Polly let out a breath. "It's a lot, that's for sure, and I'm not an investigator by any means. But I do have friends who might be able to help. Have you got a place to stay?"
"I stayed in Story City last night. I can go back there."
She smiled to herself. Jeff wasn't going to believe this one. "Let me make some calls. Have you had anything to eat? Would you like coffee?"
"I'm fine. I just want to find Jessie and tell her that she doesn't have to cut us out of her life. I want her to know we love her, even if I screwed everything up."
"Her name is Jessie Locke and the man she is with is Dennis Smith, right?"
"Yes."
"Tell me more about Jessie's friend and what she knows."
"Maggie. She told us Jessie was coming to Iowa. The guy has a job here somewhere."
"Maggie hasn't heard from her either?"
"If she did, she isn't saying. Those two girls were best friends and if Jessie asked her to keep quiet, she would. The last couple of years have been difficult for my girl. I tried to take the blame for everything that was going on in the house. It was just easier."
"And Maggie would keep this information from your wife?"
"When Jessie left, she and her mother had a terrible row. She called her mother some awful things and Kelly told her to get out and stay out."
"I'm sorry," Polly said.
"We figured this would pass, just like every other bad thing did with that girl. She was always pushing us. Maybe it all accumulated to where she couldn't deal with any more. All of that mad and hurt bubbled up and she left."
"I can't believe you never met this boyfriend."
"She wouldn't bring him around, said we'd embarrass her. We don't have a lot of money and the house isn't anything special. She always wanted it to be fixed up and fancy. It's got solid walls and is clean, but there's nothing fancy about it. When she was in junior high, she brought a friend over once and the girl laughed at the dining room table because it wasn't very pretty. Jessie never invited anyone over again. Kelly and I did our best, Miss Giller. It was just never good enough for the girl."
"Let me make a few calls, Mr. Locke," Polly started and he interrupted her.
"Please call me Curt."
"Okay, I'll try." She stood and walked to the door. "Sycamore House is a big place and there are a lot of things to see. There is a garden on the corner and you can walk down and talk to the horses and donkeys at the barn."
"Thank you, Miss Giller."
"If I have to call you Curt, you might as well get comfortable with Polly. And please, if you go back this way," she was already walking out the door of the office and pointed toward the kitchen, "you will find Rachel, the girl who came up to get me. She's in the kitchen and can pour you a cup of coffee or serve you breakfast. I'll find you after a bit."
He walked toward the front door and went outside. Polly turned back to Sarah Heater, who was working through a pile of contracts. She had cleared nearly all of the stacks of paper from Jeff Lyndsay's office over the last two months, slowly getting them digitized and filed. Her health was on hold as the chemo continued to work in her body. Some days were horrible and she could do nothing other than stay in bed. Other days weren't quite as bad and she did as much as possible.
Sarah's nine year old daughter, Rebecca, had placed herself in charge of her mother's care once school let out for the summer. Today, though, Sylvie Donovan had taken her son, Andrew, and Rebecca down to Des Moines. They were due back in time for Sylvie to finish preparations for the evening's wedding reception. She'd had a day off from classes and since Sarah was feeling so well, Rebecca had consented to an outing.
"Is that someone you know, Polly?" Sarah asked.
"He knew my father, I guess. I've never met him, but it sounds like he needs help."
Sarah smiled up at her. "You are certainly the person to come to when someone needs help."
"I don't know how this happens," Polly dropped into the chair in front of Sarah's desk. "I'm about to call Aaron. Maybe I should put this on speaker so you can hear him. You know he's going to think I found another body."
"Oh, do!" Sarah's face lit up. "I want to hear it."
"Well first, you're going to have to listen to Jeff sigh at me. I need to ask him if the rooms are ready at the hotel."
"There's a room available upstairs here," Sarah said. "The last guest cleared out Wednesday night and Rachel already has it cleaned. There's one girl coming in this afternoon and then we don't have anyone due until ..." She clicked through a screen on her computer. "Not until next Sunday."
Polly grinned. "Oh, I love that you have that information. We'll see what torment Jeff tries to put me through."
She pressed the button to call him and turned the speaker on.
"Good morning, Polly. Do you have your apartment all cleaned up for your friends?" Jeff asked.
"I'm working on it, but I need a huge favor."
She could practically hear his eyes roll back in his head and looked over at Sarah, who had clapped her hand over her mouth to keep from laughing out loud.
"You need a room for someone, don't you?" he grumbled. "Don't you know that we are a business and trying to make money?"
"So there's nothing available? Nothing at all?"
"You try my patience, boss lady. Let me do some digging and see what miracle I can work for you this time."
"You're like my own personal Scotty," Polly said.
"Your what? Like a Scotty dog?"
"No, you muggle. Scotty from Star Trek. He always over-exaggerated the trouble it was going to cause him to get the ship up and running for Captain Kirk. He wanted to look like a hero."
"I am a hero. I always find room when you need it."
"And you'll find a room for me this time, won't you."
Jeff let out a deep, long sigh. "There's a room upstairs and you know it. You're sitting there beside Sarah, aren't you?"
"What makes you say that?" Polly chuckled into the phone and Sarah released the laughter she'd been holding back.
"Sarah, you are supposed to make me look good," he said. "You aren't supposed to spoil my fun."
"I'm sorry, sir," Sarah said, simpering. "I'll do better next time."
"Go ahead and set Polly up with what she needs. I'm meeting the last inspector in fifteen minutes and will be back in a while."
"Thank you, Jeff," Polly said sweetly. "You rock."
"You're darn right, I do. We still need to talk about that raise."
"Come see me next week."
"Yeah. Even I know you'll be halfway to Arizona by then."
"Hmmm. Imagine that. See you later."
She ended the call and Sarah said, "That was fun. Now what?"
"Now I call Aaron and make him sweat a little."
Polly pressed another button to call the Sheriff and switched the speaker back on. She hoped he wouldn't disappoint her. Sarah sat forward to listen, as Aaron answered.
"Polly Giller, you've done it again, haven't you," he said. "Bellingwood is going to run you out of town one of these days. I'm surprised more people aren't running and screaming when you walk down the street. Where's the body this time?"
She held her finger up and grinned at Sarah. "I'm in the same building as your wife, Aaron. Do you want me to get her involved?"
"You leave her out of this. In fact, if there is anyone else around you right now, tell them to get away from you."
"She's upstairs in my apartment, you rat. And there's no body. I have something else I need to ask you about."
"But you never call me directly unless you need me to come rescue you from the dead," he said, laughing.
"I'm investigating a missing person."
"I thought we talked about this," he said. "You aren't supposed to do that kind of work. In fact, you're not supposed to be doing anything this weekend except get ready for a party and then get the heck out of town."
"I know, I know. That's why Lydia is here. She's helping me in my apartment.
But I just had something come up and I need your help."
Polly stood and smiled at Sarah. Sarah waved her away and turned back to her work while Polly walked into her office and shut the door. She turned the speaker off and said, "An old friend of my father's showed up this morning and needs help finding his daughter. I told him I would make some calls. I don't know what else to do."
"Tell me what you know," Aaron said.
She gave him the little bit of information she'd received from Curt Locke. "I know it's not much and maybe there's more to the story from his side than he's telling me. But, he pulled the 'I knew your dad' card and I couldn't say no."
"I guess I can understand that. She's an adult now and can make her own decisions, but if we find her, maybe we can give the family a little reassurance. Let me do some digging. I might send Stu up to have a chat with him. He reads people well and can tell me what he thinks about the guy. Do you know where he's staying?"
Polly paused just long enough for Aaron to laugh at her. "You're putting him up at Sycamore House, aren't you?"
"Maybe," she said. She hated that her friends knew her so well.
"Got it. Let Sarah or Jeff know that Stu will be coming to talk to him and I'll sic Anita on this."
"Thank you, Aaron."
"Are you going to let me do the Father-Daughter dance with you tomorrow night?"
"Please tell me you're kidding."
"Well, if I have to be kidding, I guess I am. I just thought it would be nice for you to have someone to dance with when Henry is dancing with his mother."
"We're not doing all of the traditional stuff, Aaron."
"That doesn't surprise me at all. Okay, tell my wife that ..." he stopped. "No, don't tell her anything. I'll tell her myself. Good-bye, Polly."
"Thank you. I really appreciate this."
"I appreciate that you didn't call with a body."
"Bye, Aaron." Polly looked at the time. There was none left. Her friends would arrive in less than an hour.
She went out to the main office. "Sarah, I'm going to find Curt Locke and tell him to see you about his room. Aaron is going to send Stu Decker up to talk to him. Will you have his details?"
"I'll take care of it, Polly. You go on. You've got people coming in this morning, right?"
"I have to hurry!"
Polly ran out the front door, looking around to find Curtis Locke. She finally saw him standing in the garden and ran over. He looked up as she approached.
"Hi Curt," she said, a little out of breath. "I have a room available here for you. Just go back into the office and speak with Sarah. I called a friend of mine who is the local sheriff. He will see what he can find, but is going to send one of his deputies up to ask you more questions. There might be something you know that you don't realize you know. Stu is a good guy."
He stood there nodding while she rattled on. When she took a breath, he stopped her. "Thank you. I don't know that I can afford to stay here, though. This is pretty fancy."
"Don't worry. That's why I have this place. It seems like most of the time the rooms are filled with my friends and family. I'm sorry I can't spend more time with you right now, though. I have a group of friends coming in from Boston and need to finish preparing for them. Take your time out here and when you're ready, Sarah will tell you how to get to your room."
"Thank you, Miss Giller. You are your father's little girl."
"I'd like to find a moment to talk to you more about him sometime," Polly said.
"I'd like that too."
She patted his arm and turned to go back to Sycamore House. Then, she realized she needed to call Henry and tell him what was happening. Things had been pretty quiet around here for a while. It was probably time for something to erupt. He needed to be reminded that marriage to her was filled with craziness on a fairly regular basis.
CHAPTER THREE
Even though she'd only been gone for a short time, Polly's friends had done wonders. Henry's plans for transforming the upper floor of Sycamore House into a home included removing the entryway that he'd built when she first moved in, leaving the doorway open. The old living room was transformed into a media room for Sylvie's boys and Rebecca and they'd shifted the dining room table further from the kitchen, opening up the space.
Beryl was leaning across the peninsula, attempting to steal a muffin from Andy's hand and Lydia was at the sink washing dishes when Polly walked in.
Andy looked up and snatched the muffin back from Beryl. "Now you're in for it," she said, pointing at Polly.
"What?" Beryl spun around and laughed. "Well Mama Merritt made plenty. I don't know why I can't have one."
"You've already had one. How you stay so skinny with all the food you eat, I'll never know."
"It's called good livin', sweetie and I'm full of it."
"You're full of something," Andy muttered.
Beryl danced over to Polly. "Your house was in pretty good shape up here, Miss Thing. I call that needless worrying."
"I'm so sorry that I went away though. You three are amazing."
Lydia dried her hands on a towel as she turned around. "Who was that man in the garden?"
"An old friend of my father's," Polly said, smiling inwardly at the fact that Lydia missed nothing. "He asked me to help him find his runaway daughter. I called your husband."
"You don't have time to search for a girl who doesn't want to be found," Andy said. "Your friends are coming and you have a party and honeymoon to prepare for."
"I know." Polly hopped onto a bar stool and reached for a muffin. They were still warm. "I can't say no to him, though. How awful this has to be for their family."
"Why is he bothering you? He should have gone to the police."
"She's an adult and left home on her own. It sounds like this is tearing him to pieces." Polly breathed in the scent from her muffin and said, "The poor guy. He's one of those people who believes he's responsible for every bad thing around him, and then he does things to perpetuate that belief."
"What do you mean?" Andy asked.
"Well, he got messed up in Viet Nam., When he came back, he decided not to contact Dad or his old friends because he thought he'd screw up their lives. It sounds like he just spiraled downward. When he finally met a woman, his job kept him away from home and when he was home, he wasn't easy to be around."
"And you're going to try to rescue him, aren't you, missy," Beryl said.
"Well, not him, exactly, but how could I say no to helping his daughter? He came to Iowa looking for my father and when he discovered Dad was dead, tracked me down. Dad would have helped him - I find that I can't say no to this."
Lydia gave Polly a quick hug. "And that's why we come over to help you out when you're in a panic."
"But you take care of more people than I ever will," Polly protested. "When do you just relax and spend time with your own kids?"
"My kids find me whenever they need me," Lydia said. "Honestly, I think they're glad I can't meddle in their business every day. You shouldn't worry about me."
"We worry all the time," Beryl admonished her friend. "But it doesn't do us any good. You still insist on taking care of us."
Polly glanced at the time. "I'd love for you to stay and meet my friends. I have to take a shower and change, though. Will you let me take you all out to lunch?"
Lydia smiled and said to Beryl and Andy. "See, I told you this would pay off." She turned back to Polly. "We'd love to. We'll finish in the kitchen and eat more muffins."
Polly took another bite of the muffin in her hand. "I'll take Obiwan outside and be right back." The dog heard his name and followed her to the back door. As she passed the closet, she grinned at the boxes which had been neatly stacked and tagged. Yes, Andy had done her job quite well.
Leia and Luke were perched on the cat tree looking outside intently, barely acknowledging her.
"What 'cha seeing there?" she asked, joining them at the window. Eliseo was bent over in the garden, pulling weeds. Beau
tiful rows of green sprouts were coming up through the dirt. It was exciting to see that immense space behind Sycamore House become useful. He and Ralph Bedford had enjoyed working with Demi and Daisy, preparing the ground and then planting. Eliseo promised her loads of sweet corn and tomatoes as the season progressed. This didn't look anything like the little vegetable gardens she remembered seeing in the city.
"Come on, Obiwan. I can't dawdle today. Too much going on." He followed her down the steps and out through the garage. When he saw Eliseo, he took off at a run.
"Obiwan. Stop." Polly commanded. The poor dog ground to a halt and turned around as if to ask what her problem was. She jogged to catch up to him and put her hand on his collar. "You can't get into the garden."
"Good morning, Polly," Eliseo said. He walked over to the two of them and knelt down to nuzzle Obiwan's neck. The dog wriggled with glee, even though he'd seen Eliseo early that morning at the barn.
"It's like he was never going to see you again," she said, laughing. "The garden looks beautiful."
"Stay right here," he said and waited until she put her hand back on Obiwan's collar. Eliseo strode back to the garden, bent over and pulled something out, then reached into his back pocket and drew out a handkerchief. He was polishing what he held as he walked back, then handed Polly a deep red radish. "Do you like them?" he asked.
"I love radishes! Mary used to make radish sandwiches for me all the time."
He handed it to her and she took a bite. "Oh, that's wonderful. These are ready now?"
"Jason and I are going to spend some time this afternoon out here. We have several things ready. Quite a few different greens and some lettuce. It's going to be a fun summer."
"I can hardly wait." Obiwan tugged at her hand and she said, "I'd better get him away from here. Thank you, Eliseo."
His face lit up with a smile and he turned back to the garden.
"Come on, Obiwan. You have to hurry."
The dog looked back at Eliseo, and before she had to yell at him again, made an obviously conscious choice to follow Polly to the trees lining the creek bed. Rain had filled the creek, so they wandered through the trees down to the horse's pasture. All four horses and the two donkeys trotted to the fence line to greet her and she talked to them as they followed her around the perimeter. When she and Obiwan headed back to the house, she watched as Nat ran back to the fence at the tree line, rearing and neighing for the others to follow him.
Tomorrow's Promises (Bellingwood Book 7) Page 2
