Polly hung her head. “No. You’re right. I’m being silly.”
“You certainly are. Now don’t you have to get to Des Moines with Obiwan? I’m probably holding you up.”
Polly checked the time. She needed to get moving. “I do need to go. Thank you for coming over. I’ll order the mattress tomorrow.”
“Don’t worry about the room. We’ll put it back together and it will be as beautiful as before.”
Lydia stood up and Polly followed her to the back steps. “Thank you for taking care of this, Lydia,” Polly said. She pulled the woman into a hug. Lydia returned it with an extra squeeze.
“You’re going to be fine. Have fun tonight.”
Lydia went down the steps and Obiwan looked up at Polly expectantly.
“I know, I know. But, we’re going for a ride in a bit.” She went back into the dining room and looked at her laptop. Talk about frustrating. She wanted nothing more than to dig into Thomas’s files, but it would have to wait.
Polly had changed her clothes and was pulling a jacket on when Jason and Andrew came up the back steps.
“Do you want me to take Obiwan out?” Andrew asked. He loved Polly’s animals and she gave him a little money each week for taking care of them. Most of that money was spent on books.
“No, that’s fine,” she said. “We’re heading to Des Moines for our first therapy dog training.”
Jason flopped down on her sofa and picked Luke up into his lap. He was rubbing the cat’s neck and murmuring at him as well.
“Everything okay, Jason?” she asked.
“Sure. Fine.” he said.
“That doesn’t sound like it’s okay. How was school?”
He wrinkled his nose and looked up, “It was fine. No big deal.”
“Okay,” she said. “Did you guys see your mom downstairs before you came up?”
“She is making molasses cookies,” Andrew said. “Hers are the best.”
Polly nodded. “I’m out of here, then. You know where everything is if you need it. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
Andrew followed her to the steps. “I’ve never read to Obiwan. Should I do that now that he’s in training?”
“It certainly wouldn’t hurt,” Polly patted his shoulder. “He’s a better listener than the cats. You can try it tomorrow.”
She went downstairs and took a leash off the hook, clipping it to Obiwan’s collar. She hooked it on the door handle to hold him there and went into the kitchen.
“Sylvie?”
“Hi Polly,” Sylvie was pulling a tray of cookies out of the oven.”
“How did the meeting go?”
“You know brides and their mothers. This mother had decided what she wanted, so we all just agreed and moved on. These poor girls. Such a big deal is made out of one day. They stress because everyone wants something for them. I don’t think half of them give a single thought to life after the wedding day. Oh well.” She sighed and set the pan on the prep table. “What’s up?”
“Did you talk to Jason?”
“Not really. They came in while I was rolling cookies and I guess I didn’t pay attention. Is something wrong?”
“I don’t know. He didn’t want to talk to me. Do you suppose he’s still dealing with the fight and the detention?”
Sylvie took a deep breath. “How was Andrew acting?”
“He seemed normal,” Polly laughed. “Lots of energy.”
“If it was really bad with Jason, we’d see Andrew reacting too. I’ll go up and check on him before he heads to the barn.” She stopped and thought for a moment. “Maybe I won’t. Maybe I’ll let a dose of the horses fix his heart and then he’ll find a way to tell me what’s bothering him.” She chuckled. “You know he’s getting to that age. I really had hoped we’d get through it unscathed, but every little thing is going to be a big deal for him for a few years.”
Polly nodded, “I remember. I didn’t do angst like my friends, but it wasn’t easy. Between the boys and the girls and the teachers and the …” This time it was Polly who stopped mid-sentence. “Are they having dances?”
“I don’t know,” Sylvie said. Her eyes got big. “You don’t suppose that’s part of this, do you?”
“What if there’s a girl, Sylvie?”
“Oh!” Sylvie sighed. She shut her eyes in pain and rolled her head back on her neck. “This isn’t supposed to happen,” she whimpered. “It’s not fair.”
Polly giggled. “You should ask Eliseo to see if he can get Jason to talk. We always had dances on Friday nights when I was in junior high. They were horrible, but everybody went to them. Has Jason ever had a girlfriend?”
Sylvie’s face twisted into a frown. “I don’t want to think about this. He’s a cute boy and he’s popular and he is always with a bunch of kids, both girls and boys. I’ll bet girls are trying to hook up with him and he doesn’t know how to respond. I’m a terrible mom, Polly. I ignored this so it wouldn’t ever be true.”
“You’re not a terrible mom. You are so far from that.”
“But, I didn’t want to pay any attention to this. I wonder why Andrew hasn’t teased him about girls.”
“Maybe because he’s been threatened within an inch of his life by his older brother.”
Sylvie slowly nodded. “There are a couple of little girls who say hello to him on Sundays and now that I think about it, those same girls are part of the crowd waiting for him when I drop the kids off at school. I’m really good at ignoring the obvious, aren’t I.”
“I still think you should talk to Eliseo or Doug or Billy. They are with Jason a lot. Maybe he will let them talk about it.”
“But it’s not their job. It’s my job. He’s my son.”
Polly put her hand firmly on the prep table. “Sylvie, stop it. He’s absolutely your son, but there are a lot of people around here who love him. I keep telling him that sometimes we have to let our friends pick up the slack when we can’t do things on our own. You have to trust that these people have your back with your boys. You can’t be everything to them all the time.”
Sylvie raised her eyebrows. “You know I don’t like that answer.”
“But am I wrong?”
“I don’t have to like it when you’re right.”
Polly giggled. “Call Eliseo. I’ll bet he won’t mind talking to Jason while they’re working in the barn. Those two are always discussing something. Neither of them would tell you, but it might already be working itself out.”
Sylvie took her phone out of her pocket. “You’re right. I’m not in this alone.” She began scrolling through her contacts. “You know this is strange for me. I spent so many years all alone with those two boys, I’m not used to having this many people in our lives. Sometimes it’s nice, but sometimes it is really odd.”
Polly hugged her. “Life keeps getting bigger and bigger, doesn’t it? You couldn’t be all that you are becoming without friends helping and you wouldn’t want your boys to spend their entire childhood cooped up in that little apartment. Am I right?”
Sylvie made a shooing motion with her hands. “Get out of here. Of course you’re right. I still don’t have to like it.”
“I love you, Sylvie Donovan,” Polly said as she headed for the back door. “Even when you don’t like it.”
She was giggling as she unhooked Obiwan’s leash and led him outside. A quick trip to the grass and then she loaded him up in her truck and headed for Des Moines.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
That evening, Henry’s truck was parked in the second space of her garage when Obiwan and Polly returned. “He’s quite the knight in shining armor, isn’t he?” she said to her dog as they went in and up the steps.
The training session had been productive and Obiwan impressed Polly with his socialization skills. She figured that the time spent with so many different people and animals at Sycamore House gave him plenty of exposure to outside stimuli.
“Honey, I’m home!” she called out as she hit the first step. She’d
texted Henry before leaving Des Moines and he told her that he would have supper ready when she got there. She had actually grumbled a bit at that since she rarely got an opportunity to eat fast food anymore. Sometimes a greasy hamburger was necessary for a girl to keep her sanity.
Henry walked in through her bedroom and met her with a kiss. “Welcome home,” he smiled. “Did you have a good time?”
“It was good. I think Obiwan will be fine through this.”
“I’m glad. Tell me you didn’t stop somewhere and eat.”
“I restrained myself,” she laughed, “but it wasn’t easy. I passed a lot of burger places that called my name. When I remembered that they also had fried cheese nuggets, I had to stop myself from passing out and requiring them to resuscitate me. But I’m here now. What’s for dinner?”
“Come in and you can see what I did.” He took her jacket and followed her into the dining room. He had thrown a pretty cloth over one end of her table, found candlesticks and her good dishes. The candles were lit, the lights were dimmed and food was on the table ready to be served.
“What have you done?” she asked.
“Have a seat.” He pulled a chair out for her, then sat down and began passing food. “I cooked.”
“I didn’t know you had it in you,” she smiled at him. “You really are a catch. How has no one ever managed to hook you?”
“I don’t tell all my secrets to just anybody and no one has ever taken enough time to figure them all out.”
“You’re amazing, Henry Sturtz.” She took the first dish filled with mashed potatoes. He’d made a meatloaf and the vegetable dish was roasted zucchini and green beans with parmesan cheese. He pulled a towel off a basket filled with biscuits and then handed her a bowl filled with sliced tomatoes and cucumbers.
“I had to go to Boone for the garden vegetables. There isn’t much left in town, but I had fun,” he said.
“This is a feast!”
“I needed to redeem myself for all the pizza I keep bringing over here.”
“I love pizza, but this is really something. I had no idea.” Polly took a taste of the potatoes and moaned, “These have garlic in them. They’re good.”
“Try the meatloaf.” He pointed to her plate.
She took a bite. “Wow. What did you do to this? My meatloaf is never like this.”
“I tried something new. I cooked the onions in beer before putting them into the loaf. There’s also a spicier pork sausage than I usually use.”
“Thank you, Henry,” Polly reached out to touch his arm. “This is sweet. And kind of romantic, too.” She pointed at the candlesticks. “I’m impressed that you could even find those.”
“I just pay attention. I bought the candles. I have no idea where you keep those.”
Polly took another bite, and tried to speak around it, “I can’t believe you did this for me. I figured it was going to be hamburgers and baked potatoes, which would have been awesome, but this is amazing. Wow, thank you.” She picked up his hand and brought it to her lips, kissing it. “Thank you for making me feel special.”
“Awww, shucks, it ain’t nothin,’ ma’am,” he laughed.
They finished the meal and then cleaned up together, laughing as they moved around the kitchen. When everything was cleaned and put away, Polly said, “I have a favor to ask.”
“What’s that?”
“I’ve been dying to dig into Thomas’s computer and now that I think I might have a clue as to how to begin, I’ve had a million interruptions. Would you mind if I spent some time with that this evening? I’d really like to hear what you think.”
“That would be fine. You know I’m not going anywhere, don’t you?”
“I assumed,” she said, her eyes slitted. “I saw your bag. You know people are going to talk, don’t you?”
“Let them talk. We aren’t living our lives for their approval, are we?”
She reached out and hugged him, “You are so good for me, Henry. Sometimes I forget just how much.”
“Then I’ll do my best to remind you.”
He walked with her over to the sofa, and sat down, then got back up before she could get settled. “I totally forgot!” he said.
“Forgot what?”
“I have dessert, too.” He trotted back to the kitchen.
“You made dessert?” she asked, surprised.
“I didn’t say I made dessert,” he poked his head out from the freezer door he’d pulled open. “I said I have dessert. I know what my pretty girl likes.” He brandished two ice cream sandwiches in front of his face. “Polly want some ice cream?”
“You and I have been together nearly a year and you haven’t ever used that phrase with me.” She glared at him. “I was doing fine without it.”
“So you don’t want ice cream?” He moved to open the freezer door again.
“No, I want the ice cream! I’m just not a parrot.”
“No, honey, you’re not,” he laughed. “Not at all. So, tell me something else about Thomas Zeller. What kind of information did you land on that makes you think you can put the puzzle together?
Polly was seated cross-legged in the middle of the sofa, her laptop on her legs. “Would you mind grabbing that book?” she asked, pointing to the Poe collection on a bookshelf.
He handed it to her and sat down on her right since Obiwan had taken the space on her left.
Polly opened to the poem Annabel Lee and pointed to the tiny heart that had been sketched in the bottom corner. “I didn’t do that. I’m guessing Thomas did one day. I’d pulled this out and he flipped through it, talking about some of the different short stories and poems. I think that’s my key.”
“Key?”
She turned the laptop toward him. “There are thirty three folders here. I counted,” she said when she saw him look at her.” Count the lines in Annabel Lee.”
“You’ve already done that. There are thirty-three.”
Polly had marked up her book, something she had never thought she would do to a book, but when her mind started working this puzzle out, she needed it to be written down. She had also numbered the words in each line of the poem as well.
“That seems a little obsessive,” he laughed.
“But I’ve been thinking about this and picturing what he has here and it is going to make sense, I promise. He wanted me to have this disk because he knew I’d think about our conversations.”
“What kind of conversations?”
“He spent a lot of time talking about his first love. He was so young, Henry. Only eighteen. Would you believe he was in Haight-Ashbury during the Summer of Love in 1967? I’ve been doing some reading about that. He heard all of those great musicians that summer. He graduated from high school and hitch-hiked down to San Francisco looking for a big life. Even when things started getting really bad, he ended up staying because he didn’t have any other place to go.
“Nelly was about four years older. He was living on the street that summer until he met her. She invited him to move into the house where she was living with six other people. They were high all the time, no one cared where they slept or what they were doing. And he remembered that there were people everywhere. Finally the summer was over and a lot of people left, but he and Nelly stayed.”
“What were they doing?”
“Getting high mostly. He had the best stories of some of those LSD trips. He tried to tell me that it made Poe come alive for him. When I seemed shocked by that, he laughed and told me that reading Poe while tripping was one of the craziest things he’d ever done. It scared him sometimes because he could see it all happening. Anyway, he said that the next two years were pretty awful in the Haight. Something bad happened. He wouldn’t tell me about it, but all of a sudden Nelly was gone and that was the real beginning of his downfall. He managed to get some things written and sold - enough to keep him alive, but most of it was going to drugs and booze. He dried out of the drugs, but couldn’t shake the booze.”
“I can’
t imagine living that way, can you?”
“I really can’t. But somehow he did.”
“How did you know this was a puzzle?”
“One time we talked about ciphers and puzzles, little tidbits authors give to readers without telling them. I wonder how often there are treasures buried in books that readers never uncovered, and the authors went to their graves never telling.”
“So what are you going to do with all of this?”
“Maybe you can help me. I’m going to do some serious counting and associating first of all because I’m not able to figure out … wait.” She looked up. “I’m a moron. Hold up the book for me, would you?”
He did and she glanced back and forth from the book to the computer screen.
“I can’t do this without spreading out on the dining room table unless you let me babble at you,” she said.
“Babble at me. I’m intrigued.”
“Can I tell you a word and then you tell me which line has the first two letters that match my word?”
“What?”
“Look,” she said, pointing to the first file. “Window Dressing. That makes no sense, but the word ‘with’ is the first word of line eleven. That puts it in the second stanza according to the poem.” She opened the file. “And there are nine folders in here. How many words are in that line?”
“Nine,” Henry said. “Wow. How did you figure that out?”
“I love puzzles. And I’ve been processing on this for a while. I know that Thomas isn’t this haphazard in his thinking. It had to be something. Okay, now I have the words ‘In a Small Town.’”
“That’s not helpful,” Henry said. “There are five lines that start with the word ‘in.’”
“Okay, well I have six folders inside.”
“Yeah. Three of these have six words - “in the kingdom by the sea.”
“Okay, I’ll pull that one,” she looked at the laptop “and these four over here.” She clicked each of them open. “I have one with seven folders …”
“That’s line thirty-two.”
“And one with eight folders.”
“That’s line thirty-three.”
Diane Greenwood Muir - Bellingwood 05 - Life Between the Lines Page 14