Read Online Hope Callaghan - Garden Girls 03 - Smoky Mountain Mystery by Hope Callaghan - Free Book Online

She let go of the door handle and sighed in exaggeration.  “Alrighty then.”
    Gloria slunk down in the seat and peered out the rearview mirror, studying the cars that were coming and going out of the busy parking lot. Twenty minutes later, the girls watched as a tall, smartly dressed woman with long blonde hair exited the coffee shop and made her way to her car.  It was Liz!
    Gloria flipped the ignition, all the while keeping a sharp eye on her sister as she watched her climb into her car and back out of the parking spot.  Liz’s car passed directly behind theirs as she made her way out to the street.  Gloria let a car squeeze in between them before following her out onto the main road. 
    The car sandwiched between them was puttering along and Gloria grew nervous as the gap separating them widened.  On top of that, Liz was speeding.  The traffic light just ahead turned yellow.  Liz didn’t bother stopping.  Instead, she blew through the light.  Gloria couldn’t afford to lose her sister.  She stomped on the gas and squeezed her eyes shut, praying they wouldn’t get hit.
    Margaret gasped as she grabbed her seatbelt.  “You just ran that red light!”
    “I can’t afford to lose Liz,” Gloria insisted.  “We need to find out where she’s going.”  For a second, Gloria did lose sight of her sister’s car.  Her eyes desperately darted back and forth as she searched frantically for the familiar black sedan.
    “She pulled in there.”  Margaret pointed to a small hotel just ahead on the right.   
    Gloria passed by the hotel before making a U-turn and starting to backtrack. By the time they pulled into the parking lot, Liz’s car was parked in one of the spots near the front. Liz was nowhere in sight.  “She must be staying here.”
    Margaret grabbed the door handle.  “Can we get out now?”
    “No.” Gloria shook her head.  “We wait.”
    Half an hour later, Gloria grabbed the handle.  “Ok, let’s go.”
    She pointed at Mally.  “Sorry, girl.  You gotta stay here one more time,” she said.  “We’ll be right back,” she promised.
    The girls stepped inside the small lobby and made their way over to the front counter and the clerk standing behind it.  “My sister is staying here in this hotel.  Her name is Liz Applegate,” Gloria explained.
    The man reached for the phone.  “Would you like me to ask her to come down?”
    Gloria quickly reached out to stop him.  “No.  That won’t be necessary.”  She pulled one of the brochures she picked up from the library from her purse.  She set it on the counter and slid it towards the man.  “If you don’t mind, would you give this to her when she comes back down?”
    “Yes, of course.” The man picked up the pamphlet and glanced at the front. “What was your name?”
    She wished more than anything she could see the look on Liz’s face when the clerk handed her the brochure!  Gloria grinned from ear-to-ear. “Gloria.  Tell her Gloria left it for her.”
    The women made their way back to the car.  Margaret slid in the passenger seat and turned to face her friend.  “Let me guess.  We’re going to the moonshine place in Cross Creek.”
    Gloria switched on the ignition.  “Hey, you’re getting pretty good at this!” 
    They pulled out of the small lot and headed east.  “I give Liz about two hours before she comes looking for us,” Margaret predicted.
    The drive to the distillery took longer than expected with its long, curvy two-lane road.  Gloria shook her head.  No way would she ever be able to get used to all the twisty-turny roads. 
    They finally arrived in the quaint town of Cross Creek.  Smalls shops lined both sides of the main street.  There was only one traffic light in the entire town and it was blinking yellow.  The distillery was situated out on the far edge.  Gloria turned into the gravel parking lot and pulled up just out front. 
    The place was a whole lot smaller than the one they