Henry had only been gone since Wednesday and they’d talked on video chat every night, but having him here was exactly what Polly needed.
“Come on in,” she said, but Henry stopped and gestured with his head across the hall. “Didn’t think I’d ever see another police seal at Sycamore House.”
“Oh Henry, I’m glad you’re here. I’m so tired of handling this without you around.”
“I’m glad I’m here, too.” He kissed her again and looked down at Obiwan, who had been sitting patiently beside Polly. “I’m even glad to see you, big guy.”
Polly closed the door and followed Henry inside. He held out the flowers and said, “It’s not much. They’re from my back yard.”
“They’re perfect. I have a vase in the kitchen.”
Then he held out the bag. “I brought ice cream treats.”
She chuckled. “Those might have to wait until later. I made a pie.”
“You what?”
“It’s just an apple pie, but it will be warm and I have ice cream.”
“These can go in the trash. Homemade apple pie?” he asked, astounded.
“I make great pie,” she laughed. “I just never do it. Mary used to let me help her all the time and she was one of the best pie makers I’ve ever known.”
“Do I have to wait until after dinner?”
“Dinner is going to be pretty good, too. I hope you weren’t kidding when you said you’d be hungry.”
“I’m starving. What are we having?”
“Come on in and get comfortable. Take off your shoes if you want and I’ll get it on the table.”
Henry looked around and his eyes got big. “What have you done here?”
“What do you mean?” Polly was a little offended.
“This place is so clean. What did you do?”
“The cats helped me. They wanted more treats.” Polly had spent a lot of time cleaning the apartment that afternoon. The table was set for dinner, candles were lit, and serving dishes were waiting on the kitchen counter. All she needed to do was serve it.”
“The place looks really nice, Polly and the table looks fantastic.”
“Maybe I wanted you to know how much I missed you. When you left last winter to go to your parent’s house in Arizona, I told you I wasn’t going to let you go away like that again. You snuck this one in on me and I hated it. I’m going with you next time.”
“The trip would have been much more fun if you’d been there. That drive today nearly killed me.”
“You shouldn’t have come back early. We took care of it. I know you helped me figure it all out, but you could have come back at a normal pace tomorrow.”
“I couldn’t have stood myself if I’d waited until tomorrow. I had to see you today.”
Polly put the ice cream treats in the freezer and pulled a vase out from under the sink. When it was filled with water and the mums were arranged, she placed it on the table.
“What did you think of the front door?” she asked. He grabbed her when she tried to return to the kitchen and pulled her onto his lap.
“Just a minute. I need to do one more thing before I think about that door.”
“What’s that?” she innocently asked.
“This.” He kissed her and she felt herself swooning as they prolonged the kiss.
“Are you in a hurry to think about the front door?” she asked.
“Nope,” and he kissed her again. “I’m just about ready to think about it, but I wanted you to know how much I really did miss you.”
“Uh huh,” she breathed. “I think I’ve forgotten. Can you remind me?”
Henry chuckled and gave her a quick kiss, then pushed her up. “Feed me, woman. I’m dying here.”
“So really, what do you think about the front doors?” she asked, walking into the kitchen.
“They’re all right if you don’t mind a yellow hue.”
“I hate it.”
“Then, I need to take them down and back to the shop. We’ll sand them and put a new finish on them.”
“How long am I going to be without doors?”
“I know. That’s the problem. I need to think about this. We won’t do anything until I’m sure you’re safe with them down.”
Polly put a basket of hot rolls and a dish of cheese encrusted asparagus on the table, then went back for the main dish.
“What’s this?” Henry asked.
“It’s a recipe I made up.”
“It smells amazing.”
“Anything that has bacon in it smells amazing. It’s a country chicken recipe I learned from Mary. This should have everything you need to stay alive for one more night,” she laughed.
She sat down and they began to eat. Henry smiled and nodded as he took a few bites. “You can cook for me anytime,” he laughed. “This is great.”
When they finished supper, he helped Polly take their dishes into the kitchen.
“While you serve up pie and ice cream, I need to run downstairs to my truck to get something. I’ll be right back.”
Before she could respond, he put his shoes on and went out the front door.
“I wonder what that was about.” She walked to the kitchen window and watched as he opened the passenger door of his truck and pulled out a large package.
“What has he done now?” She cut the warm pie and dropped scoops of ice cream onto the slices she’d placed on plates. They were on the table when he came back in.
“I know you will think I’m crazy,” Henry said, handing her the package, “but I had to do this.”
“What did you do?”
“Just open it.”
The package was simply wrapped in brown kraft paper and she tore it off, then laughed. “This is cool! I love it!”
“It isn’t every day that you have a First Anniversary Celebration and I thought we should commemorate it. I was going to give it to you the night of the ball, but I thought maybe today would be better. I like to see you smile.”
Polly kissed him. “Oh, this makes me smile!”
Henry had framed the full page advertisement for the masquerade ball. She couldn’t wait to hang in the outer office downstairs, where everyone could see it.
Polly had spent time one Sunday afternoon dreaming up the text and was proud of the invitation. Jeff’s eyes lit with possibilities when he saw it. He was friends with one of the costume designers at Iowa State and planned to ask for her help in rounding up costumes for the event. Some people in town had pooh-poohed the idea and others had jumped on board and begun planning their outfits right away.
The gown Polly had found online was gorgeous. She wasn’t too sure about the corset and petticoat, but for one night, it would be fine.
“Thank you for this, Henry,” she said. “I would never have thought to do something like it and you’re right, it should be commemorated.” She set it up in a chair and looked at it. “It’s been a whole year, Henry. A year!”
“It’s been a good year.”
“Do you remember putting this floor in for me? I wasn’t even in town when you brought all of my furniture up from downstairs.”
“That was a fun night. We were all so glad you were safe. That’s the night you got Obiwan, too.”
The dog heard his name and padded over to sit between them. Polly reached down and scratched his head. “When Lydia came in my front door with Beryl and Andy, I couldn’t begin to comprehend the changes that were about to happen in my life. It’s not as if I had a big plan, but somehow Lydia knew that I was supposed to be her friend and she made it okay for me to be part of the community.”
“She’s a pretty big presence in town.”
“You warned me,” Polly laughed. “You told me that things weren’t ever going to be quiet once I became friends with them.”
“I was right, wasn’t I!” he said.
“It’s been a year,” she said again, taking a bite of pie. “Wow. So, when did you decide to ask me out?”
“I was getting cl
ose when Joey showed up and made a mess of everything. Then, you were so busy with finishing the renovation and then Jeff showed up and you made all these Christmas party plans.” He took a breath. “I finally just figured I had to do it or I’d never get the opportunity.”
“Can we go back to that same restaurant to celebrate our first year?” she asked.
Henry reached out and took her hand. “Of course we can. That was a great night. I knew I was in love with you then.”
Polly pulled her hand out and laid it on top of his, squeezing it. “It took me a long time to admit it, but I knew that I wanted something with you.” She sat back and took another bite of pie, watching as he ate. “Do you ever think about how many things had to align for us to find each other? Do you believe in fate?” she asked.
“I believe that if we pay attention, good things have a tendency to show up. You showed up and I paid attention and I wasn’t going to let that blasted Mark Ogden get a chance at you.”
Polly had been a bit smitten with her veterinarian’s extraordinary good looks. After spending a wonderful evening with him learning to dance last winter, she’d realized, though, that she really wasn’t interested in him. It had always been Henry.
“You never had anything to worry about, you know.”
“I didn’t know. But I did know that for the first time in my life I wasn’t going to be the nice guy and let someone else push me out. I was in love and I wasn’t about to let you go.”
“Thank you,” Polly said. “I really do love you and I’m awfully glad you’re back in town.”
“I love you too, but I have to tell you that I’ve eaten way too much this evening. I hurt,” he laughed.
“Well, come over to the couch and stretch out. That will help.”
“If I fall asleep, will you cover me up? I didn’t sleep very well last night because I was so worried about you and your phone call this morning sent my adrenaline into overdrive.”
“Do you want to go home?” she asked.
“No, I’m not ready to do that yet. I want to be with you for a while. Is that okay?”
Polly blew out the candles, shut off the lights in the kitchen and they walked across to the living room. She sat down and patted the sofa beside her. He joined her and leaned back into her arms.
“This is exactly where I want to be right now,” he said.
CHAPTER SEVEN
Using her dad’s letter opener to reach a book on a top shelf in her office, Polly jumped when Henry spoke.
“What are you doing?” he asked.
She looked at him a little sheepishly, “Trying to reach a book?”
“Why did you put those things up so high and why are you using a deadly weapon?”
The letter opener was made of heavy steel and the blade was pretty sharp. Polly grinned and got out of the way while Henry reached up to pull the book down. “A Universe of Star Wars Collectibles? What do you want with this?”
“Nothing.” She grabbed it and stuck it in a drawer.
“What?”
“Nothing, okay?” she laughed.
“It’s something. Tell me.”
“Fine. I was messing around on an auction site and wanted to see what a piece was worth.”
He gazed around her office. “You don’t have enough already?”
“We’re not talking about it. Got it?”
“Got it,” he said. “So, it looks like you made it through a night without a crisis.”
“I’m going to assume it’s because you’re back in town.” Polly winked at him. “They knew you had come riding in on your white horse ready to defend my honor and destroy any who set out to harm me,” she laughed. “So what are you doing here today?”
“I’m still on vacation. I didn’t schedule anything because I thought I’d be driving back from Michigan, so … ” he looked around her office, “I have nothing to do. Will you entertain me?”
“I’d love to, but Lydia and Beryl are coming at ten o’clock. They’re in charge of Halloween here next Thursday night. Then I am having lunch with Joss Mikkels and this afternoon Jeff and I were going to go over decorating plans for the Black Masque.”
He pouted at her. “I drove all the way home so I can take care of you and you’re too busy for me?”
Polly hadn’t been paying attention to his face, distracted by an email that she was reading and snapped her head up to look at him. “I’m sorry!” she said. “I can probably try to rearrange things with everyone and I’ll bet Joss could call Nate. Maybe you both could join us for lunch.”
“I’m kidding you, Polly. I came back because I love you. You don’t have to feel any other obligation.”
“Whew,” she said, dropping her head into her hands. “I thought you’d totally lost your mind, but if I needed to feel guilty, I was going to at least try to muster some up.”
“That’s my girl,” he laughed. “Actually, I came over to look at your doors in the broad daylight. I really don’t want to pull them off and leave you exposed, especially when things are a bit strange around here.”
“I’m not really comfortable with that either. The yellow hue isn’t all that awful, is it?”
“It’s not awful. I won’t to make any decisions about it today. We’ll leave them alone until I can come up with a good plan.”
“Thanks.” She picked up her coffee cup to take a drink and it was empty. “Do you want some coffee? I’m a little low here.”
“No, I’m good. I think I’ll take off. Len Specek had asked me last week to come over and look at some old furniture in his basement. He wants to know what kind of wood it is and if he should spend time refinishing it.”
“He’s not asking you to do the work?”
“I hope not,” Henry said. “The man has more free time than I do and infinitely more patience than me when it comes to that. As much as I love antiques, I prefer building furniture from scratch.”
“What kind of furniture does he want you to look at?”
“I don’t know. He’s being kind of cagey about the whole thing. I can’t tell if he’s doing something for Andy or what.”
“That’s what I wondered,” Polly said. “They’re so cute together.”
“Both of them would strangle you if they heard you say that.”
Polly watched Jeff Lyndsay run into Sycamore House from the parking lot. He dashed past her inside window and ran into the office, coming to a stop in her doorway.
“I’m sorry I’m late this morning! I got caught up at Iowa State’s costume shop. They’ve got great stuff and have already heard from some people in Bellingwood. Isn’t that awesome?”
“It’s great, Jeff. I didn’t expect to see you until later. Isn’t it supposed to be your morning off?” Polly asked.
“There’s so much to do to get ready for the Black Masque that I didn’t want to sit around my house twiddling my thumbs. That thing is less than two weeks away!”
He took a breath, then said, “Do you know anything more about who might have murdered Thomas Zeller? And how long until we’re able to get in there and clean that room?”
“I don’t know anything more,” Polly said. “And I don’t know when we can get in there.” She frowned. “I guess I don’t know much of anything.”
“Well, I got a good lead on masks. I figure we need to have extras here that evening. By the way, did you get the email I sent with the gorgeous mask for a horse? Wouldn’t it be smashing to have you and Demi out front, welcoming people to the Ball?”
“I got it. I haven’t talked to Eliseo about it, but I’ll ask.”
“At least I didn’t send you the image of a black horse with a skeleton painted in white on it.”
“At least you didn’t,” she acknowledged.
He left her office and Henry laughed. “He loves a party, doesn’t he?”
“I’m so glad he does. I’d just stick food in front of people and let things be boring after they ate.”
“No you wouldn’t. Lydia and her crew
would never hear of that. As long as they’re around, you’ll have great parties.”
“I suppose. I think Lydia and Beryl have huge plans for Beggar’s Night here. She’s talking about transforming the foyer into a haunted house.”
Henry cocked his head and looked at her in surprise. “Lydia? Lydia who runs all of the church events and is the Sheriff’s wife? Sweet Lydia?”
Polly snorted with laughter. “Oh, she’d hate you for labeling her that way. Yes. Sweet Lydia. I gave them a budget, figuring we could just begin with a little bit of decorating to give the kids something fun and she’s managed to come up with some great ideas. Has she talked to you yet?”
“Nope,” he said, shifting his eyes back and forth. “What should I be expecting?”
“I think you’re going to build a coffin for the vampire …”
“Oh, that’s easy. In fact, that would be fun.”
“You should stick around for this meeting. They’ll be here in a bit.”
Henry’s entire body shivered. “Do I have to?”
“No, you don’t have to.” Polly laughed out loud. “But, I can’t promise they won’t assign extra tasks to you.”
“You won’t protect me?”
“I can try. Would you believe she talked Aaron into being Frankenstein’s monster?”
Henry had started to stand up again and sat back down, a look of incredulity on his face. “I actually don’t believe that. How in the world did she make that happen?”
“Feminine wiles, I suppose. She asked Eliseo to bring Nan up and be the headless horseman. Jason is going to be draped over Nat as the horseman’s latest victim.”
“Who are you going to be?”
“Well, Aaron keeps telling me I should be the Grim Reaper. I don’t know if I’m that courageous, but it will be dark and spooky. Maybe I’ll be a vampire. You could build the coffin for me!”
“You’re doing all of this on Thursday night and then you’re having the Black Masque Ball on Saturday?”
“What’s wrong with that?” she asked.
“That’s a lot of planning. How are you going to get everything together for each event?”
Polly was confused. “It’s not that big of a deal. They’re in two different parts of the building and two different groups are planning them. We’ll be fine.”
Diane Greenwood Muir - Bellingwood 05 - Life Between the Lines Page 6
