"Oh, Jeff. I'm not," she sighed. "What was I supposed to be doing?"
"I've got wreaths and trees showing up in two hours. You were going to have people ready to string lights on the trees and then we were going to start popping corn so we could string cranberries and popcorn. Remember? You thought it would be quaint."
"Right. Quaint," she said. "Jeff, why didn't you stop me from saying that?"
"Because you were pretty sure you could pull it off. And I'm only the employee," he chuckled. "So, I take it you aren't ready?"
"No, it's fine. Bring on the trees. I'll get people here to start working on this. Is there anything else I'm supposed to do?"
"I think I've got the rest of it. The string quartet and guitar duo, which will play Christmas carols all evening, are scheduled." he said. "By the way, have you heard anyone in town talking about this? I've got flyers all over town and the newspaper is running a short article tomorrow."
"It seems like everyone is talking about it, so I think the place is going to be packed. The whole town wants to see the school, and I'm afraid it might be a little crazy."
Andrew stirred on the cot and sat up, rubbing his eyes. Polly walked over and handed him the remote to the television. She assumed this made her a terrible parent, but things were going too quickly for her to manage all the niceties of parenting.
"Just a second, Jeff," she said as she checked on the bedroom once more.
"What's going on there, Polly?"
"Oh, you wouldn't even believe it," she said. "While you were running around Ames and Des Moines yesterday, I became a home for wayward children."
"What exactly does that mean? How many kids do you have there?" he asked.
"Five," she said as she walked back to the kitchen. Polly told him about the events of yesterday and he moaned.
"Well, I guess that will teach me to be out of touch with you for a day," he said. "What are you going to do with all these kids?"
"Hopefully their parents will be back by tonight. But, don't worry, I'll still round up help to decorate the trees," Polly said.
"Alright," he responded. "I'll be there when the deliveries start coming in. You go be a mommy, now, alright?" he teased.
"Thanks for your support," Polly laughed. "I'll see you later."
Jason had come back in with Obiwan, who was jumping up on Polly's legs as she ended the call with Jeff.
"Okay, okay!" she said. "I'll get food for you! Patience, my little Obiwan, patience!"
Jason was standing at the counter. "I think it’s totally cool that you named him Obiwan. Do you like Star Wars?"
"Do I like Star Wars?" Polly laughed out loud. "I can't even begin to tell you how many times I've watched the original trilogy. Hey! Do you guys want to watch it this morning? I'm always up for a little Luke Skywalker!"
She walked over to a bookshelf and pulled out her Star Wars videos. "Here," she said to Jason as she handed him a disk. "This is the version originally shown in 1977. There are no strange updates to it. Han shot first."
He looked at her quizzically.
"Oh, never mind. Just put it in the player." Polly peeked in the bedroom again to see Emma looking at her. She whispered to the little girl, "Are you ready to be awake?"
Emma's stage whisper seemed loud enough to wake the dead, "I am, but Sammy said he doesn't want to get up yet."
"Is Sammy awake, too?" Polly asked.
"He's hiding it, but, he's awake."
Polly whispered back, "We're watching Star Wars out here, do you want to come out in your jammies and watch it with us?"
Sammy jumped up, "I love Star Wars! I watch that all the time with Bruce!"
"Come on out," Polly said. She pulled the blanket off the end of the bed and looked in at the baby. Tyler was still sleeping.
"Be very quiet so you don't wake Tyler up," she whispered. The two children tiptoed out of the room and once they broke the threshold, ran to the sofa. She carried the blanket over to them and tucked it around them, including Andrew in the crowd. Obiwan had seen all of the activity and jumped up on the couch, landing on Emma and Sammy's laps. They laughed as he ran across them to lick Andrew in the face. He finally settled down beside Andrew, and Jason tucked himself in on the other side of the dog. Polly’s heart could hardly stand it. She pulled her phone out of her back pocket and clicked a couple of pictures. This was definitely a memory she wanted to keep.
Once breakfast was ready, Polly pried the kids away from the movie so they could eat at the table, then sent them scurrying to get dressed for the day. Tyler finally woke up and she gathered him into her arms as she fed him breakfast. Soon, everyone was dressed and ready to go. There was a knock at the front door and all of the kids looked at her expectantly.
"Go ahead!" she laughed. "One of you get the door!"
Lydia and Andy came in behind Sammy and Emma, who had raced for the entryway. "Good morning, everyone!" Lydia said. "We're going to steal you away for the day so Polly can get some work done."
"Where are we going?" Emma asked.
"How would you like to go see a train?" Lydia said.
"I love trains!" Sammy exclaimed.
"That's great, because we're going to go ride a Christmas train today. Someone told me that Santa might show up, too! What do you think about that?"
Jason and Andrew sat on the couch, not saying a word.
"Oh, boys," Lydia exclaimed. "You're going too. Don't worry. We wouldn't leave you out!" Both of their faces lit up.
Lydia went on. "Your mom will be here in a few minutes and we'll all drive down to see the train. She decided you could take the day off from school. Do you know where your winter coats are? Go get 'em!"
Emma and Sammy dashed into the bedroom as Lydia came over to take the baby from Polly's arms. She said to Polly, "Aaron says you need to get down to the courthouse in Boone this morning if you're going to bail them out."
"Oh, Lydia, thank you!" Polly said, then remembered something and cried, “Oh no. Jeff has Christmas stuff showing up here in a couple of hours."
"Why in the world did you hire him if you can't trust him to take care of it?" Lydia asked. "Call him and tell him you're busy. He's a smart boy. He'll manage fine without you."
Polly called Jeff and told him what was happening. He assured her that he would take care of everything. As soon as Sylvie showed up, the three women got the children all packed into cars and took off for the train in Boone. Polly changed into something a little more professional, spent a few minutes looking at the map online for the County Courthouse, then took off, not knowing at all what would come next, but hoping someone would steer her the right way.
By one o'clock that afternoon, Polly was on her way home with Bruce and Hannah McKenzie in her truck.
"Polly, I can't thank you enough," Bruce had said over and over.
"Don't worry about it, Bruce. We'll get this figured out," she replied.
"How are my kids?" Hannah had asked the moment they were out of the courtroom.
"They're doing fine. I've probably let them watch way too much television, but otherwise they're fine. A couple of older boys I know came over yesterday and spent the night with us in the apartment and I think Sammy had a great time with them. They love my dog and everyone slept well.
"Lydia, the wife of Sheriff Merritt, took everyone down to the Santa train today. I don't know if they'll be back when we get there, but I texted her to let her know you guys were going to be with me at Sycamore House." Polly had come up with everything she could to assure Hannah McKenzie that her kids were alright.
"They miss you guys, but they're safe and healthy," she said.
"Polly," Bruce said after a lengthy silence. "I need you to believe that neither Hannah nor I know anything about those drugs in the car. I have no idea how they got there. I don't want you to think we'd ever expose those kids to something like that."
"That's fine, Bruce," Polly replied. "It's not up to me."
"No, really, Polly," he said, "You h
ave to believe me. Someone has to believe me!"
"Sheriff Merritt is the most fair, honorable men I've ever met, Bruce. If there is any proof that you didn't do this, he'll find it. So, don't worry about what you can't fix today. Let's figure out what is going to happen next. Are you going to call your Dad?" she asked.
"Gah!" he spat. "I can't imagine what he’ll say when he hears this. He's never going to let me work for him. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if he won't even let me see Mom." His shoulders slumped and Hannah reached over and put her hand on his knee. He covered it with his own hand.
"This has been the worst year,” he said. “First Hannah lost her job when Tyler was sick. Then, my hours were cut. We lost everything. The house, the car. Everything. I scraped enough money together to buy an old beater and pay for food and gas to get out here. We packed up the clothes we had left and started driving. And now this."
If his shoulders could have slumped any lower, they did.
Polly started to open her mouth to say something, closed it and thought to herself, "I'm in for the whole thing, I guess."
Then she said out loud, "I have a room at Sycamore House. You and Hannah and the kids can stay until you figure out your next steps. It's Christmastime and you don't need to be homeless when I can put you up. This is all going to work out. It has to!"
Chapter Four
Rain had begun falling when Polly pulled up to Sycamore House and parked beside Henry's truck. She wished it was snow, but temperatures weren’t supposed to fall for another day or so. When she and the McKenzies walked in the front door, the scent of pine filled the room, making it feel more and more like Christmas.
"Welcome to Sycamore House!" Polly said. "You're my first guests! Let's take your stuff upstairs and then I'll show you around the place." They followed her up the steps and she wasn't surprised to see a large tree standing in the hall between the two bathrooms. She was, however, surprised to see Henry walk out of her apartment.
"Hi Henry. Umm, what are you doing?"
"Hi Polly," he snickered. "We had an extra tree, so we found a place for it in your apartment. I think you'll like it."
"Okay,” she said. “Henry, these are friends of mine, Bruce and Hannah McKenzie. They're going to be spending a couple of nights in the room across the hall." Henry strode over to them and put his hand out to shake Hannah's hand, then Bruce's.
"Welcome to Bellingwood," he said. "You'll like it here."
"Henry did all of the woodwork in the place," Polly remarked. Hannah and Bruce both looked around in awe.
"Nice work!" Bruce said.
"Oh, I had a lot of help," Henry said. "And Polly lets me get away with doing what I want to do. It’s a fun job."
He started to walk away, then turned and said. "We've nearly got all the trees standing up and some of the guys are hanging wreaths on doors. It's getting pretty festive, around here! Nice to meet you guys. Hope to see you at the party Saturday night."
Henry walked down the steps as Polly led the McKenzies to the front room. She opened the door and said, "I'm sorry it isn't finished. There's still a lot to do here. I have a bed in there and that's about it. The two bathrooms at the end of the hallway are both open and ready to go, though. You can have your pick. I don't use either of them. My apartment is on the other side there,” and she pointed to the entry way across the hall.
As they went into the room, Hannah sighed, "This is wonderful, Polly. Thank you so much. I can't believe you are doing this for us."
"Well, you've got three adorable children and they should have fun right now rather than worrying about where they're going to sleep. They're scared enough as it is, so it's probably just as well they'll stay somewhere familiar for a couple of nights."
"Polly, I don't know how to thank you," Bruce echoed.
"Bruce, promise me you're sticking around and going to work this out and I'll be fine," she responded. "Why don't you guys take some time to settle in. Unpack your bags, take a nap and I'll be back in a little bit to show you around the rest of the place. Oh, and while you're here, I might put you to work helping me string lights on all of these trees! I guess this party is going to happen whether I'm ready or not!"
She pulled the door shut behind her as she walked back out into the hall. Then, she remembered that Henry had been in her apartment, so she though she ought to check it out. He hadn't rearranged much, but there was a lovely tree in front of one of the living room windows. Obiwan was sitting on the sofa, wiggling with excitement at seeing her. Polly sat down beside him, stroked his back and looked at the tree.
"What am I going to do with this, Obi?" she asked. He laid his head on her lap and turned over for a belly rub.
She knew her Christmas decorations were in the basement somewhere. Maybe she'd find time to dig them out and decorate the tree before Christmas arrived. Polly continued to stare at the tree and imagine her favorite ornaments filling it. Last year her friends had purchased way too many Star Wars ornaments for her. She chuckled at the memory, then thought about putting a smaller tree in her bedroom, or maybe even her office, for sci-fi ornaments. The Death Star probably shouldn't be the tree topper, though, but maybe crossed light sabers would work. That would be awesome.
A knock at the door broke her out of her reverie, and when she answered, Jeff was standing there.
"You should come downstairs and see what we've done to the auditorium," he said. "Just in case you want to move anything around before the guys leave."
Polly followed him downstairs and when he opened the door, she smiled and nodded. "This is great. This is just perfect!" There were tables scattered around the rooms, intermixed with trees of various sizes. Her first concern was that there be enough space for people to walk, but she saw that it would be fine. Chairs for the musical groups and a podium were arranged on the stage.
"What are you doing about electricity for lights on the trees?" she asked.
"I have battery operated LED lights," he said. "Trust me, I think of everything!"
"Well then, I think this is perfect! It's going to be so festive!" Polly replied.
"Great, I'm going to let everyone go. Are you sure you don't need help with decorating the trees?"
"I'm not sure at all, to be honest with you. But, I'll make it work. We'll be fine,” she assured him.
Henry approached the two of them, "Does she like it?" he asked.
"She does," Jeff responded.
"That's good. She's pretty hard to please," Henry laughed.
"Hey!" Polly paused. "Am I really?"
"No," he said, "Not at all. Which makes it all that much more fun to do good work for you. You seem to expect it."
Henry took her arm and turned her away and began walking with her. "So, I was wondering, Polly. Are you busy tonight?"
"Well," she hesitated, "I've got people staying here and there are children and …"
"Polly," he interrupted. "I got the story from Jeff. I think they can take care of themselves. They'll probably just be glad to be together again. Bring in a pizza or something, the kids will love it."
"I don't know, Henry." Polly continued to protest.
"Come on. Let me take you out to dinner tonight. Christmas is going to be here soon and my family will all be coming home. It's been crazy nuts trying to get this place finished. Let's go somewhere quiet and enjoy a nice dinner."
"Do I have to dress up?" she asked.
Henry thought about it and then said, "Yes. You have to dress up. Put on a dress and look nice. Not black tie fancy, but a nice dress. I'll be in a jacket, but no tie. How's that?” He took a breath, then said, “And I'll pick you up at 6:45."
"Is this a date, Henry?" she smirked.
"Yes. It's a date.” He grinned at her. “You're my date for tonight."
"Alright. I'll do it," Polly replied. Her heart seemed to beat a little faster and she felt her face flush, but was saved any further embarrassment at her own behavior with noise from the front door. Everyone had returned.
"It looks like a Christmas forest!" Sammy exclaimed.
"It's so pretty!" said his sister.
"We're going to put lights on these trees and it will be even prettier!" Polly told them. "But first, let's go upstairs. I have a surprise for you!"
She turned back to Henry. "I'll see you later."
"I'm looking forward to it, Polly," he said as she walked away.
Lydia whispered at her, "Are you going out on a date with Henry?"
Polly whispered back, "Yes I am. He's making me dress up."
They walked out into the hallway and Lydia said to Andy, who was holding the baby. "Henry asked Polly out and she's going!"
Andy chuckled. "Well, it's about time. Wait until Beryl hears this. She's been saying all along that the two of you should just do something about it."
"It's only a date," Polly protested.
"Uh huh, that's what I told my friends after my first date with Aaron!" Lydia teased.
"Wow!" Polly said, "I'm nowhere near that. Let's not get us married for a very long time, alright?"
They were laughing as they went up the steps.
"Sammy and Emma, I have something I want to show you in this room over here. Come with me," Polly said.
She knocked on the door. When Hannah opened it and saw the children, she dropped to her knees and hugged them both close to her.
"Mommy, you're here!" Sammy cried.
Emma began to cry, her tears choked out in sobs. "Mommy!"
The three of them held on for a moment. Bruce came over to the doorway and set his hand on Hannah's shoulder, waiting patiently. The kids saw him and Sammy pulled away from his mother, "Bruce, you're here, too! I was so scared!"
"I know, Sammy. I was too. But Polly here made sure we were able to be with you tonight."
"She's great, Bruce. She likes Star Wars, too."
Bruce looked up and laughed. “I’d forgotten about that. It was you and me and Marsha who watched Star Wars together, wasn't it!"
All Roads Lead Home (Bellingwood) Page 31
