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

  "Jeff and Henry are putting it together, so I think it will be crazy successful," Polly said. "Do you want to take care of the food for the day?"

  "Of course I do! Thank you." She paused, "Do you think your friend Bruce's wife would come over and help me again? We seemed to get along well and she's pretty good in the kitchen."

  Polly picked up her phone and punched some numbers into it, then smiled as Sylvie's phone buzzed. "There's her number. Give her a call and ask. You know that's your kitchen now, don't you?"

  "That kind of overwhelms me," Sylvie said quietly. "I can't believe you have this much faith in me."

  "Just say you won't leave me when you get your certification," Polly laughed. "I'm going to need you for a long time."

  "I won't leave you when I get my certification," Sylvie teased, "unless I get chosen to host a show on the Food Network. How's that?"

  "It’s great!" Polly laughed. "Have you told Lydia yet?"

  "No, I had to tell you first!" Sylvie exclaimed. "But, I should tell her, shouldn't I? I have to get ready for work! I've got to run!"

  Sylvie picked up her purse and leaped out of the seat. "I'll talk to you later!" she said as she left the building. Polly waved at her through the window of her office. One more thing had dropped into place. She was going to have a certified chef on staff at Sycamore House. Unbelievable.

  Henry and his crew were working in the final area they needed to complete inside the building, and it had become a big deal. The room was being split into four separate spaces. His temporary shop had resided here and it was finally time to make decisions about how it should be finished. That had been the original intention for the morning meeting, but they'd gotten sidetracked by a barn.

  Framing for the four rooms was in place and Doug and Billy were there to start the electrical work. Henry looked up from his workbench when Polly entered.

  "Have you finally decided what you want in here yet?" he asked. "The time is now."

  "Stop it," she chided. "You've got the plans in front of you. I'm not going to change anything today."

  "Well, you've been changing your mind since the day we started. Every other room in the place made sense to you, why did this one take so long?"

  "I don't know. I wanted it to be a little bit of everything, I guess. I think we've got a good plan in place now." Polly pointed to the back corner of the building. "A classroom with tables," then she pointed at the room just behind Henry, "a room with a dozen or so chairs for book clubs, bible studies, meetings, whatever," then she pointed at another room, "a computer room with study carrels, and this open space will just be a lounge. That all makes sense, doesn’t it?"

  "Good enough," he replied. "Windows into these two rooms, right? But nothing into the classroom."

  "Right," she said. "See, I told you. You know what's going on."

  "I know what's going on here, but what I don’t know is when I’m going to get you to go out with me again?"

  The sudden turn of conversation had Polly blushing. Their first date had happened several weeks ago and with the excitement of the holidays, they hadn't found another opportunity. It had been a dream of a first date; Henry had gone all out. When she expressed a desire to go slowly, he respected her wishes. The only problem was her friends. They already considered the two of them a couple and she was worried Lydia and Beryl would have her married to him by the end of the year. Polly gave a slight shake of the head as she thought about that possibility. It wasn't what she wanted at all. There was too much happening in her life to settle down into marriage.

  Henry interrupted her reverie, "The question wasn't that serious, Polly. Is there a reason it is taking so long for you to answer me?"

  "Oh!" she laughed, "I'm sorry! Uh, well, uh. My mind wandered," she said as her voice trailed off. This time she blushed from embarrassment.

  "Me asking you if you will go out with me again caused your mind to wander?" Henry looked down at the workbench and shook his head. He braced his hands on the edge, then looked up again. "That doesn't give a man much confidence, you know."

  "Okay," she said. "I apologize. Here's the deal. Lydia and Beryl already have us married with children. I'm not ready for that."

  "What!" Henry's laugh carried an edge of panic. "I'm not ready for that either. I only wanted to go out for dinner and a movie."

  Polly snorted back a laugh. "You're right. I'm letting them get to me. So, let me take you out, then."

  "Am I supposed to be a twenty-first century man and tell you that’s a great idea?" he asked.

  "If you aren’t courting me for marriage," Polly paused and looked at him through her eyelashes, "then I believe we can forego standard dating traditions and be comfortable with either of us making plans and paying for the evening. Don't you?" The look on her face dared him to disagree.

  "Fine," he huffed. "You can take me out. I'm not a cheap date though. I want a nice dinner and you have to buy me popcorn at the movie. We aren't splitting a small one either. I want my own."

  "It's a deal," she said. "Friday night?"

  "Friday night," he replied, "It's a date."

  "She hasn't taken us out for our date yet," came a voice from behind her. Polly turned around to see Doug Randall and Billy Endicott standing there with silly grins on their faces.

  Doug continued, "She promised us steak. Have you had steak yet, Billy?"

  "Nope. No steak," Billy sighed. "I think she was just teasing us."

  "Every man in my life wants something from me! Dates, steaks, and what do you want from me?" she whirled on Jeff as he joined the group.

  "Ack! What?" he said. “I'm almost afraid to ask!"

  "If it's a date for Friday night, she's already busy," Doug said. "With him," and he pointed to Henry.

  "She's not my type," laughed Jeff. "And she's my boss. No dating allowed, you know."

  "What did you need, Jeff?" Polly giggled. She was continually surprised at how much fun life was since she'd moved back to Iowa and started building a life here.

  “Whoops, I guess I do want a date. Can I set the date for the barn raising?" he asked.

  "Don't be surprised if you do and we have a blizzard that day. Iowa is mean that way," Henry said.

  Polly put her hand up to stop Henry's words. "Don't listen to him. Iowa loves me. Set the date."

  She walked out into the hall with Jeff and smiled at Jerry Allen, her electrician, as he walked past her.

  "I spoke with Sylvie about cooking. She agreed and is calling Hannah McKenzie to assist her."

  "I'll coordinate with her." Jeff shook his head, then said, "I forgot to tell you. There's another guest coming in two weeks. You're going to want to get those other two rooms finished."

  Polly stopped walking, took a deep breath and said, "Well, that did it. Now, I'm feeling overwhelmed. Is there anything else I need to know about?"

  "Polly, it's only ..." he looked at the clock on his phone, "Nine o’clock in the morning. There's going to be a lot more you need to know about today."

  She punched him lightly in the arm. "Thanks for all your support. I'm going upstairs to get the laundry, clean the bathrooms and spend some time divining how to decorate those other two rooms.”

  Polly was on the fourth step when the front door opened and Lydia Merritt walked in. She was the first person to welcome Polly to Bellingwood, and had quickly become one of Polly's closest friends. She was quick-witted and as Polly soon discovered, a passionate mama bear when it came to her friends, her family and random small children. She and her husband, Aaron, the Sheriff, had raised five of their own kids to adulthood. Her love for people extended in triple measure to any child she came in contact with.

  She saw Polly on the steps and said, "Isn't Sylvie's news great?"

  "It is! I'm so glad you encouraged her. Come on upstairs. I need your advice on decorating these last two rooms."

  CHAPTER TWO

  Polly woke up the next morning as she had every morning since Brad and Lee Geise gave her two k
ittens ... warm. Her German Shepherd Labrador mix, Obiwan, continued to get bigger and bigger, and was sprawled out next to her on the bed. For some reason, Luke crawled under the blankets and slept at her feet, while Leia chose to find a warm spot between Polly and the dog. She had discovered that turning the thermostat down two more degrees at night meant she slept much better. The kittens had also introduced Polly to very early morning hours, begging her to feed them.

  She wasn't looking forward to this morning's run. It was only eight degrees outside and she heard the wind whistling around the building. Polly snuggled deeper into the blankets, hoping the cats wouldn't wake up, but apparently they already sensed her wakefulness and began meowing in her face from both sides of her head.

  "All right! I'll get up, but I'm not going to like it," she announced to the room and looked at the clock. "You're fifteen minutes early this morning, the heat hasn't even come up yet." She picked Luke up and held him over her head. "You're gonna be lonely for a day, buddy. Little girl has surgery this morning. Do you think you can live without her for a while?" Polly brought him down and nuzzled his face, then set him on her chest while doing the same exercise with Leia. "You're not going to like today either, but it has to be done."

  Then, she said conspiratorially, "and Dr. Ogden is a hottie. So, you be good while I flirt with him." Obiwan lifted his head, harrumphed and dropped back down on the pillow beside her.

  "Now, don't give me that attitude," she said to him as she put Leia back down between them. "I am not in a relationship with Henry and I reserve the right to look at gorgeous men and appreciate their finer attributes." Obiwan grunted in acknowledgment.

  "Exactly," she said. "Don't be giving me any sass. I'm not about to become anyone's wife for a very long time." Her dog shut his eyes and began to snore.

  Polly pulled the blankets back and shivered. "You keep my bed warm, but getting up before the rest of the place heats up is painful!" she complained.

  The cats stood beside each other and watched as she pulled her robe on over her pajamas. She picked them both up and walked through the living room to the kitchen where she put them on the floor. Luke began weaving through her ankles, rubbing his face on her toes and flopping his body on the floor in front of her as she reached into the cupboard for the container of cat food. Leia walked over to the dish and sat down beside it, cleaning herself.

  "Darn." Polly said, pulling her hand back from the cupboard, "I'm sorry boys. I can't put food down for you until after I get Leia to the doctor." She walked out of the kitchen with both cats following her.

  “Luke, you’re lucky the Giese’s neutered you before bringing you to me. It’s all a distant memory.” Little boy kittens needed to be neutered early so they didn’t become tom cats. Luke recognized immediately that he wasn't getting fed and started loudly meowing.

  "I know, I know ... it's hell," Polly agreed. "But, I'm pretty sure you'll live." She bent over and scooped him up as she walked back into the bedroom. "Get up, big guy," she said to Obiwan. "It's time to get your lazy butt out of bed. I'm going to pull on enough clothes to make me look like Nanook and you're going to make sure you hurry. Got it?"

  Polly put layers of clothes on, ending with a jacket, gloves, hat and scarf. She caught a whiff of perfume as she wrapped the scarf around her neck. It was a Christmas gift from Andy and smelled just like her. Obiwan watched from the entryway of her apartment as she finished getting dressed. When she picked up the leash, he stood on his back legs, looking for a place to land his front paws on her chest. Polly backed up and said, "No. Down," and pointed at the floor.

  He dropped to the floor and looked up at her, his tongue hanging out to one side. Polly snapped the leash on his collar, opened the door and the two trotted down the steps and out the front door. Her automatic front lights and the street lights were all that were shining since it was so early and Polly pulled out the flashlight she kept in her jacket pocket as she guided Obiwan to the side of the building. There had been a few light snowfalls and her dog was much happier playing in the cold and snow than she was. After ten minutes of walking and stopping, Polly was ready to turn around. Obiwan looked at her, his big soulful eyes pleading for more.

  "I'm sorry, buddy. It's cold out here and that wind is killing me!" She turned around to head back home. Obiwan followed, but not with the same excitement he'd begun the morning’s excursion. They got back to the apartment and he went into the kitchen, expecting her to follow.

  "Not until after I drop little girl off, buddy." Polly said. "I don't want her trying to eat your food." Obiwan sat down beside his dish and when she didn't follow him, began pushing it with his nose across the floor.

  "I know, I know," she said, "Patience isn't something you're used to exercising this early in the morning. But, I promise. It won't be too long. I'll come right back and get both of my boys taken care of."

  He cocked his head to one side as if he was listening to her, but he continued to nose his dish at her. "Well, this is new!" she exclaimed, "and kind of cute, but it won't do any good." Polly up picked the dish and set it on the counter.

  "I'm taking a shower," she announced. "Will you be good while I'm gone?"

  Polly peeked around the corner into the living room when she came out of the shower. Sure enough, she had made her animals angry. The cats were both on the kitchen counters and Obiwan had managed to knock his food dish off the counter onto the floor. He had tipped it upside down and pushed it into the water dish, spreading water across the floor. She couldn't see any other destruction, but let out a loud "Hey!"

  Two cats jumped to the floor and ran over to her, refusing to admit they'd been involved in any wrongdoing and the dog pushed the food dish out of the water dish, creating more of a mess.

  "Obiwan. Come," Polly said in the sternest voice she could muster. He looked sideways at her, considered ignoring the command, but found he couldn't. He walked across the living room, his wet feet leaving marks on the hard wood floor.

  "That's a good boy," she affirmed when he got to her. "Now all of you. In the bedroom while I get dressed." Polly took hold of Obiwan's collar and guided him into the bedroom, while scooting the kittens along with her feet. She closed the door behind her and looked at her audience.

  "I'm sorry to disrupt your morning schedule," she said. "But, I promise it will be only for today and then we'll get back to normal." Polly reached over and scratched Obiwan behind the ears. "Sometimes you have to give things up to take care of the girls in your life, got it?"

  Polly was thankful the veterinarian's office opened at seven. They had told her to come in any time between then and eight o'clock. She picked her phone up off the bedside table and looked at the time. 6:30. Gah! In a town the size of Bellingwood it would take exactly three minutes to get there.

  Sitting on the edge of the bed to tie her shoes, she said, "I'm locking you boys in my bedroom. This is the most animal-proofed room I have, but I expect you to be good while I'm gone. Promise?" She picked up both kittens and flopped backwards onto her bed. Obiwan jumped up and sat beside her. "Normal schedules are what we appreciate, right? I swear I'll try to do better next time."

  She closed her eyes and thought through her day. There wasn't much to do this morning. Elise Myers, her only guest didn't want anything for breakfast other than coffee and there were still bagels downstairs. The rest of the morning didn't hold anything interesting, but Lydia was picking her up after her church meeting to drive to Iowa Falls to see a bedroom set that, from its description, would be perfect in one of the guest apartments. If it was what she hoped, there would be one less room to worry about.

  Polly looked at the clock one more time. 6:45. Fine. She was leaving. She and Leia would sit in the truck and wait for the office to open, but waiting here was going to make her crazy. Pulling her outerwear back on, she picked Leia up in a blanket, shut the door to the bedroom, shoved her phone in the back pocket of her jeans, picked up her keys and walked out to her truck.

  It was cold
enough the truck seemed to whimper in protest as she started it. Leia hadn't been out of the house since the Geise's brought her to Polly and began clawing at the blanket trying to escape. "See, I'm not so dumb," Polly whispered. "You'll be fine. Just stay where it's warm and before you know it, everything will be back to normal." They sat in the parking lot for a few minutes while the truck warmed up.

  She saw lights on in Dr. Ogden’s office, but the reception area was still dark, so she continued to hold tightly to her little girl. "I know you don't understand what is going on, Leia, and I'm fairly certain you won't be happy for a few days after this, but someday you will have forgotten all about it and I won’t have to worry about more kittens at my house."

  Marnie Evans unlocked the front door and waved for Polly to come on in as she flipped on the lights. Polly jumped out of the truck, cat package in hand, and went inside.

  "I can take her from here," Marnie said.

  Polly looked around. She was looking forward to talking with Mark Ogden.

  "The doc isn't in yet. He won’t get here this morning until about seven thirty," Marnie smiled and reached for the blanket containing Leia. "Do you want to leave the blanket for her?"

  "Sure," Polly said, "When should I pick her up?"

  "You could probably take her home tonight, but maybe with Obiwan and Luke in the same house, she should rest here overnight?" Marnie trapped the squirming kitten under her left arm. "If you came by after ten tomorrow, she'd be ready to go home."

  "Thanks," Polly said. "I'll see you then." She reached out and scratched Leia's ears and turned around to leave. Looking back, she watched Marnie walk away with her kitty and headed on out to her truck.

  "Well, phooey. I had myself all worked up to see Dr. Hottie and he isn't even here," she said to herself as she pulled out of the lot and drove home. It was time to feed a couple of not-so-patient animals and get her day started.

  Polly was in her office later that morning when Lydia came in, dropped into a chair and said, "Polly, I don't think I realized you were such a geek."