Stolen Gift Exchange (The Christmas In Ohio Anthology Collection) / The Christmas In Ohio Anthology Collection (ePub)

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.