Joy in the Journey

by Diane Greenwood Muir

  "Being a monster?"

  "No, silly. Coffee." Polly walked around and held the passenger door open for Agnes.

  "Your husband does this for you, doesn't he?" Agnes asked as she stepped into the car.

  "Yes."

  "And you don't much like it because you're an independent sort."

  Polly laughed. "How did you know?"

  "Because I'm fighting myself to not yell at you. I might be eighty-five, but I've been taking care of myself for a lot of years. If I need your help, I'll ask for it."

  Polly nodded and closed the door after Agnes was settled. When she got in on her side, she grinned. "The thing I've learned from my friends is that they show up when I don't realize I need them. Like you coming to the house today. If I were to use your logic, you shouldn't come over until I ask for help."

  Agnes looked at her sideways. "You might have me there. I need to spend more time with you and your daughter. I've lost my edge. A little competitive tête-à-tête will hone that right up. Now tell me what I should know about little Cassidy. She's obviously adopted."

  Polly laughed out loud. "Nice observation. If two green-eyed people won't necessarily have a blue-eyed child, then …"

  "Two bright young people will take in children that need a home. Let's leave it at that," Agnes said. "Did she come from a rough start?"

  "Pretty rough," Polly said. "Two of the boys you'll meet today, Caleb and JaRon, are her brothers. They had the same mother, but none of them have the same father. Their mother is in prison and won't ever be released."

  "She's the young woman who burned down your pretty bed and breakfast north of town."

  "Her boyfriend did."

  "To distract you from the children for her. I heard all the stories."

  "Where do you hear these things?" Polly asked. "You say you don't have many friends in town. Do you just eavesdrop?"

  "A woman can learn a lot if she stays quiet and out of the way when people are talking. You'd be surprised what people say to each other when they think no one is listening."

  "You're kind of scary."

  "I should be. The consortium of spies and assassins that I run wouldn't be much use if I wasn't frighteningly brilliant."

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

  "Oh, come on, please? Can't he stay for dinner?" Rebecca pleaded. "I was at work all day and didn't get a chance to spend much time with him."

  Polly frowned at her daughter. "You two aren't an item. Remember?"

  "But he's my best friend and I have so much to tell him about the art and the people and Mr. Greene and then Nan was there for a while. It will take forever to do it online tonight. Please? He’s just one extra person."

  "We've had a long day here, Rebecca. I want to collapse and not think about taking anyone home later. Cat and Hayden are exhausted. The boys are wiped out and will start getting cranky. Henry and Heath both had long days. Tonight is just not the night. I'm sorry."

  "It's not fair," she whined.

  "Please don't."

  "This is the last day of my spring break. And it's a Friday. Instead of doing something fun, you all are going to sit around and mope. Why do I have to?"

  "No reason," Polly said. "If you want to go out with your friends, do it. Just don't expect me or Cat to be your taxi. You can certainly walk wherever you want to go."

  "It's too cold to walk very far." Rebecca sagged as she sat down in the chair across from Polly's desk. "One of us really, really needs to get our driver's license. Soon. This stinks."

  "I'm taking Andrew home in fifteen minutes. If you can figure out how to wrangle your friends into doing something, I’ll take you anywhere you want to go. You have to find your own way home, though."

  Rebecca jumped out of her seat. "Really? Thanks. If Kayla can go, will you pick her up, too?"

  Polly held her breath for a moment. "Yes. I will pick Kayla up. But I'm not traveling anywhere else."

  "Thank you. You're the best." Rebecca rushed over and hugged Polly, then left the office.

  "She had a good day," Polly muttered to herself. She leaned back in the chair and peered at the computer screen. Nope. Not going to get anymore work done today.

  Agnes had spent the morning playing with Cassidy in her room. While they were there, the two of them cleaned the room and even changed Cassidy's bedding. When Polly took JaRon and Elijah upstairs to clean Cat and Hayden's bathroom, she found them sitting in the door of Cassidy's room with a deck of flash cards. The thought of Agnes on the floor still made Polly flinch. If she was eighty-five years old, the last place she'd want to be was on the floor with a little girl, but they were laughing and she even heard Cassidy saying words out loud.

  A morning spent with a four-year-old child was exhausting for someone of any age, so after Agnes put Cassidy down for her post-lunch nap, Polly took her home. The woman beamed the entire time. She was worn out but told Polly that she hadn't had that much fun in years and offered to spend time with Cassidy any time Polly needed her.

  When Agnes was with Cassidy, her foul-mouthed, snarky attitude was gone and she offered the child positive and encouraging words, sounding nothing like the woman Polly was getting to know. At lunch, normal Agnes-behavior returned and she bounced off the boys, Cat, Hayden, and Polly like a lit torch. The boys had a blast with her.

  Noah and Eliseo came over with tables and chairs at three thirty. Noah was pooped after working all day at Sycamore House.

  That was another thing that had Polly on edge. Scott Luther hadn't shown up after lunch. Eliseo and Jeff had both tried to reach him, using every phone number they could find and he didn't answer any of the calls. She hated the idea that they'd misjudged him and once again, they would be stuck looking for a custodian.

  She tried not to think about what could have happened. Their early attempts to find a custodian had been difficult. From a drug addicted jerk, to a young man who ran off to join a commune, and the murder of man they finally hired, she had nearly given up. When Eliseo showed up, she'd been ready to employ anyone. She was thankful he turned out to be such a good man and she’d thought Scott Luther was a good man, too. This did not bode well.

  Polly was just shutting her computer down when Rebecca rushed back into the office. "Can we pick up Kayla? Stephanie said it was okay if she went with us. Cilla will be here any minute."

  "Where am I taking you?"

  "Pizzazz."

  "And how are you getting home?"

  "We aren't sure yet. Maybe Jason if Andrew can talk him into it. Or maybe Justin. Kayla said she might even talk Skylar into coming up to get us."

  "Are you ready now?" Polly wasn't going to argue with her about asking someone else to shuttle them around. She was just too tired.

  "As soon as Cilla gets here."

  Polly walked out of the office with her and peeked into the family room. All four boys, Cat, Hayden, and Cassidy were watching a Disney movie. The dogs were curled up with anyone who would let them get close and the cats were hovering on the backs of chairs. Noah was generally a safe bet for a lap to snuggle on, so they'd wait until he was comfortable and then curl in around him.

  "Hey," she said. "Who's up for pizza tonight?"

  Hands flew up into the air, including Hayden's.

  "I'm taking Rebecca up to Pizzazz. How about I bring supper home with me?"

  "Really?" Cat asked. When she turned around, a very grateful face greeted Polly.

  "We've all worked hard and I don't want to make dinner."

  "Thank you," Cat said. "Paper plates?"

  "Absolutely. As little work as possible."

  The back door bell rang and neither dog moved. That just went to show how tired they were, too. They'd chased the family around the house all day. This family was going to sleep well tonight.

  Polly headed for the kitchen and smiled at Andrew and Cilla. "Are you ready?"

  "Mom says she’s taking Eliseo out to dinner before he has to go back and tear down at Sycamore House," Andrew said. "She was glad not to w
orry about feeding me. Like she ever does."

  "She worries all the time," Polly said. "Thank you for your help today. I can't believe you aren't tired."

  He shrugged. "This is more fun."

  "Rebecca, while I drive, would you place the pizza order? You know what we usually get."

  "Cheese bread?"

  "Yes, please." Polly chuckled. That was her favorite part of the meal.

  "I want a job," Cilla said. "Mom keeps telling me that I have a job, but I want a real job."

  "Cleaning house and taking care of children is a real job," Polly said. She stood at the driver's door of the Suburban while the kids all got in. "No matter what you might think."

  "Walked into that one," Andrew commented. He got in the back seat behind Rebecca and grinned at Cilla who climbed in behind Polly.

  "Okay, I don't want to work in my house," Cilla said. "The only interesting person there is Mom and she's busy all day. For a girl who yearns for creative input, running a dust rag across wooden shelves just doesn’t quite do it."

  "Do you believe waiting tables in a restaurant would be better?" Polly asked.

  "At least I'd get the chance to observe interesting people. Just think of the conversations I'd overhear. Maybe even someone plotting to kill their little sisters. I could take notes. My life is so mundane. How is a brilliant actress supposed to tolerate this much banality?"

  "I can't imagine," Polly replied. She turned south to head for the hotel and tuned out the noise of the three kids chattering about their day. Rebecca sounded happy. That was important, though what she was talking about held no interest for Polly. She'd met people, learned more about how Reuben handled consigned artwork, on and on.

  Fortunately, Kayla was standing at the front door of the hotel's lobby when she pulled in.

  " Thank you for picking me up, Polly," Kayla said as she climbed into the back. "Skylar said he'll take us home. I just have to call when we're ready to go."

  "Thank you. I appreciate it. There's every possibility that I will be sound asleep before Rebecca gets home."

  "We aren't going to be out later than ten o'clock, are we?" Kayla asked, astounded.

  "Probably not," Rebecca replied. "There's no way we're sitting at Pizzazz for four hours."

  She tuned them out again until Rebecca patted her arm. "Can we drive down by my old house? I want to see where Mrs. Hill lives in comparison."

  Polly nodded and made the turn. She pointed to the hedge where she and Cassidy had originally found Agnes and explained how they'd met, then turned a corner. "She lives in the white one two houses down. Rebecca, your house is on the next block."

  "Can we drive by it?"

  "Okay."

  "I haven't seen it since Mom died. I wonder if someone lives there now."

  Polly assumed it was rented. Nearly every available home in Bellingwood was occupied. It's what kept Henry so busy. She drove down the street and slowed as they passed the little green house where Rebecca and Sarah Heater had lived. Lights were on inside and two old cars were parked in the driveway.

  "It's so little," Rebecca said.

  Cilla sat forward. "That was your house?"

  "It was just Mom and me. We didn't need very much. Do you remember coming over that one time, Andrew?"

  "I was living in an apartment then," he said. "I thought it was so cool you lived in a house. Do you remember that first time we stayed at Polly's? You were so scared."

  "Mom was in the hospital. I'd never slept anywhere without her before."

  "Kinda like that time I tried to spend the night with you at Polly's house," Kayla said. "I hadn't either and I didn't know you guys at all except for at school."

  "You took everyone in, didn't you, Polly," Cilla said.

  "Whenever they needed a safe place to sleep."

  "If my sisters need a safe place to go so I won't murder them in their sleep, will you take them?"

  Polly chuckled. "This is the second comment you’ve made about murdering sisters. You must have had a rough day with them today."

  "It was the worst."

  As Polly came out of the neighborhood across the highway from Sycamore House, she smiled. The building was all lit up and the parking lot was filled with cars.

  "It's a big reception," Kayla said. "Stephanie said they rented every room in the building because there were so many people."

  "That's wonderful. I'm just going to drive through." The sycamore trees hadn't yet begun to leaf out, and their white trunks stood stark in the lights of the lamps along the lane.

  "I remember when this wasn't even here," Andrew said. "It's so cool."

  "We're just driving down memory lane, aren't we. I feel like I missed out on a lot," Cilla said.

  Polly drove slowly. It didn't matter how many times she was in here, she always got caught up in memories. "I don't believe it," she said.

  "What?"

  "There's someone in the creek."

  "Maybe it's just a wedding guest having a cigarette," Andrew said.

  "Down in the creek? I don't think so. Do you see him?"

  Rebecca sat forward, peering into the darkness behind the row of trees along the creek. "It looks like he’s wearing a hoodie."

  Polly drove to the end of the driveway. "I need to check this out. You four stay here. Don't follow me. Understand?"

  "What if it's someone bad?"

  "Who's it going to be? Stay here. I need to chase them out of there. I'll call the police if they don't leave. We don't need trouble back here." She heard the very vocal sigh from Rebecca as she unbuckled her seat belt and left the Suburban. It wasn't like she was silent about walking across the yard, but the person walking through the trees paid no attention. They were peering down into the creek bed.

  Then, as if they found what they were looking for, the person bolted down the edge of the creek toward the pasture.

  Polly hollered, "Stop!"

  That only spurred the person to move faster and Polly ran to catch up. They had a head start, but she was running across the lawn, while they were picking their way through the trees and uneven ground.

  "Stop," Polly yelled again. She heard splashing and realized someone else was in the creek itself. That water was frigid.

  Security lights around the pasture and barn all came on and the person in a hoodie glanced up. Polly couldn't see who it was with the hood pulled up, but she saw something very much like a tire iron in one hand. Chasing this person might have been a mistake.

  "Eliseo!" Polly yelled, hoping that he might be at the barn. Then she remembered that Sylvie was taking him out for dinner. He wasn't here. She was alone. At least she knew this land back here better than anyone else. She cut into the trees and realized two more figures were running through the creek. Her heart stopped when the person on the upper level reached into the pocket of the hoodie and pulled out a gun, easily discernible in the light.

  "Don't do it," Polly yelled and the figure spun on her. She gasped. "Nonni? What are you doing out here? And with a gun!"

  "You have no idea."

  "You're right," Polly said. "I don't. What are you doing?"

  Nonni turned back to the creek and, after taking a moment to line up her shot, took it. Polly didn't hear a grunt or a groan, but the splashing sounds stopped. While Nonni’s back was turned, Polly took out her phone and dialed the first number she found — Aaron Merritt.

  He answered immediately. "Polly?"

  "At Sycamore House. I need you."

  Nonni turned and Polly stuffed the phone into her pocket so its light wasn't visible.

  "Who are you chasing?" Polly asked.

  "I thought they'd be dead by now."

  "Who, Nonni?"

  The girl pointed the gun at Polly. "You need to leave. I don't want to kill you, too, but I will. I’m so tired of all this."

  Polly backed away, hoping to lure Nonni out of the trees, but the young woman wasn't moving. She turned around again and shot into the creek.

  "You made me l
ose them. Damn you all to hell." Nonni brought the gun up and pointed it at Polly. Her face was filled with fury.

  Just as Polly’s heart started to beat faster and her mind raced as it looked for an escape, Nonni’s rage-filled face changed to shock. Lights and sounds rattled both of them as the Suburban tore across the back yard and lurched to a stop in the space separating the two women.

  Rebecca was in the driver's seat, the window rolled down. "Get in," she yelled.

  "Get down," Polly commanded. "Now!"

  The four kids inside the Suburban obeyed and ducked, but other than the sound of the rumbling engine, silence fell. Polly took a deep breath and walked slowly around the front of the vehicle. Nonni was gone. The silhouette of a lone figure running north along the tree line allowed her to relax.

  "Was that really Nonni?" Rebecca asked, her head popping back up to peer out of the Suburban. "Our Nonni?"

  Polly nodded, out of breath. "It was her. I have no idea what's going on. The sheriff's department should be here soon. Can you drive the Suburban back out to the parking lot?"

  Rebecca looked behind her and then pointed to the space between Sycamore House and the barn. "Can I go that way?"

  "You bet. Thanks for keeping an eye out. You shouldn't have done it, but …"

  "I saved you. Let's not forget that."

  Polly laughed. "I'll try not to."

  "Are you getting in? What if she comes back?"

  "She's not coming back. At least not here. I wonder what happened to those two people she was chasing."

  "You don't think she killed them."

  "I hope not." Polly headed toward the creek.

  "You aren't going down there!" Rebecca yelled.

  "I'm okay. She's long gone."

  "This is not the definition of okay," Rebecca said. "At least take a weapon or something."

  "What? Nonni has a gun."

  "You aren't making me feel any better."

  Polly couldn't argue, so she kept walking. When she crossed into the trees, she looked north toward the road. Nonni was still running down the creek toward the highway.

  "Who's down here?" she called out. "Nonni is gone. The police are coming. If you're hiding, you are safe. I'm Polly Giller. Come on out."