"Helena?" A voice from behind them called out.
Polly and Helena both turned to see Camille Specht standing there.
"Yes?" Helena responded.
"You were working on re-stocking. Let Ms. Giller find her own way to the bakery."
"We were just chatting. I enjoy talking with the owners," Helena said. "They're so interesting, don't you think?"
"It was nice talking to you," Polly said. "Go ahead. I need to see Sylvie."
Helena moved in toward Polly and spoke softly as Camille went back into the main part of the coffee shop. "I don't know how she's going to do as manager. People probably wanted to have someone manage the shop that was from here."
"I think she'll be fine. She's a wonderful person," Polly said.
"But you don't understand. She's not like everyone else in Bellingwood. That's going to keep customers away. And like I said, owners want more business."
Polly pursed her lips and drew in a deep breath. Now was not the time or place to be having this conversation, but if this woman insisted, she'd let it happen. "I hope you aren't saying what I think you're saying," Polly said.
"All I'm saying is that there are people in Bellingwood who aren't as open minded as you and me."
"Then maybe they'd better get their coffee elsewhere," Polly said. "And as for open minded, that has nothing to do with anything. You don't need to be open minded, you just need to be a human being. Am I making myself clear? Because if you have a problem with Camille Specht as your manager, you and I will have a different conversation."
Helena Black shrugged. "It's up to you. It's your business. I was just trying to be helpful. I can't help it if people in town gossip and say things."
"Yes you can. You can stop it and insist that they have a little respect. But then," Polly said. "It's up to you." She spun on her heels and strode back down the hallway to the kitchen. By the time she walked in the doorway, she was seething.
"Hi there," Sylvie said.
"Hi," Polly spat.
"Uhh, what's up?"
"I just had a pointed conversation with Helena Black. Apparently, she's been hearing gossip about Camille."
Sylvie chuckled. "Do you remember when I warned you about people's reactions to Eliseo?"
Polly rolled her eyes. "Yeah. And I got mad then. But I think I'm madder now."
"Well, I learned my lesson that day," Sylvie said. "And you were right. Whatever the bigots were going to say about him just wasn't important. Camille is a wonderful person and Bellingwood can't remain isolated in its white little world forever. We're too close to the cities for that to remain a reality. They'll just have to suck it up and deal."
"Why is it that people even have to deal with this any longer," Polly said. "It's ridiculous." She shook her head. "I'm sorry. I didn't expect to be blindsided by that today. I just wanted to come say hello and see how you're doing."
"I'm okay. It's going to be slow for a while until I can get my feet under me, but I'll get there. I pulled loaves of bread out of the ovens this morning and they're already sold. All of the pastries I made this morning were gone before eleven o'clock. I'm testing the ovens for cakes this afternoon. I'm building a wedding cake for Saturday. If I have to go back to Sycamore House to finish it, I want to know before Wednesday." She looked around and whispered. "Don't tell anyone, but I'm doing better than okay. This is fun."
"Have you talked to Rachel?"
Sylvie smiled. "Quite a bit. She's lonely all by herself. But she's busy, so at least that keeps her out of trouble."
"Do you or she need anything?"
"Five more people, but we can't afford that many right now," Sylvie said.
"You've talked to Jeff?"
Sylvie nodded. "We have a plan. Two girls are coming on next week, they'll move back and forth between the two kitchens. Hannah's little one is nearly four and starting pre-school this fall, so she wants to come over a couple of mornings during the week."
"Time has passed too quickly," Polly said. "I can't believe she's that old."
"Andrew is going into junior high and Jason will be a sophomore. What am I going to do when they're out of the house and going to college?" Sylvie asked. "I'm not ready for that."
Polly put both her hands up and said, "Whoa. Stop. You have years before that happens." Then she gave Sylvie an evil grin. "And who knows, maybe you'll have another baby and then you'll have decades ahead of you."
"How about we make a pact," Sylvie said, curling her upper lip in a snarl. "You have a baby first. Then I'll think about it."
"Got it," Polly said, laughing. "I'll be good."
Both of them turned when they heard a commotion.
"Polly!" Andrew yelled. She was already heading his way and nearly ran into him coming down the hallway.
"What's up?"
He grabbed her hand and pulled her back into the main room, where two of the boys who had been on the street earlier were standing over a table with a couple of high school age girls. The girls had pushed their chairs back against the outside window - fear evident on their faces.
Camille was striding across the room toward them and Skylar had the phone in his hand.
"I've got 9-1-1," he said.
"Stop it," Camille said sharply to the boys.
The two boys turned to her and laughed. A tall, blond boy said, "What 'cha gonna do to us? You can't put a hand on me or I'll sue your ass."
She stood firm and Polly stepped in beside her. Camille continued. "We're calling the police. You are threatening my customers and that gives me permission to put a hand on you. Now, back off."
"We aren't threatening anyone," he taunted. "We're just being friendly." He turned to the girl closest to him and reached out to touch her. She flinched. "Right, Janelle?"
When she didn't say anything, he repeated the words. "Right, Janelle? Tell the nice ladies that we're friends."
Polly moved to step between him and Janelle. "My manager asked you to stop. Now I'm asking you to leave. You are no longer welcome here. If you attempt to come in again, we will call the police and have them escort you out every single time. Now, go." She put as much strength and venom into the last two words as she could, but to no avail.
The boy stepped closer to her. "You don't have your protector with that big stick here today. I'm pretty sure I can take you."
"You don't scare me, little boy," Polly said. "I've seen your kind before. Do you wanna know where?"
He sneered at her. "Where?"
"Eldora. I don't know who you think you are, but you don't scare me and you can't intimidate me. If you hurt me, it just makes life more difficult when the police actually get here. Look around, you stupid little boy. This room is filled with people who can identify you. You can't hide, you can't run. One or two questions and I know who your parents are, where they work, and why they let you run loose. Figure it out soon, because your life isn't going to be worth anything if you continue like this."
Polly's heart was racing so fast, she was sure her face was beet red. The only thing she could see was the boy in front of her, everything else had dropped out of her vision. Her mouth was cotton-dry and she waited for him to punch her in the nose or slap her face. A small part of her wanted him to do just that. She could take the punch, but at the same time, she knew exactly what it felt like and wasn't in any hurry to repeat the pain. Explaining another black eye to Henry wouldn't be easy.
"Whatever, bitch," he said, backing up. "Come on." He grabbed his friend by the shirt and pulled him to the front door, only to be met by Bert Bradford, who backed him into the coffee shop again.
"You two again?" Bert asked. "We've been over this before. I'm tired of hearing about you intimidating people downtown. I told you the last time that if we heard another complaint, I was taking you in."
"I want a lawyer," the kid said. He turned to his friend. "Record this on your phone. It's police harassment. Make sure you put it up on YouTube. They can't treat us like this. When my lawyer hears about
this, he'll have your badge. And we're going to own this stupid coffee shop too. I'm suing you all."
Bert sighed and grasped the kid's upper arm. He spun him to the door and with his other hand, grabbed the second kid's arm. "It's just a short walk to the police station," Bert said. "You can videotape anything you want. Notice me being quite polite to you. I haven't pushed you into a door frame or anything yet. Now keep moving."
He turned back to Polly and Camille. "As soon as I handle these two, I'll be back to take statements."
Polly knees went weak and she reached out to stabilize herself on the table in front of her. "Entitled much?" she said quietly.
"Are you okay?" Rebecca asked. She pulled a chair out and put it behind Polly.
"I think so. Why do I open my mouth like that? If he'd punched me, Henry would have killed me."
The two girls, Janelle and her friend, were still plastered against the window, but now they were staring at Polly.
"Do you go to school with those two?" Polly asked them.
Janelle nodded. "Ladd's going to be a senior."
"Have they always been like this?"
The other girl looked at Janelle and shrugged her shoulders. "Yeah. They call themselves a gang. But the ones who kinda kept them in control graduated. They think they're going to run the school next year. But they're stupid because they're just from Bellingwood. Nobody in Boone cares. They think they're all tough, but they aren't. They got beat up a lot last year."
"So they take it out on people that can't protect themselves," Polly said. "Are you two okay?"
The girls nodded.
Camille bent over the table. "You need to stay to talk to the police. Would you like another smoothie or something to eat? It's on the house. Go on up and tell Sky what you want. We've got this." She nodded at Sky and then said, "Maybe you should call your parents and tell them what's going on. Just in case."
The girls headed for the counter and Janelle turned back to Polly. "You were pretty cool. I wish I would have stood up to him like that. But I didn't want him to hurt me."
"He wasn't going to hurt anyone. Not in front of people." Polly grinned. "And besides, what if he did? A bloody nose or a black eye would only hurt you for a while, but the assault charge would stay with him for a long time. Sometimes you have to balance the odds."
"I never thought about it like that," Janelle responded.
Polly finally felt her mind come out of the fog and she looked for the rest of her entourage. Kayla and Andrew had taken Gina to the other side of the shop. Andrew was sitting with the little girl on an oversized chair, reading a book out loud, while Kayla sat next to them, effectively blocking Gina's view of the action.
"Who decided they should do that?" Polly asked Rebecca.
"I told Andrew to get her out of the way," Rebecca said. "She's just a little girl and didn't need to be involved if things got ugly."
"You are amazing." Polly reached out and pulled Rebecca close, then wrapped her arms around the girl. "I can't believe your mother chose me to live life with you. Every single day you make me proud."
"Even when I screw up?"
Polly chuckled. "Especially then, because it reminds me that you're human and not some crazy little angel sent into my house."
"Yeah. I'm so not that," Rebecca said. She gently pulled away. "You scared me."
"I scared me a little too," Polly replied. "But bullies will always be bullies until someone stands up to them. Today it was my turn."
All of a sudden, Helena Black rushed up to Polly and said, "Are you okay? Did he hurt you? What will we do if they come back and you aren't here? There isn't anyone here who can pull off what you just did. It's because you're the owner, isn't it. What if he had a gun? He might have killed someone. I know he's just an angry young boy, but what are we going to do?" She spun on Camille. "What are you doing to keep us safe? Do you have a plan for this? You're the hot young manager. How could you let this happen?"
"Helena," Sylvie said quietly. "Stop it. Your mouth is running away without engaging your brain. You and I both know this was a fluke. Now why in the world are you behaving this way?"
"Because she isn't cut out to do this job and none of you will see it. Things like this are going to keep happening and it won't be my fault." Helena stalked away and whipped out a cloth to wipe down tables.
Polly looked at Camille and Sylvie and mouthed, "What in the hell?"
Both women shrugged and Camille said, "We might need to talk about this."
"Yes, I think we might," Polly said. "Do you think you can fix this or should we cut our losses?"
"We have ninety days," Camille replied. "But I'm not ready to make a big decision yet. We've only just gotten started."
Sylvie stepped in closer to them. "But you don't need a terrorist on your staff. Everyone else is excited about working here and making this place fun. I don't know for sure what her agenda is."
"I'd fire her right now," Polly said.
"Yes," Sylvie said with a laugh. "But you're on a roll. You need to calm down before you engage in any more hot encounters." She gave a rapid shake of her head. "Hot encounters? Where in the world did that come from? Sometimes I open my mouth and weird phrases come out."
Camille winked at her. "Could it be the knight without a steed who was flirting with you when he was in earlier?"
"Grey was in?" Polly asked.
"And looking for Sylvie. I don't know what they talked about, but he was definitely flirting."
Polly stood up and pushed the chair back in under the table. "When were you going to tell me about this?"
"I wasn't," Sylvie said. She gestured to Rebecca. "And hello. Young ears."
"Did he ask you out on a date?" Polly asked.
Sylvie flicked the towel in her hand and tucked it into her waistband. "You're nuts. I don't have time for this. Someone come get me if Bert needs to talk to me. I'll be in my kitchen." She tried to stomp, but her tennis shoes absorbed most of the sound, so she turned back around and stuck her tongue out at Polly and walked toward the hallway and back to the kitchen.
"She sure told me," Polly said. "With emphasis."
Chief Wallers walked in the front door and took in the room before walking over to Polly, Camille and Rebecca. "I hear you had some excitement," he said.
"I was glad to see Bert show up," Polly replied. "Did they get a good video of him roughing up the suspects?"
Ken chuckled. "Yeah, that's my Bert. I've had a few boys on the force who might have been tempted to do that, but never Bert. He's a quiet sort. Are you going to file a complaint against the boys?"
Polly and Camille looked at each other and Polly nodded, then said. "Yes, I think we will. I don't want my customers to be uncomfortable here." She gritted her teeth and said. "Bellingwood should be safe. This is ridiculous. Just the other day those boys tried to intimidate me and Grey Greyson on the street."
"They always come up just short of doing something that will get them in real trouble," he said. "I need them to hit someone or do something stupid."
"They almost hit Polly," Rebecca said.
Ken looked at Polly. "They did?"
"I might have gotten up in the blond kid's face. Maybe I was daring him to follow through on his threats." Polly looked down at the floor. "You don't have to tell Henry about that, do you?"
"I should," Ken said, laughing. "But I suspect he'll hear about it before the day is over. I need to take statements from y'all. Where should I start?"
Janelle and her friend had taken another table and were glancing at Ken before darting their eyes away.
Polly gestured toward them. "Those two girls had to put up with the boys' initial attention. Start with them so they can get on with their day. The rest of us will be available."
Ken stopped at the counter to order a drink and then sat down in front of the two girls. Polly headed for Andrew, Gina, and Kayla with Rebecca in tow. She arrived to hear Andrew growl.
"What are you reading?" she asked.<
br />
"Beauty and the Beast," he said. "I'm letting Gina read the Beauty parts."
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
Engaged in a book, Andrew chose to stay at the coffee shop until Sylvie was finished so they could go home together. Since Kayla planned to spend the night with Gina and Rebecca, Polly was just as relieved not to have to deal with him sulking about the girls doing their girly things.
What she wanted to do was go home and flop on the sofa for an hour or two, but there was supper and an evening of entertainment ahead and that was before Henry got home, exhausted from his day. Yep. She'd be glad when school started again. Summer break was wonderful, but a schedule was just as wonderful when it came around.
They walked home and when they got inside, Polly sent the girls upstairs and called the dogs to come down. She snapped a leash on each of them and walked across the lot to the highway, crossed it, and wandered into the woods behind the swimming pool. The quiet of the trail was a welcome relief from the day. Had all of that excitement happened only this morning?
Obiwan and Han were glad to be out and she kept pace with them, stopping when one or the other found something interesting to sniff. If she continued long enough, the trail went between the vineyard and the hotel and then on out of town. She smiled at a young couple jogging toward her. Han came to attention, but Henry had taught her several of the click techniques he used. The young dog came to heel beside her, on his best behavior.
"You are such a good boy," she said, kneeling down beside him after they passed to give him a hug. "I'm proud of you."
Obiwan nuzzled her face and she hugged him. "I'm always proud of you. You're a natural at this. But your friend here had to learn his good behavior." She rubbed their heads and stood back up. Polly glanced back along the trail, considering whether or not she should return, then decided that the girls could take care of themselves for just a little longer. If she couldn't crash on the couch, the least she was going to do was take a long quiet walk with her boys.
Look Always Forward (Bellingwood Book 11) Page 21
