Hope Callaghan - Garden Girls 05 - Eye Spy (11 page)

Ruth settled in next to her.  She stared at the cool, clear water.  “You don’t think I’ll lose my job, do you?”  She turned to Gloria, tears threatening to spill down her cheeks. 

Gloria grabbed her friend’s hand and squeezed.  She didn’t know what to say, so she did the only thing that helped when life got her down and things seemed to be spinning out of control.  “Let’s pray about it.”

Ruth nodded and the women bowed their heads.  “Dear Lord, we pray for Ruth and her job.  Lord, you know her heart.  You know how much her job means to her.  We ask that the investigators finish the investigation quickly so Ruth can get back to work.  Thank you for your Son, our Savior, Jesus.  In His name we pray. Amen.”

The tear that had threatened now trailed down her cheeks.  Ruth wiped them away with the back of her hand.  “I feel better already,” she whispered. 

Mally was back now.  She ended the somber moment when she shook her body and pelted the girls with droplets of cold water.  “Oh, no!” Ruth screamed as she jumped up from the log.

The sun was sinking low in the sky by the time the girls wandered back across the fields and into Gloria’s backyard.  “The walk sure did help, Gloria.  Thanks for making me go with you,” Ruth said.

“You’re welcome, my dear.” Gloria opened the door and waited for Ruth to go in.  “Tomorrow we can start organizing for the yard sale.”  The sale was creeping up on them.  They had just a couple days left.  “We should get together with the others and start pulling this thing together.”

Ruth surprised Gloria when she walked over to the kitchen table, shut the lid on the laptop and then carried it off to her bedroom.

The phone on the wall rang at the same time Gloria opened the fridge to decide what to have for dinner.  It was her daughter, Jill.  Gloria had called her daughter the day before to see if she had anything she wanted to add to the yard sale. 

“Hi, Jill.”

“Hi, Mom.  I went through a bunch of the boys stuff and have some clothes and toys I’d like to bring over.” 

“Sure.  Ruth and I are going to organize tomorrow.”

“Greg’s working late tonight.  The boys and I thought we’d stop over with a load and bring dinner with us if that’s okay.”

Gloria still had the fridge door open and it was slim pickins’ inside.  “That sounds great!”

“Was that Jill?” Ruth was back in the kitchen.

Gloria disconnected the line and set the phone back on the base.  “Yeah.  She and the boys are on their way with dinner.  She wants to drop off some stuff for the yard sale, too.”

Ruth wasn’t accustomed to being around children.  Hopefully, the boys wouldn’t get on her nerves.  They could be a bit rambunctious at times.

Gloria headed to the barn with her heavy-duty flashlight.  She unlocked the door and pulled it to the side.  She beamed the light in.  The place was filling up fast!  Ruth followed her out and the two women shuffled boxes to the side to make room for Jill’s contribution.

They cleared a path and emptied a corner section. Ruth stood back and surveyed the piles.  “What happens to the stuff we don’t sell?”

Gloria crossed her arms.  She hadn’t put much thought into that part yet.  “Call one of those donation centers to come pick it up?” She pushed the hair back from her eyes. The days were running together.  “What day is today?”

“Thursday.  Why?”

“We
could
start the sale Saturday, take a break on Sunday and then wrap it up with a bang on Monday!”

The more Gloria thought about it, the more she liked the idea.  That way, it would keep Ruth busy, but it would also help them get rid of as much stuff as possible.  It didn’t make sense to Gloria to have a one-day sale.  Not with all the stuff they had!

Ruth nodded. “We could organize tomorrow and start the sale Saturday.” 

Headlights flashed across the lawn and then beamed in through the barn doors.  It was Jill.

Gloria’s grandsons, Tyler and Ryan, bolted out of the back doors and ran to Gloria.  She bent down and wrapped an arm around each of them.  “Boy, have I missed you two!”

It had been a couple weeks since Gloria had stopped by Jill’s place.  “We need to plan a sleepover at Gram’s house,” she told them.

Ryan pulled back. He looked up at his beloved Grams.  “Really??”

He turned to his mother.  “Can we, Mom?  Gram’s asking…”

Jill shook her head.  “You sure you’re ready for that?”

The last time the boys had spent the weekend, they’d had loads of excitement.  Between discovering someone hiding out in Gloria’s barn, to the boys catching a snake, to finding a dead body in Andrea’s shed.  Yes, it had been an eventful weekend.

But what were the chances of having all that excitement happen again? She glanced at Ruth.  The only problem was, she wasn’t certain how much longer Ruth would be staying.  And Gloria didn’t want her to feel like she was pushing her out….

Jill must’ve read Gloria’s mind.  She ruffled Ryan’s hair.  “We’ll talk about it later.”

The group had the trunk of Jill’s car unloaded in record time.  Most of what she had brought over was clothes.  There was only a small box of toys. Gloria pointed at the small box.  “Those are the only toys you have?”

Tyler eyed the box with suspicion.  “Mom was trying to get rid of all our good toys!” he told his grandmother.

Gloria smiled at Tyler.  “Why don’t you boys run on ahead into the house and wash your hands?”

The boys raced off to the house and the girls trailed behind.  “I figured I’d wait ‘til the boys are playing over at their friend’s house tomorrow and then I can clean out their rooms,” Jill said.

“Good idea.”  Gloria nodded. “Ruth and I decided to have the sale Saturday
and
Monday.  We figured it didn’t make much sense to do all this work for just one day.”

“I can come help both days,” she offered.  She grabbed the bags of burgers and fries from the front seat.  “I’ll have to bring the boys,” she warned.

“Of course. We can put them in charge of crowd control,” Gloria joked.

Tyler and Ryan were inside, chasing Mally in circles around the dining room table.  The boys would suddenly stop and start running in the opposite direction and Mally would start chasing them. 

Puddles, Gloria’s cat, was nowhere in sight. 

“Let’s eat!” Jill hollered into the dining room.  She turned to Gloria. “I hope burgers are okay.”

Gloria nodded.  “Sounds perfect.  Thanks for bringing it.”

Ruth reached for her purse.  “Dinner’s on me.  How much do I owe you?” she asked.

Jill handed her a wrapped burger and packet of fries.  “No, you don’t have to do that Ruth.”

Ruth took the food from Jill and set it down on the table.  “I insist.  It’s the least I can do.”

Jill told her the amount and Ruth handed her that, plus a little extra. 

The group prayed over the food before digging in. 

“Do you need me to come back tomorrow to help organize?” Jill dipped a fry in ketchup and took a bite.

“I think Ruth and I can handle it,” Gloria said. “Just plan on coming early Saturday.”

Tyler kicked his feet under his chair.  “We can help, too, Grams.”

Gloria smiled at her grandson.  “Why, thank you Tyler.  I’m sure you’ll be a big help.”

They finished the food, then Gloria collected the wrappers and dropped them inside the bags.  She shoved the bags in the trash can and closed the lid. 

Ruth picked up her phone.  “I’ll text the other girls and let them know we’re starting the sale on Saturday.” 

Jill looked at her watch.  “We better go.  It’s getting late.  Greg will be home by now.”

Gloria walked Jill and the boys to the car.  Jill glanced back at the house.  “How much longer will Ruth be staying?” she whispered. 

Gloria followed her gaze.  She shrugged her shoulders.  “I don’t know.  Not too much longer, I hope.”

Jill drove off, but not before she promised her mother she’d be back at 8:00 Saturday morning for the yard sale. 

The girls were up bright and early the next morning, prepared to tackle the yard sale project.  Lucy was the first to show up.  She brought another small load of stuff with her.  Margaret was next.  She had a trunk full and promised that was the end. 

Gloria eyed all the goodies Margaret pulled from her trunk.  She made a mental note to take a good look at everything before the sale started.  Just in case there was something she couldn’t live without!

Dot was the last to arrive.  She had the largest load.  Gloria pulled a box from the back of the van.  “I had no idea you even owned this much stuff,” Gloria grumbled.

Dot reached in and grabbed a floor fan.  “Yeah, me either.”

Lucy wandered over to help.  She pulled out a wooden end table then grabbed a used coffee maker.  She sniffed the air.  “Do I smell donuts?”

Dot reached into the passenger seat and pulled out a bakery box.  “Leave it to Lucy to sniff out the sweets,” she teased.

She handed the box to Ruth then grabbed a carafe of coffee and a pack of Styrofoam cups. 

“Dot to the rescue,” Margaret declared.

The girls circled several lawn chairs and sat down to take a break.  Ruth pulled a glazed donut from the box before passing the box on to Lucy.  Lucy picked a pink frosted donut with sprinkles and started to hand the box to Margaret.  “I might as well take two now,” she decided.  She grabbed a raspberry twist before surrendering the box.

Gloria pulled a card table from the wall and set it up in the middle of the circle.  She poured cups of coffee before the donut box reached her.  At least they left her favorite.  A chocolate éclair. 

Lucy licked pink frosting from her upper lip.  “I left that for you,” she told Gloria.

Gloria set the frosted confection on a napkin and reached for her coffee.  “Thanks, Lucy.” They each had a different favorite and after all these years, Dot knew who liked what and made sure to bring at least one of each.

Margaret broke off a piece of her apple turnover.  “How’s the investigation at the post office going?”

They all turned to Ruth.  Her face fell.  She set her donut on the napkin.  “I wish I knew.”

Dot poured a liquid creamer in her coffee and stirred.  “I’d march right over there and demand an update,” she said.  “You have a right to know.”

The group agreed that Ruth should stop by there to check in. 

Gloria sipped her coffee.  “That might not be a bad idea, Ruth.  After all, I think it would look suspicious if you didn’t…”

Ruth turned to Gloria.  “You really think so?”

A murmured agreement by all was enough to convince Ruth to stop by there later.  She popped last piece of donut in her mouth, a look of determination on her face. “You’re right.  You’re all right!”

The group finished the breakfast and dumped the trash in a bin Gloria had dragged out for the sale.

Earlier, Gloria had assembled a makeshift rack to hang the clothes on.  It ran the entire length of the barn wall.  

The toys were put in one group, while dishes and other miscellaneous household items were put in another.  Gloria began to pull the items from the boxes and set them on the long rows of card tables.  There were lamps, clocks, place mats.  And then Gloria ran across an odd looking item.  It was round and it looked like a black ball.  A small instruction sheet was taped to the bottom. She held it up.  “What’s this?”

Ruth was stacking books on a table nearby.  “Is this yours?” Gloria asked.

Ruth looked at the round object.  “Yeah.” She glanced around to see if anyone was listening in.

Gloria leaned closer.  “Is that what I think it is?”

Ruth nodded.  “Yep.  It’s a mini camera.  I had this one over at the post office ‘til I upgraded to the one I have there now.” She gave Gloria a hard look.

Gloria turned it over in her hand.  “Does it work?”

“Like a charm,” Ruth said.  “Only problem was, it was a little small and had limited scope.  You know, I couldn’t see as much as I can with the upgraded model. Super easy to use, too.  You can use it with your phone to spy on people!”

Gloria nodded.  She pretended to set it back down.  When Ruth turned away, she stuck it in the pocket of her sweater.  Somehow, she had a feeling it might come in handy.