Home for the Holidays Read online

The color drained from Gloria’s face. How could this be? Why would someone do this to Paul?

  Gloria slid into the chair next to him, propped her elbows on the table and dropped her chin into her open palm. She fixed her gaze on his solemn face. “It’s obviously someone who has access to the locker room. Maybe it was a co-worker…a fellow officer.”

  Paul’s shoulders sagged. “We may have to postpone the wedding until I can get this sorted out. I don’t want you saddled with a convicted criminal.”

  Gloria’s mouth went dry. She stiffened her back and stared at him in disbelief. “You’re kidding.”

  Paul slowly rose from the chair as he shook his head. “No. I’m sorry, but I need to get to the bottom of this and clear my name.”

  Gloria stared at him, her mouth gaping open as he slid his arms into his jacket and made his way to the porch door.

  “There’s more to the story, Gloria, but I can’t tell you right now. I think it’s best if we take a step back.” Paul stopped short of calling off the wedding, but Gloria knew that was what he meant.

  Paul opened the door. “I need be alone.” He slowly closed the door behind him and shuffled to his truck.

  Gloria, in a state of shock, walked over to the kitchen window and looked out. She watched Paul back out of her drive and wondered if this would be the last time she would ever see him again.

  ***

  Gloria stared out the window with hollow eyes. It felt as if someone had punched her in the gut. Had she imagined Paul in her kitchen? The whole thing seemed surreal.

  Mally nudged Gloria’s hand and let out a low whine, pulling Gloria from her state of disbelief. She absentmindedly patted her head. “L-let’s go out for a walk.” It was late afternoon and soon it would be dark, too dark to visit her favorite spot in the woods.

  Gloria grabbed her jacket, slipped it on and then opened the door. While Mally galloped out into the back of the yard, Gloria made a pit stop inside the garage to grab a flashlight.

  Mally darted back and forth waiting for Gloria to catch up, unaware that Gloria’s world had crumbled around her.

  What if Paul fabricated the story because he had a case of cold feet and he didn’t know how to tell Gloria he didn’t want to marry her after all?

  Had he suddenly decided she was too much to handle? Sure, she had been in a few tight spots ever since they started dating, but he was well aware of her penchant for snooping around and getting into some real humdinger situations. In fact, that was how they met.

  Her heart froze at the last thought that popped into her head. Had Paul met someone else? She would be heartbroken! Gloria would be the laughingstock of Belhaven, left at the altar. She would have to leave town, move to Florida where her sister, Liz, lived.

  Mally and Gloria reached the edge of the woods - “Gloria’s woods.” While Mally darted off to inspect the creek, Gloria made her way over to her favorite resting spot, the old log tree not far from the creek.

  Tears welled up in her eyes when she reached the downed tree. The tree had splintered in two, the pieces separated by a narrow gap…just like Gloria’s heart. She eased onto one side of the splintered log and stared sightlessly at Mally.

  A tear trickled down her cheek and splashed onto her hand. Her world had shattered and she didn’t know what to do.

  Gloria’s children would be arriving soon. She was supposed to walk down the aisle, to marry the man she loved. Now, she would have to call the flower shop, call Andrea and Dot and let them know they wouldn’t need the mountains of food they had bought.

  Gloria’s three grandsons had been thrilled about being in Gram’s wedding. How could she tell Ryan, Tyler and Ollie there would be no wedding? Not to mention her granddaughter, Ariel, who was to be Gloria’s flower girl.

  A sob caught in the back of Gloria’s throat and the dam of tears spilled out as Gloria sobbed as she had the day they placed her husband, James, in the ground.

  She lowered her head into her hands and anguished cries rocked her body. She bawled until her stomach pinched and her heart ached.

  Mally darted over and nudged her nose between Gloria’s hands in an attempt to comfort her.

  Gloria wrapped her arms around Mally’s neck and placed her cheek against her fur.

  Finally, the flow of tears ended. Gloria wiped the back of her hand across her wet face and struggled to her feet. “It’s time to go home,” she said. “Alone.”

  Shadows from the evening sky hovered over the tree line as the two of them wandered out of the woods and into the open field.

  A snowflake floated down and touched the tip of Gloria’s nose. She stared up at the skies. Weather forecasters had predicted a long, snowy winter and in fact, they were supposed to get several inches of snow overnight.

  The skies opened up and heavy, wet snowflakes began to fall. It was as if Gloria had stepped inside a snow globe.

  She tugged at the edge of her coat and pulled the zipper a little higher. She hadn’t bothered with a scarf or hat and by the time she reached the edge of the yard, her head was covered in a halo of white.

  A coat of white covered Mally, too. The two of them stopped at the bottom of the steps leading to the porch. Mally shook her body, pelting Gloria and the steps with clumps of wet snow.

  Mally scampered up the steps and waited on the porch while Gloria stomped her feet on the rug and unlocked the kitchen door.

  Puddles, Gloria’s cat, was sprawled out on the kitchen floor. He opened one eye and peered at them.

  Mally trotted over to Puddles and greeted her pal with droplets of melted snow. Puddles was not a fan of the water. He scrambled upright and dashed out of the kitchen.

  Despite her heavy heart, the exchange caused Gloria to grin. She pulled her cell phone from her jacket pocket and glanced at the screen. Lucy had called.

  Gloria pressed the button on the front of the screen, tapped in the access code and listened to the message.

  “Hi Gloria. It’s me. Lucy. I-uh. Well. I was watching the six o’clock news…”

  Gloria squeezed her eyes shut. She could tell by the tone in Lucy’s voice that somehow Paul’s investigation was on the evening news. Which meant everyone knew…

  Lucy was still talking. “Yeah. Uh. Give me a call when you get this message. Bye.”

  Gloria had no intention of calling Lucy or anyone else for that matter. At least not right now. What had started out as a wonderful day had become a nightmare.

  Paul was under investigation. The wedding was off. The whole Town of Belhaven probably watched the news. The only thing they didn’t know was the wedding was off.

  She shrugged out of her damp coat and hung it on the hook by the door. She slipped off her boots and set them in the boot tray.

  It was dinnertime and Gloria wasn’t hungry. She fed Mally and Puddles and then shut off the kitchen light.

  The blinking light of the answering machine caught her eye. She had messages and could only imagine all of her friends - and family had heard the news.

  Her stomach churned at the thought of explaining the situation. Tomorrow was another day. She didn’t have the heart or willpower to talk to anyone tonight.

  Gloria walked into the living room and switched on the lamp near her recliner. She had recently rearranged her living room furniture in preparation for the onslaught of family that would soon descend on her. It was the first time she had changed the furniture around since James’ death. The new arrangement made the living room look even larger.

  Tyler and Ryan had come over the previous weekend and helped Gloria put up the Christmas tree and other decorations. She fleetingly thought about turning the tree lights on but was too depressed.

  She had recently purchased a second recliner to match her own so Paul and she could sit side-by-side and watch TV together.

  Tears burned the back of her eyes as she gazed longingly at “his” empty recliner.

  She eased into her chair and flipped the lever on the side. She had settled in for a full-blown p
ity party when she heard a knock on the back door.

  “Go away,” she moaned, although she was certain whoever was on the other side of the house couldn’t possibly have heard.

  Moments later, the knock came again. This time it was louder…much louder.

  “Go away!” she shouted.

  The third time was all out pounding and Gloria knew whoever was banging on the door had no intention of leaving.

  She shoved the chair into the upright position, stomped to the kitchen, flipped the light and peeked through the blinds.

  A freckled face, surrounded by bright red hair peered back at her. It was Lucy.

  She shook her head, “no” but Lucy was not going to take no for an answer. She stubbornly crossed her arms and met Gloria’s gaze.

  Gloria sucked in a breath and swung the door open. “Misery doesn’t like company,” she blurted out.

  Lucy barged past her friend and stepped into the kitchen. “Hiding out in your house isn’t going to help.”

  Gloria pulled out a kitchen chair and sank down. “It isn’t going to hurt either.”

  Lucy eased into the chair across from her. “Did you see the news?”

  Gloria glumly shook her head. “Nope. No need. Paul was waiting for me when I got home. He told me what happened.”

  Lucy drummed her fingers on the kitchen table. “Someone is obviously trying to pin this on him.”

  Gloria lowered her chin and closed her eyes. “Yep.”

  “I think he’s going to call off wedding. I’m moving to Florida,” she blurted out. She hadn’t actually decided until that precise moment, that was her plan. It seemed like a good one, though. Although living near Liz wasn’t a rational decision. Gloria wasn’t thinking clearly.

  Lucy shot up out of her seat. “He is? You are?”

  “No sense in sticking around here. I’ll be the object of everyone’s pity. ‘There’s poor Gloria. Left at the altar by a crooked cop.’”

  Gloria’s shoulders slumped. “I can hear it now.”

  “So you’re going to duck and run.” Lucy tsk-tsked. “Gloria Rutherford, I never pegged you as a quitter.”

  Maybe Gloria was a quitter. Maybe she was tired. Maybe both.

  “I…” Gloria was about to reply when a tap on the door interrupted her. “Let me guess.” She slid out of the chair, walked over to the window and lifted the corner of the blind.

  This time, instead of one set of eyes staring back at her, there were multiple sets of eyes. Too many to count.

  “I might as well let them in,” Gloria grumbled and reached for the door handle.

  She opened the door and stepped to the side. In walked Margaret, Dot, Ruth and Andrea.

  “Hail, hail. The gang is all here.” Gloria muttered.

  Margaret didn’t wait for an invitation as she dragged a chair from the table, plopped down and dropped her purse on the floor. “If you would answer your phone, maybe we wouldn’t show up unannounced,” she grumbled.

  “Actually, we did announce it,” Dot pointed out. “We left a message telling Gloria if she didn’t call back, we were coming over.”

  Gloria rubbed her brow. “I’m too depressed to talk.”

  “No problem,” Ruth said. “We’ll do the talking.” She turned to Lucy. “She knows.”

  Lucy slowly nodded. “Yeah. Gloria has some news.”

  All eyes turned to Gloria.

  “The wedding is off. I’m moving to Florida.”

  Chapter 3

  The room erupted in total chaos as six voices fought to be heard over the others.

  Gloria tried to get a word in, but the chatter was so loud, no one was listening. Finally, she jumped out of the chair and held up her hands. “Girls!”

  The room grew silent and five pairs of eyes lifted. “I appreciate you all coming here and showing moral support but my heart is broken. I don’t even know how to begin to pick up the pieces.”

  She went on. “On top of all that, how can I show my face around town, knowing that people are whispering about me behind my back?”

  Lucy spoke first. “So you’re going to hightail it and run to Florida? To be with Liz of all people!”

  It did sound crazy to Gloria, even in her altered state of mind. Living near Liz would be like living next to an insane asylum!

  Lucy could see it was sinking in. Gloria wasn’t in a state of mind to make major life decisions, namely moving halfway across the country.

  Gloria shook her head and slumped back down in the chair. “What else can I do?” she answered in a small voice. “Paul all but came out and said it was over.”

  Dot, the voice of reason, spoke. “He’s in the same state of shock you are. Neither one of you should be making decisions right now.”

  Dot’s words rang true. Of course, Paul was in shock. She was in shock. Their lives had been turned upside down. “I don’t know what to do.”

  Andrea piped up. “As a very dear, very close friend likes to tell me all the time, right before she drags me into one of her escapades, ‘It’s time to get to the bottom of this.’”

  Gloria grinned despite the seriousness of her situation. Andrea was right. Dot was right. They were all right. She lifted her eyes and shifted her gaze as she looked at each of her friends. “I need your help.”

  Margaret rolled her eyes. “That is why we’re here, silly!”

  Ruth rubbed her hands together. “We need to come up with a plan.”

  Dot frowned. “This might be a tough one. How do we gain access to the inside of the police department to snoop around?”

  “We should talk to Paul first,” Andrea suggested. She glanced at Gloria’s clock above the kitchen sink. It was already 8:30 at night. “How about first thing in the morning?”

  They agreed that overwhelming him with all of them at once might be a bad idea. Instead, they decided to send Lucy and Margaret.

  “What should I do?” Gloria asked.

  She had a sudden thought. “There is a cop hangout in Green Springs. It’s a 24-hour diner popular with police, especially the ones who work the night shift.” Paul’s shift.

  Andrea snapped her fingers. “Great! Why don’t we run by there?” She turned to Gloria. “I’m a night owl and I doubt you’ll get any sleep.”

  It was true. The night loomed long and lonely.

  She pressed on. “We need to get this investigation started. There’s a wedding right around the corner!”

  Gloria wasn’t convinced. There was still a little voice whispering in her ear that maybe, just maybe, Paul was trying to get out of marrying her. Her pride wouldn’t admit it…at least not out loud, but the terrible little voice was echoing the words, no matter how hard she tried to push them out.

  “Okay,” she relented. “You’re right. I won’t sleep a wink tonight.”

  The girls abandoned the chairs and headed for the door.

  “I’ll keep my ears open,” Ruth promised.

  “Me, too.” Dot added.

  “What time should we show up on Paul’s doorstep in the morning?” Margaret asked.

  Gloria guessed if Paul were in the same state of mind she was, he wouldn’t sleep well and would be up early. She shrugged her shoulders. “Whenever you want. I’m not sure how cooperative he’ll be,” she admitted.

  Lucy patted Gloria’s shoulder. “Don’t worry about Paul. We’ll figure something out.”

  It was a good thing they were. Gloria’s mind was still a pile of mush and she was having trouble forming a coherent thought.

  Gloria was the last one out of the kitchen. She slid her arms in her coat, grabbed her keys and then pulled the back door shut. She wiggled the knob to make sure it had locked.

  Andrea offered to drive and Gloria was relieved. She hated driving at night. It was hard for her to judge distance after dark. On top of that, she was still distraught over the day’s turn of events.

  She hugged each of her friends before she climbed into the passenger seat of Andrea’s pick-up. She reached for the seatb
elt, slid it across her lap and clicked the latch into the buckle.

  Andrea fastened her own seat belt and turned the key in the ignition. “Don’t worry, Gloria. We will get to the bottom of this. I promise,” she vowed.

  Gloria nodded. Sudden tears burned the back of her eyes. Her friends…and family were the most important things in the world. There was no way she could leave Belhaven. This was the only home she had ever known.

  Talk of moving to Florida was Gloria in panic-mode. She was starting to calm down and rational thoughts returned.

  Her mind kicked into detective gear as she tried to remember some of the people Paul worked with. She had met several of them during the past summer when Paul’s boss, Captain Davies, had hosted a cookout at his cabin on the shores of Crooked Pine Lake.

  She closed her eyes and leaned her head against the headrest. “Paul and I went to a cookout last summer with some of his co-workers, fellow officers. I’m trying to remember their names.”

  Several of the officers were close to Paul’s age…close to retirement age. She was terrible with names and gave up trying to remember them. Instead, Gloria focused on the details.

  There was a short, balding guy who teased Paul that he was about a year behind him in retirement. He had mentioned his wife was hounding him to buy an RV so they could travel around the country. Stan something…

  Then there were two brothers. They were still in their 30’s if Gloria had to guess. The only reason she remembered them is they seemed standoffish when Gloria tried to make conversation.

  There was one more person who stuck out. It was a rookie cop. He was 100% gung ho, by the book, a stickler for rules, spouting off his list of accomplishments. He rubbed Gloria the wrong way when he told her he was glad Paul was retiring, that there needed to be a “changing of the guard” as he put it. Gloria did remember his name. It was Alex and the only reason she remembered was she thought his name should have been Alec, as in smart aleck.

  Andrea pulled the truck into the diner parking lot. The place was hopping at nine o’clock at night. The majority of the vehicles were police cruisers. Gloria wondered how many times a week Paul had dropped by to talk to his fellow officers and grab a bite to eat.