Secrets and Revelations (Bellingwood #4)

by Diane Greenwood Muir

  She had no idea where Henry and Nate might have parked their vehicles, so she meandered through the cars, admiring the beauty of the classics.

  "Polly!" She heard Henry's voice and looked for him. When she saw him waving at her, she waved back and made her way to him. He and Nate had lawn chairs on the grass behind the cars.

  "You two look as if you are being complete slugs," she accused.

  "It's a beautiful day to be out with the cars," Nate laughed. "How did the competition go? Am I in trouble?"

  "It was great. Andrew came in second place. He did really well."

  "I'm sorry I missed it," Henry said.

  "Oh no you're not, don't give me that. I know you both would have much rather have been here. So, is there a winner or something at this thing?"

  The two men looked at each other and laughed.

  "What?"

  "There are some awards given out, but there isn't a big winner."

  "Oh. Fun," she said.

  "It is fun!" Nate laughed.

  "I'm going to show her around. Hold down the fort, buddy," Henry said. He wrapped his arm around her waist and began walking her toward the cars.

  "I just wanted to get you away for a minute. How are things at Sycamore House this morning? I haven't heard anything from Roy."

  She shrugged. "I was up and out of there pretty early. I didn't see him or the boys so I'm assuming they're fine. Surely he'd let you know if there was anything going on."

  "Probably," he nodded. "How are you doing?"

  "I'm fine. The competition was great. Sylvie's boys are such good kids. She was worried about Andrew, but he was a star up there."

  Henry kissed her cheek. "So, do you care about these cars?"

  "Not really. What are you going to do about lunch? Can you get away?"

  "No, I should stay. We're going to close up shop around two o'clock. Can you wait until then?"

  "Can I hang out with you?"

  "Of course, let's look at the competition and then I'll kick Nate out of his chair. He can find his own place to sit."

  She grinned at him and listened patiently as he explained why he loved the cars they were looking at. He introduced her to people he knew and pointed out his favorite cars. Nate was gone when they returned to the lawn chairs, so he pulled them together and they sat down to enjoy the afternoon.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

  Urging him to hurry under her breath, Polly followed Henry home from the car show and waited while he parked his Thunderbird in the garage. He promised her another ride on the Ferris wheel and as much fair food as she wanted. She knew they needed to be careful because two of the local service organizations had teamed up and were holding a barbecue cook-off before the dance that evening.

  He jumped in her truck. "I think Roy and the boys are going a little stir-crazy back at Sycamore House."

  "I can't imagine. At least it's a big place for them to be." She turned to look at him quizzically. "They aren't spending the day in that one little room, are they?"

  "I don't know. I guess I assumed so."

  "They should be using my apartment. There are video games or they can watch television. They can use the kitchen. Please! Tell him."

  Henry dialed his phone. "Hey buddy, Polly wanted me to tell you that you should be spending the day in her apartment."

  He listened for a moment. "No, she's not kidding. Turn on the television, there are video games, you can read any of her books. Open her refrigerator and eat anything you want. For that matter, you can open the refrigerators down in the main kitchen if she doesn't have enough food for you."

  Henry handed the phone to her, "Tell him."

  She stopped at the stop sign and took the phone from him, "Roy?"

  "Hi Polly, we don't want to eat your food. We can find things to do here in the room."

  "Stop it. Those boys don't need to be stuck in one place all day. I have kids in and out of my apartment all the time. The cats would love the company and Obiwan is a big ole goof. I've already taken him outside and he's going to be fine until I get home later on, so you can settle in over there and enjoy the rest of the day. There are board games in the cabinet beside the television. Please just use my place."

  "That would be great for the boys. Thank you. There's only so much entertainment two young boys can find on my tablet."

  "Don't mention it. Keep them safe and happy. I'm sure they'll figure out the television and video game system. There are movies, but they're all kind of geeky, so I apologize for that."

  "Thank you, Polly. We appreciated the use of the shower, but we're grateful for this."

  "No problem. Take care of them!"

  She handed the phone back to Henry. "Sometimes it is so hard to be nice to people," she laughed.

  "I can't believe your apartment is clean enough that you let them be there."

  "Hey! You were there last night. It's perfectly fine!"

  "I know! I just can't believe it."

  "I've been trying. You keep coming over and I have to madly clean things up, so I have tried to stay on top of it. That hasn't been easy this week, let me tell you."

  He pointed to a parallel parking space on the side of the road. "How about there? It's only a block away and we're close enough to downtown that we can do both without moving it."

  "I'm not that talented," she said. "This truck is bigger than anything I've ever parallel parked. I'll be working my way in there for at least an hour."

  "You're kidding," he mocked.

  "No, I'm not kidding. Do you want to put it in there?" Polly pulled the truck into park and slid herself over to sit on his lap.

  "What are you doing?" he laughed.

  "You park it. I'm not going to. If you want it in there, you make it happen."

  "You couldn't get out of the truck and come around?"

  "I wanted to sit on your lap and kiss you." She kissed his lips.

  "Someone might see us," he protested. "It's not like we're invisible here. In fact, you parked in the middle of the road!"

  Polly pulled her shoulders up and said, "Well, you might want to fix that then. I'm perfectly happy where I am. If you don't want me making out with you in the middle of the street, you'd better do something." She kissed him again.

  Henry moved to the left and pushed her into the passenger door. When he got his seat belt off, he scooted across the console into the driver's seat.

  "I am never going to know what's coming next from you, am I?" he laughed. He pulled forward and then eased the truck into the spot, pulled forward again to straighten it out and said, "There. That wasn't so difficult, was it?"

  "It would have been impossible for me. Thank you. Come on! Let's ride the Ferris wheel. And no paying off the guy to get me stuck in the air. I'll kiss you anyway."

  She jumped out of the truck and waited for him, took his hand and pulled him into a trot as they ran to the carnival.

  "Why are you in such a hurry?"

  "It's a wonderful day. I don't have any more responsibilities. Bellingwood Days has been fun so far and tonight I get to go dancing with you. Can you think of any reason to go slowly?"

  "I guess not," he said, shaking his head. "Did you take a happy pill?"

  Polly stopped in front of the entrance. "Henry, I talked to my Uncle Clyde today and it was an awful conversation. He told me that he doesn't like me because I look too much like Ruth Ann and he thinks my Dad was a sucker for her and for me too. But then it hit me that I'm not defined by either of those people. My Dad was a wonderful man and he raised me to be like him and I love him so much and you know what? That's all that matters. Uncle Clyde is a miserable old man and Ruth Ann is an idiot. I have you and my friends and I have my animals and I'm happy about all of it!"

  She took his hand and held it over her head and spun in place. "I feel freedom today. I sat with Jason and Sylvie and we watched a nine year old boy begin to figure out what his life dream might be. If he spends a lifetime writing and performing, that's great. If he does
something else, I think we’d still be proud of him. Jason and Rachel are finding freedom with my horses and it is opening new worlds for them."

  Henry held her hand and smiled. "So, you've been processing on this all day?"

  Polly winked. "That and how much I can't wait to have you hold me in the dark tonight at the dance. I've been looking forward to that all week long. Now come on. One more corndog before the carnival closes up tonight."

  She pulled him in and headed straight for the corndog stand. "Do you want one?" she asked.

  "Sure, I'm hungry."

  They wandered through the games and rides and stopped at a ring toss game. "What if I win you a stuffed tiger?" he asked. “Will you consent to let it sit by Tigger the elephant on your bed?”

  "These things are rigged," Polly responded. "You'll never win anything. Don't even bother."

  "Are you sure?"

  "Whatever. It's your money."

  Henry gave the carny a dollar and took his three rings. "Is it rigged?" he asked the man, who simply shrugged and smiled.

  Henry hit the first bottle and the second, then missed the third. "Well, I tried," he said.

  "Don’t you want to try again?" the carny pressed.

  "Nah. She told me not to, I just couldn't resist. Had to try to get her a toy."

  They moved on and Polly laughed. "You're a nut."

  "I know. It was worth a shot. Should I prove my strength?"

  "No! You don't need to prove anything to me and I don't need to carry around a stuffed animal." She rubbed his head, pushing up his ball cap. "You're fuzzy enough."

  Henry grabbed her hand and brought it back down between them. "Last year's Bellingwood Days were boring," he said.

  "Because I wasn't around?"

  "Yes. That."

  "I was in town ... kind of. It didn't occur to me that it would be this much fun."

  "It wasn't. Trust me."

  They rode the Ferris wheel again and each time they crested the top, he kissed her.

  After a third ride and a great deal of walking around, they left and walked toward downtown. Others had the same idea. The stores were all open for the evening and one end of Main Street was set up with competing barbecue smokers, while a band was setting up on a stage erected at the other end of the street. Tables were set up on the sidewalks and many of the shops had drinks, snacks, side dishes and desserts available. Polly saw the Merritts, Beryl, Andy Saner, and Len Specek seated at a picnic table halfway down the street and waved at them.

  Beryl stood up and yelled, "We saved you a place!"

  Polly laughed out loud and nodded. "She's a little embarrassing," she said to Henry.

  "A little? I'm glad she's your friend and not mine."

  "Stop it. You love her too."

  "I'm not sure that's what you call it, but okay."

  They got a plate filled with ribs from one side of the street and another plate with smoked meat from the other side, then wandered down toward the table, purchasing drinks and sides along the way. Polly ended up with some beans and a cup of cheesy potatoes while Henry stopped for some of Lisa Bradford's coleslaw. He ducked into Pizzazz and came back out with garlic bread and drinks.

  "How was your day?" Lydia asked.

  "It was fabulous. Have you talked to Sylvie?" Polly responded.

  "She texted me that Andrew came in second place."

  "I was so proud of him. Poor Sylvie was a wreck before it started, but he did a great job."

  "When do we get to read it?" Andy said. "I asked him last month and he told me he wasn't sharing it with anyone until after today."

  "I'll see what I can do to get a copy to you."

  "Thank you," she said. Len had his arm around her back and his other hand kept finding its way into her hand on the table. She just smiled at him and rubbed his fingers.

  Polly nudged Henry and tilted her head toward them. "Be good," he whispered.

  "Do you have any leads, Sheriff?" he asked Aaron. "I think there are a couple of boys who have serious cabin fever at Sycamore House and are ready to be outside. I'm sorry they've missed out on the carnival."

  "That is too bad. We're still investigating, though. Once we knew what to look for, we pulled some prints off the tire iron and the steering wheel. Of course those won't tell us who we are looking for until we have them. They weren't in any of the databases, but it's a good start."

  "Have you talked to her husband?" Polly asked.

  Aaron scowled at her. "Of course we did. He was the first person we talked to. It's one of those unwritten rules. Always talk to the husband first. But he had a good alibi for that morning, so unless he is a magician, it wasn't him."

  "I keep thinking about that screaming fit she threw at the bank last week. She was absolutely furious with someone and threatened them."

  "Poor Cindy Rothenfuss threatened everyone," Lydia said.

  "It was her go-to attack," Beryl laughed. "If she couldn't get them to do what she wanted, she found a way to threaten them. I don't know how she managed to get away with it either. She always tried to use her husband's power at the bank and he never followed through on any of her threats. It was all just noise."

  "That was last Thursday night, Polly?" Aaron asked.

  "Yeah. Obiwan and I were out for a walk. I thought it was strange that there were people at the bank that late, but if it was her husband and he was trying to avoid being at home with her, I suppose that makes sense."

  "But, he wasn't working on Thursday night, so that doesn't make sense at all. He was with me at Davey's. We had dinner with some people from Boone who want to build an ethanol plant outside of town."

  Lydia nodded. "I was in Dayton with Marilyn and her kiddos, but you got home after I did."

  "So, who was she yelling at?" Polly asked.

  Aaron mused and nodded, "That's a good question. Thanks for telling me again. I didn't think anything of it when you told me on Monday morning. I just assumed she'd made someone else angry and was threatening them when they wouldn't respond to her."

  Then he asked her, "You said you ducked down behind a car. Do you remember what kind of car it was?"

  Henry burst out laughing. "That's the funniest question I've heard today."

  "Hey!" Polly protested. "Stop it."

  "Then go ahead. Tell him what kind of car it was, Polly," Henry continued to laugh.

  "Well, it was a four door car. And I think it was grey. Well, maybe it was silver. No. It was kind of dark outside and I wasn't paying any attention to the car, I was just trying to hide from her, so it was some light or medium color."

  Aaron started to laugh. "Well, that's not going to help me, is it?"

  "Do you remember anything about the cars I showed you today?" Henry asked her.

  "I remember Ford and Chevy," she laughed, then looked around the table at the other women. "I'm a bad girlfriend."

  "If you are going to hang out with a car guy, you are going to have to learn a few things, Polly." Lydia said.

  "Well, then he has to learn something about my horses. That's only fair, don't you think? And besides I've spent time learning all about wood working. I know more about the different species of wood than ever before and I can tell you the difference between a table saw and a miter saw."

  "You're a very good girlfriend," Henry said, patting her on the knee. "You don't have to learn about cars this week."

  Len quietly chuckled and Andy turned to him, "What?"

  "He parked her truck."

  "What do you mean?" she pressed.

  "She made him park her truck this afternoon." He started laughing from his belly. "I was walking the dog and I saw her shift places with him so he would parallel park that truck. I had to go down another street so they wouldn't see me."

  Polly dropped her head to her chest. "I didn't know anyone saw me do that. Did you see everything?" she asked.

  "I saw enough," he laughed.

  "What were you doing?" Beryl asked coyly.

  "Oh, I stopped
the truck in the middle of the street because I can't parallel park to save my life. Then I sat on Henry's lap and kissed him until he got in the driver's seat and did it for me."

  "Girlfriend, you are my kind of gal! There is more than one way to get something done. We women have to figure out all of our options and then take the most direct route to the goal."

  "That's what my mama always told me," Lydia said. "She thought that the ERA amendment was crazy. Women who had to fight to get their way didn't know how to get their way."

  Beryl turned on Lydia. "You don't mean that, do you?"

  "I told you it's what my mama always said. Not what I said. I told my girls to go after whatever they wanted and not to worry about whether they were male, female, purple or plaid."

  Aaron nodded. "She raised some scary girls."

  "I knew that," Beryl relaxed. "That's right, you were too young to be burning bras and marching on Washington."

  "You didn't do any of that," Lydia scolded.

  "I burned a couple of bras, but they were ugly anyway."

  The band began playing and some of the kids were dancing in the street. The downtown was filled with people moving in and out of the shops and stopping to talk. As dusk fell, the shops closed and the sounds of the carnival rides competed with the band.

  Polly tugged on Henry's shirt, "Isn't that Cindy Rothenfuss' husband? I can't believe he's here tonight."

  "What? You expect him to be home weeping over her loss? I'm surprised he wasn't the first one kicking his heels up."

  "Who is that woman with him? Do you suppose that’s his bimbo? At least it lets me off the hook."

  He laughed at her and asked Aaron, "Do you know who that is with Barry Rothenfuss?"