Treasure Uncovered (Bellingwood #3)

by Diane Greenwood Muir

  "I hope you have a good time," Polly said. "The wedding reception should be cleared out of here by eight."

  "We'll be cool," Billy assured her.

  Polly popped her head into the computer room and saw Jason and Andrew chatting with Doug. She'd purchased two inexpensive laptops yesterday and had called Doug to let him know they were in her office. He promised get them back into the conference room by the end of the evening.

  Jason looked up, "Are you ready to go out and work with the horses?"

  "Let me change my clothes. I'll be back in a bit. But, are you sure?"

  "I'm sure," he said. "They're playing all night. I don't want to miss being out there, though."

  She and Jason got everyone fed and bedded down, then Polly sent him back in and walked from stall to stall. It felt good to see the horses doing so well. They were content and happy.

  Henry pulled into the parking lot as she walked back up to the house. They met inside and walked upstairs together.

  "Nice timing," Polly said. She went inside and said, "Give me a few minutes to change."

  "Need some help with that?"

  "Thanks, I've got it," she giggled, her face blushing to a deep red, and went into her room.

  Henry had things set up on the coffee table, so Polly sat cross-legged on the sofa against the far arm rest while Henry took the other end. Obiwan tried to get up between them, but she pushed him back to the floor.

  "Sorry, buddy. This is for humans tonight," she said. The dog dropped down in front where she was sitting and watched every piece of pizza as it left the box and landed on a plate.

  Henry laughed, "That's a bit intimidating."

  "Don't let him fool you. He never gets people food and we're not starting tonight," She reached down and rubbed his head, "Are we, buddy?"

  Henry had harassed her until she pulled out her laptop and settled in to work. Polly chuckled. She ought to keep her mouth shut around the man unless she wanted him to keep her in line. But she'd finished all of the accounting and gotten the bills paid. Henry wasn't terribly excited to watch any of the Star Wars movies again, so he'd settled for watching the latest iterations of Batman.

  "You're a strange girl, Polly Giller," he said.

  "Why do you say that?" she asked.

  "We never watch chick flicks. You like geeky movies better than I do."

  "I like chick flicks. Any time you want to watch a Meg Ryan or Tom Hanks movie, I'm there."

  He shook his head. "I'm not complaining. I swear I'm not complaining. You're weird."

  Polly laughed, "I can't help it if I prefer my men leaping tall buildings or using their minds to create awesome powersuits or showing off their incredible ... ummm ... superpowers!"

  "Uh huh. I'm going to have a tough time competing with that."

  "Oh, you have super powers," she said. "You pull my behind out of the fire all the time and then keep returning to do it again and again. That's pretty super to me.

  "I don't know if those superpowers will save the world, but I'm okay with saving you once in a while."

  When she closed the laptop and said, "Done," he set it on the coffee table, then pulled her next to him and wrapped his arms around her as she snuggled in to watch the end of the movie.

  "You smell great again, tonight, Polly," he said.

  "I'm clean," she laughed, "but trust me; I'm never changing shampoo if you react like this every time you come close."

  Polly turned her face to him and kissed him. All she could think was that he had the most wonderful lips and he tasted fabulous. They continued to kiss until Luke jumped onto Henry's shoulder and tried to find a place to sit.

  She laughed and Henry said, "Your animals send mixed messages."

  "What do you mean?"

  "Well, I'm pretty sure they like me, but I'm also pretty sure they don't like me kissing you."

  "Oh, they're attention hogs. It is pretty funny, though."

  "Yes. That's what it is. Funny." He pulled Luke down onto Polly's stomach. "If anyone had ever told me I was going to have to compete with four horses, two cats and one dog for a girl's attention, I would have laughed in their face."

  Polly looked back up at him, "I hope you know that if you ever want my attention that badly, I will shut the animals in the other room."

  He nodded and grinned. "I might put you to the test someday."

  She sat up, "So, I forgot to ask you. What did you think of Jeff’s new hire? Did you stop by and meet him today?"

  "I did," he replied. "He seems like a good guy. Polly, he's been through a lot. I know that he acts like everything is alright, but no one can have gone through as much as he did and not have baggage."

  "But, do you think the baggage is too much for us to handle? He's not going to come unglued and turn into a crazy man, is he?"

  Henry smiled, "No, I can't imagine that will happen. I shouldn't have said anything. If it's been twenty years since he was burned, he's probably managing it as best he can."

  "Do you think he'll be able to do what he says he can do? Can he help with construction and do maintenance around here? Is he too good to be true?"

  "He knew what he was talking about." Henry shrugged. "I suspect he does have experience in different areas. It's not like you are hiring him forever. If he doesn't work out in a month, it's over, right?"

  "I suppose so." Polly nodded. "I want this to work. I figure that as soon as I hire someone for this job, they're going to find a reason to leave and I'll be back to doing the work myself again."

  "It won't hurt you to take a chance with him. I'd probably hire him if you didn't."

  "Really?" she asked. "That makes me feel better."

  “Tell me again though,” Henry said, “how do you pronounce his name?”

  “I only heard Jeff introduce him, but it’s ell-ih-SAY-oh.”

  “I have never heard that name before,” he commented. “Maybe he’s as unique as his name.”

  They had talked about Beryl's studio. Polly could hardly wait to get started. She wanted to get things going and finished so Beryl could move back in and begin painting again. Henry had pulled her closer.

  "You know it is going to take some time, don't you?"

  "I know, I know. I'm just anxious to get started. She is going to love it!"

  "It's a good thing you don't have more friends, you know."

  "What do you mean by that?"

  "I'd never be able to keep up with all of the work."

  "You'd just have to keep hiring more help. I don't intend for you to ever have enough freedom to leave me for two months again."

  "And I didn't think you cared whether I was here or not."

  Polly elbowed him. "Stop it. I cared. I didn't realize how much. So don't be running away, alright?"

  They had finished watching a second movie and when she yawned and stretched, Henry announced it was time for him to leave.

  "You have to get up early in the morning and take care of those behemoths in your barn. I'm going to let you get a good night's sleep," he said.

  It was dark downstairs. The wedding party had left and the kids playing games were gone as well. Polly triggered the lights on and they walked down with Obiwan.

  She had kissed him goodnight at his truck and then opened the gate to the pasture so Obiwan could make one last quick run. The night sky twinkled with stars and when she whistled, Obiwan returned and they’d gone upstairs to bed.

  Polly looked at the clock. Six forty-five. Good heavens, the horses would be wondering where she was! She jumped out of bed and pulled on her jeans and boots, a flannel shirt and sweater under her jacket. Obiwan followed her outside and when she got to the barn, she was surprised to see Eliseo already scooping out stalls.

  "Good morning?" she said, posing a question.

  "Good morning, Miss Giller. I was up early this morning and thought I would help you out here. I want to thank you for giving me a chance."

  "Well, okay. Umm, I was going to say I would introduce you to
the horses, but it looks like you've already made their acquaintance." They were all happily eating and Demi looked up when he heard her voice. She slipped into his stall, with fresh shavings already laid down. "Good morning, Demi. I'm not quite sure what to do with this," she whispered. "Care to give me some advice?"

  Demi nickered and pushed her with his nose as if to say hello and then went back to his breakfast. Polly walked into each of the other stalls and greeted her horses. Eliseo was finishing up in Nan's stall and opened her door to the outside after Polly had stopped by. Nan went dashing out to the end of the pasture and then came back to the front and waited while he let the rest of them out.

  "I don't expect you to do all of the work out here," she said to Eliseo.

  "Miss Giller, you have no idea how much I've missed being around horses. These are quite a bit bigger than what I'm used to, but they are such beautiful creatures, don't you think?"

  "I do, and honestly, a little help here and there is wonderful. However, the horses aren't necessarily in your job description."

  "I won't do anything with them if you don't want me to, but I'd love to help you out. Like I said, I've missed horses."

  Polly couldn't believe how the horses had reacted to him, or rather, how they had not reacted to him. They were very comfortable with him and it made her feel a little jealous.

  "I can't ask you to do my work," she said, "but I won't stop you from doing whatever you'd like around here. Now that I've had them in my life for a couple of months, I can't imagine giving them up, so I get it. But, I'm surprised at how they are already so comfortable around you."

  He looked up, a little startled. "I didn't think about that," and went back to scooping Nan's stall. Polly watched as he wheeled the cart out to the manure pile. He came back in, rinsed things down and put them away.

  "I'll go up and drop some more hay down. It's getting a little low down here," he said and pulled down the ladder leading to the loft.

  Polly began to follow him up the ladder, "I can help you and it will go that much faster," she said.

  He stopped her, "No, you stay down here. I've got this."

  She stepped back. "Alright," she called out. "I'm going to go out and work with Nat this morning."

  "I'll come out later and you can show me what you do with them," he called back down.

  Polly felt completely intimidated by that comment. She was doing exactly what Mark had taught her to do with the horses and not much more. Her confidence level regarding her knowledge of working with them was pretty low. When it was only her and the horse, she was fine. They didn't know what she didn't know, but she wasn't ready to prove her incompetence to someone else.

  She walked outside, pulled out her phone and dialed Mark.

  "Good morning, Polly!" he said. "How are things at the ranch?"

  "Good morning to you. What are you doing this morning?"

  "Oh, I'm sitting on a beach sunning my behind. Why? What's up?"

  "No really. Are you heading out to a farm?"

  "Not until later. I think most of the calves that were going to be born have been born by this point. Do you need something?"

  "I'm a little embarrassed to even ask you this," she said as she walked further away from the barn. She explained about her new employee and his apparent comfort with her horses, as well as her discomfort at being thought an incompetent with them.

  "Would you mind giving me a little time this morning and also check him out to see if he knows all that he says he knows?"

  "Polly, I'd do almost anything for you and those Percherons. Who are you working with this morning?"

  "It's Nat's turn."

  "Get him ready to go and I'll be right over. This is much better than what I was going to have to do here at the office."

  He turned away from the phone and she heard him shout in the background, "Marnie. I have to go over to Polly's. You get to do inventory by yourself."

  When he came back, he was laughing. "You might need to bake some cookies for Marnie. She hates you now."

  "I didn't mean to take you away from something important."

  "I hate this part of it and generally do whatever I can to get out of it, but then she wrestles me to the ground and makes me count stuff until I forget what number comes next. This is perfect. I'll see you in a while."

  Polly felt as if a weight had been lifted when she went back into the barn. Eliseo was in the feed room, stacking bales of hay as she grabbed the halter and lead rope for Nat. She called him to her and he came trotting from the tree line. Thank goodness he had decided to be obedient today of all days. By the time she had him in the pen, Mark was walking towards her.

  Of all four horses, Nat loved Mark the most. He had been in the worst shape when he arrived at Sycamore House, but had responded immediately to Mark's strength and care. This morning, he waited patiently as Mark approached them.

  "Let's see how our boy is doing this morning," Mark said. He leaned in to Polly. "Is your new man in the barn?"

  "Yes, he'll probably be out in a few minutes. He was stacking hay bales."

  "Really?"

  "Yeah. And I'm complaining because?"

  "No kidding!"

  "He fed them and mucked out the stalls this morning before I even got here," she said. "And it was exactly how I would do it, too." Polly sounded a little disgusted.

  "The jerk!"

  "Oh, shut up, you." she laughed. She got Nat started at a walk and then realized Mark had left her. Eliseo had come out to the fence and he and Mark were shaking hands, introducing themselves to each other. She heard them laughing and Mark opened the gate into the main pasture and walked through. Before she knew it, the two men were hauling hay out and then walking through the pasture to talk to the horses.

  She'd gotten distracted while watching them and realized that Nat had stopped and was looking at her.

  "Oh, whatever," she said and sent him a signal to begin a trot. He obeyed and she concentrated on him rather than the men who were obviously out to usurp her position as top dog of the horses. Even Obiwan was following them around, panting for attention.

  "Stupid men. Why do I have so many of them in my life?" She was frustrated and distracted, and shortened Nat's workout. He didn't seem to mind as she released him back into the pasture. He took off without a look back and Polly decided a little pouting was appropriate, so she went back into the barn and after hanging Nat's halter on his hook, walked into the feed room and kicked a bale of hay, only to discover that it wasn't quite as forgiving as it looked.

  With more than a little attitude, she opened the back door of the barn and called out, "I'm going back to my office since you all don't need me," pulled the door shut and stalked up to Sycamore House. When she realized she didn't have her dog with her, she was too embarrassed to go back and get him and hoped that one of them would make sure Obiwan got back to her.

  Noise in the kitchen told her Sylvie was already there, so she went in and found her friend peering intently at the laptop screen.

  "Hey, Sylvie, you're here early."

  "I know. The boys were being awful, so I put cereal on the table and left the apartment. I told them I'd be back to get them later, but I didn't want to be around them this morning."

  Polly laughed, "I swear, it must be a testosterone thing this morning. Is there something in the air? I stomped away from Eliseo and Mark because they were pissing me off."

  "Who?" Sylvie asked.

  "Oh, you haven't met him yet! We hired a new maintenance man slash custodian yesterday. Eliseo Aquila. He knows horses and decided to help me out with them this morning."

  "And that's a bad thing."

  Polly rolled her eyes. "No, it's probably not a bad thing. If I'm being totally honest, I still don't feel like I know what I'm doing with them and I might not have wanted him to watch me be inept."

  "You're not inept. Don’t say that about yourself."

  "Anyway, so I called Mark and asked if he could come over and give me a little
support and maybe check Eliseo out. Some support. All he did was make friends with him and leave me."

  "That's terrible!" Sylvie laughed.

  "I know!" Polly agreed. "So, I walked off in a pout, because it seemed like the thing to do."

  "You tell 'em, girl."

  "So, ummm, would you like me to get your boys this morning and bring them over here? Because it sounds like you did the same thing, only you can get away with it because you're the mom."

  Sylvie laughed out loud. "I did do the same thing, didn't I? No, they'll be fine for now. They'll eat cereal and watch morning television without me around to bother them, then I'll call and make sure they're ready to go and they can come over later. Are you sure you're okay with that?"

  "I love having them around and even if I'm not here, I'm okay with that. I'm going into my office for a while, in case Mark wants to talk to me or someone brings my poor dog back inside. Talk to you later." Polly left the kitchen, went to her office, sat down and woke up her computer.

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  Tapping her mouse to move cards, Polly looked up from her Solitaire game when Mark Ogden and Obiwan walked into her office.

  "Hey," he said and dropped into one of the chairs.

  "Hey back," she responded, with no inflection in her voice. She was still a little annoyed with him.

  Obiwan sat down in the doorway and watched them.

  "I don't know where you found him, but you have to keep him around. He knows a lot about horses and he likes yours."

  "How does he know mine well enough to like them?" she asked.

  Mark scowled at her. "Why does it bother you?"

  "Because I barely have an understanding of what I'm supposed to be doing with them and along comes someone who is practically a professional. Aren't I supposed to be the one in charge?"

  He continued to scowl. "You have got to be kidding me."