Joy in the Journey

by Diane Greenwood Muir

  "Ms. Giller?"

  Polly looked across the creek and saw two figures on the other side. One petite, the other much bigger. She pointed toward the road. "Nonni went that way. It's safe to come across."

  "She was going to kill us. She tried once, but he saved me."

  As Polly watched them come toward her, she realized it was Gia Monroe and Scott Luther, the new custodian at Sycamore House. He was limping, yet continued to hold Gia upright.

  Rebecca hadn’t obeyed her, and the Suburban was still in the yard. She was grateful for once that her daughter hadn’t listened.

  "Rebecca, drive the Suburban over here and open up the back. Tell Kayla to grab those blankets behind her."

  The Suburban backed up and turned, aiming its headlights at them. Scott was bleeding from a head wound and a dark stain spread on the left thigh of his jeans. Gia’s blonde hair was also matted with blood.

  "She hit you," Polly said as she pointed to where she wanted Rebecca to stop the Suburban. Cilla, Andrew, and Kayla burst from the back of the vehicle and opened the rear doors.

  "With her tire iron. Then she left us in the creek," Scott said. "It could have been worse. I stopped the blow that she aimed at Gia. She got me good, though. By the time I came to, the party inside was in full swing and no one could hear us. All I could do was try to get us some help, but then she came back again."

  "How long were you down there?"

  "I don't know. Nonni brought us over here after she was done with work. It's been a long afternoon. Gia here called me while I was on my lunch break and told me that she needed to see me."

  "She was holding a gun to my head," Gia said. "Told me to make him come or I'd die and then she'd find Jud and kill him, too."

  "Why you, Scott?"

  "It's a long story."

  "Where did you meet Nonni?"

  He sat down on the back end of her Suburban once he had Gia settled with a blanket wrapped around her. "Today? Back at the same salon where she killed Keenan. Girl's not right in the head. When I got there, she held the gun on me while Gia tied me up. Knew that she wouldn't be able to control the gun and me, I’m guessing. I woulda taken her if Keenan's little girl wasn't there and she knew it."

  "Why did she want you?"

  He let out a long slow breath. "Story goes back a lot of years." He gave a pained look at Gia. "You know Jud isn’t your daddy's boy, don't you?"

  Gia frowned. "What do you mean?"

  "He doesn't look at all like your daddy. He doesn't look much like you either. You know that he looks like me."

  "What?" She cringed away from him.

  "Your daddy never told me he knew Jud was mine until last week when he found out you two were back in Iowa. He never blamed me. It was your mama who got pissed at him and came after me one night. I didn't know what I was doing." He huffed a laugh. "Sure I did. I knew exactly what I was doing. But I didn’t realize I had a boy out there until Keenan told me. He knew that as soon as I saw your brother with his blue eyes and my big, round head, I'd realize the truth of it. That's why he let your mama go without a fuss."

  "But Nonni," Polly pressed. She heard sirens coming and knew that if they didn't give her answers now, these two would be whisked off to the hospital and she'd never know what happened unless she tied Aaron or Tab down and threatened bodily harm.

  "She was an unexpected twist," Scott said. "She's pregnant."

  Gia nodded. "She was talking about the baby at work."

  "Your father is the baby's daddy. Nonni is just a little bit off center," Scott said. "When she found out that he already had children and wasn't interested in getting married, she might have flipped out a little. I told him that she was a nut, but he wanted to do right by her and promised that once he got this new job, he'd take good care of her and the baby. He really didn't want to get married, though." Scott shook his head. "That boy sure knew how to pick 'em. As long as he was just dating, he was fine, but your mama messed him up. That Nonni-chick wanted to get married something fierce."

  "How do you know she killed him?"

  "She told us," Gia said. "She showed us right where she did it and then she gagged us and tied us to a couple of chairs. We knew no one was going back in there this afternoon. Your husband’s crews are done working. That day she killed him? She'd given me a copy of the key because I wanted a place to meet him where no one would see us. I didn’t know if it was going to be okay with him or not. She had that key from Mina and told me that we should meet there. I had no idea that those two were a thing. But she set me up. She knew what time I was going to meet him and thought I’d get the blame for killing him. I’m surprised you believed me. Nonni was the one who scared me, telling me that I owed her for not calling the cops on me. It’s been horrible. But that deputy also said she believed me and there wasn’t enough evidence anyway." Gia pointed at Polly. “The deputy mentioned you, too. She said you read people really well and didn’t believe I was the killer. This has been the worst couple of weeks."

  "Why were you at the new salon today?" Polly asked.

  "Nonni called last night and told me that Mina wanted us to go out there. I wasn’t supposed to work today, but I’ll take all the hours I can get. She said Mina wanted us to set up the reception area. When I got there, she let me walk all the way in and then there was a gun just sitting there on a counter. She told me to sit down. I was so confused. Then she got mad and picked up the gun. I sat. She was all, like, crazy and stuff. Mad because the cops were still looking for the murderer. Mad because my dad’s friend was talking about his murder. Mad because he didn’t believe that I’d killed him. I still didn’t know what was going on. Then she made me call Mr. Luther. It’s like she snapped or something."

  "So you knew Nonni before?" Polly asked Scott.

  He nodded. "Didn't think much of it. I should have told someone she was pregnant, but she called me after he died, all in tears and worried that the baby was going to grow up without a daddy. She accused Gia of the murder. It kinda made sense that his daughter would be mad enough to kill him. Two kids come back to find their dad who abandoned them? Who knew what their crazy mother put in their heads? But then, I started thinking and it didn’t make sense. If the kids had killed them, surely they would have left town. Why stick around and act like you had no idea?" He shrugged. "Though I guess she stuck around."

  "She’s been normal all week," Polly said with a frown. "Nobody would have thought she was a killer. I don’t understand why she stayed. You didn’t think it was her?"

  "No!" he said, shaken. "Why would she kill her baby’s father? I didn’t think that she was that angry about him not marrying her. He thought she’d taken it okay. None of us knew that she’d flipped her lid."

  "When she came back this afternoon, I thought we were dead," Gia said flatly. "But she didn’t want to make a mess in the salon again. She still thought that she was getting away with it and could keep working for Mina. So she made Mr. Luther drive us over here. The place is really busy. A lot of cars were around. Nobody paid any attention to one more. We got out and she walked us down to the creek." She pointed up by the road. "Way up there. She tried to hit me. Kinda got me and made me stumble, but Mr. Luther blocked most of it. She hit his leg with the pointy end of that tire iron and when he bent over, she hit him in the head. He went down. I yelled. She told me to shut the hell up or she’d hurt me, too. So I shut up. Then she freakin’ punched me with her fist and I blacked out. Mr. Luther woke me up. Just about the time we tried to crawl up out of the creek, she was back again. I think it was only a few minutes. Maybe she parked the car. I don’t know. We tried running and I don’t think she wanted to get her shoes wet, so she didn’t come down in the creek."

  "Then I was there," Polly said.

  "I heard you yelling at her," Scott said, "but I didn’t know your voice so I couldn’t tell who it was. I was still kinda wobbly."

  As sheriff's vehicles came toward them, Polly worried about them tearing up the yard for Eliseo. The stra
nge things a person worries about in a crisis.

  Tab Hudson was the first person to get out of her car and approach them. "What's going on?" she demanded.

  "Nonni Wellman is the murderer," Polly said. She pointed up the creek. "Last I saw, she was running up the creek bed."

  "Did she get on the highway?"

  "No, she went across and back down."

  "I'll be right back." Tab ran to two other deputies and one took off at a run, while the other got in his vehicle and backed out.

  "What’s the rest of the story?" she asked when she returned.

  "It's a long one," Polly said. "These two need medical attention. They've both been tied up, hit with a tire iron, and then chased with bullets."

  Tab gave Polly a look. "That's big even for you."

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

  “You’re still in here?” Henry set a fresh cup of coffee down in front of her.

  Polly was finishing the presentation for the afternoon's reception. She was surprised at the number of people who had invested in Bellingwood's Sycamore Foundation at this early stage, but news of it was spreading and more were interested in participating. That would come later. What began as a way for their friends to be part of something bigger in town was becoming an opportunity for local business people to invest in the future of their community. This was so much bigger than anything she’d imagined, and she was thankful to have Jeff working with her. There was still quite a bit of work to be done to organize the business end of the foundation, but this afternoon, they wanted to celebrate the beginning stages of their first big project, the Bellingwood Bed and Breakfast.

  “Yeah,” she said, rubbing at her eyes.

  "How are you doing?"

  "Getting there. Jeff sent over a bunch of slides he wants me to drop in. I feel really overwhelmed with this. All I wanted to do was move to town, buy an old building, renovate it and maybe use it to do some fun things. I never planned on being a business magnate."

  He laughed. "Get used to it."

  "No, I want out of this. I'll be on the Board of Directors, but I don't want to be in charge. At least not for long. We have strong people in town who would be much better at this than me."

  He sat across from her. "Let me point one thing out to you. Those same people you believe are strong leaders weren’t leading this community before you moved to Bellingwood. In fact, they didn't do much of anything until your work caught the attention of not only the locals, but those outside of the area. That’s when people began getting on board with growth. Even still, there are many who aren't happy with the way things are changing. I still hear older people complaining that these new, young upstarts will open businesses and then leave town and let it all fall apart."

  "That doesn't make any sense."

  "No, but there are many who will never trust the evidence right in front of their faces. They want to live in the past." He chuckled. "It's as if they've forgotten that they were once young. They started businesses and never left. Why would we?"

  Polly nodded toward the foyer. "How are the boys this morning?"

  "Subdued. They liked Nonni. That was quite a shock for them."

  "It makes me so angry," Polly said. "I know it isn't fair, but those little boys live in Bellingwood now. They shouldn't have to be exposed to a jealous murderer again. This should have been a safe place for them. I hate that they experienced a serious crime like that in their short little lives."

  "They accepted it without many questions," Henry agreed. "Like they weren't surprised. I want our children to be surprised by murder."

  Polly chuckled. "That will never happen."

  "You're right. But I want their exposure to horrible death to be one step removed. Through you, not because they knew the murderer well."

  "I understand. I don't like that I bring this to the family, but there's nothing I can do. I think we're stuck with it."

  He rubbed Han's head. The dog was just never very far from Henry. "At least you bring more to this family than murder and death. The boys will be okay. They're resilient. It will be one more thing they tuck away in their little filing cabinets of strange information. I’m more concerned with Rebecca driving into the face of danger last night."

  Polly dropped her head into her hands. "If I hadn't been so glad to see her coming at us, I would have been furious at her for putting everyone in danger. Maybe we need to put armor in the sidewalls of that Suburban."

  "Maybe we need to talk to Rebecca about being more frightened of things in the world," Henry said. "You'd think after all she's been through, she'd show a little more fear."

  "It's because of what she's been through that she’s so strong. She's willing to face things because she knows we'll always be there for her. I love that about her. When I tried to talk to her about it last night, she told me that the four of them voted on what to do and it was unanimous. They freakin’ voted. Who does that?"

  Henry gave her a look of bewilderment. "I'll never understand them."

  "When it comes to self-protection, the only smart one in the group is Kayla. Cilla and Andrew would have loved the idea of diving into trouble."

  "Even after what Cilla faced last summer?"

  "She's one of those people who will support what her friends do. Not only support but encourage them. Especially if it's the least bit offbeat. And Andrew? Well, he'd go anywhere Rebecca pointed."

  "They're going to get back together, aren't they." It wasn’t a question, but a statement of fact. Henry wasn’t oblivious to what was right in front of him.

  Polly tried to see what Henry's face was telling her, but she couldn’t see any emotions there. "I don't know."

  "I want them to wait."

  "Until they're in their thirties?"

  "That would be satisfactory, but no. I want them to know for certain that they’re meant for each other. I’d hate for those kids to miss out on adventures because they settled down too early."

  "What if they go on adventures together? What if that's the right thing for them? I'd rather they experience life as individuals before they come together for a lifetime, too, but maybe that's not the right thing for Andrew and Rebecca."

  "I don't want to admit that you might be right, but you are. I saw it last night."

  Polly didn't say a word. She and Henry hadn't had a chance last night to talk about their day. By the time they went to bed, they were both exhausted and had fallen right to sleep.

  "I don't know how to describe it," he said. "But they are each other's true north. Not only does one focus the other, but the two become more than individuals when they're together. It's what you hope for in a relationship." He gestured back and forth between them. "It's what we have. I didn't expect to see it in someone so young. I don't love it and I won't have them being all gooey with each other in this house. We will do whatever it takes to keep them safe. I could probably design a chastity belt."

  Polly laughed out loud. "I've had conversations with both Rebecca and Andrew this week. I said most of these same things. Well, except for the part about the chastity belt. They really miss each other."

  "I get that. I think about that first year with you. It nearly killed me that we couldn't be together all the time."

  "At least we were in our thirties. The same fears I have for Rebecca, I was having for myself back then. I didn't know if I was ready to be done with my independence." She smiled at him. "I didn't realize that you weren't taking it away from me but instead, offered a foundation that allowed me to do so much more with my life."

  "And both of us see that's what is happening with Rebecca and Andrew. They give each other a strong jumping off point to live their lives. I get it," he said. "I really get it."

  "You know we're going to have five more kids that we have to shepherd through this phase."

  "Which one is going to be our playboy?" He grinned at her.

  "You know, you might think that it would be Elijah, but I'll bet it's one of the younger boys. When Elijah finally finds someo
ne, he'll be done."

  "It's that time between when he starts paying attention to girls and finally finding someone that scares me. He's going to be hurt a lot before that happens."

  "I hope not."

  "Look at Keenan Baxter. He was hurt so badly that he never settled down again."

  "Nonni knew he wasn't going to. He'd have taken care of her and the baby, but he wasn't going to marry her." Polly shook her head. "I feel sorry for everyone who got caught up in his world. And Scott Luther. It's out now that he has a son. What is that going to do to him? To his son?"

  "Scott’s your employee, not mine," Henry said. He grinned at her. "How’s that for a supportive husband?"

  "I'm leaving him to Eliseo. When Scott didn't show up to work yesterday after lunch, I hate to admit that my first thought was we were going to have to go through the entire process to find a new custodian again. I felt a little selfish when I realized that he'd been tied up all afternoon, worried about whether he was going to live or die."

  "She just went back to work and left them there? That's unbelievable."

  "After all she'd done, she must have been numb by that point," Polly said. "Kill the father of your baby and blame his daughter. I don't know how she planned to explain their deaths."

  "Why in the world did you go after her?"

  "I didn't know who it was or what they were doing. People are always dumping stuff in that creek. Even kittens. I didn't want someone to get away with that if I could just make them stop."

  "We don't need any more kittens," Henry said. "We have plenty."

  "I'm glad that's what you focused on in this discussion." Polly loved this man. "So, I spoke with Josie yesterday. She said you called Gavin. I don't need to do an interview with him?"

  Henry's eyes darted away. "Yeah. About that. Sorry."

  "I'm not upset. You like the guy?"

  "I really do. We'll see how he works out. He's interested in everything and already has a decent background in construction. It will take time to bring him up to speed, but this is promising. He wants to work and is willing to put in hours, as long as Josie can hold onto her job. If that's what it takes, I'll make it happen."