A Big Life in a Small Town (Bellingwood #2) (22 page)

Polly leaned on him and looking up, smiled and put her feet up on the table. Henry pulled the blanket from the back of the sofa over both Polly and her dog, leaned back and put his feet up beside hers. He held her tight and then listened to her breathe as she drifted off to sleep.

Obiwan woke Polly up when he jumped off the sofa and paced in the entryway.

"What is it?" she asked and checked the time on her phone. It was a little after two o'clock.

Henry pulled himself up and said, "Just a minute, I'll check." He put his hand on Obiwan's collar and pulled the door open and stepped out into the hallway. She heard voices, then he came back in and nudged the door back into place.

"Everyone has left. Aaron said he'll make sure all the doors downstairs are closed tightly and that he'll talk to you tomorrow."

"Did he say if they found anything to lead them to Elise?"

"No, he didn't say anything about that, but, he did say they found a broken lock on the kitchen door. He’s fixed it for now, but I get to replace another door." He walked over and put his hand out. "Now, come on. You should get into bed. How's your head?"

"Well, the knot feels like hell, but I think
I’ll live. I feel better." She put her hand in his and let him pull her upright. "Yep, definitely better. I'm not dizzy now."

Instead of walking toward the bedroom, she headed for the kitchen.

"What are you doing?"

"I want a drink of water." Polly giggled and kept walking. "Or are you going to stop me and make me let you pamper me."

Henry put his hands up in surrender. "I don't think I could make you do anything you didn't want to do."

She waggled her finger at him and kept walking. "Now you're learning. Do you want anything?"

"Are you going to bed?" he asked.

"In a little bit. I'm afraid I might have just had a really nice nap, though."

"Yeah. Me, too. Shall I put a movie in?"

"Sure! Do you want anything?" she asked.

"Water would be fine. How about one of those cupcakes I brought up?"

"Would you rather have milk with that?"

"That sounds great. Can I have both?"

Polly laughed, "Of course you can."

She reached to open the cupboard and moaned. "Umm, Henry?"

"Are you
okay?"

"I'm fine. But, everything in the upper part of my body hurts. I might need your help here."

He dropped what he was doing and ran into the kitchen. "What’s wrong?"

"Well, I might have pulled something in my shoulder," she said. "But, if I work it out, I'll be fine."

"Here, let me." He massaged her shoulder and she felt some of the muscles relax, so she rolled her neck.

"I'll get this. You go back to the couch and find a movie," he said.

She drooped her shoulders dramatically and slowly walked out of the kitchen. "I had to let you pamper me after all," she said under her breath.

"I heard that. I'm not pampering you. I'm being polite."

Polly heard him chuckling as she sat back down on the far corner of the sofa. She wrapped her feet up under her and pulled the blanket out from under Obiwan. "You have to share," she said to him. "How did you get to be such a slug of a dog?" She maneuvered the blanket to cover both of them and left some for Henry.

He handed her a glass of water. "Did you want a cupcake ... cupcake?"

She rolled her eyes at him. "No, thank you."

"Are you nauseous?" he asked.

"No, I just don't want anything. Hopefully, I'll get tired pretty soon."

"No movie?"

Polly handed him the remote control. "I don't care."

"Well then you can watch me eat my dessert. I'm sure it will be terribly exciting."

"It's not boring," she laughed. "Thanks for staying tonight. I know I make a lot of noise about being independent, but I'm glad you're here. I'm only sorry you have to sleep on my couch rather than in your own bed."

"I can sleep in my bed any time," he laughed. "How often do I get to sleep on your couch?"

"Okay," she said. "Thanks, though. I do appreciate it."

The cats had come out into the living room and were wrestling on the floor in front of the television. Henry pointed and said, "Now, there's some entertainment."

"I'm glad they have each other. Those little nocturnal brats would keep me up all night if they had their way. They get better as they get older, but sometimes it takes them an hour of play before they're ready to come back to bed."

Polly took a drink and said, "What do you think has happened to Elise?"

"I have no idea, Polly, but I'm sure Aaron has called in the troops and they're looking for her."

"I just wish I knew what was going on with her."

Henry finished his cupcake and put the paper wrapper on the plate, then set that on the table. Luke looked up at the noise and leaving Leia behind, jumped up to sniff at the remnants.

"That's chocolate," Henry said.

Polly said, "Just a second. Watch him."

Luke sniffed for a moment, then batted at the paper and backed away. He sat down and stared at it for a few seconds, then turned his back on it and jumped off the table.

"He's the funniest thing," Polly said. "He wants to know everything that is going on, but once he's figured it out, he wants nothing more to do with it."

"That's weird."

"Leia likes to taste different things, but she's really not interested in any of it. I think for the most part, it's only curiosity. Unless," Polly said, "unless it is a milk product. They both love cheese, cottage cheese, cream cheese. I have to be careful not to leave those things out. But, then, if I give them a little bit, they're satisfied and leave me alone. They're pretty good cats."

She yawned and reached down to put her glass on the table. "I suppose I should try to get some sleep. Tomorrow and Saturday are going to be long days."

"Are you sure you're ready for this?" Henry asked.

"I'm sure." Polly pushed Obiwan off the couch and he yawned and stretched. "Come on, you slug. We need to get some bedding for Henry and you're NOT taking up space out here tonight. Come on." She stood up and took his collar to move him toward the bedroom door. "I'll be right back with pillows and things. How about we leave the bathroom doors open unless we're in there - that way we'll know, okay? And the cats need to move around anyway.
Will that work?"

"Sure. That's a good idea."

She went through the living room door to the bathroom and rustled around in the linen closet, pulling out a pillow and flat sheet. Then she took them back into the living room. Henry had walked back to the kitchen with the dishes and set them on the counter beside the sink, so she dropped the pillow on a chair and shook out the sheet, draping it over the back of the sofa and tucking it in.

"I don't know how much warmth you'll need tonight. There are plenty of blankets in the pile back there," and she pointed behind the chair to a large basket filled with blankets. "Use what you want."

Henry walked back and looked at the sofa. "Thanks. I'm sure I'll be fine." He picked the pillow up and dropped it at one end, then he took her hand. "How about you?"

Polly winked at him. "Are you just trying to get in my bed?"

He dropped her hand and in shock, he said, "NO! That's not what I meant at all!"

She laughed. "I know. I was only teasing. And yes, I'm going to be fine. Good night." She began to turn away to head to the bedroom when he took her arm and stopped her.

"Good night goes something like this," he said and pulled her close for a kiss.

"Hoookay," she gasped, when they broke apart. "That's a nice twist."

Polly walked away and into the bedroom. She closed the door behind her and then shut the door to the bathroom while she changed into her pajamas. Obiwan had already jumped up into the bed and was sprawled across it. She pushed him out of the way and crawled under the covers.

She reflected on the last few kisses from Henry. Those were definite heart-melters. Polly giggled. After the night she licked his lips, he wasn’t letting her get away with that again. She pulled the blankets into a cocoon around her and shivered. No one had ever made her feel as comfortable and safe as Henry did while at the same time tipping her heart off balance.

“No,” she said out loud to herself. “You are not falling for someone right now. No matter how wonderful he is. A man isn’t in the plan. Don’t forget that.”

She sighed and realized that if the heart wanted what the heart wanted, her head wasn’t going to have a lot to say about it. After flipping off the light, she turned over, wrapped herself around the dog and promptly fell asleep.

“Evil man,” she thought. Polly peered through her eyelashes as her door slipped open.

"What is it?" she asked.

Henry stepped in. "I was going to take Obiwan outside before the day got started. I didn't mean to wake you, but how are you feeling?"

She turned over on her side and faced him, then rolled her neck around. "I'm doing fine, I think. What time is it?"

"It's only five thirty. Go back to sleep. Come on Obiwan." Henry patted his leg and the dog stood up, then walked across Polly to jump down to the floor.

"Erumph," she grunted. "You couldn't get on the floor and walk around, could you?"

"I'll shut the door. You go ahead and take another nap."

"What are you doing up so early anyway?" she asked.

"It's when I get up. When we get back, I’ll be quiet, but I might make breakfast for you. See ya later."

He walked out and shut the door. She heard him talking to Obiwan and then allowed herself to drift back to sleep.

Polly's alarm on her phone rang and she reached for it, knocking it off the bedside table. When she bent over the bed to pick it up, she moaned. "Damn. That's going to hurt today!" She rubbed the back of her head and felt the knot. "It's good my hair is covering that thing or I'd spend all day explaining it," she mumbled to herself.

Her phone told her it was six thirty and when the cats realized she was waking up, they jumped off the bed and headed to their perches on the cat tree, looking out at the moonlit sky. "One of these days, there will be daylight in the mornings again," she said. "That ought to make you kids happy." She sat up on the edge of her bed. Things were awfully quiet in the living room. Walking over to the door, she opened it and saw Henry at the dining room table with his laptop open.

"Good morning," he said. "How are you doing?"

"I have a headache and I'm a little grumpy. How are you?"

"I'm certainly doing better than that! I've had a walk, a shower and a cup of coffee. How can I help you get started?"

"Don't mind me. I'll take my grumpy self into the shower and see if that helps. Back in a bit."

She shut the door and headed for the bathroom, making sure the outer door was shut. A scalding, hot shower seemed like a good idea. While she waited for the water to warm up, she opened the cabinet and pushed things around looking for ibuprofen.

When Polly re-entered the living room, she smelled bacon. "You really are making breakfast! Thank you!"

"The coffee is already poured and breakfast will be ready soon."

"Can I do anything?"

"I think I finally found everything. You sit down and drink your coffee."

She did and took a sip of the hot coffee, "This is nice," she said. "Thank you."

"It's too bad that it took you being hit on the head for me to make you breakfast."

Polly looked up and said, "What?"

"Wait. That didn't come out right. Sorry. Strike that."

"What did you mean by that, though?"

"Nothing. I was thinking about all the mornings you made breakfast around here and I'm glad I finally got a chance to return the favor. It was nothing more than that. I'm sorry." He started laughing. "Wow, walked right up to the cliff and kept going, didn't I!"

Both cats had come out to the kitchen and were winding around his legs as he stood at the stove. "Are they going to cause me to fall on my face when I try to walk away?" he asked.

She looked over at his feet. "They might. They want their breakfast." Polly went to the cupboard where the cat food was kept. She pulled out the tub and poured it into their dishes.

"Thanks," he said.

"Did you feed Obiwan yet?"

"Look at him," Henry said. She turned and looked at Obiwan sitting under the end of the peninsula separating the kitchen from the dining room.

"You're right. He'd be a panic-stricken mess if he hadn't gotten his breakfast after his walk. Thank you."

"He's a good dog and by the way, he found where Elise was dragged across the creek. And guess what, you know that trap that he ran into down at the other end of the property?"

"Yeah?" she said.

"I wonder if the Sheriff knows that one of Elise's attackers probably ran into a trap up here. There's a mess over there and some blood. Obiwan found it this morning."

Polly looked at the microwave for the time. "It's seven o'clock. You should call him."

"Let me finish this and I will."

He brought a plate filled with bacon and toast to the table, then went back and brought a dish filled with scrambled eggs. "Now, these are my grandma's scrambled eggs. I hope you like them."

Polly murmured, "You dance, you build things, you kiss, you have a great car, and you cook? How are you not already married?"

"What did you say?" he asked.

"How are you not already married? You are perfect!"

"You just keep thinking that. And I'm not already married because sometimes a guy spends an hour with a girl and discovers she's got nothing in her brain except wedding bells and babies. That stuff bores me to death."

"I'm certainly not that girl," Polly commented.

"No, you're not and you are definitely not boring. You've brought more entertainment to Bellingwood than it has seen in years."

"I'd like to be a little more boring than that," she said.

"Do you know that there is a pool at the grain elevator on you?"

"WHAT?" she demanded.

"That upsets you?"

"What in the hell ... a pool ... about what?"

"About when you'll find the next dead body around here."

"No way," she said. "No. Way."

"Well, yes way," he laughed. "No one saw Madeline Black's death coming, but there are some gruesome ideas over there."

"Are you involved in this?"

"Not me," he laughed. "I wouldn't get involved in anything quite so ... ummm ... despicable."

"I don't believe you. What dead body do you have me finding?"

"I'm not saying. But, when I win the pool, I'll take you out to dinner."

Polly shook her head at him. "Rotten rat. You know, it's one thing to be famous for the good a person does, but to be infamous for being around dead bodies, that's not quite as much fun."

Henry picked up his phone. "I'm going to call Aaron. Just a second." He walked into the living room and then wandered into the entryway. She could hear him pushing on the door frame as he spoke.

Polly continued to eat her breakfast until he came back in and sat down. "Aaron’s team didn't get that far in the dark last night. He's got a team who will be over before eight o'clock, though. This kind of changes things. If one of them is hurt, it will probably slow them down a bit."

"I hope they are found before they get too far. I'm so worried about her."

"I know you are. She's going to be fine. I'm sure of it."

They finished breakfast and he picked up the dishes to carry them into the kitchen. Polly said, "Leave the dishes. I'll clean things up tonight."

"I can do them
," he said.

"No, really. I think we'd both rather get going with today and something as normal as washing dishes will be good for my evening."

"So, no big wild date tonight?"

Polly said, "I'm going to ignore that," and walked into the living room, picking up her tennis shoes before she sat down on the sofa. Henry had folded up the sheet and laid it on top of his pillow, the blankets were all folded and back in the basket and things on the coffee table were straightened up.

"You're good at this whole cleaning thing, aren't you," she laughed.

"I suppose. Mom wasn't much for a messy house and now that I own her house, I can't bring myself to let it fall apart. I have a feeling that if she thought I wasn't keeping it clean, she'd make Dad drive back to Bellingwood just to yell at me."

"Thank you for cleaning up," Polly said. "And thank you for staying last night. I'm sure I slept better knowing you were out here."

"I wouldn't have been able to leave you. You scared me to death."

She stood up again with her shoes on and tied and said, "I'm good. And thank you again." Polly stepped in close to him and reached her arms around him. He enveloped her and pulled her head against his chest. They stood there for a few moments, then she reached up for a kiss. "Thank you," she said.

Another few moments in his arms and she broke away. "I suppose we should get to work."

He stepped back. "It's going to be a busy couple of days. If you don't mind, I'm going to leave my things up here until later. I don't want to have to deal with them today."

"No problem," she said. "Well, shall we?"

She swung the door open, touched the frame and asked, "This won’t be a problem, will it?"

"It will be fine for a few days. The cats will stay inside. Don't worry about it."

"Okay. You're the boss."

They went downstairs and Polly headed for her office. It was only seven thirty and Jeff hadn't yet arrived. In fact, the building was empty and things were quiet. She spun around in her chair and looked out the windows, watching as the giant orange ball in the east began rising over the community. Bruce and Hannah drove up to the entrance and Polly watched her kiss him goodbye and then get out and come in the front door. In moments, more vehicles pulled in. Jeff got out of his car and stopped to talk to Sam Terhune. They were laughing about something as they approached the front steps. Sylvie pulled in and Polly watched her open her trunk and pull bags of items out to bring inside. Jimmy Rio was right behind her and he quickly jumped out of his car to help her carry things.

Polly smiled. She had a lot of good people in her life. She turned back to her desk and was startled to see Aaron Merritt standing in her doorway.

"I didn't see you come in!" she said.

"I snuck in the back door. We've been out searching through your back yard and into the creek. Henry and Obiwan made great find. It changes how we look for them. We're calling the local hospitals to see if anyone came in last night with wounds from a trap. If that doesn't turn anything up, we'll call drugstores. We'll find her."

"I suppose it's too early to have heard from anyone in Chicago about what she might have seen?"

Aaron smiled, "It's a little early. As soon as I know anything, I'll find you."

"Thanks."

"How are you doing this morning?"

Polly rubbed her head. "This hurts, but I'm going to be fine."

"Lydia was still up when I got home this morning. I think she worried all night about you."

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean for that to happen."

"It's good for her. She hasn't had anyone around to worry about since Jim left for college. Every once in a while I make him come home so she can fret over him instead; but he figured me out and doesn't fall for that trick unless I beg."

Polly chuckled, "Does everyone know what happened last night?"

"What do you think?" Aaron asked. "Of course they do. I'm sure you were the topic of conversation at breakfast all over town this morning."

"Did you hear they had a pool at the grain elevator on me discovering dead bodies?"

"Henry finally spilled the beans, did he? I told him you weren't going to be happy."

"I don't even know
them! Isn't that odd?"

"But they know you. A lot of them were here for the Christmas party, more of them will be here for the barn raising. You know their wives from the slumber party and some of their daughters and sons are going to be having wedding receptions here this spring. These guys know you and they like you, Polly. It will take you time to get to know everyone, but don't worry, one of these days you will know seventy percent of this town by name and the rest by sight."

"And then imagine what they're going to say about me!"