"You never know! It could become the hottest thing in the Midwest."
"Now you're just scaring me. That's not very nice, you know."
Polly smiled. "It will be fine and this will be fun. You want eclectic and comfortable, soft and warm, puppies and kittens. Are you pregnant?"
"Stop it!" Sal exclaimed, horrified. "Don't even hint at that thought."
"We'll talk about that later," Polly said. "But Sal, you have to know that I was ready to design with chic elegance. Something that looked like you. This looks like me."
"Because I like being around you. You make it easy for people to be who they are. You make people comfortable to try things and do things. Did you ever think about that?"
"Whatever." Polly rolled her eyes. "You know I'll help you put together whatever it is that you want."
"This is what I want." Sal chuckled. "I wonder how much of this kitsch is already in people's homes. What if we had a fund raiser a couple of months before we opened? We could have it here. People would bring their crazy animal and pet-themed items as the donation and for every one they bring... " She thought about it. "Wow, that could get expensive."
"What were you thinking?"
"I could donate five dollars to the shelter. But, that's not how I want to do this."
"It depends," Polly said. "Figure out what you want to spend on that type of decor. Make a budget."
Sal started to laugh. "Me? Budget? There's our first problem."
"Okay. We can work on that, too. But once you figure out what you're going to spend, you can decide whether you want to spend it to support the shelter or on EBay or in a thrift store."
"You're right," Sal said, sitting up a little straighter. "I can make any decision I want to."
Polly nodded. "It's really strange to realize that you're an adult, isn't it."
"No kidding. I mean, I go through every day doing all of the adult things I'm supposed to do, and then something happens and I realize that there isn't anyone else around to tell me what to do. It's all on me." She leaned forward conspiratorially. "It's kind of freaky. I haven't grown up enough to have that kind of responsibility."
"Do you remember my first jar of macadamia nuts?" Polly asked.
Sal shook her head. "Um, no? Your first jar? You remember that?"
"Yeah. It was our senior year. I was working part time at the library and it was the first time I had extra money. I remember standing in the grocery store and looking at it. I wanted them so bad. Mary always told me they were too expensive. Every once in a while she slipped a jar in my Christmas stocking. That only made me want them more. But that day, I splurged my extra money and spent nine dollars on nuts. I didn't tell anybody."
"So you think I should remember?"
"I shared them with you. You had brought a bottle of wine back from your parent's house and we sat around putting makeup on."
"I let you put makeup on me?"
"Okay no. You got drunk and dolled me up. I thought we were being so grown up that night. Wine and macadamias and you turning me into a… I don't know what."
"I remember doing that, but I didn't realize those were so special to you."
"I didn't want you to know," Polly said. "It felt so good to be independent and make decisions and drink wine. It was a perfect night."
Sal started to laugh. "You are such a weirdo."
"Hey, it was one of my moments, don't take that away from me."
"I never would," she replied, shaking her head. "I guess I'm glad I was there for one of them. You seem to have been around for most of mine." Sal looked up at the clock on Polly's shelf. "Look at the time. I need to get back to work."
"Sweet Beans," Polly said. "I'm on it."
~~~
"Polly?"
She looked up to see Stephanie standing in her doorway.
"Yes, what's up?"
"Mrs. Oswald wondered if you had a few minutes."
Polly pushed back from her desk and stood up. "Sure. Thank you."
Stephanie stepped back and Helen Oswald came in, grinning from ear to ear. "You run a wonderful establishment, my dear."
"Thank you." Polly gestured to the chairs. "Please have a seat. How can I help you this morning?"
"I had a ride this morning on the back of your Nat. I don't know if I've ever been on the back of something quite so wide." She gave a wicked giggle and placed her fingers over her lips. "That sounded naughty."
Polly just chuckled. "It does take some getting used to. I 'd never ridden a regular sized horse, so I had nothing to compare it to, but I do remember feeling like I might never walk normally again."
"I enjoyed spending time with Eliseo. He's a good man and you are fortunate to have him."
"I am fortunate to have everyone that is here."
"It seems like the good Lord put the right people in place."
"I agree." Polly wondered where the conversation was going. Helen didn't seem like the type of person to randomly engage in small talk.
"You might wonder why I'm here this morning. I received a call from our Lydia. Would you be free for luncheon?"
"Certainly." Then Polly stopped. Jeff and Sylvie were off site today and she hated to leave Stephanie alone. "Wait. No, I probably shouldn't. Stephanie has only been here for a few days and I don't want to leave her alone."
Helen nodded, looking off to the side while she considered Polly's words. "Lydia specifically asked if me to invite you."
"Why don't we have lunch upstairs?" She knew there was chili in the freezer and she surely had sandwich ingredients.
"We don't want to put you to any trouble. Especially if you must pay attention to the comings and goings of your people."
"It won't be any trouble. Let me call Lydia. The two of us can work this out in no time."
Polly picked up her phone and quickly made the call.
"Hello dear," Lydia said. "Did Helen speak with you about lunch?"
"Yes, but I can't go out. Jeff and Sylvie are out of town today. I don't want to leave Stephanie here alone."
"That makes sense, but I'm sorry to hear it."
"But what if you were to come here? I wouldn't be too far away from the action if we ate upstairs in my apartment. I have chili in the freezer and we can make sandwiches."
"Are you certain?"
"Of course I am."
"Let me see what I have here. We'll make it a potluck."
"If you're digging into your refrigerator, it will be a feast."
"If you are certain this will work..."
Polly interrupted her, "Lydia, it will be great. I just don't want to get too far away. Nothing is going to happen, but I'd hate to not be able to be here and have the place explode."
"Thank you so much, dear. I will be over for lunch. Let Helen know that we have this well in hand."
"I'll do it. See you later." Polly put the phone back down on her desk and said, "I knew we could work it out."
"You two are quite good friends, aren't you," Helen said.
"I don't know what I would have done without her. She's taken care of me through the strangest things and keeps me sane when all I want to do is run screaming through the town."
"She's one of the most stable women I've ever known."
"You know, most of us believe that her stability is because of the relationship she and Aaron have."
Helen nodded. "They've always been a good team."
"That's why we're so worried. Lydia is falling apart at the seams because he has quit talking to her. She says he's never done this before."
"He's protecting people he shouldn't be concerned about. You know Aaron. His honor would never let him go back on a promise and he made several long before he met Lydia. They're coming back to hurt him now and he's caught between a very big rock and a very hard place."
"And you know what's going on?"
Helen brushed back an invisible strand of hair, then took her glasses off and rubbed her eyes. "I was a large part of it. He thinks he needs to continu
e to protect me. But I don't need his protection. I can handle my own troubles."
Polly smiled. "I've known you less than twenty-four hours and it seems to me that you can handle your own and anyone else's you choose to manage. How much younger is Aaron than you."
"Tut, tut, young lady," Helen scolded, shaking a finger at her. "You mustn't ask those types of questions of a lady."
"I'm sorry," Polly said with a nervous giggle. "I didn't mean to ask that. It's just that you are obviously the older sister."
"That I am. But not by much. Enough, though, that I can still tell that boy what to do and expect him to obey."
"That's something I'd really like to see. I've never seen Aaron as anything but in charge."
"Years of practice and self-denial taught him that. Getting beat up by his older sister helped, too."
"You beat him up?"
"Goodness Gracious, yes. He was a horrible child. Mother told us that we weren't allowed to hit or slap or kick. However, we were often encouraged to wrestle out our frustrations. I was old enough that I could take him down in a flash. I sat on him, just to stop him from picking at me. That all changed the summer before he entered high school. I realized he was within months of being able to take me out, so I just stopped, hoping he'd forget those years of torment."
"I'm guessing your hope was in vain."
"He never said anything," Helen mused. "He never threatened me or warned me or anything."
"So you didn't see it coming."
"No, ma'am. Father set up a wrestling mat in the basement for the boys to work out and build up those wonderful Merritt muscles. They had a mighty nice weight set and all of them were taking martial arts. One night on summer break, Aaron asked me to step in to practice with him. I was as naive as a newborn kitten. He took a stance, asked me to rush him and before I knew what happened, I was flat on my back, out of breath. He stood over me and put his hand out to help me up. He said nothing, didn't laugh or taunt me. I stepped back, still not understanding what just happened. Aaron practiced a few more moves and then told me he thought he might have done something wrong and would I consider trying it again. He hadn't hurt me, so what did I have to lose?"
Polly shook her head slowly, knowing where this story was going.
"Yes. Exactly. He flipped me over and I was on my back again. This time, though, he dropped down and straddled my stomach so I couldn't move, then grabbed my hands. I was out of breath and both of us were laughing. In fact, I remember worrying about whether or not I was going to wet my pants. The next thing I knew, he took my right hand and made me swat myself in the face. I was furious! He asked if I wanted more and made my left hand swat myself. I couldn't make my arms resist. I was out of control and both of us were laughing uncontrollably. I realized he was paying me back for years and years of sibling torture and wasn't letting up until I knew exactly what I was receiving."
"How did you get out of that?"
"I cried because I knew I was going to wet myself. When he saw the tears come, he knew he'd gone too far and jumped up. By that point, I couldn't move I was laughing so hard."
"You didn't."
"Oh lordie, yes I did."
Polly let out a snort of laughter. "I can't believe you just told me this story."
"I don't know whether it was harder on me or on him, but both of us learned lessons that day."
"I guess so," Polly said. "The first was not to trust a brother on a wrestling mat."
"You know, I always heard them say 'fool me once, shame on you - fool me twice, shame on me.' I learned that lesson. You can get me once, but I will never let you get away with it a second time. And as for trusting a brother on a wrestling mat, he learned about consequences of tormenting your sister to the point of ... well, that. He had to clean the mat, not me. Dad heard the entire thing. After I'd finally slunk away, he carried a bucket in filled with hot soapy water and a scrub brush."
"These are the stories I want to know about Aaron. I hope you have many, many more."
"I do, that's for certain-sure, but look at me takin' up your time. I'll meet you upstairs for lunch. I'm going to take a walk. If I am going to have wounded muscles tomorrow morning, I should see the place today."
She left the office and Polly sat back, imagining a young Aaron Merritt looking at his sister in horror. Yes, that would take her through the rest of the day.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
"Nothing from Jeff and Sylvie yet?" Polly asked Stephanie, walking out of her office.
"They're in Strawberry Point. Jeff called about fifteen minutes ago. They're meeting his friend's father after lunch."
"I hope it's a good day for them." Polly stood in the doorway to the hallway. "I'm taking the dogs out and then having lunch upstairs with Lydia and Helen. If you need anything, call or come get me."
"You really have a lot of things going on."
Polly nodded. "I guess we do. It's kind of fun, though."
"Rachel invited me to have lunch with her in the kitchen. Will it be okay if I'm not in the office?"
"Of course," Polly said. "You know how to turn on the voice mail system, right?"
"Yes, that was the first thing Jeff showed me last week. All I have to do is..."
"No, I believe you've got it. Jeff's a great teacher."
"He's been so good to me. I can't believe he's taking me back to Ohio. You two shouldn't have to do this. You barely know me."
"It might take time for you to fully understand, but once you come to work at Sycamore House, you become part of the family. We'll give you all the freedom you need, but we're there when you need us."
Stephanie ducked her head, a smile on her face. "It's so different than anything I've ever done before."
"I hope it's a good different. Okay. I'll be gone for a while, but don't hesitate to call me."
"Have a good lunch."
Polly went up the steps and snagged two leashes just as the dogs came out of the bedroom to see who was in their house. At the sight of what she was holding, Han bounded across the room and tried to leap in her arms. Obiwan ran over and stood in front of her, his big ole tongue hanging out and his tail wagging his whole body.
"From the looks of it, you two are desperate for a walk. We don't have much time, but let's wander down to the barn and see what's up with the big boys."
She took them back down the front steps and out the main door. The weather had been absolutely wacky lately. One day it was nearly fifty degrees and the next it was in the teens. Fortunately, it was relatively warm today, but she was tired of hanging fog and grey skies.
The snow in the pasture had given way to mud, but the horses didn't care. She chuckled when she watched Demi on his back, rolling around. Ahh, that would be something for Jason to deal with this afternoon. Nan and Nat were actually scampering around the back end of the pasture and all of a sudden, Nan took off and ran toward... her! Nan was happy to see her. She came rushing to the front and then looked straight at Polly and let out a whinny.
"Hello girl," Polly called back. "Are you having a good day?" Nan shook her head and called again. "I know!" Polly said. "It's a great day to be outside." The other three horses joined Nan and watched as Polly and her dogs walked across the yard. Han and Obiwan were preoccupied with their own sniffs and smells so she couldn't move as quickly as she wanted, but she finally hooked both of their leashes onto her left hand and reached up to rub Nan's face with the other. She moved on down the row, taking a minute with each of the horses.
Eliseo poked his head out of the door to Demi's stall and said, "Hello there! I couldn't figure out what all the fuss was."
"This is new," Polly said. "Nan came running to greet me."
"Maybe she misses you."
Polly started to apologize and he put his hands up, "No. I didn't mean it that way. It's good for her to react this way to you."
She backed up and rubbed Nan's face again. The horse reached down and nuzzled Polly's shoulder. "I wish I had a treat for you. You have no i
dea how wonderful this moment is."
Demi reached across and nipped at Nan's shoulder, distracting her. Then he took off and she chased him across the pasture, the other horses running after them. Polly looked for Tom and Huck only to discover that they were inside with Eliseo. Wimps.
"Let's see if we can get their attention on the other side of the barn," Polly said, guiding the dogs back toward the main street.
Helen Oswald was walking up the sidewalk past the barn as Polly emerged.
"Hi there," she called out. "A beautiful day for a walk. I saw your horses chasing after you a few minutes ago."
Eliseo came out as they were talking. "Hello ladies, it's a wonderful day, isn't it?"
Polly glanced up at the sky. "You're a good man," she said. "I want sunshine."
"If we don't have sunshine, at least we have melting. What do you think, one more good snow before the season is over?"
"I'm such a pessimist about winter," Polly responded. "I figure it will torture us until June."
He smiled at Helen. "Are you going back up to the house? I'll walk with you."
Polly split off from them and started walking south when a red car sped past her, its tires squealing as it tore into the driveway of Sycamore House. She spun around, clutching the two leashes in her hands as she watched it race toward Eliseo and Helen, picking up the pace as it aimed straight for them.
Eliseo turned to see what the noise was and as Polly watched in shock and amazement, he pulled Helen away from the path of the oncoming car, tossing her aside as if she were a child. The driver of the car spun his tires, flinging gravel up as he raced on around the driveway and out the other side. He came to a short stop as a car passed in front, going north. The driver turned south again, heading back the way he had come. Polly was terrified he might make another pass through the driveway and fumbled in her pocket for her phone. Instead, he tore past her, gaining speed. Within seconds, the car crested the hill at the south end of her lot and was gone.
Polly ran as fast as Han would let her. Eliseo was just starting to sit up, his hand reaching out to Helen. Blood covered his face.
Pages of the Past (Bellingwood Book 9) Page 21
