Hope Callaghan - Garden Girls 05 - Eye Spy Read Online Free PDF Page B

sighed.  Gloria knew him well enough to know the tone of his voice.  It was the sound of aggravation.  “It’s the kids.  Jeff and Tina.”  Jeff and Tina weren’t really “kids.” They were grown adults with two daughters who had just finished college.  Paul had mentioned a few times that his son and daughter-in-law seemed a bit scatterbrained and were not very good at handling money.
    He went on.  “They lost their house.  The bank auctioned it off. They have 24 hours to move out and nowhere to go so they’re moving in with me. Today.”
    “Did you know they were having, uh- financial difficulties?”  Gloria wasn’t sure if the question overstepped her boundaries, but Paul was a big part of her life and if it involved him, it involved her - in a roundabout way…
    “Hang on a sec,” he said.  She could hear some shuffling around on the phone, as if he was moving out of earshot.  Which was exactly what he was doing.  “I’m on the back porch.  Tina’s upstairs unloading some stuff.”
    “Sounds like they didn’t give you much warning,” Gloria replied.
    “No warning at all.  They just showed up on my doorstep this morning, asking if they could stay here until they saved up enough money to put a deposit down on a rental property.”
    Gloria didn’t say it out loud but she wondered if they hadn’t made the mortgage payment on their house, what did they do with the money and why didn’t they plan ahead, knowing that eventually they’d have to move out?
    But she bit her tongue.  It wasn’t her place to point fingers.  Heaven only knew how many foolish things she and James had done when they were younger.  Older and wiser , that was the saying…
    “I have my own houseguest,” she announced. 
    “Don’t tell me it’s Jill and her family,” he quipped.
    Gloria laughed.  “Oh, heavens no!”  Gloria could just imagine having her daughter, Jill, her son-in-law, Greg, and her two grandsons underfoot full-time.  Especially her young grandsons, who seemed to get into a pickle more often than not.  No, Gloria would be ready for the funny farm if that happened!
    “It’s Ruth.  She’s so rattled about being temporarily out of a job, she’s staying with me.  She doesn’t want to be alone.”
    Paul knew all about Gloria’s close group of friends.  Lucy, the wild and crazy one that would try anything once.  Margaret, the one who seemed the most judgmental of others but had a heart of gold underneath her tough exterior.  Then there was Dot, the mother hen of the group.  The one he knew Gloria considered to be the most level-headed.  And then here was Ruth.  Her dear friend that loved a good gossip and always wanted to be in the middle of all the action. 
    “So you have a vested interest in getting the post office issue resolved and Ruth back on her normal routine and in her own house,” he surmised.
    “You could say that. So keep your ears open and let me know if you find anything out,” she told him.
    After she hung up the phone, she said a quick prayer for Paul.  It gave her a bit of comfort knowing that he was going through something similar.  It was tricky having people underfoot after being alone all these years.
    A car horn honked and brought Gloria from her deep thoughts.  She glanced out through the kitchen window.  It was Kenny.  He pulled up in the mail truck.  Maybe he has new information, Gloria thought.
    She met him on the steps where he handed her a packet of mail.  “Here’s your mail.”  He shuffled from foot to foot, as if he wanted to say something but wasn’t sure he should.
    Gloria decided he needed a gentle nudge.  “Did you find anything else out down at the post office?” she asked.
    Kenny nodded.  “Yep, sure did.” 
    “And?” she wondered.
    “Well, another detective came in right after you left this morning.  I think he’s the head guy.  You know, the guy in charge of the investigation.”
    “Anyways, I figured whatever he