Ashley Enright and the Message in the Tree (12 of 12)

The next afternoon, when Susan Whitman arrived at the Enright’s front door she had a huge smile on her face.
Ashley opened the door and invited Susan in. “Hi,” she said. “I’m Ashley and this is Josh.” She pointed to Josh who was standing beside her.
“Nice to meet you,” said Susan as she shook hands with both of them. “You’ll never guess what happened this morning! We got a phone call from R.L.!”
“Really”” Ashley asked. “Who is she?”
“Well,” said Susan. “Her name is Rita Wolfe now, because she’s married. But, she used to be Rita Lambert and she was in love with Peter Wellington before World War II.”
“Where is she now?” asked Josh.
“She’s in an assisted living facility,” said Susan. “Her husband died five years ago and her family thought it’d be best for her to move to the Sunnybrook Estates in Oakdale.”
“You mean, she lives just twelve miles away?” asked Ashley.
“That’s right,” said Susan.
“Why hasn’t she ever contacted P.W.?” asked Josh.
“I asked her that,” Susan answered. “She said that she thought he was killed in the war and her family moved away from Donnybrook. But, she said that she’s never forgotten him in all these years because he was her first true love.”
“Wow,” said Ashley.
“Wow is right,” said Susan.
“That’s so mushy,” Josh groaned.
“I knew you’d say that,” said Ashley. “Sorry, Susan, he’s such a boy!”
Susan laughed and said, “That’s o.k., it is kind of mushy and sweet! I promised to reunite them on Saturday. Would you and Josh like to come?”
“Absolutely!” Ashley said excitedly. “We wouldn’t miss that for anything!”
“We’d better get to the Donnybrook Nursing Home and tell Peter Wellington the awesome news that his first love is near by,” said Susan.
At that moment, Mrs. Enright came down the stairs. Ashley introduced her to Susan and filled her in on the exciting news about Peter and Rita.
Mrs. Enright looked at Ashley and Josh and said, “It looks like Ashley Enright Investigations has solved another case!”
“I guess so,” said Ashley. “And to think that all we were really doing was enjoying a nice spring day!”