Gloria popped the last bite of cream cheese coated bagel in her mouth and wiped her hands on her jeans. “Yep. I can hardly wait to hear what Paul has to say.”
Ruth glanced at her watch. “I gotta get back to the post office. If I keep making Kenny hold down the fort, he’s gonna want a raise.”
Andrea stood, too. “Yeah. I need to go. Alice is chomping at the bit to get over to the puppies.”
The rest of the girls headed for the door.
Gloria held it open and followed them out. “How is that going?”
Andrea pulled her keys from her purse. “Great! Thanks to your generous donation, the place is shaping up. You wouldn’t even recognize it.”
She went on. “A trainer is scheduled to come Monday morning to start his first training session.”
Andrea squeezed Gloria’s hand. “Thanks to you, they can afford the trainer.”
“Are they still going to turn it into a boarding kennel?” Gloria thought that made the most sense. Maximize the use of space and keeping the cash coming in.
Andrea nodded. “Yep. Marco and Alice are working on the website and online ads, too. Alice is turning into quite the website guru.”
She pressed a hand to her cheek. “Oh! And I think there may be a budding romance between Alice and Marco!”
Margaret shook her head. “Well, I’ll be darned. Wouldn’t that be something?”
Dot glanced at her watch. “I should go. Ray is holding down the fort at the restaurant.” She reached for the railing.
The word restaurant reminded Gloria of food, which reminded her of Thanksgiving. “Wait! I almost forgot! Thanksgiving. Would any of you be interested in a potluck Thanksgiving here at the farm? I’ll make the turkeys and you all bring sides.”
The idea was a hit and all agreed they would love to spend the special day with their best friends. Each promised to tell her what they planned to bring by weeks end.
After the last Garden Girl pulled out of the drive, Gloria wandered back inside the house. She had a lot to be thankful for this year, not the least of which was her close-knit group of friends.
Chapter 20
Gloria darted from the oven to the roaster then back to the oven. She hadn’t realized that cooking two very large turkeys, along with three pans of stuffing and four large dishes of her made-from-scratch macaroni and cheese would be so much work!
She glanced frantically at the clock on the wall. It was almost time. Almost time for her 20+ guests to start arriving.
The tables had been arranged and her dining room ready for guests. The buffet gleamed from a small spritz of furniture polish and a heavy dose of elbow grease.
The festive fall plates were stacked, the silver polished.
She froze in her tracks when she heard a tap on the backdoor. She thought someone had come early, but it was only her backup troops. Or “troop.” It was Paul.
She yanked the door open and dragged him into the kitchen. “Good! You’re early.” She thrust an apron in his hand. “Put this on.”
Paul lifted the apron and stared at the pink pansies that dotted the front. “You have got to be kidding me.”
“Fine. Let’s switch.” Gloria quickly untied her apron, lifted it over her head and handed it to him.
She snatched the one with pretty flowers and dropped it around her neck, quickly tying the back.
Paul wound an arm around her waist. “You need to take a deep breath. Everything will be fine.”
Gloria nodded but the wave of panic continued to wash over her. She wasn’t sure what had stressed her out so much. After all, it was only friends and family.
Gloria sucked in a breath and forced herself to calm down. “Okay. I’m better now.” She gave him a list of chores and then headed to the deep freeze on the front porch in search of corn she had frozen during harvest season.
She had just finished putting her last stick of butter in the butter dish when the guests started to arrive. Soon, the house was brimming with people.
Jill and her family were the last to arrive. Tyler and Ryan raced over to their beloved Grams and wrapped their arms around her waist. “We’re starving,” they told her.
“I’m hungry enough to eat a whole turkey by myself,” Ryan declared.
Gloria swiped a hand across Ryan’s blonde locks and planted a kiss on his cheek. “Good! At least I won’t have to worry about leftovers,” she teased.
Each of the Garden Girls arrived laden with goodies for the Thanksgiving feast. There were pots of mashed potatoes, green bean casseroles, sweet, buttery yeast rolls and homemade cranberry sauce.
Dot arrived with every type of dessert conceivable. There was a traditional apple pie, pecan pie, chocolate pie and chocolate cake. Last, but not least, she brought her now famous cream cheese pumpkin pie.
There was so much food, Gloria almost ran out of counter space!
After everyone had arrived, they all assembled in the dining room for a prayer of thanks.
Gloria decided that since Paul would soon be head of the household, it was time to turn over the reins and she asked him to pray.
The room grew silent as the guests bowed their heads in prayer.
“Dear Lord. We are thankful for this day You have given us. Lord, we thank You for each and every one of our family and friends that are here in body and those that are here in spirit. We pray for blessing in each of their lives and ask You to guide us and direct us in the paths You will lead us.”
Paul went on. “On this day, we thank You most of all for our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. In His name we pray amen.”
The prayer ended and total chaos ensued.
Gloria stood off to the side and watched as the people who mattered most to her celebrated the day of Thanksgiving.
Gloria loved Christmas. It was her favorite holiday of the year, but Thanksgiving was a close second. It was a time that she could stop and reflect on all of her many blessings.
Paul and Gloria were the last two to fill their plates, and fill them they did. This was the one day of the few days of the year where Gloria gave herself permission to eat anything and everything she wanted.
They settled in to the two empty places near the head of the table. Gloria had managed to fit the children at a card table off to the side while all the adults gathered around two tables she had placed in the shape of a large “L.” It was a perfect fit.
Talk of the wedding was the main topic of conversation. When the conversation drifted to Lucy’s recent dilemma, everyone quieted down and listened to Paul’s explanation of why Bill Volk had faked his own death and tried to frame poor Lucy.
He explained that Bill had recently gotten involved with Artie Maxim, a known criminal who was also a gun salesman. Not only did he sell guns legally, he sold them on the black market, making a tidy profit.
Maxim had somehow convinced Bill that he could make millions by taking in used guns and then reselling them on the streets.
It had worked for several months. Bill had gotten greedy, upping his illegal sales and looking into different avenues to secure more guns. The ATF was onto him and when Bill began to feel the heat, he masterminded his own “murder.”
Bill had harbored bitterness towards Lucy for weeks after their break up and he saw the perfect opportunity to frame Lucy, all the while staging his own death.
He had built a secret hideaway underneath his house where he hid out when someone showed up.
Bill had moved into his spare bedroom, where the secret room was located in case the ATF raided the house. He was in the process of buying a home in Mexico and was only days away from leaving the country. Permanently.
Lucy’s eyes widened. “So that time we went to his house to snoop around…he was there? Hiding?”
Paul sipped his Coke. “It would seem so.”
Gloria reached for a warm roll. “What about the car that ran Andrea off the road? The kid, Zeke, who worked at the store?”
Paul shrugged. “He was just a little thug. He ha
d nothing to do with Bill’s scheme. Bill used him to throw suspicion onto Barbara and his brother, Randy.”
Gloria turned to Lucy. “We need to do a better job of screening your boyfriends.” She winked at Max, Lucy’s new boyfriend, who was sitting next to Lucy.
Gloria liked Max. He seemed more “normal” if that made any sense. He wasn’t the least perturbed when Lucy shopped or had lunch with friends, unlike Bill who had always insisted that Lucy do what he wanted…mostly hunting, fishing and camping.
Lucy was a tomboy through and through but she still liked to do the girlie stuff.
Jill, Gloria’s daughter, reached for the butter. “Did you ever get that deer, Lucy?”
Gloria frowned and gave her daughter a warning look.
It was too late.
Lucy dropped her fork. “Yeah! Hey, Gloria, we only have a few days left for gun season. You want to go tomorrow?”
“Uh…”
Paul reached over and patted Gloria’s hand. “Of course she does, Lucy. That’s all she can talk about is how much fun she had last time.”
Gloria slapped the front of her forehead with the palm of her hand. She vowed that later, after everyone was gone, Paul was going to pay for that comment!
After the last morsel of food that anyone could bear to eat, including the scrumptious desserts Dot had brought, was consumed, the girls made quick work of kitchen clean up while the guys headed to the living room to watch the football game. At least they pretended to watch the game. Every single one of them promptly fell asleep.
Gloria’s grandsons darted outside to inspect the tree fort.
Gloria packed the last baggie full of turkey she was sending home and dropped it into Andrea’s grocery bag.
“Thanks for the leftovers,” Andrea said. “Next is the wedding,” she reminded her.
“How’s the dress shopping going?” Ruth asked.
Jill snorted. “It’s not. I don’t believe Mom has even looked for one yet.”
“Gloria!” Margaret chided.
Gloria shrugged. “I’ve been busy,” she said. “Besides. I don’t want to go alone.”
Lucy tapped her on the shoulder. “We’ll go with you. How ‘bout day after tomorrow?”
Gloria sucked in a deep breath and nodded. Time was running out. The wedding was less than a month away. “Okay.”
Alice clapped her hands. “Oooh. This will be so much fun, Miss Gloria.”
Margaret dried the last dinner fork and dropped it in the silverware tray. “Great. I have the perfect boutique store in mind. It’s in Grand Rapids. We can look for a dress and then have lunch.”
Ruth nodded. “Perfect. Even I can go since it’s on a Saturday.”
Jill headed to the living room. “It’s time to round up my troops. We still have to stop by Greg’s parents.” Jill and her family were the first to leave.
Next was Andrea, Brian and Alice.
Andrea hugged Gloria on her way out the door. “Thanks for the leftovers.”
Alice hugged her next. “Everything was delicious, Miss Gloria.” She paused. “But if I may suggest, the stuffing…it could use a little more zip.” She pinched her fingers together. “Maybe you could add a little jalapeno.”
Andrea tugged on her sleeve. “Alice!”
Alice grinned. “It was just a suggestion!”
Lucy and Max were the last to leave. The four of them stood on the porch and chatted. “What do you think will happen to Bill?” Lucy asked.
Paul shifted his tall frame and leaned against the porch post. “He will be gone for a very long time. I doubt he’ll live long enough to see the light of day again.”
Lucy nodded. She wondered how she could have been such a poor judge of character. “I had no idea.”
Paul shoved his hand in his pants pocket. “Don’t be so hard on yourself, Lucy. Greed changes people. Greed got the better of him.”
“Thanks for saving Gloria and me that night,” she said.
Paul grinned at Gloria and winked at Lucy. “She sure does keep me on my toes.”
He glanced at Max. “You sure you know what you’re getting yourself into?” he joked.
Max shuffled his feet and lifted his head to meet Lucy’s eyes. “She’s a firecracker, I’ll give you that.”
Lucy rolled her eyes. “We better get out of here before they decide to take away our car keys,” Lucy joked.
Paul and Gloria stood on the steps and watched Lucy and Max drive off in Max’s sports car. “He sure does have his hands full,” Paul commented.
“Just like you,” Gloria teased.
Paul nodded. “Yep. Just like me.”
The end.
The Series Continues…Click Here To Download Book 10, “Home for the Holidays”
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Margaret’s Magnificent Meatloaf
Ingredients:
1-1/2 lbs. ground beef (I substituted with ground turkey)
1 cup milk
1 egg, slightly beaten
¾ cup soft bread crumbs (I used Club crackers instead)
1/2 medium yellow onion, chopped
1 tbsp. chopped green pepper
4 tbsp. ketchup
1-1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp. sugar (Optional. I think it could be omitted. The sweetness from the Club crackers was enough)
Directions:
-Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
-Combine all ingredients: (Set aside 2 tbsp of ketchup.) Ground beef, milk, egg, bread crumbs, onion, green pepper, ketchup, salt and sugar. Mix well.
-Press into 4” x 8” ungreased load pan.
-Bake at 350 degrees for one hour.
-Remove from oven. Drizzle remaining 2 tbsp. of ketchup over top of loaf. Return to oven and bake an additional 15 minutes.
Easy Cheesy Hash Brown Casserole
Ingredients:
1 – 8 oz. container of sour cream (regular or light)
1 - 10.75 oz. can cream of chicken soup
3 – Cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese
1 – 2 lb. bag of shredded frozen hash browns (THAWED)
¾ stick melted butter
1 tsp. salt
¼ tsp. pepper
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Mix all ingredients. Pack ingredients into 8-1/2 x 11 glass baking dish. Bake uncovered for one hour.
*You can also add ½ cup chopped yellow onion. For less bitter taste, sauté onion and then add to mixture before baking.
**I haven’t tried it but, I think bacon bits would taste great!
Fall Girl (Garden Girls Christian Cozy Mystery Book 9) Page 14