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

  Andy flung her hands in the air. "Five o'clock! I told Bill I'd come out tonight and babysit. I have to scoot!" She followed Jason and Andrew to the door. "These boys are a great help to me, Sylvie." She wrapped her arms around Andrew, then patted Jason on the back. "Thanks for everything boys, I'll see you next week!" She stood beside Polly as they left.

  "Did I hear you say you're taking Henry out tonight?" she asked Polly.

  "I am. We're going to Ames. I should probably hurry upstairs and get ready to go. It does feel strange being in charge of this date."

  "You'll be fine and you'll have fun. Now, do you mind if I leave a mess in here?" Andy asked.

  "No, I don't mind at all. We'll pull these doors shut and lock them, and it will be here for you on Monday." Polly walked Andy to the front door and watched as she drove away. Jogging up the steps, she stopped at the top, hearing what sounded like crying coming from Elise Myers' room. She walked over to the door, listened for a moment and heard steady sobbing.

  She knocked on the door, "Elise? Are you okay? Elise?"

  "I'm fine. Just a minute." The door opened and Elise stood there in her hoodie and sweatpants, her face and eyes red, tears still on her cheeks. "I'm sorry, was I bothering you?"

  "No," Polly said. "I was just a little worried about you. Is everything okay?"

  "It will be," Elise said. "But, I can't talk about it now."

  Her eyes filled with tears again and Polly reached out to touch her, but Elise pulled away and moved to shut the door. "I'm sorry," the girl said. "I need to get back to work."

  "Let me know if you need anything. But, you should also know, I'm leaving for the evening. There's plenty of food in the refrigerator downstairs. Help yourself to anything you want."

  "Thank you, Polly," Elise said as she closed the door to her room.

  "Weird," Polly thought and walked across the hall to her apartment. Obiwan and Luke were curled up together on the sofa and looked up as she walked in. "Come on, Obiwan," she said. "I don't have much time and you need one last run before I leave.

  He pulled himself up and stretched, then put his paws on the floor in front of the couch and stretched again. Luke seemed annoyed at being disturbed, but snuggled into the warm spot the dog had left behind.

  "Come on," she said, as she pulled on her coat and gloves. "We have to hurry!"

  He sat in front of her, waiting for the leash to be snapped on to his collar, then they went downstairs and outside. Polly looked up into the windows of Elise's room and saw her staring outside, as if watching for something. Who could know what news she had received? Elise caught her eye and waved, then moved away from the window and Polly continued walking with Obiwan. She didn't let him stay outside too long, knowing she needed to quickly shower and change her clothes. At least she didn't have to dress up tonight. She wasn't quite as formal as Henry when it came to dating.

  The big "Sturtz Contracting and Woodworking Services" sign on the front of the building beside his house was a rather significant clue when it came to finding where Henry lived. His truck was another. Polly rolled her eyes and laughed. "It wasn't that hard to find you, ya nut," she said to herself as she opened the door of her truck. Then, she stopped in her tracks. Back or front door? Oh, to heck with it and she walked up the steps to the front door and rang the doorbell.

  Henry was living in the same house his parents had owned for many years. He had told her it was also his grandparent's home, so it had been in his family a long time. It was a large, two-story home with a porch that extended across the entire front of the house. The door was in the middle and on one end a porch swing hung from the ceiling. He answered the door and invited her inside.

  "I'm almost ready to go. Let me get my coat."

  The front room was also the length of the house and looked as if it were two living rooms, one on either side of the front door. She could see through a very short hallway into what must be the dining room. There was an old piano on the far wall of that room and she could see a little bit of the dining room table. On the right side of the little hallway was a doorway, which she assumed led to the basement. The closet was at the end of the left living area. He pulled out a short leather jacket and shrugged into it, then zipped it shut.

  Then he chuckled, "I hope you're not taking me somewhere fancy for dinner tonight. I'm probably not dressed for it."

  "You look great," she laughed. And he did. Jeans suited this man. A dark blue sweater with small flecks of white covered a button down shirt and it suddenly occurred to her that all of that blue accented the color of his eyes. Huh. She noticed his eye color. That was new for her.

  "Well?" he asked. "Are you finished? Am I fine?"

  She snorted with laughter and blushed immediately. "Whatever!" she said and turned around to go back outside.

  He pulled the door shut to the house and followed her down the steps, hurrying to open the door of the truck for her. "Don't even," he said as she tried to object.

  Polly laughed and stepped up on the running board and into the truck. Henry walked around and got in on the other side, then asked. "Where are we going?"

  "Hickory Park. I haven't been there in years. Do you like barbecue?"

  "I can't believe you haven't been there since you got back. Of course I like barbecue!" He smiled at her. "Can I have ice cream, too?"

  She laughed again. "If you have ice cream before we go to the movie, there won't be any room for popcorn!"

  "There's always room for popcorn. And Twizzlers. I want popcorn and Twizzlers and an Icee. Well, maybe not the Icee. I'll have to see how full I am."

  Polly shook her head and laughed. "Anything you want. But, if you eat so much it keeps you up all night, don't call me."

  He pouted and said, "That's no fun. Usually if you pay for it, you own it."

  "That's sick. I'm not owning your pain and agony, so there."

  He turned in his seat, "Tell me what's up with your guest?"

  "What do you mean?" Polly asked.

  "I don't know. I was just making conversation. She seemed so upset when I walked in the front door the other day and I haven't seen hide nor hair of her since then."

  "I've never been around someone who is that afraid of people," Polly said. "She ate lunch with me, Lydia, Sylvie and Andy the other day, too, but other than that, she has kept out of sight. Now, she did say she is going to begin flipping her days and nights around, and she is taking care of Leia while my little girl is recuperating from her surgery, so maybe she has turned into a night owl and we will never see her during the day."

  "Don't you think that's odd?" he asked.

  "I suppose from our standpoint it is," she replied. "But, I guess that if I open those rooms up to people who are trying to escape the real world and explore their creativity, I'm not necessarily going to be getting run of the mill clients."

  Henry chuckled. "I guess not. How long is she staying?"

  "She's paid me for two months." Henry's face showed the shock he was feeling and Polly said, "I know! But, she's the one paying for it. She told me her family came up with the money to send her here and it's not like she can leave. She doesn't even have a car."

  "That gets stranger and stranger," Henry said. "Well, maybe when there's a movie made about another eccentric mathematician ... her ... they'll find gorgeous, young actors to play us."

  "Okay, changing the subject," Polly began. "Are we truly going to be able to pull off a barn raising?"

  "It’s not going to be a problem, Polly!" Henry said, assuring her. "The lumber and all necessary supplies will be delivered on Wednesday. That will give us time to make sure everything is ready. I've already lined up twelve or fifteen guys to help and they’re already talking about what fun it will be. I'm guessing there could be close to fifty men here that day. I’ve also contracted a crane and operator to lift the trusses for the roof. I think it will be fine."

  "I'm trusting you with this, Henry. I have no idea how it is supposed to work," Polly said.

&nb
sp; "I don’t know how the event is supposed to work, but I can get the structure built. It will actually be pretty cool to see it go up in one day." He paused and said, "Unless we end up with a whole lot of people, the inside work will happen after the structure is up."

  "Whew!" Polly exclaimed. "I couldn't imagine how you would do the electricity and build out the stalls on that day."

  "No," he said, trying to assure her, "there will be plenty of work that happens before and afterwards, too."

  Polly's phone rang. She pulled it out of the pocket of her jacket and looked at the number. She didn't recognize the area code, so answered it with, "Sycamore House, can I help you?"

  "I'm looking for Linda Marberry, could you connect me to her room?" said the man's voice on the other end.

  "I'm sorry," Polly said. "You must have a wrong number. There is no one by that name here."

  "Linda Marberry. I'm certain she is there. She would have checked in two weeks ago."

  "Again, I'm sorry," Polly replied. "I know no one by that name and we are not a hotel. No one has checked in using that name in the last two weeks."

  "It is urgent that I reach her. There has been a death in the family and she must return home."

  Polly took a deep breath. "I'm sorry that I can't help you. There is no one here by that name."

  Henry looked at her quizzically. She shook her head and said into the phone, "Thank you for calling," and hung up.

  "What was that?" he asked.

  Polly was pulling into the parking lot of the restaurant, spotted a parking place and aimed her truck toward it as a small car pulled in. "Damn," she growled. "Brat."

  She drove to the other end of the parking lot and pulled into another space, turned the truck off and sat in her seat. "Someone called looking for a Linda Marberry. He said she checked in two weeks ago, exactly when Elise got here. Then he said that someone in her family died. I wonder if that was why she was crying this afternoon. But, it doesn't make any sense."

  "Do you mean, why she would change her name?" Henry asked.

  "And why would someone call me to get to her and not call her cell phone. Someone has her number and called her today," Polly agreed.

  "And why is she there without a car? How can you live in a rural community in Iowa without a car for two months?" Henry continued.

  "And why is she hiding upstairs all the time and ... “Polly looked at him, stricken. "What is going on here? I thought I had a terribly shy math nerd upstairs. Do I?"

  "I don't know," Henry said. "Is there something we should do about this tonight or can we have dinner?"

  Polly sat back in her seat. "Oh, we're having dinner. What am I supposed to do, walk up to her room and ask if she is Linda Marberry? If she is and doesn't want me to know, she'll only lie to me. If she isn't, she'll think I'm nuts."

  Henry got out of the truck and walked around to hold her door as she opened it. He held his hand out as she jumped to the ground, then said, "Got your keys?"

  She patted her coat pocket and nodded in acknowledgment as he tripped the lock button on the driver's side door. He took her arm and they walked up to the front of the restaurant. After they were seated, Polly looked at the menu and remembered how intimidating it was. "I don't know what to order," she said to Henry. He laughed and shrugged and spent a few moments poring over the menu himself.

  When the waiter arrived, Polly panicked and Henry ordered first, then both men looked at her expectantly. "Fine," she said. "Barbecue Dinner," and placed her menu in the waiter's open hand.

  "What would you like for your two sides?" he asked, chuckling by this point and returned the menu to her when her face fell. He pointed at the listing of sides and waited while she glanced at it.

  "Green beans and cottage cheese," she quickly said. "Am I done now?" The waiter nodded and walked away.

  Henry said, "Not good under pressure?"

  "Shut up," she responded with a chuckle. "Hmm. Maybe I’m not."

  "How much longer ..." she began and her phone buzzed again. She pulled it out and looked at it. The area code was the same as the last call, but the number was different. She showed it to Henry, then answered it, "Sycamore House."

  "I'm looking for Linda Marberry," a different voice announced.

  "I'm sorry," Polly responded. "There is no Linda Marberry at this number."

  "Look, lady. I don't know who you think you are, but you must connect me with Linda Marberry immediately."

  "I'm trying to be polite about this. You must have a wrong number. Please do not call back."

  The phone clicked off and Polly sat for a moment with her phone still at her ear.

  "Is everything okay, Polly?" Henry asked.

  "Okay, that was two phone calls and I don't like it." She looked up at him. "Henry, I'm sorry, but I don't think I can do a movie tonight. I want to go back to Sycamore House after dinner. I’m not comfortable with Elise being there alone if people are looking for her."

  "Do you want to leave right now? I can ask the waiter to box up our meals and we can take them to go."

  "Would you mind?" she asked. "I think I'm going to call Aaron and see what he says about this."

  "I'll be right back." Henry picked up his coat and stepped out of the booth. She watched as he flagged down their waiter who nodded and went into the kitchen. Polly stood up, picked up her coat and walked over to him as the waiter returned with the ticket. Henry tried to take it, but Polly snatched it away, looked at it, then handed a credit card to the waiter who smiled at them. Henry shook his head and smiled back.

  Within a few minutes, the transaction was taken care of, the food had come out of the kitchen in a bag and the two were heading back to Polly's truck.

  "I'm so sorry, Henry. This isn't what I wanted for tonight," she apologized.

  "Polly," he said, "please don't worry about it. We'll deal with this and then have dinner and a movie another night. It's fine."

  "Do you mind if I call Aaron?" she asked.

  "Give me your keys. I'll drive. You call Aaron," he responded.

  She tossed him her keys and after he unlocked her door and held it for her, she pulled her seatbelt on and waited for him to get in and settled. As he pulled out of the parking lot, she dialed Aaron.

  "Hello Polly. I thought you were on a date tonight with Henry. Do I need to arrest him for something?"

  She laughed. "No, but I need your help again."

  "What's up?"

  Polly told him about the strange phone calls and her reclusive resident. "I'm worried about her, Aaron," she said finally.

  "That does sound a little odd," Aaron agreed. "Why don't you text the phone numbers to me and I'll see what I can find out for you. I hate to say this again, Polly, but I still don't like the idea of you living in that big ole place alone."

  "Good heavens, Aaron. Are you going to make Doug and Billy move in with me permanently?" she asked.

  "Well, that would be pretty funny, but no, I suppose it makes no good sense. Send me the numbers and we'll talk tomorrow, okay?"

  "Thank you, Aaron," Polly said and hung up.

  Henry asked, "Are you worried something is going to happen tonight?"

  "I don't know what to think. Do I wait to talk to Elise tomorrow after Aaron gets information on the phone calls or do I confront her with this tonight? Am I worried that someone is calling me to reach her and there are a lot of questions? Yes." She dropped her chin to her chest and shut her eyes.

  "I hate feeling out of control," she said. "About the time things were getting normal again in my life, there's no more normal."

  Henry reached across the console and took her hand. "I know. I get it. Tell me what I can do to help you out here."

  "I don't think there's anything you can do," she responded. "Thanks."

  They drove into Bellingwood and pulled up in front of Sycamore House. The security lights were on out front, but the only room with lights on was the room in which Elise was staying.

  "Why don't I come in an
d we can watch a movie upstairs and have dinner?" Henry said.

  "That sounds great," Polly replied. “I know it might sound paranoid, but I just don’t feel comfortable being away tonight.”

  They left the truck parked in front of the building and went inside and up the stairs. Polly hesitated in front of Elise's room, but went on to her apartment and opened the door. Obiwan and Luke seemed glad to see her and while Henry took the food to the table, she snuggled them both, a cat in one arm and a dog's head under the other hand.

  Soon he announced that dinner was served and they settled in to eat. After dinner, Polly and Henry pored over the movie guide and finally settled down to watch. Henry sat down at one end of the sofa and Polly took the other end, tucking her feet underneath her. She pulled a blanket over her and offered the other end to Henry who draped it across his lap. She snuggled into the pillow and promptly fell asleep.

  A cold wet nose in the palm of Polly's hand woke her with a start. The movie playing on the television wasn't one she recognized as she peered across the room. She sat straight up and looked at the clock on her phone. It was 1:22 and Henry was asleep at the other end of the sofa.

  "Henry?" she asked quietly.

  His eyes popped open. "I must have fallen asleep!"

  She laughed, "Well, that seems obvious. We both did."

  "It's your fault, you know. You dropped off to sleep and looked so relaxed, I didn't want to disturb you and that was the last thing I remember."

  "I should probably take you home. We have to get Sam and Jimmy and be in Ames by nine o'clock to pick up the rental truck."

  "Okay." He sat up and stretched.

  Obiwan had padded over to stand in front of the door and wagged as the two of them pulled their jackets on.

  "Do you mind if he rides along?" Polly asked. "Then I can walk him one more time before I go to sleep."

  "Sure!" Henry replied. "So, you didn't hear anything more from your callers."

  "No, there was nothing more there. I don't want to do it, but I'm going to have to talk to Elise tomorrow. I can't imagine what she is going to say to me, though."