A Big Life in a Small Town (Bellingwood #2)

by Diane Greenwood Muir

  "Shut up. Just shut up. I tried to threaten Jeff with his job, but he wouldn't buy it. Stop laughing and stop talking about it." She looked at him beneath raised brows. "Got it?"

  "Got it," he said. "I'm going to drop you off and call the guys. I think we're still in good shape for the day. Are you going to be okay leaving Obiwan at home?"

  "Sylvie's boys adore him and Jason is good with him. Since she'll be in the kitchen, it will be fine. I'll let him walk outside for a few minutes before we go in and then he should be good until we're back. Short answer - yes. I'm fine leaving him here without me."

  "Great." He rounded the corner into her lane and pulled up in front of Sycamore House. Polly put Obiwan on the floor of the truck and opened her door, as Henry rushed around the front end. "It's never going to be easy with you, is it, Polly?"

  "Easy isn't worth it," she laughed. "Always remember that."

  Henry lifted the dog to the ground and watched as he tentatively put his paw down. He took a step, then another and in a moment began walking to the side of the building.

  "I guess he'll be fine," Polly said. "See you in a bit?"

  "I'll text you when I get here."

  She walked with Obiwan to the edge of the building and then all around the building. He limped a little and seemed as happy to go in as she was. Polly unsnapped his leash when they got inside her apartment. The dog immediately went into the kitchen and sat down at his food dish.

  "I guess you're fine, aren't you?" she said. "Good. A hungry dog is a healthy dog."

  After feeding him, Polly headed for her bathroom, pulling her sweats off and dropping them back on the chair. She quickly showered and dressed in jeans and a sweater. She was running the blow dryer through her hair when she heard the doorbell of her apartment chime. Unplugging the dryer, Polly rushed out through the living room to the entry way door and saw the entire Donovan family standing there.

  "Come in!" she said, backing into the living room. "I am so late!"

  Sylvie giggled and pointed to Polly's feet. "You don't match."

  Polly looked down. "Whoops!" She had on two different shoes; one black Rockport with a buckle and one plain black loafer. As she walked back into the bedroom, she said. "This wouldn't be a problem if I didn't have so many shoes!" She nudged the right loafer off with her left foot and uncovering the other Rockport, slipped into it.

  The boys had taken off their coats and were sitting on the floor petting Obiwan. Little Luke was perched on the back of the sofa watching the action.

  "Where's Leia?" Andrew asked.

  "She's across the hall with Elise Myers. She can't play with the boys until next week because of her surgery, so she's on vacation," Polly said.

  "Oh," his face fell. "She's fun with the fishing pole."

  Polly looked confused. "The fishing pole?"

  "You know. That thing with the long piece of material on it."

  "That's a great name for it,” Polly said. “Maybe while she's away, you can teach Luke to play with it. She picked him up from his perch and snuggled him, then put him on the floor next to Andrew.

  "Thank you for doing this today! I'll settle up with you when I get back."

  Sylvie tried to say something and Polly hushed her. "I appreciate you dog sitting for me like this when I need it. How does five dollars for each of you sound?"

  Both boys' eyes grew wide and they looked at their mother. "Say thank you," she said.

  "Thank you, Miss Polly!" both boys said together. "We'll take good care of them."

  "Fine. Obiwan probably won't need to go outside until I’m back, so you all snuggle in and watch television or play games. I'll see you later."

  She and Sylvie walked downstairs together and back to the kitchen.

  "Polly, you don’t need to pay them. They love having another place to hang out and they love your animals."

  "They're doing me a favor today, so I'm paying them. That's enough of that. What are you doing today?"

  "I have everything ordered. They will deliver most of the food on Wednesday. If it’s okay with you, Hannah is going to be here to accept the order and check it out. When I get in that afternoon, the two of us will start putting things together. We'll both be here most of Thursday and Friday too."

  "This isn't going to interfere with your classes, is it?" Polly asked.

  "No. I've already got the syllabus for each class and have been reading through the textbooks. The first week isn't bad at all. And, I didn't take any extra shifts at the grocery store since I was going to be working here. Jeff said it would be okay to bring in two more people to help, so I asked Beryl if I could borrow her girls. They loved the idea of making some extra money and will be here after school on Thursday and Friday and then will help with lunch and supper on Saturday."

  "That sounds great," Polly assured her. "This is your deal, you know. I'll help you do whatever you need me to do, but I totally trust you."

  Sylvie shook her head. "That feels weird. I know I can do this, but I've never had anyone else believe I could."

  Polly hugged her friend, "Everyone believed. You just needed to find the right place to shine."

  "By the way," Polly went on, "Did you have lunch with your friend Amy yesterday?"

  "I did!" Sylvie said. "It was good to see her again. We spent forever talking about our kids and everything we're doing. And Polly, you have no idea how wonderful it was to be able to tell her I was getting ready to go to Culinary School. Thank you."

  "Oh stop," Polly said. "That's all you. I only gave you a forum for your food."

  "Whatever. You're amazing and we all know it. And, you won't believe it, but Lydia, Beryl and Andy are meeting her at Madeline's house for lunch today. She had no idea what that note might mean and thought it would be fun to look around with Madeline's friends."

  "I didn't know Beryl and Andy were friends with Madeline too. They didn't seem that way when we went over there on Tuesday."

  Sylvie laughed aloud. "They're not. But, they weren't about to let Lydia have fun without them. After all the excitement with your bodies last fall, I believe they think mysteries are a hoot. If Madeline Black were buried already, she'd probably spin circles with the chaos they'll create today."

  They both laughed and Polly's phone rang. It was Henry telling her he was pulling in the lane.

  "I've got to go get some furniture," Polly said. "I'll be back later. Thank you for everything!"

  She zipped up her jacket and ran outside to the truck. Jimmy Rio and Sam Terhune, who both worked for Henry, were already in the back seat, so she jumped in the front.

  "Hi!" she said as she pulled her seatbelt on. "Well, how are we doing this?"

  Henry said, "I thought we'd go to Ames and pick up the rental truck and pads. Jimmy or Sam will drive that and follow us to Iowa Falls. Does that sound good?"

  "Sure!" Polly replied and turned around in her seat. "Are you comfortable back there?"

  Jimmy chuckled. "This has more room than my little truck." Sam just nodded.

  Polly hadn't taken much time to pay attention to Henry's truck this morning. She figured if he was proud of his Thunderbird, he was probably just as proud of his truck, so she ought to get the scoop on it.

  "Tell me about your truck, Henry."

  "Why?" he asked.

  "Oh, nothing sinister. Please!" she laughed. "I don't know anything about trucks except mine and all I really know about that one is that my Dad loved it, he bought it in 2004, it's red and it's a Ford. Tell me what is so great about your truck. Because it feels like I need a crane to get me into the front here."

  "The front here," he said, "is called a cab. This is a crew cab."

  "It’s a Ford?"

  "Woman," Sam laughed. "You need help. See the logo? It's a Chevy. A Chevy Silverado."

  Polly shook her head. "I asked for this, didn't I?"

  "You're about to be schooled, Polly," Henry laughed. "Go ahead boys."

  Jimmy leaned forward. "It's got a Turbo-Diesel V8 en
gine and 6-speed automatic transmission."

  Polly turned to Henry. "That's good for the giddyup, right?"

  "Right," he sighed. "Give it up boys, she doesn't actually want to know."

  Sam spoke up, "How could she not want to know? What kind of girl asks and then doesn't want to know?"

  Henry laughed, "The kind of girl who wants to be nice, but doesn't have any clue about trucks."

  The boys sat back in their seats. Polly glanced behind her in time to see Sam roll his eyes. "Just you wait until you have girlfriends," she said. "You'll learn."

  Jimmy said, "No, they'll learn what's important to us. And they'll learn to like it."

  "Okay," she replied. "Good for you,” and rolled her eyes dramatically so everyone could see.

  They pulled into the truck rental company and everyone piled out of the truck and went inside. Soon they were back on the road, heading north on Interstate-35 to Iowa Falls. Henry pulled through the driveway and jumped out to help Jimmy, who was driving the rental truck, back up the driveway to the garage. Polly trotted up to the front door to ring the doorbell.

  Vera Lucas answered the door, "Good morning!" she said. "Adam saw you coming and headed for the garage."

  Polly heard the garage door go up and Vera continued, "The dogs are in the bedroom. Come on in and you can observe from the back of the garage." Then she stopped, "Unless you are going to help them move the furniture."

  "I should probably help," Polly said. "And, I can make sure they get enough padding around everything."

  As she walked to the garage, she was met by Vera's husband, who stuck his hand out in greeting. She shook it and he said, "So, you're the little gal who is re-doing the old school in Bellingwood. That's a mighty big project you took on. I remember taking Vera to a dance over there years and years ago." He glanced around to see if his wife was in hearing distance. "I don't remember what was going on, but we danced a lot in those days." He put his hand on his back. "We don’t do that enough these days."

  "You two are invited to another dance over there next Saturday," Polly said. "We're having a barn raising all day long and a dance that night. If you don't want to dance, we're having great food."

  Vera had come up behind him, "We'd love to come over! We don't get out to parties like we used to. It will be fun. And maybe you can show us where you've put our bedroom." She looked wistfully at the dresser as Jimmy & Sam carried it into the truck.

  "This can't be easy, Mrs. Lucas," Polly sympathized.

  "It's not easy seeing it finally leave," the woman responded. "But, it makes it a lot easier knowing that you're going to keep the set together and give it a nice home. It was good for us all these years, wasn't it, dear?" She patted her husband's forearm.

  He nodded and put his hand over hers. "It was good. But, we can't use it any longer and even though we're old, that doesn't mean we can't accept change."

  Vera smiled. "You're right." She turned to Polly and said, "He's always right. That's why I keep him around, isn't it Adam?"

  "And here I thought it was for my brilliant mind and glorious body."

  "That too."

  Polly smiled and observed the two of them watching their furniture get packed away. She couldn't push past them to get into the garage, so she hoped Henry had things well in hand. Soon enough, he stepped around the truck and said, "Have we gotten everything?"

  The Lucas' walked back into the garage and Polly followed them. She looked into the truck and saw that everything was padded and strapped tightly to hold the load steady.

  Adam Lucas looked into the truck and said, "It sure doesn't take up much space when it's all packed up that way. It also doesn't look like our furniture anymore, which makes it easier on the soul." He nodded and walked away to stand beside the steps leading back into the house. He put his hand on the door knob and stood watching them.

  Polly turned to walk back out of the garage, when Vera said, "Wait. I want to give this to you." She pointed to an oversized box on the floor. "It's a little unwieldy, would one of you boys mind?"

  Henry bent down and picked up the box, carrying it over to Polly. Vera followed him and unflapped the top. She moved aside some newsprint to reveal a large pitcher. "It's an old pitcher and wash basin," she said. "We picked it up at an antique store about fifteen years ago and it fits perfectly under the night stand. Somehow it seems to go with the set and it would be a shame to break it up now."

  "Thank you!" Polly said and hugged the woman. "Thank you! That will be perfect in the room. I can't wait until you can come over and see it. Maybe next week?"

  "We'll be there," assured Vera. "I'll get him out of the house somehow."

  "Thank you again for everything," Polly said.

  They left and headed back for Bellingwood. Henry said, "Would you mind calling Doug Randall? He and Billy are going to help us get all of this upstairs. Let them know what time we'll be back and they'll meet us there."

  Polly made the call and smiled as it rang. She missed having those boys around.

  "Hey Polly! Are you there yet?" Doug answered with a question.

  "Nope, it will be about forty-five minutes. Can you and Billy come over to help? Henry said he talked to you about it."

  "We'll be there! I heard Obiwan got caught in a trap this morning. Is he okay?"

  "Wow. Nothing gets past you, does it!" she laughed. "He's doing fine. If you want to get there early, Sylvie's in the kitchen and Jason and Andrew are upstairs in the apartment with him. I know they'd all love to see you."

  "Okay. We'll see you later." He disconnected and she giggled.

  The phone buzzed in her hand. It was a text from Lydia.

  "Supper tonight? Andy wants you to see her house. Bring bread. 6:30. Can you set up your big boy/little boy babysitting adventure so Sylvie can come too?"

  "What's up?" Henry asked.

  "Lydia is in hostess mode again. We're having dinner at Andy's."

  "I told you! Never a peaceful moment."

  Polly texted back. "I'll talk to Sylvie and Doug. If everything is works out, I'm there! With bread!"

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  “Even I know it’s strange to see a farmer driving his planter through town in January,” Polly said. She was bouncing her feet on the floor of his truck, with her hand on the door handle. They’d been driving much too slowly for her taste and traffic had been too heavy for Henry to pass the guy as they entered town.

  He finally turned into her lane and Polly jumped out of the truck as soon as he parked, "I'm going upstairs to check on Obiwan and I'll send Doug and Billy down to help."

  Henry nodded and went over to help Jimmy maneuver his truck to the front of the building. Polly dashed inside and up the steps to her apartment in time to see Doug and Billy coming out of her apartment.

  "We heard the trucks come in so we're going downstairs. Do you want to unlock the room for us?" Billy asked.

  "Sure! Thanks. I guess I was only thinking of getting to my dog. How's he doing?"

  "He's doing fine. When he wants attention, he licks at his paw and looks at one of us. He's a smart dog, figuring that out so quickly," Doug laughed.

  Polly walked to the back room and triggered the lock open with her phone, then went back to her apartment. When she walked in, she saw Andrew sitting on one end of the couch and Jason on the other end. Obiwan was stretched out between the two of them with his head in Andrew's lap, his left paw with its bright orange wrap hanging piteously off the side of the sofa.

  "How's everything going?" she asked.

  "It's cool, Polly," Jason said, standing up with an empty glass and heading for the kitchen. Polly took his place on the sofa and leaned over to hug her boy. Obiwan barely moved his body, but turned his head to nuzzle hers as she relaxed on top of him.

  "You poor stupid dog, you. Ya scared me to death this morning."

  "I think he's going to be fine, Miss Polly," Andrew said in an attempt to reassure her.

  She sat back up. "I think you're absolutel
y right and I can't tell you how much I appreciate you hanging out with him today." She reached into her pocket and pulled out her wallet, slipping out two five dollar bills. She handed one to each of the boys. "Thank you very much for taking care of my boy."

  "We love it!" Jason said. "You have great television up here and we can play games, too."

  "How was Luke today?" she asked, spying the cat on top of the refrigerator.

  "He played with me a lot!" Andrew exclaimed. "He even got the hang of the fishing pole."

  "That's terrific," Polly said. She heard commotion in the hallway. "I need to make sure they know how I want the furniture arranged. I'll be back." When she opened the door, she turned around to see Jason slip back into the space she vacated and smiled.

  Jimmy and Doug were carrying the dresser into the back room and Billy was carrying drawers up the steps. She could hear Henry and Sam talking at the bottom of the steps, but followed the dresser. She had a flash of insight. Each of the rooms needed a different name. This would be the Walnut Room ... that seemed appropriate. Once she figured out the decor of the middle room, she would name that and since the front room was still kind of hurried, she wanted to spend more time thinking about it. The boys put the dresser down in the middle of the room and looked at her expectantly, so, she pointed to the inside wall and they put it into place. Billy set the drawers in front of it and Polly began pushing them into their slots. Each drawer was a different size and had a specific way in which it fit. She ran her hands across the top of the dresser and smiled. She hoped people would appreciate the exquisite beauty of the set.

  Henry and Sam came in with the chest of drawers and she had them place it between the tall windows at the back of the building. Walking over to touch that piece, she realized what a beautiful view any tenant would have in this room. It looked out over the wooded creek bed and in the winter without the leaves on the sycamore trees, she could easily see beyond them into Dan Severt's fields. The fullness of the leaves might make that a little more difficult throughout the rest of the year, but it was always going to be pretty.

  Billy made another trip in with the two chairs and luggage stool. He set them down in front of her and took off for another load. Before too long the room was filled with furniture and everyone stood looking at her.