“Oh, my gosh, yes,” said Louise, and the two began dissecting the story of the supposedly distraught husband who had wound up making sure his new wife met with an accidental death after heavily insuring her.
Yep. Gilda would be staying.
“Hopefully, we don’t have any killers around here,” Zona said, bringing them back to the reason they’d called Gilda. “Gilda, what do you think? Can you help us out?”
“As long as you don’t need me to stay the night. I don’t do graveyard shifts.”
“We don’t really need you at all,” Louise said, then added, “But I wouldn’t mind some company.”
“May I show you around?” Zona offered.
Gilda nodded. “Yes, I want to see how your bathroom is set up.” She eyed Louise’s cast. “Doing sponge baths for now?”
“Yes, until the swelling goes down and after that I get an even clunkier cast,” Louise said sourly. “Then at least I’ll be able to shower.”
“That’ll be a pain in the patootie,” predicted Gilda, the little ray of sunshine.
“We have a shower chair arriving tomorrow,” Zona said. “And I’ve ordered rails for the toilet.”
“Excellent,” Gilda approved. “I’ll get you through this.Don’t you worry,” she assured Louise. “Let’s check out the living environment,” she said to Zona.
“And while you’re at it, honey, get Gilda some of that lavender lemonade you made,” Louise said.
It looked like Gilda was not only staying, but she was also going to become part of the family.
An hour later all had been arranged. Gilda would be stepping in when Zona was at work, helping Louise with her personal needs and making lunch. And, at the rate they were bonding, probably staying for dinner. But not, she was quick to inform Zona, taking the dog for walks.
Both she and Bree left just as Martin arrived with dinner. Soon they’d need traffic lanes. Louise was not going to be bored during her recuperation.
“Why don’t you keep Mom company while I get this plated,” Zona said to him as she took the giant bag of food.
“Happy to. Look at you, you poor thing,” he said to Louise as Zona went to the kitchen to dish up. What her mother was missing out on in fun was being more than made up for in sympathy and attention.
Zona set things up on the dining room table, and they all settled in to eat with Darling looking longingly on.
“Not for you, baby,” Louise said to him. “Zona will get you a dog biscuit.”
Zona had been about to dig into her chow mein, but she went to the kitchen and fetched a treat for Darling. She should have remembered to put on her Fitbit. Heaven knew she was certainly getting her steps in, and it would have been interesting to see how many.
She’d settled back at the table when they heard the rumble of Alec James’s diesel truck and saw it pull up into his driveway. “Looks like our new neighbor is home,” said Louise. “Have you met him, Martin? I haven’t had a chance to say more than hello.”
“He seems like a nice enough man,” Martin said, and reached for an egg roll.
“I think he’s single,” said Louise.
“I’ve seen a woman over there who drives a red PT Cruiser, so don’t start making plans,” Zona told Louise. “Anyway, I’m not looking for anyone,” she added. Just as a reminder to her mother. Okay, and herself, too.
“I know,” Louise said with a shrug. “But that’s when you often find the love of your life, when you’re not looking. Sometimes that person can be right under your nose. Right, Martin?”
“Right,” Martin agreed. The smile he gave Louise was all hearts and kisses. Funny how blind her mother was when it came to what was right underhernose.
Zona cleared the table and left them to visit while she cleaned up. She could still hear them out there talking after she’d finished. There was never a lull in conversation between those two.
Louise laughed at something he said. They didn’t need her company so she went out to the backyard to see if she could find where Darling had gotten out.
There it was, a nice deep hole beneath a section of the fence between them and their new neighbor. Ugh.
Well, it was a first offense. And one hole did not a doggy felon make. She fetched a shovel from the toolshed and got to work filling it in. She was halfway through when she heard a female squeal of disgust coming from next door, followed by a male voice demanding to know what the matter was.
