Gloria Read online

  After Gloria ordered her meal and a cup of coffee, she remembered the rest of the instructions in the letter she left behind in her car. “Addy, hi. Um, I was told to look for you in particular. See, I got a letter. From a Sadie Oliver? She said something about asking you to buzz her or something when I finally had a chance to come see her. And, um, well… here I am.”

  “Oh. Oh. Okay. I’ve been expecting you. No problem. Sit tight. I’ll be right back.”

  Patting the back of her head, absently touching both of the pens she tucked in her updo, Addy turned away from the table, hurrying toward the closed door along the side.

  A grizzled voice called out her name, and Addy waved him off.

  “Hang on, Chester. I’ll get the pot in a sec,” she shot back before swinging the door in and rushing into the backroom.

  She returned a few minutes later, holding a tray with an oversized white mug on it in one hand, carrying a pot of coffee with the other. After placing the cup in front of Gloria, she started to pour.

  “There you go, hun. Now, I buzzed Sadie to let her know you made it and she said she’s on her way. I also sent a runner back to the main house… that’s where all the hot food gets cooked since I do the baking on-site here… she’s gonna go pick up your chili so you can eat while you wait. Anything else I can get for you in the meantime?”

  “I’m good. Thanks.”

  “Milk and sugar’s on the table. If you need a refill, just holler. Chili will be out in a few.”

  At the reminder of her order, Gloria’s stomach let out an audible grumble. She smiled. “Looking forward to it.”

  2

  Addy was true to her word. Five minutes after she dropped off the coffee, she came back to Gloria’s table with a steaming bowl of chili. An adorable little girl stood behind her. About eight or nine, she was dressed like a miniature of her mother, down to the burgundy apron tailored to her tiny frame.

  “My daughter, Sally,” Addy said, ruffling the top of her hair. “Isn’t her Halloween costume adorable? She insisted on it.”

  “When I’m big enough,” boasted the girl, “Mom’s gonna let me take orders. Today, I’m practicing. Enjoy your chili, Ms. Gloria.”

  Gloria had been pulling the bowl toward her when she recognized what Sally said. The little girl knew her name.

  Her head jerked up, but the mother and daughter had already hurried away. Sally disappeared into the swinging door marked EMPLOYEE’S ONLY, while Addy went to refill another one of the patrons’ coffee mugs.

  Deciding the lawyer must have mentioned her name when she spoke to Addy earlier, Gloria let it go. Both the waitress and her daughter were friendly, and if it seemed as if everyone else in the coffeehouse was stealing glances her way, she refused to let it bother her.

  The chili smelled delicious. After blowing on it a few times to cool it down, she discovered it tasted even better. Missing a real breakfast had been a major goof. She didn’t notice how hungry she was earlier, but she must’ve been because she plowed through her chili and gratefully accepted a pumpkin scone that Addy brought with her when she came to top off Gloria’s coffee.

  Halfway through her second cup, a kind-looking white woman in her early to mid-forties entered the coffee shop. She wasn’t the first new patron since Gloria sat down; Addy’s place was definitely a busy hive of people coming and going. There was something about the searching look on her lined face, plus the massive purse she wore over her shoulder that caught Gloria’s attention, though.

  Her hair was blonde, a paler shade than Gloria’s, and everything about her—from the determination in her step as she headed for Gloria’s table coupled with the fitted jacket and pants suit she was wearing, complete with a walkie talkie-looking contraption attached to her hip—convinced Gloria that this was either the mayor of the small town, or her great aunt’s attorney.

  She stopped right in front of Gloria.

  “Gloria Watson?”

  “That’s me.”

  The woman sat her giant purse on the table, then stuck out her hand. “Sadie Oliver. I’m the one who wrote you the letter. Your aunt’s lawyer?”

  “Yes. I remember.” She accepted the woman’s hand, giving it a polite shake. “It’s so nice to finally meet you, Ms. Oliver.”

  “Oh, sweetie, you can call me Sadie.” Once she let go of Gloria, Sadie sat in the booth, scooting in so that they were facing each other. “I’m glad you found us. I hope it wasn’t too much trouble.”

  Gloria had a bad habit. Sometimes, when she was a little nervous, or didn’t know how to act around someone she just met, she tended to speak without thinking. She would just blurt things out, then realize a second later that maybe she should’ve kept that thought to herself.

  That’s what happened right after she said, “Well, I was surprised when a creature jumped in front of my car, and I nearly crashed, but everything was okay after I missed hitting him. Plus, when he took off his mask and proved he was a person, he was kind enough to give me directions here. This is such a quaint cafe,” Gloria added quickly when Sadie’s expression seemed to change. “The pumpkin scones are to die for. I’m glad we met here.”

  Despite Gloria complimenting her choice of a meeting spot, Sadie’s face went a little prim. Her lips thinned, her green eyes darkened. “Ah. So you’re the one my hooligan boy nearly ran off the road. I got a buzz from Phil Granger about that.”

  Gloria took a second to have another sip of her coffee, then said meekly, “You’re Ethan’s mom?”

  The resemblance was kind of there. Same green eyes, same friendly face. Ethan was a redhead, and Sadie was a blonde, but the faces were similar.

  Whoops.

  Now she felt bad. He’d been apologetic, and she didn’t want to get him in trouble.

  “It was an honest mistake,” Gloria said, trying to smooth her slip-up over.

  The lawyer wasn’t buying it.

  “I am. Natalie’s my niece, too, and I know what the two of them get up to so, believe me, dear, it wasn’t any kind of honest nothing. I’ll be talking to that son of mine when I get home. He knows better than to dart out in the road like that so close gulleyside, even if he was trying to tease his cousin.”

  Family troubles. An only child of only children, Gloria didn’t really know about all that and, wisely, decided to stay out of it.

  Instead, she said, “I’m sorry. Gulleyside?”

  “The side of town near the exit. By the gulley out front.” At Gloria’s blank look, Sadie tried to explain further. “I’m sure you saw it. The big hole that split the road in two?”

  “Oh. That thing.”

  “That’s right. We call it the gulley, so the houses that way are gulleyside. Cabins like your aunt’s are mountainside—well, I say your aunt’s, but I guess it’s yours now.”

  “It said something like that in the letter,” Gloria mentioned carefully.

  “That’s right. Only, now that we’ve had the chance to finally get together, I must confess that there was only so much I could put in the letter. So the cabin and the property are yours, no strings attached. Your aunt—”

  “Great aunt, right?” Gloria said. “I didn’t mean to interrupt. I just…”

  She didn’t know how to finish the statement. Admitting that she didn’t know anything about her Great Aunt Patti until she received the lawyer’s letter didn’t seem right for some reason.

  Sadie understood. “Yes. She was your great aunt, and a fine woman. A little set in her ways as I’m sure you’ll see in a moment. Your aunt… she left quite a sum of money behind for you, Gloria.”

  Before Gloria could ask what that meant, Sadie tugged her bag closer. She reached in, pulling out a manila folder. A stack of paper was tucked inside. Sadie flipped open the folder, took out the top sheet, then turned it so that the printed page was facing Gloria.

  The lawyer pointed at a figure near the middle.

  Gloria’s jaw nearly dropped to the tabletop.

  “Whoa. That’s a… that’s a lot.”

  “Yes, but, well, there’s a bit of a stipulation to it. The money is yours. However, your aunt put it in her will that you can only receive the full amount after you’ve spent a year living here in Hamlet. In the house she left you.”

  Gloria blinked, then leaned back in her seat.

  Maybe all those zeros were doing something funny to her because she could’ve sworn that the lawyer had just made receiving her inheritance seem like a set-up to an old Scooby Doo episode or something.

  Well, she mused, she did already run into the kid with the mask. Why not spend the night in a creepy old house?

  Only, if she said what Goria thought she said, then—

  “Excuse me? Did you… did you say a year?”

  “I did, yes. I know, I know… it’s an unusual request, but your aunt was very particular. Of course, she understood that you’d probably have to give up your job to comply with her instructions and she’s authorized a monthly stipend to make sure that you don’t go without.” Another sheet. Another number that was way higher than anything Gloria was used to. “If you say yes, this amount is also yours.”

  “For staying in a cabin for a year,” echoed Gloria. It just… it didn’t seem possible. “I… are you sure this isn’t some kind of Halloween prank?”

  “I’m positive, dear.” Sadie reached out, tapping the top of Gloria’s hand with her palm. A kind smile creased her face before she drew back. Shuffling her papers, putting them in order again, she slid them inside of the folder, then tucked the folder in her bag. “Take your time, finish your coffee. When you’re done, I’ll take you up to see your new cabin.”

  Gloria began to second-guess her decision about five minutes after she started to follow Sadie away from the coffeehouse.

 
Apart from the lawyer driving ahead of her, she was the only car on the road. And maybe she was still shaken up from earlier—suffering from a case of the Halloween heebie jeebies—because the further they drove into Hamlet, the creepier it got.

  The streets were narrow and empty. Trees bordered both sides, growing thicker and taller as they headed toward the mountains that began to rise up in front of her. Shadows fell across the asphalt, the branches whipping in a chilly wind. It was early afternoon, but the temperature had only continued to drop.

  She was just wondering if this was the type of small town where outsiders go to disappear when, all of a sudden, Sadie took a sharp turn off the road.

  Gloria was about three seconds away from throwing her car into reverse and returning to the city when she realized that Sadie was starting up a winding, dirt path that led up high into the mountains.

  She kind of still wanted to run and hide. But then Sadie honked her horn, Gloria thought of the promise of her great aunt’s estate, and she eased her car onto the rocky, mountain path.

  Her car shook a little as she pushed it, or maybe it was her nerves. The incline was steep enough to make Gloria think of a rollercoaster and she kept waiting for the sudden drop. She gripped her steering wheel and stayed right on Sadie’s bumper until the lawyer had led her in front of a pair of cabins.

  Once she had parked her car, Gloria scrambled out of her seat, careful not to look behind her in case she accidentally saw how high up on the mountain she currently was.

  “That path was… are you sure that was safe?”

  Sadie slung her giant purse over her shoulder, her green eyes twinkling at the squeak that slipped into Gloria’s voice. “Oh, heavens, yes.”

  “Really? People are supposed to actually drive on it?”

  “Promise. Villagers have been taking that path since long before there were even cars in Hamlet. There’s never been any trouble. You’ll get used to it.”

  Gloria wasn’t so sure about that. Not that she wouldn’t get used to it, but that she’d have a reason to take that path except for when she left.

  Sure, the lawyer mentioned the stipulation that she’d have to live in the cabin for a year before she could touch the rest of her inheritance, but that would be crazy. Giving up her apartment, her life in the city, her boring desk job to move into a mountain cabin in a town with fewer people than her graduating class?

  That would be crazy.

  Right?

  Sadie slammed the door on her vehicle closed, then turned toward the cabin on the right. The other one was set a little further back, maybe about fifty feet away.

  The good news was that her great aunt’s cabin wasn’t the only one up there. The bad news, though? There was only one neighboring home nearby. And Great Aunt Patti’s looked a little beat-up and rundown compared to the robust cabin to the left of it.

  It didn’t look all that bad. A city girl, Gloria didn’t have much experience with mountains or trees or wooden cabins. Sure, the porch was a little lopsided, the flowers and the grass overgrown, plus the paint on the shutters was peeling a bit, but it looked cozy.

  Sweet.

  Nice.

  “This is mine?”

  “The cabin and the property it sits on, you betcha. Now, I know it needs a little work, but if you’re willing to sell, I already have a growing list of locals who’d be interested in buying. It would be worth more with a little TLC, of course, but the offers are pretty good so far.”

  And then, to Gloria’s shock, Sadie named a range of figures.

  “That much?”

  Sadie obviously thought that Gloria expected more. “Like I said, it does need a little work—”

  Gloria shook her head. “Not that. It’s just… someone wants to pay that much money for my great aunt’s old cabin? It seems kinda high.”

  Sadie laughed. “Oh, dear. I keep forgetting you weren’t born and raised here. This cabin is on the mountainside, you see, but it’s better than that: it’s one of a few cabins that are actually up on the mountain. In town, the remote houses are sought after.”

  Gloria had to admit that she kind of understood. While she was friendly and cheerful when she was around others, at her heart she was an introvert. It’s why she decided against finding a roommate when she got her apartment. She was perfectly happy by herself.

  And if she needed a little company, she’d already scoped out one of the town’s meeting spots. She could get a good cup of coffee and a hot meal down at the coffeehouse if she started to feel lonely, then come back to the cabin to work on her ice cream flavors.

  With as much money as the house was worth, she could finally start turning her dream of opening her ice cream parlor into a reality. But if she put a little work into the place, gave up a year of her life that she could totally use to get the ball running on her shop, Gloria could earn even more—plus the money in the bank.

  The more she thought about it, the more it seemed crazy not to accept her great aunt’s bequest.

  Her one-room apartment was all she could afford now. Life insurance had been just enough to pay off the last of Nana’s medical bills and give her beloved grandmother a fitting funeral last October. The stipend alone was nearly as much as she made at her day job.

  But could she do it?

  She didn’t know.

  Sadie picked up on her shock. With a soft chuckle, she reached inside of her massive purse and pulled out a set of keys. “You want to go inside? Check it out?”

  Gloria didn’t know what to say, either. So she just nodded.

  “Come on.”

  3

  It was a two-floor cabin and, honestly, much nicer than she expected it to be.

  There was electricity inside. She felt silly once Sadie turned on the lights, as if she’d expected to find candles around the place instead. Running water? Check. Decor that suited a seventy-year-old woman, sure, but there was a touch of homeyness to it—mainly because of the colored throws, hand-stitched pillows, and elaborate blankets that covered nearly every couch and wall of the place.

  Gloria pointed at the nearest one once Sadie finished showing her around the first floor. “What’s up with all the blankets?”

  “Afghans,” corrected Sadie. “They’re your aunt’s. She was a world-class crafter, could make afghans, pillows, tea cozies… you name it. It’s how she made her fortune.” She waited a beat, as if in surprise, then asked, “Didn’t you know?”

  Gloria… didn’t.

  Nana very rarely spoke of her family. At first, she might have stayed quiet for Gloria’s sake. Losing her parents so young had been hard, and Nana was devoted to making sure Gloria felt loved and protected. Nana’s husband was long gone, and both Gloria’s mom and dad were only children. As far as she knew, Nana and Gloria were all each other had.

  As she grew older, Gloria had asked her grandmother about their extended family and the answer was always the same: they were all that was left. Gloria accepted it as fact. When Nana passed, the celebration of her life featured Nana’s long-time friends and neighbors. No one else showed up.

  Gloria had to ask. “Patti… my great aunt? How exactly is she related to me?”

  She didn’t realize how much she’d been holding out hope that this woman was some distant relative, like the mother’s mother of a second cousin twice removed, until the lawyer burst her bubble with a quick answer.

  “I thought I explained in the letter I wrote. Patti… Patricia Hammond, she was your father’s aunt. She grew up in Hamlet with her younger sister Penelope—”

  “My Nana,” breathed out Gloria.

  “That’s right. The Hammonds were one of the first families who settled in the village back in the ’40’s. Penelope left Hamlet, obviously, but Patti lived here her whole life.” Sadie waved her hand around the cabin. “Literally here. This cabin was one of the first built. It might not be much, but it’s history. There’s a lot of people in Hamlet who would pay nicely for this property.”

  “If that’s so, then there’s something I don’t get.”

  “What’s that?”

  “I’ve never even met my great aunt before,” admitted Gloria. “Why didn’t she just leave the cabin to someone in town who’d want it? I mean, she went to a lot of trouble with the will, right? Setting up a… like, an allowance, and making it so that I have to actually live here for the whole next year. Why? It doesn’t make sense.”