Polly nodded. "We're fortunate to be so close."
"I should go," Loretta said. "I just wanted to be here when you saw it all put together."
"Thank you again. Can I hug you?" Polly asked.
Loretta put her arms around Polly. "I’ve had fun working with you. And with you, Judy. I hope you find great joy here."
They walked her to the front door and Judy gestured to the chairs on the porch. Polly sat down and Judy waved as Loretta drove off.
"What do you think?" Judy asked.
"I think it's beautiful. Are you happy with it?"
"I'm a little overwhelmed, to be honest. I don't know how I'm going to take care of everything. As I watched this place go up, my poor heart started worrying."
"Oh, Judy, don't do that. You should be excited, not worried."
"All of those whites and greys. All of this wood. The dusting is going to kill me. I don't even like to dust."
Polly laughed. "Me either. It's one problem with being married to a woodworker."
Judy's laugh was a little more strained. "When Loretta talked about bringing a whole family to visit and I thought about washing linens, cleaning up after them, and cooking for that many people at once, I panicked."
"So, we bring in help."
"We can't afford that yet. I'm probably worrying over nothing, but look at this place. Fortunately, Eliseo comes out regularly to help me with the yard. Those walnut trees are going to make a mess this fall. He wants to harvest the nuts, so that will help."
Polly reached out and took Judy's hand. "Let me think on this. There's no reason you should worry. I meant it when I said that you should be excited. If we don't love what we do, we shouldn't be doing it."
"Reuben told me that I needed to talk to you. Jeff intimidates me. He's so fired up about making this a success that I am terrified I will mess things up for you."
"You couldn't if you tried," Polly said. "You and Reuben are wonderful people. That's why I wanted you to be part of this. The bed and breakfast experience should be about taking care of folks, not caring for the building. When it comes to meals for large groups, we have a catering company and a bakery that will do as much as you want. That's easy."
"Really?"
"Of course. Let's see how Jeff does with scheduling guests. If he fills this place like he says he will, we can afford to bring on someone to help."
"I don't want to cut into profits. I know you have investors who want to see a return."
"Not this year, they won't. We have time to work it out. And by the way, if we add an employee or two because we're successful, that won't be seen as cutting into the profit margin. It's a necessary cost just like paying for utilities is necessary."
Judy took a big sigh of relief. "When we saw that other house, I knew it would be easy, but this is like a fancy hotel."
"And Jeff knows how to take care of fancy hotels," Polly said. "He is a smart man who cares about the people he works with. I'll make sure he knows that this is a stress for you and he'll be on top of it. Trust me. How do you like your apartment? Did everything fit?"
"It’s the sweetest little place," Judy said. "I love living in the country. Waking up to this peace and quiet is such a joy. Downtown Bellingwood wasn't that noisy, but this is better for my soul by far. Now we just need to get Reuben back out here."
"Mary isn't working out, is she," Polly said.
"She's a nice woman, but the poor thing has never worked a day in her life. She doesn't understand what customers need or want and she doesn't know how to sell to them. I hate the idea of firing her, but it won’t get any better. She's easily flustered and whenever Reuben tries to teach her how to do something, she starts the conversation by apologizing for being so stupid. He can't get through to her after that because she shuts down. I feel horrible that her life got tossed into the crapper by that rotten husband, but she isn't helping us."
Polly chuckled. "She'd be great out here, cleaning and cook …" She looked up. "She'd be great at what you need here. I’ll talk to Jeff. We could hire her to work in several different roles at Sycamore Enterprises. We've gotten so busy at Sycamore House, Jeff could use more cleaning help. She could work at the bakery or help Rachel in the kitchen."
"Mary is a nice enough woman. She's helpful and those are all things she'd be comfortable doing. We put her into a bad situation at Greene Space."
"What would you do without her?"
Judy shrugged. "Reuben would shorten his hours and meet more people by appointment until he found someone. Rebecca was terrific. He couldn't believe how quickly she caught on, and he trusted her with the gallery right away. Too bad she's in school."
"She feels the same way. Let me talk to Jeff this afternoon. How soon would you be ready to let Mary go?"
"Tomorrow," Judy said with a quick eye roll. "We like her very much, but Reuben is ready to quit thinking about what he's going to do with her. You’re right. She’d be a great help. I’d have no problem working with her. Knowing Mary is available would take a lot of pressure off me."
"I wonder what she’ll think." Polly mused.
"She'll probably be relieved. The only reason she stayed with us is because she so badly needs the job."
"I thought her husband was paying for rent and things for the kids."
"He does, but there's a limit. She can't afford anything extra without the job, and you know kids. They're always coming up with little things that they need."
"I do know that. Right. Well, let's see what we can do to make this a good experience for everyone."
"I don't know how you do it, Polly."
"I haven't done anything yet, but there's no reason for people to be miserable if we can make a quick change." She looked around. "I want you to be happy here. You have brought so much beauty to this land and in such a short period of time, too. I'm astounded."
"Your husband's uncle has been really helpful," Judy said. "Dick and Betty have spent time with me in the gardens. Just about the time I run out of steam, one or the other of them shows up with a pitcher of iced tea or lemonade and makes me sit while they dig in the dirt. The greenhouse has been a fun way to connect with the local gardeners who are more than willing to share cuttings and seeds. I offer a little space and they bring presents."
"A community greenhouse out here in the country," Polly said. "What an idea."
"That was one nice blessing from the fire. I've grown to know so many people in town. People I'd completely forgotten even existed. But they didn't forget me, and when I needed them, they showed up."
CHAPTER NINE
Scratching notes on a handwritten list of things spinning around in her mind usually calmed Polly. She could identify what items she needed to work through first. This list was overwhelming because there were so many unknowns on it.
"Why would I think about buying a newspaper?" she asked herself, staring at the first item on the list. She and Henry had discussed it last night but hadn't come to any real consensus. Bellingwood did need a communication tool — something local, but was she the person to make it happen? If not her, then who? Or was it whom? See, she didn't have the necessary skills for running a publication. Then she smiled. If she had access to publishing tools, other things could happen. What fun would it be to put together an anthology of art and stories created by the elementary students? Or calendars from Sycamore Enterprises. Or a cookbook? What about coupon books from shops in town? Had these things been tried in Bellingwood before? The woman who used to run the newspaper — Annabelle something — had she attempted fun projects before giving up and moving away? Polly could certainly ask more questions.
She started another list.
"Hey."
Polly looked up to see Jeff standing in her doorway. "Hey, yourself. What's up?"
"Are you busy?"
"Do you care?"
He chuckled. "How did you like what Loretta did with the bed and breakfast?"
"It was beautiful. And we need to talk about that."
"Not with the facility. Have you spoken with Judy lately?"
Jeff shook his head, a small frown creasing his forehead. "Please don't tell me she doesn't want to run the B&B."
"I think she's worried about how much it's going to take."
"What do you mean?"
"Judy isn't a chef, she doesn't love scrubbing and cleaning, but she does enjoy people and she'll be a terrific advocate for activities in the area."
He nodded, lost in thought. "I can't believe it, but you just caught me in some really traditionalist beliefs. Me! Of all people."
"What do you mean?"
"It never occurred to me that Judy wouldn't love doing woman's work." He used air quotes around the last two words. Then he laughed out loud. "Don't you all?"
She set her jaw. "I thought all gay men were great at interior decorating. Why did we have to hire Loretta?"
Jeff touched his nose and then pointed at her. "Got me in one. I'm so sorry I did that to her. How do I fix it?"
"I have some ideas, but first I need to do some work before I tell you."
He stood back up. "I actually came in to see if you’d like to go up to the newspaper building with me. Adam will be here in fifteen minutes and we're meeting Inez. I'd love for you to see what is up there."
"You aren't going to let me off the hook, are you?"
Jeff leaned over her desk and pointed at the list she'd started. "Nope. Because now you're thinking about it."
"How did you know this was there?" Polly slammed her hand down on the pad and yanked it away from him.
"I know you and how you work. Do you want to ride with me?"
"You'll let me get in your car?"
"We're just going downtown. How bad could it be? I'm not stopping for anything, not even a dead body."
"If you'd like me to go, I'd be glad to."
"Cool. I'll buzz you when Adam is here."
She shook her head as he walked out, thankful she was in another part of the building. It used to be that she was the one constantly pestering Jeff with crazy ideas. She must have driven him nuts, yelling out his name with one more thought flitting through her mind. At least now he had to get up and walk through the building to get to her. If he moved into the addition, whether it was next door or upstairs, there would be much less peace and quiet and much more noisy collaboration. But then, that was one reason she was glad to be back here.
Polly wondered if any of this would have come up if she were still at home. Jeff had rarely called her to brainstorm ideas for the company. She slid things around on her desk until her fingers lit on the folder he'd given her the other day. A number of the changes were easy, others not so much. Henry hadn't been terribly excited to tear into a building he'd invested so much time renovating, but Jeff wasn't wrong. The original plans for Sycamore House hadn’t intended for it to be used as much as it was now. How could she complain about success? The first thing she needed to deal with was storage.
She looked out the window toward the back yard. What a strange life she led. One glance and she saw places where she'd confronted murderers or rescued animals or found dead bodies.
If they built a shed in the corner of the yard near the pasture’s fence, Eliseo could store lawn equipment and garden tools. That would clear out room in the storage space below Doug's apartment. She'd need to do a walkthrough to figure out what else was being stored in there. For the most part it had to be holiday decorations and wedding reception decor.
Polly was sketching out more thoughts when the buzz of the intercom made her jump.
"We're ready to go," Jeff said.
"Be right there." Polly looked at the mess of paper on her desk. This felt normal. She'd be back in time to clean it up before going home. She snatched up her keys and phone and looked at the tote bag. No way. She hated that thing. By the time she got to the office, Adam and Jeff were walking out.
"Polly, hello," Adam said, striding over with his hand out.
She gave him hers and he held it in both of his hands. "Hi Adam. I can hardly believe you two are serious about a move to Bellingwood."
"It's this one," he said, nodding at Jeff. "I'm used to small town life. He thinks he'll miss the excitement of living in a city."
"I've never lived anywhere but a city," Jeff protested. "And Ames is a lot smaller than Columbus."
Adam slipped his arm around Polly's waist as they walked outside. "Because he goes clubbing every night. When's the last time you were out after nine o'clock, Jeff?"
"Last Saturday."
"And where were you?"
"Leave me alone."
"Where was that?"
"Here," Jeff muttered. "At a reception."
"That's what I thought. And it took you a half hour to get home. Imagine being able to walk home in five minutes."
"Walk? Me?" Jeff asked, swinging open the back door of Adam's pickup truck and holding it for Polly. "I'm on my feet all day during those events."
"Poor baby," Polly said.
"Don’t you forget it."
Jeff pointed to the left when they stopped at Washington Street. "Down there."
Adam chuckled. "I've been here before, you know."
"Fine. If you don't want me to help, I won't."
"Like you can stop yourself."
"It's across the street from Joe's Diner." Polly leaned forward to point at the vacant building next to the General Store.
"You're kidding, right?" Adam asked, laughing.
Jeff shook his head. "You two shouldn't be allowed in the same room together, much less the same vehicle. This isn't fair. We do need to go around back. Inez is meeting us in the alley." He turned to look at Polly. "I know it isn't highly populated, so you be good."
"What?" she asked.
"No dead bodies in the alley. You have to promise me."
"I'll do my best. Don't forget, you're the one who invited me to join you on this adventure."
Jeff stuck his fingers in his ears. "Na, na, na, na, na. Don't call it an adventure."
Adam drove around back and pulled in beside a bright red Mustang. A woman in her mid-forties with close-cropped hair and a pleasant smile stood in front of a door that had been painted blue. She gave them a little wave and came over when Jeff got out of the truck.
They shook hands and she put hers out to Polly. "Inez Martin. It's nice to meet you …"
"Polly Giller. Nice to meet you."
"Oh, you're here to look at the main level. That's nice." The woman turned. "And this must be Adam. Am I right?"
He nodded and shook her hand, clearly not as impressed with the gregarious woman as she was with herself.
"Let's go inside and see what we have. The equipment on the main level has been covered with tarps to keep the dust out, but the upstairs is empty and ready for someone who loves it to move right in." She pulled the blue door open and waited while the three of them went inside.
"You have your choice of which apartment you'd like to see first," Inez said. "I've unlocked both doors." She pushed on a set of double glass doors. "I've unlocked this, Ms. Giller. Unless you would like to see the apartments as well."
"No, you go upstairs without me. I want to see what type of equipment is here." Polly chuckled. "Not that I know much about any of it, but I'll take notes and learn."
"I don't know much either," Inez said. "As I understand it, the business records are all in the office. I don't believe anyone has touched them since it was sold the last time."
Polly nodded. She really didn't know why she was here, but Jeff had been excited to show it off to her. Now that he was with Adam, he'd forgotten about her and the newspaper. All he wanted to see was the apartments. If it was anything like what Judy and Reuben Greene had in their building, the two apartments would be better as one big space. While Reuben had done quite a lot of the work in his apartment, she couldn't see Jeff getting his hands dirty. Adam might, but Je
ff would sooner hire someone to get things ready for him to move in. And then he'd hire movers to bring his belongings to the apartment and finally, hire a decorator to make sure it was all put together.
She shouldn't be like that. Jeff had a good eye for decorating and he'd created a nice home in his present apartment. Man, it was easy to pick on him. It was a good thing he took it so well.
A long hallway with doors on either side led to the front of the building. She opened one door and saw a large piece of equipment. Sure enough, it had been draped with tarps. The door on the other side of the hallway opened into a room with multiple pieces of equipment. Polly walked in and pulled a tarp off one of the items and peered at the name plate. Addressograph? Seriously? How long had this been in use? She'd seen one at the library in Boston, but that was in the basement and was looked upon as an antique. Surely, Annabelle had switched to using labels at some point. She recognized a collating machine and a folding machine. My goodness, that woman had to have worked round the clock to put out a newspaper by herself.
The front of the building was a neat and clean retail space. A long counter stretched across the front and Polly pulled tarps off two small copy machines that had definitely seen better days.
She opened the door to what had to be the office and stepped in, surprised at the state of the room. It looked like something had exploded. A file cabinet had tipped forward to lean against the desk, its drawers open and files spilling out. Two chairs in front of the desk were on their sides, and two computer monitors hung off the back by their cables. The leather desk chair was tipped forward and a drafting table had been turned upside down.
The Sounds of Home Page 9