Joy in the Journey Read online

  Joy in the

  Journey

  DIANE GREENWOOD MUIR

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, brands, media, and incidents are either the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. The author acknowledges the trademarked status and trademark owners of various products referenced in this work of fiction, which have been used without permission. The publication / use of these trademarks is not authorized, associated with, or sponsored by the trademark owners.

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the publisher, except by a reviewer, who may quote brief passages in a review.

  Cover Design Photography: Maxim M. Muir

  Copyright © 2019 Diane Greenwood Muir

  All rights reserved.

  CONTENTS

  CHAPTER ONE

  CHAPTER TWO

  CHAPTER THREE

  CHAPTER FOUR

  CHAPTER FIVE

  CHAPTER SIX

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  CHAPTER NINE

  CHAPTER TEN

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  CHAPTER TWENTY

  CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

  CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

  CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

  THANK YOU!

  CHAPTER ONE

  Lucy refilled Polly's coffee and allowed the carafe she held to hover over Henry's mug.

  "Henry," Polly whispered.

  He gave his head a quick shake. "What?" Looking up, he grinned at Lucy. "Sorry. Yes, please."

  "Is there anything else I can get for you while you wait?" she asked them.

  Polly looked at Henry, trying not to plead with her eyes.

  "Just a few more minutes," he said. "Will you live that long?"

  She nodded at him. "I won't starve if I only have to wait a few more minutes. But Lucy," she said with a grin, "make sure Joe is ready to drop my tenderloin. And fries. I'm ready for fries."

  Lucy chuckled. "We’ve missed you, too. It’s been a while since you were in here."

  "These last few months have been nuts," Polly said. "In a really good way, but with Cassidy in my world, I don't have free time to wander off. I need a tenderloin."

  "Where is she today?" Lucy asked. "I thought I'd get to see her."

  "With Marie and Molly," Polly replied.

  "Bill said that virus really took Marie down," Lucy said. "How is she?"

  Marie had caught what was going around in January and it took three weeks for her to feel like she could be with people again. The poor woman fretted more about where Jessie Locke’s daughter, Molly, would go than her own health. That meant Polly took care of both girls when Molly wasn’t at pre-school.

  While that had curtailed Polly's life outside the house, it gave Cassidy and Molly an opportunity to learn how to play together. By the end of the third week, they discovered ways to communicate when Cassidy wouldn't speak. Now Polly made sure the two girls played together at least once a week.

  Molly turned four years old on Valentine’s Day with a nice celebration at Jessie's apartment. At nearly a year younger than Cassidy, the two wouldn't be in school together. Polly tried not to worry about her daughter finding more friends, but she couldn't help it. Cassidy had been with them four months and there were days she couldn’t handle the family, much less friends.

  "Go ahead and order," Henry said. "I don't know where he is."

  Polly peered at him.

  "Did you leave me again?" he asked with a smile. "I was telling Lucy about how sick Mom was and what a good and wonderful daughter-in-law you were."

  "I was thinking about Cassidy and Molly. Sorry. You're sure? I was just being impatient. Have you tried calling him?"

  Henry looked up at Lucy. "I'll have the patty melt and onion rings." He stood. "Let me step outside and try his phone one more time."

  As he headed for the front door, Lucy slid into his seat. "How do you like having a toddler around the house?"

  Polly closed her eyes and sighed. "It's the best and worst thing that's ever happened to me." Then she chuckled. "Honestly, I could say that about every single one of my children."

  "Is she speaking full sentences yet?"

  "No," Polly said, shaking her head. "Not really. We can tell that she wants to, but the poor little thing has been through so much that her fears overwhelm her. She wants to be near me all the time. It isn't because she loves me, it's because she is terrified that I will leave her."

  "You don't think she loves you?"

  Polly winced. "Sorry, that isn’t what I mean. In her way, she does." She chuckled. "It's more like a cat versus a dog. Cassidy is a cat. Everything startles and frightens her. She wants to be near you on her terms. She’s prickly and can lash out with no obvious reason. But she's always there, waiting for you to pay attention to her so she can choose whether or not to acknowledge you."

  Lucy stood back up and Polly smiled at Henry, who was coming back to the table.

  "Go ahead," he said, pointing to his chair.

  Lucy laughed. "I have to get back to work. Tenderloin and fries for you, Polly. Right?"

  Polly nodded. "Thanks."

  "He's not answering his phone," Henry said after Lucy left. "That really surprises me. He seemed like such a good candidate for the job. I was ready to offer it to him."

  "So why did you want the two of us to meet?"

  He took her hand. "Because you read people better than anyone I know. When I hire someone to supervise my crews, I want to make sure that he …"

  Polly tapped the top of his hand. "Or she."

  "Yeah, you're right. Anyway, I want to make sure that individual passes muster with the best recruiter I know. It's taken three months to find a single person that felt like a good fit. He's met Ben and Leroy and Jimmy and Sam."

  "Heath, too?"

  "And Heath. They all like him okay. Before I finalized an agreement, I wanted you to meet him. This is disappointing."

  "I hope everything is okay," Polly said.

  "Me too. I spoke with him last night and he planned to be here. I'm so sorry."

  She frowned. "Why? You didn't do this. If he has a problem handling commitment, it's better to find out now rather than later when your customers are angry and call because he didn't take care of something on time."

  "It was just such perfect timing," Henry said, shaking his head. "I saw a light at the end of that long tunnel."

  "No going to the light," Polly teased. "Surely some of your other guys can step up. Why aren't you talking to Jimmy or Sam about taking on bigger roles?"

  Jimmy Rio and Sam Terhune had worked for Henry as long as she'd known him. They were young but seemed to know the business well.

  "I did. The thing is, they know what the job requires, and I don't think they're ready. Maybe Jimmy could do it in a couple of years, but he's not much of a go-getter. He likes working, he likes the guys, but he also likes having freedom to punch a clock and be done at the end of the day."

  "Not a Type-A kind of a guy," Polly said with a smile.

  "Nope and honestly, I'm thankful that he sees that. He's such a good worker, I'd hate to lose him."

  "And Sam?"

  Henry shrugged. "He isn't sure he'l
l even be in Bellingwood next year. He's dating a girl from up by Fort Dodge and if they get married, he'll move. Anybody would be lucky to get him. If he stays, I'll talk to him again, but I'm not counting on it."

  She squeezed his hand. "I'm sorry."

  "Me too."

  "Hopefully you'll find out he had a really good reason to not be here today and everything will make sense. I can find another time to meet him. And besides, this just gives us a chance to enjoy lunch alone together."

  He smiled at her. "That doesn't happen often enough."

  "Next week is spring break."

  Henry's eyes lit up. "At Iowa State?"

  "And Boone and Bellingwood."

  "They're all happening in the same week?"

  She laughed out loud. "I couldn't believe it myself. You know what that means, don't you?"

  "Uhhh, insanity in great measure?"

  "Maybe," she replied with nod. "But even more important. Cat, Hayden, and Rebecca will be around to help with the kids for an entire week."

  "A little freedom from your small attachment?"

  "Just a little. I've already talked to Rebecca about being available. She was making plans with her friends and I begged for some attention."

  "You shouldn't have to beg."

  "It’s her spring break and I want her to have fun. Stephanie wants to take the girls to Omaha and Cilla is trying to talk her brother into driving them to Des Moines to go shopping."

  "He went for that?"

  Polly shook her head. "Nope, but you know Cilla. She'll come up with something. I wouldn't put it past those girls to hire one of their older friends to drive them down. Oh, Henry, Rebecca gets her driver's license in May. I’ll never see her again."

  "Let's not think about those awful days we face in the not too distant future," he said. "Food's here."

  She smiled up at Lucy.

  "You're sharing the fries and onion rings, right?" Lucy asked.

  When Polly nodded, Henry chuckled.

  "Like I have a choice."

  "I had Joe put them together on this plate. I thought I knew your wife well enough to know how this would go."

  Polly pushed at his arm. "That is why you ordered onion rings, isn't it?"

  "Yes," he said patiently. "I know my wife, too."

  Lucy chuckled. "This is why I love my customers."

  "How's Greg?" Henry asked as he shifted things around on the table to make room for their plates.

  The question brought a smile to Lucy's face. "He's wonderful. I've written a note to your father, but that rolling table for Greg's computer is such a help. I can't believe Bill figured out how to make its brakes easy for Greg to manipulate." She shook her head slowly, smiling through tears. "It's almost like things are normal at our house. I have actual conversations with my husband. We're so thankful for what the people in this town have done. Every once in a while, Greg feels like he's too much of a burden on you all, but I remind him that he'd do the same thing for any of his friends. It's hard for him to take anything that smells of charity."

  "It sure made Dad feel good to know that he could make your lives easier," Henry said. "Sometimes it's hard to know what to do for someone you care about."

  Polly nudged his leg under the table and he frowned at her. She grinned back.

  "What's that?" Lucy asked.

  "I think she's not-so-gently reminding me that I'm not terribly charitable about taking help from others when I need it."

  "We forget how interconnected we should be," Lucy said softly. "Anyway, what your father did means the world to us." She left the table before Henry could respond.

  "I didn't know about that," Polly said quietly.

  "What's so weird is that it was easy for Dad to design and make. He heard some of Greg's friends talking about finding a good table for him and all it took was a weekend and a few pieces of lumber."

  Polly picked up a French fry and sat back in her chair. "It has to be easier than this to figure out how to bring people together."

  "What do you mean?"

  "I don't know what I mean. If your dad hadn't been part of a random conversation, he would never have known that Greg needed that table. None of the other men who were discussing the problem even considered asking Bill if he could make something like that. Why is it always so hard?"

  "Stop thinking about it," Henry said with a laugh. He pointed his fork at her tenderloin. "Eat your lunch. You don't need to muddle your brain trying to solve the problems of the world today. We're here without children. Let's just enjoy each other."

  "That's asking a lot of me, you know."

  "What are your plans for the rest of the afternoon?"

  "I don't know. Do you have something you want me to do?"

  "Wanna hang out with me?"

  She’d managed to get a big bite of pork tenderloin into her mouth and laughed as she tried to chew it and swallow.

  "I'll wait. Go slow. I don't want you to choke."

  Polly was still laughing by the time she had it down. She wiped her lips clean. "Sure. I'd love to hang out with you. What are we doing?"

  "I have to run out to Alden's Corner to check on the salon bay. Ben called last night and wants me to look at the plumbing lines they put in. He thinks they're going to need to move things around according to the new owner's plans. Then I thought we could run up to the B&B site. The foundation is going to be poured this week."

  "Then yes, I'd love to go with you," Polly said.

  Alden's Corner was the small strip mall that Henry had built on the edge of Bellingwood. A woman had intended to put a salon into one of the bays. Just about the time they were ready to start build-out, the deal fell through, leaving one end of the strip unoccupied. Three weeks ago, Mina Dendrade had taken possession of the bay and Henry's crews were back on task to finish before the end of April.

  Mina had a small salon in downtown Bellingwood, but with Nan Stallings' marketing help, her business had grown and she needed a bigger space. This move promised to be exciting for her team.

  Polly liked the young woman a lot, and was thrilled when she hired a stylist who knew something about caring for a black child's hair. Mina was the first person in Bellingwood to recognize that this was going to be a need going forward. Joss Mikkels was thrilled to have local help for Sophie and Cooper, and Polly was grateful that her boys and Cassidy had woman who doted on small children and knew just how to care for their hair. The boys thought Nonni Wellman, a woman in her mid-thirties, was just the best-ever.

  Because she was young and hip, as Rebecca said, Nonni had also become a hit with the high school kids in town. Mina was going to be a success out on the highway and planned to continue bringing in top notch talent.

  Nan was excited, too. She worked part-time for Alistair Greyson as his practice slowly grew. Nan had never expected to be anything other than his administrative assistant with a little marketing work on the side, but that had all changed. Grey was very happy working out of the lower level of his house, and there was room down there to add more office space. They'd spoken with Henry about building out another office for Nan with a central space that could be used as a waiting room for both businesses. That meant they'd have to hire another receptionist / assistant, but it was a problem the two were glad to have.

  Polly still didn't know what was going to happen with the relationship between those two and she knew that it was none of her business. They needed each other and that was all that mattered.

  "Henry Sturtz and Polly Giller. I don't get to see you often enough. How are you?"

  They looked up to see Simon Gardner and a pleasantly attractive woman standing beside them.

  Henry stood up and shook Simon's hand. He hesitated, and Simon jerked in surprise.

  "You haven't met Elaine yet?"

  Henry frowned and shook his head but put his hand out.

  She took it and smiled. "Elaine Borden. You know my daughter, Lillybeth Anderson. I will be your neighbor before the year is out."

&n
bsp; "Oh," Henry said, shaking himself into awareness. "Of course. Polly, the Andersons are building the home around the corner from ours."

  Polly smiled and nodded, then stood as Simon came around the table to give her a hug. "It's nice to meet you, Mrs. Borden."

  "I look forward to getting to know your family," the woman said.

  "There are a lot of us," Polly replied. "The kids can't wait to see the house go up. We're having trouble keeping them off the land. They want to explore. Now that the basement has been poured, they’re fascinated as they try to figure out what it will look like."

  "This is the first time I've been part of new home construction," Elaine said. "It's very exciting." She pointed at the table where Lucy had set their menus. "We should let these people finish their lunch, Simon. It was so good to meet you."

  Polly and Henry sat back down as the couple made their way to their table.

  "You don't think," Henry whispered.

  Lucy bent over and whispered. "You should think exactly that."

  Polly held back a snort as she laughed. "Really?"

  Lucy shrugged and walked to another table.

  "Simon has a girlfriend?" Polly said in quiet tones to Henry. "That's exciting." She touched her arms. "It makes me shiver with joy. He is such a good man. He deserves this."

  "Everyone deserves happiness," Henry replied. He took a deep breath and sat back. "Too much food."

  "And here I was going to talk you into ice cream."

  "You have to be kidding me. I can't eat another thing."

  "Oh, come on. There's always room for ice cream. How about an ice cream sandwich on the way up to the B&B?"

  A new convenience store had been built in the parking lot at Alden's Corner. With all its amenities it was killing the business at the small convenience store they usually frequented. The big kitchen and the flashy layout were big draws and sucked Polly in regularly. She couldn't help herself. It was just so easy to find things in there and driving up to those gas pumps was much simpler with her big Suburban. There were rumors the small shop in town was going to close and rebuild on the other end of town.

  Change just kept happening around her.