A Big Life in a Small Town (Bellingwood #2)
Page 1
A Big Life
In a Small Town
Diane Greenwood Muir
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, brands, media, and incidents are either the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. The author acknowledges the trademarked status and trademark owners of various products referenced in this work of fiction, which have been used without permission. The publication / use of these trademarks is not authorized, associated with, or sponsored by the trademark owners.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the publisher, except by a reviewer, who may quote brief passages in a review.
Cover Design Photography: Maxim M. Muir
Copyright © 2013 Diane Greenwood Muir
All rights reserved.
ISBN-13: 978-1483907031
ISBN-10: 1483907031
Don’t miss these books in
Diane Greenwood Muir’s
Bellingwood Series
All Roads Lead Home – Book #1
A Big Life in a Small Town – Book #2
Treasure Uncovered – Book #3
Secrets and Revelations – Book #4 (Oct. 2013)
Book #5 – Jan/Feb. 2014
CONTENTS
CONTENTS
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
CHAPTER ONE
CHAPTER TWO
CHAPTER THREE
CHAPTER FOUR
CHAPTER FIVE
CHAPTER SIX
CHAPTER SEVEN
CHAPTER EIGHT
CHAPTER NINE
CHAPTER TEN
CHAPTER ELEVEN
CHAPTER TWELVE
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
CHAPTER NINETEEN
CHAPTER TWENTY
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
THANK YOU!
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I rarely read through acknowledgments. I don't know those people, but I'm always glad the author does. When it came to writing my own, though, I discovered that I wanted everyone to know the people I know. It occurred to me over and over throughout the writing process that I couldn't have done this without them.
Thank you to my family and friends who understand my need for solitude. Distractions are the bane of my creativity and I will choose those over work every day. Not only do they understand me, but the encouragement I get keeps me motivated to continue writing.
Rebecca Bauman. She reads the rough chapters every day, then tells me they're wonderful. When my confidence is low, some days I need to hear that just to get started again. Her artistic creativity also helps me turn Max's photography into book covers. It's good to have wildly creative friends.
I have an amazing team of editor / proofreaders. They question me, correct me, and push me to do better. If there are errors, it's on me, though. I'm a stubborn sort of a girl. Thank you to Tracy Kesterson Simpson, Linda Watson, Carol Greenwood, Alice Stewart, and Edna Fleming. It's very difficult for me to bare my unpolished soul to the world, but I trust them to treat it with a little respect and a whole lot of passion for excellence. I'd like you to meet and get to know each of them, because as individuals they are so uniquely qualified to do this for me. I presume upon their time and they offer me their talent.
Getting the first book published gave me a little credibility when asking questions about the second book. Fortunately, I know a lot of people who know about a lot of things.
Thank you to the brilliant Bernie Doerr who responded when I needed a push in the right direction regarding a doctoral thesis in mathematics. She gave me the idea, I made it up from there, so if it is insane, it's my fault.
Thank you to Rob Marsh, my paramedic cousin. He told me things I might not have wanted to know about the human body and how it reacts to trauma, but at least Polly stayed out of the hospital with his help.
I'm not sure what I was thinking when I decided to add horses to Polly's world. I loved them as a child, but if it weren't for Alice Stewart, I would never have spent much time around them. She let me hang out with her and Cherokee in high school and when I realized Polly was going to do this, I knew who to ask for help. She's given me some of the most incredibly detailed information I could ever hope for and her veterinarian husband, Jay, will also help keep Polly's animals healthy. Both Alice and Jay have a huge passion for horses and it's great fun to reconnect with a high school friend at this level.
CHAPTER ONE
"Elise Myers is one week away from beginning her ...” Jeff Lindsay walked into the office, chewing a bagel and watching to make sure he didn’t spill the cup of coffee he was carrying. Looking up, he realized Henry and Polly were peering intently at a laptop on the far side of the conference table.
"I’m sorry," he said. "I didn't mean to interrupt."
"No, that's fine, Jeff," Polly replied. "We're looking at plans for a barn. What were you saying about Miss Myers?"
"A barn?" he asked. "You're building a barn now?"
Henry shrugged and shook his head. "I'm afraid Polly has caught the construction bug. We aren't finished working on this place yet,” Henry gestured to encompass the expanse of Sycamore House, “and she's already planning the next project.”
Polly caught the two of them smirking and said, "I have plans for this place and laughing at me isn't helpful."
"Who's laughing?" Jeff asked, sitting down beside Henry. "There's no laughing here. So ... where are you putting this barn?"
She cocked her head at the back wall and said, "The concrete pad where the old gymnasium used to stand. We'll put a white post and rail fence up around the property and it will be absolutely gorgeous. Look at the gambrel roof over this beautiful red barn. White trim, white roof, white fence. It's perfect!"
"Perfect for what, though?" he pressed.
"Perfect for horses. Think of the fun we can have," she responded.
"You don't have enough animals in your life with two cats and a dog?" Jeff shook his head and sat down on the other side of Henry. "I have a bad feeling this menagerie is only in its infancy."
Henry chuckled in agreement.
Jeff set his bagel and coffee on the table and leaned in to look at the plans. "So. A barn."
"Glad you're on board, buddy," Henry laughed as he clapped Jeff on the back. "The next thing you know, she'll want you to take guests out on trail rides!"
"Well, that's never gonna happen. I don't ride horses," Jeff said, his upper lip turning into a bit of a snarl. "I gave it up when I was in high school. 'He's gentle,' she said. 'He loves people,' she said. The damned horse put his head between his front legs and tried to toss me off before we left the barn. I don't know why he didn't like me, but he and I agreed it was mutual. That was the last time I was on a horse. And I don't intend to start up again, thank you very much."
Polly was laughing as he spoke. "That's a fabulous story. You're pure entertainment, Jeff."
"I'm a city boy. Just because you have me working in rural Iowa doesn't mean I'm giving up my city ways. I still believe in the goodness of cities littered with burger joints and coffee shops. There's no room for horses in my happy little world."
Henry said, "Wait until the weather gets nicer. The Brennans ride their horses into town to do business an
d get groceries. People love taking pictures of the horses standing in front of the grocery store and some of the best photographs are when Dr. Lisle's Mercedes is parked on one side and a motorcycle is parked on the other. There are more than a few of those pictures hiding in scrapbooks in Bellingwood. I think Dr. Lisle does it on purpose."
"I'm starting to learn that the unexpected is to be expected," Jeff said. "Let me know when you expect me to milk cows and pluck chickens. I'll help you hire my replacement."
Polly laughed, "Don't worry. If there are cows and chickens anywhere around my house, they'll be neatly cleaned, packaged and in the freezer."
This time it was Henry's turn to laugh out loud. "Now, I have a story,” he said. “My junior year in college, several of my buddies and I moved into a house off campus. One of them, Roy Dunston, was from the south side of Chicago. Dad had purchased a side of beef that summer, so I took some back to school with me. Of course the packages weren't labeled, they scrawled words in grease pencil on the front telling me what the cut was. When Roy asked me about it, I explained what I had and he wouldn't believe me! Meat didn't come from cows on farms, it came from grocery stores. Let me tell you, he was completely shocked when I explained where milk came from. He didn't eat cereal for the next three months. I brought him home for Christmas that year. He'd never seen anything like the life we have here in Bellingwood, but he must have come to appreciate it. Even though he's a lawyer in Chicago, he schedules a week every year to bring kids from his old neighborhood to Iowa to spend time on a farm. I'll have to tell you more about him another day. There are a lot of kids who have a bigger and better life because one man went to school at Drake and was exposed to a bunch of hicks from the Midwest."
Polly creased her forehead, "He really didn't know where meat and milk come from?"
"He wasn't the only one. He talked to some of his fraternity brothers later on and they were all shocked by the revelation. It's startling to realize that people grow up never seeing livestock or open fields." Henry shook his head. "I guess we probably don't understand what it means to live on top of each other in an inner city neighborhood, though."
"Well, you two can go on and on about how wonderful it is living out here in the country, as long as I don't have to play with your pigs," Jeff smirked. "That would really mess up my shoes." He waggled his foot, showing off a pair of elegant leather loafers. "These babies will never encounter horse crap as long as I can help it."
"Uh huh," Polly sneered. "Never say never."
"Then," he said, "How about if I say I hope they never encounter horse crap. Will that get the never say never jinx off my back?"
"If you're lucky. But don't count on it,” Polly said. “You didn't finish telling me about Elise Myers."
"She was in the kitchen getting coffee a few minutes ago and said she was within a week of starting to write her thesis. Her research is finished and data has finally been returned, she's nearly finished gathering references, so it is time to begin writing. She asked me to let you know she would probably flip-flop her schedule. I guess she does her best writing in the middle of the night. Can you imagine?" Jeff laughed. "I don't know where people come up with these things."
"Whatever works," Polly said. "But, I can't stop construction and noise during the day for her."
"We talked about that. She says she'll be fine. She's used to it and wears ear plugs when she sleeps. I guess she did this all through college and surely, that had to have been worse than this!"
"Then, I'm fine with it," Polly responded. "Tell her to let me know how she wants me to handle her linens and what she'd like to do about food during those midnight hours. I will make sure she's well taken care of."
Henry and Polly went back to browsing through barn plans when all of a sudden Jeff threw his arms up in the air and shouted, "Eureka!"
Both looked at him in shock. He laughed. "I've always wanted to do that. But, I’ve got a great idea! We're going to have a barn raising!"
Henry settled back into his chair and thought for a moment. He turned to Polly and said, "It's not a bad idea. We could pay for some skilled labor and we could certainly use a lot of extra help to get the walls raised and the roof up. What do you think?"
What came out of Polly's mouth was, "eh ... eh ... eh."
Jeff pressed forward, "We could start early on a Saturday morning, work all day, then have a hoe-down in the evening. We'll hire a band," he slipped into a terrible drawl, "get the women-folk to cook us up some grub for lunch and a real wild west meal for supper ..."
"Do I get to see you in overalls?" Polly chuckled.
"No. I'll be in styling boot cut jeans, with a fancy western cut plaid shirt, Dearie. I might even buy a pair of cowboy boots," he chuckled. "But, I suppose we could make it a ... no, we don't need to make it a theme day. We only need to feed 'em and entertain 'em. What do you think?"
"I think it sounds great." Polly said. "What about you, Henry, can you make it work?"
"Yes," he replied. "I can. I've never done anything like this before, but it could be good. It should probably go up while the ground is still hard and before the spring rains start. I'd like not to worry about everyone out there freezing to death, but so far the winter hasn't been too bad. It should be fine."
Jeff jumped up from his seat, grabbing his coffee and bagel. "I'm going to get started. I've got another party to plan!"
He walked into his office and pushed the door shut. Henry laughed, "I think you did well when you hired that one!"
"He never sits still! Do you know we already have five wedding receptions scheduled for spring and summer and he's working with two groups who want to have their class reunions here? That Christmas party was a great idea. He'll probably book the rest of the year after the barn raising," she said.
Henry pointed back at the barn on the computer screen. "This has room for six stalls, a tack room and one other room. Are you planning on having that many horses?"
"I don't know, but we have the space for it and I'm not about to short change my future by not building enough at the outset," she said.
"Then, these are the plans we're using! I'll get things moving." Henry started to stand up, then sat back down.
"The glass company will be in this afternoon to measure for the doors to cover the bookshelves in the auditorium. Creating displays in there for all those items from the crates you found in the basement is a great idea. I'll bet people show up simply to wander around and look at the displays," he said.
"I'm going to ask Andy to organize and arrange the pieces. When do you think they’ll be ready for her?" Polly asked.
"She can work as they go, so any time."
"Polly! Where are you?" Sylvie's voice rang out as she came in the door.
Polly stood up and walked out into the hallway.
"I'm right here, what's up?"
"There was an opening for the Culinary Institute!" Sylvie shouted. "I start classes this semester! I can't believe it!"
"That's awesome, Sylvie!"
"You’re the one who did this for me," Sylvie said.
"What do you mean, I did this for you?" Polly asked. “You got into the program all on your own.”
"You gave me confidence when you asked me to do the Christmas party. I talked to Lydia and she told me to go for it. I didn't want to tell you until they accepted me, but I talked to them this morning and I'm in!"
Sylvie's excitement practically had her vibrating in her shoes.
"Girl, I'm so proud of you," Polly said.
"Have you told your boys yet that their mom is going back to school?" Henry asked, as he came out of the office and stood beside Polly.
"No, I didn't tell them, because it wasn't supposed to happen until next fall. Oh no, I haven't made any plans for them!" she exclaimed. "What will they do after school if I'm not home yet?"
"They'll come here," Polly declared. "Then you can pick them up when you get back into town. I have plenty of space for them to do their homework and they can h
elp with my animals."
"That's terrific!" Sylvie responded. "I start next week!” she continued, “Can you believe it?"
Then she stopped. "I need to think about my job. I thought I had time to think about this before I started. I’m sure they'll let me work on weekends, but I don't want to lose that job. I'm going to need it when I'm not taking classes."
"Come on into my office," Polly said. "You need to sit down and talk this out." She turned to Henry, "I'll see you later. Thanks!"
Polly pulled Sylvie behind her into her office and pointed to a chair, "Sit." Sylvie sat.
"I can't presume to know what your finances look like, but we're going to help you make this work. Has Jeff talked to you about some of the events we have coming up?"
Sylvie nodded. "Yes, but those don't kick off until late spring and summer. I have some savings and that should help. I need to think through how to make this work. I just got so excited!" She smiled at Polly. "It feels good to finally have a plan for my life. I was beginning to wonder if I would be working at the grocery store until I died. It isn't a bad job, but it never felt like it was enough. I want Jason and Andrew to see me living a bigger life, too," she continued. "They're both so bright and I don't want them to think the only thing their mom can do is this. I want them to see that I have dreams and can make them come true."
"You will be great, Sylvie!" Polly exclaimed. "And your boys are going to be as proud of you as I am!"
"Now if I can just keep them fed and in a home, I'll be fine."
"Let's just take it one step at a time, okay?" Polly said. "And there's another big party coming up."
"What are you doing this time?" Sylvie asked, her eyes brightening.
"We're going to have a barn raising," Polly said. "You're going to have to cook breakfast and lunch for the workers and that evening we're going to have a dinner and dance after the sun sets. Do you want to try to manage it?"
"A barn raising? I've never seen one of those. In fact, I don't think anyone around here has ever seen one. Do you think people will get involved?" Sylvie asked.