Secrets and Revelations (Bellingwood #4) Read online

  Polly pulled a pan of rolls out of the oven and looked up. A handful of wildflowers peeked around the corner, followed by Jeff's grinning face.

  "Am I too early?" he asked.

  "Nope." Polly pulled the second pan of rolls out. "Would you get four blue platters out of that cupboard?" she asked, pointing with her head.

  They filled platters with rolls, poured coffee into carafes and ice water into pitchers.

  Jeff loaded everything onto the cart and said, "You saved my bacon this morning."

  "Lucky you. Are you coming back to help me clean up?"

  "Yes," he replied. "I promise."

  Polly smiled as she poured water into a glass and dropped the flowers in. She set them on the counter beside another plate of rolls, then texted Henry to tell him there was food ready for anyone who was hungry.

  The dishwasher was running when Jeff walked in pushing the cart. His face was red and he was limping.

  "What happened to you?" Polly asked.

  "Didn't you hear me?"

  "No. The dishwasher must have been making too much noise."

  "I fell down the stairs. I'd taken coffee and rolls upstairs to our three guests and when I came back down, I missed the last two steps. I might have cursed a little bit."

  "Will you live? Do you need to see a doctor?"

  "Yes and no, I bruised my ego and twisted my ankle, but it isn't bad. Luckily there were only a couple of people coming in for the AA meeting. They helped me up and didn't laugh at me."

  "Then I'll try not to laugh too hard either. As long as you're okay."

  "I'm fine," he groused.

  "Here. Sit down." Polly pulled a stool over for him. "Let me look at it."

  Jeff lifted his leg for her and she pulled back his pant leg and tugged at his sock.

  She looked up at him. "There's no swelling."

  "I told you, it isn't bad. Just let me walk it off."

  "Sit. Stay." He did. "Good boy," she said and put a cinnamon roll on a napkin and handed it to him.

  He had just taken a bite when they heard footsteps. Henry, Doug and Billy led a small group of men in from the building addition.

  "Why, Polly. It's good to see you in the kitchen," Henry teased.

  "It's my fault," Jeff lamented. "I completely forgot to talk to Sylvie about all of the activities we have going on today."

  Polly smacked his arm. "Stop it. It's no big deal. You've asked me to bake things that take no effort."

  "Oh! I forgot about Andrew!" she said. She put a roll on a plate and poured a glass of milk. When she walked back to the nook under the stairs, she found him sitting underneath the desk with his nose buried in the book he had been reading.

  "Andrew, I brought you something."

  "What?" he asked.

  "You have to come out from under the desk."

  "I like it under here."

  "There isn't enough light under there. It's not good for your eyes." Polly rolled her eyes into the back of her head as she heard her father's words come out of her mouth. "Come on out. You've been reading all morning. It's time for you to take a short break."

  "But, it's a really good spot!" he protested.

  "Come out. Every spot is a good spot to you. Here, I brought milk and a cinnamon roll."

  Andrew carefully placed his finger into the book to hold his place and came out from under the desk. He set the book on top of his desk, keeping his right hand wrapped around the book. With his left hand, he opened a drawer and found a slip of scrap paper which he tucked inside the pages.

  "I don't want to mess up the pages. Mom told me I couldn't do that to the library books, so I'm not going to do it to mine either."

  Polly placed the roll and milk beside his book. "Tell me what you're reading."

  "Have you ever read the Artemis Fowl books?" he asked.

  "Sure I have. But, that doesn't look like one of those books."

  "It's not! This is Septimus Heap. Have you ever read any of these?"

  "I read the first three," she responded. "Do you like them?"

  "They're great. I like them because they're fat books!"

  "Of course you do." Polly ruffled his hair. "Eat your roll and then bring your glass into the kitchen when you're finished, okay?"

  "Okay."

  "Am I going to have to come back and check on you to make sure you’re alive?" she asked him.

  He pushed the book to the back of the desk and said, "I'll bring you the glass. Then can I go upstairs and play video games?"

  “Yes,” Polly laughed, "It does sound weird that I want you to play video games rather than read, doesn't it?"

  "Uh huh."

  "Come find me when you're done." She walked back into the kitchen, chuckling.

  Henry asked, "Did you find him where you left him?"

  "I should be glad he's reading a book and not playing a video game, right?"

  He shrugged. "I don't know. Ask his mom."

  Jason ran into the kitchen, sliding to a halt in front of Polly and Henry. "I rode Nat all by myself! Eliseo didn't have to help me at all! We went into the pasture and Nat didn't get spooked by Demi or Daisy or anything!"

  "That's great, Jase," Henry said, clapping him on the back.

  "Eliseo said we could out again after he gets his work done this afternoon." He stopped and looked at Polly. "Can we?"

  "It’s up to Eliseo. You don’t need my permission. Would you like a cinnamon roll? Your brother is having one at his desk."

  Jason put his hand over his mouth and faked a large yawn. "He's so boring. All he wants to do is read and write in that notebook of his."

  "Then pull up a stool and sit here with us," Polly said.

  She poured another glass of milk and placed it on the counter in front of him. Henry winked at her and she left the kitchen to join him in the foyer, slipping her arm around his waist when she got close enough.

  "How are things going out there?" she asked.

  "Good. We're going to install flooring tomorrow in the downstairs rooms and before you know it, you'll have more space. Is Jeff ready to fill it up?"

  "I hope so. I'd hate to think you went to all that work for nothing," she said as she gently poked him in the side.

  "Have you made any decisions about the woman who emailed you last night?"

  Polly shoulders dropped. "I haven't even thought about it this morning. I'm trying to avoid thinking about it."

  "So, procrastination is the name of the game."

  She scrunched her face into a pout and said, "It is, and I'm fine with that."

  Henry kissed her nose, then tapped it with his forefinger. "I'm going back to work. Do you have plans for lunch?"

  "I was going to make sandwiches for the boys. Come upstairs and join us."

  "Thanks, I will. See you later."

  Polly went back into the kitchen and began searching the cupboards for cookie ingredients. There were no chocolate chips.

  Jason finished his roll and said, "Would you mind if I went upstairs and played video games?"

  "Sure," she said, "Take your brother with you. I'll be up after a while."

  He went into the storage room and soon Andrew walked in with his glass. "Jason says I have to play games until I beat him. He called me a nerd."

  Polly grinned at him and took the glass. "You are a nerd and that's something to be proud of. And anyone who plays video games like the two of you play is a total nerd, so he is one too."

  Andrew ran out of the kitchen and she heard the door to her apartment slam as he yelled, "You're a nerd too. Polly said so!"

  “Jeff?” she called, walking to the office. He was sitting at his desk with his foot up on a chair. “Do you want me to bring in an ice pack for you?”

  “No, I told you. I’m fine.”

  Polly pointed at the chair. “That doesn’t convince me.”

  “It’s no big deal. What’s up?”

  “I’m out of chocolate chips, so I’m going to run up to the grocery store. Do you ne
ed anything?”

  He reached into a desk drawer and said, “I’m so sorry to ask you to do this, but would you drop off this deposit at the bank?”

  She took the envelope from him. “Of course! Do you need me to do anything special with it?”

  “Nope, it’s just checks from the weekend. Don’t lose them.”

  “Got it.” She took the envelope and trotted through the kitchen to the garage and jumped in her truck.

  “Bank first,” she said to herself, “or you’ll melt the chocolate chips.”

  Pulling up in front of the County Bank, she parked, went inside and smiled when she realized she was going to have to wait in line for a teller. It was a small town, there were two banks and she still had to wait in the middle of the day.

  When she finally got to a teller, she realized why. One of the three was in a long discussion with an older couple, going through their check register and bank statement. He looked up at her and gave a small apologetic smile, then looked back down at the work in front of him.

  A woman who was a little older than Polly came out of the back offices with a frown on her face, stood behind Polly for a few minutes, then huffed loudly and stalked out of the bank.

  Polly finished at the bank, picked up a few groceries along with the chocolate chips and hurried back to Sycamore House.

  When she was finished baking cookies, she cleared the counter, poured the rest of the coffee into a thermal pitcher and started a new pot for the afternoon. After looking around to ensure everything had been cleaned up, she walked over to Jeff's office. He was talking with a woman, but waved her in. Polly realized it was the same woman who had stalked out of the bank not a half hour before.

  "Polly Giller," he said, standing up, "This is Cindy Rothenfuss. She is in charge of the quilt show we will be holding here next week and we are ironing out a few last minute details."

  The woman glanced at her and nodded, then turned back to Jeff and said, "We won't need your janitor's help to hang things. I'd rather he wasn't around."

  Polly looked at Jeff in shock. The woman had dismissed her.

  Jeff was as surprised as Polly and said, "Just a moment, Mrs. Rothenfuss." He sat back down at his desk and turned up to Polly, "I'm sorry," he said. “Go ahead.”

  She replied, "No, that's alright. Cookies are finished in the kitchen and they're cooling. I've started a fresh pot of coffee and after we've had lunch, I'll be back down to help you get things ready for the afternoon meetings."

  Polly made a strangling motion with her hands behind the woman's back, but said with all the pleasantness she could muster, "It was nice to meet you, Mrs. Rothenfuss."

  She spun and headed out the door and before she'd crossed the threshold, the woman had begun speaking again, ignoring the fact that there had been any interruption.

  "Cleansing breaths," Polly muttered. "Cleansing breaths. What in the world did I ever do to that woman?" She continued to mutter to herself as she walked up the front steps. Glancing across the wide hallway to the guest rooms, she saw that two of the guests had placed their coffee carafes and dishes on the small tables outside their rooms, so she collected those before heading for her apartment. Since her hands were full, she used her forehead to knock on the door and heard a 'woof' and scrambling as someone rushed to open it.

  "Oh! It's you!" Jason said and stepped back.

  "It's me. Would you take these?" He took the two empty carafes out of her hand.

  "Andrew, help?" The little boy jumped up from the floor and ran to her, waiting while she stacked things into his hands.

  "Now, would you mind taking all of that down to the kitchen? Just put everything on the table under the back window and I'll clean it up later."

  The boys ran for the back steps and she heard them chase each other down. Polly dropped onto the sofa beside Leia.

  "How's it going up here, little girl?" she asked and rubbed the cat's head. Obiwan jumped up on the other side of Polly and pushed himself into the small space between her and the arm. She picked the cat up and moved over, allowing him a little more room.

  "Where's your brother?" Polly asked the cat in her arms.

  The boys clambered back up the steps and Andrew said, "Luke followed us down the steps. I had to pick him up so he didn't escape." He dropped the cat on an empty spot on the sofa and sat down on the floor.

  "Thanks for watching him," Polly said. "So, how about pizza grilled cheese sandwiches for lunch?"

  Jason said, "Cool!" while Andrew looked at her, contemplating the idea.

  "Does that sound good, Andrew?"

  "It sounds different. I've never had it before."

  "That's right! We're going to try something new."

  He thought about it for a few more minutes, then nodded his head. "I think I'd like that," he replied.

  "Go wash up and you can help me assemble the sandwiches. Henry is joining us, so we'd better get busy.”

  CHAPTER THREE

  It was the middle of the night, but Polly woke up sweating and breathing rapidly. She shook her head to rid herself of the nightmare. An immense snake had been crossing the road and approached her home. The funny thing was, her dad was at the front door, ready for the beast. He'd sent her to find a container and then reached down and grabbed the snake so it couldn't hurt either of them. In her dream, she raced from room to room trying to find something ... anything which would hold that hideous snake. She'd finally found a large box and ran out to the front door where her father was struggling. The snake grew larger from moment to moment while she waited for him to stuff it into the box and close the lid. As soon as the box was shut, the snake began thumping around.

  Tears filled her eyes and she flung the sheet back and sat straight up on the edge of her bed. Obiwan craned his neck to look at her and the cats moved far enough away so they could curl up together. Polly scooted back on the bed and brought her knees up, tucking them under her chin and wrapped her arms around her legs. She couldn't help it, her body had to release the adrenaline and she began to sob.

  With that, Obiwan pulled himself across the bed, stretching out to her with his head. He finally got close enough to nose her hand. She dropped her legs and flopped down on top of him, burying her face in his neck.

  "I don't know why I'm crying, Obiwan. I know it was just a dream."

  He rolled over on his back and she rubbed his belly.

  "Maybe I miss Dad more than I realize," she said, trying to brush away the tears. She picked up her pillow and rubbed it across her face.

  "Why isn't he around when I need him? I don't know what this woman is going to say to me or who she is. Why didn’t he tell me about her?"

  Polly had avoided thinking about the email throughout the day as she kept busy with everything. She'd managed to completely forget about it until just now and wondered if the dream wasn't her mind attempting to express her fears. It didn't seem to be fading away, so she flipped on the bedside lamp. She smiled at the cats, who blinked as they tried to figure out whether to continue sleeping or just get up. She checked the time on her phone - four thirty. There wasn't going to be any more sleeping tonight, she was too upset.

  "Don't mind me, everyone. I'm going to clean up. You guys stay put. I have to do something to shake this off."

  She gathered up the dirty laundry in her room and tossed it over the rail to the floor of the staircase. Looking at her bed, she decided that now was as good a time as any and after picking up each cat and placing it on the cat tree, stripped the sheets off and flung them over as well. A quick pass through the bathroom and the dirty towels followed suit.

  "Stay," she commanded Obiwan, as she headed down the back stairs. "I'll be right back."

  She put the sheets in the washing machine and sorted the rest of her laundry on top of the machines. Back upstairs, Obiwan followed her into the living room. Everything was just as she'd left it the night before - plates and glasses on the coffee table, books pulled out of the bookshelves as she'd tried to find somethin
g to read. Her dining room table had stacks of mail and papers on it. The counters were littered with groceries that hadn't been put away and dishes that needed to be washed.

  "Will I ever stop being a slovenly pig?" she asked the dog who was still following her. "Probably not. Let's get started. Here, you go lay down in the living room and I'll begin in the kitchen and move your way." She picked up one of his toys and tossed it toward the sofa. He ran after it, lay down and began gnawing.

  Polly watched the sky lighten as dawn broke. She scrubbed the kitchen and cleaned the floor, then sat down at the dining room table and ruthlessly sorted the paper that had accumulated. She took the stack of papers to be shredded to the table in the entryway and finished straightening the living room. Two trips to the laundry room and she remade her bed. It was time to head out and feed the horses, so she pulled on jeans and a t-shirt. A quick glance in the bathroom mirror caused her to shudder. She tied her unruly hair back into a ponytail and snagged a ball cap as she and Obiwan headed out the front door and down the main steps.

  When she rounded the corner to head out the side door, she heard rustling in the kitchen and decided to check it out.

  "Hello?" she called as she approached. Lights were on and bowls and packages were scattered on the prep table.

  Sylvie came out of the store room, which was also where the washer and dryer were located.

  "Good morning!" Sylvie said.

  "How did I miss you?" Polly asked. "I was just down here."

  "I heard you shut the door as you went upstairs when I hit the kitchen."

  "That makes me feel a little better. What are you doing here so early this morning?"

  "Jeff called me last night. He felt awful about making you bake yesterday."

  Polly scoffed, "He’s a nut. I love to bake and it kept me busy. I needed to be busy yesterday. Don’t tell me you came in to bake this morning before class. Did you? I could have taken care of it."

  "I don't have to be there until after lunch, and he's got more classes and meetings happening here today. One of them is a lunch meeting, so I'm also cooking for that."

  "I can't believe how busy he keeps this place," Polly remarked. "There are people here all the time now."