Lost and Found: (A Ripple Effect Romance Novella) Read Online Free Page A

open. Blake held it for Lydia. After the bright, afternoon sun, it took a moment for their eyes to adjust to the darkness of the house. The air was hot and stuffy. A muted television sat in the living room, an old episode of Jeopardy on the screen. “Go on now. Sit down,” Beulah said from the kitchen. “I’ve got the address in here somewhere. No need to stand there while I hunt it down.”
    Blake and Lydia sat on the edge of a maroon floral sofa with doilies covering the arms. The room smelled faintly of burnt toast and Icy Hot. A cat appeared from under the couch and rubbed against Blake’s legs, circling his ankles over and over. He moved his legs, and the cat matched his moves, arching its back as it marked Blake as its territory.
    “I think it likes you,” Lydia whispered and giggled.
    In the kitchen, Beulah rummaged through drawers and cupboards, muttering to herself. Jeopardy went to a commercial and came back to the Double Jeopardy round, but still Beulah didn’t return. Blake scooted the cat away with his hand, but a minute later it was back. Alex Trebek was reading the last column of answers when Beulah finally shuffled into the room waving a piece of paper.
    “I knew I had it in there.” She glanced at the television. “Blue blazes, what’s that hippy doin’ fixin’ to win? He doesn’t look smart enough to beat those others. That man in the middle is a college professor and that woman’s a lawyer. They shouldn’t be lettin’ some upstart beat them.” She turned back toward her guests on the sofa. “They oughta have a dress code or something on these shows, make people clean up and cut their hair or they can’t come on and play.”
    Blake nodded, glad that his hair had been recently trimmed, and Lydia bit the sides of her mouth to keep from laughing. Beulah stood in front of her chair until the show went to a commercial then she carefully lowered herself into her rocking recliner. “You can bring Sajak to me if you don’t want him loving your leg,” she said.
    Blake picked up the cat and handed him to Beulah. Sajak turned a circle on her lap before he snuggled in. “I knew I had this in there, I just couldn’t find it. I thought I put it in my little address book, but it wasn’t there, so I looked through the junk drawer and the bills on my table. Wouldn’t you know, I was right in the first place? It was in my little address book, but I stuck the darn thing under G for Gladys instead of B for Baker. I s’pose I shoulda put it both places so an old bat like me could track it down. I’m not even sure why I asked Francie for it. Francie is Gladys’s granddaughter. It’s not like I can drive out to see her. They took my license away two years ago ‘cause I parked on the sidewalk. I swear they made the sidewalks down on Clemway so wide, I thought it was the road. A sidewalk should look like a sidewalk, not like a four-lane. Okay, be still. It’s Final Jeopardy.” She unmuted the television and Alex gave the final answer. “Come on now, Professor,” Beulah said as the music played and the contestants wrote their answers. “You can beat him.”
    “Ah burnt grits and gravy,” Beulah said and punched the mute button on her remote as Alex shook hands with the long-haired winner. “What did y’all need?” she asked looking at Blake and Lydia again.
    “We’re trying to find Gladys Baker,” Blake said.
    “Oh, right. Here it is. Gladys fell and bumped her head last winter. After that, she got all confused and forgot to get dressed in the morning, so Francie had her moved to a home where they’d remind her to eat and put her clothes on. It wasn’t a nursing home. Francie wouldn’ta put her in a nursing home. It was one of those nice places where they have social activities and fix ya dinner and you have your own little apartment. Gladys even got to take some of her own furniture. She said it was a real nice place, just like the name.” She held up the paper. “Shady Days Manor.