Unexpected Riches (Bellingwood Book 13)

by Diane Greenwood Muir

  "If I can use a microwave, I have a great recipe for queso," Tallie said.

  Elise smiled. "I won't be able to come, though this all sounds insanely exciting. I have to teach a class."

  Sylvie dropped her hands on the table. "I'm bringing a loaf of my sourdough bread. Do you want to argue with me?" She grinned at Lydia.

  "Nope. Not today." Lydia reached over and hugged her. "Do you remember that party we had at Beryl's house? You went to so much work with those amazing little dessert treats. And now look at you and all of this. I'm so proud." She stood up. "I need to take off, too, but I'm looking forward to spending time with you all tomorrow night. This is more fun than it should be."

  "I should get back to work," Sylvie said, standing up. "There haven't been any explosions from the kitchen or desperate pleas for attention." She paused for effect. "Yet."

  Beryl sat back as her friends left. "It's just us'ns now."

  "That's a little scary," Polly said. Then she turned to Elise. "So ... Debra?"

  "It was one of my identities," Elise said. "We had to change it twice because they thought I'd been compromised. I spent quite a bit of time in a little town between Taos and Albuquerque."

  "There was some hot guy that you showed up with every once in a while," Tallie said. "What happened to him?"

  Polly smirked. "Hot guy?"

  Elise shook her head, her face flushed with embarrassment. "It was just the marshal. No big deal."

  Tallie touched Elise's arm. "You really have to tell me what's going on. Were you in witness protection or something?"

  "Yes and I'm glad to tell you about it." Elise looked up at the clock. "But I need to leave. I was going to spend this time preparing for my next class."

  "I'm sorry," Polly said.

  " Don't be sorry," Elise replied with a laugh. "It's fun to get caught up in someone else's mystery. But if I hurry, I can duck into my office for some last minute prep time. These kids keep me on my toes."

  "Dun, dun, dun." Beryl intoned, leaning forward. "And then there were three."

  "You really connected with Pearl Carter, didn't you," Polly said.

  Beryl nodded. "To think that there was an independent young woman all those years ago who didn't fit into normal expectations of society. Why, I'll bet she even wore long pants when she worked outside. Such scandal!"

  "It's interesting that she's also named for a gemstone." Polly creased her forehead. "How did your parents come up with your name?"

  "There was another Beryl Carter. She was a great aunt of my dad's." Beryl shook her head. "I think I have a strange family. Is yours this odd, Tallie?"

  "Probably. Aren’t everybody's families a little odd?" Tallie smiled. "My dad's family is big. He's in the middle of nine and his father had six brothers and sisters. I have thirty-five first cousins so it's chaos when we all get together."

  "You still do that?" Beryl asked.

  "Every Thanksgiving. No debate. Grandma put her foot down and doesn't put up with much argument. The only way you can get out of Thanksgiving dinner is if you are in the hospital. Even then, she expects a doctor's note."

  "I guess it keeps you all in touch with each other," Polly said.

  Tallie rolled her eyes. "Whether we like it or not. Actually, we're pretty close. Everybody lives in the Southwest. A few families ended up in Texas and Oklahoma, but when Grandma expects us to show up, we just do."

  "Did you ever contact your aunt about that family tree information?" Polly asked Beryl.

  "I called her," Beryl said. "She got all judgmental about me finally paying attention to family history. Like everybody in the world wants to dig into the past. Some people do and that's great. But she more or less told me that it wasn't fair of me to benefit from all of her work if I wasn't going to participate in the work."

  "I'm pretty sure that is exactly opposite of the purpose of genealogists," Polly said. "They do it because they love the search and once they put the puzzle pieces together, it's fun to share."

  Beryl dropped her head and banged it twice on the table. "I’m going to visit her tomorrow. Does anyone want to ride over to Boxholm with me?"

  "I will," Tallie said. "I'd love to spend the day with you."

  "You would?" Beryl popped up. "That would take the pressure off. She couldn't be mean to me in front of you." She grimaced. "What am I saying? Yes, she could. She actually told my father that I was a disappointment to the family because I didn't have kids. When my second husband died, she implied that I killed him because I wasn't a good enough wife." Beryl heaved a sigh. "Family is really difficult."

  "Why would anyone be that cruel?" Polly asked.

  "I think families get worse as we get older. We grow farther and farther apart, living our own lives. The connections are harder to find." Beryl looked at Tallie. "You’re fortunate that your grandmother insists on gathering you all together. Every year you reconnect, if only for a few hours. Now tell me more about your brother, Ethan. What kind of boy was he?"

  So much had happened since Tallie arrived, Polly hadn't taken time to ask this question. Part of it was that she wasn't sure if Tallie was ready to talk about him, but the girl lit up when Beryl asked.

  "He's great." Tallie stopped. "He was great. It still seems unreal. I know that I'm here because he died, so it isn't like I expect him to call me or show up on my doorstep. But..." Her voice trailed off.

  "I can't imagine," Beryl said. She changed the subject and pushed forward. "Your parents own a restaurant and you have another sister?"

  "That's Beth. She's the oldest, but something happened when she was born. She looks normal and can talk and interact with people, but for her it's overwhelming to be alone in the world. She can't make good decisions. Her IQ is low and she trusts everyone. She can't manage money or even know when to take a shower. But she's sweet and if you suggest the right things to do, she does them. Mom and Dad love having her at home. They redid the basement so it's like a little apartment. Beth has cupboards, a sink and a small refrigerator in the kitchen. She decorated her own living room and bedroom. It's really girly. All pinks and purples."

  "It's great that your parents can take care of her."

  "Beth works at the restaurant and makes some money so she can go to the movies with friends and our cousins. That's one of the nice things about having a big family around. They don't mind being her social outlet." Tallie nodded. "Ethan and I used to talk about who would get Beth when Mom and Dad died. I guess it's me now. We always used to say that we'd all move back into the house someday. If I ever get married, my husband better be prepared to help me take care of my family."

  "If you ever get married, he'll know long before the wedding day what your family is like," Beryl said. "It sounds like you have a pretty good one."

  "So you never had any kids?" Tallie asked.

  "No. I love my nieces and nephews, but it just wasn't where I wanted my life to go," Beryl said.

  "Me either! Mom doesn't understand that. If I meet the right guy, I'd happily get married, but I don't want to hurry into having children. I have too many things to do." Tallie slumped again. "Ethan wanted a big family. He couldn't wait to meet a girl who wanted a bunch of kids. He loved going to all of the family gatherings and he was like the king of the cousins."

  "Was he the oldest?" Polly asked. "No, you said Beth was the oldest in your family."

  "Not at all. Dad's in the middle of the crowd of aunts and uncles and we're pretty much in the middle of the ages of our cousins. There are cousins a lot older than us. But Ethan was a natural leader. He always did his own thing and if anyone else wanted to join him, that was great. The thing was, when he was just a little kid, all of the cousins waited to find out what he was going to do before starting games and stuff. If Ethan wanted to do it, then everyone wanted to do it."

  "Was it Ethan's idea to look for the gold?"

  "Absolutely," Tallie said. "He reached out to the first cousins and some of our second cousins, asking if anybody had information a
bout Lester Carter coming from Iowa to the Southwest. He'd had the idea when he was in college and started collecting tidbits here and there. It was really a lark, but he thought it would be fun to go back for an anthropology degree and do a research project on the movement of the Carters from England to the American colonies and then to the Southwest. Coming up here to look for the gold was going to be fun, but at some point, he would have started looking for descendants of Jedidiah and Cyrus. It fascinated him."

  Tallie pointed at the pile of information Beryl had brought. "I think this is interesting, but I have no desire to assemble it all so that it shows the family's progression. Ethan would have come unglued with all of this. Now there's no one who cares about this like that."

  Beryl listened and nodded while Tallie spoke. She glanced at Polly and took a loud breath.

  Polly opened her mouth to ask what she was thinking and Beryl shot out of her seat. "I need to get home to the kittens. I've left them alone too long already. Tallie, can you be ready to go at ten o'clock tomorrow? I'll pick you up at Polly's back door."

  "You can really do this trip alone?" Polly asked.

  Beryl sat back down. "I don't know." She chuckled and looked at Tallie. "I get lost a lot."

  "I'm good with a map." Tallie held up her phone. "And we can use GPS to find where we're going. I'll be your navigator."

  "See?" Beryl said. "We're all set." She stacked the papers and photographs into a pile and slid them back into the tote bag. "Would you like to take this with you?" she asked Tallie.

  "I'd love to. Thanks. And then it will already be there tomorrow night. You won't have to carry it in."

  "Fabulous." Beryl flung a deep green cape around her shoulders. "And now I must be off. I have places to go, people to see and things to do." She bent over and kissed Polly's forehead. "Take care of her tonight. I want her in one piece when I get there tomorrow."

  "On it," Polly said.

  They watched Beryl flutter out of the coffee shop and Tallie smiled. "She's something else."

  "Beryl was pretty tame today," Polly said. "When she drinks wine tomorrow night, you might meet a different woman."

  "Do you want another coffee?"

  Polly rapped her empty glass on the table. "I'd better not. Two in one day is very bad for me."

  "Oh come on. I'm buying." Tallie laughed at her own joke.

  "Maybe I'll pick up some muffins for breakfast tomorrow. You go ahead and get your coffee, though."

  Tallie walked away while Polly picked up the litter on the table. She carried it to the trash can by the counter and waited while Tallie and Camille chatted about coffee, then stepped aside to make a phone call.

  "Hello Polly," Grey said. "How's your guest?"

  "She's good. How are things over there?"

  "The windows will be repaired tomorrow morning and then the girls and I will clean out the rooms and make better decisions on what repairs will be needed."

  "You'll call Henry, right?"

  "I've already spoken to him today. He stopped by a few hours ago, but the police were still working at the hotel."

  "Will you need me to watch the front desk?" she asked.

  "That's very kind of you, but they're moving Denis to Fort Dodge this afternoon and he will be unavailable to me for the first two days. I'm certain that Jeff and I can work something out by then."

  "Let me know. I'm glad to help."

  "Thank you, Polly," Grey said. "And now I must depart. There are three canines in desperate need of a walk."

  She had Camille box up a selection of muffins and a loaf of cinnamon bread. Having a bakery in town was almost too decadent.

  Tallie pressed another cup of coffee into Polly's hands. "If you really don't want it now, you should put it in the freezer."

  "You're horrible," Polly said and took a drink. It was perfect. "But thank you."

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  Waiting for the kids to get home from school gave Polly time to make cookies. She pulled a baking sheet out of the oven and smiled as Kayla, Rebecca and Andrew crossed the street. Rebecca's scarf was trailing behind her and she watched Kayla pick it up twice, trying to get Rebecca's attention, but the girl was too caught up in her conversation with Andrew. Her hands were flying as she spoke, and as they got closer, Polly saw Rebecca's face was flush with excitement. Kayla finally just yanked the scarf off Rebecca, garnering a quick glance, but nothing more.

  She put a plate of cookies on the counter and waited. "They're almost here," she said to Han and Obiwan. As soon as the words were out of her mouth, Obiwan ran out of the kitchen, Han following right behind him.

  "I still don't care what you think," Rebecca declared when she came in the front door. "I'm not putting a wizard in that alley. It's stupid. He'd blast everything in sight and end the story."

  "But it's my story ..." Andrew protested.

  "Wrong. It's our story. You can't recover from this. I've said so over and over."

  "I can too. Maybe there's a vampire on a fire escape that he didn't see. It can drop a cauldron on his head and knock him out so everyone can escape."

  Rebecca puffed a breath out between her lips. "Like that would happen." She dropped her backpack on the floor beside the table.

  "How long have they been like this?" Polly asked Kayla.

  "All. Day. Long." Kayla put her backpack down. "I'm so tired of this comic book." She slipped out of her jacket and placed it on top of the backpack. "I'm going back downstairs to say hi to Stephanie. She was on the phone when we came in."

  "Just a minute," Polly said, taking a plastic container out. She filled it with warm cookies and snapped the top on. "Take her these. We'll see you later."

  Kayla ran back out of the kitchen and Polly tuned back into the argument.

  Rebecca sat down at the table, her coat still on, and opened her backpack. She took out a sketchbook and flipped it open, then jammed her finger at an open spot on the page. "You have to come up with something other than the wizard. I'm not going to do it."

  "Why are you being so stubborn?" Andrew asked.

  "Because that's who she is," Polly interrupted. "The two of you keep your coats on and take the dogs out. I want you to pay attention to Obiwan and Han while you're outside, do you hear me? It's time to talk about a different angle for your story if you can't agree on this one. Don't fight losing battles."

  "But she won't listen to me," he protested.

  "I'm hearing that," Polly said. "Your friend went downstairs to spend time with her sister because you aren't involving her in what you're doing. You haven't said hello to me or even greeted the animals that are so happy to see you. Figure this out and become the kids I love before I have to do something radical."

  He slumped and shook his head. "I never win when there are more girls than boys around. Come on, Han. Let's go outside."

  At the magic word, both dogs ran for the back of the house. Andrew zipped his coat back up and walked away from the table, but Rebecca didn't move.

  "Get going, little girl," Polly said. "He doesn't have to do this alone."

  "Does he really think he never wins?"

  "Yep. Boys always do. It's okay. He still loves you. Now go."

  "Maybe I shouldn't be so hard on him."

  "Then go apologize for acting that way. But Rebecca, if you really believe in something, don't change your mind."

  Rebecca smiled. "Got it. Be nice, but be strong."

  "That's my girl."

  Polly sat down at the table to wait for the next batch of cookies to come out of the oven and flipped through the pages of Rebecca's sketchbook. She had no idea what story the kids were working on. Vampires dripped blood from their lips while holding down innocent, doe-eyed young girls. Werewolves stood over gory carcasses with entrails strewn everywhere. She laughed out loud. Where in the world had they gotten these ideas? Then she turned a page and discovered a hero who looked remarkably like Polly. The woman stood across a chasm filled with demonic looking faces; their hands reaching
up, but never quite far enough. The staff she held was planted firmly in the ground. Where she'd walked, the world had knit back together and the demons in the chasm all wore looks of terror.

  She shut the book with a grin, thrilled that they were having such fun using their imaginations. Her phone rang. She took it out of her pocket. Heath should be on his way home. Maybe he needed extra time tonight.

  "Hey there," she said.

  "Is this Polly?" a young girl's voice asked.

  "Yes it is. Who's this?"

  "It's Libby, and Heath's been hurt really bad. You have to come."

  She was on her feet and heading for the back door before she could even speak. "Where are you?"

  "We're down at Seven Oaks. It's all my fault."

  Polly grabbed her coat and hit the back steps at a run. "What's all your fault?"

  "We left school early and came out here just to talk since Mom never lets us be together."

  "Okay, okay. What happened?"

  Polly slammed her fist on the garage door button and ran for her truck. Her heart was racing and she couldn't think other than to get to the recreation area south of Boone.

  "We went for a walk and these guys started harassing me. Heath told them to shut up and then they jumped him and beat him up. One of them cut him real bad."

  "Just a minute. Don't go anywhere." Polly rolled the passenger window down and yelled. "Rebecca! Andrew! I'm leaving."

  "Where are you going?" Rebecca asked, coming to the truck.

  "Heath's been hurt. I'm heading to Boone. I'll let you know what's going on. Take the dogs inside."

  "I want to come," Rebecca said.

  Polly shook her head. "No. Please just go inside and let me deal with this. Take care of things here."

  The kids backed away from the truck and she headed out. "Okay, I'm back. Have you called anyone else for help?"