Hope Callaghan - Garden Girls 06 - Magnolia Mansion Mysteries (11 page)

“You should bring them over sometime.  They can run through the cornfields out back before they harvest it.”

She nodded.  The boys would love to run through the cornfields.

Paul reluctantly got to his feet and reached over to pick up the garbage bag.  “I better get this down to the lab so they can put a rush on it.”

She nodded and pulled herself from the chair.  She was eager to find out what was up with the bag.  Which reminded her of something else.  “Did they find anything out on that painting?”

Paul snapped his fingers.  “I’m glad you reminded me.” He shook his head.  “Nothing came up so Andrea can have it back. It’s in the trunk.”

She followed him to the car and waited while he popped the trunk and pulled out the portrait.  Gloria grabbed the jagged edge, careful not to touch the painting itself.  “Margaret has a friend who owns an art gallery down in Grand Rapids.  We’re going to take it there to see what he can tell us about it.”

Paul opened the car door and leaned on the edge.  Gloria looked past the car.  Mally was out of the wheelbarrow now.  The boys were holding sticks in their hands and poking at something on the ground.

She leaned forward and popped up on her tippy-toes. Paul leaned down and kissed her on the lips.  “Someday we won’t have to sneak kisses,” he promised.

“Grams! Come quick!” Ryan was waving frantically in her direction.

She sighed.  “I better go.  ‘Come quick!’ is code word for ‘we got into something we probably shouldn’t have.’” 

Paul grinned and slid into the driver’s seat.  He gave her a small wave before pulling out of the drive.

Gloria hustled over to where the boys and Mally were circled around.  She bent over and looked down.  “What have you found now?”

There, on the ground, was a small pile of arrowheads.  “How did you find these?”

Tyler shuffled his tennis shoe across the loose dirt.  “I was thinking about climbing this tree.”  Tyler pointed up. “When I got underneath this branch, I saw something shiny so I picked it up,” he explained.

“Then we started digging around and found more,” Ryan chimed in.

Gloria plucked an arrowhead from the pile and held it up in the sunlight.  She had never found arrowheads on the farm before.  Of course, she knew that Chippewa Indians had once roamed the area. 

“Can we keep ‘em?” Ryan asked.

“Yes, of course.” Gloria turned the sharp stone over in her hand. “Try not to stab each other with them.”

The boys spent a few more minutes digging around before pocketing the ten arrowheads they had found. 

With their treasures tucked safely away in their pockets, she gave them a gentle nudge towards the house.  “Go wash up so we can eat,” she told them.

She followed them in and made a beeline for the fridge.  Nothing inside looked the least bit appealing. She opened the freezer door.  Inside was a packet of frozen hamburger meat and that was about it. She shut the door as the boys wandered back into the kitchen.  “Let’s head down to Dot’s for dinner.”

Ryan lifted his right leg and hopped in a circle.  He licked his lips and rubbed his stomach.  “I already know what I’m gonna get,” he informed his grandmother.  “A cheeseburger and fries and a chocolate shake and a piece of pie.”

Gloria shook her head.  “The cheeseburger and fries – yes.  The sweets - no.  You already ate an entire pan of brownies,” she reminded him.

Gloria grabbed her purse and keys. They hopped in the car and drove to town.  The dinner crowd was in full swing as Gloria and the boys headed indoors and over to one of the few remaining booths. The boys slid in one side while Gloria took the other.  

Gloria already knew what she wanted.  She was going to order the pot roast.  She had been planning to make some herself but hadn’t gotten around to it.  The boys didn’t bother picking up the menus either. 

Dot appeared at the table with three glasses of water in hand.  “If it isn’t Tyler and Ryan.” She glanced at Gloria.  “I didn’t know the boys were coming over.” Gloria slid her straw from the paper wrapper. She tapped the ice cubes to the side and dropped the straw in the glass.  “It was kind of spur-of-the-moment.”

“We’re starving,” Ryan informed Dot. 

Dot smiled.  “You do look mighty hungry.  Hungry enough to eat a bear,” she teased.

“Or an elephant,” he added.

Dot jotted down their order and headed to the back.  Gloria relented just a fraction on the sweets.  She let them both order a root beer.  The ones that came in the frosted mugs. 

Margaret and her husband, Don, walked in moments later. She waved at Gloria then pulled on her husband’s arm.  Don smiled at Gloria and the boys.  “I’ll grab that booth before someone else gets it.” He didn’t wait for an answer as he headed to a booth a couple spots away.

Margaret watched his retreating back before turning to Gloria. “How’s Andrea doing?” she asked. “Her parents are the hot gossip in town.  I heard they came in here for lunch and her mother was wearing some sort of mask.”

Gloria bristled.  Just the thought of Libby Thornton made her mad.  The woman was not a nice person.

Margaret caught the look.  “So I take it you don’t care for them,” she surmised.

Tyler grabbed the bottle of ketchup on the far end of the table. He popped the top off, tipped his head back and squirted a glob in his mouth. “She yelled at us.”

Margaret raised her eyebrows.  “Really?”

Gloria briefly explained how the boys had gotten into her supply of masks and gloves and she had thrown a fit.  “I guess they’re leaving soon.”

Margaret shook her head.  “Poor Andrea.  She never seems to get a break.”

“Grams found a body in Andrea’s dumpster,” Ryan told Margaret.

She nodded.  “I heard.” She turned to Gloria. “Any news?”

She shook her head.  “Tomorrow.  Paul said the results would be back from the lab tomorrow.”

“And Andrea has a secret hiding spot under her shed,” Ryan added.

Don was motioning Margaret over to the table.  Dot was standing next to him, trying to take their order.  “I better go order.” She gave Gloria a hard look.  “I’ll call you later.”

They were still waiting for their food to arrive when Ruth popped in.  She was alone.  Gloria waved her over and slid across the vinyl bench seat to make room.

Ruth looked over at Tyler and Ryan.  “Well, if it isn’t two of my favorite boys in the whole wide world!”

Ruth had a chance to get to know the boys when she’d stayed at Gloria’s house not long ago.  At first, Gloria thought they might get on her nerves since she never had children of her own and wasn’t used to having them around.  But the boys had taken a liking to Ruth and she seemed to enjoy them just as much.

“We got to drive the tractor,” Ryan told Ruth. 

Ruth drummed the top of the table with her nails.  She dropped her chin in her hand. “I bet that was fun!”

“Let’s just say it was an adventure,” Gloria muttered.

Ruth chuckled and shook her head.  “I wish I’d been there to see it.”

Ryan chugged his root beer, which left a foamy moustache on his upper lip.  He wiped it off with the back of his hand. “Tyler tried to run over Mally.”

Tyler punched his brother in the arm. “I did not!”

Gloria raised her eyebrows at her grandson. “That’s enough.”

He crossed his arms and leaned his head back against the seat. “At least not on purpose,” he pouted.

Dot was headed their way with a tray full of food. Gloria felt bad about eating in front of Ruth.  She needn’t have worried.  Dot must’ve noticed Ruth sitting there.  She brought an extra plate. This one filled with fried chicken, a scoop of mashed potatoes, minus the gravy, a side of corn and a freshly baked roll.

Ruth’s mouth fell open. She stared up at her friend.  “How did you know I was going to order this?”

Dot tapped her pen against the pad of paper in her hand.  “A wild guess.”

But that wasn’t really the truth.  The girls had been friends for decades - so long that they could almost read each other’s minds.  Gloria wasn’t sure if that was a good thing – or a bad thing.

Dot disappeared in the back while the four of them enjoyed a leisurely dinner, chatting about this and that.  Gloria wrapped a few chunks of her meat in a paper napkin and slipped it into her purse. 

“Mally likes Dot’s cooking,” Tyler told Ruth.

Ryan shoved a whole fry in his mouth and eyed his brother.  “Puddles, too.”

Ruth nodded.  “I bet they both like pot roast.  I don’t know anyone that doesn’t, especially Dot’s.”

Gloria finished her final few bites of baked potato.  “Hear anything at the post office about the skeleton?”

Ruth was almost always one of the first people to hear the gossip in town. Not that she minded.  Ruth loved to keep up on all the residents.  She was like a modern-day town crier.   “Nope.  It’s been very quiet.”  She paused as she sipped her ice water.  “Very odd.”

Gloria remembered the journal tucked away in the cupboard.  She planned take a peek at it tonight, after the boys were in bed.  If she wasn’t too tired.  Today had been a busy one.

The girls took their bills to the cash register to pay.  When they were finished, they stopped by Margaret’s table.  Margaret and Don had ordered the fried chicken, too.  Margaret laid the piece on her plate and wiped her hands on the napkin in her lap.  “This is some of the best chicken I have ever tasted.”

Dot was coming up behind them to refill their drinks.  “You think so?”

“Absolutely!” Gloria declared.  “Ruth shared a piece with me and now I’m sorry I didn’t order it!”

“Why, I’d pay twice as much for it,” Ruth chimed in.

Dot turned a tint of pink.  “You’re not just saying that because you’re my best friends.”

Tyler grabbed Gloria’s hand.  “Grams is one of the best cooks on the whole planet.  If she said it’s good – it’s gotta be good!”

They all laughed at Tyler’s declaration before heading out the door.  Ruth stopped near the front.  “I heard something about a locked door in Andrea’s basement.” She shuddered. “What do you think might be inside?”

Gloria shook her head.  She had no idea, but she had every intention of finding out!

Gloria tucked the boys into bed and listened to their prayers. Mally curled up on the rug between the twin beds as Gloria quietly closed the door, leaving it open just a crack in case the boys needed her during the night. 

She pulled the small journal from its hiding place and took it into the bedroom with her. 

She changed into her pajamas and climbed into bed.  Puddles sprang up onto the bed and the two of them settled in for a bit of reading.

Gloria slid her glasses on and flipped the switch on the reading lamp she kept clamped to her headboard. 

She opened the front cover.  Inside was the neatly handwritten name
Barbara Johnson
.  Gloria’s pulse raced.  The journal belonged to Abe’s wife! Gloria turned to the first page. 

“Today was uneventful.  Boring if truth be told….
“

Gloria had to agree with the first entry.  The journal was full of rambling thoughts on her life in a small town and the day-in, day-out grind of living there.  It was so boring Gloria started to nod off. 

She glanced at her alarm clock.  It was getting late. She decided to read one final page before turning in. 

“I spent most of the day painting on the back patio.  The skies were perfect light to finish my latest work.  I decided to title it ‘Fallen at Sunset.’  I fear this isn’t my best work, but it has become one of my favorites.” 

The journal went on. 
“It’s such a pity that the world will no longer be able to enjoy my works as they have in the past.  But Abe insists I forget about presenting my work to the world. His jealousy is sometimes too much.

Now that his stepbrother, Hank, is here, it has gotten even worse.  I spend most evenings in my room to avoid arguing.

It is with great regret I say that the famous artist, Sofia Masson, is forever gone.”

Gloria closed the journal and set it on her nightstand.  Her head was spinning. 
Abe Johnson’s wife, Barbara, had been a famous painter?

She thought about the small paintings that Andrea and she had found in the box.  Gloria now had another question ping ponging around in her brain. 
If this woman had been a famous painter, where were her paintings?

The boys were up bright and early the next morning.  They flung Gloria’s bedroom door open and jumped on the bed.  Puddles, still curled up next to Gloria’s head, took one look at the boys and sprung from the bed in one quick movement.  Apparently, he still had not forgotten the time the boys tried to give him a bath in the toilet bowl.

Gloria threw back the covers and pulled on her robe.  “Time for Gram’s famous lumberjack breakfast,” she told them.

Ryan jumped up and down on the bed. “I’m starving.”

Gloria grabbed him ‘round the waist and in one swift movement pulled him off.  She tickled his ribs before letting him go.  “I think you have a tapeworm, Ryan.”

Ryan grabbed Gloria’s hand as they followed Tyler into the kitchen.  “And it eats ALL my food!”

The boys helped Gloria whip up a hearty breakfast of pancakes, sausage, eggs and toast. After they finished eating, the boys headed outdoors with Mally.  Gloria looked around the kitchen.  It looked like a tornado had touched down!  She grabbed a dishrag and started to scrub the pile of dishes. 

An hour later, the kitchen was shipshape. Gloria hung her apron on the hook and wandered out to check on the boys. The barn door was wide open but when she stuck her head inside, they were nowhere in sight. 

She walked around the barn and into the garage.  Still no sign of them. Her heart thumped. It was as if the boys had vanished into thin air!

She picked up the pace as she headed back to the porch. 
Maybe they had gone back inside and she hadn’t noticed
, she thought. 

Her foot hit the bottom step when she heard the sound of laughter.  It was coming from the front yard.  Seconds later, Mally barked. 

She spun around and headed to the front yard.  In the middle of her front yard was a large, black walnut tree. Mally was beside it and she was looking up.
Woof!

Gloria made her way over to Mally and looked up, too.  There, several branches up in the tree were her grandsons.

It reminded her so much of the days her boys, Eddie and Ben, would climb the very same tree.  Of course, back then the tree was smaller.  A lump formed in her throat at the memory.  She blinked back the unexpected tears. It seemed like just yesterday. 

Tyler noticed Gloria first.  “Hi Grams!” He waved. Gloria opened her mouth to tell them to get down but the memory of her own boys was so strong, she paused. 

Kids these days were too sheltered.  Not that Jill sheltered them.  In her daughter’s defense, they lived in town. Not on a big, old farm, full of things to keep young bodies and minds busy.  No.  Gloria wasn’t going to tell them to come down.

“Hey Grams!” Ryan peeked his head from around a thick branch.  “Can we build a tree fort?”

A tree fort.  What a great idea! She slowly nodded.  “Sure c’mon down and we’ll see what we can find in the barn.”

If Gloria wasn’t mistaken, there was a stack of good-sized boards still in the barn.  James had bought the boards years ago to repair some rotting floorboards in the shed. 

The boys scampered out of the tree and raced to the barn.  By the time Gloria caught up with them, they had pulled several pieces from the tidy pile she had stacked in the corner. 

Tyler looked back when he heard Gloria’s steps on the cement floor. “We need a hammer and nails,” he said. 

She nodded and headed for the garage – to James’s old workbench - to gather what she thought they would need.  When she got back, the boys had laid out several boards. She handed each of them a pair of James’s work gloves.  Her eyes filled with tears as she watched her grandsons slip on the familiar gloves.

How James would’ve loved to help the boys build a tree fort!  She ran into the house and grabbed her camera.  The boys were hard at work when she returned.  They never even looked up as she snapped several photos of them hammering away at the boards.

Tyler got to his feet. He pulled the glove from his hand and wiped the sweat from his brow.  “I’m thirsty.”

“I’ll go grab some drinks.” She headed back inside, where she grabbed a couple bottled waters and some granola bars.  She carried them back outside and the three of them sat on the hard cement floor to eat their snack. Gloria popped the top of the water and took a small sip.  “You boys are doing a great job!”

Tyler took a large drink of his water and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.  “Thanks Grams.”

“Thanks for letting us put it in the tree,” Ryan chimed in. She ruffled his head and hugged his neck.  “Thanks for building it.  I can’t wait to see what it looks like when it’s done.”

The boys got back to work and Gloria wandered to the porch. She settled into the rocker. Her heart swelled with pride as she watched the boys work on their masterpiece.

Finally, they ran across the yard, over to where Gloria was still sitting.  “We’re done with the floor,” Ryan announced.

Gloria slid out of the chair and followed them to the barn.  She stuck a hand on her hip and looked down at the wooden platform.  They had done a dandy job, carefully matching the boards and making the frame square. 

She bent down for a closer inspection.  The frame was loaded with nails!  Too many to count.  She covered her mouth to hide her grin.  Too many was better than not enough in her book! 

“How are we going to get it up in the tree?” she wondered.

“I got an idea, Grams,” Tyler replied.  He walked over to the corner of the barn and grabbed a pile of braided ropes.  “We can tie this around the boards and throw the one end over a branch to pull it up.”

He didn’t wait for an answer as he handed the rope to his younger brother and picked up the wooden frame with both hands. When they got to the tree, he took the rope from Ryan and tied it around the frame.  The only suggestion Gloria could think to make was to tie a few extra knots. 

Tyler nodded solemnly and took his grandmother’s suggestion.  He finished tightening the knots then flung one end of the rope around a sturdy branch. The end dangled down far enough for Ryan to reach. Tyler turned to his brother.  “I’m going to go up first so I can grab it.”

Ryan nodded. 

Tyler turned to Gloria.  “Grams is gonna have to help you pull the rope and lift the boards.”

Tyler reminded Gloria of a monkey as he scrambled up the tree and settled back against a limb.  He cupped his hands to his mouth. “Bring ‘er up,” he hollered down.

Ryan and Gloria grabbed the other end of the rope and started to pull.  The rope held as they slowly inched the frame up and into the tree.  When it got close, Tyler reached over and grabbed the boards.  He swung it around and eased the platform into a flat section of the limbs.  It was a perfect fit!

Gloria clapped her hands.  “Good job boys!”

Tyler beamed with pride.  He untied the rope and dropped it to the ground before climbing down.  “Maybe we should tie it down.  You know. So it doesn’t wobble around and accidentally fall out.”

“Great idea.” She pointed to the rope in Ryan’s hands.  “You can use that.”

Tyler turned to his brother and mumbled something.  Ryan nodded and turned to face his grandmother.  “Can we have a piece of cardboard and a marker?”

She nodded and headed inside for the two requested items.  When she came back, she tossed them up and then left the boys to finish their project as she wandered over to the porch.  Her cell phone, which she had left on the side table by the rocker, was ringing.  It was Andrea.

Gloria had left her a message earlier, telling her what she’d learned from the journal. “Hello dear.”

“I got your message.  So the woman that we thought was Barbara Johnson was really a famous painter?”

“That’s what she wrote in the journal.”

“But where are all the paintings?”

Gloria glanced at the door.  “Paul dropped off the one that we found in the dumpster.” She paused.  “You don’t think she hid the rest behind the walls?”  That would mean Andrea would have to tear her house down just to find them…

No one in their right mind would do something crazy like that.  “Maybe they’re in the locked room in the basement?” Andrea wondered.

Gloria hoped that was not the case. The cold, damp basement would most certainly ruin the paintings. 

Gloria heard a loud noise on Andrea’s end.  “What’s that banging noise?”

“Oh!  The construction crew.  They’re working on my sunroom.”

“But isn’t that going to aggravate your parents?”

“Nope! They left this morning.” Andrea sounded downright giddy. “You’ve got to stop by and see the progress.  It’s going to be awesome.  All glass walls. Saltillo tile floors.”

“The boys will be leaving soon.  I’ll come by after that,” Gloria promised.

She hung up the phone and stepped into the kitchen where she quickly whipped up a pile of tuna fish sandwiches and put them and a heaping mound of potato chips on the table. She headed out to find the boys.  They were up in the fort. Well, it wasn’t technically a “fort” yet.  It still needed walls, a roof and windows. 

She shaded her eyes and peered up into the tree. 
Maybe she could run down to the hardware store and have Brian cut a couple sheets of particleboard or plywood for her…

“Time for lunch,” she hollered up.

The boys scampered down the tree.  “We need to finish the treehouse.”

Gloria nodded.  “After lunch you can measure the base. I’ll have Brian down at the hardware store cut some walls with windows for you.  Next time you’re here you can finish building it,” she promised.

Tyler’s shoulders drooped.  “You mean we can’t finish it today?”

“I’m afraid not.” The words were no more out of her mouth when Jill’s car pulled in the drive. 

Gloria waited for her to get out while the boys ran inside to wash up.  When the girls got in the house, the boys were already eating. 

Jill ruffled her youngest son’s hair.  “Did you have fun?”

Ryan spun around in the chair.  “Yep!  I got to drive the tractor, we found some arrowheads, and we found a secret compartment in Andrea’s shed,” he told his mother.

“And we started a tree fort,” Tyler finished.

Ryan took a big bite of his sandwich.  “Yeah!  It’s gonna be
AWESOME
!” he mumbled through his mouthful of food.

Jill smiled.  “I can’t wait to check it out.”

The boys wolfed down their food. Ryan tugged on Jill’s arm. “C’mon.  You gotta see it.”

Jill followed the boys to the front yard.  They were already up in the tree and standing on the wooden frame. 

Gloria headed to the garage for a tape measure. She stopped in the house for her reading glasses and piece of paper to jot down the measurements.

When she got back to the tree, she tossed the tape measure to Tyler and waited while the boys measured the frame. 

It was then she noticed a piece of cardboard. The piece she had given them earlier.  The boys had nailed it to the side of the tree.  In bold, black letters was a warning:

“NO GIRLS ALLOWED.  ‘CEPT FOR GRAMS!”

Jill choked back her laughter.  “I guess Tyler doesn’t like girls. At least not yet!”

“’Cept for Grams,” Gloria quoted.  It reminded of the Little Rascals and the “he man woman haters club.”

Jill pulled her cell phone from her rear pocket. “Hey boys!  Let me take a picture.”

The boys scrambled to the edge of the frame and plopped down, their legs dangling over the side of the wooden frame. 

Tyler stuck his arm around his younger brother’s shoulder and grinned. 

Jill snapped a couple quick shots.  “Got it.”  She turned to her mother.  “I’ll send you a copy later,” she said.

Gloria nodded.  She knew exactly where she was putting the picture.  On her computer screen saver so she could look at those handsome faces every day.

“I’m going to have Brian at the hardware store cut a couple pieces of plywood to build the walls.” She watched as the boys headed back down.  “You two go home and do some research on building a roof for the tree fort and then when you come back, we’ll finish it,” she told them.

Ryan impatiently brushed his blonde bangs out of his eyes and turned to Gloria. “Can we spend the night and sleep in it when it’s done?”

That was a thought.  Gloria eyes traveled to the half-built fort, then over to the screened-in front porch that ran the entire length of the front of the house.  She
could
pull out the fold-up cot and sleep on the porch for one night.  “We’ll see.”

After Jill and the boys left, Gloria grabbed the journal. She shoved it into her bag and headed for her car.  She was anxious to see Andrea. 

Gloria pulled into Andrea’s drive. Her eyes wandered to the left hand side of the house – and the new sun porch. 

Gloria slid out of the car and closed the door.  It was bigger than she had envisioned.  It was going to be beautiful. 

She caught a glimpse of Andrea out back. She was watching the workers. 

From what Gloria could tell, the only thing they had left to do was install a few more glass panels.