by Annie Jones
That’s how Sam decided to play it. Giving Caroline the best start was his job and that included sometimes interacting with Polly.
The fire chief directed everyone where to drop off kids, where to park and where the children should gather for instructions. Sam searched the scene, just to scope things out. One long table piled with poster board, paint, dog shampoo and a metal cashbox. Two bright blue plastic kiddie pools set up alongside the firehouse. Two firemen and the town’s one firewoman filling those pools with water.
Caroline tugged at his arm. “Do you see them, Daddy?”
“See who?” He swept his gaze along the crowd, still trying to find a certain energetic young woman. It wasn’t an emotional thing. Polly was just a teacher, just another partner in his plan to do the right thing for his girls. Nothing about this was personal.
His gaze landed on a knot of kids. A flash of black hair at the center, then a soft woof and Sam smiled. In a few steps, with Caroline keeping up pace for pace, he reached the cluster of children oohing, giggling and petting a golden-brown dog held in the arms of the prettiest teacher with no personal connection to him that he’d ever seen.
“Hi,” she said to him softly as he stopped a few feet away from her.
“Hey.” He gave her a nod. “You might have made more money for the cause charging tickets to pet that little guy, not to have the Go-Getters wash other people’s dogs.”
Polly shook her head. “He’s not really mine.”
The dog squirmed and licked her nose.
She made a face and laughed.
The children squealed, then the fire chief called them over for instructions on how to conduct themselves around the firehouse. They straggled off, although Caroline lingered longer than the others.
Polly looked sheepishly up at Sam, her face flushed. “I really have tried to find him a home.”
“Looks to me like he found his own home.” Sam crouched, putting his eyes level with Polly’s. He stroked the dog’s head just as the animal lifted it, trapping Sam’s hand against Polly’s cheek.
Their eyes met. His chest tightened. Nothing personal, he reminded himself.
The dog moved again and Sam slid his hand free.
Polly shut her eyes, then looked down. “I don’t want you to think I haven’t tried to keep my promise. But it just doesn’t seem like anyone wants him.”
“I want him,” Caroline protested, throwing her arms around the dog’s neck. “And I know Juliette and Hayley want him, too!”
Sam winced.
“Well, actually, Caroline, I’m thinking that maybe I might want him, after all.” Polly came to his rescue.
“That’s okay,” Caroline shot back instantly. “If you take Donut we can still see him all the time, right?”
Polly fixed her big eyes on his face. The blush of color that had flooded her cheeks drained.
Sam wanted to rush to her rescue in return, but he hesitated. What could he say that wouldn’t threaten his rules, wouldn’t interfere with his plans? Was giving in to this going to stall any progress he might have made with Caroline, keep her too connected to the past?
“Okay, Caroline, enough for now.” Sam played it safe. It was the right thing to do for his daughter, and to stick to his no-matchmaking rule. He could not promise to see Polly whenever his girls wanted a Donut fix. Things just didn’t work that way. He gave her a smile and started to stand.
Polly stood up at the same time, faltering slightly when the dog in her arms wriggled.
Sam reached out to steady her, his heart thundering so hard it actually muffled the world surrounding the two of them for a moment.
“Hey, Grover! Hey there, boy!” A smiling brunette woman in blue work pants and a T-shirt with the Baconburg Fire Department insignia on it pointed toward Polly and the dog.
Polly shot Sam a look that he could only call pure panic.
He put his hand on his daughter’s shoulder and gave her a nudge. “Go on, Caroline, you need to go listen to what the fire chief is saying.”
“But I don’t really want to.” Caroline dragged her feet.
“Some things aren’t about what we want,” Sam told his daughter, although he kept his eyes on Polly, letting her know her messages to him hadn’t gone unheeded. “I know you don’t really want to be a Go-Getter, but the fact is, you signed up for it and for this event, and you need to honor your commitment.” As Caroline reluctantly headed off to hear the instructions, Polly turned to face the firewoman who had called out to her, and squared her shoulders.
At that moment Sam realized he couldn’t keep telling himself that things between him and Polly weren’t personal. He may have known her only a short time, but that was more than long enough to sense the pain in her past. He’d have given just about anything to spare her any more.
He put his arm around her to lend whatever comfort and support he could. He raised his hand and called out to the woman who kept glancing their way as she finished filling the kiddie pool. “Hey, Angela! You, uh, you talking to Polly’s dog?”
“I don’t know Polly, but I do know Grover. It’s so cool you brought him to the dog wash.” She finished up her work and jogged toward them with her hand extended. “You must be Polly. You Ted’s neighbor? Oh, or maybe…you’re not…the girl?”
“The girl? No, I don’t think so,” she said with a quiet bravery that the slight tremble in her shoulders belied. “I don’t see how I could be the girl because I don’t know any Ted.”
“You’re not the girl Ted wanted to impress by getting a dog?” Angela stopped and put her hand over her mouth. “Oops. Maybe I wasn’t supposed to say that. I’m a cat person myself, but I still don’t get it. Ted’s a great guy, really, but I don’t see getting a dog for any other reason than love, do you?”
“No,” Sam said in a firm, calm voice when Polly couldn’t seem to find hers. He kept his arm lightly around her. “I can’t see any reason at all, except love.”
Polly tipped her head back to look up from beside him.
Sam did not meet her gaze. He just couldn’t. He could forge ahead, though, get some answers, maybe clear up any questions so Polly wouldn’t dwell on the worst. “So what makes you think this is Ted’s dog? Is he missing?”
“I don’t know. Ted’s out of town until next Thursday for some specialized training.” The brunette came toward them again with an assured spring in her steps. When she got close enough, she reached out and scratched behind the dog’s ear. “I assumed he had put the dog in a kennel or had a friend watch it. This is absolutely his dog!”
Chapter Ten
“Grover! Gro-o-over. Grover?” Each time Polly called a variation on the name, the dog wagged his tail.
With the dog wash in full swing and Polly’s emotions clearly on a roller coaster, Sam had suggested the two of them head to the drugstore to pick up cold soft drinks as a reward for the Go-Getters.
It only made sense to bring the dog, especially when they hung a sign on his back that read A Clean Dog Is a Happy Dog with info on the dog wash under that.
Polly eased the sign off the dog, then slumped on the floor, leaning back against the refrigerated drink unit. She gazed into the dog’s eyes, patted his head and sighed. “I can’t deny it. He does seem to like that name.”
“Don’t read too much into it.” Sam let the drink-case door fall shut. He came to her side and offered her an ice-cold bottled water and some consolation. “I think he likes the person saying his name.”
She managed an unconvincing smile as she reached up to take the drink.
He braced himself for the little emotional jolt he always felt whenever their hands touched. And for the wave of regret that would follow when Polly would almost instantly withdraw shyly.
Only this time she didn’t pu
ll away.
Sam didn’t exactly know what to feel or do about that. So he stood there looking down at her, his fingers practically entwined with hers. She had taken the news of potentially finding the dog’s original owner in stride. Tried to pretend it was a good thing, even. Sam wanted to play along with that.
Why wouldn’t he? It was what he’d have done. Looked at the new development as something to be accepted and moved past. It didn’t hurt that it occurred to him that with the dog safely back in his first home that he and Polly could start to cultivate a workable relationship, meaning maybe they could be friends. Maybe even more, one day, when the girls were older.
“At least he’s a firefighter. That generally means he’s a good guy, right?” Her hand still on the drink he hadn’t turned loose, she looked up at him with tears shimmering in her eyes above her wavering smile.
Who was he kidding? They were already past starting a workable friendship. Polly Bennett mattered to him. And if that meant taking her dog and all…
“I’d like to think so, but let’s look at this a minute.” Sam crouched down, surprising himself with the line of reasoning he was about to launch. “Angela Bodine couldn’t tell us for sure that Ted’s dog had even gone missing.”
“She was fairly certain it was Ted’s dog, though.”
“Yeah, but you won’t know until we talk to the neighbor and find out if that dog is missing, right?” Sam smiled knowing that while Angela had given Polly the name of the neighbor she thought was supposed to be minding the dog Ted called Grover, Sam had taken a minute to get Ted’s cell-phone number from one of the other firemen. Yes, Sam had a plan, and this time it wasn’t about propelling his own agenda, but about protecting Polly.
She shrugged, her finger flexing against the plastic bottle. The fact that she had not taken the drink told Sam that despite her seeming indifference, she was still listening.
“So, why are you, of all people, rushing to a conclusion?” He lowered his head, seeking to keep her eyes on his. “Angela said this Ted guy got the dog to impress a girl and had only had the animal a week before he volunteered to go to specialty training school.”
“Yes, so?” Polly nodded and tugged the bottle toward her at last.
Sam tugged back to keep his hold. “So technically by the time he gets back, you will both have had the dog roughly the same amount of time. Plus he left the dog with an unreliable caregiver.”
Another nod. Another tug.
Sam took a deep breath and let go of the bottle as he looked into her eyes and grinned. “So don’t get in such an all-fired hurry to give up, Miss Bennett. You should know that. Give it time to see how it works out. You may be pleasantly surprised.”
Her smile trembled, then grew. She looked down, laughed and shook her head. The dog in her lap licked her chin. “Did you hear that, Donut or Grover or whatever your name ends up being? Mr. Just Keep Moving Forward thinks time might be on our side.”
Sam had to laugh, too. If he hadn’t said it himself, he’d have never believed it. He stood and offered his hand to her. “But for now, we’ve got to get these drinks over to the kids.”
She got up without his help, brushed off her jeans, then pulled on the leash to get the dog to cooperate. A deep breath. A swig of water. She squared her shoulders and headed for the door, but just before she opened it for Sam, who had a box filled with bottled drinks, she looked back. “I just don’t know how I’m going to fill the time between now and when I find out what happens next.”
“I have a suggestion!” Max’s voice came practically bouncing off the walls from the back of the store.
“Didn’t anyone ever tell you it’s rude to listen in on other people’s conversations?” Sam hoisted the heavy box high against his chest.
“Yeah, you’d have thought my older brother would have taught me stuff like that but he’s pretty rude, too—not inviting the pretty new teacher to—”
“I was getting to it,” Sam hollered back before looking down at Polly as he brushed past her. “I really was.”
Yeah, he’d told Gina it wasn’t a good idea, but that was before Polly had looked so vulnerable, so much as if she needed a friend. He wouldn’t let himself be more for now, but he could be that much, couldn’t he? “Why don’t you come out to the house for the Pumpkin Jump planning-committee appreciation barbecue Monday? If you can stand more of Max’s cooking.”
“Pumpkin Jump?” Polly stepped out into the sunshine and shaded her eyes, but under the shade she created she wore a playful smile. “Are you just making that up to take my mind off Ted Perry?”
“Much as I’d love to take credit for anything that takes your mind off another man…” He could have worded that a little more, uh, friendish. He cleared his throat. “Off the situation with Donut, or Grover or—”
“I get it,” she said softly, her smile soft and sweet.
“Please come out to the house Monday.” He clutched the box and held his ground until he got an answer, ready to stay put until he got the answer he wanted. “Bring Donut. Around three?”
She walked past him to check traffic, and motioned him to follow her into the street. “I’ll think about it.”
Like so many things where Polly was concerned, Sam’s plan did not work out as he’d expected and she left him no way to just push through to get his way. He shook his head and followed along, laughing at himself softly as he added, “I guess that’s all a guy can ask for.”
The rest of the event went by quickly. She and Sam agreed not to tell Caroline and the other girls about the new development until they had more solid information. Polly tried to wheedle more about this Ted Perry from Angela—and the allegedly negligent neighbor he had left his pet with—without seeming as if she was trying to find out about him. She stayed upbeat. She cheered on the Go-Getters. She waved signs to draw in customers. In other words, she was pretty much just herself, even though it took a lot of effort to do so and to keep Sam from knowing how anxious this all made her.
She had begun to like coming home to the little dog after work and certainly didn’t mind having another living thing in the house at night. She had come to Baconburg to create a life she thought would make her happy, make her finally feel she belonged. Donut had helped her begin to do that. Now she imagined taking a photo of the little golden-brown dog and sitting it up on the mantel with all the other loved ones absent from her life.
Polly glanced across the firehouse drive to see Sam prodding Caroline step by step to keep helping the others clean up after themselves. The day she had found the man in front of her new house she had felt so confident that she stood on the very verge of her small-town dreams of friends, family and home coming true.
No dogs. No matchmaking. The man’s rules echoed through her thoughts.
Polly’s stomach knotted at how quickly her big dream of a new life grew smaller and smaller every day. She had come all this way and it seemed she hadn’t really found or gained a thing.
“C’mon, Donut. Let’s go home and wait for Ted Perry or his neighbor’s phone call.” She turned away from the firehouse.
“Hey, Polly, um, that is, Miss Bennett!” Pounding footsteps accompanied Sam’s voice. “You can’t run away now.”
Polly tensed at the phrase that echoed Essie’s assessment of Polly’s behavior. But she couldn’t deny it; Sam was right. She needed to stay and see this through as an example to the kids and to honor her commitment, no matter how disenchanted she had become with life in Baconburg so far.
She tugged on the leash and turned around saying, “Sorry, Donut, we still have to—”
“Hop on!” Sam motioned to her from the second row of seats inside a shiny yellow fire truck.
“What? What’s this?” Polly blinked.
“For a job well-done.” Angela, the lady firefighter, leaned o
ver the driver and motioned to Polly to get on board.
“And a last grab for donations,” Sam added as he leaned down with his hand extended to her. “The Go-Getters and their sponsors get a ride down Main Street on the fire truck.”
Polly hesitated. “But Donut…”
“Hey, dogs and fire trucks are a natural,” the fireman behind the wheel shouted. “Bring the little guy along. He’ll be a great nudge for people to fill our boots with cash.”
“You can help, too!” Angela hoisted up a big, black rubber boot with yellow reflective-tape trim.
“People will feel especially happy to help make our favorite new Baconburg-ite and schoolteacher feel at home.”
Polly laughed, the weight on her shoulders and in her heart lifting at least a little. Here was her invitation to be a part of this place, to stop running and be at home. That it came from Sam’s lips didn’t hurt.
She scooped up the dog and handed him up to Sam and Caroline, then climbed on herself. With the sun on her face, and Sam and Caroline and Donut at her side, all her cares and concerns melted away. She shut her eyes and in her heart made a prayer of gratitude.
“Not in my time, but in Yours,” she whispered. She didn’t control how fast or slow things went by dragging her feet or moving to a new place any more than Sam did by pressing relentlessly onward.
She opened her eyes and looked at him holding Caroline in his lap, and her with Donut in hers. The man was so full of surprises. If only he could see how happy his daughter looked right now, just being herself, being with him, maybe he’d back off trying to make the child conform to his expectations. Polly grabbed her cell phone and captured the moment.
“Now you take one of Miss Bennett, Daddy,” Caroline urged.
“My hands are full. Besides, there’ll be time for pictures on Monday,” he said before he dropped a kiss on his daughter’s head, endured a lick from the dog in her arms, then met Polly’s gaze and smiled. “Miss Bennett is coming out for the barbecue with us, right, Miss Bennett?”