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

  Polly hooked the leash on to Obiwan's collar and they went out to her truck. A light snowfall was coming down dusting the red truck and sidewalks. She could see the flakes in the light of the street lamps she had lining her driveway and began singing quietly to herself "Sleigh bells ring, are you listening, In the lane, snow is glistening, A beautiful sight, We're happy tonight. Walking in a winter wonderland."

  "You're a little late with the Christmas songs, Polly," Henry remarked.

  "Exactly how is that a Christmas song?" she chided. Obiwan began walking toward the side of the building and the two of them walked with him. Polly looked upstairs and noticed the lights were still on in Elise’s room. She was well on her way to becoming a night owl.

  She watched him process on the words of the song and then he said, "Whaddya know! It's not! I don't think I realized that."

  "Once I get horses, I want to look for a sleigh," Polly said. "Wouldn't that be wonderful next winter?"

  Henry cocked his head and looked at her sideways. "Sometime I need to show you my shop."

  "Well, random!" Polly laughed.

  "It's not a random thought," Henry chuckled. "Though I didn’t invite you to board my train of thought. I have a sleigh."

  "You what?" she gasped. "You have a sleigh?"

  "Dad and I found an old one several years ago and brought it back to restore it. It is still in terrible shape and you know how I hate restoration work."

  "But now you will think about restoring it?"

  "Maybe if I had some help," he smirked.

  "I can't wait to see it!" Polly said. She moved the leash to her right hand and wrapped her arm around Henry's. "What fun we could have in the winter. We could have evening sleigh rides and come back for hot cocoa and popcorn. In December, we could project Christmas movies in the auditorium and turn Sycamore House into a Winter Wonderland!"

  "You really love big experiences, don't you, Polly?"

  "I guess I do and the more people who will share them with me, the better!" she laughed.

  They'd walked all around the building and Obiwan headed back to the front door.

  "Why don't you ride with us, Obiwan," Polly said as she guided him to the truck. Henry brushed the snow off the window, opened the door and pulled the seat forward so the dog could jump in to the back, then shut it and walked around to the driver's door, where he brushed more snow off and opened it for Polly.

  "You're good at this whole chivalry thing, aren't you, Henry. You almost make it feel completely natural," she giggled.

  He simply shook his head and shut the door when she got settled, then walked back to the passenger side and got in. Polly ran the windshield wipers and the snow scattered as she drove to Henry's house.

  "Thanks for a nice evening," she said. "I'm sorry I fell asleep on you."

  "Since I fell asleep as well, I'm pretty sure you don't need to apologize," he replied.

  She pulled into his driveway and said, "Would you like me to walk you to your door?" Polly batted her eyelids at him.

  "No, smart-stuff, I think I can make it on my own. Thanks for a nice evening."

  "I'm sorry it didn't turn out to be quite the date we had planned, " she began.

  "Don't worry about it," he waved her off. "It was nice relaxing with you and the animals." He turned around and looked at Obiwan who had his head on the console between the two of them. Henry moved to kiss her and the dog lifted up and licked him on the face.

  Spluttering, Henry sat back. "Well, that's a first," he said. "Hoping to kiss a pretty girl and getting slobbered by a dog."

  Polly pushed the dog back into the back seat and leaned across the console. As Henry bent over to kiss her, she quickly stuck her tongue out and licked his lips, then pulled back laughing. "Now, you've been slobbered by both of us!"

  He whimpered a bit and shook his head. Turning back to Obiwan, he said, "You're a bad influence. This is the last time you ever get to participate in a date."

  He opened the truck door and got out. "I'll be at your place around eight and we'll go from there."

  "Sounds great! Good night!" Polly smiled as she watched him walk to his front door. He unlocked it, turned around and waved, then went inside and shut the door behind him. She backed out of his drive and headed home. "That was a nice night, Obiwan. But, I have to tell you. I like the idea that it's only you and me and the kitties at home when I get there. As much fun as I have with people during the day, I am not ready for someone to be living in my apartment with me!"

  She patted the console and he made his way to the passenger seat, looking out the front window as they drove. When Polly pulled into the parking lot, she glanced up and saw Elise standing at one of the windows, leaning on the sill. She got out of the truck, holding Obiwan's leash and he ambled out behind her. When she looked up again, Elise had moved away from the window, so she and the dog went inside. Polly checked the door-locking app on her phone to ensure everything was locked down tight and as she mounted the first step, felt the phone buzz.

  "Just wanted to make sure you are home and safe. Thanks for a nice evening." Henry's text made her smile.

  She responded. "We locked the place up and I'm heading upstairs. Thank you for going with the flow. See you in the morning. Good night."

  "Good night," came back and she trotted up the steps. She stood for a few moments at the top of the stairs, listening for any noises that might come from Elise's room, but gave up after a few moments and went to her own apartment. Curling up with her two furballs in bed, she fell asleep immediately.

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  “Lazy slug, I’m late!” Polly cried when she jumped out of bed at seven o’clock the next morning. "Obiwan, you always get me up at six. What's up with you! Get going! There's too much happening today to be lazing around. Get up!" She pulled on the sweatpants draped over the chair by the door and picked up a dirty pair of socks tucked under her jacket. Obiwan continued to lie on the bed as he watched her get dressed.

  When she pulled on her jacket, he looked up expectantly. "Yes, you. With me! Now get moving. Come on!" She patted her leg as she walked out to the main room and he dashed past her to the front door. Grabbing the leash, she snapped it on him and said, "If you had given me more time this morning, I'd have been glad to let you wander, but you only have yourself to blame for a short walk." He licked her hand and she giggled. "You are never going to be mad at me are you, you sweet boy," she said, ruffling the top of his head. "Thank you for reminding me that nothing is all that important."

  They took off down the steps and went outside for a quick run to the back of her property. As she jogged past the cement pad, she imagined what it would look like with a barn sitting there. A beautiful red barn with white trim and covered open areas on either side. She imagined a white fence surrounding the land and several horses in the pasture. She came up out of her reverie as they got to the creek. Polly and Obiwan skidded down the edge into the creek bed which was nearly dry because of the drought. He ran up and down among the vegetation sniffing at all the smells that had happened overnight. He crawled into one of the larger area of weeds and brush on the opposite side of the creek and all of a sudden, she felt a pull on her leash and he began howling.

  Polly rushed to get to him, tearing apart the brush. He had gotten his front paw caught in a trap of some sort. She tried to figure out how to open it, but with his crying and whimpering and her own tears, she couldn't see how to make it work. Sitting down so he could put his head in her lap, she reached into her pocket, drew out her cell phone and dialed.

  "Hello?" Henry answered.

  "Henry, you have to help me!" she cried out.

  "Polly, what happened? What’s wrong?"

  "It's Obiwan. He's caught in some kind of trap and I can't get him out of it. He's hurting and I can't fix it." She knew it wasn't fair to him that she was close to sobbing.

  "I'm out the door right now and getting in the truck. I'll be there in a couple of minutes."

  Polly hung
up and tried to look more closely at the trap. Her fingers were cold and she tried to pull the trap's stake out of the ground, but couldn't move it. Then she tried to pull it apart, but didn’t have the strength.

  Henry called her back. "Where are you? I'm here."

  She described her location and heard the truck driving across her property. It didn't take long before she saw him come through the creek bed. He took one look at her tear streaked face and said, "You're going to have a tough time if you keep adding animals to your menagerie here and they find ways to get hurt."

  "Shut up," she giggled through her tears. "Can you get him out of this?"

  "I can," he said. "But I need your help. You are going to have to hold him still while I pry the thing apart, then pull his paw out quickly. There's a lot of tension on this thing."

  Henry strained to pull the trap apart and when Polly felt Obiwan's paw give; she moved him quickly away and heard the trap snap shut again. Obiwan began licking his paw and looked at her, making soft sounds in his throat.

  "Here, let me carry him," Henry said. "My truck is on the other side of the creek. When we get in, call Doc Ogden and tell him we're coming over."

  He scooped the dog into his arms and waited while Polly got to her feet. The two of them crossed the creek and he waited as she got into the passenger side. He put the dog in her lap and shut the door. As soon as they were settled, she dialed the veterinarian's office and breathed a sigh of relief when Marnie answered.

  "Marnie, Obiwan caught his paw in a trap. Can I bring him over so you can check him out?" she asked.

  "Oh, Polly! Bring him right over. Doc's in early this morning because he's getting ready for a long day."

  "Thanks, Marnie. We'll be right there." Polly hung up and said to Henry, "Doc Ogden just happens to be at the office. They're waiting for us." She put her head on top of Obiwan's, "And thank you for rescuing me. I don't think I could have pulled that open."

  "If I couldn't get it open, I would have unhooked the trap from the stake," he began.

  "What? I could have unhooked it?" she interrupted.

  "Sure, but it would have meant leaving his paw in there longer. You did the right thing by calling me." He patted her knee and then reached up to stroke Obiwan's neck. "He wasn't in there very long. Hopefully there won't be any damage."

  "How do you know about these things? You don't trap hunt too, do you?" she asked.

  "No, but when I was a boy, my grandpa used to take me out with him every once in a while."

  "You never cease to amaze me with the off the wall things you know. Thank you for coming over to help me." She looked down at herself. "For Pete's sake. I'm a mess! And we're going to be late to get the truck and head to Iowa Falls for the furniture!"

  "Don't worry about that. Let's see what Doc Ogden says, and then if we need some extra time, I'll call Jimmy and Sam and tell them we'll be late. There isn't anything so important today that we can't run behind a bit. Okay?"

  "Okay," she said as they pulled into the parking lot of the veterinarian's office. Henry jumped out and came over to her side. He opened the door and picked Obiwan up out of her lap. When they walked in the front door, Marnie was waiting for them and pointed to one of the consultation rooms. Henry carried the dog in and set him down on the table. Mark Ogden opened the door and came in. His eyes were drawn to Obiwan, who was holding his wounded paw out away from his body.

  "Coyote trap?" he asked.

  Polly said, "I don't know. Probably, I guess."

  Henry interjected, "Yes. Coyote trap. I guess the farmer behind you has been clearing them out."

  "Why haven't I seen one before?" Polly asked, watching as the doctor manipulated and pressed down on the dog's paw.

  Mark looked up. "This is prime trapping season for coyotes. They have full, colorful winter coats which sell pretty well." Mark spread the hair on Obiwan's paw and peered at it closely. "It looks like you got him free quickly enough there isn't much damage at all. I'd like to x-ray the paw to make sure nothing is broken, but I think he'll be okay." He scratched behind the dog's ears, then opened the door. "Marnie? We're going to do an x-ray and then I'll clean up the paw. Can you get that ready?"

  "This will take a few minutes," he said to them. "Obiwan and I will be right back." He picked the dog up and carried him out of the room.

  "Do you mind calling the guys?" Polly asked Henry. "There's no way I'm going to be ready to go at eight o'clock. In fact, I hate the idea that I'm leaving him at all."

  "We can do this without you or we can do it another day. Whatever you want. We'll take care of it."

  "No, I need to get these in place today. I have another guest coming to stay and I suppose it would be nice to have some furniture in that room. I also have to go to Boone tomorrow and pick out a mattress and box springs so they’ll be delivered this week. And I can't send you over to that poor woman's house without me being there." She fell silent, trying to process on everything. Then, she pulled her phone out to check the time. Seven forty-five.

  "Is it too early to call Sylvie?" she asked Henry.

  "I don't know,” he replied, “But, I'm sure she's up. What are you thinking?"

  "Jason and Andrew could keep an eye on Obiwan while I'm gone and they like hanging out at my place."

  "Call her. She'd want you to call." Polly hesitated with her hand over the keys of her phone while he spoke. "Make the call," he said.

  She dialed.

  "Good morning, Polly!" Sylvie's voice rang out. Polly couldn't help but think how happy she sounded these days.

  "Hey, Sylvie. Can I borrow your boys today?"

  "Really? That would be awesome! Why?"

  Polly told her about the trap and Obiwan and that she needed to pick up furniture in Iowa Falls.

  "Of course!" Sylvie replied. "In fact, I want to spend some time in the kitchen there today anyway. I'll bring my laptop and work while the boys are upstairs. I need to make sure everything is ready to go for next week."

  "Next week?" Polly said. "What's next week?"

  "The barn raising and hoe-down?" Sylvie asked. "Isn't that happening next week?"

  "Oh!" Polly said. "I had no idea that I could lose my mind at the age of thirty-two. Is that next week?"

  "It certainly is, girlfriend," Sylvie said.

  "But, aren't you starting classes Monday? How are you going to pull this off?"

  "I am taking two classes in Boone. It's not as big of a crisis as I thought. These are business and math classes. So, no big deal." Sylvie stifled a giggle. "Listen to me. No big deal. I crack myself up!"

  "The doc is coming back in with Obiwan," Polly said.

  "Then don't worry. I'll get the boys moving and we'll be over in a while," Sylvie said and disconnected.

  "Thanks," Polly said to the empty phone as she slid it into her pocket.

  "There's no break," Mark assured her. "We've cleaned up the paw and wrapped it for good measure. I gave him a shot of antibiotics as a precaution and he should be fine as long as he keeps out of those traps." He thought for a moment, and then said, "Why don't I talk to Dan Severt and see if he won't pull the traps along where your land borders the creek. There's no reason you should have to worry about Obiwan playing out there."

  "Would you?" Polly asked. "I was going to have to screw up all of my courage to ask that of him. Thank you."

  "No problem. It might take a few days, but he's a good guy and probably thought he was helping you out by keeping the coyotes at bay."

  "I hear them howling at night," she said. "They're kind of creepy."

  "Welcome back to rural Iowa," he laughed. "We'll take care of the traps and you take care of your boy here." He scratched behind the dog's ears. "Why don't you make an appointment with Marnie for early next week and let me double-check everything one more time."

  "Will he be able to walk around outside?" Polly asked.

  "He'll be fine. If he limps around a little for the next couple of days, that's okay. Don't worry about him," Ma
rk replied.

  "Thank you for seeing us this morning?" she said. "I don't know what I would have done if you weren't around."

  Mark smiled, "Are you ready for the big party next Saturday?"

  "I totally forgot it was coming up! Jeff is planning the party. Sylvie Donovan is planning the food and Henry here is taking care of the barn."

  "You're going to have a dance, right? We haven't had one of those around here in a long time."

  Polly rolled her eyes. "Yes," she said snidely, "there will be a dance. I'm a terrible dancer. This is going to stink."

  He laughed. "Well, I'm smooth. I'll take you around the dance floor and we'll look like Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers."

  Polly heard Henry chuckling in the background. "Hey!" she said. "Stop laughing."

  "I have no basis for my assumption, but I had a picture of you stepping on the doc's feet while he was trying to impress the town with his dancing ability."

  "Thanks," she said. "I have stepped on a few feet in my time. Guys don't like to dance with me."

  Mark laughed, "I'll wear my steel-toed boots."

  Henry added, "Maybe we should recommend that all the men who want to dance with Polly bring their steel-toed boots."

  She looked back and forth at the two of them and pointed at her dog. "You!" she said, looking at Henry. "Pick up my dog. And you!" she turned to Mark, "fall in some horse crap today, will you?"

  She swung the door open and walked out into the lobby where Marnie was standing behind the desk listening to a woman with a rotund dachshund on a leash. The woman seemed to be haranguing her about something to do with food and diet and exercise. Marnie glanced at Polly and holding her finger up to the woman, said, "Call me later and we'll set up his next appointment.”

  Polly held the door open for Henry and waved at Marnie, giving her a smirk as she left. The dog tried to follow Polly out the door and was rudely yanked back to a sitting position. Polly shook her head as she got back into Henry's truck. He put Obiwan back on her lap and went to his side of the truck and got in.

  As he turned the key in the ignition, Henry laughed out loud. "So, you don't like to dance, eh?"