Through the Storm (Bellingwood Book 8)

by Diane Greenwood Muir

  "So that's why you stole Eliseo's car and that's why you got in a fight at school, to make things better for her?" Polly felt terrible for pointing it out to him when he was feeling so badly, but damn, the boy was making some really bad decisions.

  "I know. I screwed this up. Those ..." he screwed his mouth up and around, trying to come up with the right adjective to describe something. Finally, he just said, "Those kids I've been hanging around with aren't really my friends. I figured that out yesterday."

  "Then why were you with them?"

  "They like cars and one of them works in his dad's garage. They're cool."

  "Uh, not so much."

  "Yeah. Crap, Polly. How am I ever going to get any normal friends?"

  Polly scooted back into the driver's seat. "I know that this sounds impossible to believe right now, but everything changes all the time. You're going to have to deal with the embarrassment of all that you've done, but time will pass and people will let it go. Other people will have things happen to them and the focus will change away from you and before you know it, you'll be walking down the hall one day and you'll realize that no one is thinking about any of this any longer."

  "It doesn't feel like that."

  "I know it. But you're tougher than this. You can come home every day from school and talk to the horses and play with the donkeys and hold the cats and remember that you have family and friends who love you very much and think you're pretty special. Then you go deal with another day and come back and do the same thing and pretty soon it gets easier and easier."

  "I don't know."

  "You're going to find something at school to get involved with. Something that is far away from those guys. Maybe FFA or 4H. You know a lot of the 4H kids in Bellingwood already. Most of them would die to get a chance to come work with the Percherons.

  "But their meetings are at weird times."

  "We can figure it out, Jason. Be proactive about this. Make the right kind of friends and figure out how to keep your nose clean."

  He absentmindedly brushed his nose. "Are you going to tell Mom and Eliseo about this?"

  "I think someone should, don't you?"

  "Maybe."

  "Are you asking me not to tell them?"

  "No."

  "Is it less embarrassing for me to talk to them than for you to say the words?"

  He looked up at her and then back at the floor. "Yes."

  "Then I'll talk to them. Thank you for telling me."

  "You're always cool about these things and you aren't my mom. She flips out really fast."

  "I get that. She's got a lot to worry about trying to get the two of you boys all grown up."

  "Andrew's easy. He never does anything wrong."

  "Give him time. Nobody gets out of life without doing something wrong."

  "Promise?"

  "Promise." She chuckled. If it made him feel better to know that his little brother was going to screw up someday, then she'd let that be real.

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  Polly and Jason had driven around car lots in Ames and she'd seen nothing that really called to her. Sedans were too boring, mini vans were out - they were too soccer mom and she just wasn't a soccer mom. The SUVs weren't bad, but what had happened to the sharp lines that defined a vehicle's profile? Everything was either square and boxy or round like a bubble.

  Jason hadn't said much, but pointed out a few things he thought she might like. When they turned onto the highway leading into Bellingwood, he finally spoke up again.

  "Polly?"

  "Yeah, Jason?"

  "Do you think Eliseo and my mom are ... " his voice trailed off.

  "No, Jason. I don't think they are right now, but don't you think that's their business?"

  "Well, yeah. I like him and everything."

  "You like him a lot. Don't kid yourself."

  "You're right. I do. But what if he marries Mom?"

  "Jason, where is this coming from? They've never even been out on a date."

  "But we're living at his house now."

  "Temporarily. Just until things settle down with your dad being in town. Your mom got really nervous about that and Eliseo gave her a safe place to stay until the situation could be handled. Right?"

  "But she made breakfast for him and last night I heard her running a load of laundry in his washing machine."

  "Jason, let me ask you a question. Has your mother ever lied to you or withheld things from you and Andrew?"

  "Well ..." he thought about it for a moment. "No. I don't think so. But then if she did, I probably wouldn't know about it, right?"

  "Okay, you've got me there. But your mom has always been really up front with you two. And so has Eliseo. If they were going to do something drastic like get married, don't you think that you and Andrew would know before anyone else?"

  "I'm being dumb, aren't I?" he said.

  "You're worrying about things that haven't happened yet." Polly pulled into the driveway and stopped the truck, then turned and looked at him, taking his hand. "The world is filled with changes that happen every day. Worrying just makes it difficult to enjoy life."

  He gave her a little chuckle and pulled his hand back. "You're getting all preachy now."

  "Okay, whatever. You go on down to the barn."

  Jason opened the truck door and jumped to the ground. Turning back to her, he said. "Thanks for listening to me. I know that I've been a brat lately and I know that I deserved this suspension."

  "New friends, new life rules and you'll get this thing licked. I have a lot of confidence in you. And by the way, Jason. Thanks for trusting me."

  He nodded and shut the door, then jogged around the back of the house, heading for the barn.

  Polly waited for some spark of inspiration on how to tell Sylvie and Eliseo what was going on. What she wanted to do was round up the biggest of Aaron's deputies, march into the school building and drag those rotten kids out by the greasy hair on their heads, then threaten them with their lives. Yeah. That wasn't going to work.

  She took a deep breath and went inside to a cacophony of noise in the auditorium. Polly stepped into the kitchen and laughed at Rachel and Sylvie who were sitting at the back table, both of them with their heads in their hands.

  "Did the ladies kill you?" Polly asked.

  Sylvie looked up, "You have no idea. 'Cook for the church group,' she said. 'You'll get great references,' she said. 'It will be easy. Everyone will pitch in and help.'" She gestured at the kitchen, which looked worse than Polly had ever seen it. "Help? No. They didn't want to help. They wanted to tell me how to plate the food and how to drain the vegetables. I think every single one of those women walked in while we were serving with a little bit of advice. If it wasn't about the food, it was about how to clean pans or how to get more business."

  "So ... ?"

  "I need a stiff drink." Sylvie dropped her head back into her hands.

  "Okay, so no drama in here." Polly took an apron off the hook behind the door and put it on. "Tell me where to start and I'll be your cleanup girl."

  "It's okay. We'll get back to it. At least we don't have to clear tables. Lydia is making them bring their own plates into the kitchen when they're finished. Desserts and drinks are already out there. They are having a program right now, so we have plenty of time to clean."

  "Really. I want to help."

  "Did you get their homework?"

  "Yeah. I just need to take it upstairs to them."

  "Go ahead and do that. Are you taking Jason out for lunch?"

  "He went for a ride with me. We need to talk."

  Sylvie looked up again. "Do I need to worry?"

  "No. Well, yes. But no. He's a good kid and there is another side to the story. It's not something you want me to tell you in a hurry, or where ladies from the church group might come in and hear. I think Eliseo should hear it as well."

  "So I can quit being sick to my stomach about this?"

  "About your boy being out of contr
ol? Absolutely. Let me run the books upstairs. Mrs. Hastings made notes for the kids. They should be able to figure it out. Then I'm taking Obiwan out."

  "It's killing me, you know," Sylvie said. She followed Polly into the hallway and whispered, "Just tell me what happened."

  "He spent all day yesterday listening to those supposed friends of his taunt him about you and the half-breed monster screwing. He took it until it finally got to be too much. Two of them were spinning him back and forth, saying horrible things and he lost it."

  Sylvie wilted. "That's why he couldn't say anything. Does he know you're telling me?"

  "I think he wanted me to. But Eliseo needs to know, too."

  "Why don't we all sit down at the end of the day," Sylvie said. "And then it sounds like I'm going to make a call to the school and turn into bitch-mom-from-hell."

  "You might want to ask Jason about that first," Polly said and then she stopped. "No, I'm sorry. That's not my business."

  "Of course it is. Jason and I have made it your business." Sylvie hugged Polly. "Thank you for listening to him. You're right. I'll talk to him. Did he have any ideas about how to deal with this?"

  "I think his biggest concern is how to make different friends. I'm not sure why or how he got caught up in this crowd, but we talked about FFA. Is he part of the Bellingwood 4H group?"

  "He really should be," Sylvie said. "Those kids all go to school in Boone."

  "You guys will figure it out. And Sylvie, he's wondering about you and Eliseo."

  Sylvie got defensive, "There's nothing there. Why does this keep coming up?"

  "Maybe because there's more than you think and you just haven't admitted it yet?" Polly knew she needed to tread lightly, but she couldn't help herself.

  "There's nothing there," Sylvie protested again.

  "Do you think there could ever be anything there?"

  "I don't know. He's great with the boys and he's so kind and gentle. Nothing at all like Anthony. He's generous and ... " She stuck her tongue out at Polly. "I'm an idiot."

  "I wouldn't go that far."

  "He and I need to talk, don't we?"

  "That would make sense to me. No reason to let it fester."

  "I don't know how you do it. Everything is just right out there for you. If you think there's going to be a problem, you face it down and expose it. The rest of us aren't like that. It's much easier to ignore these things."

  "Not really and I think you know that."

  Sylvie pushed Polly's arm. "You go put the kids to work and take your dog for a walk. I'm about to become a cleaning hurricane. Way too many things going on in my head."

  Polly ran upstairs with the bag of homework and found Andrew and Rebecca sitting at the dining room table, their empty plates pushed away from them and papers strewn everywhere.

  "What happened here?" she asked.

  "I told Rebecca that she should draw something for her mom's room in the hospital."

  "That's a great idea. What are you working on?"

  Rebecca pushed a piece of paper toward Polly. "Mom likes watching the horses in the morning, so I'm trying to draw them. So far they don't look very good."

  "Maybe you should look at them rather than try to draw them from memory," Polly advised.

  Andrew slapped his forehead. "Duh."

  "I tell you what. I have your homework here. Why don't you work on this and then whatever time we have before Rebecca and I head to Boone to see her mom, you can spend in the barn with the animals. You'll have to be careful, though. Jason and Eliseo are going out to the house to work on siding."

  "I can do something different. We can go down tomorrow," Rebecca said quietly, pulling the paper back in front of her. "I'll just draw a rainbow or something."

  Polly bent over and kissed the top of the little girl's forehead. "Your mom will be happy to have lots of pictures from you. We'll make time for you with the horses. I promise."

  "Polly?"

  "Yes, sweetie."

  "Do you think I can be an artist someday?"

  "You have a lot of talent and if you want to, then go for it."

  Polly turned around and put her hand on Obiwan's head. "Come on bud, we're going for a walk." She opened a drawer by the front door and drew out a leash. "We're going to make a quick stop first and you need to be on leash. Be good, okay?"

  They went down the front steps and Beryl looked up from her easel. "There you are. People have been looking for you."

  "I had a couple of errands to run. Are things still good here?"

  "Joss and her babies got absorbed by the women in there," Beryl threw her head back to the auditorium. "And Sal mumbled something about leaving before they descended. She said she'd talk to you later."

  "Okay. Say, I have a question for you. Maybe a favor."

  "You never need anything from me. I feel a little honored."

  "Oh stop it, you," Polly grinned. "Rebecca loves art. She loves to draw and I think she's pretty good. Her teacher says that with everything that has been happening to her, she's starting to get withdrawn unless Andrew is around. And, she's quit drawing whenever she has a spare minute. What would you think about spending time with her on a regular basis?"

  "Is this something she wants?" Beryl asked. "I don't want to scare the little pumpkin."

  "I haven't talked to her about you. I don't even know if she fully understands who you are."

  Beryl laughed and struck a pose, with her hand behind her head and her chest jutted out.

  "Okay, whatever," Polly said. "She wanted to draw some horses for her mom, but was frustrated because she was trying to do it from memory. The poor thing doesn't know where to go next and right now her little mind is so caught up in all of this mess with her mother that she can't express herself."

  "You know that helping kids find their true potential is a passion of mine. Of course I'd like to spend time with her."

  "I'll pay you. Just like other students you have."

  "Stop it."

  "No. Seriously. If this is something that she really wants, I want her to learn from you." Polly knelt so she wasn't looking down at Beryl. "The papers for becoming her guardian are in my desk. I'm not going to sign them until I have to, but Rebecca is going to be part of my family. You aren't going to be giving Sarah and Rebecca charity, you're going to be hired by me."

  "I tell you what," Beryl said plainly. "Rebecca and I will have ... let's say ... five sessions together. No cost to anyone. If she enjoys it and really wants to dig in and learn, then you and I can talk about money. Does that sound fair?"

  Polly hugged her, "That sounds more than fair. When I get back from this walk with Obiwan and she gets her homework done, I'm going to send her down to spend a few minutes with you. Will that be okay?"

  "Perfect."

  "Oh, and by the way," Polly said, pointing to the canvas, "You missed a spot."

  "Get out of here, you brat." Beryl turned her back on them and Polly went out the front door with her dog. The parking lot was filled with cars. It still thrilled her to see so many people use her home. She hoped she never got tired of that.

  Obiwan knew where they were going and picked up the pace once they crossed the highway. Since it was the middle of the day, there weren't many others on the trail and she released him to run. He took off, stopping to sniff and mark his territory. They made their way through the woods behind the swimming pool and then she turned and they walked slowly down Pierce Street.

  They were getting to know some of the folks on these streets, walking through the neighborhoods as often as they did. Before getting to Walnut, there was always an elderly couple sitting out on their front porch. She knew them as Sam and Jean, but had no idea what their last name was. Their old basset hound roused up when Obiwan came into view, but the gate across their porch kept the two apart. He would woof and bark and Polly always had to make sure Obiwan was leashed, or he would be up the steps trying to make a new friend.

  She waved as they approached and Sam stood u
p. "Miss Giller," he called out.

  "Hello there," she said back.

  "Do you have a moment?"

  Polly stopped at their sidewalk and said, "Of course I do. How are you today?"

  "We're very good," Jean said, stepping around her dog and opening the latch on the gate. The two came down the sidewalk.

  "Sit," Polly commanded Obiwan. "Stay."

  He sat down, his tail wagging in the grass behind him.

  "We'd like to invite you and your husband over for dinner one of these evenings. We don't have a lot of company anymore and our kids have all taken off. Mother here is a pretty good cook and she misses feeding hungry young people. We could play cards after dinner, if you have time for that."

  The invitation took Polly aback. Sam and Jean both looked at her, almost pleading with her to say yes.

  "Of course. We would enjoy that," she said, then bit her lip. Henry wouldn't care if she agreed to this.

  "If you need to speak to Henry first, we understand," Jean jumped in, trying to assure her.

  "No, no. It's okay. He'd love to. I'm sure."

  Jean looked down at Obiwan and said, "We'd invite you in more often, but I don't know how Sebastian and your Obiwan would get along. You seem like such a friendly girl."

  "Thank you. When would you like us to come over?"

  "Well, I know how you kids like to go out and party on the weekends and we promise not to keep you up too late, so would tomorrow work for you? About six thirty? You don't have to bring anything at all. Jean makes a good apple pie and I'll go up to the store and buy some ice cream," Sam said.

  "Wednesday at six thirty." Polly took out her phone. "I have to put everything in my calendar or I forget myself. We'll be here. I'll call Henry when I get home just to make sure. If he has made other plans, I'll let you know right away." She started to put her phone back in her pocket. "Wait. Could I get your phone number?"

  "Two six two oh," Sam said. "Call us any time. We're always here and no one ever stops by, so we're free."

  "Thank you very much for the invitation," Polly still wasn't used to everyone in town having the same exchange and only needing to share the last four numbers. "I look forward to dinner."

  "We do too. Maybe we can do this more often if we have fun."