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

  Polly nodded and followed him down the steps. When they reached the main floor, he pressed the sheets into her arms and said, "She's in a good place and is going to be fine. Don't worry about her. You might hear from her someday; she thought you were pretty special."

  "Thanks Don. I appreciate it."

  He left and Polly went back to drop the linens in the washing machine. She was surprised to see Sylvie pulled up to the prep table with her laptop. "What are you doing here today?"

  "I don't have class today, so I thought I would hang out and get some work done. And I had a craving for pizza. The machine is mixing dough and that's what we're having for lunch. I noticed it was one of the approved meals for your guest upstairs and I figured guys always love the stuff."

  "I had a craving for pizza, too!” Polly said. “But, my frozen pizza will be nothing like yours, I’m sure.”

  "I got a weird phone call from my friend Amy last night," Sylvie said as she followed Polly into the storage and laundry room.

  "What do you mean?"

  "Because her brother is such an ass, her mom's mail is being forwarded out to her in California. She got a bill from a farm up by Stanhope for feed. She asked if I would go check it out. Do you want to take a ride with me after lunch?"

  "Sure. Some guy was supposed to show up at ten this morning to start a job as a custodian but apparently, he had something going on today."

  "Who was that?"

  "Shawn Wesley. Pastor Boehm gave me his name. In fact, he brought the guy over for the interview. Do you know him?"

  "Not very well. What are you going to do?"

  "I've left a message for him to call me. I'll give him the benefit of the doubt today. Who knows what might have happened, but if I don't hear from him ... well, crap. I don't want to deal with this."

  "I know. Sometimes being an employer sucks."

  Everyone seemed to enjoy lunch and since Polly still hadn't heard from her errant employee, she and Sylvie left for Stanhope. Sylvie had programmed the address into a handheld GPS and Polly watched it as she drove into town and then turned back west and out into the country. The directions led them to a farm and when Sylvie pulled in, Polly rolled her eyes.

  "Front or back door?" she asked.

  Sylvie laughed. "We'll try the front door. That back stoop looks a little iffy."

  Before they got to the door, though, a man came out of a barn. "Can I help you?" he asked.

  Sylvie put her hand out and said, "Hi, I'm Sylvie Donovan, a friend of Amy Hiller. She is Dean and Madeline Black's daughter. She got a bill from you yesterday and since she lives in California, asked if I could drive out here and find out what it was all about? She said it was for feed."

  "I take care of her dad's horses,” he said gruffly, “and I can't afford to feed them on my own. When he died, his wife didn’t want to sell them, so she asked me to keep them and I agreed as long as she paid for me to feed them."

  "Horses?" Sylvie looked at Polly in confusion. "Amy and Laurence don't know their parents owned horses, I can guarantee that."

  She said to the man, "Can we see them?"

  "They're out back here. They might not look so good, you know, winter and all."

  They followed him to a gate and then behind a barn. Four black draft horses were standing there and Polly could tell immediately that these animals were in trouble. She could see their ribs and though she didn't know much about horses, she recognized that their eyes were dull and their coats weren't much better.

  Sylvie stopped before she stepped in a pile of manure and said, "How long have they been like this?"

  "I don't know. But, if I don't get money soon, I'm going to have to get rid of them. I can't afford to keep them."

  Polly pulled Sylvie back and said, "I need to make a call."

  Sylvie said, "I will get hold of Amy and deal with this immediately. Thanks for speaking with us."

  The two hurried back to the car and as soon as she had pulled her door shut, Polly dialed. "Mark?"

  "Hi, Polly. What’s up?"

  "Mark, I need your help. We just found out what Madeline Black wanted people to take care of. Her husband owned horses and a guy outside of Stanhope was taking care of them ... badly. Mark, these horses are in trouble. Can you get up here?"

  "Calm down, Polly. Are you sure?"

  "They're living in filth. Their coats aren't very pretty. They're draft horses and are way too skinny. I can see their ribs! There are patches of hair missing on one of the horse’s shoulders and another was limping when he walked."

  "Okay, Polly. Tell me where you are. I'm not that far from Stanhope right now. I can be there in fifteen minutes."

  "Why don't we meet you at that new community center and drive you out here."

  "I'm on my way."

  "Did you hear that?" she asked Sylvie.

  "Sometimes you know just the right person to call," Sylvie said.

  "Well, speaking of the right person. I noticed the two of you dancing together several times the other night."

  "He is gorgeous, isn't he? And what a dancer! But we were only dancing. The last thing I need in my life right now is a man. Good heavens, I'm finally figuring out my life. I don't need a guy messing that up."

  Polly laughed. "They certainly can do that. But, he is hot."

  Sylvie fanned herself. "So hot."

  They pulled into a parking space and waited. Mark pulled up beside them in his truck and got out. "You two are much prettier than those stupid sheep. If you'll guide me out to this place, you don't need to worry any more. I'll take care of it from here."

  He got back in his truck and followed Sylvie as she retraced her steps. They stopped in front of the driveway and Polly pointed. Mark waved them on and they went back to Sycamore House.

  On the way, she called Lydia. “You aren’t going to believe it, but Sylvie and I have solved your mystery!”

  “What mystery?” Lydia started, then said, “You mean the note?”

  “It’s horses, Lydia! Four horses. Madeline had been paying a farmer to feed and care for these horses that Dean had bought.”

  Polly told her about Amy’s request of Sylvie and the terrible shape the horses had been in.

  “Mark is there now. I don’t know what is going to happen next, though,” Polly said.

  “Polly, thank you!” Lydia said. “You kept my promise for me!”

  “I just wanted you to know. I’ll talk to you later.”

  “Thank you! I love you!”

  “Love you too, Lydia.”

  Polly hung up as they drove into her lot and parked.

  Jeff met Polly at the front door. "Your custodian showed up ten minutes ago. He's in the conference room."

  "Great," she spat. "Just great."

  She stalked in through the outer office, tossing her jacket on the desk and opened the door to the conference room. Shawn Wesley was sitting with his back to the door, but spun around when he heard the door open.

  "Miss Giller," he said.

  "Yes, Mr. Wesley," and she stood there, waiting for him to say something.

  "I, uh. I didn't make it into work this morning."

  "No you didn't. So, tell me. Do you want this job or not?"

  "I want the job, but I had something going on this morning."

  "You seem to have a lot going on. It occurs to me that for a man who has been out of work for six months, you don't seem to be in a hurry to establish a good relationship with a new employer."

  "I had a good reason."

  "Mr. Wesley, you didn't bother to call me and you didn't bother to return my call. You show up four hours late and you expect me to believe you had a good reason?"

  "Well, I did."

  "Because Pastor Boehm asked me to interview you, I will give you one last chance. If you aren't here on time tomorrow morning, I'm finished. Figure it out, Mr. Wesley."

  She turned around and left the room, walked into her office and closed the door, then watched as he left the building, slouched
into his coat. She was burning with fury and decided she needed to calm down before she saw anyone else.

  Her phone rang and she saw that it was Mark, "Hey Mark, was I right?"

  "You were absolutely right and I have a huge favor to ask of you. How's that barn coming along?"

  "They're about three fourths done with the roof, why? Oh!" she said. "You want to bring those poor horses here, don't you?"

  "Maybe. You're close to my office and you have plenty of space. We could get an electric fence up in a day. What do you think?"

  "Mark, could these be my horses?"

  "Well, there are some logistics we’d have to figure out and their rehabilitation is going to be a lot of work. Are you sure you're up for that?"

  "Well, if I could get a stinkin' custodian, I'd be up for it."

  "A what?"

  "Never mind. Just a little problem I need manage here. You know I've never had horses before, do you think I can do this?"

  "From what I've seen, Polly, you can do about anything you set your mind to. If you want four beautiful animals, they're going to be a lot of work, but that doesn't scare you, does it?"

  "No, it really doesn't. You aren't going to dump them on me and leave, are you?"

  He laughed out loud. "No, I will be around a lot. These are beautiful animals and I think you all will be very happy together."

  Polly's stomach was turning upside down with excitement. "Who owns them and what do I have to do?"

  "Don't do anything yet. I'm going back out with feed this afternoon and I've called a buddy of mine who is going to come over and string up the electric fence for you in the morning. We'll get those stalls ready tonight and then bring in hay tomorrow. Right now you're only fostering the horses until everything else settles down, okay?"

  "Okay. What's my next step?"

  "You might want to tell Henry what’s going on. He's going to have four more warm blooded animals in his way while he finishes that barn."

  "I'm going to have horses!" she shouted.

  "Good. That's the attitude I was looking for. Now, go tell Henry what's coming at him and I'll see you later."

  Polly pushed the phone back in her jeans and grabbed her jacket as she ran out the door of her office. She crashed through the side doors and ran for the barn. Henry was up on the roof of one of the overhangs.

  "Henry, I have horses coming!"

  Everyone stopped working and Henry said, "I'm sorry. What did you say?"

  "I have horses coming!" She slowed down as what she said hit her. "I have horses coming," she repeated quietly.

  He made his way to the ladder and came down to ground level. "You have horses, plural, coming?"

  "Four of them?" she said.

  "You have four horses coming. Here?"

  "Yes. Here."

  "When?"

  "Maybe tomorrow?"

  "Polly! What in the hell are you thinking?"

  "I'm thinking that there are four horses in very bad shape who need out of their situation right now. Mark is going to get the stalls set up tonight and bring in someone to put in an electric fence tomorrow until we can get a real one built."

  "Mark Ogden. Great. Damned veterinarian."

  "Don't you start. Sylvie and I went up to Stanhope to see why Madeline Black had been paying for feed and when I saw what terrible shape these horses were in, I called him. If he's rushing to get those poor animals out of there, it has to be bad, don't you think?"

  Henry shut his eyes, took a breath and in a measured tone said, "And I suppose he's going to teach you how to take care of the animals and he's promised to help you and he thinks it's great that you are so close to his office so he can ensure the horses will be taken care of."

  "Well, of course! Why are you having a problem with this?"

  "Because, Polly, you don't know much about horses and rather than starting with one healthy, normal horse, you are starting with four horses who are in bad enough shape that the veterinarian has to rescue them. AND, he's finally figured out a way to make sure he gets to spend a lot of time with you."

  "Please don't tell me you are going to get jealous. You are here every single day and I keep coming up with more things for you to do so you don't wander off."

  "At this point, I'm more worried about what he is thinking than you. He seems to be a man on a mission."

  "Well, if you saw these horses, you would do everything you could to help them and why did I build this great big barn if I wasn't going to use it for something like this?"

  "Why indeed," Henry responded.

  "Are you going to get on board with this? Please?" she asked.

  "I don't have much choice, do I?"

  "You aren't going to be a creep, are you?"

  Henry took her hand, "Do you want to do this? Do you really want four horses who need this much help? Tell me you aren't getting talked into something because you feel sorry for them."

  "Well, I do feel sorry for them and I was going to get horses soon anyway. Why wouldn't I go where my compassion leads me? And why wouldn't I take care of these horses when I have Mark around to help me."

  "Polly, this is going to be a huge amount of work!"

  "I'm not afraid of that and besides, I might know of a good group of kids who are already comfortable with horses."

  "What do you mean?"

  "Well, when I was in high school, there were always 4-H kids who rode horses in competitions. I'll bet some of those kids would like to make some extra money."

  "You are such a soft touch. Pretty soon you're going to have the entire community working here."

  "Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. You know that guy I hired as custodian?"

  "Shawn Wesley? I don't know him, but go on."

  "Well, he didn't show up this morning, but was sitting here when I got back. I don't know what to do about this. How could Pastor Boehm not know he was a loser?"

  "Did you fire him already?"

  "No, I told him he had one chance left. He didn't want to work on Monday, said he had something to do. He didn't want to work yesterday, said he had something to do and now he was busy with something going on today. That's not terribly impressive, especially if he needs a job."

  "Polly, if he isn't going to work out, call Pastor Boehm and tell him. And if you want to ask him for another potential employee, you can do it then."

  "We'll see how tomorrow goes. I hate giving up on people, but from the first, this guy struck me wrong. I wanted to help him, but at the same time, I want someone to do the job."

  "You'll figure it out; I have complete confidence in you."

  "Uh huh. That's why you don't believe I can handle four Percherons."

  "Draft horses? Polly, those horses are huge!"

  She held her finger up to stop him. "Confidence. Remember? You believe in me."

  "We have a lot of work to do today and tomorrow if you're bringing in four horses. I'd better get back to it."

  "It's going to be great, Henry. I promise. You wait and see."

  "I have to believe you, right?"

  "You do."

  "Then it's going to be great."

  Polly went back in and found Jeff and Sylvie in the kitchen looking at her laptop.

  "Look at my calendar Polly," and Sylvie turned the computer so Polly could see it. "We're filling up my weekends with work! I'm going to be fine after all!"

  She smiled, "I knew it! You should think about catering out of here one of these days. I'll bet you could make some good money doing that as well."

  "Shut up! We were just talking about how that could work," Sylvie said. "Mark called me to get Amy's phone number. He said you are going to take the horses? I said he was crazy."

  Jeff dramatically fell over the counter. "Horses? You're getting horses now? I knew you might do this someday, but now?"

  "Now. And don't you dare act this way."

  He stood back up and laughed. "Polly, I think you're wonderful, but why didn't you become a zoologist?"

  "Because I am doing this
. Now, leave me alone or I'll make you ride them."

  "Not happening. Not ever. I'll stay in here. You play out there. It works for me."

  She laughed. "We'll see." She turned to Sylvie, "What did Mark say about Amy?"

  "He's going to talk to her about transferring ownership to you. You're actually going to take this on?"

  "Why is everyone surprised by this?" Polly exclaimed. "I took this building on. Why wouldn't I take in four animals that need me?"

  "Because if something bad happened to the building, you'd do something else, but if one of those poor animals dies, you will be crushed!" Sylvie said.

  "They're going to be fine. Mark is a great vet, right?" she prodded Sylvie.

  "He's a great vet," Sylvie responded.

  "He will help me do this and yes, it's going to be a lot of work, but if I wanted an easy life, I could have married Joey Delancy and lived in Boston in the lap of luxury." She shuddered at the memory of her kidnapping at his hand and said, "I'd rather work hard than be stuck in that life any day."

  "What does Henry say about this?" Jeff asked.

  Polly slowly turned her head and raised her eyebrows at him. "I don't think I understood that question. Surely you aren't implying that if Henry doesn't approve of my decision, I should be a good little girl and change my mind. I can't imagine that's what you were asking?"

  Jeff gulped and looked at Sylvie for help. She turned her back on him and he said, "Umm, no. Just ignore the last question. I didn't ask it, you shouldn't answer it."

  "So, Sylvie," Polly said, "When is your first wedding?"

  "We have two in April. I'm meeting with one of the brides tomorrow and the other next Wednesday. And Jeff has booked something every Saturday in May. There's even a wedding and a class reunion on Memorial Day weekend."

  "That's exciting. Well, I'm going to grab the laundry and take it upstairs, then I'm going to read everything I can about Percherons. If you need me, I'll be hiding in my office."

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

  New experiences didn’t frighten her, but walking into the feed store with all of the guys who had chosen her name in their local dead body pool wasn’t something she had hoped to do any time soon. But, no one had said a word to her.