma said it in a tone like she was a friend and the woman either bought it or didn’t care because she let us into the entry way then disappeared through an arched doorway, calling out, “Ms. Lira, you have guests.”
Crack the Code (Glock Grannies Cozy Mystery Book 5) Page 7