Pages of the Past (Bellingwood Book 9)

by Muir, Diane Greenwood

  "He hurt you," he said.

  "Polly's man hurt me. He's the one who tossed me like I was light as air. And yes, I could have been killed, but just because you are upset doesn't mean you can take it out on your wife and Miss Polly, here. Do you understand me? I want a response from you, young man."

  "Yes ma'am," he said meekly.

  "What did he say?" Polly mouthed to Lydia.

  Lydia motioned to the kitchen with her head. "Let's make sandwiches while these two talk."

  Aaron turned and sat down across from his sister. He leaned forward, his face a mixture of fear and pain.

  "Is he going to be okay?" Polly asked once they were back in the kitchen.

  Lydia shook her head and opened the basket. "I don't know. He finally told me last night that some things had happened before he came to Iowa. He couldn't tell me about them back then and he didn't think that he dared tell anyone about them now. Whatever it is, he thought he'd left it behind him and now it's come into his territory and it scares him."

  "I would never have thought anything could scare Aaron."

  "This has." Lydia reached across and took Polly's hand. "But last night I felt like we were heading back to normal. Even if this is hanging between us, at least he was talking to me again."

  "I'm glad. Does he have any idea how much he's hurt you?"

  "That's not important."

  "Yes it is. He shouldn't get away with that."

  Lydia stopped assembling the sandwiches in front of her and caught Polly's attention. "You know as well as anyone that sometimes people need to get through the things that are in front of them. His actions weren't intentional, they happened and spun out of control. I can't punish him for that. You wouldn't either."

  "You're a good woman, Lydia Merritt."

  "We do what we have to do. At least I didn't have to string him up and hang him out to dry."

  "No punishment?"

  "I'd have punished him if he kept this up or if it happened regularly, but not this. He has enough to deal with."

  "Still... you're a good woman."

  Lydia grinned. "He and I will find an interesting way to get through the apologies and recrimination. He'll do it to himself. Who knows, there might be a trip to sunny Florida before the winter is over."

  "I love you," Polly said with a chuckle. "Aaron will hate that."

  "Exactly."

  They carried food into the living room to find Leia curled up in Aaron's lap and Luke doing his best to look inconspicuous on the back of Aaron's chair. The two dogs were pressed against either side of Helen.

  "It looks like my animals have found their warm bodies for the day," Polly said. She picked Leia up and put her on the ground, knowing Aaron wouldn't move and disrupt the cat. Luke bounded down to join his sister and see what she might be getting. Polly snapped a finger and Obiwan jumped to the floor. Fortunately Han was just as curious as Luke and followed suit.

  "Are you going to tell us what's going on yet?" Polly asked, passing around plates and napkins.

  Aaron shook his head. "I can't. I just can't."

  "But it's all connected, right? The murder of your friend, your bad attitude the last couple of months and now the attack on Helen?"

  He leaned forward and took a sandwich from the platter, sat back and looked at the expectant faces. "I really can't talk about it."

  "We should probably give up," Lydia says. "He's the interrogator in the group and doesn't bow to pressure very easily."

  "Unless there's fried chicken involved," Polly said.

  Helen asked, "Fried chicken?"

  "It has to be Lydia's fried chicken and there has to be a very good reason for me to spill my guts," Aaron said. "No regular fried chicken will do."

  "Do we have anything more to worry about here? Is Helen's life still in danger?" Polly continued to press.

  Helen patted Polly's arm. "I can find another place to stay. I would hate to put anyone else in danger. Especially with these sweet children you have here."

  "No, that's not what I meant at all," Polly said. "Worse things have happened to me here. We just manage our way through it. I'm worried about you. What can we do to keep you safe?"

  Aaron took a deep breath. "They know where I live or I'd ask her to stay with us."

  Lydia's eyes flew open and she gasped. "Are we in danger?"

  "I'm sure we aren't, but if you wanted to spend time with Marilyn in Dayton, I wouldn't protest."

  "And leave you alone in that house? Absolutely not." Lydia frowned. "I'm not going to Dayton. I won't put anyone else in my family at risk." Then she had a thought. "Have we been at risk all these years?"

  "Oh no," he assured her. "Not at all."

  "Then how long? Since your friend was killed?"

  He gave a slight shrug. "More so since then, but I can't believe they would take it that far. You're innocent and know nothing about any of this."

  "But whoever this 'they' is, they don't know that. For all they know, you've told me everything."

  Aaron put the plate with his sandwich back down on the coffee table. "No, that isn't true. Your life has never been in danger." He turned to Helen. "Who did you tell that you were coming to Bellingwood?"

  "No one!" she exclaimed. "There wasn't time. I spoke with Lydia the other day, made my reservations online, called Julie at the shelter to tell her I had a family emergency, asked Bob and Bonnie next door to take care of the animals and left."

  Polly jumped up. "The cameras. We still have those cameras hooked up. I never think about them, but they would show that car. Maybe you could get the license plate number and figure out who was driving."

  Aaron nodded. "Since you got Ken involved, you should probably contact him to take possession of the video."

  "Really?"

  "Just call him, Polly."

  She went into the other room and made the call.

  "Hi Polly," Mindy said. "Is everything okay?"

  "Can you patch me through to Ken Wallers? I think I might have video from this morning and I need to tell him that Aaron knows everything and is here at Sycamore House."

  "Sure. Just a second."

  Polly waited and soon enough, Ken came onto the call. "What's up?" he asked.

  "First of all. I'm sorry about earlier. I shouldn't have put you in that position."

  "If you recall, you weren't the one who did, but thank you. That can't be the only reason you're calling me."

  "No, Aaron is here. He knows everything now. While we were talking, I remembered I have video. He says you should have it."

  "Is he sure?"

  "I guess. He told me to call you."

  "If this is linked to his case, it should be his."

  "Do you want to fight with him? Because I sure don't."

  Ken chuckled. "I suppose not. I wonder what he's trying to do here, though."

  "Are you available? I can download video for you."

  "How about I meet you in your office in a half hour. I have a few things to take care of first."

  "Thank you."

  After all of the arguing Polly had done regarding the installation of cameras at Sycamore House, she was now glad they were there. She still hated the idea of surveillance, but when it came to the safety of her friends, she'd get over it."

  "He's coming in a half hour," she said, going back into the living room. "But he didn't understand why you want him to take it."

  Aaron nodded. "This is all much too close to me. I want to keep things as aboveboard as possible. It's already too convoluted for my taste."

  He stood up, his sandwich still uneaten on the plate in front of him. "Helen, I want you to stay inside until this is over. If Polly's information is good, we should be able to handle this quickly."

  "Between those big horses and the fall, my body will rebel against any outings," she said. "But what about you and Lydia?"

  He stepped over in front of his wife and held out a hand. She took it and stood up. "I was serious about you staying away from the hou
se," he said. "If you won't go to Dayton, would you consider staying here with Helen?"

  "I've spent too many nights sleeping away from you," Lydia said. "I'm not doing that any longer."

  Aaron set his jaw. "I would rather you slept away from me than for you to be collateral damage in this mess. Please do this for me. Let me take care of you again."

  Lydia turned to Polly. "Do you have one more room?"

  "Of course I do. You can have the room next to Helen's. Do we need to take you home and pick clothes up?"

  "Can I do that?" Lydia asked her husband.

  "I'll take you home and bring you back. Plan to be away for a couple of days, would you? Hopefully it won't take any more time than that."

  She started ticking things off on a mental list, using her fingers, yet not speaking, then said. "I have a busy day tomorrow. Will you be okay if I do my regular errands? There are two women that haven't gotten groceries for two weeks. I can't ask them to go any longer than that."

  "Can you call someone else?"

  "I can ask Andy," Lydia said. "But I'm going to go out of my mind, sitting still all day long. Will you fix this as fast as you can? I don't need Polly to see me at my daily worst. And I definitely don't want her to see me when I'm bored."

  He chuckled. "I've never known you to be bored, Lydia. No matter where you've been stuck. You always find something that you can do."

  "Are you sure I can't stay at home?"

  "Please do this for me," he begged. "I know I don't have a right to ask much of you after all I've put you through these last couple of months..."

  "Stop it. We'll deal with that when this is over."

  He looked down and whispered, "What does that mean?"

  Polly started to laugh. "Oh, you're going to pay for it. No one tortures Lydia Merritt and gets away with it for very long."

  "What is this going to cost me?" he asked.

  "Time," Lydia responded. "Lots and lots of time. But we'll talk about that later. You take me home and then I'll come back to Sycamore House like an obedient wife." She winked up at him and leaned in to draw her husband into a hug. "I'm so glad you're talking to me again, even if you're telling me to live somewhere else. You're back to normal."

  Aaron held her close and rested his cheek on the top of her head. Polly felt like she was intruding on a very intimate moment and slipped over to sit on the sofa beside Helen. Obiwan and Han jumped back up onto the couch, Han nuzzling Helen's hand.

  He finally released his wife and said, "Helen, will you be okay up here until Lydia comes back?"

  "I'm fine." She scowled at him. "I've lived a lifetime without your assistance, I think I can sit around a piece."

  Polly stood up and walked over to the front door with Lydia and Aaron. "Come find me when you get back and we'll settle you in the room upstairs."

  "Thank you for everything," Lydia said and reached out to hug her. She whispered in her ear. "Don't expect to see me for a while. I need to..."

  Polly stopped her. "Don't say it. I'll see you when I see you."

  She shut the door after them and turned back to Helen. "I should go downstairs and wait for Chief Wallers. Do you want to stay up here with the animals or what? The kids will be here soon and I know they'd like to spend more time with you."

  Helen nodded. "I don't want to face those stairs again. If you don't mind, I'll stay right here on your sofa and let these warm fuzzy things keep me company."

  "Feel free to wander. You found the bathroom yesterday?"

  "I did, honey. Thank you. I'll be fine."

  "Television is in the other room."

  "I'll be just fine right here. Thank you for everything."

  Polly left the apartment and went downstairs to her office. This really was one of her more crazy weeks. Things needed to slow down.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

  Polly was awakened again by Henry whispering, "Someone's cooking in our kitchen again."

  "Oh for heaven's sake," she said. "Who is it this time?"

  "You go see. It's probably one of your friends."

  Polly looked at the clock. Six thirty. Last night, she'd jokingly told Lydia that if she was desperate to make breakfast, she could use the kitchen, not thinking for a minute the woman would take her up on it.

  She stretched her legs and snuggled closer to Henry. "If it's Lydia, I'm praying for a quick end to this siege."

  "Siege?"

  "Yeah. People stuck here because they can't go anywhere else."

  "That means you're going to have an exciting day." He tickled her side and sang mockingly, "I get to go to work. I get to go to work."

  "If I call you in a panic will you meet me for lunch?"

  "I'd love to, but I won't be in town today."

  "You're a fink. Maybe I'll call my friends and make them come over and play."

  "First you have to get out of bed and see who is in our kitchen."

  "It's Lydia. I just know it."

  He gave her a push. "Go. I'll do the doggy thing this morning after my shower. You feed them and make nice with your guests."

  "Fabulous. They're your guests too. You married me for better or worse."

  Henry reached around Polly and turned her so she was facing him, then planted a kiss on her lips. "If this is the worse, I'm in pretty good shape."

  Polly sat up on the edge of the bed, feeling on the floor with her feet for slippers. They'd had a nice evening with everyone who was at Sycamore House. There had only been eight, so they ate dinner in the downstairs kitchen and watched the sun set through the large windows facing the western horizon. The oranges, reds and pinks shone through the trees, making a beautiful setting.

  They'd laughed at stories Helen told of her childhood with Aaron and their other two brothers and then Helen did something that Polly had never thought of doing. She pressed Sarah Heater for stories of Rebecca's infancy and her own childhood and youth. Rebecca listened with rapt attention and Polly took the opportunity to record it with her phone. Sarah talked about grandparents and cousins, people that Rebecca might like to find when she got older. For that time alone, Polly was grateful that Helen Oswald had come to town.

  "You're not moving very fast," Henry said from the doorway to the bathroom.

  "I know, I know. Here I go." Polly pulled on her robe and followed by the entire menagerie, went out into the main room and then into the kitchen.

  Sure enough, Lydia was hard at work.

  "Good morning," she sang out. "I have coffee ready for you. Sweet rolls are in the oven and as soon as I start seeing faces, I'll cook eggs and sausage. I made up a fresh pitcher of orange juice. Is there anything else you'd like?"

  "That's plenty," Polly said. "You didn't have to do this."

  "I stopped in to say good morning to Helen. She isn't moving very well. I asked her what hurt more and I think it was the ride on that big Percheron yesterday. I'll take breakfast over to her."

  "How are you this morning? Did you have trouble not being at home with your husband?"

  Lydia winked. "You'll never guess who came to visit me in the middle of the night."

  "He did not."

  "Yes he did. It was the sweetest thing. He said he missed me."

  "So after two months of pure hell and you're just letting him go back to normal?" Polly raised an eyebrow. She would never let Henry get away with this.

  "Oh dear, this isn't back to normal. He's doing his very best to make up for everything. We'll talk through it as it comes, but there's no sense stirring up a nasty fuss over something that's already happened. We have to make the best of what we can with the present and plan ways to never let it happen again in the future. That isn't going to be something we do in one or two days."

  "You're really just letting him get away with it?"

  Lydia spun around, a frying pan in her hand. "Not on your life. But I'm also not going to reject his attempts. That's not the way to handle a man like Aaron. He needs positive reinforcement. We have plenty of time to work on t
he rest of it."

  Polly shook her head. "It makes no sense to me."

  "Of course it doesn't. You and Henry don't have the same relationship that Aaron and I have, why would you expect to do things the same way? This is what works for us."

  Han gave a little yip.

  "Oops. I'm supposed to feed them. I'm a bad mom."

  "Let me get out of your way," Lydia said. "I'll finish setting the table."

  Rebecca came into the kitchen and said, "Is it Saturday?"

  "No honey, why do you ask that?" Polly asked.

  "Because it feels like Saturday."

  "That's just because Lydia is here. You're up early. Why don't you go get ready for school and maybe you can run down and spend a few minutes with your mom before breakfast."

  "That was pretty cool last night," Rebecca said.

  "Hearing your stories?"

  "Yeah. Do you think she has more like that?"

  "We'll have to ask her and see. Why don't you ask her to write out some ideas and we can ask her about them another time."

  "Great!" Rebecca ran out of the room.

  "That was a wonderful thing Helen did last night," Polly said, weaving through the animals to get back into the dining room. "I don't know why I hadn't thought of doing that."

  "Did I see you recording it?"

  "I loaded it onto my computer last night. One of these evenings we'll watch it with Rebecca again. I think she heard some of those stories for the first time last night. I don't know about you, but that's how I know my family's history. Dad told stories over and over and over again until they were anchored in my mind."

  "We didn't do enough of that with the kids. At least they're taking lots of pictures and movies with their own children. Those will help them tell the stories."

  "Good morning, girls," Henry said as he came into the room. "It sure smells good in here."

  Lydia beamed. "I like being able to make big breakfasts. I miss it now that my kids are all gone. My favorite days of the year are when they fill up my house and want to eat my cooking."

  "Come on, boys," he said. "Let's get out and back inside before the food is gone. I don't want dry toast because you made me miss out."