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

by Diane Greenwood Muir

  "What do you think, Polly?" Henry asked.

  "I think you deserve lunch! On me!" she said.

  "Well, fine, but what do you think of the placement?" he asked.

  "For now, it's good. It isn't perfect yet, but almost. A few dark oriental rugs in here will work nicely. I'll ask Lydia to help me find rugs and bedding. Can you believe this?" She swirled around the middle of the room. "All of this beautiful furniture in one place."

  Billy said, "Doug and I couldn't believe what we were seeing when we pulled it off the truck."

  "Whoops!" Henry exclaimed. "Just a minute. I'll be right back." He left the room and took off down the steps.

  "Will you let me take you uptown for lunch?" Polly asked.

  "I'm in," Sam said. "How about you?" The others nodded in the affirmative.

  Polly pulled out her phone and dialed a number. "Hey, Sylvie?" she said, when the woman answered. "I know you're downstairs, but do you and Jason and Andrew want to go to Joe’s Diner with us for lunch? It's on me today."

  She listened as Sylvie protested. "It will take less than an hour and then you can come back to your work and you should come up here and see this furniture!"

  Sylvie agreed to come up and that the boys might want some lunch and they hung up. Billy opened the secretary and said, "Hey, look at this!"

  There was an envelope with four antique skeleton keys taped to the underside of the desk top. He passed them around and using his, opened the glass fronts of the top of the secretary. Doug opened the shoe closet and Jim fit his into the curio cabinet. Sam took the last key and slid it into the lock of the top drawer of the dresser.

  "That's way awesome, Polly," Billy said. "Here, you're going to want these." He drew one of the chairs up to the desk, sat down and pulled open a small door in the center of the insert. Slots on either side offered room for papers and mail and four small drawers at the bottom of the desk insert finished the look. Billy opened and closed each of them. "This is really cool! I've never seen anything like this."

  Polly said, "My grandmother had an old desk like this, but it didn't have the top curio cabinet." She pulled out the far left drawer. "There were always stamps in this drawer and in the next she kept pencils and pens. The slots were always stuffed with letters and mail on this side, but on the right side, she kept some of her fancy writing paper. The other drawers had scissors and office supplies. Wow, I'd forgotten about that until you pulled this open. Think of all the letters that might have been written from this desk. I wonder what else will be written from here in the future."

  Henry and Sylvie walked in together. He was carrying the box Vera Lucas had thrust at Polly before they left.

  "Oh, Polly!" Sylvie exclaimed. "Oh, Polly!"

  "I know! Can you believe it?" Polly gushed.

  "I can't. This entire set really stayed together all these years?"

  “I got it from its original owner and they never broke it up. But, can you believe it?"

  Henry unpacked the box, pulling out the pitcher, then the basin. They had very simple lines and were porcelain white with gold trim around the rim of both the pitcher and basin. The black handle on the pitcher offered a striking contrast.

  "Under the far bedside table," Polly said. "That's where it belongs." She picked up the pitcher and he carried the basin over to where she pointed. "Thank you," she said.

  "Well, now I have a lot of work to do this week to finish this room before our next guest shows up. But, really ... are you ready for lunch?"

  Sylvie and Polly went next door to get the boys. Andrew didn't want to leave Obiwan, but Polly assured him the dog would be fine for a little while.

  There was plenty of room at Joe's Diner and they gathered tables to make room for all nine to eat together. Henry and Polly sat across from each other and Sylvie put the boys between Polly and herself. Doug was on the other side of Polly and Billy took an end while Sam and Jimmy sat on either side of Henry. Lucy showed up with menus and a tray filled with dripping glasses of water.

  "What do you want to drink today?" she asked.

  Polly looked up at her and said, "This is all on one ticket no matter what anyone,” she scowled first at Henry, then Sylvie, "says."

  "Got it," Lucy laughed. She took their drink orders and left them alone.

  Andrew began wiggling in his chair, "What is it?" Sylvie asked him.

  "Can I have a real meal or do I have to have a kid’s meal?" Andrew asked.

  While Sylvie was shaking her head, Polly said, "It's up to your mom, but I vote for a real meal. What do you want?"

  "I want a steak!" he announced.

  "Can I have one too?" Jason asked a little timidly.

  Lucy had walked up behind the boys while they were talking and delivered their colas to them. "How about a steak sandwich boys? All the flavor of a steak and it comes with french fries."

  Sylvie’s eyes filled with gratitude.

  "Can we, mom?" Andrew asked again.

  She looked at Polly, who said. "Steak sandwiches it is. And I'll have one too! Medium well, right?"

  Jason looked at her. "I don't know."

  Polly turned to Lucy. "Medium well for the boys and medium rare for me."

  Henry said, "What, no tenderloin today?"

  Polly laughed. "They serve one of the best, but if the boys are having steak today, I'm having steak." Then she giggled and said to Billy and Doug, "If you want steak, we won't call this the dinner I owe you. I promise."

  Soon the table had placed their orders and Lucy went back to the kitchen.

  "Sylvie, did you hear from Lydia about tonight at Andy’s?" Polly asked.

  "I did and I'd love to go, but ..." and she nodded at her sons.

  "On it." Polly turned to Doug, "Would you be up for house sitting duty again tonight?"

  "Well, uh ..." Doug hesitated.

  "If you can't do it, I'll figure something else out," Polly said.

  "No, that's not it," Billy said. "Ask her, Doug."

  "We were wondering if we could bring some friends over and play games. The auditorium is done now and we can pull out the tables and set our computers up and it would be great if the boys played with us and we'd take Obiwan out and check on Luke. What do you think?"

  Polly threw her head back and laughed. "Of course you can! Sylvie, what do you think?"

  Sylvie shrugged. "It's fine with me. Are you boys okay with that?"

  Andrew's eyes were huge. "Really? Jase, did you hear that? We get to play games with the guys!"

  Jason nodded. He reached under the table and took Polly's hand, pulling her down so he could whisper in her ear. "You're like my own fairy godmother ... if that's what boys have."

  She pulled him close and hugged him, then winked over his head at his mother, who smiled.

  After lunch was finished, Henry left to take Jimmy and Sam to their homes and Doug and Billy took off to gather their gear and call their friends. Sylvie went back into the kitchen and sat down at the prep table with her laptop.

  Polly took the boys back upstairs to the apartment. "I'm going to take Obiwan outside for a bit. We won't be gone long. Can you keep yourselves occupied?"

  "We could go with you," Jason said. Andrew slumped down in a huff. "I wanted to watch a movie. You said we could watch Iron Man."

  "It will only be a few minutes," his brother replied. "Then we can watch Iron Man."

  "I don't want to go outside," Andrew complained. "It's cold out there."

  "Look," Polly said. "Jason, you can come with me. Get the movie started for Andrew and he can stay here. We're only going to be gone for a few minutes and your mom is right downstairs. There's no need to argue."

  Andrew pulled his coat off and started to drop it on the floor. Then, he looked up at Polly and smiled, took it to the chair by the entrance and set it there. He pulled his shoes off and ran back, then dived into the sofa. Luke had been sitting on the back of the couch and dropped on top of Andrew's lap after he pulled a blanket over himself.

>   "He wants to play with the cat," Jason said.

  "That's great. Luke needs more friends to play with, especially while Leia is gone." It occurred to Polly that she needed to stop by and talk to Elise at some point about the phone calls she had received last night. However, even with all the commotion of the day, she was certain Elise had been working diligently to flip flop her sleep schedule and hated to be the one to wake her up.

  Polly snapped the leash on Obiwan and walked down the stairs with Jason. Obiwan limped a little, but seemed to be okay.

  "Were you scared, Polly?" Jason asked.

  "This morning when Obiwan was caught in the trap?"

  "Well, yeah. Did that scare you?"

  "It did. I cried and called Henry to come rescue us. I don't know what I would have done if he hadn't been around."

  "You could always call us. I can't drive yet, but Mom would have come over."

  "Thank you, Jason. You're right. I need to remember I have a lot of friends in Bellingwood."

  "Were you scared when that man kidnapped you last year?" Jason asked again.

  Obiwan had stopped to sniff at some snow on the ground, so they had stopped. "Yes, I was scared, Jason. But, I knew my friends were going to be looking for me. I also knew that I had friends in Boston where he was taking me and all I needed was one chance to get away from him. Someone would come find me and help me."

  "Why did he take you back there when you wanted to stay here?" Jason asked.

  They had started walking again and were making the usual loop around the building. "Well, Joey was all twisted up in his head. He loved me and thought I was in love with him. He didn't want to hear me say that I didn't love him, and ignored me. He made up a big, fantastic story in his mind about how perfect his life would be if he had me as his wife and couldn't believe that I didn't want the same thing. So, he kidnapped me and thought he could make me live the way he wanted me to live. But, we all have our own minds, don't we, Jason."

  "That wasn't right what he did to you, was it?"

  "No, it wasn't right and he's going to a place where they will take care of him and keep him safe and everyone else safe from him."

  "Did they put him in jail?"

  "It's a kind of a jail," Polly said. "But, it's more like a hospital. There's something wrong in Joey's head and they're going to try to help him get better. But, he'll be there for a long time."

  "He's not coming back here to hurt you, right?"

  "No, Jason. He won't come back here. I'm safe now."

  "That's good. I never got a chance to talk to you after that. I wish I had been big enough to make sure you were safe."

  "Jason, you take such good care of my animals and me. You're absolutely the right size. Don't ever think that you're not," she said.

  "Am I big enough to keep my mom safe?" he asked quietly.

  Polly stopped and Obiwan wandered off to smell another phantom scent. "Is there someone scaring your mom?" she asked.

  "Not anymore. There was when we were little, but he's gone."

  "You are big enough to keep your mom safe, Jason, as long as you remember that there are a lot of people who are your friends and all it takes is a phone call. You never have to do anything alone. Promise me that you'll remember that, okay?"

  "I promise," he said. "Maybe I should get my own phone." His face brightened and he seemed to let go of the dark thoughts that had frightened him. "I think it would be the best present ever for my birthday this summer, don't you?"

  "Maybe you should talk to your mom about it," Polly laughed.

  "I have!" he said. "Maybe you could talk to her too?"

  "I don't think I have much pull," Polly said, "But you keep reminding her."

  They walked back inside and up the steps to the apartment where Obiwan jumped back up onto the couch after she released him from the leash.

  "You hang out here for a while. I'm going to check on what your mom is doing in the kitchen," Polly said. "Don't forget there is juice and stuff in the fridge. Help yourselves."

  She heard Andrew say, "This place is so cool!" as she walked out her front door.

  Sylvie was bent over the laptop, typing away when Polly walked into the kitchen.

  "Hey, Sylvie," she said. "I think your oldest might have a little crush on me."

  "You're kidding, right?" Sylvie laughed. "That crush started the first time he met you. When you asked him to help with Obiwan, it was all over for him. He fell for you hook, line, and sinker. So, what are you going to do with my little boy's heart, Polly?" She snickered as she asked the question.

  Polly said. "I can't imagine. I've never been crushed on by a kid. What am I supposed to do?"

  "Honestly, Polly, if you treat him with respect like you always have, he'll get over it when he falls for some girl his own age. I think too many people get excited about this. It will be one of those good memories he has when he's older."

  Polly interrupted, "And I'm a grandma? Sheesh. Okay. I can do that. You're sure he won't try to kiss me or anything, right?"

  They both laughed. Then Polly went on. "He seemed concerned with me being scared both this morning with the dog and then he asked about when Joey took me back to Boston."

  "He was upset when that happened, Polly," Sylvie said. "He was afraid Joey would hurt you."

  "Jason also worries about you. He said something to me about someone scaring you when he was little."

  Sylvie shook her head and settled it into her hand. "That was a long time ago. Everything is fine now. I hate that he remembers that."

  "Do you want to tell me about it?" Polly asked.

  "No, it's over now and I'll talk to him and make sure he's okay with everything. He shouldn't worry. I dealt with it then and it's in the past."

  "Yeah," Polly said. "He thinks he needs a cell phone for his birthday. I believe he figures it might save your life ... especially if that will help him get the phone."

  "He set you up to talk to me about it, too!" Sylvie laughed. "He'll turn thirteen in July. It's probably time to get one of those for him. Andrew will be ten in April. Those two boys are growing up way too fast. I don't think I'm ready for that!"

  "You will be when it happens. That's what Mary always told me." Polly pointed at the laptop. "Are you ready for classes to start and can I help you with anything for the big day next week?"

  "I am so ready for classes to start. I think I'm glad that I didn't find out about it until last week. I'd be a nervous wreck. I haven't had time to think about the fact that I'm going to be sitting in classes again and that this fall, I'm going to be in a big kitchen learning how to be a chef. I can't wait," she said.

  "And as for the party. I'm going to take a deep breath and dive in. I've got everything planned out for lunch and dinner. Breakfast is a little up in the air right now in my head. I just don't know how many people you're going to have eating here and I would hate to run out."

  "Then, make more than you can dream. If there’s too much, we'll make sure the food gets to where it can do some good. How's that?" Polly asked.

  "I'll talk to Jeff and Henry and see if we can't firm up some better numbers and then, yes, that's what I'll do." Sylvie looked up and said, "Hi, Elise!"

  Polly spun around. Her ghost-like tenant was up pretty early in the afternoon.

  "How are you doing, Elise?" she asked.

  "I'm fine. Is there still coffee around?"

  Sylvie got up and grabbed a mug out of the cupboard. She filled it from the pot and handed it to Elise. "Would you like me to fill a thermos for you to take upstairs? I think there will be a bunch of people in the auditorium playing computer games tonight."

  "Sure, thanks!" Elise said.

  When Sylvie moved to take care of that, Polly said, "Elise, I have a strange question for you. Do you know a Linda Marberry."

  At the mention of the name, Elise's eyes flew wide open and Polly could have sworn she saw her hands begin to tremble. The girl swallowed the coffee in her mouth and worked quickly to regai
n her stability.

  "I don't know anyone by that name. Why do you ask?"

  "I got a couple of phone calls last night asking for her and since you're the only person who is here, I wondered if you might have some idea what was going on?"

  "I'm sorry, I don't know." With every word out of her mouth, Elise seemed to gain a little more control of herself. Polly was sure she was lying, but didn't know how to get the truth out of her.

  Sylvie handed Elise the thermos and said, "Bring it down whenever you're finished. We'll clean it up later."

  "Thanks," Elise mumbled and walked out of the kitchen. Polly nodded to Sylvie that she was going with Elise and followed her out to the stairs.

  "Elise, if you need help. I have a lot of friends around here."

  "I'm fine," Elise said. "I need to get back to work on my dissertation. I don't know anything about a Linda Marberry or whatever her name was."

  They walked up the steps together.

  "Okay, then," Polly said as they got to the top in front of Elise's room. "I'm not going to be here tonight, but there will be people around. If you need anything at all, you have my phone number, right?"

  "I have it. Thanks." Elise opened the door to her room and Polly went back to her apartment. It was time to start mixing the bread for dinner at Andy's. When she walked in, Andrew was sound asleep on the sofa and Obiwan practically covered the little boy's body as he lay across him. Luke was snuggled in between Obiwan's butt and Jason, who sat at the other end. She put her finger up to her mouth to keep him quiet and went in to the kitchen to start the bread.

  CHAPTER NINE

  One last check on the boys had Polly poking her head in the auditorium before Sylvie picked her up to go to Andy’s house. She stepped further in and saw that Andrew was sitting at a table with two high school boys. They were setting up a laptop for him as he watched in awe. Jason had found a seat at another table with Billy, who was pointing at something on the monitor in front of him. There were four tables of kids with their computers. On another table close to the kitchen were four open pizza boxes, several opened bags of chips and cartons of soda as well as juice boxes. That struck her as odd until she looked at the tables and saw that about half of the kids were sucking on a little straw attached to a box of juice. She shrugged her shoulders. Kids. Who knew?