All Roads Lead Home (Bellingwood) (17 page)

"Sure! Do you
want to drive around to the side doors and I'll open those for you?" she
asked.

"That would be
great. I'm going to call Jimmy and Sam to see if they're free." He pulled
out his cell phone and dialed as he walked back down the steps to the truck. Polly
shut the door behind him and walked through the main area to the side doors
beside the room where Henry had his temporary shop set up. She opened one door
and saw there was a large rock already in place to hold it open. Another rock
was there to hold the other side open as well. She propped the two doors open
and waited. Soon, Henry backed up a small panel truck, parked it and got out.

He opened the back doors and said, "They're both
going to be here in a couple of minutes. I'd asked them to meet me at my shop,
but this will be better.

"So, we're going to be able to get in and get
started Monday morning?"
he asked.

"Aaron says the bathroom is off limits. Heck,
it's all sealed up. If anyone tried to get in, the DCI would know about it. But
other than that we get the place back."
Polly’s heart brightened as she thought about getting back to work.

"Are you staying here now?" He asked.

"Yes. Even though nothing is finished, it is
beginning to feel like home. I want to be able to bring some furniture up so I
can be
more comfortable upstairs and
I can't wait to get into
my
apartment!"

"I know," he said. "But, it's going to
take several weeks before we get those floors installed and ready for use."

"That's alright. I’m excited that we can get
started again
. I know we only lost three
days, but it was three days!"

"We'll make those days up in no time. Don't worry
about it. You know, we could throw a rug down in the office area down here and
bring some of your stuff up so you have a little more space to spread out. Or,
if you want some more things in your room, we could bring those up and move
them across when the real bedroom is finished. We'll have your living room and
bedroom done all at once."

"I might go downstairs tomorrow and pick a couple
of chairs out to take upstairs,” she said. “It would
be nice to have something comfortable to sit on and read. I
did buy
a space
heater today. It's starting to get chilly."

"Yes, it is. I think you're going to love the
radiant heat in the floor, though. That was a
great choice for this old place," h
e said.

Then he asked, "Are you doing alright with this
craziness? I wish I would have been here the other day. I felt badly you had to
face that."

"Oh, I was fine. It was poor Doug who was so
shaken up. He wasn't that freaked out when he saw my underwear!"

Henry laughed, "Polly, that story has made it all
over town."

She blushed and dipped her head. "I know."

"People definitely know who you are now. Maybe
infamous is the word we should use to describe you
.
"

"Oh, crap," she muttered. "Of all the
things I wanted, notoriety over purple panties came nowhere close."

"Well, since you were such a good sport about it,
I think you gained a lot of points … if that makes you feel any better."

"Not really,” Polly sighed. “
But, oh well."

"So, Pol, tell me the truth. How are you doing with
everything that has happened around here?
"

She looked at him and smiled. "Wow, Henry. No one
has called me Pol since Dad died."

He stuttered. "I'm sor
ry. I hope I didn't offend you.
"

"Oh no!" she exclaimed. "It was just
strange to hear someone use that name. Sometimes I miss him. And yes, I'm
really okay. I know Aaron is around and Danny Boylston seems to know what he’s
doing. The whole thing is just s
ad. Lydia
and Andy were both close to the family, so I feel badly for them, but I'm fine."

Five men drove up in two old pickups. Sam and Jimmy
got out of the driver's seats and said, "Hey, Henry. We brought extra help
because we figured there would be a lot of boards!"

"That's a great idea guys. Thanks. We'll get this
unloaded in no time.
” Henry pointed at
the wall and said,
"Sam, why don't
we stack it right here. You know how I like it."

Poll
y pulled
Henry back a few feet.
"I've got
some cash if you want to pay these other three today,"

"No, I've got it, Polly. We'll
get this done in a few minutes,” he replied.
“
I'll take care
of it."

"Alright, if you're sure," she said.

"I'm sure."

The six of them unloaded the truck of the wood Polly
had purchased from
Brad Giese. It was
beautiful and looked as if there was enough to cover the two rooms, but it
didn't look like it was everything she had purchased.

"Is this it, Henry?"
she asked.

"Oh no.
Thi
s is the
first round of milling Butch finished. He
called
me, knowing we wa
nted to get started
right away.
I'll pick up more from him
next week. There will be plenty. No worries."

"I wasn't worried, just curious," she said.

When everything was neatly stacked against the wall,
Henry walked outside and handed each of the guys some cash. He thanked them and
they left, then he walked back in.

One of them called out, "Ms. Giller?"

"Yes?" she asked.

"I'm going to use the bathroom off the stage, if
that's okay." he said.

"Oh," she called. "Sure! No problem. Thanks
a lot."

Henry said to her, "You know, Davey's serves
prime rib on Saturda
y nights.
Are you busy for dinner tonight?"

"Oh, Henry.
Yes I am. Beryl is having some sort of girls' night
thing at her house and though I'm a little afraid of what that means exactly,
I'm going to show up. I'm so sorry. I would have loved to go. We were all there
Wednesday night and it was terrific."

"No problem,” he assured her.
“
I didn't want you to have to sit at home alone on a
Saturday night. No one should have to do that unless they want to!"

"Well, I'm not going to be alone, that's for sure."
Polly jumped when
she heard a tone
ringing. "Oh! M
y bread! I'm making
rolls to take tonight. We’re doing potluck!"

They heard the front door open and close. Henry said,
"That must be him leaving.
Just a sec."
He ducked out the side door and looked around the
building, watching the second pickup drive off."

"Yep, that was the rest of them," he said
coming back in the side door. "I'll shut the doors when I leave.
And, Pol?"

"Yeah?" she said.

"If you need anything, please call me. I'm not
that far away. I should have said something earlier. This is a big, damned
place and you're here all alone."

"Thanks, Henry. I appreciate it. Trust me, if I
need you here, I won't hesitate to call. But, I'm fine. I kind of like it.
The feeling that somehow all of this is mine.
I love being back in Iowa, feeling safe in a little
town where people pay attention to each other."

"Have a good time tonight, Polly," he said
as he picked up a rock and set it aside so the door could close, "and do
me a favor? You have to tell me stories on Monday about what happens with those
ladies tonight."

She giggled, "Absolutely!" Then she stopped.
"Unless I can't because they're too embarrassing."

Henry pushed the second rock out of the way and let
the door close behind him. He tugged on the doors to ensure they locked and she
heard him drive away.

Polly went back into the kitchen, pulled the dough out
of the bread machine and shaped it into rolls on a greased baking sheet. She
covered them to let them rise and went upstairs to take a shower.

Polly pulled in
to
a spot on the street behind Sylvie, who was getting out of her car. Sylvie
popped open the trunk and pulled out a platter. Polly could see her hesitation
as she tried to figure out how to gather some
thing
else into her arms and
jumped out. "Can I help you, Sylvie?"

"I can't figure out how to pick these other
things up. I suppose I could make two trips," she paused. "Yep,
that's what I'll do."

"No wait. I’ve only got a couple of baskets,
” Polly said.
“
I can help you."

She
slung the
baskets over her left arm and slammed the door shut on her truck. Approaching
Sylvie's trunk, she saw the problem. The tray Sylvie had picked up first was a
little front heavy and everything was coming off it if she wasn't careful.
There were two grocery bags and another platter still on the floor. Polly
slipped the loops of the bags over her right hand,
then
picked up the second platter, which she discovered
was heavy!

"Okay, wow. What is on here? Lead weights? You’re
going to cause me to gain fifteen pounds in one evening," and she smiled
as she looked up at Sylvie.

"Most of the weight is decoration. I probably
didn't need to, but I don't often get to show off any of my nice things."
Sylvie reached up and pulled the trunk lid closed.

"Thank you," she said. "The boys helped
me load things and I didn't even think about carrying all of this in."

"
I feel a
little paltry with my pathetic baskets
of
bread
," Polly lamented.

"Oh, don't. No one cares whether you bring
anything or not, and you know," she winked, "Lydia and Andy love to
cook. The only
thing
we can do is show up and enjoy
their parties
. You
have to love '
em
!"

Andy came out of
Beryl's front door, a bright
red with
ivory vines painted up the side panels. Even though it was dark, Polly began to
see the effect of Beryl's artistic taste on the front of her home. The shutters
were painted, red frames and ivory panels to match the door. The pillars on the
stoop were wound tightly with vines entwined with red and white lights. The
three
half moon
steps up to the stoop were edged in
multi-colored
bricks.
There were sprays of dried flowers coming up out of immense vases with drops of
lights through each of them and a
matching wreath
on
the door.

Andy crossed the yard to the two girls and taking one
look at their offerings, grabbed the platter out of Polly's arms.

"It's abou
t
time the two of you showed up,” she admonished.
“We
were beginning to wonder!"

Polly turned her arm and looked at her watch,
"But I'm still five minutes early!"

"That doesn't matter," Andy
said
and flung
the door open.

"There you are," sang Beryl! "We were
just talking about you two."

"We're not late, are we?" Sylvie asked.

"Oh, honey. Even if you were, you wouldn't be. We
can hardly wait to get the evening started. Come in, come in!"

Beryl took the platter out of Sylvie's arms and headed
off into the house. Lydia came into the foyer and hugged
the newcomers
.

"Hello there, girls! It's going to be a feast
tonight!" She took the bags off Polly's arms and then took hold of the
baskets. "Drop your jackets on the chair there and get inside. We'll get
everyone warmed up in a minute."