Joy in the Journey

by Diane Greenwood Muir

  "Is this a business networking group or a support group?" Polly asked. "Not that one is better than the other. I'm really curious about what you all are putting together."

  "I guess, both. We want to invite speakers to our monthly meetings. Then we’ll plan social events so that we get to know each other better. You'd think that it would be easy to find friends in a town the size of Bellingwood, but some of these women …" Stephanie shook her head. "It never occurred to me that I would be on the same level as them. This morning it totally hit home. I am."

  "Yes, you are. I'm proud of you, Stephanie. You have done amazing things since you came to Bellingwood."

  Stephanie took a deep breath. "I know that I have you and Jeff to thank for a lot of it, but I'm kinda proud of me, too. Does that sound horrible?"

  "Not at all," Polly said. "That's one of the things you missed by not having a parent around. You can say those kinds of things to them and they understand and support you. You can always count on me to be that person for you."

  "How were the interviews?" Stephanie asked, darting her eyes away from Polly.

  "Good. Jeff and I are walking over to the classrooms to discuss what comes next. Do you want to join us?"

  Stephanie pulled herself up and grimaced. "I was on my feet a lot this morning. Most of the time I do just fine, but I didn't want to take my cane upstairs. At least not the first time I met some of those women."

  The cane was hanging on the inside door knob and Polly picked it up to hand it over. "You don't have to be ashamed of this."

  "I should know better, but it’s hard. I took the elevator coming back downstairs. I kinda snuck out when people were saying good-bye. I can pull myself up the steps with the hand rail, but my knee hates bending to come back down." She took the cane from Polly and yes, her limp was a little worse than usual. After the terrible car accident she'd been in, that she was walking this well was a blessing.

  "He's already there," Kristen said, pointing across the hall.

  Polly nodded and followed Stephanie.

  "Hey, Stephanie," Jeff said. "How was your morning?"

  "Oh, Jeff. It was so amazing. I can't wait to tell you about it. Some of the girls took my business card. They hadn't ever been in here before and talked about a ton of ways they could use the facility."

  "Business to business relationships are the best," he said. "Maybe you can put me in the rotation as a speaker."

  "Would you?" she asked.

  "Of course I would. I can talk about building businesses in a small town."

  Polly gestured around the lounge. "I need to get Cassidy. Tell me what you're thinking here."

  "You rushing me, lady?" Jeff asked with a grin.

  "Just focusing you," she replied.

  "Well, short-term, I want to move the conference room over here so that room becomes an office. I think the best room to use is this one." He opened the door into what had once been the computer room. The small tables were still in there, but the computer workstations and monitors were long-since gone. "The back classroom is still used regularly. We wouldn't have any construction costs."

  Stephanie coughed.

  "What?" he asked.

  "Okay, maybe not construction, but we need to upgrade this if it's going to be a conference room. We should replace the carpet and paint the walls."

  Jeff nodded and looked sheepish when he turned to Polly. "She knows me better than I know me. We'll upgrade the video and projector and move the current furniture in." He looked sideways at Stephanie. "And?"

  "We also need to put in new carpet and repaint the walls in the present conference room. It needs to be cleaned up before anyone moves in."

  "Long-term?" Polly asked. "Because I'll sign off on everything Stephanie wants to do so far."

  "Long-term, we're going to need more office space. But that's probably not for several years," Jeff said. "I see all of this becoming office space in the future. That will take construction."

  She nodded. "When the time comes, we'll make different decisions. Things are growing bigger than I'd ever imagined."

  "Hold onto your hat," Jeff replied. "We're just getting started."

  CHAPTER FIVE

  Polly stood in the kitchen the next morning as her boys walked out the door to go to school. "I feel like they're all strangers," she said to Cassidy, who was still in her seat at the island. "I never see Rebecca and I miss her. Cat and Hayden are going like a house afire this semester, and between school and working for Henry, Heath barely has time for your brothers, much less me. To top it off, even the boys are busy." She walked around the island and sat beside Cassidy. "You're still my little girl, right?"

  Cassidy picked up the banana peel from her plate and handed it to Polly.

  "Thank you? What's this for?"

  "You."

  "Oh, sweetie," Polly laughed as she squeezed Cassidy tight. "Thank you. We should clean this kitchen up before I start the rest of the day. Wanna help me?"

  Cassidy wrinkled her nose and shook her head.

  "I'll rephrase that," Polly said. "You and I are going to clean the kitchen. Let's get started." She lifted the little girl to the floor and before Cassidy could run for the back steps, latched on to her daughter's t-shirt. "Oh, no you don't. Even little girls can help put things in the dishwasher. If we hurry, you never know what else might happen this morning."

  Polly wasn't sure what that might be, but she wasn't letting the kitchen remain as it was. This morning's flurry of activity as everyone made it out the back door had been wilder than usual and she wanted to wrangle some of it back into shape. With her hand firmly planted on Cassidy's back, she led her around to the other side of the island and opened the dishwasher door. Han was right there, waiting to help clean the dishes.

  He licked Cassidy's face and she giggled.

  "You put the plates in like I showed you," Polly said, putting the stack of plates on a small step stool beside Cassidy. She watched as Cassidy picked them up, one by one, and set them in line in the dishwasher. Polly put silverware in and while Cassidy continued to stack plates, she filled the sink. When she heard more giggling, she looked down to see that Cassidy held a plate while Han licked it clean. Obiwan had moved in on the other side of her daughter and reached across her shoulder to help clean the same plate.

  Polly had her hands deep in sudsy water when her phone rang. "I wish you could get that for me," she said.

  Cassidy had finished with the stack of plates and was sitting on the floor beside the dishwasher with both dogs snuggled up close to her. She looked up at Polly.

  "It's okay. You can't reach it. I'll get it." She wiped her hands and walked around the outside of the island to where she'd left her phone plugged into the charger beside the coffee station.

  "Huh," she said. "Mrs. Lydia is calling. I wonder what she wants?"

  Cassidy jumped up. She knew full well that when Lydia called, it generally meant something fun was about to happen. Polly was thankful that her friends were comfortable having the little girl around. What that really meant to Polly was that her friends were genuinely good people. They talked about many different things, but rarely did they gossip or speak of things that Polly wouldn't want Cassidy to repeat. Not that the little girl ever spoke, but Polly worried that the day she started, everything would come pouring out.

  She called Lydia back.

  "There you are, dear. I was just preparing to send you a text. What are you doing this morning?"

  "Right now, I'm cleaning the kitchen. Lydia, I'm not cut out to be this mom every single day of the year. How did you raise five children and not go insane?"

  "Who says I'm not? It was a different time and it was a choice that Aaron and I made together. I never once regretted it, though if it hadn't been for Beryl and Andy, there were a few times I'd have considered running away. What happened today?"

  "Nothing bad. Just a lot. Cassidy and I are cleaning the kitchen after a wild morning."

  "One of those mornings," Lydia
said. "I remember them well. I generally sat down with a cup of coffee and a book after they all left the house. An hour or so later, I had the strength of will to clean the mess we'd created and begin the next project. If you are feeling like that this morning, maybe you don't want to come out and spend time with me and Beryl." She chuckled. "I'm not trying to shame you or anything. I'm serious."

  Polly looked back at the kitchen. It should only take another twenty minutes to finish putting things away and then she wanted to put on a big pot of beef stew for tonight. Soup was something that could cook all day in her crockpots and be ready whenever people got home. She'd pick up some of Sylvie's sourdough baguettes. "I could be out of here in an hour and not be stressed about it. What do you want to do?"

  "Babble at you for one thing," Lydia said. "You never called me the other day."

  "Called you?" Polly frowned. "About what?"

  "About finding a body at the new salon. Aaron said that it was a potential employee of Henry's. That's a bad day, right there."

  "I’m sorry. It's been so crazy, I haven't spent much time even thinking about it."

  "Honey, do you want to have coffee with us or would you rather just have some quiet time of your own?"

  "I'd like to see you. I've been missing my family big-time."

  "They make you absolutely nuts and yet you love them so much it hurts," Lydia said. "Why don't you come up to the coffee shop. Beryl and I will meet you there."

  ~~~

  When Polly parked the Suburban, she wasn't surprised to be the first one at the coffee shop. Once Cassidy knew that they were going somewhere, she had picked up the pace and was dressed and ready to go before Polly had her own clothes on. They went on inside and Cassidy started bouncing the minute Polly opened the door.

  "Who do you see?"

  Cassidy pointed across the room.

  The black woman with beautiful dreadlocks waved at them and Cassidy tugged on Polly's hand.

  "Do you want to say hello to Nonni?" Polly asked, knowing exactly where Cassidy was dragging her.

  "Good morning." Nonni Wellman stood up from her table, then knelt. "How are you, Miss Cassidy?"

  Cassidy reached up to the young woman's dreads, then snatched her fingers back before she touched them.

  "It's okay," Nonni said. "You can feel them."

  Cassidy looked at Polly, who shrugged and nodded. "If she says it's okay, then it's definitely okay."

  Nonni looked at Polly while Cassidy petted the ends of the long dreadlocks. "Kids are fascinated by these things. I understand. Do you know Alayna and Jud, Polly?"

  "Not yet," Polly said, putting her hand out. The two young people, very young people, both shook it and said hello to her. "Are you working at the salon, too?"

  "They're coming on when we move," Nonni said. She gave Cassidy a squeeze and stood up. "Mina says you found a man's body in there on Monday. How awful is that? Am I right, guys?"

  Alayna’s head was shaved up one side. She wore bright pink and blonde striped hair on the other side that was long enough to cover the shaved spot when flipped across. "Why would someone kill him in there? That's just crazy. Do they know who did it?"

  The young man, Jud, wore his dark brown hair tied up in a bun at the back. He was a big, thick young man with blue eyes, who wore black glasses and a brightly colored shirt that had drawn Cassidy's attention. "Someone must have been really mad."

  Polly shook her head. "I haven't heard."

  "I can't believe you found him," Alayna said. "I would have peed my pants."

  Cassidy's little head bobbed right up at that.

  "What did you do? Did you scream?" Alayna asked.

  "No," Polly said. "I called the sheriff."

  "Death is terrible," Jud said. "No matter how bad the person was. It’s weird that you were there."

  Polly smiled. "Someone had to find him. This way his family doesn't wonder what happened to him."

  "Wow, that's really a big idea," Alayna replied. "I'd still have been a wreck. And I wouldn't know what to say to his family. Hi there, I found your family member's dead body. Hope you don't hate me."

  "It's the sheriff's job to notify them," Polly said, continuing to smile patiently. Where were Lydia and Beryl? "I'm sure they are surrounded by more family and friends who care for them through this."

  Alayna shook her head. "I don't know if I've ever known anyone really close who died. My granny is still alive on one side and both my grandparents are still alive on my mom's side."

  Jud just nodded.

  They were so young.

  "I hope it is a long time before you have to go to any funerals. It's nice to meet you both." Polly patted Nonni's arm. "I think we have the boys scheduled to visit you next week on spring break. They really are in need of haircuts."

  "That Elijah is a great kid," Nonni said. "So much energy. I just want to squeeze little JaRon. He's adorable. I want my kids to be just like them."

  "They are all in love with you, that's for sure," Polly said. She heard Beryl call her name from the front door. "There are my friends. I'll see you later."

  Cassidy tugged at her hand and Polly released her. The little girl ran to Lydia, who bent down, scooped her up and hugged her. She couldn't imagine having better friends.

  As they walked toward the front counter, Beryl grabbed Polly's sleeve. "Who are the hipsters? Bringing new employees to Sycamore House?"

  "I think we have enough there already," Polly said. "No, they're going to work for Mina Dendrade."

  "That girl is growing her business," Lydia said. "How did she do it?"

  "She figured out how to get a younger crowd to come in by tapping into social media. Nan Stallings started helping her last fall when she made the commitment to grow and it's paid off."

  "You need to hire Nan, then," Beryl said.

  Polly grinned. "No kidding. But right now I don't know how we'd handle much more. We're in that weird place where we need to hire, but if we hire too fast, we'll have too many employees. I'm letting Jeff guide those decisions. He and I did a final interview yesterday for the HR / Finance position."

  "Are you happy with the choice?"

  "She's good. Not as easygoing as I'm used to, but she’s probably the right person in that position." Polly shook her head. "I'm going to spend a great deal of time with her these next few months. We'll either be best friends or she'll have run away screaming by the time she has a good grasp of the business."

  Lydia put Cassidy's bottom on the edge of the counter and held her close. "How strict are we going to be today, Mama Giller?"

  Polly smiled at Cassidy. With all the activity in the house the last few months, she'd trimmed down a little. Polly didn't want to make a big deal of what she ate yet. Once Cassidy felt comfortable in the house and with so much always going on, she spent very little time worrying about when she'd get another meal.

  "How about juice and one goodie from the case."

  Camille had come around the corner from the bakery and grinned at them.

  "Hello there," she said. "Is Cassidy with you?"

  Cassidy tried to stand up, pushing against Lydia's hips, but the woman was an old hand at this and kept a firm grip. "Stay right here, little one. You don't want to fall face first on the floor."

  Her little brown eyes went wide as she looked down to the wooden floor, then shook her head in agreement.

  "What sounds good today?" Lydia asked, pointing at the case. "I'm having a muffin and coffee."

  "Just black coffee for me," Polly said. "Where is all of your help?"

  Camille shook her head. "It's mid-terms. I nearly called Skylar and begged him to come up, but Gayla will be here in another half hour. She had an early exam this morning."

  Polly's mouth went wide open. "Mid-terms. Of course." She batted at Beryl. "I should have known that. No wonder my family has been gone all week."

  Beryl scowled at her. "How did you not know?"

  "I have no idea. You'd think I would pay better attention.
Cat and Hayden mentioned them, but they've been hunkered in their rooms or spending time in Ames. Heath shows up late in the evening, just in time to help get the boys settled down and he hasn't said much either. What a horrible mom I am."

  "That explains why we haven't seen much of you. You’ve been picking up the slack," Beryl said, patting her arm. "Do you ever feel like you've lost track of normal?"

  "I certainly do now," Polly said. She nodded her head at the table of young people she'd just been talking to. "I look at them and wonder if I was ever that young."

  "You were. I'm sure of it."

  "I remember my first year out of college," Polly said. "I had no idea what I was supposed to be worried about. I thought maybe it was paying my bills, then I thought I needed to find my forever love. Thank God for Sal on that one. She told me to stop it. I wondered if I was supposed to be active with social and political things, but I didn't have the heart for any of that, so I just went to work. All the things I thought I was supposed to worry about were nothing compared to what wakes me in the middle of the night these days."

  "You need more sex." Beryl grabbed Lydia's mug and plate. "Let's find a place to sit. You can complain about your stress-filled life from a chair, can't you?"

  "I refuse to complain," Polly said. She lifted Cassidy from Lydia's arms, put her on the floor, then took her hand. Cassidy's other hand gripped a small bag that Camille had given to her. By the time they got to the table, Polly realized how worn out she was. She hadn't thought much about the stress of the last several weeks; she'd just moved through them as she usually did. But every day, Henry grew more and more stressed about his business, while Jeff had been pressing harder and harder to find more employees.

  The kids, her family, her friends, her business. Everything was good, but it was all spinning too fast.

  "Where did you go?" Beryl asked, handing Polly a booster seat for Cassidy.

  "I didn't even see you go get that. I'm sorry. You started me thinking and I zoned out." She got Cassidy settled and pushed up to the table, then sat down beside her. "I'm so glad to see you two. I've been on auto-pilot for too long. Have you heard from Andy?"