Hope Callaghan - Garden Girls 05 - Eye Spy by Hope Callaghan Read Free Book Online Page A

diners. 
    There was no one in the kitchen but the back screen door was open.  Gloria could hear voices coming from beyond the door.
    The women wandered around the side of the butcher block island and out the back door.  Dot was at the picnic table sipping a glass of water.  Ray was seated across from her, his back to the door.  He didn’t see Gloria and Ruth come up, but Dot did. 
    She jumped up from the bench seat and scooted around the side of the wooden table.  She wrapped her arms around Ruth and gave her a big hug.  Ruth sniffled one more time before she burst into tears.  She buried her head in her hands. 
    Dot patted her shoulder.  “I know just what you’re going through, Ruth,” Dot soothed.  And if anyone did know what Ruth was going through, it was Dot.  It wasn’t long ago that Dot and her husband, Ray, had a diner keel over right inside the restaurant.  The authorities had shut the restaurant down until the investigation was complete and Dot and Ray had been cleared.
    “I know, it’s just…” Ruth began to wail again.  Gloria pulled a pack of tissues from her purse and handed one to Ruth. Dot continued to pat Ruth’s back.  She stared at Gloria helplessly.  “I’m sure Gloria’s trying to help, too.” 
    Ruth wiped her eyes, then blew her nose into the tissue.  She glanced over at Gloria.  “Yeah, she is.  It’s just hard.”
    Gloria was quick to change the subject.  “How’re you doing on going through your things for the yard sale?”
    That got Ray’s attention.  His head whipped around.  “Good heavens!  The woman has the garage half-full already.”
    Gloria swallowed hard.  With everything Ruth had already brought over and half of Dot’s garage filled with stuff, she was going to run out of room in the barn to store it all!
    Dot held up a finger.  “I’ll be right back.”
    She disappeared inside the kitchen.  The girls made small talk with Ray until she returned. Dot wandered back out but stayed by the door, one hand still gripping the handle.  “I need to get back to work.  I mentioned the yard sale to Margaret and Lucy and they said they had stuff to get rid of, too!”
    Ruth and Gloria wandered back through the restaurant and out the front door.  With one last look of longing towards the post office, Ruth climbed into the van and closed her eyes.  She leaned her head back against the rest.  “Please, God. Let them hurry up with the investigation,” she murmured.
    Ruth lifted her head and put the van in reverse.  She started to back into the street.  “Can we stop by my place before heading home?” she asked.
    Gloria nodded her head.  “Sure.  No problem.”
    Ruth headed opposite of the farm as she drove to her place.  She pulled into her narrow drive and put the van in park. 
    “I’ll be right back.” Ruth was out of the van and had slammed the door shut before Gloria could answer.  She shrugged her shoulders.  Guess this must be a quick grab something and go. 
    Ruth was gone only a minute.  When she returned, she had a laptop computer tucked under one arm.  Ruth set the computer on the back seat, then settled in behind the wheel. 
    “You could’ve just used my computer,” Gloria told her.
    Ruth shook her head.  “No. Yours won’t work.  There’s stuff on my laptop that I need.”
    Gloria lifted her one eyebrow but didn’t reply.  She couldn’t wait to see what kind of “stuff” that Ruth had on her computer that she couldn’t live without for a few days.
    It wasn’t long after they arrived back at the farm that Gloria found out what that “stuff” was.  Ruth made a beeline for the kitchen table.  She set the laptop on top and lifted the lid.  She slid out a chair, plopped down and focused on the screen.   
    Gloria hung her keys on the hook.  She took her sweater off and put it on top of the keys. 
    Gloria glanced over at the screen that Ruth was studying.  It was a bit blurry so Gloria grabbed her glasses