Polly smiled at him and swallowed. "It's terrific. Even better than that pork tenderloin I ate last night."
"I've been meaning to talk to you about that, Polly. Can you come over for supper tonight? Lydia asked me to grill steaks."
"Okay." Polly said and glanced up to see that Henry was watching their conversation intently. "Sure, steaks sound great. What time?"
"Why don't you make it around 6:30. Can you get to our house on your own?"
"I think so. If I get lost in this big town, I'll just call."
The conversation had resumed around them and people moved their chairs back a bit to allow them to eat. It didn't take long, though before another question arose.
"What's going to happen to old Mr. Leon if he did steal all that stuff?" someone asked.
"I don't know for sure, Dan. I guess that's for the lawyers to decide. My job is simply to figure who did it and prove it so the suits can deal with it. A lot of it depends on whether he stopped taking things after the school closed down or whether he's still up to his old tricks." Aaron stopped. "We haven't got any idea if he's the one who stole that stuff, so let's not gossip, okay?"
Polly laughed. It seemed like this place was rife with gossip, and while none of it was terribly spiteful, it also seemed like it was a grand place to get in on all of the news from around the community. She remembered her Dad talking about a local coffee shop. He went there every Saturday morning while Mary took her to piano lessons. She'd forgotten all about that. But now, here she was stuck in the middle of a Saturday morning session at a diner. My goodness she loved being back in Iowa.
Lucy brought four checks to their table and passed them out. Just as she handed Polly's to her, Doug snatched it and said "We've got this, remember?"
Aaron looked at him and laughed, "Are you trying to date Polly, Doug? You see her panties once and now you're trying to do something about it?"
Doug's eyes got huge and his entire body seemed to stop in mid-motion. "Absolutely not, sir! I mean, not that you wouldn't be a great girl to date, but, but …” He slumped and looked at Henry. "Help me," he pleaded.
Henry shook his head and said, "I didn't see her panties. You're in this alone!"
Doug turned back to Aaron. "No sir. Billy and I are treating Polly to breakfast. She let our friends come over last night and play video games and she fed everyone. We're only saying thank you."
Aaron patted him on the back. "That's nice, boys."
Polly creased her forehead in thought. "Aaron, tonight's Halloween. I was going to watch for any trick-or-treaters. Darn. I didn't want them to come to the school for the first time in years and not find anyone."
Aaron asked Doug, "Would you guys mind tending the home front tonight or were you planning to go out?"
"Well, we had kind of thought we'd head down to Boone to see a movie, but it's no big deal," Billy interjected.
Polly put her hands on the table, "Guys, I'm sorry to be taking up so much of your lives right now." She glanced at Aaron, "I wish I didn't have to make you guys stay with me."
Aaron stopped her, "As long as you are staying in that building, with all that's going on around you right now, you're keeping them. Got it?"
The boys grinned when Polly said, "Okay. Got it. A girl can't get a break around here.
"Well, guys. You get to choose whatever you want to do tonight. I'll pay for it. If you want to rent movies and order pizza, that's cool. If you want to have Davey's bring you food, I'll pay for it. Whatever you want."
"We'll figure something out, Polly. Don't worry about it,” Doug assured her.
She laughed. "I'm not sure what I'd do without you. You're kind of my own Luke and Han."
"Star Wars! That's what we should do tonight. We should do all six of the movies! Billy, you have those at home, don't you?"
"Yes! I do! And remember those robes our moms made us wear for the church pageant? We should totally dress up like Obi-Wan and Luke. We can paint some light sabers this afternoon! So cool!"
"We're on it, Polly."
Aaron sat back and said, "Handled. We'll see you at 6:30."
Chapter Eighteen
Henry, Doug, Billy and Polly waited while Aaron finished his breakfast, then when he got up to wander around and chat with other patrons, they left the diner.
Before getting to Doug’s car, Henry took Polly's arm and pulled her aside. "What happened last night, Polly?"
"Henry." her voice took on a warning tone. "I'm fine. Nothing happened. Joey and I had a conversation that didn't go well and Aaron and the Musketeers were there to watch it happen. Now, don't do this again."
He released her and said, "Fine. But, would you tell me if there was something I needed to worry about?"
Polly looked up at him in confusion. "I'm not sure what to say to you. You've gotten protective of me and it doesn't make any sense. I know we work together and I know we're friends, but Henry, this is too much. Just let me work this out, alright?"
He put his hands up in surrender. "I guess I'm a worrier. But, do you not understand there are people here who care about you now?"
"Oh, I understand perfectly. I'm not used to it and I really am trying, but some of these things I have to work out on my own."
"I don't think you're going to be able to do this alone, Polly. As I understand it, this guy is stalking you and he came here even after you made an attempt to hide your location from him."
"Wow. You have all the details, don't you?" she sneered.
"It's a small town, Polly,” Henry said patiently. “There are no secrets around here. And if I hear something about someone I like, then I'm going to pay attention. Did he follow you out here after tracking you down?"
"Yes, Henry, he did. There's a stupid little girl back in Boston that is going to get her head taken off her shoulders if I have anything to say about it."
"Well, keep yourself safe. This isn't going to go away easily."
Then, he glanced over at Doug and Billy standing in front of the hardware store, peering in the window trying not to look obvious about waiting. "Your knights await you. Have a good rest of the weekend and I'll see you Monday morning."
"Thanks Henry," Polly said. "You, too."
"Alright boys, are we heading back to the barn?" she asked as she approached them and slipped her hands into their arms. They got in the car and Doug said, "Did you have something else you wanted to do this morning? Because we've got time. Mr. Allen said we didn't have any work this weekend, so we're free as birds!"
"Well," she drew the word out, "What about driving me around town and showing me the sights?"
"Sure!" Doug replied. "Do you mind if we stop by my house to pick up our costumes?"
"That would be wonderful. I'll get a chance to meet your mom again."
Doug’s house was a little two story home with an immaculate front lawn. There were flower beds surrounding and a big tree in the front yard. "Mom loves her gardens. Next summer you should come see the back yard. Dad doesn't complain because it cuts down on what we have to mow. I complain because she makes us weed it with her. She plants flowers out here and then the whole back yard is filled with vegetables. Then, she starts canning in late summer and doesn't stop until all the apples have fallen out of the tree and the pumpkins are all gone.
He got out of the car and ran up the front steps, opening the door and yelling, "Mom! Mom! Polly and Billy are here with me. I need those robes. We're going to be Jedi Knights!"
The short, little lady from Lydia's party came up from the basement. "Stop your yelling, Doug. This house isn't big enough for that mouth. I can hear you."
"Hi, Polly!” she said. “So, my boy isn't making you terribly crazy staying all these nights with you?"
"Oh, I love having him there,” Polly assured her. “He and Billy clean up after themselves and are great fun to have around."
"It's been awfully quiet with him gone,” Helen lamented. “Just me, Frank, Sue and Junior."
Polly looked sideways a
t Doug. "Junior? You only told me about your sister."
He started laughing. "Oh, Junior is the dog. Mom named him Frank after Frank Sinatra. The dog howls all the time. Dad wasn't too fond of the dog having his name, too, so she started calling him Frank Junior and then it just became Junior."
"I guess that makes perfect sense, then!" Polly smiled at Helen Randall. "Well, I do appreciate him and it seems to keep everyone from worrying too much about me being there by myself."
"I knew someday he'd move all the way out, so maybe this is good training for us." Helen Randall looked up at her son, "So, what were you screeching about when you came in the front door?"
"Polly has to go over to the Merritt's tonight and we're going to be Jedi Knights and take care of her trick-or-treaters. Do you have those robes we had to wear for the church pageant?" He turned to Polly. "We were shepherds. We were the best shepherds ever,” then rolled his eyes.
"Everything is downstairs in the storage room. You should be able to find the tub marked costumes. There will probably be some ties in there as well."
Doug and Billy took off at a dead run down the steps.
"Someday he'll quit moving so fast, but I have no idea when that will happen,” she said and gestured to the sofa. “Come on in and sit down. Can I get you something to drink?"
"No, thank you. We just came from the diner. Doug and Billy took me out to breakfast to say thanks for letting them have game night at the school last night. They're such good kids."
"They are good kids. We worried some when they were in high school, but whatever strange phases they were in always went away,” she said. “Jerry Allen is good to them and they enjoy working for him. That's really helped."
Doug and Billy came back up the stairs. "We found them. Thanks mom."
"Did you put everything back the way you found it?" she asked.
"Of course I did. You'd have my hide otherwise, wouldn't you?" He laughed and bent over to kiss his mother on the forehead, then said, "Are you ready to go, Polly? We've got things to do!"
Polly smiled at Helen, "I guess we've got things to do! I'll see you later."
They left the house and spent the next half hour driving around Bellingwood, while Billy and Doug pointed out things that had been important to them when they were younger. She saw the ball fields and drove past the cemetery. They drove around the elementary school and past a few homes that had belonged to teachers the boys had enjoyed. They told her stories about climbing the water tower and spray painting it, then having to climb back up and clean it.
When they got back to the school, Doug asked if it would be alright if they took off for a while.
"Sure," said Polly. "I think I'll be safe in my own place for a little while."
"We're going over to Henry's to see if he'll make us some wooden light sabers. Then we're going to get fluorescent spray paint for the blades and black paint for the handles. These are going to be epic!" he declared.
She unlocked the front door as they roared out of the parking lot. She leaned against it and surveyed her surroundings. Even with everything happening around her, this was a pretty nice little place to live. She shut and locked the door, then went upstairs. All of a sudden weariness took over. The boys would be gone for a while and she had time for a nap. That would be perfect.
Polly walked into her room, kicked off her shoes and plopped down on top of the bedding. She looked at the clock. 1:30. Yep. Perfect. The next time she looked at the clock it was 3:15 and there was laughter and clattering coming from downstairs. She went to the midpoint of the stairs and looked over into the hallway.
Billy and Doug were waving their arms in an apparent fake light saber battle. They were both wearing brown robes with ties pulled around their waists. Two freshly painted light sabers were drying on newsprint off to the side. They actually looked pretty good. The fluorescent paint made them shimmer in the light. She shook her head.
"Nice looking weaponry there, boys."
They stopped dancing around each other and looked up. "I know! Henry did a great job once we told him what we wanted. We had to run to Boone to get the paint, and there might be some sprayed on your grass outside. I hope that's alright," Billy said.
"Sure. That's great. They do look awesome. I'm going to take a shower and then I'll be down. Are you guys hungry yet?"
"We ate at Taco John’s in Boone. We're good,” Doug replied.
"Alright. I'll be down in a while."
Polly took a shower and put on some fresh jeans and a nice blouse. She pulled her hair back into a braid, then checked her phone. There were no more calls. Then, she grabbed her laptop and headed down the steps. The guys were back at it, perfecting their moves, she supposed. They followed her into the kitchen.
"Thanks for letting us do this,” Billy said. “We'll be the talk of the town once people see our awesome costumes. That was a great idea!"
"Here is all of the candy I've got," and she opened the cupboard. There were several bags of various types of candy. "Use whatever you want and when you run out, then I guess you run out."
"We don't have that many kids in town," Billy said. "I think we'll be fine."
"Then, eat whatever you want to eat." She opened the freezer and pulled a shepherd's pie casserole out, then set it inside the oven to begin defrosting and the boys wandered back out into the hallway.
She walked over to the table and sat down, opening her laptop. There was an email from her friend Drea. It had been sent Thursday night.
"Polly, I just heard Joey is looking for you. Girl, I think he's gone off the deep end. You know that little twit at the library? She found MY number and called me because she knew we were friends. She told me that he had her doing some research and it was all about you. She was checking public records in Boone County, Iowa for the building you bought.
Let me know that you're okay and he hasn't gotten to you. I'll send my brothers out there if I have to! Take care of yourself."
Polly replied:
"Don't worry about your brothers, I've got a lot of people out here who think they are responsible for the care and keeping of my skin. But, thank you.
"I'm going to get hold of my old supervisor and get that little twit fired, though. How dare she use her job at the library to help someone stalk me. It wasn't enough that she broke into the supervisor's office and searched my file to get my old phone number, but now this?
"He is here in Iowa. We kind of had it out last night, but I managed to record some of his rantings and one of my friends here is the Sheriff, so tell your brothers not to worry too much. This time the law is in my pocket.
"Love you! I'll call you next week sometime. Polly."
She checked the rest of her email and there was nothing else needing her attention, and she wandered around the internet for a while. Her stomach rumbled, so she got up to make some toast. She buttered her toast, shook some cinnamon sugar on it, pulled a Diet Dew from the bottom shelf of the cooler and sat back down. One other item in her email was the one she sent to herself last night with the phone numbers from Joey's phone. The first number was his mother's cell phone. Without giving it any extra thought, she dialed the number and was surprised to hear the woman's voice answer the call.
"Hello?"
"Mrs. Delancy? This is Polly Giller."
"Yes, dear. What can I do for you today?"
"Mrs. Delancy, did you know I've moved to Iowa?"
"I heard that, dear. I didn't know why, though. Is everything alright?"
"Mrs. Delancy, one of the reasons I moved to Iowa was to get away from your son. Did you know he was obsessed with me?"
"Oh, Polly dear,” Polly could hear the disgust in the woman’s voice. “I'm sure that isn't true. I know he went through something with you last spring, but he is certainly over that by now. He has many other things in his life to occupy his time. So many important things."
"Alright, so you didn't know. Well, Mrs. Delancy, your son is in Iowa trying to get me to come back to Bos
ton."
"That's a great idea, Polly. You had a terrific job here in Boston and great friends and you were a good companion to Joseph. His father and I like you very much."
Polly put her head in her hands. This woman was as delusional as her son.
"Mrs. Delancy. Your son is threatening me and I might need your assistance. I do not want to return to Boston. I want to stay here and I want him to go away and leave me alone."
"I'm not sure why you are telling me this. You should be talking to him about it. For goodness' sake, Joseph is an adult now. I don't have any influence over him. If you don't want him around, why don't you say that to him?"
"I said that to him many times last spring and he wouldn't leave me alone. He assaulted a patron of the library and when I broke up with him, he refused to acknowledge that it was real. He asked a girl at the library to find out where I lived so he could come out here and drag me back to Boston. He didn't ask if he could come, he didn't even bother to tell me he was coming. He just showed up and now is telling me that he waited his entire life for me and I'm going to be the mother of his children."
"Polly. You'd make a great mother to our grandchildren. You're a very bright and pretty girl. We enjoyed having you at the various functions you have attended with him."
"You're not listening to me. Your son is in denial. He's going to do something bad and get himself into terrible trouble. Are you paying any attention to me at all?"
"Dear, I'm sure you think you know what is going on and I'm also sure you are wrong. Joseph may have some anger issues, but he has assured me those are all behind him. He'd be a great catch for you. You might not want to let him come back here without you. He could change your life."
"Mrs. Delancy, I don't even know what to say to you at this point."
"Well, I'm not certain why you thought this call was necessary if you aren't interested in my son. I don't care to have anything more to do with you. So, thank you for calling. Good-bye."
After Mrs. Delancy abruptly ended the call, Polly sat at the table completely stunned by the conversation. She couldn't imagine anyone being more delusional than Joey, but his mother seemed like she was off the deep end. How was she able to maintain all of the activities she did as a volunteer?
All Roads Lead Home (Bellingwood) Page 19