Polly put her hand on Sal's back and rubbed. "You nut. Don't you realize that you are this mysterious East coast woman who came in and swept their favorite pretty boy off his feet? Women are jealous, men are curious, and kids just gawk at you when you walk past in your four inch red stilettos. You have totally added to Mark's mystique just by being here. When the rumors start that you're buying a building downtown to put a coffee shop in simply because you want a place to write, that's going to rock their little worlds."
"Exactly how are those rumors going to start?" Sal asked.
With a wicked glint in her eyes, Sylvie said, "We're going to start them. A little here, a little there and you're going to have to buy a blond wig and big sunglasses."
Joss and Sylvie began moving things around the table and Polly realized that the waitress was standing behind her with their pizza.
She put it down and brandished a spatula. "Who can I serve first?" she asked.
"Oh, hand that to me, dear," Sal said. "We take care of ourselves." She took it from the very surprised girl's hands and slid slices of pizza onto each of the plates.
"Can I refill your drinks?" She looked down at their full glasses. "Oh, I guess not. If there is anything else I can do for you…"
"We've got this," Polly said. "No worries. You're doing fine."
The waitress hovered for a few more moments, unsure as to what to do next and finally flitted away to another table.
"If she's sticking around on Sunday evenings, we're going to have to re-train her," Sal said.
Sylvie waggled her finger. "You be nice."
"I'm being nice. I'm just saying. She needs to take a few cues from the customers. If they don't want her hovering helpfully, go away."
"So," Joss said. "A coffee shop and what else?"
Sal pointed at Sylvie. "A bakery. Maybe. Are you two still on board with that?"
"I think so," Sylvie said with a sigh.
"Absolutely," Polly said. "That's how you have to handle those questions from now on, Sal. With full assurance. It's going to be a coffee shop and bakery and it's going to be awesome. Once we get the paperwork finished and we figure out what it's going to look like on the inside, we are going to need a name. We want to draw attention while it's being built out and we're going to have to ask Jeff to get involved. He knows everyone in town."
"And you all thought I was just being a scaredy-cat," Sal said. "I know this girl. Once she gets started on a project, she's unstoppable."
Their waitress silently slipped in beside Sylvie and replaced her empty glass with a fresh one, scanned the table and moved away.
"See," Sal whispered. "She figured it out. Maybe I'll steal her for the coffee shop."
Sylvie shook her head. "You're weird. You don't even know her name."
"Shoot me now," Joss said under her breath.
"What?" Sal asked.
"Short lady coming in the front door. The bane of my existence. I promise you, if she sees me, she will come right to the table and the first thing out of her mouth will be something wrong with what I'm doing at the library."
"Good evening, Mrs. Mikkels," the woman said. "I see you are out with friends."
"Hello, Lorna. How are you this evening? Do you know Polly Giller from Sycamore House?"
"I know of you, Miss Giller. Are you planning to do something with that land behind your hotel? It is quite overgrown."
Polly stood up and put her hand out. "Lorna?"
"Lorna Bender. This is my husband." She stood as if waiting for an answer and ignored Polly's hand.
Her husband, who was only a few inches taller than she, but bent at the shoulders, nodded and took Polly's hand to shake it.
"Well?" she asked again.
"We don't actually own that land," Polly said, returning to her seat. "It's part of the winery."
"Then nothing will ever happen with it," the woman said in disgust. "Those three don't know what the meaning of real work is."
"Are you out for the evening or picking up pizza to take home?" Joss asked.
"Floyd, get a table. Not too close to the front door though, it's cold." Lorna turned back to Joss. "I was in the library yesterday afternoon and had to ask three children to not play in the reading lounge. I thought your assistants knew better than to allow that."
"Were they playing or reading books?" Joss asked.
"It doesn't matter. There is a room for children. If they take up all of the chairs, where will other people sit?"
"Was someone unable to find a seat?"
"Not while I was there, but it shouldn't happen in the first place."
"Some of the older children like to be able to read in a quiet place. The staff knows to keep an eye on them. I think there are plenty of comfortable places to sit in that room. We've never had a problem."
"I'll be bringing it up at the next board meeting, then. We need to institute a policy ensuring that children know their place. If you aren't going to take care of it, someone will."
"Mrs. Bender. You hired me to ensure…" Joss put extra emphasis on the woman's word, "that the library is a place where all of the people in Bellingwood feel safe and comfortable. The children are part of Bellingwood and in many cases they bring their parents in rather than the other way around. I am not about to institute a policy that will make it more difficult for them to read."
"We'll see," the woman said. "I need to make sure Floyd places our order correctly. I will be in Tuesday afternoon to discuss this again."
"I look forward to seeing you then," Joss said. She waited until the woman turned her back and then drew her hands into claws and raised her upper lip.
Polly chuckled. "It seems like you have her well in hand."
"For goodness' sake," Joss said, exhaling loudly. "I don't know why she thinks that she has the run of the place. She and her husband donated money to the foundation, but it's no more than many other people. For some reason, she believes that entitles her to complain about everything and demand that we adhere to her outdated opinions. Would you believe that she insisted we not use her money to bring computers into the library? And movies. She complains about movies. Apparently, we are only supposed to provide books and should be pickier about who we provide them to."
"Speaking of computers and kids, what do you think will happen to kids who went to the library on Mondays?" Polly asked.
"If I didn't have to think about utilities, I'd open the place anyway. But people like Mrs. Bender would find a way to shut me down. I don't know what else to do. The kids loved having a place to come read and we have some great after school activities. Her group calls us overpaid babysitters, but it's an opportunity to build more readers. Drives me nuts."
"What if we opened up Sycamore House on Mondays? If the kids need a place to go, we could add more books to the lounge. Maybe bring older kids in to help with homework in the classroom and open the computer room."
"That sounds fabulous, Polly," Sal said. "I'd come in and help with that."
Polly turned her body toward Sal. "You'd what?"
"I'd help."
"We're pretty slow on Mondays in the kitchen," Sylvie offered. "Rachel and I could come up with healthy snacks. If we did it just one day a week, it would be something different for the kids. Andrew would love this."
"Now I just need someone to be in charge of it," Polly said. "And depending on how many kids are interested, more volunteers."
"I'd be interested," came a timid voice from behind her.
Polly looked up as the waitress replaced her empty glass with another drink.
"In volunteering after school on Mondays?"
"Sure. Or working there. I finish my teaching degree in May at Iowa State and I don't have classes on Mondays. I work here until two, but then I'm free."
"What's your name?" Sal asked.
"Melissa Bradford."
"Any relationship to Lisa Bradford, my mailperson?" Polly asked.
The girl smiled. "That's my mom."
"Isn't
that a small world. I tell you what. Why don't you think about it tonight and come by tomorrow. Do you have time in the morning before you have to be here?"
"Sure. I don't have to be here until ten thirty."
"Can you come by at nine?"
"Okay."
"Look the place over and then think about what types of things you might do with a whole bunch of kids. Think about plans for a small group - say five or ten, and then consider what might happen if you had thirty or forty kids show up. All ages. If you come up with something interesting and creative, maybe we can create an internship for you. If there's enough interest, maybe it can be a paid internship."
"Really?"
"Why not."
"Thanks." She held the bill in her hand, hesitating as to whether she wanted to put it down.
"Don't even think about it," Polly said, taking it from her. "You haven't got another job yet. We're all working women here. We've got it."
"Thank you. I'll be back in a while. No hurry."
"Well, well, well," Sal said. "I thought about hiring her at the coffee shop and Polly beat me to it."
"It might not even work out. But at least she's interested." Polly looked at Joss who was quietly laughing. "What are you laughing at?"
"I keep hearing your friends say that you try to solve every problem Bellingwood has. They weren't kidding."
"Shut up. I have this huge facility and my dream is that it is filled every waking hour of the day. If I have to bring kids in to make noise and fill it up, then that's where I'll start."
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Polly sent a text to Lydia, while waiting for Melissa Bradford to arrive. "Do you have time for lunch today?"
Jeff hadn't been at all surprised when Polly sat down across from him in his office to talk about opening the classroom area up to kids in the afternoons. He promised to start on insurance and licensing questions right away. Not only would this be good for the kids, but it would be an opportunity to expose a much larger group of people to Sycamore House. Within an hour, he'd already scheduled a meeting with Joss and the principal at the elementary school. Closing the library on Mondays had upset many routines and the school was scrambling to provide a safe place for their children.
"I'd love to, but can't get away until one o'clock," Lydia texted back.
"That's perfect. Where?"
"Can we find some place a little less noisy than the diner?"
Polly grinned. The diner was packed every day for lunch. While that was great for business, they desperately needed a few more restaurants in town. She'd heard rumors that there might be a Mexican restaurant and maybe a Chinese buffet opening in the next several months and hoped either of those would be true.
"Come here. Either we'll do takeout from Sylvie's kitchen or we can make sandwiches upstairs."
"Thank you. I'd love to. See you later dear." Lydia texted just like she spoke. She couldn't help herself.
Melissa Bradford came bouncing in the front door and Polly got up to meet her in the main foyer.
"Good morning," she said with a smile.
Polly gestured to the lounge and classroom area. "Let me show you around."
"I've been here for a couple of wedding receptions," Melissa said. "And last night I asked Mom to describe things so I knew what you had."
She followed Polly into the lounge and then into the other three rooms. "Can we have access to the auditorium too?" she asked.
"Sure," Polly said. "Especially if the kids need to have something active to do."
"That's what I was thinking. We can play games to exercise their big muscles because they'll have been sitting all day."
"That makes sense."
"I'm excited about this opportunity, Miss Giller. There are so many things we can do, whether there are only two kids or two hundred."
"Two hundred kids?"
"You could, you know."
"That would be a lot of children. I don't know if we're ready for that."
"Most of the kids have someplace to go, but if they started having fun here, you never know."
"Let's hope that doesn't happen for a while."
"I was thinking that we could ask for volunteers and solicit some of the businesses. They could give us supplies and maybe even donate money since you're donating the building. Right?"
"Right. It would be great if this became self-sustaining. But Jeff is the one who would help you with that. He knows everyone in town."
"Dad said that the hardware store would be a supporter and Mom thought that the General Store would do it too. She's friends with Tim's wife."
"Follow me. Jeff Lyndsay would like to meet you. It sounds like you've got great ideas." Polly took Melissa into the main office.
"Hi Stephanie," Melissa said, stopping at the desk. "I didn't know you worked here now."
Stephanie smiled at the two of them. "I started last Friday."
"This has to be way better hours."
"It is. Better money, too."
"I'll bet."
Polly looked back and forth between the two girls. "You know each other?"
"She was my coffee supplier," Melissa said. "The first place I go when I get back in town after class."
"He's free," Stephanie said, nodding at Jeff's office.
Polly aimed Melissa that way and realized that she was going to have to get used to having someone else manage interactions with Jeff. Things were growing and getting busier and she was going to have to act more like an owner than she was used to.
"Jeff, this is Melissa Bradford and she has great ideas about the Monday afternoon program for kids."
He stood and put out his hand and then gestured to the seat in front of his desk. "Are you staying, Polly?"
"Do you need me?"
"I think I've got it."
Polly ducked out of his office and back into hers. She'd been awake on and off through the night dreaming up plans for Sal's coffee shop and wanted to start sketching things.
She was head down and focused on her work when she heard Stephanie say, "Just a second, I'll check with her."
"Miss Giller?"
"It's Polly. Please."
"There's someone to see you. Are you available?"
Lydia poked her head in the door and smiled.
"Is it one o'clock already? I haven't been paying attention to the time. Wow, how did that happen?"
"No honey, it's only eleven. You're okay."
"Stephanie Armstrong, this is Lydia Merritt, one of my closest friends."
"Nice to meet you, dear. Are you working here now?"
"Yes ma'am," Stephanie said. "Excuse me." She slipped back out and Lydia closed the door.
"I'm sorry to be here so early, but one of my ladies forgot to tell me that her daughter was spending the week, so I don't have to drive her around. I wanted to see if you would rather go to Boone or Ames for lunch."
"Ames?" Polly brightened up. "Bagels? Can we do bagels?"
"Of course we can. Are you sure I'm not intruding?"
Polly looked down at her sketch pad. "This? I was working on some ideas for a building up town that Sal is buying. She wants to put a coffee shop in."
Lydia tried to look at the sketches upside down. "That's a wonderful idea. Can I see what you've done?"
"It won't make much sense yet. I'm still trying to map out the space. We might put a bakery in the back."
"Would Sylvie take that on, too?"
"We're still talking about it. She says she can do it with some additional help here. It will take time for things to get really busy, so we can grow into it."
"I wouldn't count on it taking very long. Bring your pad. I'll drive and you can tell me all about it."
Polly grabbed her jacket and thought about Obiwan and Han. They'd be okay if she got back in a couple of hours.
"I'm going out to lunch with Lydia," she told Stephanie. "Call if you need me."
Stephanie nodded.
"Are you sure I'm not bothering you?" Lydia asked
as they walked out to her Jeep.
"You aren't at all."
Lydia moved things out of the front seat to make room.
"How are things at home?" Polly asked, once they were on the road.
"He's trying to come back, but something is really upsetting him. I just wish he'd talk to me about it."
"He hasn't said anything about the man who was killed? That he knew him when they lived in Atlanta?"
Lydia visibly flinched. "He knew the man from Atlanta?"
"Yeah. What does that mean?"
"I have no idea, but why wouldn't he tell me? Damn it, Polly. Things are so out of control. I don't understand this."
"He never told you who his mentor was? I got that out of Stu Decker."
"Sure. He talked about him years ago, when we were first going out. But it was no big deal. We haven't talked about those days in years. Even when we're with his family, no one talks about the days he was on the police force. I just assumed it wasn't important. He was only a rookie."
"I don't want to turn into a conspiracy theorist or anything," Polly said. "But I'm just not buying that this isn't all connected. Aaron didn't tell you that Albert Cook was coming to Bellingwood? Stu says there are emails between the two of them going back about six months."
"Why does he know that?"
"Because they want to investigate everything. But I don't buy it. How can this not all be connected?"
Lydia drove past the Iowa State University stadium. "You know more than I do. No one in Aaron's office talks to me now unless they're looking for him."
"I might have trapped Stu. He thought he was asking me questions about the shooting."
"You're an evil woman, Polly Giller."
"He got really defensive when he thought I was accusing Aaron of killing that Albert Cook."
"I would have too. Aaron would never kill anyone like that."
"But did you know that Aaron is a trained sniper?" Polly asked.
"Sure. He's very good." Lydia gripped the steering wheel. "Oh." She came to a stop at the light. "You don't think."
"See. No, I don't think that at all. But it really pissed Stu off when I brought it up. He knows that I love you and that I consider Aaron a friend. Why would he react to me asking questions? I'd never accuse Aaron of that."
Pages of the Past (Bellingwood Book 9) Page 15
