Joy in the Journey

by Diane Greenwood Muir

  Polly laughed out loud. "I'm a horrible mom."

  "We promised them fun breakfasts for one week and then they couldn't complain about anything you served them when we were all back in school," Cat said with a grin. "I don't think anyone was really upset about it."

  "They'd better not be," Polly said. "I'll string 'em up by their big toes."

  Han gave a yip when the back door opened, his tail wagging like crazy.

  Henry and Heath came in, both covered in dirt and filth.

  "What in the world?" Polly asked.

  "It was all hands on deck tonight," Henry said. "Some idiot got drunk and drove his pickup into a load of lumber we had sitting at a site. We've got to start putting it up tomorrow and needed to figure out what was damaged and needed to be replaced. The guy spread it everywhere."

  "Do you know who did it?" Rebecca asked.

  Henry nodded. "Yeah. Deputy Decker was there. The guy’s insurance will cover it, but that doesn’t change the fact that I have to deal with the problem. I’m going upstairs to take a shower before I go to bed. We'll be heading to the lumberyard early to pick up what we need. I already called them and they'll have it pulled. They just don't have anyone to bring it out to us." He patted Heath on the back. "Thanks for your help tonight. I know you hadn't planned on working this late. Be sure to tell Ella I apologize for messing up your plans."

  "We didn't have anything going on," Heath said. "It's okay. She gets it."

  Henry slipped past Polly and headed up the back steps, Han close behind him.

  "He was really pissed," Heath said after Henry's footsteps faded down the hallway. "I've never seen him so mad. This customer has been on his ass …" He stopped himself. "Sorry. Anyway, this customer has been a real pain. Henry's bringing in two crews to get things started tomorrow. Pulling 'em off another site. We'll be working most of the weekend."

  Polly's heart sank. The one thing she looked forward to when Henry was this busy was a few extra hours with him on the weekend. She felt tears come to her eyes and turned to head back down to the office. The kids didn't need to see her like this.

  "You okay?" Rebecca asked, catching her arm.

  "Fine."

  "Is there anything we can do?"

  "It's okay. I just need to talk to Henry for a few minutes."

  "You don't get to see him much these days, do you."

  Polly pulled Rebecca into a tight hug. "I love you. Thanks for checking up on me. All of this is temporary. The big picture is so much more than these days. No worries. Have you heard back from Cilla and Kayla?"

  Rebecca smiled. "They'll both be here." Her eyes lit up. "I know what. We'll make dinner tomorrow night. Can we?"

  "That would be great. Whatever you want to do. If we don't have what you need here, you can put it on my account down at the grocery store."

  "We'll work it out tomorrow. I don't know what we'll make, but it will be fun. Can we invite Andrew and Justin for dinner?"

  Polly shot her eyes upward. Henry wouldn't be here, she was certain of that. Might as well fill the house with kids. "Absolutely. I don't think I want a big party, but you can have a few friends over."

  "It won't be any more than just them. I'm going to text them again so we can all think about it tonight. Do you care?"

  Polly headed for the foyer so she could go upstairs. "I don't care at all. Just be sure to leave your phone down here when you go to bed. Let the others know I'm upstairs and ask Hayden to lock up."

  "On it."

  Polly headed up the steps. When she got to the hallway, she heard Heath's shower running. He'd moved fast. Obiwan came out of Caleb and JaRon's room, trotted over to her and licked her hand.

  "Hey there," she said, rubbing his head. "Are you coming with me?"

  He followed her into the bedroom and she sank down on the edge of her bed, sliding her shoes off her feet. Henry was in the shower, so she got undressed and changed into the shorts and t-shirt she usually wore to bed, then wrapped a robe around herself and climbed into bed. There was no reason to be up chatting with everyone else when she could be here while Henry wound down after his day. She turned over on her side, fluffed the pillow and heaved a deep sigh. What a day.

  CHAPTER NINE

  "Love? Polly?"

  She opened her eyes. "What time is it?"

  "Four thirty."

  "What?" She sat straight up. "I wanted to talk to you last night. I didn't want to sleep. I'm sorry. When did you come to bed?"

  Henry chuckled. "You certainly slept. I came out of the shower and you were out like a light. It was so cute I didn’t dare wake you, so I worked for a while. After I put the dogs out one last time and checked the doors, I finally got to sleep about ten thirty."

  "And I slept through all of that?"

  "You must have been tired."

  She reached out and took his hand. "You have to be exhausted. This is ridiculous. Can I help with anything?"

  "Maybe next week."

  "I’ll have time next week. Doing what?"

  "Jessie has been running a bunch of ads. Would you consider looking over applications and resumes? Maybe doing some interviewing for me?"

  "I'd love to."

  "We'll talk about what I'm looking for. I might ask Jessie to forward the applications to you. You really have time?"

  "I can make time." Polly was amazed that he was finally asking her to help with this. "Just send them."

  "Heath and I are headed out. I'll talk to you later, okay? You should go back to sleep."

  Polly smiled, leaned forward and waited for him to kiss her. After he did, she swung her legs off the side of the bed. "I might as well get up. Hayden and Cat have breakfast ready for the kids and I was interrupted before I could get through some of my own work last night."

  "Everything okay?"

  "It's fine." She walked to the bedroom door with him, took his hand and reached up to kiss him again. "I'm highly motivated to find you as much help as you need. I miss you."

  "I miss you, too. This is only temporary."

  "That's what I told Rebecca last night. While I was lying in bed waiting for you to get out of the shower, I thought about my attitude the last few days. I felt like a whiner. This isn't me."

  "You're the cutest whiner I know," he said. "I'd better hurry. Heath hates early mornings and I refuse to take advantage of him today."

  She watched him walk down the hallway to the back steps and waggled her eyebrows. She couldn't help herself. The man looked good in blue jeans. If there hadn't been kids sound asleep all around her, she might have whistled, but that would be hard to explain.

  Since it was still early, Polly took a quick shower before heading to the office. She'd be able to get quite a bit of work done before everyone was up and moving. Once the coffee was brewing, she stood in front of the refrigerator. Hayden and Cat wouldn't be up for another hour, so she sliced some bread and popped it into her fabulous toaster oven. How had she lived without it for so long?

  The kitchen was clean this morning, something that had been a stretch for the last few days. While she waited, she opened a door into the foyer and smiled to see that it was still as chaotically messy as ever. They'd tackle that this weekend.

  Her phone buzzed on the kitchen counter. It wasn't even five o'clock yet. Who was bothering her at this hour? The smell of coffee brewing and bread toasting made her pause as she walked through the kitchen. If she didn't hate getting up so badly, early morning quiet was perfect. She’d tried to work after everyone went to bed, but she generally needed to crash herself. Maybe someday.

  Polly swiped her phone open and was surprised to see a text from Tab Hudson.

  "I get off shift at ten thirty, wanna have coffee at Sweet Beans before I go home and crash?"

  She grinned. "I can do that. See you about eleven?"

  "What are you doing up?"

  "Busy life. How's your night?"

  "Busy night."

  "Ugh. Anything on the murderer?"

  "Not
really. We're looking at people from the salon and …"

  "Henry's guys?"

  "Yeah. I hated to say that. But it had to be someone with a key to the place."

  "A lot of subcontractors have been going in and out," Polly sent back. "No fingerprints on the plastic?"

  "Lots of 'em, but nothing pops for us."

  "How was he killed?"

  "Blunt force trauma to the back of the head, then another hit to the left temple. Whoever did this wanted the guy to be dead."

  "Tell me he was gone before they wrapped him up."

  "Yeah. He didn't suffocate. He was already gone."

  "Does he have family?"

  "I should talk to you about this at the coffee shop. I need to get back to work," Tab said. "Later?"

  "Later."

  Polly put her phone back down. She hated the fact that they never had good answers to her mysteries right off the bat. It wasn't supposed to work that way, right? They were supposed to be able to dig into the evidence and interview people and come up with a few suspects, then have a flash of insight and suddenly, the murderer would be revealed. Whatever.

  The timer on the toaster oven beeped and she took the toast out, balancing the hot slices on her fingertips before dropping them onto a napkin.

  ~~~

  Polly had just pulled into a parking spot down the street from Sweet Beans when her phone rang with a call from the office at the Sturtz Construction shop. "Good morning, Jessie," she said.

  "Polly, it's me, Doug Shaffer."

  "Oh, Doug. Sorry. What's going on?"

  "Is there any way you could come get little Miss Molly?"

  "Sure, what's wrong?"

  "Well, it's a long, big thing, but Jessie was helping out in the shop and she fell down and thumped her head. Nobody thinks it's a big deal, but Bill and Marie took her down to the emergency room to make sure. Head injuries aren't something to ignore. I told them I'd call you to see if you could come get the little girl. I'd call Jules, but she's volunteering at the school this morning."

  Polly was already backing up. She didn't mind taking both girls to Sweet Beans with her. It would be a little more chaos, but what else was she supposed to do?

  "I'll be there in less than five minutes. Did they think to leave her car seat?"

  "I've got it right here. Sorry about bothering you."

  "It's really no bother. Are you there by yourself?"

  "Yeah. I'm just going to do some sanding. Nothing that needs a spotter. I'm at the house now with Molly, though. I'll see ya."

  Polly glanced up at Cassidy in the back seat. "Looks like Molly is going to be with us for a while today."

  Cassidy clapped her hands together. She'd come awake this morning on the right side of the bed, happy and ready to play with her brothers until they all went to school. Polly had considered leaving her with Cat and Hayden, but after they'd cleaned up the kitchen following breakfast, they'd escaped to their apartment and she didn't want to take away the rare quiet time they had together. She knew how important that was.

  She pulled into the parking lot and drove over to the house. "Mr. Shaffer and I will be right out with Molly and her car seat. You don't move, okay?"

  Cassidy nodded and smiled.

  Less than two minutes. That should be all it took.

  In fact, it was faster than that. As she got to the back door, it opened and Molly came out, her arms up.

  "Hello there, sweetie," Polly said. "Are you ready to play with Cassidy today?"

  "Mommy fell down."

  "I heard."

  "Grandma got scared so they went to the ho … hos …"

  "Hospital. Mommy will be fine."

  Doug came out, carrying her car seat and a tote bag. "Everything she needs should be here. Mrs. Sturtz doesn't miss much."

  "No, she doesn't. Thank you."

  "Let me get this in the car for you. I'm pretty much a master at this."

  "That would be great." Polly took the bag from him and opened the door to the seat beside Cassidy. Then she opened the front passenger door and lifted Molly up and in.

  By the time she was back on the road, Molly was safely tucked into her seat, and the little girl was babbling away at Cassidy, who, like usual, didn't say a word. She just smiled and moved her hands around, making sounds, but saying nothing.

  Polly pulled back into the same parking space and looked at her phone. She'd heard several texts come in. The first was from Tab wondering where she was.

  "Almost there. Had a little emergency." Polly sent back.

  The second was from Henry. "What's going on with Jessie?"

  "Don't know yet. Fell and bumped her head. Marie and Bill worried it might be a concussion. That's all I know."

  "Call me when you find out. You have Molly?"

  "Yeah. Doug called me. I'm at Sweet Beans, but I'll be sure to let you know when I find anything out."

  "Thanks. Love you."

  "I love you, too."

  The third text was from Rebecca. She shouldn't be using her phone during school hours. It was kind of a rule.

  "Kayla can't come tonight. It's just me and Cilla."

  "What's up with Kayla?"

  "Stephanie says she's been gone too much lately, so they're staying at home. Kayla's pissed."

  Polly chuckled. "You'll see her another time."

  "Yeah, but she can't do this and that makes her mad."

  "Tell her I love her."

  "What good will that do?"

  "Maybe nothing, but it can't hurt. Okay, I'm late. Put your phone back in your locker."

  "Sorry."

  She probably should have asked Tab to come out and help her get the two girls inside with all of their paraphernalia, but after some finagling and a few machinations, Polly had two tote bags slung over her shoulder and two little hands in hers as they strolled down the street. Even after all of that, she couldn't help but smile. When she looked at their images in the glass windows, she saw just how adorable the little girls were. Out and about with an adult, they were happy and so self-important.

  It never failed. The moment Polly opened the door to Sweet Beans, the ambiance greeted her like a warm hug. Now, today's hug was more awkward than usual with two small girls jockeying to be first in the door, but still, a hug was a hug.

  She looked around for Tab and shook her head when she saw that Sal, Joss, and Sylvie were also at the table. Joss and Sylvie jumped up and rushed over to help with bags and little girls.

  "How did you get two of them this morning?" Sylvie asked.

  "Jessie had to go to the emergency room after falling at the shop." Polly put her hand up to stop questions from pouring out at her. "Bill and Marie worried that she might have a concussion. I have Molly until they get back to town."

  Tab held out a chair for Polly, who dropped into it. "This kind of makes our point for us." She pointed at a cup of coffee and a chocolate muffin. "We bought you some sustenance."

  "Your point? What's going on?" Polly asked.

  Sal leaned across the table. "This is an intervention."

  "A what?" Polly tilted her head and looked at them suspiciously, still laughing, but a little worried at what was coming next.

  "An intervention," Joss said. "Eat your muffin. Drink your coffee."

  "Why are you intervening?" Polly took a drink of her coffee, then opened the bag she usually carried for Cassidy. The women had taken a table near the carpeted area at the front of the shop, where there were child-sized chairs and a table, as well as some toys and books. She took out Cassidy's doll and handed it to her, then gestured for Joss to hand over Molly's bag. "Is there a toy you'd like to play with in here, Molly?"

  Molly put her hand on the bag and pulled it down to her level, then took out another doll and a blanket.

  "Okay, why don't you two go over to the table and play. I'll get some juice for you in a few minutes."

  Cassidy looked at her with wide-eyed hope.

  "Give me a few minutes to talk to my friends,"
Polly said. "Then we'll get juice." She watched the two little girls walk to the table and turned back. "Now, what's up with the intervention."

  "That," Joss said. "That right there. Do you see me hauling my six kids with me everywhere?"

  "Or me with my two?" Sal asked.

  Sylvie put her hands up. "I'm just here for the coffee. Mine hate to be seen with me."

  Polly grimaced. "It was an emergency with Molly. I couldn't leave her at the shop."

  "We understand that, but you need to get more help. You are stretching yourself so thin these days that we can see through you." Sal picked at Polly's shirt and peered around her back. "You're at Sycamore House and the hotel and I know you're spending a lot of time on the B&B and the new foundation. You're doing the books for all of that and I've seen you taking the boys down to the nursing home. You're always with them these days. I thought Cat and Hayden were supposed to be helping."

  "You haven't been to Pizzazz in over a month," Joss said.

  "I haven't seen you since I moved to Bellingwood," Tab said. She chuckled. "Okay, I talked to you over a dead body the other day, but still."

  "It's all temporary," Polly protested. "Things are a little out of control right now, but it won't always be like this. I love my life."

  Sal arched an eyebrow. "Really?"

  "Yes," Polly said. "Look at that little girl. She's so happy right now. Do you know how much I love seeing her smile and play with Molly? Do you know how close she was to being trafficked for sex? She gets to be a child. I am thankful for that every day. I don't want to just shuffle her off to someone else. Not right now. She'll be in kindergarten next fall and I'll be alone again, wondering if she's doing okay or if she's comfortable talking to the teacher or making friends."

  "We all do that, Polly," Sal said. "Just because our kids haven't nearly been in trouble, doesn't mean we don't want to spend time with them and won't miss them or worry about them when they're away from us. I adore Mrs. Dobley, but I think about my boys every minute I'm gone. I'm thankful for my time away from them. It makes me love spending time with them when I'm there."

  "And I know that you are feeling a lot of pressure as Sycamore Enterprises keeps growing," Sylvie said. "When you opened Sycamore House, it was crazier than this. You were all alone and you figured out how to rely on friends to make it work. You aren't doing that right now. You're trying to do it all by yourself."