A Big Life in a Small Town (Bellingwood #2) (5 page)

Elise didn't say anything, simply looked at the paper Polly had handed to her. "Elise? Do you understand? You're my friend now. That means I'd like to see your face every once in a while. And when you're not working and need a break, you and I might hang out over in my apartment and watch a movie or television with my animals. How does that sound?"

"It sounds heavenly," Elise said. "Thank you. Can I text you any time?"

"Any time. Even if you only need me to run
upstairs and bring you an apple."

Elise stood up again and seemed a little uncomfortable, but reached out to hug Polly. "Thank you," she said again. "No one has ever made me be their friend before."

"Well, I guess you've never met my friends," Polly said. "When you're ready, I've got a crazy group of them here and they'll love you!"

The girl shuddered and said, "I don't think I'm ready for that yet."

"Then, don't worry about it. Now, I'm going back downstairs to get some work done. I have to rescue my little girl kitty cat from the veterinarian in a little bit. She had surgery yesterday and I can't wait to get her back home. Leave the empty plate on the table outside your door and I'll deal with it later."

"Thank you, Polly," Elise said.

As Polly walked back downstairs, she chuckled to herself, "Lydia would be so proud of me," she murmured. "I'm turning into her clone!"

By the time she got back to the kitchen, there was quite a crowd gathered around eating breakfast and drinking coffee.

"I hope we didn't freak her out," Doug said. "But, she ran into us!"

"It's
fine," Polly replied. “I think she freaked herself out. She's a lot more comfortable with books and numbers than she is with people. So, your job ..." and she looked at everyone around her, "is to avoid her when you see her. Don't try to make her talk to you. Just smile and be your nice, normal, polite selves and then move on. Got it?" She looked at them each in the eye once more to make sure they understood her. They all nodded.

Andy combined the rest of the pizza onto one pan and took the others to a sink. Soon, the kitchen was empty as everyone went to work.

Polly was putting plates into the dishwasher as Jeff walked in and said, "Is there breakfast this morning?"

"You're just in time!" Andy exclaimed and pulled a plate back out of the cupboard. She set it down in front of him.

"I swear, Polly. I've already gained 3 pounds since I started working here," he complained.

"Not my fault!" she said. "And if you want to start running Obiwan around the property every day, I'm fine with that. Otherwise," she turned and waggled her index finger at him, "choices and consequences, bud, choices and consequences."

"Whatever," he said and taking a cup of coffee with his plate, left for his office.

Polly wiped down the counter and prep area, started the dishwasher and set some napkins beside the leftover pizza, checked the coffee pot and then said to Andy, "Thank you for your help. I didn't expect that this morning."

"I suspect you didn't expect a catastrophe at the front steps either. Sometimes we have to go with the flow."

"Well, thank you anyway. I kept you away from what you were planning to do, though."

"I'll go in and get started. I can't wait to dig into that database."

"Why don't I send Doug and Billy in to set up a table for you," Polly said.

"That would make it easier," Andy said. "Thanks."

Andy went into the auditorium and Polly walked over to the classrooms to ask the boys to handle the table setup for Andy. Without any hesitation, other than to look at Jerry for permission to leave their work, they trotted over to help out. She wasn't sure what she was going to do when they were no longer around. While Jerry had them out on other jobs, they'd spent quite a bit of time at Sycamore House and were beginning to feel like family. Polly felt a little sad at the thought of these projects closing down and having everyone gone. She walked into her office and woke her computer up.

Before she could start feeling too sorry for herself, Jeff peeked around the corner. "Got a minute?" he asked.

"Sure," she said. "Come on in."

"What has you looking so sad," he asked. "Did something happen?"

“I was thinking about how much I'm going to miss having all this activity around here. These people are like my family now and pretty soon, they'll finish all of this and be gone!"

"Umm. Well. I don't know what to say about that. Nothing lasts forever?" He looked at her with his eyebrows raised.

Polly picked up a piece of paper, wadded it and threw it at him. It landed well short of its target.

"What did you want?" she asked.

"Henry has the wood ordered for the barn
. I’ve set a date. What do you think?"

"As long as the weather holds out and Sylvie thinks she can pull it off, I think it is great!" Polly replied.

"Then I'm going to start advertising and Henry is lining up workers. I'm talking to a couple of bands to see who is available that night for the dance."

"Dance? Wait. What? There's going to be a dance?" Polly cried out.

"What did you think we would do at a hoe-down?" Jeff asked.

"I thought there would be a lot of food and maybe some entertainment or something, but a dance?"

"Do you have a problem with dancing?"

"It might be the same problem you have with riding horses. I fall down!" Polly said.

"We're going to have a dance and you can either dance or hide, I don't care."

"Surely I can say no," Polly said. "I still have some rights as the boss around here, don't I?"

"Nope. You can't tell me no because you're scared of something. You can only tell me no because you think it is a bad idea."

"Then I think it's a bad idea. The owner of Sycamore House should never be seen with her bottom on the floor and her feet straight up in the air. It's embarrassing!"

Jeff didn't say another word, just rose up out of his chair and left the office.

"Hey!" she called out. "Hey!" Polly followed him into his office.

"It's not going to work," he said as he sat down at his desk. "You can't be so scared of dancing that you will stop me from doing this."

"Fine," she said. "Fine. I'm going to head over to Dr. Hottie's office to pick Leia up. I'll be back after a while."

"A dance," Polly muttered as she went back to her office and grabbed the truck keys. "A dance. It's not fair."

Tapping her fingers on the exam table, Polly stood in a small room waiting for Leia to be returned to her. The door opened and Mark Ogden walked in, followed by Marnie Evans, who was holding Leia on top of her blanket.

"Good morning, Polly!" he said, shaking her hand. "Everything went fine yesterday and she's ready to go home." Marnie placed the cat bundle onto the exam table and kept her hand on Leia while Mark Ogden pulled a sheet of paper out of the folder he was holding. "Here are recommendations for the next few days. I know the boys in her life are going to want to play with her. You might want to think about separating them."

He unconsciously brushed a lock of curls away from his forehead and Polly tried not to stare. She suddenly realized he was still talking to her and she hadn't heard anything, so she nodded and smiled.

"So, Marnie here will take care of setting that up, then," she heard him say and snapped back into consciousness. She was supposed to respond now and looked desperately at Marnie who shook her head and grinned.

He reached down and rubbed the top of Leia's head and said, "You did well, little Leia. We'll see you next week." He put his hand out to take Polly's again and she nodded at him as he left.

Marnie laughed out loud, "You're not the only one who has that reaction to him, but I'd have to say you have it worse than most!"

"Oh no," Polly gasped. "Was I that obvious?"

"Not to him. That man is completely oblivious. All the girls working here have a terrible crush on him. Heck, even I do and I'm happily married. It doesn't occur to him that
nearly all of our walk-in customers are female. Fortunately, he's generally out of here pretty early to work out on farms. Have you met his partner? He's not quite as adorable, but he's single too!"

"His partner? I had no idea!" Polly said.

"He came into the practice a few months ago. Doc Ogden needed someone to concentrate more on small animals so he could do what he really loves."

"What's that?" Polly asked.

"He's a horse man from way back. Those animals have his heart and soul, it seems. He likes being outside too. You know, you're one of the lucky few he decided needed his personal attention in the office."

Polly blushed. "Whatever," she said.

"No, really!" Marnie insisted. "He has cut back his small animal clientele to a scant few. You're one of them."

Polly grinned and couldn't help it, her insides skipped up and down. But, this was crazy. She had a date with Henry on Friday and for Pete's sake, she didn't need more men complicating her life. She reached over and grabbed Leia and the blanket into her arms and went out to the front counter with Marnie following. As Marnie scooted around her to get behind the counter, she said, "Will next week work to bring her back in to remove the stitches?"

"Sure," Polly said and pulled a credit card out of her back pocket to pay her bill. "Sure, that will be fine."

"Here's a card with the date and time on it. Put it in your calendar,
will you? You don't seem to be thinking on all cylinders right now," Marnie laughed and completed the transaction.

Polly shook herself and kissed the top of Leia's head. "I'm fine. Thanks and I'll see you next week."

As soon as she got into her truck, she put Leia on the seat beside her. "Did you hear that, little girl? He kept me as a client! I'm swooning a little on the inside."

She pulled out of the parking lot and drove back to Sycamore House. Lydia's Jeep was sitting in the parking lot, and she pulled in beside it. She jumped down out of the truck, gathered Leia and the blanket into her arms and went inside to her office. Until she figured out how to keep her animals separate, the kitten might as well hang out down here. She'd bring down an extra litter box and some food and Little Girl would be fine for a while.

Polly got Leia settled in behind her desk and left her office, pulling the door shut behind her. The kitten looked up and snuggled back into the blanket, promptly falling asleep. Polly stuck her head in the classrooms and waved at Henry, who was installing bookshelves, then walked to the auditorium. She found Lydia and Andy sitting on the edge of the stage with a crate of items between them. They looked up as she approached.

"There you are," Lydia said. "How's your cat?"

"She's good. I have to keep her away from the boys, so I might have to build a nest for her in my office. What are you doing here this morning?"

"I just came from Madeline Black's house. You know I had to meet the company that would clean up the area where she died, right?"

"Sure. How was it?" Polly asked.

"I was just telling Andy. Once the body was gone, it wasn't quite as awful, but they'll be there for a while. I called her son again this morning. He's not a nice guy." She paused and thought. "And it doesn't make any sense. Madeline was such a sweetheart. I don't know what happened to him. He told me that he was talking to the funeral home and if I wanted to know more about the particulars, I could call them." She shook her head. "I wish I knew how to reach out to him, but I don't think he wants that from me."

"Did you ask about the note she was writing when she died?" Polly pulled a chair out from the table and sat down in front of the two ladies.

"I did and he didn't have any idea what she might have been talking about. I did manage to get his sister's telephone number from him, though. I'll call her this evening to ask if she'd like us to help with anything. Maybe she has more information."

"Neither of those kids stayed around here after graduation, did they?" Andy asked.

“Laurence is down in Creston and Amy lives out in the San Francisco area. Her husband works for some software company." Lydia took in a deep breath and said, "Laurence informed me that since they had both spent Christmas day with their mother, he wasn't recommending they do anything other than lock the house up and leave it until they had more time."

Polly nodded her head slowly, "So no one is going to worry about what Madeline meant in her note?"

"He's not," Lydia huffed. "I am, though. I'm not sure how, but I'm going to make sure her last request isn't tossed aside."

Polly turned around when she heard footsteps on the floor. Sylvie walked in and over to the three of them.

"Hi there!" she said. "I bought books today from Amazon. They'll be here on Friday. Did you know I was going to college?" She giggled and pulled another chair up.

"What a wonderful surprise!" Lydia laughed with her. "We're proud of you, Sylvie."

"Thanks. What are you doing today? I drove by and saw your cars, so I thought there might be something fun going on. I'm a free woman until the boys are done with school."

Polly checked the time on her phone. "We should go out to lunch!" She jumped up, then sat back down. "Wait. I have a cat who just came home from the doctor. I don't want to leave her in my office all alone, and I should take Obiwan out for a run before I do anything."

Lydia shook her head, "That's what happens when you get kids in your life. I like having my kids all grown up. How about you, Andy?"

Andy smiled. "It is nice to be free again. I miss seeing them every day, but I don't miss being stuck at home. Why don't we run up to the Diner and bring something back? Isn't that close enough to going out for lunch?"

The four figured out what they wanted to order and Lydia called Joe's Diner while Polly ran upstairs to get Obiwan. As she pulled the door shut to her apartment and headed back to the stairway, Elise Myers' door opened. "Polly?" she asked quietly.

"Hi, Elise. Is everything okay? I was going to take Obiwan out for a few minutes."

"Everything is fine. I was going to head downstairs and make a sandwich. Would you want to eat lunch with me?" Elise said timidly.

"Well, I have some friends here," Polly began.

"I'm sorry. I don't want to interrupt," the girl said.

"No, what I meant to say was that we were going to bring in takeout from Joe's Diner. I'd love to have you meet my friends. There are only three here today and we could bring back lunch for you, too."

"No, that's
fine. I don't want to be a bother." Elise turned to head back to her room.

"Elise. Really. We'd love to have you join us. We're going to sit around a table downstairs and eat and jabber. Please join us."

"Are you sure?"

"Absolutely. Would you like a club sandwich?" Polly asked.

"If it's a diner, I'll bet they have a killer hot beef sandwich on mashed potatoes. I'd love something like that."

"I'm on it," Polly said. "When the food arrives, I'll run up and get you. You will be perfectly safe with these ladies,
I promise."

"Thank you, Polly." Elise closed the door softly behind her.

"Obiwan, I believe that was a big step for her. Now I have to tell the ladies to be gentle." They walked downstairs and into the auditorium. Lydia had just hung up her phone.

"Lydia, I'm sorry. Could you place one more order? The girl who is staying upstairs is going to join us. She'd like a hot beef sandwich," Polly said.

"Sure! Just a second." Lydia redialed and ordered the sandwich, then turned back to Polly. "I haven't seen her around town or anything. It will be nice to meet her!"

"Well, she's quite shy and easily intimidated. She literally ran into Doug and Billy this morning and had everyone on the floor. When Henry arrived on the scene, it was too much and she ended up in her room in tears. So," and she looked at each of them, "go easy on her when she joins us, okay?"

They smiled, then Andy said, "At least Beryl isn't here." They all laughed with her and Polly left to take Obiwan outside. It was too cold to spend much time in the yard, but the two of them made one good lap around the building. When they arrived at the front door, Lydia was backing out of the parking lot and waved at them.

"
We’re home, bud. Upstairs with you. I think the boys will be here this afternoon to play, be patient," she said as they walked up the steps to her apartment. She gathered up the extra litter box, litter, food and a dish for Leia. Setting things down in the outer office, she jogged back to the kitchen to grab a dish of water and when she looked in the window to her office, saw Leia standing on her desk.

Polly opened the door, "Well, hello there! You
're awake! Here, let's get this set up for you." She cuddled the kitten in her arms as she set the litter box on the floor behind a bookshelf and poured in the litter. Putting Leia down so she could smell it, Polly set out food and water. The kitten took a few drinks and sniffed at the kibble, then nudged Polly's foot.

"Are you missing your peeps, little one? It's going to be a few more days and I need to figure out what I'm going to do with you at night." Polly picked her up again and sat down at the desk with the cat on her lap. "But I won't leave you alone, I promise. I'm awfully glad you're home."

She snuggled the kitten with her left hand while using her right hand on the mouse to check email. Nothing terribly important was happening, so she closed it down and sat back in her chair. Leia crawled up onto Polly's chest, set her head on her right shoulder and began to purr.

"Well, isn't this the life," Henry said, walking into Polly's office. He sat down across from her and leaned back.

"It is pretty wonderful, isn't it?" Polly agreed.

"We're nearly finished installing bookshelves in the first two rooms and I think Jerry and the boys will be completely done with electricity tomorrow."

"It hit me how much I'm going to miss everyone when this is finished," Polly said. "I wish I could keep you all around forever." She chuckled. "I couldn't afford that, I suppose, but I'm not going to like having the place quiet."

"I'm sure you'll find a reason to keep us coming back often enough. I heard Doug and Billy talk about using the computer room for their game parties. They're pretty excited about the wiring they are putting in. You might think they were putting in their dream game room."

"They can come in and use it whenever they want. I've never known such respectful young men." She snorted. "Listen to me, 'respectful young men,' I sound like I'm sixty years old or something."