Forget Me Knot (Garden Girls Christian Cozy Mystery Series Book 13)

by Hope Callaghan

  Andrea explained what had happened and how there had been a flicker of recognition when he saw Alice. She also told them how he hadn’t tried Alice’s special soup and that it was sitting on the tray next to his bed.

  “So it’s time for me to put my plan into action?” Rose asked eagerly as she patted the large bulky purse that she was carrying.

  Gloria still wasn’t certain what Rose’s “plan” was. “What exactly is the plan?’ she asked.

  “You’ll see.” Rose held up a finger and glanced around the room. “I’ll be right back!” She darted across the room and into the restroom, closing the door behind her.

  Gloria shifted her gaze to Dot. “Do you know what Rose has up her sleeve?”

  “Nope.” Dot shook her head. “I can hardly wait to find out.”

  Gloria, Dot, Andrea, Alice and Lucy chatted about Brian’s condition while they waited. Finally, Rose emerged from the bathroom, a wide grin on her face.

  Gloria gasped. “What in the world?”

  Chapter 16

  “Well, what do you think?” Rose twirled in a slow circle as she modeled her medical uniform.

  “I dunno,” Lucy wrinkled her nose. “Isn’t it illegal to impersonate medical staff?”

  “It’s clever, I’ll give you that,” Andrea shook her head. “But Lucy may be right. Has Brian met you yet?”

  “Nope,” Rose shook her head. “Gloria was the only one who visited his room.”

  Rose shoved her sweater in the bag she was holding before handing the bag to Dot. “Someone needs to track down a tray, maybe a food tray with juice or something so I can take it to Brian along with my special potion.”

  Alice opened her mouth to protest and quickly closed it. Gloria could tell from the look on her face she hoped Rose got busted.

  “You look very professional,” Alice muttered and rolled her eyes.

  “I saw a tray in the hall.” Dot strode across the room and stepped into the hall. She returned moments later with a food tray, a can of soda and an apple. “This is the best I could do on short notice. I snatched it from a tray in the hall.”

  Rose reached for the tray and placed a small plastic container next to it. “Here goes nothing.” Dot held the door while Rose, wearing light blue scrubs, stepped into the hall. She led the way and the others followed at a distance.

  Gloria was convinced that at any moment a bona fide medical staff would stop Rose and ask for her ID. She briefly wondered if Rose had created a fake ID. Surely, she wouldn’t have gone to that extreme.

  The girls hovered in the hall outside Brian’s room. Gloria stood closest to the door and tried to eavesdrop on what Rose was saying to Brian. A nurse – a real nurse – approached the door and started to enter the room.

  Andrea lifted her arm, blocking the door. “Wait!”

  The nurse abruptly paused. “What?”

  “I-uh,” Gloria stuttered.

  “Mr. Sellers asked us to step outside. He needed to use the bathroom,” Lucy blurted out.

  “Oh.” The nurse took a step back. “I’ll come back.” She eyed the girls suspiciously before retracing her steps and making her way down the hall. She looked back once and Gloria waved.

  “Whew! That was close,” Dot groaned. She leaned into the room. “She better hurry up!”

  Rose strolled out of Brian’s room seconds later, the empty tray under her arm and a triumphant smile on her face. “Mission accomplished!”

  “You get him to take your hocus pocus?” Alice pushed past Rose and marched into Brian’s room. Andrea was hot on her heels and Gloria not far behind her.

  Brian was out of bed, staring out the window. He spun around when Andrea cleared her throat.

  Gloria gazed at the table next to the bed and a can of opened soda, a straw sticking out of the top.

  Next to the open soda was Alice’s soup. The lid was off and a spoon rested inside. “You try my soup?” Alice asked.

  “Yes.” Brian nodded. “It was delicious. A little on the spicy side but delicious.”

  Alice shuffled to the hospital over-bed tray and peered into the container. “You eat just enough, but save the rest for later.” She winked at Gloria and gave a thumbs up.

  She went on. “Andrea is wearing one of your favorite colors. You remember?”

  Brian turned on his heel and gazed at Andrea. “No. I mean.” He rubbed his temple. The nurse who had attempted to get into Brian’s room earlier entered the room and approached the end of the bed. “I have some papers for you to sign, Mr. Sellers, for your release tomorrow. I’ll leave them over here.” She placed a stack of papers on the tray, next to the can of soda.

  “What is this?” The nurse reached for Alice’s container of soup and Alice snatched it from her grasp. “It is a special soup Mr. Brian loves.”

  The nurse shook her head. “You’re not allowed to bring food to a patient unless you clear it with the nurse’s station.”

  “You’re not supposed to imitate medical staff and sneak into someone’s room, either,” Alice muttered under her breath.

  The nurse leaned forward. “What did you say?”

  “Nothing.” Alice checked the lid to make sure it was on and then slipped the soup in her purse. She made her way around the bed, grasped Brian’s hand and looked into his eyes. “You will be back to normal before you know it. I promise.”

  Brian placed his hand over the top of Alice’s and smiled. “Thank you…Al. I hope so.”

  Andrea lingered in Brian’s room while Dot, Alice, Lucy and Gloria headed to the family waiting room to wait for her. Rose, who had gone ahead, had already changed into her street clothes and was sitting in one of the waiting room chairs when they returned.

  Rose popped out of the chair. “Brian drank the whole thing. His memory should be coming back any time now…within hours.”

  “Yes.” Alice clasped her purse in front of her. “He will because he finally eat my special soup.”

  “And swallowed my special potion,” Rose nodded.

  “Soup!” Alice insisted.

  “Potion!” Rose shot back.

  Gloria stepped between them. “Ladies.” She stressed the word ladies. “Brian appears to have survived your experiments.” She glanced at Rose. “At least he’s not clucking like a chicken or dancing around the bed post…yet.”

  Alice snickered.

  Gloria turned to her. “And his eyebrows haven’t singed off.”

  Rose snickered back.

  “Listen,” Gloria continued. “I appreciate both of your efforts and I hope they work, for both Andrea and Brian’s sake.”

  She went on. “As soon as Andrea returns, we’ll say our good byes and leave them in peace. We’ll have to wait until tomorrow to find out if either – or both – of your self-proclaimed miracle memory potions work.”

  Andrea wandered into the room a short time later. “Whew! We almost got busted!” She patted Rose’s back. “Thanks for putting your neck out there to help me,” she said sincerely before turning to Alice. “And you! I think Brian is starting to remember a little. He almost said your name.”

  She hugged her former housekeeper and Alice lifted a triumphant brow as she gazed at Rose.

  Gloria hugged Andrea next. “Good luck dear. We will assume Brian is going home in the morning unless you call and tell us otherwise.” She looked at Dot. “I have some new information I discovered earlier to today. We might be onto something.” She glanced at her watch. “Paul and I are spending some time together tomorrow, but I think I can sneak away for a quick breakfast if anyone wants to meet me at Dot’s Restaurant.”

  The others agreed to meet Gloria at the restaurant around nine-thirty, after the breakfast crowd cleared and then they left Andrea behind as they headed to the SUV.

  Gloria told Rose to hop in the passenger seat while Lucy, Dot and Alice climbed in the rear. During the drive to Belhaven, she was careful to steer the conversation away from the memory enhancing concoctions and onto the weather, gardening and the re
cent shut ins.

  Eleanor Whittaker, one of the local residents who had been helpful in solving a recent murder mystery, had taken a fall while sweeping off her front steps and had broken her arm.

  Gloria was thankful it hadn’t been worse, but Eleanor was still having a hard time cooking and baking. Gloria had made an extra effort to stop by at least once a week to visit or to offer to take Eleanor around town to run errands.

  Ever since the fall, Eleanor had seemed even frailer and the girls were concerned. She also seemed down in the dumps. Gloria glanced in the rearview mirror. “Do you mind if I give Eleanor a call and ask her to join us in the morning?”

  “Oh yes! What a great idea, Gloria,” Dot said. “Poor Eleanor.”

  “Who is Eleanor?” Rose asked. The girls filled her in.

  “You can come, too, Alice,” Gloria said.

  “Oh Miss Gloria! I would love to come, but I promise Mario…Mr. Acosta, I will work at the kennel tomorrow since I not go to work today.”

  “I understand,” Gloria said. “I’m sure Andrea will keep you in the loop on Brian’s status.”

  When they reached town, Gloria dropped Dot and Rose off in front of the restaurant and told them she would see them the next morning.

  She dropped Alice off next, and waited until Alice was safely inside the house before backing out of the driveway and turning onto the street.

  Lucy was the only one left. “What do you think about Alice and Rose?” she asked.

  Gloria tapped her fingernail on the steering wheel. She was certain Rose wasn’t trying to step on anyone’s toes, including Alice’s. If anything, Gloria blamed herself for the current situation. She should have thought to include Alice, knowing how fond Alice was of Brian and, of course, Andrea.

  It was all a misunderstanding and one Gloria hoped to smooth over soon. Occasionally, one of the girls would hurt another’s feelings or someone would feel slighted or left out.

  Gloria was as guilty as the next person was, especially when she was knee deep in an investigation. Her attention was so focused on the case; she simply forgot to make sure the others were included, unless of course the skill of a certain friend was needed.

  She’d asked for Ruth’s help with spy equipment, drones, surveillance and snooping numerous times.

  Lucy was her go-to girl for weapons.

  Margaret was the etiquette queen and business-savvy one of the bunch.

  Dot was the levelheaded, sensible one who tried to keep them out of trouble.

  Andrea? Well, Andrea was the ambitious one, always wanting to jump right in and get the bad guys. She was all action.

  Gloria remembered the time at Mitzi Verona’s party where Andrea chased after a suspect, gun strapped to her thigh and then shot the back of the suspect’s car.

  Yep, Andrea was the wild card…

  And Gloria? Well, she was the one who seemed to be right in the thick of things, either by accident or by being asked. She had a nose for trouble and she found it…or it found her.

  “I think things will settle down. Alice’s feathers just got ruffled but it will be okay. Now that we know how she feels, we’ll make sure to include her.”

  Gloria swung into Lucy’s driveway and stopped near the house. Lucy scrambled across the back seat and reached for the door handle. “What are you going to do about Annabelle?”

  “I don’t know,” Gloria admitted. “Honestly, I haven’t had a lot of time to think about it.”

  “Annabelle is one of us.” Lucy hopped out of the SUV and paused before shutting the door. “I’ll see you in the morning.” She hurried up the sidewalk to the front of her house.

  Gloria gave a quick tap of the horn and waved good-bye before backing out of the drive and heading home. It had been a long day.

  Chapter 17

  The next morning, Paul puttered in his garage workshop while Gloria headed to town for her breakfast meeting with the girls.

  She had spent the night tossing and turning, her thoughts bouncing from one thing to another. She worried about Brian and Andrea, and Alice. She worried about Annabelle and knew Gus was waiting for her to make a decision.

  She had forgotten to call her daughter, Jill, to invite her grandsons to spend the night. She was anxious to find out if Andrea would be able to get her hands on Brian’s little black schedule book.

  Last, but not least, she had forgotten to call Eleanor Whittaker to invite her to breakfast, which was the first thing she did when she crawled out of bed the next morning.

  Gloria’s heart sank when she heard Eleanor’s weak, feeble voice on the other end of the line. Eleanor perked up when Gloria invited her to join them to discuss the investigation, which made her feel a little better.

  Feeling guilty for leaving Paul when she promised they would spend the day together, she cooked a lumberjack breakfast, complete with pancakes, eggs, sausage and toast. She nibbled on a small breakfast plate, saving room for another breakfast at Dot’s Restaurant.

  Paul called the Montbay County Sheriff’s Department first thing, while Gloria was cooking. He told her police were also looking into Walter Tompkins’ escape and believed he had not left the state. They had stepped up their search for Tompkins after discovering he had robbed a convenience store in Lansing the night before.

  “Lansing,” Gloria said as she eyed Paul over the rim of her coffee cup. “That’s only about an hour away from here.”

  Paul poured a generous helping of syrup over the top of his pancakes and cut a chunk off. “Yeah. It’s almost as if he’s hanging around, hoping to get picked up.”

  After breakfast, Gloria told Paul he was off the hook and she would clean up and let Mally out for a run before she headed to Dot’s place. She also told him that after tossing and turning half the night, she had decided she wasn’t ready to put Annabelle out to pasture and she was going to tell Gus to go ahead and order the replacement parts.

  The more Gloria thought about it, the more relieved she was to have made a decision. When she reached the repair shop, she eased into a parking spot and slid out of the SUV before making her way to the front door. Gus was behind the small counter, talking on the phone.

  Gloria waited near the window until the conversation ended. “I’ve made a decision,” she announced as he hung up the phone.

  “You’re gonna repair Annabelle and plan to put at least another hundred thousand miles on her,” Gus guessed.

  “How did you know?” Gloria propped her purse on the counter and gazed at Gus.

  “I know you Gloria. Annabelle is one of the girls. It would be like betraying one of your friends.” Gus wiped his forehead with a rag and shoved it in his front pocket. “Hard to find friends like that these days. You’re blessed.”

  A lump formed in Gloria’s throat making it hard to speak. There were no truer words spoken. It was hard to find good, got-your-back, solid-in-the-face-of-a-storm friends like hers. She truly was blessed. “Thanks,” she managed to croak.

  Gus nodded and smiled, the corners of his eyes crinkling. He pulled a clipboard from the drawer, along with a pen and slid them across the counter. “Sign on the dotted line and I’ll get the parts ordered today.”

  Gloria signed and then had Gus add new tires, shocks and brakes to the tally. By the time Gus was done, Annabelle would be like new. She thanked Gus again for the loaner vehicle and headed back out.

  She swung by Eleanor’s place first. Eleanor must have been waiting for her because Gloria had barely shifted the SUV into park when the front door opened and Eleanor, along with her walker, stepped out onto the stoop.

  Gloria hurried to the front door and helped Eleanor down the steps. “You look like a breath of fresh spring air,” she told Eleanor as they shuffled to the passenger side of the vehicle.

  Eleanor was sporting a short sleeve blouse with an array of brightly colored flowers. She wore a pair of baby blue polyester slacks and bright white tennis shoes. A pair of daisy clip-on earrings completed the ensemble.

  �
�You think so?” Eleanor smoothed her blouse. “I changed three times.”

  “You look perfect,” Gloria said as she opened the passenger door, folded Eleanor’s walker and slid it into the back seat of the SUV.

  “What happened to Annabelle?”

  “She’s in Gus’s shop getting an overhaul,” Gloria explained. She closed Eleanor’s door and made her way around the front, climbing behind the wheel.

  The women chatted about the weather, Eleanor’s broken arm and the robbery at the hardware store on the way to the restaurant. She let Eleanor do most of the talking and the older woman yakked away.

  When Gloria pulled into a parking spot in front of the restaurant, she could see Andrea, Margaret, Lucy, Dot and Rose already at the large, round table in the center of the restaurant.

  Gloria followed Eleanor into the restaurant and waited until she eased into an empty seat before sliding into the one next to her. She placed her purse on the floor next to her chair. “Where’s Ruth?”

  “On her way,” Lucy said. “She’s training a new part-time staffer and was waiting for Kenny to return from his first route delivery.”

  A tower of donuts sat in the center on the table and coffee cups sat in front of each of the girls, all except for Lucy, who was sipping a tall mocha-colored glass of something.

  Gloria pointed at Lucy’s drink. “What is that?”

  “Iced coffee. Dot just added it to the menu.” Lucy slid it toward Gloria. “Here. Try it.”

  Gloria sipped out of the side of the glass. The cool, chocolatey-coffee flavored concoction was delicious. “Tasty. What do you call it?”

  “An iced mocha. Cocoa, sugar, milk, whipped cream, coffee and lots of ice,” Dot rattled off the ingredients. “Lucy is my guinea pig. It’s something new we’re trying.”

  “Lucy will be your best customer. As long as it has sugar, she’ll buy it,” Margaret joked.

  “So we’ve managed to perfect it?” Rose asked.

  “Almost,” Lucy said. “It could use a pinch more sugar, but that’s my personal preference.”