"Good morning again," she said.
"Hi Polly." Rachel smiled at her while mixing something at the prep table.
"Sylvie, do you want me to go over to the school and pick up books and homework for the kids?" Polly asked, craning her neck to see Sylvie. The woman was under one of the counters, twisted into a pretzel. "What are you doing?"
"She dropped a spatula and then kicked it. It went flying," Rachel said.
"Hush you," Sylvie said, crawling back out and brushing herself off. "Don't be telling the boss that I'm a klutz." She straightened her hair and stood up. "That would be great. Mrs. Hastings said she'd have it ready after ten o'clock."
"I was a little afraid to leave this place when I woke up this morning, but it looks like you are in safe hands around here."
"It's the most ridiculous thing I've ever seen," Sylvie said, laughing. "Can you imagine that five people have enough free time in their lives to disrupt themselves and come hang out here so that I don't have to worry about my idiot ex-husband?"
Polly nodded. "That first year I was here, I was always so surprised that they could just uproot themselves at a moment's notice for me. Who does that?"
"You do that," Sylvie chided her. "All the time."
Polly pursed her lips, then said, "Duh. Exactly. And so do you. They're all doing what they would normally be doing, they're just doing it here and with friends. Beryl found two new subjects for a painting, Joss has extra help with the babies, Sal can write anywhere and Andy is helping Jeff organize files. Lydia? Well, she's at home wherever her friends have taken root."
"Did I hear my name?" Lydia asked, coming into the kitchen, carrying Sophia. "Little Miss Cutie-Pie needs a long walk. She was getting fussy and her mama fell asleep on the couch with her baby boy in her arms. Can you imagine sleeping here? That poor woman must be exhausted." She turned to Polly. "Whatever happened with her babysitter, the young girl you have staying here? Joss said that she was gone."
"I don't know," Polly said, shaking her head. "How do you get a girl to figure out what the right thing to do is? I'm not her mother and she's an adult. But the poor, stupid girl is going to mess her life up if she doesn't figure this out."
"If she comes back are you kicking her out?" Rachel asked.
"I don't know. It seems like the wrong message. How many chances did we have to screw up? Over and over and over again and our parents punished us and then let us learn our lesson and move on. But I don't know how many times I let her get away with being an idiot. I thought we had everything figured out after the incident on Saturday, but I guess bad boys carry more weight with her than good sense."
"What does Henry say?" Lydia asked, bouncing the baby in her arms.
"We really haven't talked about this one much, what with everything else falling apart yesterday. His mother told me to be patient, that sometimes we need more than one extra chance in life."
"She's a wise woman. It's all going to work out just the way it's supposed to. Now will someone explain why little ones always fight so hard to go to sleep? This little girl is so tired, but it's the last thing she wants to do. I'm going to keep walking. You girls take care." Lydia left the kitchen, cooing and talking to the baby.
"Does this town know how lucky it is to have her in it?" Sylvie asked.
"They can't possibly." Polly turned for the door. "I'll be in my office if you need anything. And by the way? I really like having both of you here during the day. This place is a lot more fun."
She'd barely settled back at her desk when Aaron Merritt dropped into a chair across from her.
"This is Grand Central Station today," she said. "Are you here to keep an eye on Sylvie, too?"
Aaron grinned across at her. "No, I think the girls have that well in hand. And you have a couple of extras here, too."
"Can you even believe it? I think they're all a little nuts, but if a group of Sylvie's friends can't intimidate big, scary Anthony Donovan, I don't know who can." She smiled. "Unless, of course, it's you with a gun."
"We'll hope it doesn't get to that."
"What can I do for you, then?"
"I know that Henry's on-site somewhere and I've already talked to Betty and Bill, but I thought I'd let you know that the fellow you found on Saturday out at Mrs. Willard's place has been identified."
"Wow, that was fast. How did you do that?"
"A little more digging and some legwork. He's from Fort Dodge. Name's Jim Todd."
"Who is he?"
"Just some guy as far as we know. An old guy, about Loren's age. No relatives here in Iowa. He worked for the railroad and just stayed out here. We've contacted his family. They're all in Illinois. Say they wouldn't have started worrying until Thanksgiving when he was supposed to show up for dinner. They see him once or twice a year. No kids, wife died about five years ago."
"I can't imagine not having people wonder where I was every day," Polly said.
"It's surprising the number of people who don't have a big network. It's harder to get away with that in a little town like Bellingwood, but there are a good number of folks who don't have any family except maybe their wife or husband. And then there are all of those people who just don't like their families much."
"Again, that seems so alien to me. There's no one they talk to every other day or so?"
"I know. Ken Wallers and I try to keep an eye on people, but it's not easy. Too many slip through the cracks."
"Do any of these people ever use the senior center?" she asked.
"Would you when you get to be that age?"
"Well, probably not, but ..."
"There are plenty of folks who do and it's great for them, but there are still too many who won't admit they need those services or even admit they need companionship."
"Okay, is there anything I can do?"
"No. Not really."
"So you just came over to tell me this so Henry would know?"
Aaron glanced around. "Maybe I came by to check on things and make sure that somebody saw my vehicle out front."
"So I should expect to see Ken later on today, too? Or maybe Stu will be stopping by for coffee?"
He chuckled and stood up, heading for the door. "You caught us. We have plenty of other places to be today, but we'll be driving through every once in a while. You call us if you need anything. And tell your posse to do the same."
"I promise."
Polly checked the time. It was a little after ten o'clock. She had enough extra energy that a quick trip to the elementary school might help burn some of it off.
"I'll be back in a while," she said, poking her head into Jeff's office.
"Okay. Your friends are all cool?"
"I think they can take care of themselves. What are you working on?"
"Pulling things together for a Chamber of Commerce meeting this afternoon."
"Need anything from me?"
Jeff looked up at her and laughed, "Who do you think you're talking to?"
"Well, I thought I'd ask. Good heavens, I would never be able to do everything you're doing."
"I know that and so does everyone else around here. I'm just glad that you're aware."
"Always. Thank you."
She poked her head into the conference room and Sal barely looked up at her, typing like mad. A quick wave to Andy and she headed for the side door. Joss was still sound asleep with Cooper on her shoulder and Beryl was quietly painting the scene. Lydia had put Sophie down to sleep. Polly thought that there couldn't be anything more beautiful happening in her home right now.
There was so much happening today, she hoped to steal Jason and maybe take this time to talk to him. Lunch promised to be a carnival ride with everyone at Sycamore House and he deserved whatever peace and quiet she could offer for the conversation.
"Good morning, Polly," Eliseo said as she walked in the barn. "How are things up at the main house?"
"Main house," she laughed. "It sounds like I have a plantation here."
"Pretty cl
ose, but no cotton or tobacco fields, so ... "
"Is Jason around? He said he needed to talk to me. I have to go over to the elementary school to pick up work for Andrew and Rebecca and wondered if he wanted to take a ride."
"He's back in the feed room working on his own homework. I'm sure he'd like a break." Eliseo turned his head and yelled, "Jason, you've been rescued. Come on out."
"What's up, Eliseo?" Jason asked, coming into the alley. "Oh hi, Polly. It's not lunchtime yet, is it?"
"No. I have to run an errand. Lunch is going to be crazy busy and I thought maybe we could go now."
He looked up to Eliseo. "Is it really okay?"
Eliseo nodded. "You can finish your homework later. You and I are heading out to the house after lunch to work on the siding, but there will be plenty of time for all of it."
"Thanks," he said.
Polly put her hand on Jason's back as they walked out of the barn. "I'm going to pick up homework for Andrew and Rebecca and then I thought we might go to Boone and look at cars. I want to be back by noon."
"Okay."
They walked around the back of Sycamore House to her garage. Eliseo's garden was still producing vegetables and he had planted pumpkins and squash, so those were beginning to fill out. She opened the garage door and they climbed in the truck. She waited until he was belted in before backing out and heading down the highway.
"How is your week off going?" she asked.
"Yesterday was pretty bad. It just kept getting worse, too. Mom was as crazy as I've ever seen her. She wasn't even that bad when she picked me up from school."
"It was scary."
"I wish I knew why he was here."
"We all do. That would make it a lot easier on your mom."
"I don't want to see him."
"Did you tell your mom that?"
"No."
"Why not?"
"It just wasn't the right time. Everything is such a mess. And I'm the one who screwed most of it up."
"You've certainly made a mess of things, but I don't think you screwed most of it up. Yours is only a small part. It was a big deal when Andrew was taken. Heck, having your dad show up in Bellingwood is a pretty big deal. Let's just say that you screwed one third of it up. See, that's not most of it."
He looked at her and wrinkled his nose. "You're really strange."
"I know. Look, you sit here while I run into the school. I'll be right back. You can listen to the radio or whatever. But you'd better be here when I get back."
"Where would I go?" he asked.
"I'm just saying. I hate it when kids go missing."
"I'll be here."
Polly ran in and stopped in the office. They sent her to Andrew and Rebecca's classroom and called to let the teacher know she was coming. When she arrived, Mrs. Hastings met her outside the door with notebooks and textbooks.
"I've marked the pages they should read and the problems they need to work on today. It's all in there." She slipped everything into a plastic grocery bag and handed it to Polly. "How are the kids doing today?"
"I think they're fine. It just feels like a lot of chaos hit all at once," Polly said.
Mrs. Hastings took her elbow and guided her away from the doorway. "How is Mrs. Heater? I mean, how is she really doing?"
Polly took a breath. "This was diabetes. It isn't going to help her body deal with the chemo and the cancer, adding one more issue. It sounds so callous, but it really is a matter of time. We were hoping to get Rebecca through this school year, but I don't know."
"I worry about that little girl. The only friend she has is Andrew. I put her into groups with other girls so she'll get to know them, but she does her work and shuts down. I know that grades haven't come out yet, but she isn't doing as well this year as she did last year. It's all really hard on her. I'm trying my best to help her out as much as I can, but I don't know what else to do."
"How big of a difference is there in her grades?"
"Last year she was in the top of the class and this year she's doing all she can to hold on to the middle. And she isn't drawing as much anymore. I have some of the things she drew last year. Her teacher said that she was sketching every time she had a free minute. Right now all she does is stare off into space unless I refocus her. She'll do the work I ask her to do, but nothing else."
"Thank you for saying something. We might just have to tough it out this year. She's not getting into trouble or anything, right?"
"No, she'd have to engage with other kids to get in trouble. I've caught some of the girls saying mean things to her and even that doesn't get a reaction."
"Mean things?"
"You know how girls can be. She doesn't have a dad, her mother can't be here to help in the classroom, her best friend is a boy, she doesn't live in a house like other girls do, she wears old clothes."
"That breaks my heart," Polly said. "I can fix the clothes and I can certainly come help in the classroom. Please let me know if something like that comes up. I'll talk to Sarah and maybe we can ease some of this for her. Are there any girls that she communicates with?"
"No," Mrs. Hastings shook her head. "I didn't want to land all of this on her mother, and I probably shouldn't say anything to you, but since you're a big part of her life, I wondered if you might be able to talk to Rebecca."
"Thanks for telling me. I'll see what I can do."
"I'd better get back in there. Who knows what those little hel ... angels are up to." The woman smiled at Polly and patted her arm. "Thank you for taking care of those kids. Tell them I'm looking forward to seeing them tomorrow morning."
"Thanks a lot," Polly said and walked back down the hallway. It never failed - every time she was in an elementary school, the scents and images took her back to her own childhood.
She dropped the bag behind her seat and buckled in. "I'm glad to see you're still here," she said to Jason.
"Do we have to go to Boone?" he asked.
"Why?"
"Because what if someone sees me down there. It's bad enough I'm not in school."
"If someone sees you, they're not in school either. Did you think of that? We're just going to drive around a few car lots. I won't even get out."
"There's really only one."
"One what?"
"One car lot."
"Then we'll go to Ames."
He relaxed as soon as she changed her mind, so she turned east rather than south and headed for Ames.
"Okay, what's going on," she finally asked.
"It's hard to talk about."
"Is this the reason you got in a fight yesterday?"
"Yeah." He spoke quietly, his head bowed down.
"You want to tell me about it?"
"Yeah, but it's hard."
"Okay. Do you want me to change the subject or shut up?"
"I know that I'm not supposed to fight and I get it that I screwed up, but it wasn't my fault," he said.
"Yeah. It was your fault. You chose to use your fists. You had a million other choices."
"But they wouldn't have ever stopped. It would have gone on and on. And they said really bad things."
"About you?"
"No."
She waited for him to continue, but got nothing. "Then who?"
"Mom."
"What would they say about your mother?"
"And Eliseo."
There it was. Of course they did.
"And you've told no one about this?"
"What am I supposed to say to Mom and Eliseo? That those guys were saying some half-baked spic was ... you know ... the f word with my mom because she couldn't do any better? I can't say that to them. It's so gross."
"Why didn't you just ignore it?"
"Polly, I tried. I really did. When Eliseo dropped me off at school, they were waiting for me. They laughed at him because of the way he looks. I told them to shut up and they kept asking if he'd fallen into a vat of acid or maybe someone dumped gasoline on him because he was so ugly. It was all d
ay long. Every time I came out of class, someone else was talking about how he was eff-ing my mom and how could I let that happen. One kid said that if she had his babies, they'd come out looking like Hellboy with horns and everything. Then they said that I was a pussy because I let him eff my mom."
"Oh, Jason."
"I just put up with it all day until finally two of them - Rudy and Logan - caught me and started spinning me around, telling me that if I let the half-baked monster eff her, they knew a smelly homeless guy who could at least take a shower first. If I was so desperate for a dad that I'd let anyone eff her, maybe one of them could come over and show her a good time."
Polly took a shuddering breath, pulled into a field entrance and stopped the truck. She unbuckled her belt and slid across the seat and pulled Jason into her arms. "I'm so sorry, Jason."
"I'm not like my dad," he said before breaking into tears.
"What do you mean by that?" Polly asked, pushing him back so she could see his face.
"I heard Mom say that she was worried I was just like dad, using my fists to handle any situation. I'm not like that. I promise."
"Oh baby, I'm sorry." She held him while he sobbed and sobbed.
Jason finally took a few shuddering breaths of his own and opened the glove compartment to look for paper napkins. Polly kept a pretty good supply of them in there. She slid away from him while he blew his nose and regained his composure.
He looked at her and said, "I need to tell you one more thing."
"Okay?"
"This is kind of serious and I should have told Mom last week."
"What is it, Jason?"
"Dad sent me a letter and told me he was coming to Bellingwood."
"He what?"
"It came last week. I always get the mail after school and it was addressed to me. I don't know why I didn't tell anyone. I wanted to see him first and tell him to go away, but then everything got weird and I was grounded and out at Eliseo's and ..."
"Oh sweetie. You aren't supposed to have to deal with any of this by yourself."
"Who else is going to?"
"Any of us. You could have told me. You could have told Eliseo. You could have told your mom."
"It just would have upset her. You saw how she was Sunday night. It's my job to take care of her, not to make things worse for her."
Through the Storm (Bellingwood Book 8) Page 13