Hope Callaghan - Garden Girls 07 - Missing Milt

by Hope Callaghan

  “My ears are burning,” a voice behind them answered. Gloria swung around. Ruth, the postmaster, was bearing down on them. “What exactly are you checking on?”

  “A cruise,” Dot answered. “You know…the cruise Gloria and Lucy have been talking about forever.”

  Gloria watched as Ruth reached for the last empty chair. “We’re ready to start looking at dates. What works for you?”

  Ruth slid into the seat. “Any time before November 15th. That’s when the holiday season kicks into high gear and I can’t get any time off until after New Year’s.”

  “Well,” Gloria did a few mental calculations. “It’s September now. That would only leave October and that might be too short of notice. How does January sound?”

  “Sounds wonderful!” Lucy exclaimed. “We can escape the gloomy Michigan winters, not to mention snow and ice.”

  “Ah. Warm sunshine, ocean breezes,” Lucy murmured dreamily.

  The girls all agreed January would work best, that they’d all need a nice, long vacation after muddling through the holidays with busy schedules and family get-togethers.

  Gloria looked down at her watch. “I better get going. Paul’s coming by later to pick me up for a dinner date.”

  Lucy slid out of her seat. “I’m ready.”

  “Are you gonna mention…” Gloria jerked her head at Lucy, who violently shook her head as if to say “absolutely not!”

  Gloria plowed ahead. “Lucy has a hot date here Thursday morning.”

  “I do not have a date!” Lucy gritted through her teeth.

  Gloria ignored her comment. “His name is Max. We met him this morning when we were working on Milt’s case.”

  “We’ll be sure to be here to scope him out,” Margaret teased. “What time?”

  “I don’t need an audience,” Lucy protested.

  “9:00 a.m.” Gloria answered.

  Dot placed a light hand on Lucy’s shoulder. “Lucy, we’re just trying to watch out for you. We won’t embarrass you in any way,” she promised.

  Lucy’s shoulders drooped. “This is all Gloria’s fault. She’s the one that told him yes!”

  The girls all agreed they wouldn’t put Lucy on the spot so Lucy relented. “I guess I might as well get this over with. After all, it’s just breakfast.”

  “What if you really like him?” Ruth pointed out. She looked over at Gloria. “Gloria seems to think he shows promise.”

  “But I’m not sure I’m ready to date yet,” Lucy argued.

  “You just gotta get right back in the saddle,” Margaret encouraged.

  Lucy pulled a five from her pocket and handed it to Dot. “I guess I’ll see you Thursday morning,” she said.

  Gloria winked at the girls and followed Lucy out the front door and they headed back to the farm.

  Lucy pulled up next to the house and put the jeep in park. “What time you want to leave in the morning?”

  Gloria grabbed the door handle and stopped. “Will right after lunch work?” She wanted to take a run by her friend, Andrea’s place, in the morning. She hadn’t heard from her in a few days, although she knew Andrea was hard at work, getting her Magnolia Tea Room ready to open for business.

  Lucy nodded. “Sounds good.”

  Gloria pushed the door open and slid one leg out.

  Lucy grabbed her arm. “Gloria.”

  Gloria twisted back around. “Hmm?”

  “Thank you for being such a great friend. I don’t know what I’d do without you.”

  Sudden tears sprung to the back of Gloria’s eyes. She loved Lucy. Loved all of her friends. There wasn’t anything she wouldn’t do for them…including giving them the shirt off her back.

  She leaned across the seat and hugged her friend. “Same here. That’s what friends are for.” When she pulled back, she could see Lucy’s eyes brimming with unshed tears. “You alright?”

  “Yes! Yes, I’m fine.” Lucy waved her out. “Go on. Get out of here before both of us start bawling like babies.”

  Gloria stepped out and leaned her head in. “See you tomorrow then.” She didn’t wait for a reply. Instead, she softly closed the door and slowly walked to the house.

  Gloria had a few minutes to kill before it was time to get ready for her date with Paul.

  She wandered over to her computer and turned it on. Her cat, Puddles, had curled up on the computer chair, his favorite spot to hang out.

  She picked him up and settled into the seat. She set him on her lap where he promptly began to purr.

  It was time to do a little more Milt investigating. She logged into her Worldbook account and typed in “Milton Tilton.”

  Seconds later, a picture of Milt popped up. Much to Gloria’s surprise, he had hundreds of friends, mostly women, she noted. Or maybe she wasn’t surprised.

  She read several of the messages posted on his page. Some of them nearly singed her eyebrows. She shook her head. This Milt was a real player!

  She wondered if Frances was aware of all the female friends he had and all the racy posts they left on his page. She scrolled through his friends list to see if Frances and Milt were friends. She couldn’t find her name anywhere.

  A few of the women looked familiar and Gloria could only surmise that they were Dreamwood residents.

  The last few posts were panicky women who wondered where Milt had gone and begged him to call them asap.

  She almost clicked away when one message in particular caught her eye. It was from someone named “Raven Fair.” Her text message read “Milt, baby. We need to get together again after you get back.”

  Gloria’s eyes narrowed. She wished she knew who “Raven Fair” was. She clicked on Raven’s profile. A picture of a black bird popped onto the screen. Did this “Raven Fair” know something that no one else did? Maybe that Milt had gone somewhere of his own free will?

  Gloria wandered to the bath and drew a tub full of warm water. She poured several capfuls of her homemade rose scented oils in the water. Gloria stripped off her clothes and sank into the fragrant waters. She leaned her head back and closed her eyes.

  Instead of a nice, relaxing soak in the tub, she spent the entire time bouncing between thoughts of Milt and Lucy.

  Perhaps she had overstepped her boundaries when she set Lucy up on that date.

  But what the heck. It was a harmless breakfast. The worst that could happen was that Lucy would end up with a new friend, someone to hang out with…or maybe it would turn into something more.

  After all, the girls weren’t spring chickens anymore. Life was too short to spend it pining over someone like Bill. On top of that, Lucy didn’t seem all that upset. She even thanked Gloria for being such a good friend. That’s what friends were for. Picking you up, dusting you off, setting you up on dates…

  Satisfied that Lucy was on the right track, Gloria mulled over the Milt issue. The men at breakfast had mentioned a woman – Francine - that seemed to be a bit of a stalker. It was obvious they were talking about Frances. Maybe Milt was trying to escape Frances and the only way he knew how was to “disappear?”

  The fact that Frances knew so many intimate details of Milt’s daily schedule was disturbing. Who did stuff like that? Unless of course they were obsessed, which Gloria was beginning to think maybe Frances was a bit unbalanced. She made a mental note to discuss the possibility with Liz.

  Then there was the small problem of Milt’s gambling debts.

  The bath water was beginning to cool. Gloria lifted her foot, flipped the dial and turned it all the way to hot.

  Gloria still hadn’t had a chance to question Trudy, who was supposedly one of the last people to talk to Milt before he vanished.

  Her eyes narrowed. Something about Clyde Ward was bugging her. She got the feeling that maybe he was holding something back.

  She wondered if Frances had tried to contact Milt’s family, possibly his children, to see if maybe they had heard from him. Although she was almost 100% certain that Frances had tracked down every lead
out there.

  Gloria climbed out of the tub, relaxed and ready for her date with Paul. Her pulse quickened at the thought of seeing him. He had been working long hours and she hadn’t seen him in several long, lonely days.

  Gloria slipped into a pair of tan slacks and a white cotton blouse. The day was sunny and warm but the evening would be cool. She wasn’t sure where they were going for dinner and Paul had told her it was a surprise.

  Now all she had to do was wait!

  Chapter 8

  Paul was right on time. She watched as he eased his tall, athletic frame from the driver’s side of his pickup. Gloria smiled at the sight of his truck. The truck meant he wasn’t scheduled to work early the next morning!

  Gloria noticed he was carrying a crimson-colored box as he stepped onto the porch. She looked down at the package in his hand. It was a box of her favorite Belgian chocolates.

  He handed the box to her when he reached the top of the steps.

  Gloria shook her head. “You are spoiling me rotten.”

  “Yep.” He leaned forward and kissed her lips. “Just the way I like you – spoiled.”

  She led him inside, set the chocolates on the table and placed her hand on his arm. “Would you like to sit down?”

  He jerked his head toward the door. “What about the porch?” The late afternoon was crisp and clear. Gloria nodded. She reached for her sweater hanging on the hook and followed behind as he headed back out to the porch.

  Paul settled into the rocker and Gloria took the seat next to him. He reached for her hand. “How is the fall cleaning going?”

  Gloria tapped her foot on the porch board and gave a gentle push. “Lucy came by to help. I don’t have many clothes left,” she groaned. “If I hadn’t stopped her, I’d be running around in my birthday suit.”

  Paul raised his brows. “Now that I wouldn’t mind seeing,” he teased.

  Gloria’s face reddened. “You’d probably laugh your head off.”

  “Hm. I don’t think so.”

  Mally wandered up to the porch and settled in on top of Paul’s feet. He leaned down and patted her head. “You behaving yourself?”

  Mally let out a low moan and closed her eyes.

  “That’s what I thought,” he answered.

  Gloria rubbed her hands together. “Where did you say you were taking me?”

  “I didn’t,” Paul chuckled. “It’s a surprise.”

  The two of them talked a few more minutes about kids, grandkids, the upcoming holidays and Lucy’s date.

  Paul frowned. “What happened to…Bill?”

  Gloria explained the situation while Paul listened quietly, nodding once or twice. “I know you never cared for him that much.”

  “Yeah,” Gloria admitted, “he wasn’t my favorite.”

  Gloria went on to tell him about Frances and her missing boyfriend, Milt, and admitted she had agreed to look into his disappearance.

  “Another mystery,” he surmised.

  She nodded. “What do you think?”

  Paul clasped his hands together and placed them behind his head. He leaned back in the chair and stared thoughtfully at the barn across the street. “If this is out of character, there would be cause for concern. Has his family reported him missing?”

  “That’s something I don’t know,” she confessed. “I’m not sure if he even has family.”

  Paul rose to his feet. “I would start there.”

  Mally lifted herself from Paul’s feet and waited by the back door. Gloria let her in, grabbed her keys and met Paul back out on the porch.

  They rode in silence, each of them deep in their own thoughts.

  Paul turned and headed toward the larger town of Rapid Creek, which was on the other side of Green Springs. Rapid Creek was halfway between Belhaven and Grand Rapids.

  He made a few more turns and Gloria finally figured out they were heading toward Lake Harmony.

  He parked the truck in the parking lot across the street from the lake. Gloria knew better than to try to climb out herself. She obediently waited for Paul to come around to the passenger door and open it.

  She slipped her hand into his and stepped out of the truck.

  “Where…”

  “You’ll see soon enough,” Paul assured her.

  They walked down the small gravel path toward the boat launch. When they cleared the trees, Gloria saw the surprise. A long, wooden dock ran along the launch. Jutting out into the water was a large, two-story passenger boat. The bottom section was enclosed. An upper level sported an open, airy deck.

  Paul and Gloria joined the line of people that were boarding. The man near the entrance took the tickets from Paul and they stepped inside.

  A rich mahogany wood covered the interior walls. Antique lighting fixtures dotted the ceiling and intimate tables for two and four spread out around the cozy dining room. In the center of each table was a black taper candelabrum with three lit candles. At the base of the candelabra were pink and red roses, adorned with sprigs of baby’s breath.

  A waiter escorted them to their table. A placard with their names engraved in gold lettering sat off to the side of the gorgeous centerpiece. “You may be seated now but I suggest heading up one floor to order a cocktail and enjoy the breathtaking view during sail away.”

  Paul led Gloria to the stairs in the back and stepped to the side while she climbed the stairs ahead of him.

  In the center of the upper deck was a large bar, built of the same magnificent mahogany as the lower level. Scattered across the deck were bistro tables. Several other guests were already standing at the edge of the railings, enjoying the view.

  They made their way over to the bar where Paul ordered two glasses of chardonnay. He handed one to Gloria and raised his glass. “A toast.”

  She raised her glass.

  “A toast to dinner with the most beautiful woman in the world.”

  They tapped their glasses and Gloria lowered hers to hide the tinge of pink that colored her cheeks.

  “Shall we?” Paul held out his arm.

  Gloria slipped her arm through his as they made their way over to the side rail and watched as more passengers wandered down the dock.

  Finally, the ship set sail. Gloria felt her tension slip away as the ship drifted from the shoreline.

  Romantic music softly floated in the air as the boat circled the outer edges of Lake Harmony. They finished their glass of wine just in time to hear the captain announce dinner was about to be served. The two placed their empty glasses on the edge of the bar and descended the stairs.

  Paul pulled out Gloria’s chair and waited for her to slide in before taking the seat across from her. Water glasses sat nearby. A basket of bread and tin of butter were off to one side. Next to the basket of bread were two covered dishes. Gloria eyed them curiously.

  Paul plucked a piece of crusty bread from the basket and set it on his plate. “You’re dying to find out what’s under there.”

  Gloria nodded. “I am,” she confessed.

  She gingerly reached over, lifted the lid and peeked underneath. She lifted it high enough to see herself but not for Paul to see. She set the lid back down and smiled.

  He scooped a pat of butter on his knife and spread it across the bread. “Well?”

  “Well what?” she asked innocently.

  “What’s underneath?”

  Gloria sniffed. “Hm. Curiosity killed the cat.”

  Paul shrugged and smiled. “Touché.”

  The waiter arrived at their table. “What? Your salads – they no good?”

  Paul reached for another piece of bread. “Salad. Huh.”

  “Have you looked at the menu?” The waiter turned to Gloria.

  Gloria hadn’t. She had been too busy trying to irritate Paul to notice them sitting on the edge of the table. “Not yet,” she admitted.

  “Take your time.” He lowered into a small bow. “I’ll be back.”

  Gloria settled on the salmon filet with new potatoes a
nd a side of parmesan garlic green beans while Paul decided to try the prime rib, baked potato and steamed asparagus.

  Their table sat facing a window. They gazed out the large, glass pane and watched as the sun dipped below the horizon. The twinkle of lights from the houses that dotted the shore cast a romantic glimmer across the water.

  Their conversation flowed easily and bounced from missing Milt, to Lucy’s hot date, to the holidays.

  The waiter finally returned with their food. Gloria stabbed a bean with her fork and then nibbled the edge. “The food is delicious.”

  The interior lights had dimmed, giving off a warm glow. Soft violin music drifted in the air.

  Paul sliced a piece of meat. “I hoped you would like it,” he confessed.

  Gloria set her fork on her plate. “Like it? This is one of the most romantic dinners I’ve ever had,” she assured him.

  They spent the rest of the meal chatting about Paul’s job and his flip-flopping on retirement.

  The waiter cleared their empty dinner plates and returned with two cups of coffee and two huge pieces of chocolate cake.

  Gloria frowned at the large slice of cake. There was no way she could eat it. The waiter, noting her look of dismay, offered to box it up.

  Finally, the romantic evening and cruise ended when the boat docked in the same spot where it had departed.

  Paul held Gloria’s sweater as she slipped her arms in the sleeves.

  They wandered out of the dining room and onto the dock.

  Gloria glanced back one more time and let out a wistful breath. “That was lovely.” She grabbed Paul’s hand and pulled him to her for a kiss.

  A tingle ran down her spine when their lips met. The tingle started at the top of her head and raced all the way to the tip of her toes. Finally, they took a step back and Gloria worked to catch her breath.

  Gloria sat quietly in the truck on the ride back. Paul was so thoughtful and loving. He was her perfect mate. A small sigh escaped her lips…maybe someday.

  Her mind switched gears as she mulled over Milt’s disappearance. She needed to call Frances and find out if any of Milt’s family had reported him missing.