Diane Greenwood Muir - Bellingwood 05 - Life Between the Lines

by Diane Greenwood Muir

  “Pumpkin bars. When you get back from the barn, they will be cooled and frosted.”

  “Can I go down early? I know Eliseo won’t be there yet, but I’d like to hang out with Nat.”

  “Of course,” she said. “Would you do me a favor and snuggle Demi a little for me?”

  “Thanks, Polly. I will.” Jason bent over and hugged Obiwan around the neck and ran for the front door. It slammed behind him and he was gone.

  Andrew looked up from the laptop. “I know what he did, Polly. Everybody is talking about it at school.”

  “What do you mean?” she asked.

  “Some seventh graders were going to beat me and my friends up and Jason told them not to. They’ve been bragging about how they got him in trouble with the principal.”

  “How do you feel about that?”

  “I don’t know why they want to beat me up. It’s not like I ever did anything to them.”

  “Sometimes kids are bullies. There’s nothing we can do. You’re pretty lucky to have Jason around.”

  “I’m going to hate it when he goes to the high school next year. He won’t even be in the same town.”

  Bellingwood had lost its high school in the nineties. In fact, she was living in the old high school building. The kids were bussed to Boone now. It was going to be difficult for both boys. Even when they didn’t get along, they were still each other’s best friend.

  “Don’t think about it too hard right now, Andrew. You have practically a whole year before that happens.”

  “I know. But, I’m not going to like it.”

  “I probably won’t either. Maybe we’ll go down and get him every once in a while so we don’t have to wait for the bus to drop him off. If we have time, we’ll go to the bookstore. How’s that?”

  Andrew loved Boone’s bookstore and its long shelves of used books. They were becoming regulars and Polly’s bookshelves were overflowing again.

  “That would be awesome!” he said. “Thanks.”

  She held her hand over the top of the pan of bars to see if they’d cooled enough. Not yet, but she could start the frosting. She measured cream cheese and butter into the mixer and let it whip. A teaspoon of vanilla and she turned it to the lowest speed before adding powdered sugar. A little milk and the texture was perfect.

  “Can I taste it?” Andrew asked.

  “I thought the deal was that you got to clean the bowl.”

  “But you‘ll scrape it clean. You won’t leave much,” he complained, but not too exuberantly.

  “I’ll leave you enough,” she laughed. “If you’re done with homework, you should pack up your things.”

  She slathered cream cheese frosting across the top of the bars and scraped the excess off the whip and the edges of the bowl. With a smirk, she handed the nearly empty bowl to Andrew.

  “I knew it,” he said, dejectedly.

  Polly ran the spatula across the pan of bars, filling it with some of the excess and handed it to Andrew. “I’m not that mean.”

  There was a knock at her front door and Sylvie walked in. “How’s my boy today?” She saw Andrew licking the spatula. “What are you doing?” she asked.

  He looked shocked. “It’s not very much. Polly cleaned the bowl.”

  “Let me see that.” Sylvie strode over and took the spatula from hand, then over his head, she winked at Polly and licked it clean.

  “Hey!” he cried.

  She ruffled the top of his head, “Hey, what?”

  Andrew’s shoulders drooped and he said, “I didn’t get any extra frosting. That’s not fair.”

  Sylvie had watched Polly run a spoon across the bars and nodded at her.

  “You know we love you. Right, Andrew?” Polly asked.

  “No,” he moaned.

  “Then you don’t want this?” she pushed it in front of him.

  “Thanks!” he brightened up and clutching the spoon close to his body, slipped past his mother. “I’m eating at the other end of the table,” he announced.

  “Pumpkin bars,” Polly said, to explain what she’d baked.

  “Cool. Is Jason down at the barn?”

  “Yes. He said he spent all day in detention.”

  “I called the principal this morning. They were fully aware of what really happened, which is why that’s all he had to deal with. They aren’t putting it on his record, but had to do something since the other kids wouldn’t back off their story. That behavior makes me so angry. It doesn’t seem fair that my boy should have to be punished when everyone knows he did nothing.”

  “He could have made a big deal about it if he wanted to, but he didn’t. He sucked it up and learned a good lesson,” Polly said.

  “That bullies get their way?”

  “Andrew says everyone in school is talking about it. I’m guessing they won’t be quite as popular. The kids know that Jason stood up for his brother and got messed up. Jason’s a popular kid. This is going to work itself out.”

  “I hope so. It makes me mad that I can’t fix it.”

  “Me too, but I’m guessing some time with Nat and Eliseo will help. Oh, that reminds me, just a second.”

  Polly took her phone out and typed a text to Eliseo, “Have you been in Lila Fletcher or Grey Linder’s room lately?”

  In a moment she had a response, “I was in Grey Linder’s room yesterday. He left for a while and I did a quick clean and fresh sheets. I haven’t been in Fletcher’s room since Friday. Is everything okay?”

  “It’s fine. I just wanted to make sure that things were normal.”

  “As far as I know.”

  “Thanks. A lot.”

  Polly sliced some pumpkin bars and put one on a plate. She handed it to Sylvie and poured milk into a glass. They put those in front of Andrew and then she cut more.

  “Living room?” she asked. “Coffee? Milk?”

  “I’d like milk, what about you?” Sylvie asked back.

  “Milk.”

  “I’ll pour, you go.”

  Sylvie soon followed and they sat down on opposite ends of the sofa. Obiwan tried to jump up between them, but Polly caught him with her leg and pushed him back to the floor. “Stay,” she said and he put his head between his front paws. “Oh, stop with the drama. You haven’t been beaten.”

  The cats hovered on the back of the sofa, sniffing at the glasses.

  “No,” Polly said sternly. “Back off.” When Luke got pushy with Sylvie, Polly brushed him away and he leapt to the floor. She stared Leia down and then picked her up and set her on the floor as well. “It doesn’t take much, but sometimes you have to insist with those cats.”

  “Have you heard anything more about Thomas Zeller?” Sylvie asked.

  “Nothing. I don’t know if they’re doing anything and just not telling me or if they are stymied. I wish I knew.”

  “And nothing about the vandalism?”

  “I told you about Anita Banks, didn’t I?”

  “Yeah. But nothing since then?”

  “It’s been really quiet. I like it, but I don’t trust it. Every night I dread going to sleep because I’m scared I will wake up to something horrific the next morning.”

  “I’d be nervous all the time being by myself in this big place.”

  “I’m not by myself very often,” Polly said.

  “But you don’t know and trust these people. Any one of them could be an axe murderer.”

  “Yeah, thanks. That’s going to help me sleep tonight. Doug and Billy are right there, though,” Polly pointed to the roof of the garage apartment outside her window.

  “I suppose. But I saw what kind of insulation they put in there. Those boys would never hear if you screamed.”

  Polly’s eyes grew wide, “I don’t intend to ever have to scream,” she said. “You’re just mean.”

  They talked about Sylvie’s classes and Andrew went downstairs to his nook to read. It wasn’t long until Jason came in. He saw his mom sitting on the sofa. “I’m really sorry, mom.”

>   “I know, honey,” she said and stood to meet him. “It’s okay. We know what happened and you lived through the day, right?”

  “Yes,” he said, “I don’t want to do that again, though. It was so boring. No one talked to me and I had to sit there all alone.”

  “Do you want some milk and a pumpkin bar?” Sylvie asked.

  “No, can we just go home?” Jason sounded exhausted. Polly bet he hadn’t slept well the night before.

  “How about I put some bars into a plastic container and you all can have them for dessert tonight,” she said.

  Jason nodded and Sylvie smiled. Polly filled a container, then handed it to Sylvie.

  “Thanks, Polly. I’ll be here tomorrow afternoon. I have deliveries coming in and a meeting with a bride and her mother.”

  “See you later, then.” Polly rubbed her hand across Jason’s shoulders. “Things will be better tomorrow and then better the day after that. I promise.”

  “I know. I’m just tired and want to go home.”

  Sylvie scooted him out through Polly’s bedroom and down the back steps to get Andrew pried out of his nook. Polly looked at the clock. Henry was coming up in a little bit. They hadn’t decided on what to do for dinner, so she sat down at her laptop and opened her recipe file. The browser tab for her email told her she had three new things to read and she clicked over. The message from Sal with her flight plans was sent to Polly’s note application. Her daily word was epicurious. Fine. Delete.

  The third email was from a person who named themselves igotyou. It was sent just a short while ago. The person was here in broad daylight. How bold!

  “I haven’t forgotten. Have you? Don’t ever relax.”

  Now what should she do? If she told Henry, he’d insist on staying or making her go to his house. If she told Aaron, he’d make Doug and Billy stay up all night to protect her. She was just going to have to live through whatever came at her.

  She heard Henry open the door and call up, “Are you there?”

  Polly ran to the bedroom, “Come on up.” She walked back into the living room and sat down on the sofa.

  “Hey,” he said when he saw her. “What’s up?”

  “Why? What do you mean?”

  “Well you usually come kiss me when I get here. I didn’t expect to have to come find you.”

  “It’s been a long day and I didn’t get much done. I don’t feel like cooking, but I can.”

  “You sound like the world sucked all your happy away.”

  “No, I’m fine. Sorry.”

  “It’s okay. What can I do to make you smile again?”

  He sat down and picked up her feet, turning her so they were resting on his lap. He slipped one shoe off and then the other and began rubbing the sole of her left foot.

  She smiled at him, “That’s kind of nice. That makes me smile.”

  “Are you going to tell me what upset you?”

  “No. It’s nothing.”

  “Hmm. This is going to be a long night of foot massage, isn’t it?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “You’re not getting off the couch until you tell me what’s bugging you.”

  Polly realized she hadn’t told him about the earlier emails either. He was going to kill her. The foot massage felt so good, and she knew it was going to end when he heard what she had to say. She leaned back in the couch and said, “Can we talk about this later? Right now I am way too content.”

  “I walked into that one, didn’t I?” he laughed. “You have until nine o’clock tonight to tell me what’s going on. And I’m going to have to stop at some point because my hands will cramp up.”

  Polly shut her eyes and enjoyed the feeling of blood rushing through her feet. “Nine o’clock,” she said. “I can work with that.”

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  “No! Why did you let me fall asleep?” she cried out.

  “I figured you needed it.” Henry waved a piece of pizza back and forth in front of her face. “It’s about time, though. I thought I was going to have eat the entire thing by myself.”

  “But I’m never going to be able to go back to sleep tonight. What time is it?”

  “Calm down. You weren’t asleep that long.”

  “But I feel like I slept for hours!”

  “It was only forty-five minutes. It’s seven o’clock.”

  She stretched out her arms and snatched the piece of pizza from his hand and took a bite. “Waking up to pizza isn’t nearly as good as you kissing me, but it comes in a pretty close second!”

  Polly swung her feet to the floor and stood up, following Henry to the dining room. He’d managed to get the table set and pizza delivered while she slept.

  “Why didn’t I wake up when it was delivered?” she asked.

  “I know the kid, he texted me and I opened the door.”

  She swallowed and wrapped her arms around him. “You’re too good to me, I don’t deserve you.”

  “Got that right, pretty girl,” he said and held out her chair, waiting for her to sit down.

  “Crap,” she said and sat in the chair.

  “What? I’m sorry.” He sat down beside her.

  “No, I’m the one who is sorry. I have to tell you something and I’d better not wait until nine o’clock. Don’t move.” She got up and went to the other end of the table and opened her laptop. She swiped the touch pad to wake it and set it down in between them.

  “Something interesting online?” he asked.

  “No, it’s in my email. You’re going to be mad at me.”

  “Is there someone else?” he asked quietly.

  Polly looked at him in shock. “No! Nothing like that!” Then her eyes filled. “I’m sorry, Henry. It’s nothing like that. I promise.”

  She opened the tab for her email and clicked on the first message. Henry read it and slumped in his seat.

  “Who wrote this?”

  “I don’t know. But there’s another one.” She opened the email she had received before his arrival earlier that evening.

  Henry reached over and put his hand on her forearm, “Polly. This is scary stuff.”

  “I know. But, I have to tell you something else about it.”

  He pulled his hand away and sat back in the chair, waiting.

  “Aaron’s tech-goddess came up yesterday and tracked back to the origin of the email. It came from my own server. It’s either someone here or someone who piggy-backed my Wi-Fi.”

  “You don’t have it password protected?”

  “No, how could I? It’s available for our guests and for all of the employees. Doug and Billy use it and when they have gaming parties, everyone accesses it.”

  “I suppose.”

  “Henry, it’s not like this is the big city. It’s Bellingwood. If someone wants to steal my Wi-Fi every once in a while, what do I care?”

  “Well, you should care if this is happening.”

  “Don’t start with me,” Polly warned.

  “I know, I know. But this is bad. Have you told Aaron?”

  “What am I going to say? There’s nothing they can do unless they catch the person in the act.”

  “It has to be someone who knows us. They know that I call you pretty girl,” he said.

  “That kind of creeps me out. But, that’s what makes me think it isn’t a guest. They aren’t around us that much.” She looked at him, “Do you think someone is mad at you and taking it out on me? Why would they reference you in Jeff’s email?”

  “It’s really strange to try to think back on your life and figure out who hates you enough to threaten people you love,” he commented. “I can’t wrap my head around this.”

  “I’m with you,” Polly agreed. “I’ve only lived here for a year and I can’t imagine I’ve angered anyone so much that they would do this to me. Well … to us.”

  They sat in silence for a while, contemplating their friends and enemies. Finally Polly spoke, “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you earlier, but I thought maybe you mi
ght force me to do something stupid.”

  “Like what?”

  “Like move into your house or let you move in here. I’m so tired of people thinking that I’m not strong enough to handle things.” As soon as the words were out of her mouth, she regretted them. She knew what Henry could say, that every time a crisis happened, she enlisted the help of her friends to get her out of it. She hadn’t cleaned up the front of Sycamore House alone; she had help. “I’m sorry,” she said. “I seem to be saying that a lot tonight. I know that I need people and I know that I need you.”

  “We don’t give you enough credit, Polly. You’re right. But, it’s difficult to watch these things happen to you and not want to protect you. It’s because I love you, you know.”

  Polly chuckled, “You were trying to protect me before you loved me and for that matter, what’s Aaron’s excuse?”

  “Well, I think he cares for you a lot, just like a father would. As for me loving you, will you laugh if I told you I fell in love with you the day we met to discuss renovating Sycamore House?”

  “What?”

  “You walked into the diner and I knew that someday you and I would be together. I had to do whatever it took to make that happen.”

  Polly smiled as she remembered some of the crazy moments they’d had. “You might have bitten off a bit more than you expected,” she laughed.

  “You are a bit ferocious and I suppose if I were smart, I’d realize that is a good indication that you can take care of yourself. But it still doesn’t stop me from wanting to keep you safe.”

  She sighed, “It’s never going to get any easier with you, is it?”

  “I could say the same thing, you know.” He picked up their plates and took them into the kitchen. Polly closed the pizza box and took it to the refrigerator, looking for a place it would fit. She finally jammed it on top of some cans on the lower shelf.

  “I made pumpkin bars,” she said, lifting the tin foil from the pan. “They’re fresh. Want one?”

  “Maybe three. Are they any good?”

  “The best you’ll ever eat. I got the recipe from my old church cookbook. These are so moist you won’t want to stop.” She took a plate down from the cupboard and put several on the plate. “Do you want milk or something a little harder to drink?”