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

  They got out and began unloading things into the barn. Polly was pulling out the blankets when another pickup drove in, laden with square bales of hay.

  Henry walked to the driver's door and said a few words, then came back in as the truck drove around to the other end of the barn.

  "What was that?" Polly asked.

  "He and his boys are unloading hay for you. Mark called him last night. It should be stored down there. He told me they'll be back with a large bale for you, too."

  "Wow. I have absolutely no idea what I'm doing, do I?"

  "Nope. You don't," he laughed, "But, I bet by this time next year, you will have not only become a pro at it, you will have found something different to scare you to death."

  They finished unpacking. She wriggled up onto the tailgate of his truck so she could sit and pull labels off things and get rid of packaging. While she was working, she heard Jeff's voice calling her name from the side doors of Sycamore House.

  "Hey, Jeff! You can come out; there aren't any horses in here yet."

  He continued to stand in the doorway and wrapped his arms around himself like he was cold.

  "You wimp! I'll be right there." She gathered up the trash and walked toward the building.

  “Has he shown up yet?" she asked.

  "Yes. And this is going to be interesting," Jeff responded.

  "What do you mean?"

  "I mean I want to fire him and he's barely gotten started."

  The walked into his office and she shut the door before sitting down.

  "Okay, what's going on?"

  "He tried to light up a cigarette in the basement. I told him he couldn't smoke on the job; that we were a smoke-free environment and it wasn't safe around cleaning chemicals anyway. Then, when I took him upstairs to the bathrooms, I had also taken the paper and pencils to Joanna Wagner's room. She popped her head out to say thank you and I told her about the coffeecake downstairs. Then!" Jeff spread his arms out dramatically. "Then, before she can get back inside her door and shut it, he says, 'Who's the wackadoo in the green tent?'

  "I pushed him into the bathroom and all he could do was ask if he had to wash this or scrub that. He told me that he didn't wash toilets, his wife did. When I asked if it was going to be a problem, he laughed and said, 'Not if you don't care what they look like.'

  "Then, he went outside to have a cigarette. When he came back in, I took him into the auditorium to talk to him about the floors and the glass on the displays. I talked about the hallway floors and sweeping off the front steps. And before another ten minutes had passed, he went for another cigarette.

  "Polly, this is a bad mistake." Jeff finally wound down and Polly felt herself beginning to wind up.

  "I'll take care of it," she said.

  "What are you going to do?"

  "First, I'm calling Pastor Boehm and asking him what in the world he was thinking. Then, I'll track this jackass down and kick him off the property."

  "Do you think he'll retaliate?"

  "He doesn't have it in him to do anything except smoke. He's probably higher than a kite right now anyway and will forget it all happened by this afternoon."

  Polly pulled the door open and went into her own office and shut the door. She dialed the church and asked for Pastor Boehm.

  "Hi Polly, how are you today?" he said when he picked up the phone.

  "Well, I'm sorry to say that when it comes to a new custodian, I'm not doing so well."

  "Oh no, what happened?"

  Polly told him about the interview on Monday and Shawn's refusal to work until Wednesday, his inability to show up until the end of the shift then and his attitude this morning. "Pastor, I can't keep him here. I'm building a family that takes care of each other and our guests. I can't have someone here who insults them and has no desire to work."

  "I had no idea. His wife comes to one of our morning Bible studies and she is such a nice girl. She's been hoping to find him a job and truly speaks of him in glowing terms. I apologize and I guess I should have checked him out a little more before I brought him to you."

  "No harm done. But, you should know that in about five minutes, he'll be headed out of here. I'll give him twenty bucks for the time he spent here, as awful as it was, and hopefully we'll put this behind us."

  "Thanks for letting me know and I am sorry."

  "If you can think of anyone else that would fit in better, let me know. I probably won't be so quick to hire them, but I would certainly interview them."

  "Will do, Polly. I'll give it some thought, and thank you for the food. I got a call this morning from one of the families and she told me there was a gift certificate in there as well. That was a nice thing to do."

  "You're welcome. Let me know if I can ever help again, okay?"

  She pushed her phone back in her pocket and then pulled a twenty dollar bill out of her wallet. She found Shawn on the north side of the building, smoking another cigarette.

  "Shawn?"

  He looked up at her guiltily. "Yes, ma'am?"

  "I don't think it's going to work out. Here's twenty dollars for the time you've spent here, but I can't keep you on staff."

  "Did that fag tattle on me?" he asked.

  Polly took a breath. "You have lost every single bit of tolerance from me. Start walking off my property. Now."

  "Whatever. Bitch. I didn't want your damned job anyway. I just came to keep the old lady from whining at me." He stalked off and began walking toward town.

  She watched him cross the highway and then went back inside. Jeff was standing at the stairway. "How'd that go?"

  "You're a fag and I'm a bitch," she smirked.

  "Well, at least we have new titles. That's one way to start the day!" he laughed.

  "I'm sorry about this, Jeff. I'll be smarter next time."

  "Hey, at least you handled it quickly rather than drawing it out and letting it fester until we had a real problem."

  "We have a real problem. We need help here. You're getting busier and I'm getting busier and we need someone who will come in and take charge of the building and the grounds."

  "It will happen, Polly. I think you need to relax. Look at me. I showed up at the last minute and then Sylvie kind of dropped out of thin air. It will happen."

  She poked him in the chest, "You'd better be right, because I don't have time to scrub toilets either!"

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

  Sylvie showed up at eleven thirty and rushed passed Polly's window to the kitchen. Polly jumped up and followed her, "What's up?"

  "I'm late! I was going to have lunch ready and I'm late!"

  "Don’t worry. Just tell me what to do and I'll help," Polly assured her.

  "I got it prepared yesterday. I just need to put it in the oven."

  Polly walked past her and turned the oven on while Sylvie pulled two pans out of the refrigerator. "It's okay. I can run outside and tell people to come in whenever you say."

  Sylvie stopped and said, "You’d do that?"

  "Of course!" Polly laughed. "We're serving them a free lunch; I think I can get some extra time for you."

  "That would be great, then. These need forty-five minutes, so if they can come in fifteen or twenty minutes late, I'll be ready."

  Polly said, "I'll take care of it and be right back. Don't go anywhere."

  "Yeah. I'm staying right here," Sylvie said.

  Polly went outside and found Henry. "Can you tell the guys that lunch is going to be about twenty minutes late? And would you mind letting them know, too?" she said, pointing to the team putting up the temporary fence.

  "I'll take care of it. Do you have plenty of food?"

  "I'm sure we do. Everyone is invited in. And if we don't, we'll make more."

  He smiled at her and said, "You’re happy when everyone is in your family, aren't you."

  "Leave me alone," she laughed.

  When she got back into the kitchen, she said to Sylvie, "What's up?"

  "I had an early class and th
en I wanted to ask the professor some questions and before I knew it, time was running away from me. I'm so sorry."

  "Sylvie!" Polly said sharply, "Stop it. You don't even have to do this for us. Please don't ever feel bad. I'm glad you are here. And next time, call or text me. I can make it easier on you."

  "You're right. I'm just not used to working like this. I'll remember. So, did that guy show up to work this morning?"

  "He did and he pissed Jeff off and then he made me furious. He's gone."

  "Wow. I didn't know you had it in you!"

  "You don't remember me ...."

  "Oh, the emasculation of Henry. I heard about that." Both of them laughed at that.

  "We decided to come over and see what Sylvie was cooking for lunch today," came a voice from the hallway.

  Polly spun around to see Lydia, Beryl and Andy standing at the counter. "How did you get in here without me hearing you? Beryl, I know you walk louder than that."

  Beryl held up one hand with a pair of dangling shoes. "My idea." She dropped them to the floor and slipped them back on.

  "I wouldn't walk around here barefoot for much longer," Polly said. "At least not until we find someone to act as custodian."

  Lydia looked at Andy, then at Polly, then she looked at Beryl and back at Polly.

  "What?" Polly asked. "What are you thinking?"

  "No, I think he's too old."

  "Who is too old?"

  "Doug Leon. He spent a lot of years in this building as custodian, but I don't think he would do the stairs very well, and I don't think he'd be any good at scrubbing things down."

  "Lydia, you know I would love to help him out if I could, but I just got rid of a jerk. Pastor Boehm thought he'd work out for me and he was awful. Don't make me do that again, please?"

  "You're right. It's not a good idea, but if you need someone to stand around and lean on a broom, he's your man."

  "What's for lunch?" Beryl asked.

  "I made a chicken noodle casserole. I wanted something warm and hearty for the people who are outside working and at the same time make something that was on the list Polly's guest gave us," Sylvie said.

  Polly heard it, but wasn't sure if she should say something. She didn't have to. Andy jumped right in, "You said 'us,' Sylvie. Did you hear that? She's a part of Sycamore House now."

  Sylvie blushed. "I guess I am."

  "Do you have a minute, Beryl? I'd like to ask a favor," Polly said.

  "Sure, sweetheart. Anything for you."

  The two walked into the auditorium and Polly said, "I think the woman who is upstairs has recently gone through a life change of some sort and she's trying desperately to be an artist. I think she's trying too hard. Everything about her tells me that at one point she lived a very formal life and now she's trying to be free." To emphasize her words, Polly put her arms out and waved them.

  "Would you mind if I introduced you and then would you consider trying to connect with her and give her a little emotional guidance?"

  Beryl laughed out loud. "Me give emotional guidance. Girl, you have no idea how funny that is. But, I get it and yes, if you introduce me to her, I'll step in and rock her world."

  "Thank you. And I didn't bring you in here to hide anything from the rest of them, I was just terrified Joanna ... oh, yes, it's Joanna Wagner ... might walk in while I was talking about her. This morning, the jerk I hired to be the custodian called her a wackadoo in a tent and she heard him. I don't need her thinking we're all terribly out of control with our mouths."

  "No problem. I'm on it."

  They walked back into the kitchen and Lydia asked, "Are you really getting those horses today?"

  "I am. Late this afternoon. Are you going to be here when they arrive?"

  "We might stop by. Andy and I are going over to Ames to do some baby shopping."

  "You're buying babies now? Ladies, I thought we'd talked about this," Beryl interrupted. "Besides, everyone knows the best babies come from Cedar Rapids."

  They ignored her and she chuckled to herself. “At least I think I’m funny.”

  Sylvie pulled tomatoes, cucumbers, carrots and bags of lettuce out of the refrigerator and then said, "Come in here, wash your hands and start chopping if you're going to stick around." She put two cutting boards up on the prep table and then dumped the lettuce into a couple of bowls. "We're going to have salad and warm rolls with the casserole, so get busy."

  Andy and Polly began chopping and Lydia and Beryl set up the counter for serving. When Sylvie finally had everything ready, Henry peeked around the corner and said, "Are you ready for us?"

  The men had begun walking through the line and into the auditorium to eat when Polly saw Joanna Wagner come around the corner from the stairs. She saw what it was that had triggered Shawn Wesley's comment. The woman was dressed in a bright green muumuu that looked awful on her. She had sprayed some type of orange coloring into her hair and had flung a hot pink scarf around her neck. She was wearing earrings that dangled below her shoulder as well as the stacks of bracelets and rings on all her fingers. She jingled as she walked and she walked as if she were in pain.

  It didn't take Beryl but a moment to waltz in and say, "You must be the new artist in town. I'm Beryl Watson and I'm the old artist in town. Let's have lunch together and see what is what? I'd hate to have to run you out of town on the rails, so before I get jealous of you, I'd like to get to know you better!"

  The poor woman didn't know what to say as Beryl took her arm and drew her to the counter. "You weren't planning on eating in your room today, were you?" Beryl asked, "Because I'm dying to know what you put in your hair and where you got those absolutely wild earrings!"

  She put her hand down on the counter and said, "Serve us up, girls! We artists need lots of energy to bring all that creativity to the forefront, don't we, Joanna!"

  Sylvie smiled and put their food on a couple of trays and Beryl, picking hers up, said, "Come on. We're going into the conference room for lunch. That's okay with you, isn't it, Polly?"

  Polly nodded and Sylvie whispered, "I have a meeting with a bride at two thirty. Will Beryl be finished by then?"

  Lydia laughed. "This won't take long. That poor woman is going to run for her life in about forty-five minutes. Either that or they'll be best friends and she'll spend the rest of her time here in Beryl's studio. Who wants to bet which one it will be?"

  Polly said, "I'm betting on Beryl."

  "So am I," Andy said.

  "Me too," from Sylvie.

  "Well, honestly, I think so as well. This might be good for both of them!"

  They served themselves and went into the auditorium to eat.

  As the afternoon passed, Polly got more and more nervous. How would these animals react to her? Was she strong enough to be in charge? Was she going to be able to bring them back to health? Were they going to be so freaked out by everything that they wouldn't respond to her? She finally went outside and walked around the barn, in and out of the stalls, touching things, making sure that it was as close to ready as a week old barn could be without enough preparation. She had no idea what to do and all she could do was pace.

  Henry and his guys had finally come off the roof. At least that part was finished. They still had plenty to do over the next week and she was fine with that. At least she would have some company while she got to know the horses. Why hadn't she asked Mark what their names were yesterday and why had she been embarrassed to text him and ask?

  Her mind wouldn't quit spinning and she walked outside and then back in. Henry and Sam were standing at the front door of the barn with their hands behind their backs the next time she walked out.

  "What's up?" she asked. She tried to peek around and they turned so she couldn't see.

  "What do you have there?"

  "We made you a present. You're going to need these," Sam said, as they brought two step stools out and handed them to Polly. "We want you to be able to see them from top to bottom and right now all you can see i
s from middle to bottom."

  "Thank you! See, I didn't even think about that."

  "I don't think you have any more time to think," Henry said. "They're here."

  She looked up and saw two trucks pulling horse trailers enter her parking lot and drive across the ground. "We're going to need to make that a circle drive," she said to Henry.

  "Got it," he laughed.

  Mark pulled up, opened the truck window and asked, "Are you ready?"

  Polly couldn't help it. She was so excited, her eyes burned with tears. "I'm ready."

  He led the first big, black horse out and said, "Polly, this is Demi. His sister is Daisy." She nodded and watched as the two horses were led into the barn. The next two horses were introduced to her as Nat and Nan. The names seemed familiar, but she couldn't make the connection with all that was swirling around in her mind. She shook it off and headed into the barn.

  "Unless you have a different plan," Mark said, "They're settled in the stall that will be theirs forever. They'll soon get used to it and will automatically go home to it. Good job on getting hay and water buckets in there."

  "I'm terrified out of my mind that I'm going to screw this up, Mark."

  "You can't screw this up, Polly. These animals are going to take a few days to settle in. They aren't going to trust that their stomachs will be full and they probably aren't going to be used to a lot of attention, but be patient and be strong. You're in charge of them now."

  He picked up one of the step stools and walked into the first stall on her right. "Here, spend a few minutes with Daisy. She's the charmer. She'll do anything you ask and be glad to do it." He set the stool down and Polly stepped up. "That's it, right there. Just scratch her a little and talk to her. Tell her that she's going to be safe and that's she's a beautiful horse. The words only mean something to you right now, but the sound of your voice will mean everything to her."

  Polly leaned in and said, "Oh my goodness, you're that Daisy. Of course you are! I'm awfully glad you're here and one of these days, I'm going to come out here and read that story to you. You're going to be beautiful again, I promise. I can't wait to tell everyone about you."