"He's really funny. He told me that when I grow up I should be a ballerina." Rebecca stood up on her tip toes and tried to spin around, dropping clumsily back into her chair. "Do I look like a ballerina? I want to be an artist like your friend Beryl."
"You should be whatever you want."
"I told him that I liked pink but I don't like to wear it. It's too girly."
"Your room at your house was pink."
"I like it, but I don't want to wear it," Rebecca repeated, as if Polly should fully understand.
"Got it. Don't want to wear it."
Andrew watched the exchange and went back to drawing.
"Miss Giller?" Jessie poked her head in.
"Hi Jessie. We've been having brownies. Would you like one?"
"Polly made them yesterday. They have nuts in them," Rebecca said. "We even have milk." She walked over to the older girl and reached for her hand. "Come on."
Jessie glanced at Polly, "Okay. Just one."
Andrew jumped up to get the milk out of the refrigerator. He was figuring out how to work with that cast. Polly watched him start to use the fingers on the arm that was broken and then shift to his other hand. "Can we have some more?" he asked.
"Why not? Polly asked. Another brownie wouldn't hurt them and Jessie wouldn't have to eat alone. "I'm going to call Henry and make a plan for dinner."
Polly left Jessie in two very young sets of capable hands and went into the office and sat down at Henry's desk. Luke leapt from his perch to the desk top and nudged her hand while she made the call.
"Hi Polly. Do we have another house guest?"
"Yeah. She's in the front bedroom. It took a while, but she's started to open up a little bit. She called her dad and took a shower. Now Rebecca and Andrew have insisted that she eat a brownie with them."
"What do you think?"
"I think that the poor girl has no idea what's coming next and I want to be a buffer between now and then."
"Of course you do. Just tell me what I'm supposed to do to help."
It really didn't take much for Henry to get on board these days. Either he figured that life would be easier if he played along or he really was beginning to understand her passion for taking care of people.
"Will you be here for dinner tonight?"
"I think so. Ben and I spent time looking at his lot. I've sent him back with some house plans. Maybe if Amanda starts thinking about the future, she'll feel better."
"That's a good idea. Jason and the kids will be here with us for supper."
"Should I pick anything up?"
"Well ..."
"You want ice cream sandwiches, don't you?"
"Would you?"
"Of course I will. See you later."
He was such a good guy. They were never going to be able to run around the house without being fully dressed now. Someone was always there, but Henry never complained. Polly scratched Luke's head, turning to watch the kids at the dining room table.
Jessie Locke was quite small. She was only a few inches taller than Rebecca and her reddish, brown hair hung to her shoulders. A good cut would give it some life and bounce back, but right now, it was straggly and straight. The size six clothing that Polly and her friends had purchased was still a little large on the girl and the pants needed to be rolled up in order to stay above the tops of her feet. The red marks and bruising around her wrists would fade, but there had been a bad cut across the top of her forearm. It should probably have been stitched, but was healing and would leave a large scar. Polly grew infuriated at the thought of that.
The girl reached up to push her hair back and Polly watched her jerk her hand back. What in the world?
"Okay, kids," Polly said, walking back out of the office. "I'm sure that Jessie would like to take a nap. We're eating dinner at six thirty and we should give her a couple of hours of peace and quiet."
"It's okay, Miss Giller," Jessie said. "I actually feel better right now."
The platter of brownies was empty and the gallon of milk was nearly gone. Chocolate always helped.
"Then why don't you kids show her some of the video games we have or start a movie or something. Andrew, maybe you could introduce her to the cats."
"Come on," Andrew said. "You're gonna love these cats. They're named Luke and Leia from Star Wars. Do you know about Star Wars? It's Polly's favorite movie. We watch it all the time. Do you want to watch it? Polly, can we turn the movie on?"
"You know I never mind a little Star Wars. Turn it on and then take her into the office to meet the cats."
Jessie walked over to the bookshelves. "Did you read all of these?"
"These are the books Rebecca and I like to read," Andrew said, pointing to three of the shelves in the middle of the case. "These others are boring."
"Hey," Polly protested. "They're not boring. You'll like them someday. And Jessie, if you want to read any book on any shelf, help yourself."
Andrew tried to draw her into the office, but she stopped and pulled out the first Harry Potter book. "I've never read this. All my friends did, but Mom said it was silly and I didn't need to fill my head with silly things."
Polly bit her lip and waited.
"That's not silly," Andrew said quite loudly. "It's a great book. You have to read it. Have you seen the movies? Polly has those too." He started babbling again and Polly cleared the dining room table. Just try to be sad or depressed around an excitable eleven year old. This one had a new audience and a lot of things to tell her. They would get along just fine.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
"Someone's out there. What's that noise?" Henry asked softly as he tapped Polly's arm in bed.
"It's the television in the other room. What time is it?"
He turned over and swiped a phone on. "It's 4:30."
"It has to be Jessie. Let me check on her." Polly pulled her feet out from around a sleeping dog and put her robe on. Light and sound was coming from her old apartment. Maybe she was just going to call it the media room. It didn't feel like her old apartment any longer. It felt like something new and different.
Polly found Jessie curled up at the end of the sofa, wrapped in a blanket and holding a pillow in front of her.
"Jessie?" she asked quietly, hoping not to scare the poor girl to death. It didn't work, Jessie jumped.
"I'm sorry. Did I wake you up? I was having nightmares."
"It's okay. I'm glad you found your way over here. Do you want to talk about it?"
"Not really."
That made sense to Polly. "What about a brownie?" When in doubt, feed the frightened girl.
"I don't need anything."
"Well, I might need a brownie. Would you eat one if I brought it to you?"
Jessie smiled and nodded, then turned the sound down on the television.
"What are you watching?"
"Just some infomercial. There's nothing interesting on."
Polly put a few brownies on a plate, poured two glasses of milk and, balancing the plate on top of one of them, went back to the media room. Jessie took the plate and one of the glasses from her.
"Thank you," she said.
"Are you interested in this infomercial?"
Jessie shook her head. "Not really. It was just noise so I didn't have to think about anything."
"You have a lot to think about." Polly flipped through her hard drive and found the original Star Wars movie and started it. "If you're going to watch silly noise, this is my favorite thing. It always calms me down." She took a brownie from the plate and tucked herself into the opposite end of the sofa, her feet underneath her.
They watched in silence for a while and finally Jessie put her glass back on the table and asked, "Do you think it's weird that my mom left me out here?"
Nothing like starting with the easy stuff. Polly felt more comfortable dealing with a girl who needed to recuperate from an abusive jerk than one whose mother had left her behind.
She breathed deeply. "I think your mom has a lot t
o deal with, worrying about your dad's health."
"I suppose. You know when I told her I was leaving, she told me that I had to go without any of my things except the clothes I was wearing. They paid for everything and owned it. If I wanted to go with Dennis, I couldn't have any of my own stuff." Jessie started to cry. "She made me leave my guitar. I couldn't even bring Durango. I've never been without him."
"Who's Durango?" Polly asked, scooting a little closer.
Through her sobs, Jessie smiled. "He's a purple stuffed horse Dad gave me when I had my tonsils out. Told me that if I ever got scared I should imagine riding away from it on Durango."
"I'm sorry," Polly said. What in the hell kind of mother pulled this crap? She stopped herself from saying anything. Kelly Locke had her own stuff to worry about, but why in the world would she be so cold to her own daughter?
"She hates me, doesn't she?"
"I can't imagine she hates you. She's angry and has said some things she doesn't know how to take back," Polly said.
"My older brothers never come home. They're married and Denny's wife is going to have a baby. I'm never going to see them again." The girl's tears continued to flow. "I'm never going to see my daddy either and Ethan is stuck at home by himself with her."
"I think he'll be fine," Polly said. She couldn't stand it any longer and moved in to gather Jessie into her arms. At her touch, the tears came harder and the sobs grew louder. Polly glanced at the television, feeling incredible sorrow as Luke Skywalker stood over his aunt and uncle's lost farm on the screen. He had to make a new life too, and if Polly was going to be an Obiwan for another young person who had to start fresh, she could do it. At least now she had a large number of friends around who would help.
Jessie cried and cried and then began to relax in Polly's arms until Polly realized that she had fallen asleep. She looked around and saw Henry standing in the doorway. "Help me," she mouthed at him.
He grinned at her and shook his head in the negative, then crossed his arms.
Polly tried to be angry with him and give him a nasty glare, but when that didn't work, she slowly slid out from under Jessie, replacing her body with a couple of pillows. Jessie sighed in her sleep and stretched out on the sofa. Polly covered her with a blanket, then walked over, took Henry's arm and led him back through the main room and into their bedroom.
"You're a brat."
"What exactly did you want me to do?" he asked with a chuckle. "You handled it."
"She's going to be here for a while. You know that, don't you?"
"I figured as much. But I hope you know she's probably going to need some professional help. That girl's been through a lot."
"Not the least of which was her mother kicking her out of the house with nothing at all and then leaving town before she was found."
"Pretty devastating to her self-esteem. Who does that?"
"A woman who doesn't have much of her own. Did you notice how she was always trying to transform the space around her? I thought it was a tad OCD, but it makes me wonder if she is just so unsure of herself that she has to be in control of everything."
"Okay, what are we going to do with a girl on the couch this morning?"
"She'll sleep for a while. I'm taking Obiwan down to the barn. Everyone will be there and we're going for a ride today. You can do what you'd like."
"Then I'll go to Mom and Dad's house for breakfast. Lonnie is leaving for Ann Arbor today. With the dog."
"Jessie and I will go to the diner for breakfast after I'm back. We'll all meet up later. Tell Lonnie goodbye for me, though."
Polly pulled on jeans and a t-shirt. Obiwan recognized her clothing and jumped down from the bed, wagging his whole body. She scrawled a quick note on a piece of paper and put it on the table in front of Jessie, then took the dog outside and down to the barn. Eliseo's car was parked in front of the barn and she heard noise as she opened the door.
As early as she was, Polly was the last to arrive.
"I can't believe I'm late!" she exclaimed, heading back to the tack room for Demi's saddle. "I've been up since four thirty."
"No worries," Eliseo said. "Everyone was excited to get going." They hadn't been out together for several weeks.
"Where are we headed today?" she asked.
"Since we're all here early, we'll take a longer ride. Ralph Bedford's place is a few miles down the road and I told him we would stop by. He wants to show me an old plow he has."
"That sounds great." Polly cinched the saddle and then Eliseo gave her a hand while she climbed up. He tossed her helmet to her and after checking everyone else, they headed out.
Jason and Rachel went on ahead with Obiwan running back and forth. Polly knew he'd settle down and walk with them once the excitement wore off. He loved these rides.
"Did Henry talk to you yesterday?" she asked Eliseo as they rode.
"About his uncle's house?"
"Yeah. What do you think?"
"I think you are determined to find me a place to live. You just never quit, do you?"
"Hey, you don't have to take it. I was just thinking ..." she paused and looked over at him. Sometimes it was difficult to tell whether or not he was teasing her. He had turned his head away so she couldn't see his lips.
"Thinking what?" he asked.
"Nothing. I was thinking nothing. If you don't want to do it, then it's none of my business."
He finally turned to look at her, his eyes sparkling with laughter. That was Polly's favorite thing about Eliseo. He had the most expressive eyes and when they lit up, they were gorgeous. "I didn't say that. I'm meeting his aunt and uncle to look at the house today."
"I'm kind of worried about you living out there, though," she said.
"What worries you?"
"Well, there's a lot of land around the house and you might want to have your own garden and your own animals. Then what would I do? I need you here."
"I'd like to have a dog of my own," he mused. "And when I want more horses, you and I will talk before I make any decisions. Why don't you not worry about it until something actually happens?"
"You know me better than that. Right?" she said. They watched Jason and Rachel walking their horses back and forth across the road, laughing at something.
"How's he doing?" she asked.
"Jason?"
"Yeah. He's changed so much this summer. I worry about him. He'll be in high school this fall and he's gotten a lot less tolerant of Andrew's antics. He doesn't play as much as he used to."
"He's trying to grow up. It has to be difficult being the oldest male in the family."
"Does he ever say anything to you about that?"
Eliseo had grown quiet and Polly turned her head to look at him. He was watching the two younger riders.
"Eliseo?" she asked.
"He talked about his dad once. I'm very glad that man isn't around here any longer and I'm very glad that I didn't know him when he was."
"That bad?"
"That bad. Jason remembers his mother getting beat up. He only saw it a couple of times before she kicked the man out, but it made an impression."
"I don't think Sylvie realizes that he remembers so much of that time. She knows that he had more exposure than Andrew, but she believes she kept it from him."
"Nope. His dad threatened him one night, too."
Polly gripped the horn of the saddle as she felt the air rush out of her lungs. "He what?"
"He came home drunk one night and woke Jason up. Told him that if he ever took his mother's side again, he'd beat the hell out of him and make sure that Jason could never talk again. He was just a little boy, Polly."
"Oh, Eliseo. And he's never told his mother that?"
"I don't think so. He made me promise not to say anything and I figure that as long as they're safe, there's no reason to bring it up. Jason is okay."
"I'm always so shocked at how awful people can be to each other. Especially to their own children." Polly thought back to the young girl
on her couch. It was going to take a lot for Jessie to get past her mother's rejection, not to mention the abuse and humiliation she'd faced at the hands of the psychopath who chained her in his house.
"Yeah. Just about the time you think you've heard it all, something else comes up that is really close to home. Speaking of kids and abuse, how's that young girl you've rescued."
Polly looked at his face and his eyes were twinkling again. "I'm just not going to get a break, am I?" she asked.
"It's a good thing you're doing. Henry's never going to have a quiet household, but it's a good thing."
"Yeah. Just wait until I start moving them into your house."
"I figure I'm lucky to be one of your early rescues," he said, laughing.
"That's not fair. I didn't feel like I was rescuing you."
"Well, whatever you felt, it's what you did and you need to quit reacting like it's a bad thing. You saved my life."
"You saved yourself. And I hope that Jessie will figure out how to save herself. All I can do is give her a safe place to live until she decides what's next."
"Did your Dad do this?"
Polly thought for a moment. "No, not this, exactly. But our table was always open for people who needed a meal and people did show up. Dad loved making toys at Christmas for kids who needed them and I've found a few thank you notes from people he'd helped."
"At least you come by it honestly." He looked up and called out, "Jason? Rachel? It's the next lane on the left."
Jason gave a wave and they headed into the lane.
"You've really enjoyed spending time with Ralph, haven't you?" Polly said.
"He's such a great old guy. He's even taught me a few things about these horses." Eliseo leaned forward and patted Nan's neck. "They love working and he showed me how to make it fun."
Eliseo urged Nan forward and caught up to Jason and Rachel, then went ahead of them to the barn. He swung off the horse and led her forward and called out, "Good morning, Ralph. We've got the whole crew here."
When there was no answer, he turned around and shrugged. He handed the lead to Jason and said, "Let me knock on the door. I'll be right back."
Tomorrow's Promises (Bellingwood Book 7) Page 19
