Hope

It didn't take long for Doctor Tim to build a clientele, join the Lions Club, and find some other men in their late sixties to perfect their golf game together. Minnie's verbal resume was a short one-liner -- a stay-at-home wife -- and when welcomed by the friendly folk in Wheatland to play bridge, golf, or shop at Tupperware parties, she was too busy, too sick, too involved, but with what nobody really knew. She did have some issues with her health, so she was content to perch at her aerie. Rumor had it that she was a bird-watcher, but soon the town folk decided she was watching them.

“Would you look at that!” she exclaimed, as she settled into her window seat and peered through her spy glasses. Tim shifted in his chair, but didn't wake up. He had perfected his selective hearing whether awake or asleep. “It's gone,” Minnie continued on. “The car is gone!”

While the meatloaf was cooking just an hour ago, she had trained her glasses on the bed and breakfast just down the hill, where a silver Honda with Western Washington license plates was parked out in front. She hadn't seen the man with the camera case park the car or go in and out, but she had observed Amanda Shaw enter the front door with a small overnight bag. Odd, because she was family and Minnie knew that Aunt Amanda always went to the back door. She'd picked up that little tidbit by listening and careful observation, and so the front door entrance by a family member had piqued Minnie's interest all throughout the whole meatloaf dinner and the cleaning up process.

Now, not only was the car gone, but the lights were off, not only inside the bed and breakfast, but outside, as well. Only the solar- powered decorative lights lit the front sidewalk. Katie always turned the warm, inviting, front desk lamp on in the late afternoon, even though the depths of a springtime darkness wouldn't arrive for several hours. Strange way to run a business, Minnie thought, as she watched for some movement, but mostly she was disappointed that there was nothing to observe. If only we'd had a frozen pot pie tonight instead of all those dishes, I could have gotten in here to see what was going on, she lamented to herself. Well, I can always get the car out and drive around town and try to find the Honda. She loved to look in lighted windows at night and see what people were doing! Like a moth that came out at night to flit around a light, Minnie came to life after dark. She thought she was virtually invisible as she slowly maneuvered her small black Jetta through the streets of Wheatland several times a week. She had no routine and no fixed route or schedule – just an uncontrollable urge to snoop. She really believed that nobody noticed her, even though her top speed was 10 mph, and often she'd stop right out in front of a house to crane her neck to see what was going on inside.