Greta
by
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"Larry, we’ve missed you. You must come over more often," Ann smiled at their guest. "Your meals are the best, Ann. If I ate here more often, I’d gain thirty pounds in a month. Anyhow, you know how busy we’ve been at the clinic. Your husband is the biggest glutton for work. He sets a bad example." "We’ve been busy," Greg admitted. "But when I think of Tim and all the other boys fighting our war, what we sacrifice here seems insignificant. I still can’t follow our strategy in the Pacific. I don’t see how we can finish that mess in less than another three or four years. By the way, what do you hear from Melissa?" "She’s fine. Wants to be on the West Coast when Tim lands. She’s absolutely sure Tim’s all right and will be home soon, even if she hasn’t heard from him for months." "She has faith, unlike my dear husband," Ann smiled. "If you’d grown up in Europe during the last war, you’d have your faith shaken, too, my dear. You Americans, despite this war, are still innocents abroad. May you always stay that way. How about that, Greta?" The girl was just entering the dining room, carrying a cake. "Oh, Dr. Smetana, I think Americans are wonderful, and I love them." Greta set the cake down in front of Ann, but her smile went to Larry. She wore a skirt, blouse, bobby sox and saddle shoes. The white blouse, though demurely square at the neck, was pushed forward alarmingly. "Larry, I think you’ve made a conquest," laughed Ann. "Greta, Dr. Walsh is a confirmed bachelor. We’ll have to see that you meet some boys your age." Greta managed to blush. "Oh, Mrs. Smetana, I am much too young to think about such things. And I am sure Dr. Walsh would never give a youngster like me another thought. Please, I must go back to the kitchen. "You’ve embarrassed the kid," said Greg. "She does look rather mature tonight, I must say." "Thank God my husband is blind to other females’ charms. Larry, did I embarrass you? I really don’t know what came over me. But the look Greta gave you was pure puppy love, so what I said just slipped out." "Don’t worry, Ann. Nothing you ever say could embarrass me. But I do agree. The girl seems ripe for some deserving young man." "Well, we can’t afford to lose her yet," said Greg. "She’s agreed to stay till the twins are off to college." "I told you, Larry. My husband is immune to both the charms and the needs of the fair sex." "If he can’t cut it and suture it, it doesn’t exist," joked Larry.
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About the Book
Greta, a poor teenager, comes to America to help with the four small children in the Smetana household. Dr. Smetana is a busy surgeon at the Medical Clinic in East Mifflin, a suburb of Pittsburgh. Paul works at the clinic. When his wife dies, he marries his housekeeper, Deirdre, to look after young Phil and Erica. Deirdre and her adult son Johnny make life a living hell for Paul and the two youngsters. Paul dies under suspicious circumstances. Phil falls in love with beautiful, sexy Greta, confides to her the abuse he and his little sister suffer at Johnny's hands. Johnny is found stabbed to death soon after. When the Smetana children are grown, Greta leaves for New York. She works for a much older, wealthy Swedish industrialist, a widower. She makes herself indispensable. They marry, and when he dies, she inherits half his fortune, much to the chagrin of his four children. Greta rules her dead husband's industrial empire, with Phil her right-hand assistant. Detective Morgan never solved the murder of Johnny. Many years later, Deirdre, Johnny's mother, is killed in England. Morgan contacts Scotland Yard. The tensions, plots and counter-plots between Greta and her dead husband's four children on the one hand, and between Greta and Phil, who is still unsuccessfully in love with Greta on the other hand, leave an intricate web of intrigue for Morgan to unravel. Will Morgan finally find the killer and be able to prove his suspicions?
About the Author
The author is a semi-retired engineer/CPA. He divides his time between Pittsburgh and Boca Raton. He gave up tennis after his hip replacement, now writes mysteries with a little sex thrown in. "I couldn’t write without my computer," he insists.