Stolen Gift Exchange: The Christmas In Ohio Anthology Collection

By Bettie Boswell

 When a portrait, intended as a Christmas gift, is stolen, Honey and her friends Loretta and Annabelle must solve the mystery before the season comes to an end. Loretta's stolen painting of Edmund's long-lost wife will lead the trio on a merry chase when someone takes it from a locker, along with some money, while they are in a senior aerobics swim class. Edmund, the town's most successful business man and backer of many charity projects, planned to celebrate Christmas by giving himself the gift of a happy memory of his one true love. Their week long marriage ended when Lorna's parents took her from him years ago. Her angry parents annulled the marriage of their too young daughter and sent her away where he could never find his Lorna again. Over the years he's done searches and hired detectives to no avail. He is upset to find out about the missing portrait and also that Loretta accidentally destroyed the original photograph he loaned to her. A toppled jar of turpentine turned the photo into a blur of gray. Loretta, with help from Honey, pleads for time to redo the painting before New Year's Eve using her memory. She has her own doubts about being able to reproduce the painting but Honey encourages her to try. Edmund agrees on the condition they report the robbery to the police. When they head to the station, they are informed that the officers can't promise to help until after the holidays. In the meantime the ladies decide to make a list of suspects and mount their own investigation into finding the culprit. It seems that every suspect has an alibi or an excuse for taking some of the evidence. They finally turn to the public with a performance on Annabelle's podcast.  Little does Honey know that their search may lead to an unexpected romance when Preacher Jonah is asked to help with some of their investigations. Her friends and the whole church seem to have seen an attraction that neither Jonah nor Honey noticed before this Christmas season and their search for truth about the painting. Honey soon finds her friends deserting her when there is a meeting with Jonah. Will their meetings turn into dates? Will the mystery be solved or will Loretta complete the redone artwork before the new year? A surprising answer about who took the portrait will bring true joy to the circle of friends during this season of hope and giving. By the end there may be more than one happy couple.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Mt. Zion Ridge Press
• Release date: Dec 1, 2023
• ISBN: 9781955838931

Bettie Boswell

Bettie Boswell enjoys watching skateboarders at the park when picking up her granddaughter from school. Long ago, she tried to ride a metal wheel skateboard.

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ISBN 13:  978-1-955838-93-1

Published in the United States of America

Publication Date: December 1, 2023

Copyright:  © Bettie Boswell, 2023

Editor-In-Chief: Michelle Levigne

Executive Editor: Tamera Lynn Kraft

Cover art design by Tamera Lynn Kraft

Cover Art Copyright by Mt Zion Ridge Press LLC © 2023

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Chapter One

Honey and the senior aqua aerobics class watched their substitute instructor climb out of the pool and head toward the locker room. A young boy and girl followed her from the room, chattering about their coming Christmas trip to the Florida amusement parks. Lorie and Lincoln's laughter echoed off the tiled walls as they talked about seeing their Grandma Lorna on their journeys.

Bon Voyage, Miss Melody. Honey's commanding voice rippled over the water and bounced off the tiled walls of the indoor pool.

Melody turned with a weak smile. Thank you, Honey. The twins have been looking forward to this trip for over a year. Their parents planned to take them last year, but...

Then you should all enjoy your brother's final gift. Honey blew a kiss to the little patchwork family. They'd been stitched together for over a year since Melody's brother and sister-in-law passed in a tragic automobile accident.

At one time, Melody led a children's choir at the church where Honey played bass in the praise band. These days, the former music teacher spent her time being a mom to the twins, teaching private piano lessons, and taking on odd jobs to survive. The college student who normally taught their aqua aerobics had left early for Christmas break due to the latest virus, opening the door for Melody to teach them some water dance moves during the last two weeks.

Honey looked over her shoulder as her other senior swim class friends moved closer and shared their well-wishes for the little family's travels to a warmer place than Ohio.

Loretta swayed, stepping sideways across the pool. Be sure and say hi to the mouse for me. The semi-retired art professor's swim dress swished after her, creating a swath of Hawaiian colors in her wake. She had found the suit on last summer's trip to the islands and admitted to buying several suits of the same design. Chlorine did a number on the best of swimwear. A smart woman knew enough to purchase backups when she found a good outfit.

Make sure you wear plenty of sunscreen to protect your skin. Annabelle's face expressed her caring nature as she marched next to the other ladies across the pool. The woman always had a campaign going to make life better for all. Her push for the vote to save teacher positions had been a failure, but at least the positive woman tried to support the issue through her broadcasts. She mostly stayed home, doing her weekly podcasts and taking care of her housebound husband. Annabelle had joined the swim class after discovering a dementia day care at the local senior center. For the last month, the three ladies enjoyed chatting together as they stretched and jogged away their aches and pains in the water.

Melody and the twins thanked everyone and made their way from the room. Several swimmers headed to the deep end of the pool to enjoy some free-swim time. Honey and her friends continued to move about in the shallow end.

I hope they make their flight on time. We would have sent them off sooner if we'd known they needed to leave. Loretta twisted and twirled as she traversed through the water.

Tillie huffed as she floated toward the exit stairs provided for the less agile to remove themselves from the pool. She shouldn't have taken the job if she planned on shorting us fifteen minutes of exercise.

The trio of friends gawked as the woman climbed up the ladder and marched away. Tillie's dark one-piece suit dripped, leaving a trail of beaded moisture behind her, as she flip-flopped her way from the room.

"That Melody is a responsible gal. I doubt she would have mentioned leaving early if the kids hadn't told us about