Rebecca came into the kitchen. "Can I stay home today?"
"Ummm." Polly furrowed her brow. "Are you sick?"
"No, but I could spend the day with Tallie while you went to work."
Polly laughed and handed Rebecca a bowl filled with oranges, grapefruit and bananas. She nodded to the dining room table. "You'll have to do better than that."
"It was worth a try," Rebecca said, dramatically slumping her shoulders. She dragged her feet across the floor as she walked to the dining room.
"Absolutely." Polly followed Rebecca out, carrying a stack of plates and silverware. As they headed back into the kitchen, Polly put her hand on Rebecca's shoulder. "Tallie is the sister of the young man that I found out at Beryl's place last Saturday."
Rebecca's eyes got big and her mouth opened into an "O" shape. She looked at Tallie, who was drawing something. "She doesn't act like someone whose brother just died. I’m glad I gave her the picture."
"She's probably still in shock," Polly said. "Her hotel room was shot at last night. That's why she's here."
"I'd take the first bus out of town." Rebecca lifted glasses down and carried them to the peninsula. "That's a lot. So she's related to Mrs. Watson, too?"
"It seems like Beryl has a lot of family we're getting to know these days," Polly said.
The sound of paws scrambling across the floor alerted everyone to the fact that the dogs had returned. Polly had already put their food down and made sure she was out of their way.
Heath nodded at Tallie as he walked through, then turned for his bedroom.
"He's changing his shirt," Henry said quietly, tilting his head toward Tallie.
Polly grinned and was glad that Rebecca had missed that interaction. The two kids were great friends, but she wasn't yet sure how much teasing Heath could take. For that matter, she wasn't even sure how much Rebecca might dish out.
"Here," she said, flipping a cupboard door open. "Put the cereal out."
He scowled. "Cereal?"
"And breakfast sandwiches," she said, placating him. "I'll fill you up before you have to go work your poor fingers to the bone."
Henry leaned in and kissed her cheek. "You're so good to me."
"Tell Heath to hurry." Polly looked up. "Tallie and Rebecca, breakfast is just about ready. Come on over."
When Heath came back into the dining room, he'd radically changed his appearance. At least for a school morning, he had. His hair was neatly brushed and he was wearing a long-sleeve shirt tucked into his jeans, rather than his normal t-shirt under a plaid flannel shirt or sweatshirt.
"Wow," Rebecca said. "Polly needs to invite pretty girls to spend the night more often. You clean up nice."
Polly was about to interrupt, but Heath simply flipped Rebecca's hair up. "Be careful, little sis. You never know what I'll say in front of your boyfriend."
Rebecca opened her mouth, looked around at everyone, then shut it and sat down.
The oven timer dinged and Polly pulled out the last of the items to make breakfast sandwiches: English muffin halves - some buttered and others with melted cheese. She slid them onto a platter and took them to the table. "Bacon or sausage. Your choice." She took the lid off a dish. "Eggs are here. There's plenty of everything. Help yourselves."
She didn't make this very often, but when she did, Polly liked to make plenty of extras to assemble leftovers for another day. They came in handy when everyone was running late and all she had time for was popping something in the microwave.
"How long are you staying in Bellingwood?" Rebecca asked Tallie.
The girl shook her head. "I don't know. I only came up to get Ethan's remains and find out what the police were doing."
Heath had been just about to take a bite and stopped. "You're related to him?"
"His sister," Tallie said. "But since someone shot at my room and messed up my car, I guess I'll be here for a while." She stopped what she was doing. "I don't want to stay at the hotel, though. No offense. The room was really nice."
"I understand," Polly said. "We have some rooms on the other side of the house here. You can look at those and see if one would be okay. There are always other options."
"She could stay in my room with me," Rebecca said. "It's almost the weekend, so I don't have to go to bed early every night."
"I can't put you out," Tallie said. "Maybe I'll just get a hotel room in Boone."
Polly smiled. "No reason to make any quick decisions. Things always work out if we give them time.
Henry looked up at the clock on the wall. "I need to move. Can I take one of these with me?"
"Of course?" Polly looked at him in confusion. "When have I ever stopped you from taking food?"
He laughed. "Didn't want you to run out since we have a guest."
"We’ll be fine," Polly said. "You get your stuff and I'll make a to-go package for you. More coffee?"
She assembled two more sandwiches for him, wrapped them in paper towels and poured coffee into a thermos. Henry came back through and she stood up to walk him to the back door.
"This is pretty awesome service," he said, stopping at the top of the steps.
"And don't you forget it, big boy. You owe me for last night."
It was his turn to look at her in confusion. Polly reached up and kissed him, wrapping her arms around his neck. She deepened the kiss and then broke away.
"Ohhhh," was all he could say.
"Like I told you, you owe me."
He grinned. "I'll pay. I'll pay. Is Tallie spending another night?"
"We'll see. I'd like her to stay with Beryl, but if that strange man is spending nights there, it's probably not an option. But I have all day to work on it."
"And that means you will have a great plan before the night arrives." Henry took the coffee and sandwiches from her and bent over to get another kiss. "Thank you."
She winked. "Thank you! I'll see you later." Polly watched him go down the steps and then turned back to the dining room.
"Heath says he can be late today if you want him to take me to school," Rebecca said.
Polly looked at the two of them and waited for the explanation.
"Jason is riding down with his buddy, Scar," Heath said. "They have something due this morning. If Rebecca leaves five minutes early, I have plenty of time. It's just that parking sucks, but I don't mind."
"Take your scarf if you have to walk across the parking lot," Polly said.
He gave her an agreeable nod and she chuckled. "Scarf will stay in the truck?"
"You're funny," Rebecca said. "I can't get away with that. She watches me all the way."
Polly sat back down. "You two finish up and get moving. Tallie, do you need more sleep before the day starts? I'm sure Beryl will want to meet you and once you start down that path, it will take a while."
"I'm pretty awake right now," Tallie said. "I keep thinking about that coffee shop. A caramel mocha coffee sounds wonderful." She glanced at the cup of coffee in front of her. "Not that this wasn't great." Tallie sat back in her chair. "I just keep walking into it. I'm sorry. I'm not usually this awkward."
"You're fine. Let me call Beryl and see what time she can meet us." Polly smiled as she thought about it. "You might as well take a nap, though. Beryl is not a morning person."
Rebecca looked at Tallie, put her hand over her own mouth and faked a yawn. She waited until Tallie couldn't help herself and yawned. "There," Rebecca said. "I got you started. Yawn a couple more times and then you'll start feeling sleepy."
Tallie chuckled. "You're kind of funny."
"She's a real riot," Heath said, standing up. "You about ready to go, short stuff?"
"Don't you be calling me names, lunkhead," Rebecca retorted. She stood to follow him, then turned back to Polly and Tallie. "You gotta keep these boys in line. It was nice to meet you, Tallie. I hope I'll see you later."
"I'm sure you will," Tallie replied. "I'll be around town for a few more days. Your artwork is really good. You should be p
roud of what you're doing. I hope you keep up with it."
"Me too," Rebecca said. "Thanks." She went into the living room and they listened as she crossed to her bedroom.
"She is really good," Tallie repeated.
Polly nodded. "She's been working with Beryl. She's gotten better, but I think most of all, it's given her confidence to try anything. I'm pretty proud of her."
Rebecca and Heath went through and waved as they left by the back door.
"You haven't eaten much," Polly said. "Can I make something different for you?"
"No," Tallie said. "I just don't feel like it. The thought of food makes me queasy."
Polly grinned. "Just a second. I might have the perfect thing." She went to the freezer, took out a small container and returned to the table. "Frozen chocolate chip cookies. They're the perfect antidote for stress and shock. Sugar and chocolate. What more could a girl want? Dunk 'em in your coffee."
"I've never done that before."
"That's just a sad state of affairs. Now is a great time to start." Polly pushed the container in front of Tallie. "You try one while I clean up. Are you sure you don't want anything more to eat?"
"This will be enough," Tallie said. "Can I help?"
"Nope. You're my guest." Polly leaned back and stretched to reach a box of small plastic bags. "I'm going to assemble the rest of these sandwiches to put into the freezer anyway. After that, all I have to do is fill the dishwasher and I'm done. Maybe by then you'll be ready to sleep. I'll spend some time in the office and let you know when we're meeting Beryl. Sound good?"
Tallie took a deep breath and blew air out of her mouth, puffing her cheeks. "I suppose so. I slept okay last night, but it wasn't very long. This has been a really weird week. I feel like things are never going to get back to normal."
"I know that feeling," Polly said. "But trust me, they always do. Either that or we adjust to the new normal. You're going to be fine."
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Yawning at the sight of Tallie asleep on the sofa, wrapped around the two dogs, Polly shook herself. She needed to go down to the office.
"We haven't seen you for a while," Jeff Lyndsay said when she walked into the office.
Polly stuck her lower lip out. "Sorry. I'm a bad owner."
"Yes you are." He followed her into her office, shut the door and sat down. "Tell me what happened at the inn last night. Do we have a problem?"
"I don't think so," she said. "It probably has something to do with Ethan Carter, the young man I found on Saturday. His sister was staying in one of the rooms that was shot up."
He frowned at her. "Where is she now?"
"In our apartment."
"Is that safe?"
Polly chuckled. "As safe as anywhere else. The only way anyone could have known she was at the inn was by her car. I don't know where it is right now, but as long as it isn't parked here, they won’t know she's with us." She nodded. "I thought about asking Beryl to take her in."
"That would put both of them in danger."
"Exactly. I don't know what to do. Henry's fine with her staying at our place, but we just don't have a lot of room up there."
Jeff chuckled. "You have the entire upper level of a school and it's not enough room. How funny is that."
"Not funny," Polly replied. "It's weird. Have you talked to Grey this morning?"
"Luckily the windows that were shot out are on the back side of the building. No one will see the damage unless they deliberately drive that way. He won’t rent rooms back there until the windows are replaced and things look normal again. Before the police left at whatever ungodly hour they finished, they helped cover the windows to keep wildlife out. I've already talked to Henry. He's ordering the windows and doors. As soon as Chief Wallers gives me permission, those two rooms will be put back to normal."
"Wow," Polly said. "Thanks."
"It never surprises me," Jeff said.
"What?"
"The things you come up with to make my job interesting."
"I didn't do this! You can't blame me."
He laughed. "You're the one who found that poor boy's body. If you hadn't done that, his sister wouldn't have come to town and our hotel wouldn't have been the subject of a drive-by shooting."
"You’re trying to make me feel guilty." Polly put her head in her hands.
"Can we talk about installing video surveillance out there?"
She looked up at him and frowned. "I guess."
Jeff sat forward. "No argument."
"I can't argue about this. We have to keep our guests safe. Dang, I'm tired."
"You had a short night. Do you want coffee or would you like me to close your blinds and turn the lights off when I leave?”
Polly yawned. "I'll be fine. I'm going up to Sweet Beans with Tallie later this morning. Don't worry about me."
"If you need anything, you know my number," Jeff said. When he got to her door, he flipped the light off and pulled the door closed quietly behind him.
She dropped her hands and head to the desk and shut her eyes. "Just for a few minutes. Then I'll call Beryl."
~~~
It felt like only a few minutes had passed when Polly jolted awake. The dream was already fading, but she'd been back in early Bellingwood. This time she'd been a clerk at the local hotel when gangsters came through on their horses, shooting up the town. They'd ridden past and shot out windows, knocking plants off tables and even shattering one of the kerosene lamps sitting on the counter. She'd been in the process of patting out the small fire when something woke her up.
She tried to place the annoying sound, finally realizing it was her cell phone, but Polly couldn't find the silly thing. It had to be around here somewhere. Buzzing in the back pocket of her jeans drove through the foggy mist in her brain and she pulled the phone out.
Polly swiped the phone open. She'd been asleep for forty-five minutes. That was longer than she'd intended, but at least it was another forty-five minutes she could add to the sleep tally for the night.
Sure enough, the call was from Beryl. Polly re-dialed and waited as it rang.
"Is your ass dragging as much as mine is?" Beryl asked. "That was a hell of a night. Are you okay?"
"Good morning to you," Polly said.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah. What's up with my family and friends getting shot at?"
"They're your family and friends. You tell me."
"I certainly don't know what to think. I understand that you took young Miss Tallie back to your house last night. How is she?"
"Oh Beryl, I think she's fine. I left her upstairs with my animals to get some more sleep and I'm in my office. The poor girl has been through so much this week. But I promised to contact you and see if we could meet at Sweet Beans. Do you have time this morning?"
"Of course I do."
"What about your friend? Is he staying at your house? You can bring him along, if you'd like."
Beryl released a deep sigh. "Not today."
"You're going to have to tell us who he is. Curiosity is going to reach new heights for me."
"I know," Beryl said. "This isn't easy for me. But I promise to tell you everything when I’m ready."
"Okay. I shouldn't push. Do you want to invite Lydia and Andy to meet us for coffee, too?"
"I'll call them," Beryl said. "But Polly, I can't wait to see you. There's so much to tell!"
"About what?"
"About what I found! You won't believe it."
Polly smiled. "Then I can't wait ... and you're mean for teasing me that way."
"I practice, you know," Beryl said. "See you later. Tra la!"
Polly went back upstairs to wake Tallie. The girl was already awake, fully dressed and curled up under a blanket on the sofa with both cats in her lap.
"How long have you been up?" Polly asked.
"Not long. Did you reach Mrs. Watson?"
"Yes, and we're meeting her and a couple of other friends at the coffee shop. Do you have anything else you n
eed to do this morning?"
Tallie shook her head. "I have to make an appointment with the funeral home to take care of Ethan, but the sheriff said they weren't releasing his body yet. Otherwise, nothing." She stopped. "Oh, I probably need to find out what's happening with my car. I have to get the windows replaced."
"And you'll want to get it detailed so that the glass is cleaned out of there. I'm sure that someone from the police will talk to you later today. All of the answers will come."
"I didn't do anything wrong," Tallie said, her voice tinged with a whine. "And now I have to spend money to get my life back together. It's not fair."
"I tell Rebecca that life isn't fair. But that doesn't help you at all, does it."
Tallie shook her head. "It’s all Ethan's fault. I told him it was stupid."
"As much as I want to know what's going on," Polly interrupted her, "I think it would be best to save the story for Beryl. She'd kill me if I got this information first."
"Sorry."
"I understand that you're frustrated and want to talk about it." Polly looked at her. "Do you have other family back home?"
"Yes," Tallie said, nodding. "Mom and Dad live in Albuquerque."
"And they sent you up here to deal with your brother’s death?" Polly put her hand out. "I'm sorry. It's none of my business. That was insensitive of me."
"It's okay. They can’t leave home. Mom and Dad own a restaurant and then there's my sister, Beth. She lives with them." Tallie took a deep breath. "They can't leave her and she doesn't travel very well."
"I'm sorry," Polly said. "I didn't mean to pry."
"It's really no problem. I would have told you about them anyway, but it just hadn't come up yet. I'm not ashamed or anything. It's just sometimes difficult to explain."
~~~
Polly and Tallie walked into Sweet Beans, fully expecting to arrive before anyone else, but to Polly's surprise, her friends were already at a table.
"Hurry over here, girls," Beryl called out, standing and waving at them.
"Tallie Carter, this crazy woman is Beryl Watson," Polly said. "Beside her is Lydia Merritt and this is Andy Saner."
Unexpected Riches (Bellingwood Book 13) Page 12