"Yep. Apparently, I'm taking him to dinner in Ames to celebrate. He's flying home tomorrow, then back by the end of the week to help me get holiday festivities ready." Polly sighed. "Lydia, I didn't even know I was having holiday festivities. I haven't given any thought to Christmas decorations!"
"It sounds like you just hired a character in this one, Polly!" Lydia said.
"Yes I have and I think he's going to be as much of a surprise to Bellingwood as I was, but there's no reason it can't all work out, right?" Polly heard her voice escalate as panic began to set in.
"Right, dear. You’re a smart girl and you’ve probably made a really good decision. Calm down and enjoy it,” Lydia said to assure her friend. “I was only checking on you and I knew you wouldn't call me to tell me about it. So, when do we get to meet him?"
"Oh, I can't wait for that. Let's plan something this weekend when he's in town. Wait!" Polly said, "Where is he going to stay?"
"Why don't you ask him that," Lydia responded. "I'll bet he's got some ideas."
"Okay. I'll talk to you later. I'm going to walk this dog and think through my decision before I sign anything!" Polly hung up and picked up the pace. "Come on, dog. I need to put a little distance between me and Sycamore House right now. I need to think. Rushing me into a decision. Bah. This one's going to be trouble, I can tell right now!"
They followed the tree line by the creek while Polly processed on what had happened. He was right. She needed him if she wanted to make Sycamore House bigger than a little mom and pop place on the side of the road. He was coming in pretty inexpensively and if he could pull off what he thought he could, his salary would be well worth it. She needed to man up and make this work. She'd sign the contract, get him in position and let him have at it.
It still freaked her out to have had to make a decision like this so quickly. Polly kicked a small rock in front of her and as it skittered out of the way, Obiwan lurched after it. She followed and thought about her Dad. He'd been fearless when it came to making business decisions. He never seemed to second-guess himself or worry about things, but she wished he were here to encourage her and tell her she was doing the right thing now.
When she'd gotten the scholarship to Boston University, he hadn't hesitated. It was the right thing to do and she was going, even if it meant they'd be far apart from each other. When she was offered the job at Boston Public Library after graduation, he only asked her one question - did she want to work there. When she hesitated, he told her she needed to respond with whatever her gut told her to do.
Then Polly realized that even though for some it might seem like she had run away from Boston because of the terrible situation with her ex-boyfriend, Joey Delancy, in truth, she had been ready to make a change and the best change she could have made was to return to Iowa. When her Realtor offered the opportunity to buy the school in Bellingwood at a ridiculously low price, she grabbed it without hesitation.
That was what she needed to remember and that's what Jeff asked of her this afternoon, to be fearless when making the right decision. He was correct. She needed him and he was the best person for the job. She was lucky to have found him and he would bring a lot of value to this little company she was building. It was time to quit worrying and get started.
She turned Obiwan around and they jogged back to Sycamore House. Jeff was walking around the outside of the building, looking around and taking notes.
"What are you thinking about?" she asked as she walked up to him.
"Just planning the Christmas lights. You know we're going to have to get on that right away. Can you organize ladders and cranes and extra help? I know where I can get the lights. They'll be shipped here by Thursday afternoon. I'll be back in town then and if we can get a crew working on Friday, I'll have this place ready to go by the weekend.”
"Umm, okay?" she said. Then with a little more definition, she said, "Alright! Will you let me make a few phone calls right now? I need to find someone who can bring in a cherry picker for us."
"I've signed the contract,” he said. “It's on your desk. And thanks for the computer. It's great. But, I'd like to get a tablet, if that's alright."
"Sure. We can do that in the morning, if you don't mind not wandering around the city."
Polly walked into her office and called Henry. He was the only person who could help her pull this off and if he didn't know who to contact, she was going to have to scramble. She wasn't sure what Jeff was used to, but Iowa didn't move that fast. Hmmm, she guessed they would move that fast now!
Henry assured her he would take care of it. While they were talking, Jeff walked into her office and rubbed his fingers together as if asking for money, she looked at him and he mouthed, "credit card for lights." She stood up, pulled her wallet out and handed him her card, thinking, "This could be a huge mistake." In a few minutes, she heard the printer running and he walked back in with a receipt and her card, leaving them on her desk.
She finished speaking with Henry, who said he would have plenty of people there on Friday to hang lights and then she opened up the folder with Jeff's contract. He'd signed and initialed everything. She signed the rest of it and walked out into the main office. He was already on the phone in his office, so she waited. He waved her in. He said good-bye to whomever he had been speaking with and she laid a copy of the contract on his desk.
"We're ready to go."
He stood up and shook her hand. "Polly Giller. We're going to make a helluva team. You've got something amazing started here and I'm going to rock your socks, girlfriend! Are you ready?"
Polly winked at him. "I'm ready, Jeff. It's time."
She ran Obiwan upstairs to the apartment, changed her clothes and came back down. Jeff was on his phone again, rapidly taking notes. He held his finger up and when he clicked his phone off, said to her, "There isn’t much time, but we're going to give this town a great Christmas. They'll be talking about it for at least a month!
"I have a twenty foot tree coming here on Thursday for the main hall, just past the landing. Two more trees will be coming for the front steps, then you and are I going to talk about the party."
"What party? I'm almost afraid to ask!" Polly declared.
"Your all-community Christmas event. We need to set a date and make sure nothing else in town conflicts, then we'll spread the news. Do you know someone who can cater this thing?"
Polly sighed, "Let's go to dinner. I'll lead you down to Ames, take you to dinner and think about it on the way."
She got in her truck, he ran to his rental car and followed her as they made their way out of town and headed for supper.
Chapter Two
Temperatures seemed to be dropping more every night and made it that much more difficult for Polly to crawl out of her bed in the morning. She was eternally grateful for radiant floor heating. At least she could put her feet on the floor without shivers radiating up her spine. She bundled up and snapped the leash on her dog. Obiwan didn't seem to care about the temperature, he was happy to be outside as long as she was with him. They walked out the front door and had it not been for the street lights, it would have been dark. "It's known territory for us this morning, Obiwan. I'm not tripping into the creek so you can have an adventure.” She patted her coat pocket to ensure she had her phone and a flashlight.
They turned right and walked beyond the school to the concrete pad where the old gymnasium had once stood. Andy told her it had come down the year after the school closed. It was practically crumbling, so the city razed it due to safety concerns. They walked as far as the trees lining the creek and then followed the tree line back to the school. Obiwan sniffed at every leaf and grassy patch. As they passed behind Sycamore House, Polly saw lights from a car, then flashing lights and heard a crunch of tires in her lane as two vehicles pulled in. She and Obiwan continued to walk toward the lane, wondering what might be up. Obiwan took a few sniffs as they got closer and pulled her faster and faster to the vehicles.
When she realized who was gettin
g out of the sheriff's car, it made more sense. Stu Decker had been to Sycamore House several times after her coming home party and Obiwan recognized his familiar scent.
"Good morning, Stu! You pulled a rotten shift!" she said.
"Ah, I took over for a buddy who wanted to go to his girlfriend's Christmas party last night."
"I told them you were a good guy, no matter what anyone says!" she laughed.
"I know that! You keep standing up for me," he replied. "Just a minute, though. I need to deal with this guy."
"Okay. When you're done, if you want to come in for coffee, it's already brewing."
"I might do that. A cup to go would help this night end well."
He bent over to the driver, who had rolled his window down and was handing him paperwork.
"Just a second sir, I'll be right back." Stu said, as he carried it back to his car.
Polly and Obiwan were walking past the car, when the dog pulled away from her and headed for the rear tire.
"What are you doing, Obiwan? Stop that!" she shouted and pulled back on his leash. He continued to drag her toward the car and began digging at something in the wheel well.
"Obiwan! Stop!" The dog pulled something to the ground, then sat in front of it and looked at Polly as if to say, "I found this, is that okay?"
She flicked her flashlight on and saw a package on the ground. Stu left his vehicle and bent down to see what it was. He picked it up, dropped it into a bag he pulled out of his pocket and then went back to the driver.
"Sir, would you get out of the car?" he asked.
The driver's door opened and lights came on in the car. Polly could see a woman in the front seat, rubbing her eyes, as if she were trying to wake up. In the back seat were three small children, all sound asleep. The youngest looked to be around a year old and the other two were several years older than that.
"Sir, I am about to place you under arrest for possession of illegal narcotics, would you please walk around behind the car?"
The man began walking and Polly could see the look of shock on his face. He looked up, peered at her, looked away, then back at her and said, "Polly Giller? Is that you?"
Polly looked more closely and realized she had gone to high school with this man. He dated her best friend, Marsha for two years. "Bruce McKenzie?"
"Polly, I don't know what is going on! I don't know anything about drugs."
Obiwan kept trying to get back to the car, but Polly pulled his leash tight and sternly told him to sit. He sat.
"Please get into the car, sir." Stu walked Bruce around to the back seat and opened the door.
Just then, a third vehicle pulled into the lane in front of the car. Aaron Merritt got out and strode over. Stu took a moment to explain the situation and Aaron walked to the passenger side of the vehicle. "I'm sorry, ma'am, we need you to step out as well."
Fear flitted across her face as she looked into the back of the car. The children were still asleep, as she pulled her sweater tight and stepped out. "What is it? Bruce, what is going on?"
Aaron asked the two of them, "Do you have any family around here who could take your children? This is a serious offense. We need to process this vehicle for further drugs and will be taking you to Boone ."
Bruce said from the back seat, "We were going back to Story City to see if my father would consent to let me work for him. Things have been tough in Denver."
The girl broke in, "He doesn't know we're coming. If Bruce had called to ask, he would have said no, but we were hoping he couldn't say no to our faces. Sheriff, those aren't our drugs!"
"I'm sorry. We have no choice," Aaron replied.
She began to weep as he placed cuffs on her and walked with her back to his own vehicle. At that point, the oldest boy woke up and saw what was happening. He started yelling for his mother, which caused the other two to awaken and begin crying.
"Sheriff, what are you going to do with the children?" Polly asked.
"We'll wait here until Child Protective Services shows up, then we'll let them take care of this." he said.
"Oh, come on!" she protested. "Let me take the kids inside. I'm calling Lydia." She pulled her phone out and dialed, then pressed send. Lydia assured her she would be right there and they would set this straight.
Sheriff Merritt shook his head and sighed. "You aren't helping me do my job, Polly."
"I don't intend to help you do your job,” she said. “I intend to take care of some very frightened kids. Let their mom come over here and tell them it's alright to go with me."
He brought the woman back to the car and opened the back door.
"Sammy, this is Polly," and she nodded at Polly. "She is going to take you into this great big old school and you are going to help her with Emma and Tyler, alright?"
"Mom! What's going on?" the boy cried. "Why is Bruce in that car and why is this Sheriff trying to take you away! Mom!"
"I don't know what's going on right, now, Sammy, but we have to go with them and clear things up. It is all going to be alright. And Polly is going to make sure that you three are taken care of while we're dealing with this. Will you be good?"
"Mom!" he began wailing and jumped out of the car, grabbing at her waist. She leaned over and rested her face on his head. The baby and his older sister were now wailing inside the car.
Polly handed the leash to Aaron, then reached in to unsnap the seat strap and pulled the little boy out with his car seat.
"Sammy,” his mother said. “I need you to be a big boy. You've done such a good job all the way out here with them and both Bruce and I would appreciate it if you could continue taking care of them. Can you do that?"
His wailing calmed down to snorting sobs, "Okay. I'm scared, though. Will they let you come back?"
"As soon as we get this figured out, we'll be back. I promise. Would you get your sister out of the car, so she can go with Miss Polly, too?"
She turned to the Sheriff. “We have a couple of their bags in the trunk. Tyler's diaper bag and a package of diapers are right there in the back seat. Can Polly take those, so the kids have some of their things?”
He looked at the little boy. "Pick out a toy for each of you to play with today, and tonight I will bring the rest of your things." Aaron reached into the back seat and grabbed the diaper bag. He opened it up, rifled through it and thrust it at Polly. "Hug your mom one more time, Sammy, then she needs to get in my car."
Sammy and Emma both hugged their mom and after he handed Obiwan's leash back to Polly, Aaron escorted her to his vehicle. Once she was inside, he walked back over to the car where Polly and the kids were standing. "I don't like this any more than you do, so don't get pissed at me. These two have a lot of explaining to do and I'm guessing that since Obiwan is still trying to dig at the car, there's plenty more where the first package came from. Why they'd carry three kids with drugs in their car, I have no idea. People make me angry some days.
"By the way, how did you train him for that?" he chuckled, nodding at Obiwan.
Polly looked at him and grimaced. "Are you kidding me? I have no idea how he did that. A good nose, I guess."
"We might have to hire him," Aaron replied, "That's a hell of a nose!"
He took Obiwan's leash and the diaper bag back from her and she reached for Emma's hand. The little girl looked up at her tentatively with a tear-streaked face.
"Come on kids," she said. "I have breakfast and a great big room for you to play in today."
She turned back to Aaron, "And I have absolutely no idea what I'm going to do." She reached down, took Emma's hand and began slowly walking across the lawn to the school.
"I'll have CPS call you later this morning and we'll get everything settled. Lydia will be here soon and you know how I love it when she gets involved." He shook his head.
They got to the front steps and he opened the door. Aaron unsnapped Obiwan's leash, who went dashing in and up the steps.
"He thinks it is time for breakfast, everyone. Do you agr
ee?" Polly looked at each of the kids. "Go on upstairs and he'll show you which one is the right door. It's unlocked. Go inside and I'll be right there."
The baby was still crying and the older children were sniffling and sobbing. Somehow, a floppy dog, though, had grabbed their attention and they followed him up the steps.
Polly took the diaper bag back and said, "I've got it now, Sheriff."
"Alright," he said. "We're waiting for a team to come up and take their car to Boone. As soon as they arrive, we'll be cleared out."
He placed his hand on her forearm. "And thank you. This might not be procedure, but there's no reason to upset these kids any more than they already are. We'll get 'em taken care of today."
"No hurries. We'll be fine."
She started up the steps and heard the door shut behind her. Walking in the front door of her apartment, she saw that the two older children had found a place on the floor and were playing with the dog. He ran up to her, wagging and wiggling.
"I know, I know," she said. "It's breakfast." He dashed out to the kitchen and stood in front of his food dish. "Kids, I'm going to put his food in a dish and then get things started for you, would you like to watch some morning cartoons?"
They simply nodded. Polly put the baby down on the floor and walked over to the couch where the remote was sitting. "Do you want to sit on the sofa? It's a lot more comfortable?"
Both children quietly got up and sat on the edge of the sofa. Polly turned the television on and flipped the channel to Nickelodeon. She knew for a fact there were cartoons being played on that channel, she watched them every morning.
"Do you guys like SpongeBob?" she asked, looking at the clock. Yep, almost time. "I watch him every day," she said. The two nodded and watched the television.
"Alright, I'm going to feed Obiwan and then see what we have in here for your brother. His name is Tyler, right?"
Sammy got up off the sofa and walked over to pick up the diaper bag. "I can do it. I help Mom all the time. She has some formula already mixed up in here." He took a bottle out and walked over to the baby whose seat was on the floor.
All Roads Lead Home (Bellingwood) Page 29
