Bully in the Burbs (Garden Girls Christian Cozy Mystery Book 8)

by Hope Callaghan

  “Come on. Let’s go to the kitchen,” she urged.

  Gloria led her into the kitchen. She pulled out a chair and Dot settled in. She promptly dropped her face in her hands.

  Gloria’s heart sunk. She had never seen Dot so discombobulated, unless she counted the time that someone died at the restaurant after eating Dot’s dumplings.

  Dot was the most levelheaded, analytical, and thoughtful one of their group of friends. Her feathers were rarely ruffled. It was always smooth sailing in Dot’s world.

  “Coffee. I’ll make some coffee.” Gloria was as familiar with Dot’s kitchen as she was her own. She reached into the cupboard, pulled down a Tupperware container full of freshly ground coffee along with a stack of filters.

  Gloria filled the empty glass pot with water. After she dropped a filter in the top, she dumped a scoop of coffee on top. She turned the switch to “on” and whirled around to face her friend.

  Dot was in the same position: her head in her hands and her shoulders slumped.

  “Dot,” Gloria kneeled next to Dot’s chair, “talk to me.”

  Dot lifted her head. Her face was pale, her lips pinched and her expression blank. “The doctor…”

  Her voice trailed off.

  Gloria remembered Ray telling her that Dot had gone to the doctor earlier.

  Call it a sixth sense. Call it a premonition, or call it a knowing your friend so well that somehow Gloria knew what was coming next.

  Dot took a deep breath. “I have cancer.”

  Chapter 6

  The words hung heavy in the air. It was as if, for a moment, time stood still. Gloria’s mind went blank. She was having trouble wrapping her head around the word cancer.

  Finally, she found her voice. “Does…”

  Dot slowly shook her head. “No. Ray doesn’t know. He didn’t even know I had gone in for a biopsy. I didn’t want to worry him. I figured it was nothing.”

  Gloria’s mouth flapped open and shut as she tried to digest the news. “Why didn’t you…”

  “…ask one of you to go with me?” Dot shrugged. “Same reason. I thought it was nothing and I didn’t want anyone to worry.”

  The coffee had finished brewing. Gloria jerked forward like a robot. Her body went through the motions but her mind was a jumble of emotions.

  Cancer. Gloria’s mother had cancer. It had taken her slowly, sucking the life out of her one day at a time until there was nothing left. Nothing left but death.

  Tears stung the back of Gloria’s eyes as she tried desperately to blink them away while she fixed them both a cup of coffee.

  She needed to be strong for Dot, for Ray and for herself.

  She dumped a packet of creamer and packet of sugar in Dot’s cup before she picked it up and carried both cups to the table.

  She plastered a smile on her face and set the cup in front of Dot. “You’re a fighter, Dot. You’re gonna kick this thing’s butt!”

  Dot smiled hollowly as she faced her dear friend. “Yes, I am.” Whether she felt it yet, she wasn’t certain, but just saying it aloud made her feel better.

  Gloria slid into the kitchen chair and cradled her cup as she listened to Dot pour out her story. She told Gloria as much as she could remember and ended with the doctor wanting to meet with both Dot and Ray the next day to go over her treatment.

  After she finished, her eyes dropped to the half-empty cup of coffee.

  Gloria grabbed Dot’s hand. “Let’s pray.” She didn’t wait for an answer as she bowed her head and poured her heart out to the only one who could help.

  “Dear Heavenly Father. Our hearts are heavy this afternoon as we learn about Dot’s diagnosis. Lord, we know You are the great physician and we pray that You heal Dot completely. Heal her body and let her be a testament to Your Glory. Amen.”

  Gloria lifted her head and quoted the first scripture that came to mind.

  “Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.” James 5:16 NIV

  Dot reached for a Kleenex to wipe her eyes. “Thank you, Gloria.”

  Gloria picked up her empty coffee cup, along with Dot’s cup and carried them to the sink. She washed the cups, dried them with the towel and placed them back inside the cupboard.

  “Now, I’m going to head back to the restaurant and send Ray home. He needs to be with you right now and you two need to talk,” Gloria said.

  “But...”

  Gloria shook her finger at her friend. “No ifs, ands or buts. Holly and I can handle the restaurant,” she said. Holly was a part-time employee at the restaurant and Gloria had seen her earlier when she had stopped by to track Dot down.

  Gloria wasn’t 100% certain she was up to the task but somehow, some way, she was going to help her friend. She grabbed her purse and headed for the front door.

  Dot trailed behind.

  Gloria impulsively spun around and hugged her friend tightly. She squeezed her eyes shut and willed herself not to burst into tears. “I’ll talk to you tomorrow.”

  She hurried out of the house, afraid she might lose it right then and there.

  Dot quietly closed the door behind her.

  Inside Dot’s restaurant, Gloria charged right down the center aisle and made a beeline for the back. Holly and Ray were in the kitchen.

  She dropped her purse on the chair near the door and grabbed an apron from the hook.

  Ray pulled a basket of fries from the fryer and hung it on the hook to drain. “You’re back. Dot wasn’t home?”

  Gloria nodded. She reached around to tie the strings in the back. “Yes. She needs you to come home. I’m taking over.”

  Ray shook his head, confused. “Who will…”

  Gloria pointed to Holly. “Holly and I can handle this,” she said.

  Ray started to argue. Gloria lifted her hand. “Please. Ray. Go home.”

  The tone of Gloria’s voice and the expression on her face finally sunk in. Something was wrong. Terribly wrong.

  Ray nodded. He quickly removed his apron and without another word, headed out the rear door.

  She watched as he backed his compact car out of the dirt parking lot behind the restaurant and eased the car down the alley. Gloria closed her eyes and prayed for them both.

  Holly wedged her fist on her hip. “You think we can pull this off?” she asked doubtfully. “Dinner crunch starts in half an hour.”

  Gloria reached for her purse – and her cell phone. “It’s time to call in the troops.”

  Gloria went right down the line as she called each of the Garden Girls. She started with Ruth, who was across the street working at the post office. “I’ll be over in half an hour, as soon as I lock up here,” she promised.

  Lucy was next. She could tell by the tone in Gloria’s voice she needed help. “I’m on my way,” she said.

  Last, but not least, was Margaret. For a minute, Gloria thought she wasn’t home but she finally picked up. She sounded out of breath. “Sorry, I was out filling the bird feeders.”

  When Gloria told her there was a slight crisis and she needed help covering for Dot and Ray at the restaurant, Margaret cut her off. “Be there in less than five minutes.” She hung up before Gloria could even thank her.

  Holly listened to Gloria as she called each of her friends. “I wish I had friends like that,” she said wistfully.

  The front doorbell tinkled. A few customers had trickled in. Holly held up a finger. “Be right back.”

  Gloria watched her retreating back and for the first time since she had arrived at the restaurant, she actually began to believe they would survive the day.

  When all of the girls arrived at the restaurant minutes later, Gloria herded them into the back. “I can’t tell you what is going on; only that Dot and Ray need us right now. We have to run the restaurant tonight and maybe even tomorrow.”

  None of the girls, other than Holly, had experience working in a restaurant, oth
er than pitching in here or there when Dot was in a pinch and only under her direct supervision. “We’ve gotta fake it until we can make it,” Gloria told them.

  The dinner rush had begun and the girls spent the rest of the evening racing around the restaurant, putting out fires, one even literally when Margaret accidentally put the frying pan oil too close to a roll of paper towels and it caught fire. Thankfully, she was able to put it out before it spread.

  Hours later, after the last customer walked out the door, the last dish washed and put away; they breathed a collective sigh of relief.

  The girls had even managed to do some prep for the next morning’s breakfast crowd.

  Ray had called earlier to check in and ask how they were doing. Gloria calmly told him they had it under control, although that was not quite all of it. They were running around like chickens with their heads cut off.

  Gloria was more than a little relieved when Ray told her his brother, Randall, and his family would open the restaurant the next morning. Randall owned a restaurant up north. The restaurant was only open during the summer months and they had just closed for the season. Randall was also RJ’s dad.

  In another month, Randall and his wife would head to Florida for the winter.

  After she hung up the phone, the girls each grabbed a plate of leftover chicken pot pie and settled into a table near the back.

  Lucy was the last to take a seat and the first to speak. “How is Dot?”

  Gloria had asked Ray if it was okay for her to tell the other girls about Dot and he said he thought it was a great idea and that it would take a little pressure off Dot.

  Gloria explained the situation and when she said the word “cancer,” the group gasped, each of them having a reaction similar to hers.

  When the news sunk in, they all vowed to do whatever they could to help their dear friend, Dot.

  Gloria and Lucy were the last to leave. Gloria locked the back door and followed Lucy down the alley and around front, where they had parked their cars.

  Lucy fiddled with her keys, twirling the ring around her finger. “When will we know what the doctor has to say?” she asked Gloria.

  “Ray said he would let me know tomorrow. As soon as I know, I’ll call everyone,” she promised.

  Lucy impulsively reached over and hugged Gloria. Dot’s unexpected news made her – made them all – cherish their friendships now more than ever.

  Back at the farm, Gloria wearily climbed out of Annabelle and wandered up the porch steps. Mally, who was ready to go out, greeted Gloria at the door.

  She followed Mally back out to the porch and waited while she raced around the yard, tromped through the garden, visited her favorite tree and wandered back to the porch.

  Gloria settled into the rocking chair. Soon, she would have to store the chairs in the barn – before the first snowfall.

  Small piles of fallen leaves danced in the yard, taunting her. She knew she needed to rake and burn the leaves but once again, she had so much going on. Between Jill’s haunted house and Dot’s cancer, she would have her hands full.

  Her eyes wandered to the front yard. She could see the branches from the tree out front, the one that was home to her grandsons’ tree fort, sticking out. Maybe she could have them over for the afternoon to play in the fort and help rake the leaves.

  The tree reminded her that she needed to call Jill back. So much had happened.

  Jill picked up on the first ring. “We put an offer in on that other house,” Jill told her.

  “Did you put down a deposit?” Gloria asked.

  “No. The real estate agent said we could wait until the sellers accepted the offer. This deposit would only be $1000.”

  “So you’ve given up on the other house?”

  Jill sighed deeply. “I love that first house and it kills me to think we’re going to lose all that money.”

  “You know RJ and his wife live in Highland Park,” Gloria said. “Maybe I can ask them about the house.”

  “If you think it would help,” Jill said doubtfully, “go ahead.”

  It certainly couldn’t hurt. On top of that, RJ would more than likely be at Dot’s Restaurant in the morning. She could ask him then. “Good. I’ll ask tomorrow.”

  If Jill put down another deposit and decided to go with house #1 after all, at least she would only lose $1000 on the second house. The other way around, losing house #1, would be a lot more costly. Of course, Gloria didn’t want to see her lose a single penny!

  Gloria hung up the phone, turned off the kitchen light and headed to the bathroom to brush her teeth. Tomorrow was shaping up to be a busy day and she was whupped!

  Chapter 7

  The next morning, Dot’s Restaurant was a beehive of activity. Gloria drove around the block twice before she gave up on finding an open spot and pulled into the post office parking lot.

  She dashed across the busy street and glanced in the front window. Her heart sank when she realized she wouldn’t see her friend’s familiar figure dart back and forth through the window.

  Instead, she saw a tall, lanky man doing the darting. It was Randall.

  He caught Gloria’s eye when she stepped in the front door and gave a small wave. Gloria made a beeline for the back, nodding to a few of the diners she recognized.

  Stacy, Randall’s wife, was standing in front of the flat top, cooking pancakes. She turned her attention for a brief moment and smiled. “Hello Gloria.”

  Gloria returned the smile and glanced around the kitchen. Her eyes settled on RJ, bent over the kitchen sink, up to his elbows in sudsy water.

  He caught Gloria’s eye. “Ah. I heard you were looking for me.”

  He turned on the cold tap water and rinsed the bubbles from his arms. “I heard that Jill is thinking of moving to Highland Park. It’s a great area,” he assured her.

  “I’m glad to hear that but she may not move there after all.” Gloria explained the situation briefly.

  “Have you heard anything about Pine Place that would cause Jill concern about buying that house?”

  RJ rubbed the faint stubble on his chin. “What is the address?”

  Gloria couldn’t remember. She was lucky if she could remember what day of the week it was. She slipped on her glasses, lifted her cell phone and scanned her text messages until she got to the one Jill had sent her with the address. “726 Pine Place.”

  RJ’s eyes widened. “Oh yeah. Now that you mention it, there was a big ruckus over there about six months ago.”

  RJ went on to explain that the owners of the place Jill and Greg had put an offer on had been running a puppy mill. Some of the neighbors had tipped off local authorities who swooped in and shut it down.

  “I think their last name was Acosta.” RJ continued. “They got mad and promptly put the house up for sale and now I guess it has been on the market for a while.”

  Gloria’s brow furrowed. Did the owners have something to do with the notes and pentagram painting? Wouldn’t they just want to unload the house and move on? Not if they kept collecting huge earnest money deposits from potential buyers.

  Gloria remembered that Sue Camp had mentioned that the house had gone pending several times already. Each deal had fallen apart. Seven thousand dollars several times over was a tidy profit!

  She made a mental note to do a little more research into the previous owners!

  Gloria thanked RJ for his time. She needed to get back over to Highland Park to talk to the neighbors, although it may already be too late and Jill and Greg would move forward with this other house.

  Gloria wandered out of the restaurant and headed back to the farm.

  She spent the rest of the afternoon on “busy work,” which was not much of anything. She couldn’t concentrate. All she could think about was poor Dot.

  Gloria had just settled in at the kitchen table with a plate of leftover tuna noodle casserole and a small tossed salad when the house phone rang. She paused for a moment, deciding whether to pick up. Maybe it wa
s Dot or Ray…

  “Hello?”

  “Hi Gloria. I hope I’m not bothering you.” It was Dot.

  Mally’s sniffer honed in on the goodies near the edge of the kitchen table. Gloria reached over and slid the plate to the center. She wagged her finger at her pooch, who slunk off and crawled into her doggie bed near the dining room door.

  “What happened?”

  She could hear Dot suck in a breath. “It’s good news and bad news.”

  Gloria squeezed her eyes shut. She prayed the good news outweighed the bad.

  “The good news is the doctors said they caught the cancer early.”

  Gloria shuffled over to the kitchen window and peered out into the yard. “And the bad?”

  “The surgery is scheduled for week after next and I’m terrified,” Dot admitted.

  “We’ll start a prayer chain today,” Gloria said. “Pastor Nate can add you to Sunday’s prayer list.”

  Dot’s voice grew thick. “I couldn’t even sleep last night. All I could think about was dying.”

  Gloria’s heart sunk. It was moments like this that you just had to hand it all over to the Lord. “Pray about it, Dot. Ask the Lord for peace.”

  Dot went on. “Anyways, Ray refuses to let me go back to work at the restaurant for the next few days. He thinks it would be too hard on me.”

  Gloria had to agree. News of Dot’s cancer would spread through their small town like wildfire, if it hadn’t already. “He’s right,” she simply said.

  Gloria could hear muffled sounds on the other end. Dot was on the move.

  “I talked to RJ a little while ago. He told me about the house Jill is trying to buy over in Rapid Creek. It sounds like something fishy is going on.”

  Gloria didn’t want to burden Dot with Jill’s crisis but she briefly explained what had happened.

  “Are you going stand by and let her lose that money?” If it had been Dot’s daughter, she would have tried to get to the bottom of it. Dot knew that Gloria would not simply throw in the towel, so to speak.

  “Not if I can help it,” Gloria declared. “I’m going over there in the morning and pound on some doors.” It would be the perfect day. Saturday morning. People would be home from work…