Chapter Five
When Polly and Obiwan got to the front door of her apartment the next morning to go outside, she noticed a piece of paper had been slipped under the door. She opened it and read, "I'm making breakfast downstairs in the morning and I'd love to cook for you. We'll be ready for you about 7. Thank you, Hannah."
"Well, Obiwan, it looks like I'm being pampered for another meal. Come on, let's get the morning going." She snapped the leash on him and went out the door, down the steps and out the front door of Sycamore House. Obiwan walked patiently beside her as she headed for the south side of the building. As soon as he saw the open field, he pulled on the leash. Polly said, "Alright, let's go," and took off at a jog. They ran to the end of the lot where Sycamore Creek crossed under the road and then wandered the creek back toward home. They walked to the other end of the lot, where the creek passed under that county highway and by then Obiwan was looking to make the morning a little longer.
"No, I don't think so," Polly said to him. "Let's go back in. I tell you what. After school today, I'll see if Jason and Andrew can come over and play with you. I'm sure they'll be ready to do some running around after sitting all day."
She pointed him back to the house and he picked up the pace again. They jogged to the front door, went in and up the steps. By the time she was at her front door, he began to wiggle with joy.
"Oh, the life of a dog," she said. "You have it pretty rough, don't you!" They went inside, and after unsnapping his leash and releasing him, he jumped on the couch to wait. Polly poured food in his bowl and he dashed across the room to enjoy breakfast while she took a shower and got dressed for the day.
"Good morning!" Hannah called out as she saw Polly come across the foyer. "I hope you like French toast. It's the kids' favorite and it's so easy, I don't mind making it. I found some bacon in the freezer and it's in the oven."
Polly smiled and walked into the kitchen. "That sounds great! I'm glad you've found your way around in here! Do you guys like coffee?"
"Oh, I do and Bruce drinks more of it than one man should."
Polly laughed. "Oh my goodness that’s right, we learned to drink the stuff together when we were in high school! Mary was forever trying to get me to stop drinking it; she always told me it would stunt my growth."
"You two spent a lot of time together, didn't you?" Hannah said.
"Well, he was dating my best friend, Marsha, during our sophomore and junior year and part of our senior year. They broke up after Christmas because she wanted to go out with some college guy her sister set her up with. Poor Bruce was so upset. I thought she was rotten, but I guess life goes on."
"He never talks about those years," Hannah remarked. "I don't know what he was like back then before everything got ugly with his father."
"Well, he was always a good guy," Polly said quietly. "Just a really good guy. He didn't deserve all the crap that happened to him that last year he was in Story City. It wasn't right. And when I left for Boston I totally lost track of him. It's good to see him again and it's good to see him with you and the kids."
She filled the large coffee maker with water and coffee, then flipped it on. "So, if I'm not being too nosy, where is Sammy and Emma's dad? I guess I figure Tyler is Bruce's boy. He got his lips."
"It's alright," Hannah sighed. "Yeah, Tyler is mine and Bruce's. We met in a bar in Boulder. I was a waitress there. Bruce started to come in regularly and he was such a nice guy and loved talking about cars. My old beater had some trouble and before I knew it, he was fixing it up. I made dinner for him to say thank you and Sammy and Emma fell in love with him. Pretty soon, I did too."
Hannah pulled the bacon out of the oven, flipped it over, and then put it back in. She looked up at the clock and went on, "Their daddy drove a truck. He was never home, which was alright, I guess. He wasn't much for kids. He never hurt them or anything, just didn't pay any attention to them. Finally, he told me that he hadn't intended to be a dad, and since I was going to be a mom, he wanted out. We got a divorce and have both moved on. I'm just glad the kids were little enough to not know who he was. Bruce is pretty much their daddy now.
"He says he wants to adopt them, but we don't have the money to pay a lawyer to do the work. One of these days, we'll get all that figured out and then we'll all have the same name." She paused, then sighed again. "As long as this mess gets cleared up. I swear to you, Polly. We have no idea what is going on. Bruce may be unemployed and be looking to beg his father for work, but he isn't a drug user or a dealer or a criminal at all."
Tears began streaming down Hannah's face. She looked so strained and beaten.
"And I don't know how we're going to have Christmas for the kids. Oh, and I don't know why I'm even telling you this. You have done so much for us. I can't believe we have a warm place to stay until we can get to Bruce's family's house and I can't believe you've taken such good care of us. I'll quit crying and whining now." She let loose a small, pathetic chuckle. "It doesn't do me any good, anyway. I'm sorry."
Polly put her arm around Hannah's shoulders. "It's alright. Lydia says she believes everything is going to turn out fine and I trust her instincts, so I'll tell you that everything is going to turn out just fine."
Hannah brushed tears away and they heard the clatter of feet tripping down the stairway. Sammy and Emma raced into the kitchen. "Mommy, guess what we did!" Sammy said. "We took a bath in a great big tub. It had water spouts and everything!"
Emma tugged her mother's apron. "I didn't want to get out, but Daddy said I'd turn into a prune. What's a prune?"
Before anyone could respond, she ran back to the stairway and said, "Hurry up! We're hungry!"
She waited a few moments, then Polly heard her run up a few steps. "Hurry up!" she yelled again.
Polly laughed as she saw Bruce, carrying the baby, round the corner and walk to the kitchen. "It looks like you are late," she said.
"I guess so!" He took his hand out of Emma's little hand and ruffled the hair on her head. "Is there anything I can do?" he asked his wife.
"Nope. You've got the baby. I need to get out the juice and milk, then set the table and we'll be ready."
"I'm on it," Polly said.
Before she knew it, breakfast had happened, was finished and cleaned up. Bruce had run back upstairs to get the baby's car seat and propped it up on the counter while they cleaned up.
"So, guys," Polly said, "We're going to be decorating Christmas trees for a big party tomorrow night and I was wondering if you wouldn't mind helping. At this point, I'm begging everyone I see."
"Absolutely!" Bruce replied. "We're glad to do whatever we can to help you out. Are you really decorating all of those trees in the auditorium?"
"Well, we're going to put lights on them. Jeff got a great deal on some battery powered LED lights and we'll put those up today. During the party, we're going to string cranberries and popcorn and decorate all of the trees, and then we’ll draw names for people to take home a decorated tree at the end of the evening."
"There have to be twenty trees in there!" Jeff said.
"There are a bunch. Hopefully we'll have a great turnout and everyone will have fun." Then she had a thought. "Oh, Hannah! My friend Sylvie is going to be here all day today and tomorrow working in the kitchen to bake cookies and hors d'oeuvres for the party. Would you mind spending time in the kitchen with her? Her sons, Jason and Andrew, were the boys who helped me out with your kids the other night. She's terrific and I think you guys would get along."
"Thank you, Polly! I'd love to!" Hannah said. "This is such a great kitchen to mess around in, I'll have a blast."
“Thank you. I know she wasn't worried about it, but I think it's an awful lot of work for one person," Polly replied. "Everyone should be here around eight thirty, and I can promise you there will be plenty of people who want to hold Tyler and make sure he is entertained. You might have to tuck him away in a corner if you don't want him passed around from person to person."
Bruce said, "I'll bring down the portable crib and put it in the back of the kitchen. That way Hannah can keep an eye on him and I'll check on him whenever I can. Will it be alright if Sammy and Emma help me out with lights?"
"They'll be fine," Polly said. "They're good kids."
Bruce went upstairs to bring things down for the baby, then made another trip for toys for Sammy and Emma.
Promptly at eight o’clock, Jeff walked in the front door and smiled at Polly. "Are you ready for the next couple of days?" he asked.
"I don't know!" she exclaimed. "I'm a little afraid of what you have planned."
"Let's go on into the office and I'll show you what I'm thinking." She followed him into his office and waited as he woke his computer up. A few keystrokes later and he had a 3D representation of the auditorium on the screen.
"Alright, that's cool," she said.
"Oh, it was nothing. Just call me a geek and be done with it."
"You're a geek! And that's pretty amazing."
"Okay. What I'm thinking is we've got the trees set up here." A flick of a key and the trees were in place. "And we've filled these spaces with tables and chairs," another flick and round tables with chairs around them showed up on the screen. "Since the kitchen is so close, we don't have to waste any space in the auditorium for food tables. That makes it better for traffic. I have coat racks showing up this afternoon and we'll put them in the hallway. We're going to stack those crates on the stage and drape them with some dark material. There will still be plenty of room for the musicians and the podium. So, now are you ready?"
"I'm ready, Jeff. This is a great job you've done. Next thing we need to have you do is start making me money instead of spending it, but it’s the Christmas season, so let's spend away!"
He laughed and said, "I'm all ready to start doing that too, but I kind of thought we might wait until next week to discuss those plans."
"Okay!" she said, then looked up and listened, "I hear Sylvie out there. I want to introduce her to Hannah. Do you need me in here any longer?"
"No, I'm good. I'll see you in the auditorium later on."
She trotted out to the hallway and stopped Sylvie as she was walking around the steps, "Can I talk to you for a minute, Sylvie?"
"Sure! Good morning!" Sylvie responded.
"Oh, sorry ... Good morning to you! I wanted to talk to you about Hannah McKenzie."
"The gal who is, ummm, married to your old friend?"
"Yep, that's the one," Polly chuckled. "Nice save, there. Anyway, she's a great cook and loves being in the kitchen. Could you put her to work today?"
"Sure," Sylvie shrugged. "That sounds fine. It's a great big kitchen and there shouldn't be any reason the two of us can't work in that space. I'll find plenty for her to do and it will probably be a big help to me in the end." She looked sideways at Polly. "You were worried about me, weren't you?"
"Nah," Polly said. "Why would I worry? You only have hundreds of cookies to bake and whatever else you're going to put out tomorrow evening for everyone to eat. Of course you should be able to do it all by yourself." Then she laughed, "Okay, I was a little worried. But, I think Hannah needs to help you more than you need her help. So, is it alright?"
"Of course it is. Heck, I know what it's like to be all alone out there wondering what you're going to do next. I still can't believe you hired me to do this job."
"And now I've given you an assistant. See how wonderful I am!" Polly shook her head and chuckled. "Let's go on in so I can introduce the two of you."
Sylvie followed her into the kitchen. Hannah was pouring a cup of coffee and looked up.
"Hannah McKenzie, this is Sylvie Donovan. She's going to be the head chef this weekend and is ready to put you to work!" Polly said.
Hannah set the coffee cup down and put her hand out to shake Sylvie's. "Thanks for letting me help you. I can't wait to see what you're going to do today!"
Sylvie shook her jacket off and pulled an apron out of her bag. "I can't either." She turned back to look at Polly, "Oops! Maybe I shouldn't let her think I don't know what I'm doing."
"Can I leave you two alone and trust that nothing will explode in here?" Polly asked as she moved to step out of the kitchen.
"You can leave us alone," Sylvie responded, "but if there's an explosion, it's her fault."
Hannah giggled and said, "I'm already in trouble, I guess an explosion can get added to the list!"
Polly left them to their work and went into the auditorium where Jeff was placing packages of lights underneath the trees.
"Can I help?" she asked.
"Sure. I think three strings of lights per tree should do it. They're over there," and he pointed at some brown cartons. She pulled a carton out and drug it across the room to the furthest tree, setting three strings on the table beside the tree. Bruce came in and saw what they were doing and helped finish the task, then began breaking open boxes and wrapping lights around a tree. When he was finished, Jeff turned the lights on. "What do you think," he asked. "Too thin or just right?"
Polly looked at the tree. "That looks great," she shrugged. "What do you think?"
"It’ll do," he said. "These look great. Thanks, Bruce."
Bruce nodded and walked to the next tree. Henry came in followed by his four assistants, all carrying ladders.
"Good morning, Polly! Hi Jeff," he said. "We'll start back here and move to the front of the room," he told his guys as he walked over to where Polly and Jeff were standing.
He winked at Polly, "Did you sleep well last night?" he asked.
"I did," she said. "Thank you for a wonderful evening. Oh, you know what! I should get you and Bruce together. He's been a car nut as long as I can remember!" She glanced over at Bruce who was wrapping lights around a third tree. "Yeah. I'll do that later. Or ... you can, whenever you get a moment."
"Where are all of the lights you want hung from the rafters, Jeff?" he asked.
"Let me show you," Jeff said and walked over to the cartons of lights.
Henry started to follow him, then turned back to Polly. "I had a great evening too and slept like a baby. Thank you."
Jeff started to speak, then realized no one was near him. He looked up, as if confused, then shrugged while he waited for Henry to join him. The two men opened cartons and began pulling packages of white lights out. The ladders were up and Jimmy and Sam were elected to run up and down. While that project was going, Polly heard more activity in the hallway and walked out to see all her friends laughing and giggling as they came around the staircase.
Beryl was the first to say something, "So, I heard you had a hot date last night, girlie. Are you going to finally be the one who gets Henry Sturtz to settle down?"
"Oh, gah!" Polly cried out. "No, we're not settling down. Whatever gave you that idea?"
"Maybe the way you've been mooning over each other every time you're in the same room."
"We do not, nor have we ever mooned over each other," Polly said disgustedly. "Ewww. That's for girls with no brains."
"Wow," Beryl laughed. "I thought that's what falling in love did to a girl. Well, at least some girls. Like Lydia. She loses her brains when her boy is around."
Lydia rolled her eyes.
"I'm not in love with Henry. For heaven's sake, Beryl. Don't turn this into the romance of the century. It was one date, it was nice." She winked at the three of them, "In fact, it was very nice. But, I'm not falling in love with him and he isn't falling in love with me. Now, grow up." Polly stomped her right foot when she said it and all three of them laughed.
"So, what are you guys doing here today?" Polly asked.
"We're going to make the table decorations," Andy responded. "Jeff got these adorable wooden candlesticks and some Christmas plates, so we're going to make dessert trays and all sorts of things. Bring on the glitter and spray paint!" she laughed.
"I'm a celebrated artist all over the country,” Beryl announced, “and I'm not too good to play in glue, glitter a
nd glam for you, Polly, my friend. So, you be nice to me."
"I love you guys," Polly laughed and snorted. "Oh, what would my life have been without knowing you?"
"Let's get busy, then! Onward, my artistic troops!" Beryl pulled her right knee up and stuck her right arm out, pointing toward the auditorium. "Come on!" she commanded. "Onward."
Laughing, they all entered the auditorium.
Jeff showed them where the items were they would use to create the decorations and Lydia pulled Polly aside.
"You and I are going to take a quick trip this morning," she said under her breath.
"What? Where are we going?"
"We're going over to see old Mr. McKenzie and his wife and we're going to talk to them about their boy and those little kids. That old man is going to come off his high horse today or I'm going to kick it out from under him and he'll find out how black the dirt in this state is, face first."
Polly's eyes grew wide in shock. "I've never heard you talk like that. Are you sure you want to get in the middle of this?"
"I'm already in the middle of this. You can't spend a few hours around those kiddos without falling in love with them and that stupid old man doesn't know what he's missing. I'm going to take a few moments of his day to remind him and you're going to help me."
"I don't want to," Polly said, drawing space out between each word. "He scared the crap out of me in high school and I'm pretty sure I'm not over it yet."
"Then you will talk to Bruce's mother while I talk to old man McKenzie. I know his type and he doesn't scare me."
"I'm betting there aren't too many people who scare you, Lydia," Polly remarked.
"Well, there's that," she said. "So, are you driving or am I?"
"Okay!" Polly said. "I guess we're going now?"
"Yep, might as well get it over with early in the day so we can think about something else later on," Lydia said.
Polly spoke up, "Jeff, Lydia and I need to run an errand. We'll be back in a bit. Call me if you need anything."
Before he could say anything, Lydia took Polly's arm and propelled her out of the auditorium and into the foyer. "Don't give them a chance to protest, it messes with their mind," she said.
All Roads Lead Home (Bellingwood) Page 33
