Free My Lost and Found Life by Melodie Bowsher Page A

stroking Stella’s soft orange fur and talking to her about the situation. Unfortunately, “meow” was the only comment Stella made, and I didn’t find it all that helpful. I was worried and needed to talk to someone, fast—someone who could help me figure this out.
    As much as I didn’t want to call her, Gloria seemed like the logical choice. She was smart, she was my mother’s best friend, and she understood all the financial mysteries I didn’t. My pride pinched me, but I didn’t have any choice. I steeled myself and dialed her number.
    Her voice was cool but she didn’t hang up on me.
    “Oh, Ashley. Any news? I left a message on your machine last week.”
    I knew she had. I had erased it without calling her back.
    “The thing is,” Gloria continued, “both Daniel and Matthew have been down with chicken pox, and it’s just been one thing after another.”
    I politely murmured, “Oh, poor kids.”
    I doubt I fooled her with my feeble show of concern.
    “They’re feeling better,” Gloria replied just as politely. “What are the police saying these days? Do they know anything more?”
    “They’re not exactly confiding in me, but I don’t think they have any idea where my mother is. They haven’t been back since they carried off some stuff.”
    “What did they take?” she asked.
    “Papers, boxes of them. They seemed disappointed not to find a horde of cash stashed under the rug.”
    “Hmmm,” she said, and then she abruptly switched gears. “Now, what can I do to help you?”
    I was pathetically grateful for her sympathetic tone. Maybe this wouldn’t be too bad.
    “Well, I hate to ask but I do have a big problem. Someonecame here this morning and gave me some sort of legal paper. Served me, he said. I don’t know what it’s all about or what I’m supposed to do,” I said, my voice trailing off.
    “Served you?” she said sharply. “That doesn’t sound good. I guess I better come over and have a look.”
    “I would be so grateful if you could do that,” I said in my most earnest, good-girl voice.
    “I’ll be over tonight around eight-thirty, after I’ve put the kids to bed,” she answered.
    It was almost nine-thirty before Gloria showed up, but I was in no position to complain. Nor did I make any comment about the purple pantsuit she was wearing. Gloria had a passion for the color purple that was way over the top. I myself wore mostly neutrals—black, white, or beige plus my favorite, red, to shake things up.
    “Thanks for coming,” I said with my new mature attitude. “Would you like coffee?”
    “No, thanks,” she answered. “The house looks good. You surprise me, Ashley.”
    She walked over to the dining room table and pointed to the now gargantuan pile of mail. “What’s all this?”
    “The mail. I’m saving it for my mother,” I said.
    She picked up an ominous-looking envelope with a bold FINAL NOTICE printed on it. “Good God, Ashley, how can you just ignore these? Look at all of them. Visa, the gas company, the phone company—you should be paying these.”
    “With what?” I screeched, and then added more calmly, “Where would I get the money to pay them?”
    “What about the money in your mother’s checking account?”
    “There isn’t any left,” I said. “I tried to use my ATM card last week, but it said ‘insufficient funds.’”
    “Well, ignoring these isn’t going to make them go away. I’m surprised they haven’t cut off your power yet or sent bill collectors to knock on your door.”
    “They stopped my cell phone service,” I admitted.
    “I guess somebody better take a look at these before you end up sitting here in the dark,” she said. “Get me a bag.”
    She stuffed all the bills into a plastic grocery bag and then sat down. “All right, now let’s see those papers that were served on you.”
    I handed her the envelope. Gloria put on her reading glasses and unfolded the papers. I watched anxiously as she read.
    Finally, she looked