Hope Callaghan - Garden Girls 07 - Missing Milt Read Online Free PDF Page B

She’d have to save that for another day.  Maybe run by there for breakfast in the morning.
    Gloria cruised into the small town of Belhaven and made a last minute decision to drop in to Dot’s place.  It didn’t appear to be terribly busy since they were smack dab between the lunch and dinner crowd. 
    Dot was sitting at a back table with her husband, Ray, when Mally and Gloria stepped inside.  The place was nearly empty.  She wandered to the back table.
    “Haven’t seen you around in a few days,” Dot commented.
    Gloria slumped into a chair and Mally crawled under her chair.  “Yeah, I’m trying to get ready for the kids’ visit.”
    Dot frowned.  “That’s not until December,” she pointed out.
    Gloria nodded. “True, but Eddie and Karen will be here in a couple weeks for the fall color touring.”
    Dot crinkled her nose.  “Oh, I forgot about that.”
    Ray got up from the table and grabbed a clean coffee cup.  He set the cup in front of Gloria, reached for a fresh pot of coffee and poured.  “You met Andrea’s housekeeper, Alice?”
    Gloria sipped the coffee.  “Yeah, she’s a real character.”
    Ray refilled Dot’s cup, then his own before he sat back down.  “She sure is.  She came back in the kitchen to give me pointers on how to spice up the food.”
    Gloria grinned.  She could picture Alice doing just that.  Alice loved Mexican spicy food…the kind of food that roared through Gloria like fire!
    Dot peeled the lid off the small creamer and dumped the liquid in her cup.  “She got me to thinking…what about all-you-can-eat taco night?” 
    Gloria studied her over the rim of her cup.  Dot served mostly comfort food: fried chicken, meatloaf, burgers and fries.  “Yeah, I think that’s a great idea.  She can share some of her seasoning recipes.”
    Ray agreed.  “That’s what we were discussing.  You know…a change from the same old, same old.”
    Dot got out of her chair.  “You want a piece of pie?  I’m trying a new pumpkin recipe.”
    Gloria’s stomach grumbled.  All that walking around had made her hungry.  “Sure, I’d love to be your guinea pig.”
    Dot popped into the kitchen and returned with a generous slice of pie, topped with a dollop of real whipped cream.  In her other hand, she had a small dish filled with diced chicken.
    She slid the pie on the table and set the dish on the floor.  Mally licked Dot’s hand and chomped down on her treat.
    Gloria lifted her fork and sliced off a piece before popping it into her mouth. The layered pie was delicious.  There was something different about it. Gloria pointed her fork tines at the pie.  “What’s in this?”
    Dot shook her head.  “Nope.  You gotta guess.”
    Gloria took another bite.  She rolled the creamy pumpkin around on her tongue.  “Hmmm…there’s a creaminess to it.  I mean, even creamier than pumpkin pie normally is.”
    Dot nodded.  “It has a layer of cream cheese and white chocolate.”
    It was divine.  It was heavenly.  It was a hit – in Gloria’s book!
    She devoured the piece in record time. 
    Dot watched the pie disappear. “Did you ever catch up with Liz and her friend?  They were in here looking for you this morning.”
    Gloria nodded and rolled her eyes.  “Frances’ love interest, Milt, has been missing for, I dunno, maybe a couple weeks now.”
    Dot nodded.  “I saw the missing poster over on the wall in the post office.”
    Gloria picked up the last remaining chunk of crust and nibbled the edge.  “Frances is going to be on TV 8’s 6:00 o’clock news.  She chained herself to the front entrance of Dreamwood’s restaurant to draw attention.”
    Dot raised an eyebrow.  “To draw attention to whom?  Her or her missing boyfriend?”
    Gloria picked up her coffee and took a sip.  “Luckily, I was able to talk her into unchaining herself.”
    “In exchange for helping search for missing Milt.” Dot finished the sentence.
    “Bingo.” Gloria wiped her