Joy in the Journey

by Diane Greenwood Muir

  Henry stepped back into the kitchen. "Don't hurry. You can ride over with Polly."

  "No, please. I'm sorry. I meant to be down here in plenty of time, but one of the boys got hold of my phone and turned the sound all the way off. I didn't hear my alarm." He chuckled. "Let me put my shoes on and I'm out of here with you."

  Henry took a breath as Hayden rushed to the porch.

  "It's going to be okay," Polly said. "Maybe you can get us started and then leave to check your other work sites."

  "We'll see. I'm glad you'll be there today. I do need to head to the salon. Ben is pretty sure they're nearly finished."

  Hayden stood back up. "I'm ready to go. Sorry about that."

  "It's all right," Henry said. "I appreciate you helping today."

  "I've had fun with Cat and the boys this week," Hayden said as they walked toward the back door, "but I'm ready to get out of the house and do something with adults."

  Polly shook her head. He had no idea. She took out her phone and opened a call.

  "Hello, Polly," Marie said, sounding a bit breathless.

  "I'm heading to Sweet Beans. Can I pick anything up for you?"

  "I think I have it. I've been baking all morning."

  "You have enough coffee?"

  "I called Jeff last night and went over to pick up one of the big coffee pots. It's already brewing."

  "That was smart."

  "I am so sorry about dragging you and Henry into this. Bill gave me the business last night because I didn't let Henry tell that girl off, but I couldn't. If Mrs. Naylor thought for a minute that she was putting us out, it would break her heart. I can't do that to her. Who knows how much longer she'll even be alive?"

  Polly rolled her eyes. With a little bit of decent health care, the woman could probably live quite a few more years, but that was neither here nor there.

  "No problem. We'll have plenty of help. I'll be there soon."

  "Thank you, Polly. I know you're busy with your family."

  "Marie, I'm glad to help. You do so much for us."

  She went out to Cat's car and looked up at the cloudy sky, hoping it meant nothing more than clouds in the sky. Bellingwood was still quiet at this hour and though she didn't see another car on her way downtown, there were quite a few in front of the coffee shop. Polly parked in front of Greene Space. She couldn't believe that Rebecca would be working here today. Cat would bring her up on the way to the salon with the boys.

  The amount of chatter and noise in the coffee shop was more than Polly was used to. A group of men had gathered in one corner of the shop. A hand came up to wave at her and she waved back at Sam Gardner and Ralph Bedford who were there with several others around their age. In another section, a group of eight women that she recognized from church were having breakfast, with their Bibles in front of them on the tables.

  Josie gave her a small wave as she approached the counter.

  "Good morning," Polly said.

  "Hi there. Did you get his resume?"

  Polly hadn't had time to get to her email yesterday and now she felt terrible. "I don't even know," she said. "Yesterday spun out of control on me. If he sent it, I'm sure it's in there. I'm so sorry."

  "I just wanted to make sure. He was excited about the opportunity. He can do anything."

  "Camille tells me you have a couple of children."

  Josie's face lit up. "Yeah."

  "Seriously. I thought you were in high school."

  "Everybody says that. I'll be thirty this August."

  "You have the best genetic structure I've ever seen," Polly said with a laugh. "Does your husband look as young as you do?"

  "Nah. He's a normal thirty-year-old. This came from my mom. She looks young, too. What can I get for you this morning?"

  Polly handed over a travel mug. "Dark roast. Some friends and I are clearing out a house for a lady whose kids moved her out of town. I need caffeine."

  "Gavin doesn't work today. Could you use more help around lunchtime? I'll be home by then and he'd come over. That way you could meet him. No pressure, though."

  "Are you sure he wants to do that? He doesn’t know any of us and it’s not going to be a fun job."

  "He's always looking to meet people and he's a hard worker."

  "Do you still have my business card?"

  "It's at home."

  "Tell him to call. If we need help, I'll give him directions."

  "That would be awesome. Thank you."

  "No," Polly said. "Thank you. I'm going back to drag Andrew Donovan out to help."

  "He's not a fan of mornings," Josie said.

  Polly laughed out loud. "That's for sure. But since he's already awake, I'm going to put him to work. I'll be right back."

  "Do you need anything else?"

  "Nope. Just the coffee. Thank you." Polly slipped around the outside of the counter and down the hall to the bakery. "Andrew?" she called out.

  He came out of the bakery door and threw his arms around her. "I'm so glad to be going with you today."

  "What's this? A hug from you?"

  He jumped back, a glint in his eyes. "That was crazy. What was I thinking?"

  "A little tired of working here?"

  "You have no idea. Can you hire me to watch the boys tomorrow? Maybe send Cat and Hayden off to Jamaica or Cancun or something?"

  She pursed her lips. "I could probably use you around the house if you'd like. We have a lot of work to do before Saturday afternoon."

  "Pick me. Pick me," he said, then turned around. "Mom, Polly needs to hire me tomorrow to work at her house. Is that okay?"

  Sylvie came out with a grin. "How hard did he have to beg?"

  "I didn't beg. It's a real thing. Right, Polly?"

  Polly nodded. "The foyer is a wreck and if we're going to be ready for the Foundation reception Saturday afternoon, I do need help."

  "Marta is back. He's released from duty."

  "I promise to pay him," Polly said.

  "Even if you don't, he'll be there. What time is good for you?"

  Polly slid a side-eye to Andrew. "Whenever you get up."

  "So, four-thirty?" Sylvie asked, winking at Polly.

  Andrew whimpered.

  "Either I'll pick him up around nine or I'll send someone after him," Polly said.

  He let out a sigh of relief.

  "Make him work hard today."

  Polly shook her head. "No problem. Thanks for letting me steal him."

  "He's all yours."

  Josie met them at the end of her counter and handed off the coffee mug. "Gavin will call. I just spoke to him and he's glad to help."

  "Perfect. Thank you." Polly led Andrew out of the shop and to Cat's car.

  "Gavin?"

  "Her husband."

  "I know that, but he's coming to help, too?"

  "We'll see. He's with their kids right now. Who knows how long we'll be at this."

  "Do you remember that time we cleaned out the dead guy's house and I found all of that money?"

  "You were so young," Polly said. She waited for him to get in the car. "We were all so young. I don't think I even knew who Rebecca was yet."

  An uncomfortable silence settled in the car. Since Rebecca and Andrew had broken up last summer and then his subsequent idiotic behavior with his father, he and Polly hadn't spent any time together other than when he was taking care of the boys or at the house with Rebecca and her friends. Their relationship was so different now than it had been when he was younger. She missed the easy-going nature of those early days.

  "Can I ask you something?"

  "Sure," Polly said. "What's up?"

  "If I asked Rebecca on a date, would you and Henry be mad?"

  "Huh," she said. "Nothing like getting right to the point."

  "I learned that from you."

  "The two of you are going to be sixteen soon. You have two years left in high school and then you’re off to college, most likely in two different cities. Are you sure you want to
try to renew a romantic relationship with Rebecca?"

  "You're probably right. It's just that there isn't anyone else in the world I want to spend time with. Nobody, Polly. Rebecca and I agreed that we would date other people and I tried. I really tried. Other girls are nice, but there's no one like her. She's the only person I've ever met that makes me want to be the best. When I'm with her, I want to, like, do the very best work just so she'll smile at me. It's exciting when we're together because we come up with an idea and then we do things. We write stories and she draws pictures and they all go together. And when we study, she makes things make sense to me because she knows how my brain works. And I do the same thing for her. That brain of hers is so smart. She's always thinking about concepts, not just what other girls are wearing or what boys are thinking. We talk about those things too, but it's like we're exploring the whys and wherefores, not just the reality of what's in front of us."

  Polly wished that Henry could hear these two kids talk about why they wanted to be together. It wasn't about puppy love or lame romantic notions of sweetness and light. They were two people who stirred the best in the other.

  "You're mad now, aren't you," he said. "I won't bring it up again. Sorry."

  "No, I'm not mad. I was thinking about what you said."

  "You were? Really?"

  "Yes, really." She took in a breath and slowed before turning onto Willow Street. This was going to take a minute. "I want you to wait." She pulled into an empty lot and stopped.

  He slumped.

  "No. Listen to me. I'm not saying that you can't ask her out. I'm not saying that you shouldn't be together. But when it comes to the romantic side of your relationship, I want you to hold off for just a little longer. Make sure that you two have fixed everything that fell apart last year. Talk to her about it. All of it."

  "We have."

  "Talk to her again. What would happen if you tried again and it fell apart? Could you repair it?"

  "I doubt it. This year has been rough."

  "I know. Long distance relationships are difficult, and I don't want either of you to give anything up so that you can be together because you're afraid of losing the other one. College is hard enough without you trying to maintain a relationship while living far away from each other."

  "Jason and Mel have to work really, really hard," Andrew said. "He's always worried that she'll meet someone else."

  "And she might."

  "That wouldn't be fair. He's waited all this time for her."

  "It’s tough stuff," Polly said. "You can't expect Mel to sit around and pine after Jason while she's in college. She’s living a big life. It's not fair to ask her to cut that life in half because he's jealous."

  "Okay."

  "Would you be jealous if you found out that Rebecca was in a study group with a bunch of really great guys who thought outside the box like the two of you do?"

  Andrew thought about that. "Probably."

  "Would you want her to give that up and move to your college so that she'd be near you?"

  "If I say yes, that's the wrong answer."

  "Would you give up your dream to be close to her?"

  "Again, it feels like yes is the wrong answer."

  "It is. This is why I want you to wait. Go ahead and be friends. Be best friends. Hold off on the snogging and making out."

  "Snogging? Really?"

  "I like the word. I can't control what you two do in private, especially once you are driving and out of my clutches, but think about your future, not just the passion of the moment. If you want to be with Rebecca for the rest of your life …"

  "I really do," he said. "And I'm not just saying that as a stupid kid. You have to believe me."

  "Then be smart about this. Over the next two years, you might decide to go to the same college. If that happens, Henry and I and your mom will be part of those discussions." She turned to him. "You are much too young to be making lifetime plans with a girl. You aren't even sixteen yet."

  "You're the only person I can talk to about this who doesn't think I'm being dumb." He gave a little shrug. "Okay, you probably think I'm dumb, but at least you won't hold it over my head. I don't know what's going to happen, but I can't talk about what's going on up there. It's like I have all of these thoughts and I can't tell anyone."

  "Are you writing them down?"

  He frowned. "That doesn't sound safe."

  "Don't put them online. Get a journal. Write out what's going on inside of you."

  "What if someone finds them?"

  "What if you re-read them in ten years and discover how far you've come? What if you use these things to tell a young man's story and it becomes a best seller?"

  "Yeah, that'll happen."

  "You never know. Start writing out your thoughts. You never know what they'll inspire, and you never know how calming it might be to get them out of your head and onto paper. My father tried to teach me that, but I'm not very good at it. He always had a notepad beside his bed because if he started thinking about something, he knew it was easier to write it down than let it rattle around keeping him awake. Sometimes all you need to do is put a few words on paper and your brain can relax."

  "You always tell me the best stuff to do," Andrew said. "I have a bunch of blank journals in my room. I never know what to do with them."

  "Start writing."

  "You'd think I should know this."

  "Journaling isn't something that comes naturally, even to writers," Polly said. "Though I'm surprised that you haven't learned that in this program you're taking."

  "Now that you've told me to do it, I'm sure it will come up next week. That's how it always works."

  She drove back out onto the street. "I love you, Andrew Donovan."

  "Yeah, yeah, yeah. If you weren't driving, you'd be hugging."

  "I still have all day, and besides, you started it."

  Polly drove into the parking area of Sturtz Construction and was surprised to find so many vehicles this early in the morning. "We're going to have a good crew today."

  "Mom told Jason that he should come up after he gets his chores done at Elva's this morning. He’ll be here. Eliseo is coming after he puts the horses out. That new guy. What's his name? Scott? He'll be busy at Sycamore House with Jeff. Jeff told Eliseo he could come over here and they'd be fine without him."

  "How do you feel things are going with Eliseo living at your house?"

  "It's no big deal," Andrew said with a shrug. "Mom's happier. It's like she finally has someone who wants her to do things for him. He never complains about her getting all up in his business. And he's fixing things all the time, too. I didn't even realize half the things he keeps fixing were broken, but there it is. He thinks I should learn. Polly, I'm not handy."

  "You can learn," she said with a laugh.

  "I have a bruise on my thigh from where I hit myself with a hammer. All we were doing was tightening up something on the front porch. Next thing I knew, bam, I'd missed the whole banister and hit me instead. Good thing I'm still a weakling."

  Polly laughed out loud. "I love you, Andrew Donovan."

  "You already said that."

  "If you decide you want to be with Rebecca for the rest of your life, you two are either going to have to live in Bellingwood so Heath and Henry can fix your house or you're going to have to figure these things out. She'll beat you if you don't know how to operate basic tools."

  "I vote for living in Bellingwood. We'll need you around to take care of all our children." Andrew threw his door open and jumped out, then bent to peer in at her. "I thought you might hit me."

  "I'm still in shock. I'll take care of the hitting later."

  Polly took a long breath. Grandchildren from Rebecca and Andrew. She definitely wasn't talking to Henry about that.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

  Nothing less than the jacuzzi tub with its jets on full would relax the muscles she’d used all day. But that wasn’t going to happen. Where had those glorious days of
freedom from responsibilities gone? Pre-husband, pre-children, pre-friends that wanted attention.

  Henry hadn't been able to stay long at Mrs. Naylor's house. Before he had the dumpster unloaded, he'd received three calls from subcontractors. Hayden told her later that Henry’s phone had rung over and over from the moment they left the house.

  Even Bill Sturtz had been called away. By Henry. Some kind of emergency work that Bill needed to do in the workshop. He took Doug Shaffer and the two didn't come back until later in the day.

  Eliseo hadn't been able to come over until after lunch and then he hadn't stayed long, but he'd brought Jason, who spent the rest of the day helping.

  When Gavin Riddle called Polly at lunchtime, she'd nearly wept with relief and gave him directions to find the house.

  Polly had ended up in charge of the project. Silly her, showing up thinking that she’d haul stuff to a dumpster and be done. When she realized that no one had a plan, she stepped up. All she knew was that the house needed to be emptied. Nothing would remain. Not an empty box, not a single stick of furniture. Nothing.

  She spent most of the day making rapid decisions about items and sending them on their way. China and other antiques, along with beautiful old dressers and tables were sent off to Simon Gardner, with instructions to let her know if he didn't want things. Boxes of books were hauled to Sweet Beans and boxes of clothing, kitchen items, and other small items were taken to the thrift store. She spent time on the phone with each of those places to let them know what was happening and that if they needed her to clean up after herself, she'd do it next week.

  The dumpster was filled with junk that was in terrible shape or completely useless. She felt awful for letting some things go without taking time to process on them, but there was no time.

  When Marie and her sister-in-law, Betty Mercer, started scrubbing down the kitchen cupboards, Polly had to stop them. There was to be no cleaning today. Only cleaning out. That was hard on those two women, who had probably never had filthy cabinets in their lives. Trash bags filled with outdated and opened grocery goods were hauled out of those cupboards. Anything that could be taken to the food pantry was boxed up and stacked on the front porch for pickup.