All Roads Lead Home (Bellingwood) (30 page)

"
Get up,
Polly!" Her eyes opened. What? She heard it again.

"Oh Polly!
Get up!"

What in the world? She looked at the clock beside her
bed. It was eight o'clock. EIGHT O'CLOCK! Henry was going to be here this
morning to check out the floor and she was still in bed.

"Polly!"

"I'm up! I'm up," she shouted out the door.

"You're not really up. Get up!"

Could she live without a shower this morning? Damn.
She couldn't think straight. She shook her head, trying to clear the cobwebs,
then
sat straight up in bed. She threw the blankets back
and dropped her
legs over the side of the
bed
and tried to think.

It was Saturday morning, she'd come
home in a foul mood last night, but then had stayed
up much too late with Doug and Billy's friends. They'd
even talked her into baking for them. Bunch of mooches. Then, at some point,
she'd left them to their noise and come upstairs. That had to have been ... right
after one o'clock. She'd known it was a mistake then and now she was sure it
had been a mistake. Who knew she could be so fuzzy with no alcohol in her
system. Then, she smiled. It had been a great time. There were boys and girls
sitting around tables in her hallway, laughing and playing games. She had no
interest in what they were doing, but loved that they felt comfortable enough
to spend time in her place. Doug and Billy had been great hosts and cleaned up
the kitchen as they went, so she had nothing to complain about, except being
late this morning.

Did Henry say what time he was coming over and why was
Doug yelling at her?

"Polly! Are you getting up?"

"I'm almost up! What's going on?"

"We're taking you out to breakfast. Now hurry!"

She had to think about
it again. What? Why?
She ruffled
her fingers through her hair and then remembered that she had showered before
heading to Boone last night. She'd be fine and at least this meant she didn't
have to creep across the upstairs hallway while people were up and running
around. Oh, she was going to be glad when she could finally get into her own
apartment.

One look around the room, confirmed i
t was a disaster. Oh well, that could wait until
later. She grabbed a pair of jeans and slipped into a flannel shirt. She
scuffed her feet into the shoes beside her bed and looked for her phone and her
purse. Hmmm, she must have left them in the kitchen. At least she hoped so. She
took a quick inventory and decided she was pretty much all together and walked
outside her room. There was activity in the apartment across the hall, so she
walked that way.

Henry and Ben were inside the door checking things out.

"You're up and moving early today," she said
to them.

"Earlier than you are. Sounds like you guys had a
heckuva
party here last night," Henry commented.

"Really?
I didn't notice," she shrugged. "
So, h
ow does the
floor look to you?"

She could already see that she was going to love it. The
wear of the old wood coming thro
ugh the
lacquer was beautiful and she
could
hardly wait to make this her home.

"It looks really good. I'll be glad to get the
next couple of coats on it and then it should be strong enough to take just
about anything you've got to give it," he replied. "Ben here is
interested in doing some of this on his own, so I've enlisted him to stick
close to this project."

"Cool," she said. "It looks wonderful. I'm
glad we went with these boards. I can't wait to bring Brad and Lee up to see
what you've done with them."

"I think they'll be happy." Henry nodded
towards the steps. "Sounds like the boys have some plans for you this
morning."

"I know!" she replied. "Where do you go
to have breakfast in this town?"

"Probably Joe's Diner uptown.
Try the chicken fried steak and eggs, you'll be glad
you did. His gravy is terrific."

"Okay! Thanks. See you later!" Polly headed
down the steps.

When she got to the bottom, Doug and Billy were there
waiting for her.

"Come on! Let's go! We want to take you out to
breakfast!" Doug said, filled with enthusiasm.

"Alright, just a minute, though. I need my phone
and my purse. I think they're in the kitchen." She walked around behind
the stairs and could see no sign of the gaming party from the night before. The
trash cans were filled
in the kitchen
, but everything
else had been put away.

"Guys?
Did you see my purse and phone?" she called out.

"Oh yeah.
We put them in the first cupboard there.
On the bottom shelf."
Billy called back.

Polly opened the cupboard and sure enough, there were
her things. She checked her phone and saw that she had calls from an 857 area
code. That had to be Joey. She was going to have to deal with this today. She
couldn't take it any longer. But, for now, she was going out to breakfast.

"Are we going to Joe's Diner? Henry said it's
pretty good." she said when she walked back out to see the boys.

"Yep and it's on us. We really appreciate you
letting us have everyone here last night and we all
loved
the food
and even the cookies you made. So, let's go!"

They were practically dancing to get out the door.

Henry and Ben came
down
the stairs at that same moment.

"Are we all out of here, then?" she asked.

"I think so." Henry replied.

When everyone was outside, she
doublechecked
her purse for her keys and pulled both doors shut,
tugging on them to make sure they were locked.

Doug turned to Henry, "Are you guys going to
breakfast? You know everyone will be there."

Henry looked at Ben, "Breakfast?"

"No, I'd better get home. Amanda told me she'd
have something for me when I got there and I’d be dim-witted to not show up
when she cooks."

"You're a smart man," Henry said. "Thanks
for coming out this morning. We'll see you Monday."

"Thanks, man," Ben said and walked to his
car.

"Do you want me to drive?" Polly asked Doug
and Billy.

"Nope, we're taking you!" Doug said. She
didn't say a word as she waited for him to unlock
his beat up red Grand Am
. "This is Bellingwood, Polly. We never lock our cars." Billy
opened the door and crawled into the back seat and Polly got in the passenger
seat. Doug turned the key and said, "You know ... it looks terrible on the
outside, but my Dad and me? We've got this thing tuned up on the inside."

He turned the key and then revved the motor to prove
to her how nice it sounded. She smiled and nodded.

Doug went on. "We're going to redo the body next
summer, but until then, I'm cool with it." He patted the dash of the car
and smiled with pride at Polly.

"Very nice," she said.

They only had a few blocks to go. Sure enough the
parking spaces in front of and across the street from Joe's Diner were filled. They
parked around the corner and walked up to the restaurant. Big glass windows had
red-checked curtains drawn back. Polly looked inside and wondered if they would
even be able to find a place to sit.

"Oh, don't worry," Doug said. "There's
always room. Come on!"

The
room seemed
alive with chatter. She could smell grease from bacon and sausage, pancakes and
whatever else happened back in the kitchen. Three waitresses were bustling back
and forth laden with coffee pots and plates of steaming hot food. A few people
looked up and nodded, but the conversations must have been important because
they never stopped talking or listening to each other.

Doug spied a table right in the middle
of the room where
an elderly couple
were
getting
up to leave. They walked past
them on their way to the door which opened as Henry walked in.

"Henry!" Polly heard from around the room. He
shook the hands of everyone
at the first
table
, spoke for a few minutes and then
moved on. It seemed like he knew everyone in the place.

Doug steered her to the table and said, "Look, do
you mind if Henry eats with us? It's either that or he has to sit at the
counter."

She shrugged. "No, that's fine. I don't care."

Polly sat down and Billy sat beside her with Doug
taking the seat across from her.

Doug
called out
, "Henry! Over here!"

Henry waved and nodded, then turned back to the table
of folks he was chatting with. Finally he made his way to them and sat down
across from Billy, just as the waitress was setting down dripping glasses of
water on the chipped, multi-flecked, greenish hued table top. She pulled four
napkin wrapped place settings out of the pocket of her apron and set them down
in front of each person.

"Do you need menus?" she asked.

"Polly might," Doug said. "She's never
been here before."

"No," Polly said. "I think I know what
I'm supposed to have."

"The specials are on the board up there,"
and she pointed behind Polly to a large board over the window to the kitchen. "They're
the same every weekend, but they're still the specials. Do you want coffee?"

"Bring us a pot, Lucy," Henry said. "We're
all going to need it this morning."

"Alright, I'll be back in just a minute." She
came back with a wet dishcloth and wiped the table down as each person picked
up their water and silverware. "Sorry about that," and pocketed the
change that
had been left as a tip. A few
moments later, she was back with cups and a thermos pot filled with coffee. "Let
me know when you need a refill. Now, what do you want to eat this morning?"

She winked at Henry, "Do you want your regular,
Henry?"

"Absolutely.
And if Polly has what I told her to have, she'll do
the same."

"Polly?
From the school, Polly?
I've been hearing about you," she scratched some
more on the ticket she held in her hand.

"What have you heard? I hope nothing bad."
Polly said,
then
remembered. "If Henry is having the chicken
fried steak, I want that and I want my eggs over medium, is that alright?"

"Sure honey, what kind of toast? We have wheat,
sourdough, white, or an English muffin, but that's 25 cents extra."

"Oh, wheat is fine."

"Boys?
What are you having?"
Lucy asked.

Doug said, "I'm having the Sunrise Special,
sausage patties, hash browns, over easy and white toast."

Billy looked up and when she nodded at him, he said,
"I want the Farmer's Omelet with hash browns and white toast, please."

Lucy
said to
Polly. "I hear you've had some wild things
happening over there at that school. Who would believe you had dead bodies in
the bathroom upstairs."

"I know!" Polly replied. "Let's just
say it's been a busy week or two. I'll be glad when it all settles down."

"I'll get these orders in," Lucy said and
walked to the kitchen.

The man at the table next to theirs who was next to
Billy said, "Hey Henry. Is this the Polly you're working for right now?"

"It sure is, and you know Doug Randall and Billy
Endicott
here,
don't you, Nate?"

"Sure do,” he replied and then said,
"So what's up with all the rumors going around
about that old school? First you find bones of those poor little Stevens' girls
and then you uncover a treasure trove of stolen stuff from before the school
got shut up?"

Henry laughed.
"Yeah, I think that Polly got more than she bargained for with that
purchase." She smiled and let them chatter. Soon a few more chairs had
gathered around and then the table on her side was also involved in the
conversation. Everyone wanted to know what they were finding in the crates and
who they thought was the thief.

Polly stayed pretty
quiet. It didn't seem like any of the conversation was directed at her, though
it seemed to be about her. Doug and Billy were lapping up the attention,
telling about the scratched lock and why they were staying at the school.

There were many observations regarding who the thief
might be, but the general consensus was that it had to be old Doug Leon. Everyone
agreed he was weird and since his retirement, he had gotten stranger. He walked
around town with a beat up old wagon, picking up bottles and cans, turning them
in for the five cent bottle refund. Most people
admitted
that they left bottles
out on the street, knowing he'd pick them up. They were just trying to help the
old guy out. He wore a big overcoat, except in the heat of summer when he wore
his always dirty overalls. He didn't talk to many people and if they tried to
engage him in conversation, he would grunt and walk past
them
.