Stolen Dreams by Terri Reid Read Free Book Online Page B

“That’s the benefit of
being the old, should-have-already-retired guy on the job.”
    Mary selected a filled Long John with Bavarian crème
filling. “You can’t retire,” she replied, sitting down next to him. “This place
would fall apart without your knowledge of stock and customer specifications.
You’re like a walking database.”
    Stanley chuckled and took a bite of his doughnut. “Yep, and
that’s what I keep telling ‘em,” he said. “Which keeps me supplied with
doughnuts, newspapers and…,” he lowered the newspaper and grinned at her, “a
wonderful place to escape a honey-do list.”
    Mary bit into her doughnut and smiled at Stanley. “Well, as
long as you give me doughnuts as hush pastry, I’ll never tell Rosie,” she
vowed.
    Stanley put the newspaper down on the table, folded his arms
and met Mary’s eyes. “So, girlie, you want to tell me why you ain’t next door solving the problems of the world?” he
asked.
    “I need your help with one of those problems,” she
explained. “Did you know Alison Grandee?”
    Stanley tapped his chin with one finger and looked off to
the corner of the room while he thought about it. “Grandee, Grandee, Grandee,”
he muttered. “Didn’t she just die, not too long back?”
    Mary nodded. “Yes, she died in January,” she replied.
    “Nice woman,” he mused. “A couple of kids. Boys. And her husband was in business, banking I
think.”
    “Wow, you are a database,” Mary said. “Did you ever hear
about her background?   Before she was
married and moved here?”
    Stanley sat back in this chair and slowly took a bite of his
doughnut, his eyes focused on the ceiling for a moment. “Seems
to me she was kinda quiet about her background.   Don’t think I ever heard her talk about where
she grew up.”
    “Could she have been married before Mr. Grandee?” she asked.
    Stanley stared at her for a moment. “What you got up your
craw this morning?” he asked.
    Mary grinned. “I just want to find out what’s public
knowledge about her and what she kept secret,” Mary replied, pushing against
the table in order to get out of her chair. “So, now that I know, I think I’ll
go directly to the source.”
    Stanley stood up and hurried to her side just as she got
into a standing position. “You sure you should be following up on a lead all by
your lonesome?” he asked. “It’s not like you’d be able to run away too
quickly.”
    She looked down at her protruding belly and then looked up
at Stanley. “Are you volunteering to come along with me?” she asked. “You don’t
even know where I’m going.”
    “Sure am,” he said decisively. “’Sides, I know you’re going
to that assisted living center where Alison died.” He shook his finger at her.
“I’ve known you long enough, girlie, to know how you operate.”
    She leaned over and placed a kiss on his cheek. “Thank you,
Stanley,” she said. “I would love to have you as company.”

Chapter Thirteen

 
    The drive to the assisted living facility outside of town
took about ten minutes, but Mary wished it had taken longer.   The trees in the area were blazing in their
individual, autumn glory, bright red and orange maples stood alongside golden
oaks and bright yellow birch trees; it was breathtaking in its beauty.   “I would love to find a place where it was
fall all year long,” she said to Stanley. “I’d move there in an instant.”
    “That’s what you think,” Stanley replied. “But you’d miss
the other seasons soon enough.    I’ve
seen how much you love snowball fights and sledding.”
    Mary glanced down at her belly. “Yeah, well I might have to
forgo that this year,” she replied.
    He chuckled. “But you just wait until he’s old enough to
play outside,” Stanley said. “A whole new world of fun opens up when you start
to see things through a child’s eyes.”
    Smiling softly, Mary nodded. “I’m already seeing that with
Clarissa,” she agreed. “And I