Unexpected Riches (Bellingwood Book 13)

by Diane Greenwood Muir

  "Then I want a piece of that, too." Polly glanced around the room and saw Elise sitting in a booth, peering at her computer. "Wave at me when it's ready."

  "I got 'cha," he said.

  Polly walked across the room and stood at the table, waiting for Elise to look up. When it didn't happen, she coughed and put her hand on the edge of the table.

  "Oh!" Elise jumped in her seat and then relaxed. "I'm sorry. I was concentrating."

  "I shouldn't have bothered you."

  Elise grimaced. "No, I'm always like this. If you didn't bother me, I'd never come out of my head." She scooted to the edge of the bench with a startled look on her face. "Will you excuse me? I didn't realize I needed to go to the bathroom."

  Polly watched her friend run away. "Nice to know you’re glad to see me," she muttered. The coffee shop was quiet, so she sat down across from where Elise had been sitting.

  "Here you go," Sky said, putting Polly's coffee and the plate in front of her. "I barely warmed the cake up. You'll love it."

  "Thanks." The scent of cloves and nutmeg filled the air and Polly took a bite. He was right. It was terrific. She blew on the coffee before taking a sip. It was the perfect temperature. Skylar knew how to take care of her. Polly turned around to catch his eye and waved to thank him.

  "I'm so sorry," Elise said as she slipped back into the booth. "I don't even know how long I've been here. What time is it?"

  "One thirty. No classes today?"

  "Not until this evening." Elise pulled out her phone. "Speaking of that, I need to set an alarm. If I don't remind myself to go to class, I'm worse than my students at being forgetful."

  "We haven't seen much of you. How are things going?"

  Elise tapped a few keys and closed her laptop. "Oh Polly, I'm having the best time. I'd forgotten what it was like to be around people who are as smart as or smarter than me. I don't have to make an effort to come up with conversation. There's always something interesting to talk about. It's so much fun to be able to talk about Ramanujan's formula and not..." She looked at Polly and grinned. "Get that face."

  Polly laughed. "You mean the face that asks who is Ramanujan and why should I care about his formula?"

  "That's the one."

  "Should I care?" Polly asked.

  "Nah. It's a crazy math thing." Elise picked up her mug and looked at it. "I'm empty. I should probably stop. What are you eating?"

  Polly cut a piece of the cake and pushed it to the edge of her plate. "Try it. It's all cinnamony and yummy."

  "I want one of those chocolate cupcakes with the cream filling that Sylvie makes. I'll be right back." Elise jumped up and then sat back down and reached for her purse and the cup. "Now I'll be right back."

  "Maybe something without caffeine?" Polly said.

  "I'm a little high."

  Polly sat back and took another drink of her coffee. She hadn't seen Elise this animated in a long time.

  "Just one more cup," Elise said, sitting back down. "Then I'll stop. I can't believe you put a coffee shop in Bellingwood just for me."

  "Yep. We were psychic and knew you were moving back to town," Polly said. "I'm surprised to find you here, though."

  "Because you think I'm at Sycamore House in my room?"

  "Or at your office on campus."

  Elise nodded. "I'm trying to be better. Nobody bothers me here and I can participate in society from afar. I really like Camille, too. She said that she's going to introduce me to some of her family one of these days. I'll bet she has some gorgeous cousins."

  "You're interested in meeting men?" Polly's eyes grew big. "Who are you and what did you do with Elise?"

  "I told you. I'm trying." Elise looked out of the booth, behind Polly and waved. "There she is. Hi, Camille."

  Polly waited for Camille to join them before looking up.

  "Hello, Polly," Camille said. "How do you like Sylvie's Old Lady Cake?"

  "It's very good."

  Camille motioned to Elise to move over and the girl actually pushed her computer out of the way and scooted toward the wall.

  "I got it," Camille said to Elise. "We close in two weeks." She turned back to Polly. "I found a house and I'm buying it."

  Polly sat back and put her hands on the table in front of her. "You bought a house? Here in Bellingwood?"

  "It's a cute little house out on Hickory. I saw the sign go up last week and I jumped on it."

  Polly creased her brows. "Hickory? Isn't that the road that goes into Secret Woods?"

  Camille nodded.

  "The pretty little white house on the corner?"

  "That's the one. The last owner spent a lot of time fixing it up and it's just perfect." She turned back to Elise. "You'll love it."

  "I can't wait. I've never done anything like this before. A house and a yard. Maybe a dog or a cat."

  "One of each," Camille said.

  "Wait," Polly said. "You're both moving out of Sycamore House and in with each other?"

  Camille shrugged. "It's really the only way I can swing it and still have a life. I need a roommate. We'll have fun together."

  Polly looked at Elise.

  "The rent is perfect and it isn't in a building full of people," Elise said. "I hated living in an apartment. All of those people. Tromping around upstairs when I was trying to think, parties at whatever hour in the middle of the night." She lowered her voice. "And the sex. The girl above me was loud. I'd be embarrassed to be that loud and know that other people heard me."

  "Did you ever say anything to her?" Polly asked.

  Elise screwed her face up in shock. "Me? Say anything?" She laughed. "Uhhh, no. I bought a pair of noise canceling headphones."

  "So you're going to be roommates," Polly said. "Are you sure about this?"

  The two young women nodded enthusiastically as they looked at each other and then back to Polly.

  "Can I make a recommendation?"

  "Sure," Camille said.

  "Give yourselves a six month or one-year limit and then revisit it."

  Camille turned to Elise. "That makes sense. If something happened, in a year, I'd be fine doing the mortgage on my own."

  "And I could find my own place after living here for a year." Elise looked at Polly. "But I don't know why you think this is a bad idea."

  Polly shook her head. "No, I'm sorry. I think it's great, but I can't imagine putting two independent adults in the same house. You guys don't live the same way. You'll have different ideas of how to clean and when to clean. Do you know how you're going to split food costs? And what if one of you is always cold while the other one wants it to be freezing in the summer? Do you have separate bathrooms? Who owns the furniture? And what about when one of you wants to study in front of the television while the other one wants to watch a movie?"

  The two young women looked at each other and nodded.

  "We'll handle it," Camille said. "We just have to talk."

  Elise looked over her glasses at Polly. "Don’t you say it," she said.

  "What?" Camille asked.

  "I won't talk about things. I just let them happen around me and never say a word."

  "We'll figure it out," Camille reassured her. "Don't worry."

  "She says I'm not supposed to worry," Elise said to Polly. "And it will be nice to be in a real house again." She put her hand up. "Not that living at Sycamore House hasn't been wonderful. It really has and I can never thank you enough for putting up with me, but I’ll have my own address and I can decorate my space with my own things."

  Polly smiled and nodded. "You two will have a ball." She gave Camille an ornery grin. "There’s a bedroom for your mother when she visits?"

  "Oh," Camille said with a shudder. "Since we're so close to Sycamore Inn, I might just rent her a room there. That way she doesn't drive me nuts."

  "She's a lovely lady," Elise said. "I like her very much."

  "You've met Camille's mother?" Polly had no idea any of this had happened.

  "We went
to Omaha two weeks ago," Elise said. "I met her family."

  "You met her family? The big family?" Polly was flabbergasted. Elise was changing.

  "No," Camille said. "Just my family. My little brother played in a band at church. We went over on Saturday night and then came back Sunday afternoon. There was going to be a big family dinner, but I knew Elise couldn't do that." She shrugged. "But she wasn’t busy and we were talking and the next thing we knew I was driving, she was riding, and we were in Omaha."

  Polly put her hand on the table and reached across to Elise. "I'm so proud of you."

  "I know, right?" Elise said. She patted Polly's hand and then patted Camille's arm. "Camille is good for me. She doesn't know how bad I was, so she doesn't let me get away with my fears."

  "Well, I'm sorry I said anything negative about the two of you living together," Polly said. "I should have kept my mouth shut."

  "It's okay." Elise reached over and patted Polly's hand again. "You're a worry wart and can't help yourself. We love that about you."

  Polly laughed. "It sounds like you can talk about some things."

  "Just with people I trust," Elise said. Her face flushed. "And now I've embarrassed myself."

  "Don't ever be embarrassed about teasing me," Polly said. "I can take it." She glanced up at the doorbell ringing. This would be a terrible place for her to work, she was distracted by everything that happened around her.

  "Joss," Polly said. "I'm over here." She turned to Elise. "You've met Joss, right?"

  "She's the librarian, right?" Elise whispered.

  "Yes."

  "I was in there a few times looking for a quiet place to work." She picked up her coffee. "They don't serve this, though."

  "How are you ladies?" Joss asked, standing at the table's edge.

  "My tenants are moving out," Polly said. "Camille is buying a house and Elise is moving in with her."

  "That's wonderful," Joss said. "Congratulations." She opened her mouth to say something more and then shook her head.

  "What's up?" Polly asked.

  "I was about to make a snide comment about buying a house rather than building one. But I don't need to rain on your parade today. I'm grumpy."

  Polly stood up. "Let’s take you and your grumpy self to another table. These two are celebrating and I was already a grey cloud in their sunny day."

  " It was good advice, Polly," Camille said.

  Polly bent back over. "I'm very happy for both of you. Let me know what we can do to help you move and we'll be there." She reached over and took Elise's hand. "I'm so happy." She picked up her coffee cup and plate and followed Joss back to the counter.

  "Another one?" Sky asked Polly.

  "Just plain coffee now," she said.

  He drew off a mug and handed it to her. "Your regular, Mrs. Mikkels?"

  Joss rolled her eyes at him. "How old am I?" She stuck her tongue out at Polly. "He refuses to call me by my first name. Drives me nuts."

  "Everybody calls you Mrs. Mikkels," he protested.

  "Whatever. When you call me Joss, your tip will get bigger." She winked at Polly and dropped a penny in the tip jar.

  "Thank you, Joss," Skylar said, with only a hint of petulance.

  "Haha. There you go," she said and followed the penny with two dollar bills. "Stick. Carrot."

  "I'll bring your coffee to you," he said, laughing.

  "What's going on with the house?" Polly asked as they walked to their table.

  "Just more decisions about things that Nate refuses to participate in. If Henry weren't helping us, I'm pretty sure I'd have drop-kicked my husband clear back to Indiana."

  "You know he probably doesn’t care what you choose."

  "I just want him to have an opinion," Joss protested.

  Polly laughed. "But what if it's the wrong opinion? He's been married to you long enough to know how to handle you."

  "Apparently not," Joss said with a snarl. "Even if it's wrong, at least it's something and it can give me a clue as to what we are doing."

  "Do you really need him?"

  "I guess not. Henry helped me this morning when I was having a fit about doors. We got through it. He's patient. You're lucky."

  "Yes I am. And next year, this will all be nothing more than a memory and you will be happy in a beautiful new home."

  "With just me and the kids."

  "Because you'll have drop-kicked him to another state?"

  Joss laughed. "Exactly." She looked up at Sky when he put her drink down in front of her and smiled. "Thank you."

  "Any time, Mrs. Mikkels." He gave her a wry grin as he walked away.

  "That kid is wonderful," Joss said.

  Polly nodded. "I like him. He gets along with everyone." She took a drink of coffee and waited while Joss got through the initial moment of bliss with her own coffee. "Better?"

  "Much." Joss put the cup back on the table and tapped the top. "Without this, there would be scores of crying children who would refuse to ever return to the library. What are you up to this afternoon?"

  "Going to the library," Polly said. "I'll stand between you and the children."

  "You're kidding, right?"

  "No." Polly sat back in her chair. "I want to look through some of the Bellingwood history. Sal and I found something yesterday while we were cleaning out the kitchen over at the Springer House." She stopped and thought. "I have to quit calling it that. I'm not sure what to call it, but it's our place now."

  Joss sat silent for a few moments and then drummed her fingers on the table. "Well?"

  "Well what?"

  "Well, what did you find yesterday?"

  "Oh," Polly said with a laugh. "I'm sorry. Sal was clearing out one of the kitchen cabinets and found a big envelope in it with old newspapers and a title. The son of one of the founders of Bellingwood built that place as an exclusive inn. It wasn't always a residence."

  "And this is the first you've heard of it?"

  "We haven't gotten the full abstract yet, so yes. I want to look for old pictures of the inn. Nobody's ever talked about it, so I don't think it was in existence very long."

  "The Bellingwood history section has been active lately."

  "The sesquicentennial committee?"

  "Mostly them."

  "If I'm right, that inn was built in nineteen sixteen. That would make the building a hundred years old."

  "Then you should do an open house this summer," Joss said.

  "Oh no," Polly said. "Henry would absolutely kill me if I brought that up. He'd kill me." She thought a moment. "Dead. I'd be wholly and completely dead." Then a grin crept across her face. "But it would be really cool. We wouldn't have to be finished with the place. Just enough so that people could go through it and set aside all of the memories of it being a haunted house. If we cleaned up the yard, we could put tables out and the town could come over for a picnic."

  "Henry wouldn't have to be involved in fixing up the yard, would he?"

  Polly shook her head. "No. I could ask Eliseo to help me figure out what to do and then hire Andrew and Rebecca and their friends to help me do the work. And if Henry told me what needed to be done to clean up the..." She stopped. "No. That won't work either."

  "What?"

  "I was thinking about fixing up the outside of the house, but Henry has to rip that solarium off and re-build the porches. He'd kill me."

  "You really should talk to him before you decide that he's going to kill you," Joss said.

  "You know that's funny coming from you, don't you?"

  "Because of the whole Nate not helping thing?"

  "Uh huh."

  "You and Henry are different. You work on projects together all the time. I don't work on cars and apparently Nate doesn't work on the house." Joss checked the time. "I should get moving. The doors need to be open for my early-birds."

  "Here's your coffee to go," Skylar said, coming up behind Polly. He handed the cup to Joss. "Just made it fresh."

  "You're my hero ev
en if you don't know what to call me." Joss pressed money into his hand. "Thank you. I'll see you tomorrow."

  "Coming?" she asked Polly.

  "I'm right behind you."

  CHAPTER SIX

  "Oh my, what's all this?" Henry asked when he walked into the dining room.

  "Research," Polly said. "Dinner's in there." She nodded at the kitchen.

  Henry bent over and kissed her cheek. "Sorry we're late."

  "I told you earlier not to worry about it." Polly sat back, stretched her arms up, and pulled him down for another kiss.

  "This is the difference between being a kid with parents who've been married for fifteen years and a kid who has to put up with practically newlyweds," Rebecca said with mock disdain. "Will you two quit it? We're not supposed to see that stuff. We're still innocent."

  Henry reached over and ruffled her hair. "Uh huh. What did we miss for dinner?"

  "We made tacos," Rebecca said and jumped out of her seat. "Let me help you. I cut up all of the veggies. All you have to do is heat up the meat and warm up tortillas." She got close to Henry and made a face while holding her nose, then turned to Heath. "Do you smell as bad as he does?"

  "What?" Henry asked. "Don't like the smell of paint and varnish?"

  "You stink. You should take a shower."

  "Rebecca," Polly scolded. "They've worked a long day."

  Henry laughed. "A shower it is." He ruffled Rebecca's hair again and she brushed his hand away. "Will you warm up our supper?"

  Rebecca lowered her head. "Sorry. Yeah. I'll do it." She glanced over at Heath, who was grinning. "Sorry."

  "I wasn't stuck inside. I don't smell bad," he said.

  Polly turned to look at him.

  "But I'll take a shower anyway," he said. "And I'll hurry."

  "That wasn't very nice," Polly said to Rebecca after they'd left the dining room.

  "I know. I said I was sorry."

  "Okay." Polly stood up and pushed the books and papers to the far end of the table. "Go ahead and heat up the meat in the pan. Do you remember how I warmed up the tortillas?"

  Rebecca nodded and pulled paper towels off the roll. "Shouldn't I wait until they're back?"

  "Sure. Hand plates and silverware to me," Polly said.