"No Joey, I don't and I have to tell you that your attitude and behavior makes me wonder if you were seeing a normal counselor. Anyone who would let you get away with believing those types of things is irresponsible."
She waved as the waitress walked past. "Could we get the ticket, please?"
"Joey, I'm going home now. I don't want you to follow me or try to see me. Ever again. You have made a couple of mistakes and if you cross the line with me, I will be glad to have you thrown in jail. Stay away and don't push me to do something that neither of us want me to do. Will you do that?"
"Sweetheart, you're not going to throw me in jail. You were the one who bailed me out the last time I was there. You stayed with me through thick and thin and I trust you completely."
"Well, that's just foolish." The waitress placed the ticket on the table and Polly grabbed it. Joey tried to take it from her and grabbed her wrist. "You want to let go of that right now, Joey," she said. When he didn't, she repeated, "Right now. Let go or things are going to get ugly in a hurry." She glanced over his shoulder and he turned around. Aaron's face was bright red with fury. "Right now," she said again. He released her wrist.
"You know," he said. "Your friends aren't always going to be close by."
"Don't try to frighten me, you idiot. You have no idea how close my friends are."
She looked at the ticket, counted out cash, found the waitress and pressed it into her hand, saying "Thank you."
Polly picked up her purse, dropped her phone in on top of everything else and strode out of the restaurant. She got into her truck, backed out of the parking place and started the drive home. It wasn't until she pulled into her parking lot that she finally breathed normally again. She looked up, saw the entire place lit up and smiled. It was good to be home.
Chapter Seventeen
"Get up, Polly!" Her eyes opened. What? She heard it again.
"Oh Polly! Get up!"
What in the world? She looked at the clock beside her bed. It was eight o'clock. EIGHT O'CLOCK! Henry was going to be here this morning to check out the floor and she was still in bed.
"Polly!"
"I'm up! I'm up," she shouted out the door.
"You're not really up. Get up!"
Could she live without a shower this morning? Damn. She couldn't think straight. She shook her head, trying to clear the cobwebs, then sat straight up in bed. She threw the blankets back and dropped her legs over the side of the bed and tried to think.
It was Saturday morning, she'd come home in a foul mood last night, but then had stayed up much too late with Doug and Billy's friends. They'd even talked her into baking for them. Bunch of mooches. Then, at some point, she'd left them to their noise and come upstairs. That had to have been ... right after one o'clock. She'd known it was a mistake then and now she was sure it had been a mistake. Who knew she could be so fuzzy with no alcohol in her system. Then, she smiled. It had been a great time. There were boys and girls sitting around tables in her hallway, laughing and playing games. She had no interest in what they were doing, but loved that they felt comfortable enough to spend time in her place. Doug and Billy had been great hosts and cleaned up the kitchen as they went, so she had nothing to complain about, except being late this morning.
Did Henry say what time he was coming over and why was Doug yelling at her?
"Polly! Are you getting up?"
"I'm almost up! What's going on?"
"We're taking you out to breakfast. Now hurry!"
She had to think about it again. What? Why? She ruffled her fingers through her hair and then remembered that she had showered before heading to Boone last night. She'd be fine and at least this meant she didn't have to creep across the upstairs hallway while people were up and running around. Oh, she was going to be glad when she could finally get into her own apartment.
One look around the room, confirmed it was a disaster. Oh well, that could wait until later. She grabbed a pair of jeans and slipped into a flannel shirt. She scuffed her feet into the shoes beside her bed and looked for her phone and her purse. Hmmm, she must have left them in the kitchen. At least she hoped so. She took a quick inventory and decided she was pretty much all together and walked outside her room. There was activity in the apartment across the hall, so she walked that way.
Henry and Ben were inside the door checking things out.
"You're up and moving early today," she said to them.
"Earlier than you are. Sounds like you guys had a heckuva party here last night," Henry commented.
"Really? I didn't notice," she shrugged. "So, how does the floor look to you?"
She could already see that she was going to love it. The wear of the old wood coming through the lacquer was beautiful and she could hardly wait to make this her home.
"It looks really good. I'll be glad to get the next couple of coats on it and then it should be strong enough to take just about anything you've got to give it," he replied. "Ben here is interested in doing some of this on his own, so I've enlisted him to stick close to this project."
"Cool," she said. "It looks wonderful. I'm glad we went with these boards. I can't wait to bring Brad and Lee up to see what you've done with them."
"I think they'll be happy." Henry nodded towards the steps. "Sounds like the boys have some plans for you this morning."
"I know!" she replied. "Where do you go to have breakfast in this town?"
"Probably Joe's Diner uptown. Try the chicken fried steak and eggs, you'll be glad you did. His gravy is terrific."
"Okay! Thanks. See you later!" Polly headed down the steps.
When she got to the bottom, Doug and Billy were there waiting for her.
"Come on! Let's go! We want to take you out to breakfast!" Doug said, filled with enthusiasm.
"Alright, just a minute, though. I need my phone and my purse. I think they're in the kitchen." She walked around behind the stairs and could see no sign of the gaming party from the night before. The trash cans were filled in the kitchen, but everything else had been put away.
"Guys? Did you see my purse and phone?" she called out.
"Oh yeah. We put them in the first cupboard there. On the bottom shelf." Billy called back.
Polly opened the cupboard and sure enough, there were her things. She checked her phone and saw that she had calls from an 857 area code. That had to be Joey. She was going to have to deal with this today. She couldn't take it any longer. But, for now, she was going out to breakfast.
"Are we going to Joe's Diner? Henry said it's pretty good." she said when she walked back out to see the boys.
"Yep and it's on us. We really appreciate you letting us have everyone here last night and we all loved the food and even the cookies you made. So, let's go!"
They were practically dancing to get out the door.
Henry and Ben came down the stairs at that same moment.
"Are we all out of here, then?" she asked.
"I think so." Henry replied.
When everyone was outside, she doublechecked her purse for her keys and pulled both doors shut, tugging on them to make sure they were locked.
Doug turned to Henry, "Are you guys going to breakfast? You know everyone will be there."
Henry looked at Ben, "Breakfast?"
"No, I'd better get home. Amanda told me she'd have something for me when I got there and I’d be dim-witted to not show up when she cooks."
"You're a smart man," Henry said. "Thanks for coming out this morning. We'll see you Monday."
"Thanks, man," Ben said and walked to his car.
"Do you want me to drive?" Polly asked Doug and Billy.
"Nope, we're taking you!" Doug said. She didn't say a word as she waited for him to unlock his beat up red Grand Am. "This is Bellingwood, Polly. We never lock our cars." Billy opened the door and crawled into the back seat and Polly got in the passenger seat. Doug turned the key and said, "You know ... it looks terrible on the outside, but my Dad and me? We've got this thing tun
ed up on the inside."
He turned the key and then revved the motor to prove to her how nice it sounded. She smiled and nodded.
Doug went on. "We're going to redo the body next summer, but until then, I'm cool with it." He patted the dash of the car and smiled with pride at Polly.
"Very nice," she said.
They only had a few blocks to go. Sure enough the parking spaces in front of and across the street from Joe's Diner were filled. They parked around the corner and walked up to the restaurant. Big glass windows had red-checked curtains drawn back. Polly looked inside and wondered if they would even be able to find a place to sit.
"Oh, don't worry," Doug said. "There's always room. Come on!"
The room seemed alive with chatter. She could smell grease from bacon and sausage, pancakes and whatever else happened back in the kitchen. Three waitresses were bustling back and forth laden with coffee pots and plates of steaming hot food. A few people looked up and nodded, but the conversations must have been important because they never stopped talking or listening to each other.
Doug spied a table right in the middle of the room where an elderly couple were getting up to leave. They walked past them on their way to the door which opened as Henry walked in.
"Henry!" Polly heard from around the room. He shook the hands of everyone at the first table, spoke for a few minutes and then moved on. It seemed like he knew everyone in the place.
Doug steered her to the table and said, "Look, do you mind if Henry eats with us? It's either that or he has to sit at the counter."
She shrugged. "No, that's fine. I don't care."
Polly sat down and Billy sat beside her with Doug taking the seat across from her.
Doug called out, "Henry! Over here!"
Henry waved and nodded, then turned back to the table of folks he was chatting with. Finally he made his way to them and sat down across from Billy, just as the waitress was setting down dripping glasses of water on the chipped, multi-flecked, greenish hued table top. She pulled four napkin wrapped place settings out of the pocket of her apron and set them down in front of each person.
"Do you need menus?" she asked.
"Polly might," Doug said. "She's never been here before."
"No," Polly said. "I think I know what I'm supposed to have."
"The specials are on the board up there," and she pointed behind Polly to a large board over the window to the kitchen. "They're the same every weekend, but they're still the specials. Do you want coffee?"
"Bring us a pot, Lucy," Henry said. "We're all going to need it this morning."
"Alright, I'll be back in just a minute." She came back with a wet dishcloth and wiped the table down as each person picked up their water and silverware. "Sorry about that," and pocketed the change that had been left as a tip. A few moments later, she was back with cups and a thermos pot filled with coffee. "Let me know when you need a refill. Now, what do you want to eat this morning?"
She winked at Henry, "Do you want your regular, Henry?"
"Absolutely. And if Polly has what I told her to have, she'll do the same."
"Polly? From the school, Polly? I've been hearing about you," she scratched some more on the ticket she held in her hand.
"What have you heard? I hope nothing bad." Polly said, then remembered. "If Henry is having the chicken fried steak, I want that and I want my eggs over medium, is that alright?"
"Sure honey, what kind of toast? We have wheat, sourdough, white, or an English muffin, but that's 25 cents extra."
"Oh, wheat is fine."
"Boys? What are you having?" Lucy asked.
Doug said, "I'm having the Sunrise Special, sausage patties, hash browns, over easy and white toast."
Billy looked up and when she nodded at him, he said, "I want the Farmer's Omelet with hash browns and white toast, please."
Lucy said to Polly. "I hear you've had some wild things happening over there at that school. Who would believe you had dead bodies in the bathroom upstairs."
"I know!" Polly replied. "Let's just say it's been a busy week or two. I'll be glad when it all settles down."
"I'll get these orders in," Lucy said and walked to the kitchen.
The man at the table next to theirs who was next to Billy said, "Hey Henry. Is this the Polly you're working for right now?"
"It sure is, and you know Doug Randall and Billy Endicott here, don't you, Nate?"
"Sure do,” he replied and then said, "So what's up with all the rumors going around about that old school? First you find bones of those poor little Stevens' girls and then you uncover a treasure trove of stolen stuff from before the school got shut up?"
Henry laughed. "Yeah, I think that Polly got more than she bargained for with that purchase." She smiled and let them chatter. Soon a few more chairs had gathered around and then the table on her side was also involved in the conversation. Everyone wanted to know what they were finding in the crates and who they thought was the thief.
Polly stayed pretty quiet. It didn't seem like any of the conversation was directed at her, though it seemed to be about her. Doug and Billy were lapping up the attention, telling about the scratched lock and why they were staying at the school.
There were many observations regarding who the thief might be, but the general consensus was that it had to be old Doug Leon. Everyone agreed he was weird and since his retirement, he had gotten stranger. He walked around town with a beat up old wagon, picking up bottles and cans, turning them in for the five cent bottle refund. Most people admitted that they left bottles out on the street, knowing he'd pick them up. They were just trying to help the old guy out. He wore a big overcoat, except in the heat of summer when he wore his always dirty overalls. He didn't talk to many people and if they tried to engage him in conversation, he would grunt and walk past them.
Lucy came over with their food and announced that the old man came into the diner every Wednesday at ten thirty after the place cleared out from morning coffee time. He always ordered the same thing: two slices of bacon, extra crispy, one egg over hard on a piece of white toast. She said Joe worried he wasn't getting enough food, so he always put something extra on the plate, but Mr. Leon paid with a five dollar bill each week and told her the extra was her tip. He'd done that every week since she could remember.
From there the conversation turned to the deaths of Kellie and Jill Stevens. Polly could tell that many of the people sitting around talking were about the same age and some had gone to school with the girls.
From the booth behind Doug, she heard, "I always thought it was that boyfriend of hers, what was his name, Buddy something."
"Buddy Landers," said someone else.
"But, they didn't have enough to pin anything on him. He stuck around and everyone thought the girls had left town. He looked so sad that his girlfriend had left him. Everyone felt terrible for him."
"What if he killed them, though? He would have looked sad about that, especially if he felt guilty. Why didn't they push him any harder on it?"
"I heard he had a good alibi for the night they went missing."
"Her parents never accused him of doing anything wrong. They always said he was a good boy and had been nice to both of the girls."
"I heard someone say that Jill didn't like him very much," Polly interjected quietly.
"You're right!" said a woman sitting at one of the other tables. "But we never knew whether she was jealous because Kellie was dating someone or if she really didn't like him. And then when they went missing, no one thought about that anymore. The two girls kind of became a single unit."
"Do you remember all the talk about white slavery?" someone asked.
"Yeah, we were all supposed to keep an eye out for the girls in town because if the slavers came in and took Kellie and Jill, they might come back and take anyone. We all knew those girls were probably in some country far away in a harem or something having to put up with unspeakable things. It was hell on their family."
Aaron Merritt entered the diner and everyone turned to look at him.
"Well, Polly," he said. "It looks like you've gathered a conclave!" He laughed and moved through the people to set his hand on her shoulder.
"I didn't do it!" she protested. "It was Henry. He's the one who knows everyone here."
"So, Sheriff," one of the men asked, "Is the thief and the murderer the same person?"
"We don't know anything yet, Jake. We're still working out all the details. You know we'll tell you what we can when we can."
"Lucy?" he called over the sea of people.
She made her way through the cluster of people and handed him a full cup of coffee. "Your regular, Sheriff?"
"Sure," he said, "Why not."
He gestured to one of the men who passed a chair over the heads of a few people to him. Grabbing the chair, he set it down between Doug and Polly. "Do you guys mind if I join you?" He laughed, then looked around the room, "So have you all got it figured out yet?"
"We're pretty sure you need to talk to old Doug Leon about those crates," one of the men said. "He had keys to everything and was always there before anyone else and stayed after everyone left. He was the one who spent most of the time in the basement messing with those boilers."
"You're right," Aaron said, "We are planning to talk to him. We just haven't been able to track him down."
"Lucy?" he called out. "Was Doug Leon in this week for breakfast?"
"He sure was, Sheriff," she said as she brought another pot of coffee to their table. Polly watched her weave through the people like a pro. She seemed to notice how they were moving and slipped in and out of the open spaces until she got to their table. That was impressive.
"Well, he's still in town, then." Aaron said. "I suppose it is probably time to get a little more forceful at his front door. I had kind of hoped he would come out and talk to us. Oh well," he shrugged. "It will all come together when it does."
He turned to Polly. "Is this your first time here?" She nodded, with her mouth full. "How do you like the food?"
All Roads Lead Home (Bellingwood) Page 18
