"No, I'm not kidding you. I've spent less than three months with them and finally feel like they trust me. I don't want someone to come in and usurp me."
"Polly, you need the help. You can't keep this up."
"I've got Jason," she pouted, pursing her lips.
"He’s a twelve year old boy who loves your horses, but knows less than you do. Eliseo will be good for Jason, too, if he wants to keep learning."
Polly sighed. "You men drive me crazy sometimes. I think you might be ganging up on me."
"That's exactly what we're doing. Get over yourself, woman."
It was Polly's turn to scowl. "I'll sic my dog on you."
"I'm terribly worried. Come here, Obiwan."
Obiwan walked over to Mark and wagged his tail. Polly shook her head. "If I didn't have such a great thing going here, I'd say my life stunk, but I'd never get away with that, would I."
He laughed at her. "I don't think so. But, really. He’s fine. He is comfortable around horses, he's already shown you that he is a hard worker and wants to please you. Don't let yourself get worked up by this."
Mark stood up to leave and Polly had a thought flit through her mind.
"Just a second," she asked. "Are you interested in Sylvie?"
"What?" Shock filled his face.
"Sylvie Donovan. Are you interested in dating her?"
"I don't know. I hadn't given it much thought."
"So you haven't like dated or anything?"
"No! Where is this coming from?"
"Nothing. I thought that you might ask her out on a date after the hoe-down. You danced a lot with her."
"Is she interested in going out with me?" he asked.
Polly shrugged. "I don't know. We haven't talked about it much. She's been busy with school and," she paused. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said anything."
"Did I screw something up?" he asked. "I can be dense sometimes."
"I don't think so. I had a million thoughts happening in my head and then my mouth opened up and one of them came out."
"Should I be asking her out?" Then, he spoke quietly, "Isn't she like ten years older than me? I didn't even consider it. Oh, I'm an idiot."
"No!" Polly said. "No, you're not. She hasn't said anything and I stuck my nose in where it didn't belong. Don't even think about it."
"Well, how can I not think about it now? You’ve put it in my head!"
"I know you well enough to know that with very little effort, you can drop it right back out of your head, too. Don't worry about it."
He chuckled. "You have a mean streak. Alright, I'm going to go back and let Marnie beat up on me, too."
Mark stepped toward her door, then turned around and said, "By the way, I don't know if you heard about the break-ins that have been happening around town, but make sure you keep things locked up for a while."
"I heard about one of them, have there been more?"
"Two other farms have been hit and Sam Lewiston's pickup was robbed. They broke his tool box open, destroying it. They knew what they were looking for."
"What are they looking for? I can't imagine I have anything they'd want around here."
"They're going for high ticket tools and equipment, things they can sell quickly. I can't believe Sam's dog didn't hear them doing all that damage, but he didn't find it until the next morning. I know you don't have a lot in the way of tack yet, but Dave Samuels lost two saddles and quite a bit of equipment."
"I'll talk to Eliseo and make sure he knows and we'll keep an eye on things."
"Tell Henry to keep things locked down at his place. That man has some serious tools over there."
"Thanks for letting me know about this. I'm surprised I haven't heard more about it."
"No problem. Give me a call if you need anything," Mark said and put his hand on the door sill to walk out.
"I will. Thank you for coming over and telling me what you think of Eliseo."
"See you later!"
He left and Polly looked at her dog. "You're a traitor. Come on. Let's go upstairs and get me cleaned up for the day."
When Polly came back downstairs, Hannah McKenzie was coming in the front door. She and her husband, Bruce had returned to the area from Colorado before Christmas and everyone was delighted that Sylvie could use her hands in the kitchen for some of the bigger events occurring at Sycamore House. Polly had known Bruce in high school; he had dated her best friend. As she thought about it, he was the only person from home she had any contact with and that was only because he had ended up in her driveway when the deputy sheriff pulled him over for speeding. The world was quite small.
"How are you and Bruce doing?" Polly asked.
"It's not always easy, but so much better than we anticipated. It's nice having his mother around. The kids have fallen in love with her and oh my, but they love being out on the farm. They're turning into regular little farm kids. Sammy loves the tractors and even though Bruce's dad tries to be gruff and tough around him, you can tell that little boy has his heart. The other day I watched my little guy reach up and tug the old man’s hand out of his pocket while they walked out to the barn after breakfast. The old man didn't know what to do other than hold it."
They walked back to the kitchen together. "How long will you live there? How are things going with all of you in the same house?"
"We're managing for now, but I told Bruce the other night that we should have enough saved to rent a place in town by June first. It will be nice to have my own kitchen again and be able to scold the kids out loud if I need to," Hannah laughed. "His mom has never said anything, but I don't want her to hear me if I ever have to completely wig out on them."
Polly laughingly agreed. "I get it. Most of my outbursts around here have been pretty public and it takes a few days before I believe people aren't staring at me to see if I'm going to grow horns. I hate it."
"What do you hate?" Sylvie asked as she came out of the storage room.
"I hate making a public spectacle of myself when I'm angry," Polly laughed.
"Yeah. You've really gotta rein that in, girl," Sylvie chuckled. "It's always better if you come off as the poor, pathetic female, right Hannah?"
Hannah looked back and forth between the two of them. "I-umm-yes-no?"
Sylvie tossed her an apron. "I'm kidding. Don't worry, I haven't lost my mind or my superhero girl points."
"Speaking of girl points, Sylvie, are you interested in Doc Ogden?" Polly asked.
Sylvie stopped in her tracks, tilted her head and turned back around to face Polly, "What? Did he say something to you? I haven't talked to him since the hoe-down and that's been a couple of months ago. I know I waved at him when he walked past the grocery store a couple of times, but I wave at everyone. I see him when he's here sometimes. Why? Does he think I'm making a pass at him?"
She sucked in a breath, ready to get started again and Polly interrupted her, raising her hand. "No! He didn't say a word. I was just asking. He'd probably die if he knew I was asking you this question. But, I thought you were crushing on him a little. You tend to pay attention to him when he's around."
Hannah had pulled the apron over her head and was poised in mid tie, her hands behind her, again watching the two of them.
"Good heavens, Polly. He's nearly ten years younger than I am. When I'm sixty, he'll still be a kid!"
"Yeah. But,"
"No buts about it. I don't play in that sandbox," Sylvie said. "Boys that age still want a hot young woman who hasn't given birth to two children and lived a difficult life. Some other woman is going to have to raise him. I'm busy with my own."
Polly put both hands up and said, "Got it. You're not interested."
"Don't get me wrong. That is a pretty hot package to look at and he's fun to flirt with, but a man is going to have to have a whole lot of life behind him before he can deal with what I've got to manage."
Polly laughed. "Well, that does make it a lot easier, then."
"Makes what easier? Ar
e you going to try to go out with him again?"
"Me?" Polly gasped. "Oh no, not me. My friend, Sal, from Boston is coming into town on Wednesday and my random brain processing was planning an evening out with her and Henry and," she paused, "I needed another person of the male persuasion. But, if you and Mark were playing some kind of distant, non-engaged dating game, I didn't want to intrude on it."
"Well, that's a good idea, but what gave you the notion that he and I were interested in each other?"
Polly dropped her head. "Truthfully, nothing, except a little spark of excitement from the dance. I thought the two of you were having a good time together and then I thought there might be something more if either of you gave it an opportunity."
"Oh, lord no. It was fun to dance with him because he makes it so easy, but that's all there was to it."
"Well, then, I've made a huge deal out of nothing and I'm sorry," Polly laughed.
She heard footsteps in the hallway and turned around to see Eliseo coming in from the side door. He glanced into the kitchen and then turned to head for the basement.
Polly called out, "Eliseo?"
He turned back toward her, "Yes, Miss Giller?"
"I'd like you to meet a couple of people. You'll be working with them quite a bit."
He came into the kitchen and Polly introduced him to Sylvie and Hannah.
"It's nice to meet both of you," he said, shaking their hands. "Be sure to let me know if there is anything you need." He turned back to Polly. "I was going down to the basement to see what tools you had and take a glance at some of the heating and cooling equipment. Mr. Lyndsay gave me a quick tour, but I want to spend time getting better acquainted with everything."
"Thank you, Eliseo," she said.
He started to walk away, then turned back and said. "I'll be back to begin setting up tables and chairs in the auditorium. I have the layout." He pulled a neatly folded piece of paper from his back pocket. "If there are any changes you would like to make, Mrs. Donovan, let me know."
He left and Sylvie said, "What a nice man. I hope he stays around for a while."
"So do I," Polly replied. "It would be nice to hold on to someone longer than a couple of weeks."
"What do you think happened to him?" Hannah whispered.
"I think he was burned in Desert Storm back in the nineties," Polly said. "I haven't asked him myself, but that's what Jeff said."
Hannah put both of her hands on her cheeks, "Can you imagine the horrible pain of that burn?"
Sylvie jumped in, "The worst pain had to have been the months and years it took to recover from it." She turned to Polly, "You're taking a risk. Do you think people are going to have trouble with him working here?"
"Because he's disfigured?" Polly asked, shocked.
"No!" Sylvie gasped, "Because he's Hispanic."
"What in the world do you mean by that?"
"Polly, have you ever noticed the color of people's skin in this town?"
"I didn't know I was supposed to."
"It's pretty pink. The only brown that happens comes from tanning beds and trips to the Caribbean."
"Well, that's just crap. This is the twenty-first century. Are you kidding me?"
"You're back in small town Iowa, Polly. Some of the towns that have packing plants around here have had to deal with a lot of prejudices. There are whispers that Bellingwood is lucky because we don't have to worry about having more than one language in town."
"Gah!" Polly spat, "The next thing you're going to do is tell me we have a chapter of the Ku Klux Klan here."
"We used to! There are still people in town whose parents and grandparents were members of the Klan. I read somewhere that it is trying to make its way back into Iowa small towns. People don't like the fact that the world gets into their safe, little town."
"Don't tell me you feel that way, Sylvie."
"Oh, good heavens no," she said. "I want my boys to grow up knowing there is no difference in people, but I also want you to know that you are pushing a lot of buttons with the people you are hiring here at Sycamore House."
Polly stopped and took a deep breath. "If I ever hear any nasty bigotry directed at people who work here or who are guests here, I will throw a bigger tantrum than this town has ever seen. They can keep their pre-World War One sensibilities in their own homes. That man served this country and was wounded for it. And that shouldn't even matter. But it had better."
She hit the door frame with her fist as she left the kitchen and stalked to her office. Jeff stepped out of his office to speak to her, took one look at her face and stepped back in. Polly shut the door without slamming it, sat down at her desk and took a deep breath. She took two more and shut her eyes, trying to regain control. She wasn't angry with Sylvie, who was only trying to prepare Polly for what could come, but her fury at the injustice of it was making it difficult to regain her composure.
A knock at her door got her attention and she looked up to see Sylvie standing there. Polly beckoned for her to come in.
"I'm sorry I said anything, Polly. Maybe you'll never hear a word against him and it wasn't my place to make you think twice about who you hire. Heck, you put your trust in me and the last thing I want to do is hurt you."
"No, it's alright. I'm nearly back to normal. I get worked up when I know there is nothing I can do to change bad behavior. Bigots have spent a lifetime building up their beliefs and I can't change it because I'm mad at them."
"That's why I started talking to my boys a long time ago," Sylvie said. "I don't want them growing up like my mother did. It took everything she had in her to give me the freedom not to hate, but she'd had a fear of other races ingrained in her. Even when she knew it was wrong, she would cross to the other side of the street or try to avoid people in the mall in Des Moines. Then, every night she would sit down with me and tell me that I should listen to what she said and not watch what she did. She hated that her fears caused her to do that, but she couldn't shake them."
"I wasn't angry at you, Sylvie. Please know that."
"I do, but I also shouldn't have said anything. I think both things about him shocked me enough that I was stupid and then I opened my mouth."
"We're fine. I'm alright."
"Speaking of alright, did you see Beryl yesterday? How is she doing?"
"I'm going back over there this morning. Hopefully she won't have killed Andy yet. I think this process of living together is going to last less than a week and Beryl will be back at her own house."
"Can you imagine taking care of that woman?" Sylvie laughed.
"Not really. She mooned an intern at the hospital on purpose because he was asking her too many questions."
"Oh, no!"
"Exactly."
"Tell her I love her and I'll stop by Andy's tomorrow with goodies, okay?"
"I will."
"Now," Sylvie said, "I'm going to change the subject again. Do you know where Eliseo is staying?"
"I don't. He asked if we would give him a month's trial run here before he gave us all his information, so I know very little about him. Why?"
"I was only wondering. I haven't seen him downtown much. Do you mind if I keep the refrigerator stocked and tell him that he can have some of the leftovers from these events? I might show him where things are in the kitchen. One man isn't going to eat all that much."
"That's fine, Sylvie. The kitchen is yours, you know that. You and Jeff are dealing with the budgets for these events, so as long as you know what you're doing, I'm fine with it."
"Thanks. I'm going back to work. I think poor Hannah was a little worried about us. Between you asking me about Doc Ogden and my asking you about Eliseo, she probably thinks we hate each other now. I should fix that."
"Love you, Sylvie. You're awesome," Polly said.
Sylvie walked out the door, stopped herself with a hand on the door frame, "Love you too Polly. I'm glad you're my friend. I can't imagine how boring my life would be right now. I love seeing people when
they come into the grocery store, but I knew that I needed something more. You helped me find it. So, ... yeah. Thank you."
"You'd have figured something out. You're pretty smart." Polly winked at her friend, who quickly left the office.
She grabbed her keys and phone and poked her head in Jeff's office, "I'm going to be gone for a while. Do you need anything from me?"
"Are you alright? You looked pretty pissed."
"I'm fine. I hate realizing that there are some things about people I can't change or fix. Do you have everything ready to go for this big shindig today?"
"They're coming in at noon to start decorating. Until then everything will be fine, but after that, if I were you, I'd stay far, far away from the auditorium."
"Say, does Eliseo have a phone?" she asked.
"I don't think so, why?"
"Get another phone for Sycamore House and give it to him. If he stays, great, it’s his, but if he leaves, stick it in a drawer until we get another custodian. Don't you think we should be able to reach him?"
Jeff smiled and nodded. "That's a good idea. I'll take care of it."
She went outside, got in her truck and pulled out of the parking lot. It was a beautiful Saturday and she needed to be out in it. She drove through Bellingwood, not sure where she was going. At some point, she would end up at Andy's house, but not yet. She pulled into a parking space down town and texted Andy, "Would you and Beryl like me to bring something fun for lunch?"
"Lydia has already taken care of it. There's plenty. Come over any time," Andy texted back.
She heard sirens and in her rear view mirror, she saw two Bellingwood police cars fly down Elm Street. Doing something she hadn't done since she was in high school, she backed out of the parking space, went around the block and followed them. They made a couple of turns and before she knew it, they had stopped in front of Harry Bern's empty house. She hung back and watched as Ken Wallers and another young man she didn't know got out of their cars. They had pulled their weapons and were approaching the house.
Polly knew she shouldn't be there, but couldn't leave now. She watched Ken open the screen door and the other man go around to the back of the house. Ken put his hand on the door and it pushed open. He entered the house and she had no idea what happened next, so she called Lydia.
Treasure Uncovered (Bellingwood #3) Page 12
