Joy in the Journey

by Diane Greenwood Muir

  Scott let out a laugh that seemed to rumble up from his belly. "We all know the stories," he said. "Big city girl meets local boy and changes a small town. It's enough to write a tale about."

  "I don't know about that, but it's certainly been fun," she said. "I see that you live in Boone. Did you grow up in the area?"

  "Sure did. Lived over there in Ogden most of my life. Moved to Boone for a job five years ago."

  Eliseo sat forward. "Scott was just telling me he went to high school with the man who was killed last Monday."

  "You did?" Polly asked.

  "Played football together. We’re buddies. We hunt and fish together whenever we can. In the summer we like going to the races." Scott frowned. "I’m going to miss him. Kinda hard finding new friends at this age, you know. Man, we just were always there for each other. Sure would like to know what happened to him. Though it could have been a bunch of things, I suppose."

  "Like what?" Polly asked.

  He peered at her, then shook his head. "I'm sure they'll figure out who did it and then whatever brought this about will come to light. Hate to gossip about a friend, especially when he's a really good guy. Gonna miss him."

  "Did he have a family?" She wasn't ready to let it go. It seemed like there was something here.

  "A couple of kids. They'd be in their early twenties, I suppose. Their mother left with them when they were little 'uns. Story was, Keen had a girl on the side. He's always had a couple, you know. He was good looking, easy to talk to. Anyway, she found out, served him up a divorce as fast as that and then left for parts west. I never knew where she took off to and Keen never said much. He lost custody of the kids. I know they took money out of his pay for their support, but I don't think he ever got to see them."

  "That's too bad."

  "It's what it was. I know that when he got older he wanted to know more about them, but too much time had passed. I told him that he needed to just let the water flow under the bridge. If they ever showed up, he could be decent about it, but like as not, that Brenda told the kids he was dead. Wouldn’t surprise me at all. She was mad as all get out when she left town. Keen didn't fight her for custody or child support amount, nothing. He just let her go. It was probably all for the best. Keen wasn't meant to settle down with one woman and live like a normal dad. He was a wanderer." Scott gave a laugh. "I say that, but he never wandered very far. Always lived in these parts. And he'd'a been a good worker for your husband. Really liked people and got along good with most everybody. Well, except for his exes. But even then, most of them knew who he was and moved on. No big deal, you know. Now me? I still haven't found the girl 'o my dreams. She's gotta be out there somewhere, but I'm afraid that I've probably scared her off. Spent too many years being a bachelor. Probably set in my ways."

  Polly tried not to shake her head. She did like this guy. She glanced back down at his resume. "You've worked some construction?"

  "Yeah, worked for Keenan for a time. He was a good boss. But he had a hard time with the money end of it and had to let me go. He went to work for other people. That was better for him."

  "What about you? You didn't want to keep doing that?"

  "Nah. I like being around more people and doing different kinds of things. It just wasn't my bag. I'm really good with my hands and I like being helpful. I really like those big ole horses you have down at the barn. Your man, Eliseo, here, is a lucky guy to get to spend time with them every day. Hopefully he'll teach me how I can help him. Not that I'll have a lot of extra time, I suppose. This place is hopping. I thought all you did was wedding receptions and stuff like that. You have things going on in here nearly every day. Congratulations."

  "That's all Jeff and Stephanie Armstrong," Polly said, gesturing with her head to Stephanie's office. "They are the driving force of Sycamore House."

  "It's a pretty good team y'all have built," he said. "That's another reason I applied for the job. And that was why Keenan wanted to work with your husband. You know, we hear about things going on up here. It's a good, safe place to work. You people are fair and reasonable about wages and even though you expect people to work hard, you appreciate it for what it's worth. That means something. A man likes to be appreciated. Doesn't often happen. Especially in positions like this one. They take you for granted even though you end up doing all the dirty work."

  "No one takes you for granted around here," Eliseo said.

  "That's what I'm saying. Word gets out when there's a good local employer. I was surprised I didn't have more competition. Seems to me you'd have to beat people off with a stick."

  "Not so much," Polly said. "It isn't easy finding the right people for this family."

  "Family, huh? I like that. If you hire me, then I'll be the big ole dumb protective brother."

  "I don't think you're dumb," she responded.

  "Never been to college."

  "Don't think that means a thing," Polly said. "I knew plenty of college educated dumb people. You seem to know what you want and just how to get it."

  He shrugged. "Always knew I had to figure out what my goals were." He grinned across at her, his eyes alight with laughter. "Don't know why I didn't set my sights on a wife. Maybe it would have changed my life way back when. But you know, it's a pretty good life. Though I'm going to miss Keenan a lot. Kinda thought we'd be old and grey in a nursing home somewhere embarrassing nurses and telling tall tales. Guess maybe it is time for me to look for someone who will put up with me. Don't like the thought of being alone forever."

  Jeff and Eliseo asked a few more pointed questions so Polly could hear the types of things that Scott knew how to do and then Eliseo stood. He must have received a signal from Jeff. "Let's head out so the bosses can talk, Scott."

  "One of these days, I want you to show me how to ride one of those big horses. I think even they could put up with me on their back," Scott said. He stood up, leaned across the table with his hand out.

  Polly took it and smiled up at him.

  "Even if you don't want me in this job," he said. "It was good to meet you. You've done a lot of good in Bellingwood and I respect you for that. Thanks for your time today."

  After he left the office with Eliseo, Polly sat back and crossed her arms. "Huh."

  "What does that mean?" Jeff asked.

  "Weird that he knew Keenan Baxter so well. I wish he'd said more. Didn't sound like he was terribly surprised the man had been killed. He was just sad."

  "I had no idea. He hadn't said anything until today about that."

  "Eliseo seems to like him. That's a good thing. What about you?" she asked.

  "I like him a lot. He's one of those guys that makes everyone around him feel safe. Does that make sense?"

  "Yeah," she said. "It really does. He's so big, he should be intimidating, but he doesn't come off like that at all. I suppose he could if necessary, but he's like a teddy bear. Nice guy and his background sounds solid. I don't see why we shouldn't offer him the job."

  Jeff made a few notes on a sheet. "Great. I think he'll be ready to come on board next week."

  "When is Edna Dahlman starting?"

  "A week from next Monday. She wanted time to give her notice and spend a couple of days with family. Since it's a new position, I didn't feel we needed to be in a rush. That gives us time to rearrange the offices, too." He frowned. "I wonder if Scott would want to start this week. He'd be great help as we shifted things around in here. I'll talk to him. You like him?"

  "I do," she said. "I think these last two weeks have been the most fun I've had in a while. I keep meeting interesting people. My goodness, the world is filled with them. Thank you for doing the work to bring these two on board. I'm excited about where we're going."

  "Me too."

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  Usually, her entrance was accompanied by noise and laughter, but when she returned from Sycamore House, Polly walked in to a very quiet house. Cat and Rebecca were alone in the kitchen, putting sandwiches together.


  "Where is everyone?" Polly asked, rubbing Obiwan's head as she walked in.

  Rebecca started to laugh, then pointed at Cat.

  Cat just shook her head.

  "Did you lock them in the basement or something?"

  "Pretty close," Rebecca said.

  "They're all upstairs in their rooms."

  "Even Cassidy?"

  "Especially Cassidy," Cat said.

  "What in the world happened?"

  "There was so much yelling and screaming and fighting and crying that they woke me up," Rebecca said, still laughing.

  "I tried to reason with them."

  "That doesn't work when they’ve lost control," Polly said.

  "Then I tried to threaten them with cleaning bathrooms."

  "Okay, we're going to have very clean bathrooms."

  "None of it worked. They were way out of control. Not a single nice child in the house."

  Rebecca pointed at herself. "Except me."

  Cat smiled and patted Rebecca’s shoulder. "Hayden came upstairs in the middle of the crisis and the next thing I knew he'd picked Cassidy up, deposited her in her room and shut the door, then herded the boys into their rooms, shut all the doors and told them they were staying put until I was ready to deal with them again."

  Polly laughed out loud. "I think I'm in love with the boy. What started it?"

  "I'm not really even sure," Cat said. "We were doing just fine. I'd asked for some help getting laundry downstairs. Caleb and Noah were hauling it out into the hallway. Then Elijah jumped on Caleb's back and told him they were doing piggy back rides. JaRon said he wanted one, Cassidy wanted to be on someone's back. Then Caleb fell to the floor because Elijah was too big and he hit his elbow and started crying when Elijah wouldn't get off him. Cassidy got mad because no one would give her a piggy back ride and, well, things devolved from there."

  "As they would," Polly said. "How long have they been in their rooms?"

  "About twenty minutes. Cassidy wailed for a while, but Rebecca and I just came downstairs. I didn't want to listen to it."

  Polly looked at the clock. "You woke up twenty minutes ago?"

  "I wouldn't have if there hadn't been all that noise."

  "That's awesome. How long are you going to leave them in their rooms?"

  "They can come out any time. Poor Hayden volunteered to stay upstairs to make sure they didn't escape."

  "I keep telling you. I'm in love with that boy," Polly said. "Do you want me to get involved?"

  Cat shook her head. "It probably isn't necessary. I think they figured out that Hayden and I won't put up with their crap, but it's probably right that they know you're aware."

  "Well, why don't you let me go be disappointed in their behavior and release them for lunch," Polly said. "I can do that whenever you're ready." She tapped Rebecca's shoulder. "You going to be ready this afternoon?"

  "Absolutely."

  Polly smiled at Cat. "I feel like I'm on holiday too while you're here. I'm going to owe you at least one manicure and a couple of nights out with Hayden. All of it on me."

  "We both feel like we owe you this week," Cat said. "Have I told you I'll be around more the next few weeks? I'm going to be observing in the classrooms at the elementary school, so I don't have to go to Ames every day."

  "Really?"

  "Yeah. I didn't think I'd told you. We're pretty sure I'm going to do my student teaching over here next fall. That will be great."

  "That will be wonderful," Polly said. "Then they need to hire you so you and Hayden can stay in Bellingwood."

  Cat smiled at her. "Lunch will be ready in five or six minutes."

  "I'll go play disappointed mama and try to bring five contrite children down to you." Polly headed up the back stairs and lightly knocked on the door frame to Hayden and Cat's apartment.

  "Hey there," he said.

  "I'm going to shame the children into apologies. I just wanted you to know it was me opening the doors," she said.

  "Cat told you?"

  "I figure this is the best birth-control you two will ever have."

  He gave her a warm smile. "Honestly, we've learned so much that we are talking about having a big family."

  "You have got to be kidding me."

  "No. Not really. It was only me and Heath. I want more than that for my kids. I don't want them to have to face growing up alone if something were to happen to me and Cat."

  "You know we'll always be here."

  He nodded. "I do, but still."

  "You want a big family. I swear, Hayden, I didn't mean to corrupt you."

  He chuckled. "Too late. All corrupted. It feels good. It won't happen for a while, but someday there will be babies."

  "Great," Polly said. "Because I'm so fantastic with babies."

  "You'll love them."

  "Never fear that. Okay, off I go." She headed on down the hall, going past the first two doors to Noah and Elijah's room. After a soft tap, she pushed the door open. "Boys?"

  The two sat up on the edge of their beds where they'd been reading comic books. Both boys were worried about what was coming next.

  "You wanna tell me what happened?"

  Noah looked down as Elijah glanced at him.

  "Not really," Elijah said.

  "Fair answer. Are you ready to apologize to Cat and Hayden for your behavior?"

  Elijah started to say something and Noah snapped his head up and stared at his brother. "Don't," he warned.

  "Okay," Elijah replied, slumping his shoulders. "I'm ready to apologize."

  "Do you know why you're apologizing?" she asked.

  "For starting a fight. Noah said it's my fault, that I wouldn't stop and made it worse. I’m sorry."

  "Okay. Follow me. You know what we're doing next, right?"

  Elijah took in a deep breath. "Apologizing to Caleb and JaRon?"

  "You are such a smart boy."

  "Why can't I be a smart boy first so I don't get in so much trouble?"

  "Because you're also passionate and playful. I don't want you to stop being those things, but I do need you to learn control."

  "How many bathrooms do I have to clean?"

  "Oh, the bathrooms are getting pretty clean these days. You and Noah will take the bathroom off the kitchen and we'll find something else for Caleb and JaRon to clean."

  He nodded and took her hand as they walked down the hall. Since Polly didn't hear any noise coming from Cassidy's room, she decided to save that one for last. She knocked on the boys' door and pushed it open. Two more sets of guilty eyes looked at her. They relaxed when they saw Elijah and Noah with her.

  "Are you two ready to apologize to Cat and Hayden for your behavior?" Polly asked.

  "You know?"

  "I know everything," she said with a smile. "I’m the mama. Don't ever forget that. Do you feel like it's time to apologize?"

  Caleb nodded and JaRon jumped off his bed and ran over to hug her leg. "I'm sorry."

  "That's awesome. Before we go downstairs, do you four have something to say to each other?"

  JaRon looked confused.

  "We're supposed to say it to each other, too," Noah said. "I'm sorry, Caleb and JaRon."

  Elijah looked at him. "Me too?"

  Noah turned to Polly. "Do I have to?"

  "What do you think?"

  "I'm sorry, Elijah."

  "Let's hear those words from the rest of you," she said and stood in the middle of them while they all apologized to each other. Polly knelt down and pulled her boys in close. "You don't know how special you are, but I do. Thank you. Now, run downstairs. Make sure you each tell Cat and Hayden that you're sorry. If Rebecca wants you to apologize for making her get up early because you were so loud, you might want to add that to the mix. I'll get Cassidy and we'll be down in a minute. If Cat wants to start lunch without us, it's okay."

  The four took off running down the hall, their guilt and worries left behind.

  She opened the door to Cassidy's room, not surprised
that the little girl was sleeping. Polly sat down beside her and spoke her name quietly. She'd found that touching Cassidy to wake her was a bad idea. More often than not, the poor thing woke up in terror. As it was, Cassidy's eyes shot open and fear filled them until she focused on Polly. Then she sat up and threw herself into Polly's arms.

  "It's okay," Polly said. "You're safe. I love you." These were words she said whenever she had to wake the child up. It was much easier to let Cassidy come awake on her own, but that wasn't always possible. "Are you ready to have some lunch?"

  Cassidy nodded, but wasn't ready to let go.

  "I understand you got mad at the boys and at Cat earlier."

  She set her little jaw in defiance.

  "Is that how we act in this house?"

  Cassidy didn't respond.

  "You know it isn't. Before we go downstairs for lunch, I want you to know that I expect you to apologize to Cat for misbehaving. Say the word to me."

  Cassidy shook her head.

  "Oh honey, I love you so much, but you know that's not the right answer. Say the word."

  "Sorry," she ground out.

  "When we get downstairs, you'll say that word to Cat."

  Polly was pretty sure Cassidy shook her head in the negative, but she wasn't putting up with it, so she put the little girl on the floor, took her hand and they headed downstairs.

  Everyone but Cat was in the dining room when they got to the kitchen and Polly took Cassidy over to stand in front of the young woman. "Tell her."

  Cassidy looked up. "Sorry." It was quiet, but it was there.

  "Thank you," Cat said. "I made your favorite sandwich for lunch. Shall we go eat with everyone?"

  Cassidy looked at the dining room, taking in the fun that the boys and Rebecca were having. She made a quick choice and smiled before switching her hand from Polly's to Cat's.

  Some days it all worked, some days none of it worked.

  ~~~

  "I can't believe we're getting manicures together," Rebecca said, bouncing in her seat. "We've never done anything like this. I just can't believe it."

  Polly grinned. "Maybe we'll have to do it more often."