Joy in the Journey

by Diane Greenwood Muir

Polly drew the line at appliances. Even though the kitchen appliances were old, she wasn't dealing with them. If Mrs. Naylor's family wanted them gone, they could deal with that on their own. She chuckled when she thought about the number of times Henry and Bill had fixed the old furnace. She was glad she didn't have to deal with that too.

  Justin and Cilla filled Louis Waters' old pickup with paint, cleaners, and other things from the garage and basement. Once Louis and Deb declared the house to be free of anything else, they took off for hazardous waste recycling.

  She felt fortunate to have friends who were willing to dig in and work, then make quick decisions to move junk out of the house. By two o'clock, they'd made a huge dent after two trips to Simon's antique shop and a trip with Bill Sturtz's pickup (formerly Polly's) packed to the gills for the thrift store.

  When Henry got back to them about four thirty, they were nearly finished, and everyone was exhausted. He and Hayden carried a few final pieces of furniture to the dumpster and people trickled away, exhausted and ready to collapse.

  She was glad that Henry got a chance to meet Gavin Riddle. Gavin hadn't stopped working from the moment he stepped into the house. Polly liked him a lot. Once he walked into a room, he began organizing the cleanup. She hadn't had a chance to talk to him, even though he stayed until they were the last ones at the house. Henry and Gavin walked out together, standing at Henry's truck for a while. Polly considered joining them, but she hurt so bad, all she wanted to do was go home.

  She hadn't expected to walk into a flurry of busyness. Cat and Rebecca were working on dinner. If Polly had been in charge, there’d have been pizza. As it was, they were having a favorite standby — tacos. Not her favorite, but the kids loved them.

  "How was your day?" Polly asked Rebecca, completely forgetting that she’d spent most of her day at Greene Space.

  Rebecca waved the knife she'd been using to cut tomatoes. "I had the best day," she gushed. She came around the island, still waving the knife. "We didn't have very many customers, but Mr. Greene and I talked about, well, everything."

  Polly backed away from her.

  "What?" Then Rebecca giggled as she saw the knife in her hand. "Oops, sorry. I was just telling Cat that he showed me how he lights some of the pieces and how to print up descriptions. We talked about the different artists and I said that we should print up cards with their biographies on them. And then we talked about setting up a Facebook page and asking Nan to put together a website. He's going to call her and make an appointment sometime when I'm available. It's like he cares what I think." She shook her head in excitement. "He said that with my background and my training with Beryl I'm going to be a huge asset. Me! An asset. I don't even know what to think about that. He's looking at some accounting software so we can manage the consignments. He has a salesman coming in tomorrow to show us what it can do." She waved the knife again. "Did you hear what I just said? To show us what it can do. I'm part of his team, Polly." Rebecca looked at the knife, put it down on the counter and then rushed at Polly to hug her. "I couldn't wait to tell you. What if this gallery turns into a big deal and I learn how to curate the art that we sell?"

  Polly held on to her daughter, tears welling at Rebecca's excitement. "I'm so happy for you."

  Rebecca pulled back. "You're a mess. How bad was it? I know that Andrew went. Was Cilla there? I didn't have time all day to text or talk to anyone. Mr. Greene and I just talked and talked." She bit her lip. "He did tell me that he was old-fashioned and didn't like the idea of employees carrying their cell phones. So I’ll leave it in the office. It's the right thing to do and it isn't like I am used to carrying it around with me during the day anyway."

  "There ya go," Polly said. "You'll be more engaged with customers and clients."

  "So, uh, do you think I can get some new clothes before this summer? I want more skirts and maybe some cool boots."

  "We can work on that."

  "Cilla and Kayla and me? I'll have my license."

  "You won't have my credit card without me," Polly said with a laugh.

  "I suppose we could take you," Rebecca said, sending her a giggle and an eyeroll. "Thank you." As she turned back to the veggies, she spun and grinned. "You know what the best part is?"

  "What's that?"

  "He doesn't open until ten o'clock and I don't have to be there until five minutes before. I get to sleep in and have a fabulous job all at the same time."

  "Sometimes lucky just doesn't describe it," Polly said.

  The doors from the foyer burst open and five children rushed in, pushing at each other to get to Polly.

  "Whoa," she said. "What's this?"

  Cassidy clung to her leg.

  "Did you have a good day with Jessie and Molly?"

  The little girl nodded.

  "You won't believe what happened when we were getting our haircuts." Elijah was bursting with excitement. The other three boys bounced on their heels as they all tried to speak at once.

  The words Polly heard over the cacophony were police, Gia, crying, and more police. She put her hand up and turned to Cat. "What happened?"

  "Deputy Hudson came in and took Gia out while we were there."

  "Did Tab arrest her?" Polly asked.

  "I couldn't hear the whole thing. I was standing with JaRon."

  Noah's head was nodding up and down. "I think so."

  "Were there handcuffs?"

  He frowned. "I didn't see any handcuffs, but she was crying a lot. Nonni was cutting Elijah's hair and she walked over to them. When she came back, it was like she was mad."

  "Deputy Hudson didn't say hello to me," Caleb said.

  "Do you think that was because she had a job to do and maybe she knew it would be hard?" Polly asked.

  "I heard two ladies say that Gia killed her dad," Caleb said. "Is that why Deputy Hudson took her away? Because she killed someone?"

  Polly shook her head. "I don't know for sure what is going on. I'm sorry you boys had to see that."

  "It was kind of cool," Elijah said. "But there weren't any guns or tasers and Deputy Hudson didn't have to yell or use a baton or nothing. She just came in and took Gia out."

  "Pretty big day in Bellingwood," Polly said. "But all four of you look great. Nonni does a great job."

  Elijah rubbed the top of his head. "I told her I wanted her to shave me bald this summer. She said I had to ask you."

  "Why do you want to be bald?"

  "So I don't get hot up there. My teacher says that sometimes I think too hard. Maybe my brain will burn right through the top of my head."

  "That's one way to look at it. We'll talk about it after school is out."

  "I won't forget. I want it to be smooth as a baby's bottom."

  "How do you know what a baby's bottom feels like?" Rebecca asked.

  He glared at her. "Is it smooth?"

  "Well, yeah."

  "Just like that."

  Rebecca laughed as she pushed a bowl of cheese to the front of the island.

  "You boys go wash your hands," Polly said. "I'm going to run upstairs and see if I can't get clean."

  Cat turned. "We still have fifteen minutes until things are ready, and it can wait if you need more time. Hayden's upstairs taking a shower. He should be coming down any minute to help the boys set the table."

  "He was my rock today," Polly said. "Wherever I wasn't, he was."

  Cat peered at her.

  "I'm so tired. All I'm saying is that he had my back today. I couldn't have done this without him."

  "Will Henry be here for dinner?" Rebecca asked.

  "I don't know," Polly said. "I suspect so. He was still at Mrs. Naylor’s when I left." She headed for the back steps, Cassidy following along right beside her. "Are you coming with me?"

  The little girl nodded, her brown eyes yearning for attention.

  "Okay, but you have to stay in my bedroom with the dogs while I shower. Got it?"

  Her face lit up and she ran for the steps.

 
"If you don't see me in fifteen minutes, send reinforcements," Polly said to Rebecca and Cat. "There's every possibility I fell asleep between the shower and my bedroom door."

  "I can give you a massage later," Rebecca offered.

  "You're much too important now to be doing menial work like that," Polly said and headed for the steps. She smiled at the joy that Rebecca was feeling this evening.

  When she got to her bedroom door, Cassidy was already in Henry's chair, patting the ottoman for Obiwan to join her. Polly pulled sweatpants and a sweatshirt out of her dresser and headed for the bathroom. She closed the door and stood in front the shower, her body aching from all she'd done today. From the minute she arrived at Mrs. Naylor’s house, she'd felt the need to push herself, knowing that they had limited time. She was going to hurt tomorrow.

  While she waited for the shower to warm up, she stripped down and kicked her clothes toward the hamper. There was no way she was bending over to deal with those things tonight. Maybe tomorrow.

  The first sensation of hot water on her back caused Polly to groan in relief. She stood under the spray, willing it to melt her aches and pains away.

  "Polly?"

  She jumped.

  "Henry?"

  "There’s a little girl in my chair. I figured you had to be in here. Want some company?"

  She did, but there wasn't time and besides, there was a little girl in his chair.

  "Well, uhh."

  "It would go faster if we took a shower at the same time."

  "You have to be good."

  He stepped in. "I promise."

  "This feels a little risqué." She pumped soap into her hand and turned him around. "I'll get your back."

  "Only if I can get your front."

  "Stop it," she said. "You promised to be good."

  "I'm such a nice boy. Darn it."

  "How was your day?"

  "Crazy-busy, but the end of it was nice."

  "Seeing me?"

  "Well, yeah, but also talking to that young man. Gavin Riddle? His wife works at the coffee shop, right?"

  "Yes. I have his resume in my email somewhere. I haven't had time to look at it."

  "I want to hire him."

  "Really. You met him once and you want to hire him."

  "What did you think of him? You spent more time with him than I did."

  Polly scrubbed shampoo into her hair and laughed out loud. "Is this as strange as I think it is?"

  "What?"

  "Us having a conversation about a potential employee while we're in the shower rushing to get clean before dinner?" She laughed again. "Oh, and there's a four-year-old in the other room, waiting for me to pay attention to her."

  "Man, you take the fun out of things."

  "After dinner I'll bring up his resume," she said. "I liked him. He dug right in. People listened when he told them what to do. That was kind of impressive."

  "He had a strange request. I don't know what to think about it."

  "What's that?" She rubbed shampoo into his sandy brown hair, doing her best not to get it in his eyes.

  "He wondered if we would consider extending work shifts. He'd like to come to work later in the morning so his wife can keep her job at the coffee shop."

  "That's important to him?"

  "Yeah," Henry said as he rinsed out his hair. "I was kinda impressed, even though I don't know how we'd make that work. I suppose I could hire him part time."

  "Or you could figure out how to make it work for them. If he took some of the load off you, it would be worth it, right?"

  "I've never thought about this before."

  "The world is changing," Polly said. She heaved a deep sigh. "I love a hot shower. I would have loved a bath even more, but who has time for that?"

  "Evidently not us. We don't even have time to play in the shower."

  "Does his wife work every morning?"

  "That’s the thing. He said that they might be able to work it out so that she worked more weekends and maybe it would only be three days a week that he needed to come in late."

  "Can you do that?"

  "If I do it for him, will I end up having to do that for everyone?"

  "What if you did? How difficult would that be?"

  "I'd have to hire a logistics manager just for employee schedules. I can't figure all of it out on my own. For heaven's sake, it's bad enough that I have to make sure all my guys work straight hours and not a ton of overtime, or that I don't short guys any hours."

  "You need to delegate." Polly stepped out of the shower and grabbed a towel. She waited until he turned off the water, then handed it to him and took another. "You know I'm not wrong."

  "Do you want to do it?" He peered at her hopefully.

  Once Cat and Hayden were out of school, Polly would have more time. That was only a month and a half away. If Rebecca got her driver's license, she'd be available to take the kids to more activities and she'd definitely be able to take herself places.

  "You're being awfully quiet."

  "I'm thinking about it. It's something I could do. It shouldn't take too many hours every week. Right? But you already have Jessie. She knows your business. Why not ask her?"

  "I hate to do that."

  "I'll bet if you talk to her, she could do it. And maybe it's time to hire an assistant for her."

  "We've had enough trouble hiring. I don't want to deal with that, too."

  "Hiring an assistant for Jessie would be a lot less work than finding construction managers. Find out what she needs help with. Maybe the assistant is only needed ten hours a week. As you grow, you can add more hours. Just think about it."

  "Yeah. Okay."

  "Do you want me to talk to Jessie?"

  His eyes lit up. "Would you?"

  "Oh, for pete's sake. You are such a chicken."

  "Polly, if I didn't have to manage the scheduling, that would be a huge weight off my shoulders."

  "Why didn't you say something?"

  "Because I should be able to handle it."

  She shook her head as she pulled on her sweatpants. "You're a nut. So, a couple of things before we go back downstairs. Rebecca is head-over-heels in love with her new job at Reuben's gallery."

  Henry frowned. "Did that start already?"

  "Yeah. I think Reuben realized what a gem he was getting in her. He made her feel special today."

  "The other thing?"

  "The boys were at the salon today when Tab took one of the stylists out."

  "Officially?"

  "I think so. I'm surprised she didn't let me know what was going on, especially after seeing the boys in there. I'm not sure whether they're upset about the whole thing or excited by the events or what."

  "Okay. Anything else?"

  Polly nodded toward the door. "Cassidy spent the day with Jessie and Molly. She's going to be clingy tonight."

  "Got it. Don't get between you and Cassidy."

  She put her arms up over his shoulders and he drew her in close. They stood together for a few moments and she moaned. "I have to go eat tacos."

  "It's one meal."

  "I know. I'm not really complaining. At least I didn't have to prepare it."

  "Thank you for what you did today. I could never have gotten through that without you."

  "Everyone worked hard. Oh, and Andrew is coming over tomorrow to help get ready for the reception on Saturday."

  "I haven't looked at the foyer in days."

  "Don't. It will just make you cringe. The boys have racetrack strewn everywhere. We'll get it cleaned up and be ready in plenty of time."

  "I don't know how you do it all. I called you away from your life today and you didn't flinch."

  "Your mother called me away," Polly reminded him. "I would never say no to that woman. We're trying to think of something nice to do for everyone that helped. You can't believe the amount of work they put in. I want to give the kids some money."

  He nodded. "Mom will want to help with that."

&nb
sp; "She shouldn't have to feel responsible for Mrs. Naylor's lazy kids. That infuriates me. Sometimes people are so selfish."

  "They were a lot older than me and Lonnie. Mom and Dad knew them, but we only remember Mrs. Naylor. I think her husband died before Lonnie was born. All we remember is her in that old house. She used to babysit us when Mom and Dad went out for dinner or had dinner parties. She made the best macaroni and cheese. I'd have done anything for her."

  "You did a lot over the years."

  "I'd have done more. It's too bad that she had to move so far away. Mom and Dad took good care of her. It will be hard to see someone else move into that house."

  "It's a nice sized house. Hopefully it will be a family. Your mom would love that."

  He nodded and pointed at the door. "Shall we?"

  CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

  "Do you like working with him?" Polly asked Eliseo Friday morning as Noah went past them into the barn.

  "Scott?" Eliseo nodded. "He's a good worker. Keeps to himself more than I expected from the interviews we had. But it will be fine."

  "Maybe he's concentrating on learning everything."

  Eliseo's eyes lit up in disbelief. "Here?" Then he shook his head. "I shouldn't imply anything."

  "What do you mean?"

  "The work he's had to do the last couple of days hasn't been terribly difficult. Moving office furniture around and setting up tables and chairs for meetings. Jeff and Stephanie give us very detailed instructions."

  "You don't think this was a good fit?" Now Polly was worried. She hadn't sensed any problems with Scott Luther during the final interview. In fact, she'd liked him quite a bit.

  "It's going to take time. He'll get comfortable with us and I'm sure he'll be fine."

  "Is he working this weekend?"

  He nodded. "Every Saturday. Just like the rest of us. Sundays and Mondays off."

  "You never take a day off," she scolded.

  "Horses need to be taken care of, and besides, this is my favorite place to be."

  Polly wasn't going to say anything about spending time with Sylvie. She knew what he meant. "I'm glad you're happy here. You will let us know if there's anything you need or want to make it a better place for you."

  Eliseo gestured with his head toward Sycamore House. "Hiring Scott is helpful. That relieves some pressure. It will be nice this year to have time during the day to work the gardens. Jeff has been talking to people about setting up a Farmer's Market in the front parking lot every Wednesday afternoon. It's our slowest day of the week. If we have bad weather, we can move inside."