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

  “No,” she said out loud to herself. “You are not falling for someone right now. No matter how wonderful he is. A man isn’t in the plan. Don’t forget that.”

  She sighed and realized that if the heart wanted what the heart wanted, her head wasn’t going to have a lot to say about it. After flipping off the light, she turned over, wrapped herself around the dog and promptly fell asleep.

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  “Evil man,” she thought. Polly peered through her eyelashes as her door slipped open.

  "What is it?" she asked.

  Henry stepped in. "I was going to take Obiwan outside before the day got started. I didn't mean to wake you, but how are you feeling?"

  She turned over on her side and faced him, then rolled her neck around. "I'm doing fine, I think. What time is it?"

  "It's only five thirty. Go back to sleep. Come on Obiwan." Henry patted his leg and the dog stood up, then walked across Polly to jump down to the floor.

  "Erumph," she grunted. "You couldn't get on the floor and walk around, could you?"

  "I'll shut the door. You go ahead and take another nap."

  "What are you doing up so early anyway?" she asked.

  "It's when I get up. When we get back, I’ll be quiet, but I might make breakfast for you. See ya later."

  He walked out and shut the door. She heard him talking to Obiwan and then allowed herself to drift back to sleep.

  Polly's alarm on her phone rang and she reached for it, knocking it off the bedside table. When she bent over the bed to pick it up, she moaned. "Damn. That's going to hurt today!" She rubbed the back of her head and felt the knot. "It's good my hair is covering that thing or I'd spend all day explaining it," she mumbled to herself.

  Her phone told her it was six thirty and when the cats realized she was waking up, they jumped off the bed and headed to their perches on the cat tree, looking out at the moonlit sky. "One of these days, there will be daylight in the mornings again," she said. "That ought to make you kids happy." She sat up on the edge of her bed. Things were awfully quiet in the living room. Walking over to the door, she opened it and saw Henry at the dining room table with his laptop open.

  "Good morning," he said. "How are you doing?"

  "I have a headache and I'm a little grumpy. How are you?"

  "I'm certainly doing better than that! I've had a walk, a shower and a cup of coffee. How can I help you get started?"

  "Don't mind me. I'll take my grumpy self into the shower and see if that helps. Back in a bit."

  She shut the door and headed for the bathroom, making sure the outer door was shut. A scalding, hot shower seemed like a good idea. While she waited for the water to warm up, she opened the cabinet and pushed things around looking for ibuprofen.

  When Polly re-entered the living room, she smelled bacon. "You really are making breakfast! Thank you!"

  "The coffee is already poured and breakfast will be ready soon."

  "Can I do anything?"

  "I think I finally found everything. You sit down and drink your coffee."

  She did and took a sip of the hot coffee, "This is nice," she said. "Thank you."

  "It's too bad that it took you being hit on the head for me to make you breakfast."

  Polly looked up and said, "What?"

  "Wait. That didn't come out right. Sorry. Strike that."

  "What did you mean by that, though?"

  "Nothing. I was thinking about all the mornings you made breakfast around here and I'm glad I finally got a chance to return the favor. It was nothing more than that. I'm sorry." He started laughing. "Wow, walked right up to the cliff and kept going, didn't I!"

  Both cats had come out to the kitchen and were winding around his legs as he stood at the stove. "Are they going to cause me to fall on my face when I try to walk away?" he asked.

  She looked over at his feet. "They might. They want their breakfast." Polly went to the cupboard where the cat food was kept. She pulled out the tub and poured it into their dishes.

  "Thanks," he said.

  "Did you feed Obiwan yet?"

  "Look at him," Henry said. She turned and looked at Obiwan sitting under the end of the peninsula separating the kitchen from the dining room.

  "You're right. He'd be a panic-stricken mess if he hadn't gotten his breakfast after his walk. Thank you."

  "He's a good dog and by the way, he found where Elise was dragged across the creek. And guess what, you know that trap that he ran into down at the other end of the property?"

  "Yeah?" she said.

  "I wonder if the Sheriff knows that one of Elise's attackers probably ran into a trap up here. There's a mess over there and some blood. Obiwan found it this morning."

  Polly looked at the microwave for the time. "It's seven o'clock. You should call him."

  "Let me finish this and I will."

  He brought a plate filled with bacon and toast to the table, then went back and brought a dish filled with scrambled eggs. "Now, these are my grandma's scrambled eggs. I hope you like them."

  Polly murmured, "You dance, you build things, you kiss, you have a great car, and you cook? How are you not already married?"

  "What did you say?" he asked.

  "How are you not already married? You are perfect!"

  "You just keep thinking that. And I'm not already married because sometimes a guy spends an hour with a girl and discovers she's got nothing in her brain except wedding bells and babies. That stuff bores me to death."

  "I'm certainly not that girl," Polly commented.

  "No, you're not and you are definitely not boring. You've brought more entertainment to Bellingwood than it has seen in years."

  "I'd like to be a little more boring than that," she said.

  "Do you know that there is a pool at the grain elevator on you?"

  "WHAT?" she demanded.

  "That upsets you?"

  "What in the hell ... a pool ... about what?"

  "About when you'll find the next dead body around here."

  "No way," she said. "No. Way."

  "Well, yes way," he laughed. "No one saw Madeline Black's death coming, but there are some gruesome ideas over there."

  "Are you involved in this?"

  "Not me," he laughed. "I wouldn't get involved in anything quite so ... ummm ... despicable."

  "I don't believe you. What dead body do you have me finding?"

  "I'm not saying. But, when I win the pool, I'll take you out to dinner."

  Polly shook her head at him. "Rotten rat. You know, it's one thing to be famous for the good a person does, but to be infamous for being around dead bodies, that's not quite as much fun."

  Henry picked up his phone. "I'm going to call Aaron. Just a second." He walked into the living room and then wandered into the entryway. She could hear him pushing on the door frame as he spoke.

  Polly continued to eat her breakfast until he came back in and sat down. "Aaron’s team didn't get that far in the dark last night. He's got a team who will be over before eight o'clock, though. This kind of changes things. If one of them is hurt, it will probably slow them down a bit."

  "I hope they are found before they get too far. I'm so worried about her."

  "I know you are. She's going to be fine. I'm sure of it."

  They finished breakfast and he picked up the dishes to carry them into the kitchen. Polly said, "Leave the dishes. I'll clean things up tonight."

  "I can do them," he said.

  "No, really. I think we'd both rather get going with today and something as normal as washing dishes will be good for my evening."

  "So, no big wild date tonight?"

  Polly said, "I'm going to ignore that," and walked into the living room, picking up her tennis shoes before she sat down on the sofa. Henry had folded up the sheet and laid it on top of his pillow, the blankets were all folded and back in the basket and things on the coffee table were straightened up.

  "You're good at this whole cleaning thing, aren't yo
u," she laughed.

  "I suppose. Mom wasn't much for a messy house and now that I own her house, I can't bring myself to let it fall apart. I have a feeling that if she thought I wasn't keeping it clean, she'd make Dad drive back to Bellingwood just to yell at me."

  "Thank you for cleaning up," Polly said. "And thank you for staying last night. I'm sure I slept better knowing you were out here."

  "I wouldn't have been able to leave you. You scared me to death."

  She stood up again with her shoes on and tied and said, "I'm good. And thank you again." Polly stepped in close to him and reached her arms around him. He enveloped her and pulled her head against his chest. They stood there for a few moments, then she reached up for a kiss. "Thank you," she said.

  Another few moments in his arms and she broke away. "I suppose we should get to work."

  He stepped back. "It's going to be a busy couple of days. If you don't mind, I'm going to leave my things up here until later. I don't want to have to deal with them today."

  "No problem," she said. "Well, shall we?"

  She swung the door open, touched the frame and asked, "This won’t be a problem, will it?"

  "It will be fine for a few days. The cats will stay inside. Don't worry about it."

  "Okay. You're the boss."

  They went downstairs and Polly headed for her office. It was only seven thirty and Jeff hadn't yet arrived. In fact, the building was empty and things were quiet. She spun around in her chair and looked out the windows, watching as the giant orange ball in the east began rising over the community. Bruce and Hannah drove up to the entrance and Polly watched her kiss him goodbye and then get out and come in the front door. In moments, more vehicles pulled in. Jeff got out of his car and stopped to talk to Sam Terhune. They were laughing about something as they approached the front steps. Sylvie pulled in and Polly watched her open her trunk and pull bags of items out to bring inside. Jimmy Rio was right behind her and he quickly jumped out of his car to help her carry things.

  Polly smiled. She had a lot of good people in her life. She turned back to her desk and was startled to see Aaron Merritt standing in her doorway.

  "I didn't see you come in!" she said.

  "I snuck in the back door. We've been out searching through your back yard and into the creek. Henry and Obiwan made great find. It changes how we look for them. We're calling the local hospitals to see if anyone came in last night with wounds from a trap. If that doesn't turn anything up, we'll call drugstores. We'll find her."

  "I suppose it's too early to have heard from anyone in Chicago about what she might have seen?"

  Aaron smiled, "It's a little early. As soon as I know anything, I'll find you."

  "Thanks."

  "How are you doing this morning?"

  Polly rubbed her head. "This hurts, but I'm going to be fine."

  "Lydia was still up when I got home this morning. I think she worried all night about you."

  "I'm sorry. I didn't mean for that to happen."

  "It's good for her. She hasn't had anyone around to worry about since Jim left for college. Every once in a while I make him come home so she can fret over him instead; but he figured me out and doesn't fall for that trick unless I beg."

  Polly chuckled, "Does everyone know what happened last night?"

  "What do you think?" Aaron asked. "Of course they do. I'm sure you were the topic of conversation at breakfast all over town this morning."

  "Did you hear they had a pool at the grain elevator on me discovering dead bodies?"

  "Henry finally spilled the beans, did he? I told him you weren't going to be happy."

  "I don't even know them! Isn't that odd?"

  "But they know you. A lot of them were here for the Christmas party, more of them will be here for the barn raising. You know their wives from the slumber party and some of their daughters and sons are going to be having wedding receptions here this spring. These guys know you and they like you, Polly. It will take you time to get to know everyone, but don't worry, one of these days you will know seventy percent of this town by name and the rest by sight."

  "And then imagine what they're going to say about me!"

  "Have you considered staying away from dead bodies?"

  "Madeline Black is not on me. Your wife found her. I was only along for the ride."

  "See, the good news is that everyone is focused on you, Lydia gets away with it. I like it that way," he laughed.

  "Thanks a lot," Polly said.

  "Take care of yourself today. We're going to be outside and upstairs for a while. I'll find you when I've got more information."

  Doug and Billy were standing in the outer office and Aaron said, "Looks like you have a line waiting for you. Take care." He walked out and stopped to shake hands with the boys. Polly watched him put his hand on Billy's back and nod to Polly. She shook her head and waited for them to come in.

  "Hey Polly! Sheriff Merritt says we're supposed to move in with you."

  "I saw your girlfriend again last night," Polly said to Doug, attempting to deflect the conversation.

  "My who?" Doug asked.

  "Sarah. The EMT you were flirting with last fall."

  "Hey. That's not a bad idea. Why didn't I think of that?"

  "Because she's eight years older than you, dude." Billy laughed and poked his friend in the arm.

  "It wouldn't matter if we were meant to be together."

  "If you were meant to be together, she would have fallen for you rather than strap you onto a gurney," Billy remarked.

  "Okay, whatever. Polly, how are you feeling?"

  "I'm fine. It's a hard head. Are you working today?"

  "Yep, Jerry says it's an all-hands-on-deck day. But, we wanted to see if we could schedule a twenty-four hour game party next Friday and Saturday."

  "Twenty-four hours?"

  "The new Saturn Flight release hits on Wednesday and ..."

  Polly stopped him with her hand. "I don't want to know." She opened the calendar on her computer and said, "It doesn't look like there is anything going on next weekend. The auditorium is yours."

  "If we get the classrooms finished, can we use the computer room? It's perfect for gaming and we won't have to move things around."

  "Sure. I don't care where you play. I've put you on the calendar. The room is yours."

  "Thanks! What do we owe you?"

  She pursed her lips. "You pretty much have lifetime access whenever the room is available. Don't ask me that again, got it?"

  They did some fancy handshake, high-five, fist-bump thing with each other and Billy smiled and said, "Thanks, Polly. You're awesome."

  "Now, if we could move in here and out of our Mom's houses, we'd be a lot less lame," Doug said.

  Polly slowly nodded, "You would be, wouldn't you!"

  They left and Polly reached into a drawer and pulled the layout of the property back out. "It would be really good for them to move out of their parent's houses. It would be good for me to have a garage. It would be good for everyone if I could build more guest quarters." She opened the middle drawer of her desk and took out a pencil, then began drawing lines around the building. "Henry is going to kill me," she mused aloud.

  "Why am I going to kill you?"

  "People keep sneaking up on me this morning. How is that possible with all the windows in this place?"

  "Why am I going to kill you? And if you weren't so intent on what you were doing ..." he bent over her desk and saw what she was doing.

  "I'm not going to kill you, but aren't you ever going to be satisfied?"

  "Come here," she said. "Look at this."

  He pulled a chair up beside her and watched as she pointed things out on the map to him. "I don't have a garage. One of these days I'm going to own all of these things that need a garage and I don't want to be bringing them up and down from the basement."

  "You're going to have a barn, Polly."

  "But, I don't want to put my truck in a barn. I want to pu
t it in a garage. And I was thinking we could build an apartment over the garage. It could be a guest house or maybe Doug and Billy could rent it."

  "You really like those boys, don't you."

  "I do. They're fun to have around. Like little brothers I never had. On this other side we could build a matching structure with four more guest rooms, two upstairs and then two accessible apartments downstairs. I can't believe I didn't think about that until now. There are plenty of creative people who use wheelchairs instead of legs or need to have things more easily available to them. If we build those rooms on this side, all we have to do is build a covered walkway and put in automatic doors."

  "Are you ever going to be finished building here, Polly?" he asked, laughing.

  "Well, I was kind of thinking about talking to you about that."

  He sat back and lowered his eyelids at her, "About what?"

  "What do you think about going into partnership with me and renovating some of the old buildings around town?"

  "To what purpose exactly?"

  "Well, we can rent them out. We could sell them. Some of them are in such bad shape that no one sees their potential."

  "You've lived in this town less than a year and you've spent more time thinking about it than a lot of people who have lived here forever," he said.

  "Maybe it's because everything is new to me. People around here are used to seeing those empty dilapidated buildings and forget that they don't have to be that way."

  "You're probably right. Let's talk about this sometime when things aren't quite as busy."

  "I'm in no hurry. Barn first, then we talk about a garage and another building. This conversation can take place in several months. I'll still be here."

  "So will I," he said and pushed his chair back from the desk. "They're delivering the crane this morning, so I'm going to be outside. How are you doing?"

  "I'm fine," she replied. "And of all people, will you quit asking me that?"

  He started to reply, but she interrupted him, "I know you're worried. But, stop it. I'm fine."