thought she heard a click on the line but raised her voice so her uncle could hear her. “Uncle Ralph, this is Beth. I can hear you.”
“Beth, Beth—they’ve agreed to exhume the body, and soon we will finally know the truth!”
Beth thought she heard another click on the line. “Just a minute, Uncle Ralph.” She put the phone down and headed towards the other phone. “Walt? Is that you, Walt?”
Walt met her in the foyer. “Well, who in blazes do you think it would be?” He went to the closet and pulled out his lined trench coat.
Beth took a step back. “I—I didn’t know you were still here.” She put her hands on her hips. “Were you listening in on my phone conversation?”
Walt ignored her and put his coat on.
She tilted her head. “Walt, were you listening to my phone conversation? How many times do I have to ask you?”
He pulled on his favorite hat. “Of course I wasn’t listening to your phone conversation. Why would I care what you have to say to your old Uncle Ralph?”
Beth folded her arms and stood taller. “I knew it! Who said I was talking to Uncle Ralph?”
Walt turned and headed to the door.
She shouted after him, “Have you had breakfast?”
“I’ll grab something at Starbucks.” He slammed the door behind him.
She made her way back to the kitchen table and picked up the phone. “Uncle Ralph, tell me what you’re so excited about.”
“Well you know that doggone soap opera, On the Horizon? They finally made a move. I’ll bet it’s been two years we’ve been waiting to find out who killed Victor Oldham. You’ve been watching, haven’t you?”
Beth wasn’t about to admit that she only watched that program occasionally in order to keep up an intelligent conversation with her deceased father’s brother, Uncle Ralph.
“Uncle Ralph, you know how long it takes for anything to happen on those soap operas. I’m just really glad that you keep me up to date. Now, the last time I saw it, the judge was going to make a final decision.”
Uncle Ralph started coughing, recovered, and chuckled. “Well, it took the judge two weeks to figure out they needed to exhume that body. Old Victor’s been in the ground two years. I wonder what they’ll find out. I get so exasperated with these guys. It takes them so long to get to the point. Everyone else here in the home is just is as disgusted as I am. But all us old fogies are celebrating today.”
Beth sipped her coffee. “They should celebrate. It’s been a long wait.”
“Sometimes the days are long in this place, and those soap operas seem to help. I know you must think I’m just an old man who doesn’t have anything to do but watch soap operas. I want you to know that if I could get out of this bed by myself, I’d come over there and watch with you.”
“Oh, I would love that! I need to get over there to see you.”
“I’m not trying to put you on a guilt trip. I miss your dad. We spent a lot of time together.”
Beth gulped. “I miss him, too. Funny you should mention him. It’s been ten years today.”
Uncle Ralph sniffed. “No, I didn’t realize what day it is. Well, he’s in a better place. How is your scoundrel of a husband doing these days? With the oil boom, he must be making the dough hand over fist. Even so, your dad sold ten times what Walt does. Of course, your father worked ten times harder than Walt does.” He laughed.
Beth placed her cup in the saucer. “I refuse to listen to you talk that way about my husband.”
“Hey, Beth, I call ’em like I see ’em. Always have; always will. I told your father the day I met Walt that he was a lazy gold digger.” He sighed deeply. “I told your father what I thought, and he told me that you were in love and for me to keep my mouth shut.”
Beth blinked away a tear and leaned back in her chair. “Father was a wise man. That was good advice. You should take it.”
“You know I love you like a daughter. If I ever had one, I would have wanted her to be just like you. I don’t know how you put up with all his garbage.”
“I love you, too, Uncle Ralph. You’ve been wonderful to me and helped a lot since Dad passed.”
“You know I always had a crush on your mother. I miss her, too.”
Beth couldn’t stifle her giggle. “Okay, let’s not go there. I’m glad you called this morning. You have a good day.”
“Now you need to keep watching On the Horizon and see what they find out. Promise me.”
“I promise.”
The same day
Zedlav, Alaska
Mary Lou stared at her cell phone. Still no call from Bobby. Am I supposed to call him? What did he do for Christmas, and why didn’t he call? Is he mad that I broke our date? What time is it? She pressed her cell phone. Big numbers shouted 2:57 a.m. That makes it five in Denver. Bobby is probably sleeping.
Ugh! I’ve been here three days, and it’s dark all the time. I can’t spend another day in this room. I have to get out of here. She threw the covers off and sat up, then she snuggled back under the warm blankets. It’s too cold. I’m hungry. I’ll just lay here until the restaurant opens at six. I’m so tired of being in this bed. I should have stayed up later, but there is nothing to do.
She felt around the coffee table for the TV remote. Success! She pointed at the screen on the dresser across from her. Seconds later, the room lit up with an infomercial for NutriBullet, the new healthy way to eat. She watched as the pencil-thin, beautifully dressed young blonde stuffed bananas, cherries, and raw spinach into the mixing cup for a breakfast smoothie.
“I want eggs and bacon.” The sound of her own voice startled her. Then she grinned at herself.
Alaskans do not eat smoothies. They can’t. That would just not be human. They want warm food in the morning. Anyway, that’s my take on this. Now, what did I do with that heating pad?
She switched the heating pad on high and curled around it.
The local news came on, and she realized that she had dozed off for a few hours. The young male news anchor announced that “With good luck, road crews may begin the huge job of removing the avalanche from Jackson Highway. This job is estimated to take at least a week. The avalanche is the largest ever to block the highway.”
A week? Mary Lou covered her face with the pillow and screamed into it. “Nooo!”
She jumped out of the bed and ran into the bathroom to turn the water on in the shower. It took a few minutes before steam filled the room. After taking a hot shower and quickly getting dressed, she made her way down to a darkened restaurant.
The young hostess arrived in the hotel lobby. She shook snow off her down coat as she approached the entrance to the restaurant. “We’ll be open in a few minutes. You can sit inside, if you like. I can get some coffee on right away.”
“Coffee? Oh, that would be wonderful. Thank you.” Mary Lou took a seat in the booth nearest the door. She held her head in her hands, supported by her elbows on the table. No one else was in sight. She rubbed her temples.
A young man walked in—the cook, she assumed. Several other people arrived and seemed to know where their assigned posts were for the job. The manager came with a large mug of coffee.
Mary Lou took the cup before the woman could set it on the table. “Oh, thank you. I need this.”
“Have you had a chance to look at the menu?”