Pages of the Past (Bellingwood Book 9)

by Muir, Diane Greenwood

  Rebecca stood at the end of the peninsula. "I wish Kayla was still here when you got home from work. But Stephanie and you have the same hours."

  "Maybe you should all go out to dinner sometime this week," Polly said.

  "Could we? Maybe tonight?" Rebecca lit up and then she stopped. "Oh no. Not this week. Mom and I are going to be busy. Maybe soon."

  "You'll find a time. But it would be fun for you to have an official planning meeting."

  Obiwan and Han dashed into the kitchen hoping to find one last morsel of food.

  "Those were some busy dogs this morning," Henry said. "You'd think they had never marked their territories. Every single leaf and clump of grass under the snow was a target, but they're good to go for the next half hour." He sat down beside Polly. "Food in. Poop out. It's a cycle."

  She chuckled and put her hand on his, then pushed the piece of paper over in front of him.

  "What's this?"

  "The girls are going to start a club. All about supporting each other. They want Beryl to join them."

  "Really!"

  "I think it's great. I'm a married woman, so I can't go."

  "That probably leaves me out, too."

  Rebecca put a plate of food in front of him. "You're silly."

  "That's me." He snaked Polly's coffee mug away from her and took a drink.

  "Hey! Get your own."

  "Too many people in the kitchen. I'd step on someone."

  Jessie came over with two more plates and said, "I've got it. You go ahead and sit down, Rebecca."

  "What's your favorite name on there?" Rebecca asked Henry.

  "Syc Sistahs. Is that Sycamore House?"

  "Uh huh."

  "That's my pick."

  Rebecca turned to Jessie. "Cross that one off."

  "No respect," he said, laughing. "Absolutely no respect."

  After everyone left the house, Polly finished cleaning the kitchen. Luke leaped up onto the counter and batted at the suds in the sink. When he got bored, he jumped across to the other side and wandered around the counter to the end of the peninsula to watch her work.

  "Kind of the long way around, bud," she said, drying her hands on a towel. "Do you want to hang out in the bathroom while I shower?"

  It was a ridiculous question. She and Henry had given up shutting doors. The animals would have none of it. Dogs whined and whimpered, cats poked their paws underneath and meowed until someone let them in. It just wasn't worth it. With everyone gone, she left all the doors open and once Luke and Leia identified where she would be for the next few minutes, took off to explore the outside world from their perches.

  ~~~

  Polly was sketching on a pad and looked up when she heard a quiet tap on her door frame. Papers covered her desk and she didn't even bother attempting to straighten them.

  "Hey Jeff, what's up?"

  He entered and shut the door behind him, then sat down. "I need to talk to you."

  That worried her. "Sounds serious. Is everything okay?"

  He chuckled. "Sorry. It's fine. Didn't mean to scare you. But I want to talk to you about next week."

  "What's next week?" Polly sat back in her chair and opened the calendar on her computer. There was nothing there. She pointed at the screen. "See? I'm learning."

  "It's been two years and I've done nothing but harass you about it. It's about time."

  "Whatever. Tell me what you have next week."

  "I'd like to take some time. Since it's just after Valentine's Day, there's nothing much happening here."

  "Of course. Absolutely. Are you going home?" She bit her lips closed. "I'm sorry. None of my business."

  "We're friends. It's always your business, but yes... and no. We got a call this morning that Stephanie needs to go home to Ohio. The prosecutor wants to talk to her about pressing charges against her father. Since it's not far from Columbus and my family, I thought I'd go with her and stop and say hello."

  Polly looked up quizzically. "You're sure you want to get this involved in her life? It's pretty messed up, you know."

  Jeff gave Polly a look she could only describe as cross-eyed. "This?" he asked. "Coming from you?"

  "Hey. Everyone is always trying to force me to look at things reasonably, I thought it was only fair that I do the same to you. But really, are you sure about this? You don't even know her all that well."

  "I know her well enough. She needs a friend."

  Polly slowly nodded. "First of all. Of course you can have the time. Let's get that out of the way. I wish you didn't even feel like you needed to ask my permission. You know better than anyone what goes on here and what needs to be done. Let's just say that you shouldn't ask me, you should just give me plenty of notice."

  "Thanks. We can talk about that another day."

  She scowled at him. "I was afraid it wouldn't be that easy."

  "Anyway, we're going to leave early Sunday morning. We should get into my parent's place that evening. Once she tells the prosecutor that she's coming, they'll set a meeting for Monday. If everything goes as planned, we'll come home on Wednesday or Thursday."

  "That sounds like a whirlwind trip. You don't want more time?"

  "She doesn't want to be there much longer than that. But I'm going to make sure that if there's anything she wants out of that house, anything at all - we can get it taken care of."

  "Do whatever you need to do. I'm grateful you stepped into the middle of this, though. You're probably the only person that Stephanie feels safe with."

  He grinned at her. "See, there are some advantages to hiring a gay man."

  Polly scowled at him. "Let's just say there are advantages to hiring you. However, with what her father did to her, it's going to take time before she really trusts men at all. And she'll never understand why her mother didn't protect her, especially when she finally got it together to protect Kayla. There isn't anyone here that she'll feel completely safe with. "

  He opened his mouth to speak and Polly started to laugh. "What?" he asked.

  "I figured you were going to give me trouble because I accused you of being trustworthy when she doesn't trust men."

  "It might have occurred to me, but I get it. I'm no threat to her in any sexual manner at all."

  "Yes. That. Thanks for bailing me out there."

  "This is why I love you, Polly Giller."

  "What do you mean?" she asked.

  "You don't worry too much about labels or anything. You just say what's on your mind."

  Now she was worried that she'd said something wrong without realizing it. "Was I offensive?"

  "Not at all. In fact, the farthest thing from it. But most people won't just be up front with me about what's right in front of them. They hem and haw, avoiding the obvious."

  "You mean the gay elephant in my office?" Polly laughed out loud, then said, "That would mean I had a problem with it or was embarrassed by it. Why should I be? You're just you."

  Jeff squeezed his side and said, "I'm not so sure I like being called a gay elephant."

  "Come on," she protested.

  "You're so easy. I get it and I'm just giving you trouble."

  "Exactly." He stood to leave. "Since Sarah is feeling better, she's available to answer phones."

  "I can take care of it for a few days and it isn't like I can't reach you immediately if I have a question."

  Jeff opened the door. "We're on, Stephanie. It's a road trip."

  She came to Polly's door. "Thank you. I can't believe that this is how I'm starting my employment with you."

  "What about Kayla? Is she going with you?"

  Stephanie looked up at Jeff. "Well..." she started.

  "I forgot to ask that," he said. "Would you consider letting her stay with Rebecca?"

  Polly nodded. "I'm glad to have her stay with us, it's just that the last time she woke up with a nightmare and the only way to deal with it was to have you pick her up. This is a long separation for the two of you."

  "I don't
want her to have to go through everything. She wasn't involved." Stephanie shuddered violently. "Dad didn't have time to get to her."

  "Rebecca would love to have her stay with us. Tell me what I can do to make it easier on her."

  "I'll talk to her this week. Help her understand that it's going to be okay. Maybe I can bring a present back for her," Stephanie looked up at Jeff again.

  He shrugged. "Sure. There are wonderful places to go shopping out there. Have you heard of Easton Town Center? It's huge. We could lose ourselves there for weeks. And you know me, I love to shop."

  "Please don't get lost for weeks," Polly said. "I couldn't take it."

  Stephanie smiled. "I can't afford that. Don't worry, I'll make sure that she will be okay with it. She has to be."

  "We'll do our best," Polly said. "Jeff, can you stay here a minute? I have a couple more questions."

  He gave Stephanie a smile, then shut the door again. "What?"

  "Does she have a cell phone? Make sure that's taken care of before you leave. Kayla should have a way to reach her sister while she's traveling."

  "Okay. Good idea."

  "And the next thing. You're not going to like this, but Stephanie is crushing on you. I can see it in her eyes when she looks at you."

  "I know," he breathed. "It's not the first time a messed-up straight girl has thought I'd be perfect for her future. Don't worry. I've dealt with this before. She'll be okay. And besides, I'm her boss. We'll make sure the boundaries are well-defined."

  "Good."

  "I'm rescuing her. It's the right thing to do, but until she gets some balance in her life, she's not going to know what's up and what's down."

  Polly glanced at her computer, then asked, "Why aren't you flying out?"

  "She doesn't have that kind of money and won't let me give it to her."

  "Talk to the prosecutor. If they ask her to come out to give testimony, there's probably a stipend. It would make your trip go faster and you two would have less travel time."

  "Thanks. That's a good idea." He winked at Polly. "You're a smart woman."

  "Sometimes. Get out of here so she doesn't think I'm yelling at you for something."

  "Got it." Jeff opened the door and said so Stephanie could hear him, "Man, if you want to beat me, at least use a pillow, woman."

  Polly looked at him in shock and he chuckled. "Just kidding."

  She flung an eraser at him, he ducked and it landed on the floor of the main office.

  "That was pitiful," he said.

  "You're useless."

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  "Look at this," Jeff said as he walked into Polly's office carrying his tablet. "You won't believe what I found."

  "A baby camel swimming in the Des Moines River," she said.

  He'd been so focused on what was on the tablet, he didn't realize what she said. She watched his face turn to incredulity and then he rolled his eyes at her.

  "No?" she asked.

  "You're a strange woman. Anyway, there's a bakery in eastern Iowa that's gone out of business. They just closed the doors. No auction, no nothing.

  Polly perked up. "Ovens?"

  "Yep. Everything we need. They even have display cases and bread racks. I thought Sylvie and I could take a road trip tomorrow since Wednesday is her slow day. Rachel can take care of the groups that will be in here and I'm ready for Saturday night. Stephanie will answer the phone and forward anything important to me. We'll be gone nearly all day."

  "I keep telling you that you don't need to justify things to me," Polly said. "Now, how exactly did you find out about this?"

  He laughed and preened. "It's all about who you know."

  "I get it," she said. "You know everyone, but seriously. How did you find it?"

  "My next door neighbor in Ames. It belonged to her parents. When her mother died, her dad just closed the doors and never went back inside. He ran the kitchen, but she ran the show."

  "And you just happened to mention to her that we were thinking of putting a bakery in here at Bellingwood."

  "We had dinner," he said. "We talk about a lot of things. Anyway, she called her dad today. If we're interested, all we have to do is make him a reasonable offer and haul the stuff away."

  "Unbelievable. I don't know how you do it."

  "I just pay attention."

  "We aren't going to be ready for a while, you know," she said

  Jeff brushed Polly's concerns aside. "If necessary, we can rent storage."

  "And Sylvie's good with this?"

  "She loves the idea of having a working bakery to start from," he said. "We can talk about adding other appliances once she gets everything installed."

  Polly smiled. "You are amazing."

  "I keep telling you - I need a raise."

  "How about I double the raise I gave you last week?"

  He just shook his head at her and grinned.

  "Let me know what happens," she said. "I know you've got this."

  "Thanks. I'll call you tomorrow." Jeff looked out the window behind Polly and said, "Who's that with Lydia?"

  She spun in her chair. "Hmm, must be Helen, Aaron's sister."

  "Aaron Merritt has a sister?"

  "She's in town from Atlanta. Do me a favor. Don't say too much about this yet."

  "Because that woman can hide?"

  "I'll tell you all about it later. Just keep it quiet for now."

  "You owe me, Polly Giller."

  "More than I'll ever be able to repay you. Thanks."

  Jeff was out of the door and back in his office before Lydia and Helen made it to the front door of the building. They came inside and Lydia waved at Polly through her office window, then breezed past Stephanie and into Polly's office, closing the door.

  Polly stood and put out her hand. "Hi. I'm Polly Giller."

  "This is my sister-in-law, Helen Oswald," Lydia said.

  The woman took Polly's hand into her firm grip and gave it a quick shake. "Nice to meet you, Miss Giller."

  "Please, it's Polly. Have a seat." Polly gestured to the chairs in front of her desk. "Are you staying with us tonight?"

  "If it's not too much trouble."

  "We're glad to have you. Honestly, I'm just thankful you're here."

  "Lydia has told me a little of what she's been going through." Helen turned to her sister-in-law. "I wish you'd said somethin' earlier. We might could've fixed y'all up before things got to this point."

  Might-could? Oh Polly was going to like this woman. She was exactly as Lydia had described her. Grey-black hair pulled back in a severe bun, horn-rimmed glasses, built like a Mac truck. Polly had no problem imagining the woman in grey shorts and a shirt, running a girl's dormitory in the middle of Russia, commanding respect and quick obedience with every snap of the finger. But when she smiled and even when she spoke, her soft southern accent and twinkling eyes gave away the soft heart she carried within. She was dressed in blue jeans, tennis shoes and an oversized plaid shirt, and had taken a blue woolen pea coat off when she entered the building.

  "Does Aaron know you're in town?" Polly asked.

  "Not yet. Lord a-mercy, don't you want to be in the room when he sees me?" The woman started to laugh. It came from deep in her belly, low and resonant.

  "I don't know. That scares me."

  "That little boy has you intimidated, does he? My goodness, the stories I could tell."

  This would be the only time that Polly would hear someone refer to Aaron Merritt as a little boy and it warmed her heart. It wasn't often that she wished she'd had siblings, but every once in a while, when she saw sisters and brothers tease each other and then support each other, it made her wistful.

  "So, Miss Giller," Helen started.

  "Polly?" Polly pleaded.

  "We'll work on that."

  Polly wasn't sure whether Helen meant that she would work on calling her by her first name or that she would change Polly's insistence on being so informal.

  "All of this is yours?"
<
br />   Polly nodded. "We've worked hard to bring it all together. Things dropped into my lap when they were most needed."

  "Lydia tells me you have horses?"

  "Those are part of the story of this place," Polly said. "I knew I wanted a horse, so we came up with a crazy idea to have a barn-raising. Before it was finished, there were four Percherons that needed a new place to live. When I realized I was in over my head, a man showed up who became our groundskeeper. He knows more about horses and animals than I will ever be able to learn."

  Helen was nodding as she looked around. "Pretty nice woodworking. Someone fall into your lap there too?"

  "That's her husband," Lydia said.

  "But he was my contractor first. He did the renovation of Sycamore House. He's pretty amazing."

  "How'd'ja find yourself a single man with talent like that in a small town in Iowa?"

  "Like I said, things worked out."

  "You must have a fairy godmother."

  "Polly makes her own wishes come true," Lydia said. "She's been a godsend to Bellingwood. There isn't much that frightens her and she'll dig right in and work until things are done."

  "Will y'all show me around? I'd like to see the rest of this place."

  "I'd love to. Let's get a key to your room and I can take you up there," Polly said. "If you want to rest or unpack, we can explore at your leisure."

  "Don't need leisure. God above gave me time on earth to get things done. I'm not about to go wastin' it on leisure. I don't know when he'll see fit to take me home." She glanced over Polly's shoulder. "You have children here?"

  Polly turned and looked out to see Rebecca, Kayla and Andrew running across the parking lot to the front door.

  "Their families work here during the day, so the kids hang out upstairs in my apartment."

  "I'd like to meet 'em." Helen walked out of the office.

  Polly jumped up and followed, only to discover that Helen had stopped the kids before they could run up the steps.

  Helen sat down on the fourth step and looked up at Andrew with rapt attention. Polly got closer to hear him telling her about dinosaurs. Before she knew it, Rebecca was digging into her backpack and pulled out a notebook, handing it over to Helen.