“Yep.” Ruth confirmed. “When police began questioning Kate Edelson and Eleanor, Lynda vowed to silence them. From her confession, which I heard secondhand from Judith Arnett, who heard it from her cousin, Minnie, who works in dispatch at Montbay County Sheriff’s station, she planned to kill Eleanor next and finally Kate.”
“Whew!” Gloria shook her head. “Another reason not to go messing around with someone else’s husband.”
“What about Sally’s nametag that we found inside Ed Mueller’s cottage?” Gloria thought about the new lockset. “Ed must have planned to change the locks on the doors that night. Maybe he intended to end the relationship, kind of let Lynda down gently.”
“Well, that plan backfired,” Ruth said. “Apparently, Lynda found Sally’s nametag sitting next to the cash register at the Quik Stop and saw the perfect opportunity to set Sally up to take the fall. She put it in the garbage and then placed an anonymous call to the police department, telling them there was evidence inside Mueller’s cottage.”
Gloria picked up. “Which is why Officer Nelson had gone back to the place again…to look around.”
“The only thing is, he didn’t bother checking the trash,” Andrea chimed in.
“The police sure showed up fast to Eleanor’s house,” Margaret remarked.
“That’s because Officer Joe was on his way to Lynda Clemson’s cottage when he got the call. He and two other officers were right behind him in another patrol car.”
Dot touched Eleanor’s hand. “Do you need someone to repair your front door?”
Eleanor shook her head. “No. Brian was kind enough to stop by right after it happened. He put a brand new door on and it even latches like it should. I could never get the old one to catch the first time.”
Gloria reached for the bag of potatoes, carrots and turnips on the table. “We better start our rounds for the shut-ins,” she said.
Lucy hopped out of her chair. “If you want, Eleanor, we can drop you off at home before starting our visits, right Ruth?”
Ruth was their designated driver for the Sunday afternoon visits. “You got it!”
Gloria reached for her crutches and nodded to Dot. “Paul and I will be back later for dinner.”
Dot’s friends from South Georgia, Rose and Johnnie Morris, had arrived the night before and were coming into the restaurant later that day to have a look around and to meet some of Dot and Ray’s friends.
Dot rubbed her hands together. “I can’t wait for you to meet them,” she said. “All of you!”
Ruth dropped Eleanor off at her place, with a promise from Gloria to check on her the next day.
Al Dickerson was first on the list of shut-ins, having developed pneumonia. Just to be on the safe side, the girls visited him briefly from the doorway and gave him a bag of vegetables they had gathered from their winter stash, along with a container of chicken noodle soup Dot had sent with them.
Their final visit was to George and Maxine Ford. Maxine was doing much better although the two rarely went out, except for doctors’ appointments. The girls visited at length and were glad they had spent some time with the couple.
Ruth dropped the girls off in front of Dot’s and Gloria headed home to clean up and spend some time with Paul before they returned to the restaurant for dinner.
The afternoon passed quickly. Gloria talked to Jill briefly, who told her they had researched the old coins they’d found in the barn. Although they weren’t worth any money, they were old and the boys planned to take them to school for show and tell.
Gloria played on the computer for a while and her stomach began to grumble. She glanced at the clock in the corner of her laptop. “You want to head down to Dot’s?” she hollered into the living room where Paul was watching a baseball game.
“Yeah. We can leave whenever you’re ready.”
She hobbled to the kitchen and let Mally out for a run before they left.
The restaurant wasn’t that busy and there were plenty of parking spots in front of the restaurant. Paul pulled into the nearest one, right next to Lucy’s yellow jeep and on the other side, Margaret and Don’s SUV.
She could see the girls through the front window as they stood off in the corner talking to Dot and Ray and another couple.
Paul waited on the sidewalk for Gloria to catch up. He held the door and Gloria hopped inside.
Dot turned, a huge grin on her face as she waved Paul and Gloria to the back. The Garden Girls and their guests gathered around two new faces.
When they got close, Dot turned to the woman standing next to her. “Rose, this is my dear friend, Gloria and her new husband, Paul.”
Gloria balanced on one leg and held out her hand. The woman grasped her hand and leaned forward to hug her. “My goodness sakes! This is the infamous super sleuth Gloria!”
Dot turned to the man. “This is Rose’s husband, Johnnie.”
Two kind, brown eyes met Gloria’s and the edges crinkled up as Johnnie smiled. “Nice to meet you both,” he said with a touch of Southern twang.
Gloria, proud of her keen sense of judgment, instantly liked the two. They were good people. Hopefully, they would like what they saw and stick around.
She shook his hand. “And I have heard so much from Dot and Ray about you. We hope you get a good look around and decide to make this home.”
Rose crossed her arms over her ample bosom. “This is a charming town. We would like to do a little more looking around, but so far, we like what we see. Dot needs to be taking a little more time off. Johnnie and I need to stay a little busier.”
She flashed a grin. “Course we may have to bring a little more Southern cookin’ to the menu,” she teased. “Y’all ever had grits and eggs?”
Gloria hadn’t, but they sounded intriguing. She rubbed her hands together. “I can hardly wait.”
Rose pointed at Gloria’s cast. “What in heavens name happened to you?”
Dot rolled her eyes.
Paul chuckled.
Gloria gave them both a dark stare. “I-uh, was chasing after a peeping tom, fell into a gopher tortoise hole and broke my leg.”
“On her honeymoon,” Dot added.
“Lawd have mercy!” Rose turned to Dot. “I can’t wait to hear all about your girls’ adventures!”
Ruth and Andrea arrived and crowded around the newcomers.
Paul and Gloria made their way to an empty table and settled in. Paul picked up the menu and then nodded at Rose and Ruth, who were talking animatedly and pointing in their direction. “Looks like Rose and Johnnie are getting the lowdown on the infamous Gloria Rutherford-Kennedy,” he chuckled.
“Hmm.” Gloria picked up the menu and pretended to study the items, although she knew the menu by heart. “I hope they don’t get the wrong impression,” she sniffed.
“Oh, I doubt that,” Paul said.
Ray excused himself from the group and approached Paul and Gloria’s table, glasses of ice water in hand. “You two know what you want?”
“The special,” Gloria said. “Meatloaf, mashed potatoes and green beans.”
“Ditto.” Paul dropped the menu in the center slot. “I hope this works out with the Morris’s.”
“Me too.” Ray jotted down their order and tapped the tip of the pen on top of the order pad. “If Rose and Johnnie decide to stay and become partners, this will be an answer to prayer.”
Gloria swirled the straw around in her glass. “I have been praying,” she simply said.
After dinner and saying their good-byes to everyone, Paul and Gloria made their way out of the restaurant and onto the sidewalk.
Gloria tugged on the zipper of her winter coat. “This has been a crazy week. I’m ready to go home and snuggle up with my better half.”
“Me too,” Paul agreed. “Say, you wouldn’t happen to remember where you put that container of hot spices Alice sent over the other day? I’m craving a dish of spicy salsa!”
The end.
The Series Continues…Click H
ere To Download Book 13, “Forget Me Knot” Now
If you enjoyed reading “Look Into My Ice”, please take a moment to leave a review by clicking here. It would be greatly appreciated! Thank you!
GET THE BOX SET AND SAVE!
Click To Download The Box Set And Save $$$!
(Contains The First 3 Kindle Books In The Series)
Get Free Books and More!
Sign up for my Free Cozy Mysteries Newsletter to get free and discounted books, giveaways & soon-to-be-released books!
“Stick to your ribs” Goulash
Ingredients
1 lb lean ground beef (can sub ground chicken or ground turkey)
1 large yellow onion, chopped
6 cloves garlic, chopped
3 cups water
1 (15 oz) can tomato sauce
1 (14.5 oz) can diced tomatoes-including juice
1 large green pepper, chopped
1 (6 oz) can tomato paste
2 tablespoons Italian herb seasoning
¼ teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon sugar
2 cups uncooked elbow macaroni (or shells)
2 tablespoons salt (add additional salt to taste)
Directions
In large Dutch oven or large saucepan, cook and stir the ground beef over medium-high heat, until brown (about 10 mins).
Skim off excess fat. Stir in onion, garlic and green pepper. Cook and stir the meat mixture until the onions are translucent, about 10 more minutes. (Make sure the garlic doesn’t burn)
Stir in water, tomato sauce, diced tomatoes, tomato paste, Italian seasoning, salt, sugar and pepper (everything else except the pasta).
Bring mixture to boil over medium heat. Reduce heat to low. Stir in pasta. Cover and simmer over low heat until pasta is tender, stirring occasionally. (About 20 minutes.) Remove from heat.
*If you substitute ground chicken or ground turkey, add a small amount of vegetable or olive oil (approx. 2 tablespoons) to brown the meat, then stir in pepper, onion and garlic so that it doesn’t stick.
Look Into My Ice (Garden Girls Christian Cozy Mystery Series Book 12) Page 14