A Big Life in a Small Town (Bellingwood #2)

by Diane Greenwood Muir

  "What is it?" Polly asked.

  "I take the kiddos to Chuck-E-Cheese because I love that hideous, awful pizza."

  Andy grimaced and Sylvie said, "That's the worst pizza in the world! I was glad to have my boys get past that stage."

  "I know!" Lydia said. "It's absolutely awful and I love it. I even love that stupid, dancing mouse. Whenever I get a craving, I offer to take my grandkids out for an evening and we drive to Des Moines. I get my awful pizza and they think Grandma is cool."

  Lydia looked at Sylvie and said, "Now it's your turn."

  Sylvie looked at the box in her hand and said, "Dare. I'm afraid of truth tonight." She opened the box and pulled the paper out and read it, then looked up at the table. "This is weird," she said. "Okay, fine."

  "What is it?" Andy asked.

  "I'm not supposed to say," Sylvie replied and stood up. She walked into the kitchen and washed her hands. Then, she spun around three times and came back to the table, but before she sat down, she rubbed her sudsy hands all over Andy's face.

  "What was that for?" Andy spluttered.

  "It was the dare," Sylvie replied and handed Andy the slip of paper. "You happened to be sitting on my right side."

  Polly's phone rang. She looked at the display and saw that it was a call from Doug.

  "Just a second," she said. "I need to get this." She stepped out of the room and said, "Hello?"

  "Hey, Polly," Doug said. "Everything is fine here, I think."

  "What do you mean?" she asked.

  "Well, a car pulled up and the girl who is staying upstairs got in it and drove away. She didn't say anything to anyone, but she brought Leia down and put her in the auditorium with us."

  "What? That's weird! Did she have any bags with her?"

  "I'm not sure, but I don't think so. Maybe she'll come back tonight. I didn't want to upset you, but I thought you should know since she never goes anywhere."

  "Thanks Doug. We'll be back after a bit. Would you mind keeping Leia with you until I get there?"

  "No problem."

  "How are Jason and Andrew doing?"

  "They're doing great. That Andrew is a little spitfire."

  "He sure is. Okay, thanks for letting me know. I feel like I should build a room for you to live there. You keep taking care of things for me."

  "You build the room. I'll move in!" Doug said brightly.

  "See you in a bit," Polly said and hung up. She went back into the dining room and sat down.

  "What's up?" Sylvie asked.

  "I suppose it's nothing. That was Doug and he called to tell me that Elise just got in someone's car and drove away. She put Leia in the auditorium and didn't say a word. It's strange, that's all."

  "Are you worried about her?" Lydia asked.

  "Well, I got these calls last night for a Linda Marberry. Someone was certain she was staying with me. I insisted that I had no one there by that name, but it makes me wonder. I asked Elise about it today and she denied knowing anything about it, but now she's gone." Polly looked at the time on her phone. "It's nine o'clock. Where would she be going at this hour in Bellingwood?"

  "Do you need to hurry back to Sycamore House?" Andy said.

  "We should head back soon, I suppose, but you aren't going to get out of taking a turn," Polly laughed. "Will that be okay?" she asked Sylvie, who nodded her assent.

  "Well, fine. I'm doing truth, then," Andy said and opened her box. "Describe your worst date." She looked at Beryl, "Really? That's what you want to know?"

  "Excuse me," Beryl said. "I had no idea who would get that question. It could easily have been me!"

  "But, you were there for my worst date."

  "Oh, lordie. Yes, I was. That was a helluva night!" Beryl laughed.

  "Well, tell us!" Polly insisted.

  "It was my junior prom. I wasn't dating anyone and Miss Thing over here was dating some weird guy from Boone, so she asked him to find a buddy to be my date. He had a friend who agreed to go with me and we all met up for pizza the week before in Boone. First thing, he was short. Way short. I'd already bought these pretty white sandals, but I remember having to go downtown to find a pair of flats. Mom wasn't too happy about spending that money, but I didn’t want to tower over him. He seemed like a nice enough guy, and I was willing to get past the height issue. I was even willing to try to ignore his lisp."

  Everyone at the table was giggling by now. "What I didn't realize was that he not only couldn't dance, but he wouldn't dance. We sat at a table all night long. He didn't want to get his picture taken. He didn't want to participate in anything. He and his buddy kept going outside and all of a sudden, it must have hit Beryl too, we realized they were getting high. In fact, I think that was the last year they let people go in and out of the building at a dance. After that year, once you were out, you stayed out. But, anyway, when he came back one time, he started getting handsy with me. I was so shocked I didn't know what to do. I moved my chair away, thinking he'd get the hint. Well, he was all relaxed and happy and started draping himself over me, trying to feel me up. Finally I slapped him. He giggled. I pushed him back and he went over his chair onto the floor. He kept laughing and came back for more.

  "That was it for me. I told him that I was calling my dad to come get me. He tried to kiss me goodbye. He totally didn't get it, I guess. I shoved him again and back he went into the chair and pulled down a bunch of decorations that were hanging there. One of the sponsors came over and asked if everything was okay and told us that if we didn't settle down, we'd be asked to leave. I started crying, picked up my purse, walked out of the gym and kept walking until I got to the highway. I got to a pay phone, called my dad and he came to get me.

  "Yeeeeaaahhh," Beryl drew the word out. "I still feel guilty about that."

  "You should!" Andy said, "I almost didn't go to my senior prom because I was so scared something awful would happen again."

  "But, you were with your sweetheart that year and it all worked out fine, didn't it?" Beryl retorted.

  "I suppose. It wasn't really your fault, though. You were just dating a weirdo who happened to be friends with someone who was even stranger. I should have picked up on it the night we met for pizza, but I wanted to believe the best about him."

  "That'll teach ya," Beryl laughed. "Now," she went on. "We should let these youngsters get home and get to bed."

  "I'm sorry for ducking out early," Polly apologized.

  "No! Don't worry about it," Andy said. "I get it. You go on and make sure everything is okay at Sycamore House and we'll see you tomorrow."

  Lydia said to Polly, "I'll be over about one thirty to pick you up to go shopping, okay?"

  "Sounds great," Polly said. She and Sylvie collected their things and went out to the car.

  "I feel like I killed the evening," Polly said to Sylvie.

  "Don't worry about it. It's time to get the boys home anyway. I want to have fun with them tomorrow before classes start on Monday. There's a water park up in Fort Dodge, and we are going to hang out in warmth and humidity for the day."

  Leia scampered across the auditorium floor when she saw Polly, who knelt down and scooped her up. "Did you miss me, little girl? How are you feeling? I probably should have checked on you more often, but I didn't want to bother Elise! It's good to see you."

  "Thanks for looking after her, Doug."

  "No problem." He didn't look up from his monitor for a few moments, then stopped and sat back. "She was fine."

  "You haven't seen Elise come back or anything, have you?" Polly asked.

  "Nope. No one has been in or out since she left, except you."

  "Okay. Are you going to be here for a while?"

  "If you don't mind." He looked over and saw Sylvie talking to Jason. "Is it time for you to leave?"

  Jason looked down, "Yes," he pouted, "but we don't want to."

  "Hey, that's cool, little dude," Billy said. "You gotta obey the mama. Trust me on that. It's painful when you don't. Isn't that right?"<
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  Everyone laughed and agreed. It was obvious they'd all been there at some time in their lives.

  "We'll have you back another time and maybe you can stay later," Billy said to Jason. "Here, take your copy of the game. You earned it."

  "Really? Thanks!" Jason said.

  Andrew was yawning and had quit playing some time ago, watching what was going on around him. When Sylvie got to him, he put his hand in hers and let her lead him out.

  "Thanks. I'll see you later," Polly said and as she followed the Donovans out of the room, heard choruses of "Thanks" and even a few "ma'ams" in there. She knew Billy had to be chuckling.

  Sylvie asked Jason to go back to the kitchen to get their coats and he walked away.

  "Thanks for making it possible for them to hang out with the older kids. I think it's great for them to see decent role models doing fun stuff," Sylvie said.

  "No problem. And I like having them around myself." Polly patted Andrew's back and watched as they all left. Then she ran upstairs to drop Leia in the apartment and get Obiwan for a quick walk. After she dropped him off in the apartment, she thought about opening Elise's door, but then thought that might be out of line if she was coming back soon. It would wait another day.

  CHAPTER TEN

  "Find the girl more coffee,” Jeff said. “It's awfully early for a nap, isn't it?" Polly picked her head up, held out an empty coffee cup and then moaned as Jeff dropped into a chair in her office.

  "You're right,” she said. “It's too early. But I still need a nap. Those stupid animals of mine."

  He chuckled. "You're the one who thinks she needs a zoo. What's up?"

  "Well, I have Leia back and she must have become used to Elise's schedule because she has been up and into everything the last few nights. Then that means Luke is up and if he’s up, that means Obiwan is up. And to top it off, they're going to sleep all day today and roam all night tonight again." She rubbed her eyes with one hand while leaning on the other. "I'm too young to be this tired," she complained.

  "Maybe you need an afternoon nap," Jeff snickered.

  "Hey," she said. "Naps are a good thing. You know. My dad used to come in at noon every day and in the next hour, he'd have lunch and a twenty-minute nap and be ready to change the world. Now, if I could only figure out how to make short power naps work for me."

  Henry passed by the window of Polly's office, waved and as he came around the corner, stuck his head in the main office and said, "You look tired, Polly. Have you been out partying?"

  She turned to Jeff. "Do I look that bad?"

  "Your eyes are tired." He looked her up and down. "And you don't look all put together this morning. I can't put my finger on it, but you seem to be in disarray."

  Polly looked down at her clothing and chuckled. "Well, that might be because my buttons are off on my shirt." She ran her hand through her hair. "And for heaven's sake, I didn't rinse the conditioner out this morning."

  "Do you need to start the morning over again?" he asked.

  "I'm going to have to do something," she said. "I’m going to a funeral today and I can't look like this!"

  Polly's phone rang and answered it, "Sycamore House, may I help you?"

  "Polly?"

  "Yes."

  "Hi there! This is Marnie from Doctor Ogden's office. Mark wanted to see if you would like him to stop in the morning to check on Leia and Obiwan. He's going out for the day and figured it would be easier if he stopped by rather than you bringing both of them here."

  "Really?" Polly was stunned. "That would be terrific. What time?"

  "He'll be there about seven thirty, will that work?"

  "Sure. If you will give me his email address, I'll send the key to the main door to him. That way he can get in and come upstairs to the apartment."

  Marnie had to ask a few questions about how emailing a key worked and then gave Polly the address.

  Jeff had left her office during the exchange, shaking his head. He and Henry were talking out in the hall. After Polly sent the email to Mark Ogden with a little explanation, she joined them.

  Jeff said, "Henry tells me the load of lumber is coming in this afternoon for the barn. That should start raising some interest."

  "Are you having trouble getting people interested in helping?" she asked.

  Henry laughed. "Not at all! No one around here has ever done anything like this and they're looking forward to the experience. I think some of them want to be able to tell their kids and grandkids they helped with a barn raising. We're going to have more than enough hands on Saturday."

  "Sylvie says she is getting calls from some of the women in town who want to help in the kitchen on Saturday, too. At least those who don't want to be helping with the barn. It's going to be a big day around here, Polly!" Jeff declared.

  "It all feels weird," Polly said. "I'm not involved in any of this and yet it's all going on around me." She wrinkled her brow. "That happens a lot to me, doesn't it!"

  "It's because you have good people helping you," Jeff assured her. "You're our creative catalyst."

  She laughed. "Well, if that's the way you want to look at it, I'm glad. I'll catalyst your creativity any day."

  Andy walked in and joined them. "Good morning!" she said. "What are you chattering about?"

  Polly smiled, "Good morning to you! We're talking about the barn raising on Saturday. The boys here ...” she winked at them, "both think it's going to be a huge success."

  Andy took Polly's arm and began walking toward the auditorium. "Lydia says Elise hasn't been back since she took off Saturday night. You've heard nothing from her?"

  "No, and I don't know whether it's my business to worry," Polly said. "She paid for her room until the middle of March. I'll wait a couple more days before I open it. I need to change sheets and gather towels up and make sure there aren't any dishes in there anyway. It's strange, don't you think?"

  Andy nodded in agreement.

  "Speaking of strange," Polly said. "Did you find anything else out last night at Madeline Black's house?" Lydia had invited her to join them in their next trek through the house filled with someone else's memories, but she declined. The two of them had spent the afternoon searching for bedding for the Walnut Room and had ordered a mattress set to be delivered this week as well. Polly was thrilled with the red, wheat and brown colored comforter set they'd found. The small leafy pattern that was woven into the comforter would be a perfect complement to the beautiful view of the trees along the creek. It would all be put together in time for her new resident to arrive the next Monday.

  Even though Polly wasn't sure what had happened to Elise, she looked forward to meeting new people as they came to live at Sycamore House. It was a wonderful opportunity to expose outsiders to the joys of Iowa as well as offering them a chance to hide away and focus on whatever they were creating.

  "The painting didn't have anything on the outside, but when Amy took the back off, that's what they found."

  "I'm sorry, what?" Polly said. She was a little embarrassed when she realized she'd missed everything Andy said.

  "The horses," Andy said. "Dean loved horses. He had written a note on the back of a painting, naming each of the horses. We're not sure what it means and we couldn’t find any more information."

  "What do you mean?" Polly asked.

  "Did you not hear anything I said?"

  Polly looked sideways at her friend, "I might have been daydreaming."

  Andy laughed. "Well, of course you were. I often thought my voice sent my students off into daydreams. I wanted to believe they were bored with the content and not me, but you're not helping my ego."

  "No!" Polly exclaimed, and grabbed Andy's forearm. "I'm sorry. I didn't get enough sleep last night because of the animals and I'm not all here. My mind seems to be wandering all over the place."

  "Well, rein it back in, girlfriend. You have a busy week ahead of you."

  "I know," Polly replied. "I'm sorry. Now, what were you saying?"
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  "Amy remembered her parents talking about how much her father had loved horses. I guess that when he was in Korea, he ended up in a regiment who had horses they used as pack animals. They figured that since he grew up in Iowa, he had to know something about livestock, so they put him in charge of them."

  "Well, that's a great memory," Polly said, "but what does that have to do with the note?"

  "Probably nothing, if it comes right down to it," Andy said. "But, who knows."

  "Did he have horses while Laurence and Amy were growing up?"

  "No. Laurence was thrown off a horse as a kid and hurt pretty badly. Amy said he whined and cried and threw such tantrums about being around horses after that, her parents finally got rid of them. In fact, they also moved into town so he would be safe from all of the things that could happen out in the country."

  Polly raised her eyebrows. "Really?"

  "Those were Amy's words, not mine. I think her brother is a bit of a prig," Andy laughed. "That might have something to do with the reason she lives in California. Her parents gave in to his whining and crying and it was all she could do to leave that behind and start a new life."

  "I'm surprised they had a painting of horses in the house, then," Polly said.

  "Actually, there were several, but Amy said they didn't start showing up until a few years before her father died. I guess he finally realized Laurence wasn't going to be home enough to care."

  They were standing in the doorway to the auditorium and Polly nodded as Sam Terhune and Jimmy Rio walked past her to the classrooms.

  "Well, I had better get started if I'm going to get anything done before the funeral," Andy commented. "Are you going?"

  "I thought I would," Polly said. "I feel a little connection to that poor woman since I was there when Lydia found her."

  "Are you going to the luncheon too?"

  Polly giggled. "I haven't been to a funeral luncheon since my Dad's. Honestly, I wouldn't miss it. My memory was that the food is amazing."

  "It's at the Methodist Church," Andy chuckled. "Those ladies can certainly put together a wonderful meal. Would you like to ride over with me? I'll just need to run home and throw on something a little more sedate."