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

  Henry was in the back classroom pulling tape away from the windowsill.

  "How are you doing, Henry?" she asked.

  "I'm doing fine. Just fine," he muttered.

  "Ummm, what does that mean?"

  "Damned snow storm messed up my schedule and I'm hiding in here so I can figure out how to make everything work."

  "Then I shouldn't tell you that the mattress is upstairs ready to be assembled?"

  "Well, you can tell me, but I don't know if I care."

  "Should I come back later?"

  "It won't help."

  "What can I do to make this better for you?"

  Henry balled up the tape in his hand and dropped it into an empty paint bucket, then stood up and turned around to face her. "Did you have a date with Mark Ogden the other night?"

  Polly swallowed. "It wasn't a date."

  "Everyone in town thinks it was a date. Mark Ogden thinks it was a date."

  Polly pursed her lips and took a breath. "Do you want to do this right now and right here?" she asked.

  He looked around. "You could have told me about it first."

  "I guess you want to do this here," she muttered. "Exactly what was I supposed to tell you? No," she said. "I'll start with exactly why was I supposed to tell you anything? You and I have gone out on a total of two dates. Two. We work together during the day here, but I didn't know that was supposed to be some new Midwestern courting ritual, so if I missed a rule change, let me know.

  "He came here Tuesday morning to check out my dog and cat so I wouldn't have to manage getting both of them to his office again. Yes, we had dinner that night. I thought it was to say thank you. Then, he offered to teach me how to dance so that I wasn't terrified to be in public at a dance in my own home this Saturday night. It was wonderful and we had a great time.

  "Mark Ogden is a nice guy. He's good looking and I think he's fun. But, let's get something straight. Whether or not it was a date, I don't have to clear it with you first."

  "Fine," Henry said, turning back to the blue tape on the window sill. "If that's the way you want it."

  Polly shook her head. She recognized that her fury was about to take him out one more time and that wasn't what she wanted to do with him.

  "Henry, is there something going on between us that I'm not understanding? Have we committed to a relationship together?"

  "No, I guess not."

  "What do you mean, you guess not? You can't back out of this conversation now. You started it."

  He spun around again. "Maybe I had hoped we could have a relationship. I like you and I thought you liked me too."

  Polly walked over to him and put her hand on his arm. "I do like you. I love doing things with you."

  "Then why are you dating the vet?"

  "Because as much as I love doing things with you, I'm not ready to settle down into a committed relationship with anyone. Are you telling me that if I want to date other people that will upset you?"

  He flung the next ball of tape at the bucket and missed. "Damn," he said. "Of course that will upset me."

  "How much will that upset you?" she asked.

  "What in the hell do you mean by that?"

  "Will it upset you enough that we can't ever date again? Are you laying down an ultimatum for me? Is it you or no one?"

  Henry shook his head. "No, I don't suppose I mean that. It sounds stupid when you put it that way."

  "I don't want you to feel stupid and I don't want you to feel like I'm screwing something up between us, but I don't think I'm ready to commit to a lifetime relationship right now. Sheesh, Henry, I'm just beginning to figure out what I want to do with my life."

  "I know that." He took a deep breath. "I'm sorry. I guess I built up some expectations and then I didn't bother to tell you what they were."

  Polly bent over and picked up the errant ball of tape. She tossed it back and forth before dropping it in the bucket.

  "Maybe we can't date and be friends," she said. "That would be really disappointing, but it's more important for me to have you as a friend than to lose that because we dated and then screwed things up."

  "Is that what you want?"

  "Well, I want to be friends with you, that's for sure. I want you around and in my life for a very long time and if we can't manage this other part of the relationship, I'd rather it go away now than destroy everything later."

  "I can't believe we're doing this. It feels like I'm an adolescent all over again," Henry said. "I should have quit playing these games twenty years ago." He spoke again through gritted teeth, "But that ticked me off."

  "And that's why you're in here doing stupid work like pulling tape off of windowsills when you have a million other things to do?"

  "I suppose it is. Good lord, woman, you make a man nuts."

  "That's usually a compliment, but I think it might be an annoyance this time," she laughed.

  Henry grabbed her arm. "I'm not going to like seeing you date other men. I've become ... what do they say? Smitten. I'm a little smitten with you."

  "What do you want me to do about that, Henry?" she asked.

  "Well, my first choice would be for you to fall into my arms and tell me that you'll do anything I'd like you to do."

  "And your second choice?"

  "Forgive me for being an adolescent ass and see what happens from here on."

  "I like that option," Polly said. "Can we be friends?"

  "We already are. I'll be fine. Now, let me round up some help and we'll deal with that bed. We're going to install the rails on the ramp this afternoon when it warms up a little more."

  "Doug and Billy are here today and tomorrow. Feel free to conscript them to help with your dirty work. They’re in the auditorium hanging lights for Jeff."

  "He had Jimmy and Sam in there as well. I'll gather my guys and talk to you later."

  They walked out into the hallway and when she went back toward the kitchen, he walked into the auditorium.

  Several of the kitchen windows were open and when Polly walked into the kitchen, she could feel why. Sylvie and Hannah had been baking since six. Rows and rows of cupcakes filled every counter space, with racks stacked three and four high.

  "Good morning!" she called out over the beat of the music coming from a music player sitting inside the cupboard. There were speakers throughout the building and Sylvie was able to plug her music directly into the system built into the kitchen. Sylvie picked up a remote and brought the level down as Polly asked, "How are you doing in here?"

  "We're doing great," Hannah said. "This is fun!"

  "What's all this?" Polly gestured around the room.

  "We're doing cupcakes for Saturday evening. That way people can move around and not have to carry plates or forks unless they want them. We will have red velvet, chocolate, vanilla, carrot cake, lemon, strawberry, and key lime." Sylvie picked up a light green cupcake, peeled back the paper and handed it to Polly. "Here, taste this. Hannah found the recipe. It's amazing!"

  Polly took the cupcake and bit into it. The tart flavor exploded in her mouth. "That's fantastic!" she said. Hannah smiled and went back to washing out a mixing bowl.

  "We'll finish baking this morning and then we will frost them tomorrow. This afternoon we're going to start the soups for lunch on Saturday. I think we’ll plan to call tomorrow our absolutely insane, crazy, make me nuts day."

  "Can I do anything to help avoid that?" Polly asked.

  "Nope. We're good and I’m exaggerating. Just keep sending the deliveries back as they come in." Sylvie smiled, "I'm having a blast and I can't wait to do this every day."

  Polly smiled and wrinkled her nose, "I know. We should always have fun. But, soon you'll have your degree and nothing will hold you back."

  "Thanks, Polly." Distractedly, Sylvie turned away and said, "We need to make sure to pull out butter tonight so it starts softening, Hannah. Don't let me forget."

  The two began talking and Polly chuckled. She'd been forgotten so it was
time to leave. She headed back to her office. The front door opened and she smiled at Jerry, her UPS driver. He had a two wheel cart filled with boxes.

  "Good morning, Polly! I have more deliveries for you. Where do you want them?"

  "Bring it all in here." He followed her into the office and she pointed at a corner.

  "Are you ready for Saturday?"

  "Not yet," Polly said, "but we will get there. Are you coming?"

  "I told my wife I wanted to see what this was all about. Does it matter what time we show up?"

  "No. We'll serve breakfast between seven and eight, but Henry says he’s pounding the first nail at eight. Lunch is right at noon and we'll close work down at sunset. Dinner is at 6:30 and there will be a band and dancing until midnight."

  "We'll be here in the morning. Carrie said she wanted to help build a barn with me, so it should be great fun! Heck, I think it will be fun to drive by with my kids someday and point at the barn and say I helped build that."

  Polly laughed, "And then you'll have to bring them inside and let me feed them cookies and milk, okay?"

  "I'll do it."

  She walked back to the front door with him and held it open as he left and another food delivery came in. She smiled and pointed back to the kitchen, then shut the door and went into her office. She pulled a utility knife out of the drawer of the receptionist's desk and slit the top open on the first box. Pads of paper. Polly giggled and carried it into the conference room. The next box had four sets of queen size sheets. She hoped the largest box held the comforter and a couple of blankets. She slid the knife along the sides of the flaps, loosening the tape, then stripped it off and popped the boxes open. Yep, everything was here. She carried the blankets and sheets to the washer and dryer behind the stage and wandered through the auditorium so she wouldn’t disturb Sylvie and Hannah again.

  It looked as if everything was coming along. There were rows of white lights twinkling from beam to beam and the lift was parked at the back by the door. Doug and Billy, Sam and Jimmy were rolling tables out and setting them into place. Jeff had placed taped Xs on the floor where he wanted each table to be centered. Polly thought that was a little obsessive, but since he had it all in hand, she was going to leave well enough alone.

  "How's it going out here?" she asked Jeff.

  "As long as there is no strange catastrophe, it's going well. This afternoon will be a riot, though. You're going to want your camera."

  "What do you mean?"

  "Your friends are bringing thirty of their closest friends over to create decorations for the tables."

  "That's great!"

  "Uh huh. They decided that mason jars would be the theme of the evening. We have cases and cases of mason jars. There are green jars and clear jars, tall jars and short jars, large-mouth jars and ... Polly, I didn't know there were that many types of mason jars."

  She laughed out loud. "I'm sure it's going to be beautiful!"

  "It will be awesome. They're going to make candles and snow globes and vases and then I think they're planning to put wash tubs filled with ice around the drink table and put cocktails in mason jars in the tubs." He chuckled. "We have a lot of mason jars here right now. And I forgot. They're going to put a jar with a slit in the lid at each table to raise money for the food pantry."

  "They're great, aren't they?" Polly laughed. "I'm glad you get to enjoy all their love, too!"

  She saw Henry standing in the doorway and said, "I need to see what he wants. He's working on the bed upstairs."

  "This is going to look great again, Polly," Henry said, when she approached. "We have the bed installed. When Adam Lucas attached a queen size mattress to it, he knew what he was doing. You're ready to go. But, you're going to want to unwrap the lamps and get those in place. We didn't know what you wanted to do with them."

  "Thanks, Henry. I'll quit worrying about that room now. I'm getting the sheets washed and at some point, it will be ready for its first guest."

  They walked into the hallway and she saw Leroy Forster and Ben Bowen coming down the steps. "What's next, boss?" Leroy asked.

  “Head out to the concrete pad and start pulling things into place. Got your Carhartts?"

  "Out in the truck. We'll meet you out there."

  Henry stepped into the auditorium and said, "Jimmy? Sam? Time to get to work."

  "We're right there, boss!" Jimmy called and finished arranging the chairs around a table, then jogged over to the door with Sam and headed outside with Henry.

  Doug looked a little lost and finally said, "Jeff, where do you want us when this is done?"

  "I could still use you for a while, if you don't mind."

  "Got it. You've got us, then."

  Polly smiled and went back to the office and pulled the comforter and accessories out of the box. She took them upstairs into the Walnut Room and after unpacking the lamps, assembled and arranged them. She hoped her guests enjoyed this room as much as she enjoyed putting it together.

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  Yards of muslin and balls of twine were laid out and being cut and measured. Stacks of gingham tables clothes, colorful bandannas, and small galvanized pails were being passed out to women who were carrying them to various tables in order to begin working.

  Polly had stopped to talk to Lydia and Beryl on her way to the laundry room. "This is quite the production," she said. Women were wrapping silverware and unwrapping mason jars around the room, while others were assembling bandannas into some type of folded art.

  "Isn't it fun?" Lydia responded. "Everyone had ideas and Jeff selected several and then brought in the supplies."

  "I can't wait to see it when it's completed. Can I help with something?"

  "Oh, honey. You can stay and help if you'd like. We'd love to have you hang out with us, but we have plenty of people to do the work," Lydia assured her.

  "Thanks. I'll finish up some things and check in on you all later." Polly reached out and surprised Lydia with a hug. "I didn't know you were doing all of the organizing for this. Thank you."

  Lydia hugged her and patted her on the back. "This is my posse," she said, waving her hand across the room. "We could all sit around and drink tea and gossip every day, or we could find fun things to do." She nudged Polly with her elbow, "Besides, we're a lot more fun at home in the evening if we have something to talk about other than dusting and vacuuming."

  Polly giggled, "I don't want to think about you all being more fun at home," she said. "I'm going to go do some laundry."

  She walked through the room and the hallway to the washer and dryer. She put one load of sheets in the dryer, then opened packages and started the washing machine again. She set the alarm on her phone to remind her to return and went into the kitchen. Sylvie and Hannah had been joined by two girls who were beginning to decorate some of the cupcakes.

  "Sylvie," Polly said as she neared her friend, "Do I know these girls?"

  "This is Janice and Deb,” Sylvie said. “They're going through the same program I am at the Culinary Institute and thought it would be fun to come work in a kitchen like this."

  "Hi girls," Polly said.

  Sylvie nodded her way and said, "Janice and Deb, this is Polly. She owns Sycamore House."

  They smiled and nodded and went back to their work.

  "Will you and Hannah stick around for Mark Ogden's dance lessons tonight?" Polly asked Sylvie.

  "That's a great idea," Sylvie said. "Hey, Hannah. Can you stay for dance lessons tonight? Polly's very hot veterinarian is apparently a dance teacher, too!"

  "Can Bruce come?" Hannah asked.

  "That would be great," Polly laughed. "As it is, we're probably going to need to round up some more men to balance things out."

  "I'll call him to make sure, but we'll be here."

  "The boys can't wait to come back after school to see everything," Sylvie said. "I'll bet Jason would learn to dance if there was a possibility of dancing with you, Polly."

  Polly chuckled and s
ighed. "Men are the bane of my existence," she mumbled as she walked back out into the hallway.

  She was upstairs later that morning pulling the comforter up over the freshly made bed, when she realized something was cooking downstairs. Her stomach rumbled as if to remind her that she hadn't fed it since much earlier when the boys were getting ready to go to school. She smoothed the top of the bed, tucked the comforter under the pillows and shams, and went out into the hallway. Sure enough, something heavenly was happening downstairs in the kitchen. Polly ran down the steps in time to see people lining up at the window of the kitchen.

  Henry stopped her and said, "This was a great idea. None of us thought about what we were going to eat today."

  "Yeah," Polly laughed. "But, I don't actually know what is happening here. It wasn't my idea!"

  They made their way to the kitchen and Polly saw that Sylvie and Hannah were dishing something onto plates as people walked through. "What did you cook?" Polly asked as she reached Sylvie.

  "I figured with everyone on site today and tomorrow, I'd make lunch. It's a Shepherd's Pie casserole today. Would you like some?"

  "Ummm, yes! I can't believe you did this!" Polly said.

  "It's okay, isn't it?" Sylvie sounded a little concerned. "I asked Jeff and he said yes."

  "Sylvie. It's great and I'm glad you thought of doing this. Thank you."

  "Whew. I couldn't see making everyone go home for lunch if they didn't want to."

  "You're a natural at this, my friend. You keep coming up with great ideas and I'll keep telling you how wonderful you are. Deal?"

  "Deal. There are bananas and apples on the tables in the auditorium and we made extra chocolate cupcakes for today. Make sure you get one."

  Polly and Henry went into the auditorium and she felt tears in her eyes as she looked around and saw people laughing and eating together in her home. Andy waved when she saw them and pointed at the table where she was seated, so they made their way over to join her.

  "How come we didn't know our Sylvie was such an amazing cook?" Andy asked.

  "Probably because you and Lydia are such great cooks yourselves. You know," Polly said, "sometimes all it takes is one person to encourage a dream. Lydia is the one who did this for her."