All Roads Lead Home (Bellingwood) (45 page)

"Well," Lydia said, "They probably did
call his parents, but those two didn't have any idea what to do with their son.
They couldn't believe he was such a mess because his girlfriend and her sister
were gone. Since everyone assumed they'd been kidnapped for whatever reason,
they figured Buddy felt bad because he hadn't been around to protect them."

"Now, bac
k
to Buddy's story," Polly said, waving off commentary from her friends.

Aaron continued. "Buddy knew how to get in and
out of that school. He'd been over it many times with Mr. Leon and then on his
own. No one ever paid
any
attention to him. They ignored him because they didn't
want to deal with his grief, so he had free access to the school
. He pried the door open back by the stage and left it
that way, watching it for several weeks to see if anyone
noticed
. No one
did."

"What in the hell had he done with the
bodies?" Beryl asked. "That's creepy!"

"They were just bones by the time he pulled them
out of the ground," Aaron said. "He bought a couple of big plastic
tubs and stowed them in his garage. Who would pay any attention to that?"

"When he realized that no one investigated the
opened door at the school, he took the tubs in and spent the next couple of
months sealing the bones into the ceiling of the upstairs bathroom where Doug
found them.
He said he rinsed out the
tubs and still uses them for storage.
"

"Then why did he put his coat down in the crate? I
assume that was his coat and t-shirt?" Polly asked.

"I'm not sure exactly what his reasoning was
behind that. I asked him and he stammered around a little bit about it. He'd
worn the coat every time he came up here to work on the ceiling and he changed
out of the t-shirt the night he finished the project so that he could leave it
all behind. He found the crate of stuff from his senior year and stowed it in
there,
thinking
it was safe. Then, he left the school, figuring he'd
never see any of this again.

"Five years ago he
hoped
it had been long enough and
moved back into town. He was right. No one recognized him and
we
accepted him
as Marvin Davis. He made friends, getting to know some of his old classmates
and was glad to be back.

"Until this last summer when
Polly bought the school.
The poor
guy said he hoped he’d be dead before anyone got back in that school. When he
found out that Henry was going to be doing the wood working and floors, he had
enough background to apply for a job. I think at some point he knew it was
nearly over and he wanted to be on site when everything fell apart around him.

"He nearly confessed to you, Polly,
when he was talking to you in the kitchen about death.
But things happened so fast, that it didn't seem to be the right time. He’s
also the one who took the key. He told me that he opened the newel post that
day they were dropping off the boards for the flooring. I think he was rather
startled when the lock was changed so quickly.
And then no one sus
pected him, so
he kept working.”

Beryl snarled, "I want to know how he lived with
himself for the last forty years. I know I couldn't if I had done something
like that."

"Let's hope you never have to find out,
honey," Lydia said.

"What's going to happen to him now?" Sylvie
asked.

"Well, the county is going to press charges for
Jill's death, for sure. They'll probably go ahead and press forward on Kellie's
death, but he didn't seem to be lying. In fact, I think he was glad to get it
all out and be finished. They couldn't have saved Kellie's life, so I didn't
recommend negligent homicide or anything there." Aaron responded.

"What about Linda and Sandy? Have you told them
yet?" Andy asked. "I should probably go see them."

"We have a counselor meeting with them tomorrow
afternoon. They know it was Buddy ... or Marvin, now." Aaron said,
"The remains will be released to them next week."

"They will probably appreciate your help planning
the memorial service, honey," Lydia said to Andy.

"Alright," Andy responded. "I’ll give
Sandy a call tomorrow night after this is all over. Oh, what a mess this turned
out to be."

Beryl stood up and went to the bar, returning with
wine bottles. She refilled Polly's and Lydia's. Sylvie and Andy both refused
any more, then she poured the rest of the open bottle in her glass and set the
other on the table.

"Polly, you certainly have stirred this town up
in the last few weeks," she said.

"I don't know what to say to that. Sometimes it
felt as if I opened a closet door and everything fell out on top of me!"

Beryl lifted her glass, "Well at least you
weren't the one under those bones!" She shuddered.

Lydia turned her body so she could snuggle into her
husband, "Like it or not, Bellingwood is better for knowing this little
mystery is solved. I bet everyone in town had pretty much forgotten about it
except for Linda and Sandy, and now they can have closure and people around
here can support them one more time.

"Andy, you'll let us know how we can help,
right?" she asked.

Andy was staring off into space, running her index
finger around the rim of her practically empty wine glass. "What?"
she said. "Oh. Sure. I don't know what they'll want to do, but hopefully
they will let us do something nice for them. There are still plenty of folks
around who remember those girls."

"Do you have coffee made, Lydia?" Andy asked.

Lydia moved to get off the couch, "No, but I can
make some up in a hurry."

"No, you sit. It's all over here at the bar,
isn't it?"

"Yep.
The coffee is in the refrigerator and you know where
the pot is." Lydia tucked herself back in beside Aaron. "How was the
chicken, sweet-ums?" she asked.

"You know it was wonderful." He reached over
to take another piece from the platter Andy had placed on the table.

"Oh, no you don't!" exclaimed Lydia.

"What?
I
told you everything!" he whimpered.

"You've eaten three pieces of that stuff and two
helpings of everything else. You are going to be miserable when you go to bed
and I don't want to listen to your moaning all night."

Aaron put his plate on the table and slumped back in
his seat. "Fine," he moped.
"Just fine.
Will
you let me have some dessert?"

"I've got it!" Polly jumped out of her seat
and went to the bar. She picked up the two platters of goodies and brought them
back to the table, which was filled with the dinner plates. Beryl stood up to
clear things off for a space and the two of them carried the dirty plates and
the chicken platter upstairs.

"Don't worry, Lydia!" Beryl called back
down. "We're not going to do the dishes or anything like that. We'll
just
get these
out of the way."

Upstairs, they scraped the dishes and placed them into
the sink. They headed back for the stairway and Beryl caught Polly's arm.

"We're all glad you are here, but you're going to
be good for Lydia. She needs some young friends around who don't treat her like
a big important town matriarch. She's gotten comfortable with you and I like
it. You're not like a daughter to her, even if she says that. It's not true.
You're a friend. She needs more of those. Let her take care of you when you
need it, but tell her to back off when you're done. Okay?"

"Alright," Polly said, hesitantly. "I
think I get it."

"Good," Beryl replied, "I intend to
keep you around for a while because I like you too." She suddenly pulled
Polly into a hug, then released her and acted as if she were racing her back
down the steps.

"I won!" she called out when she hit the
last step. "Is that coffee done yet, Andy?"

"What? No more wine for you?" Andy asked.

"If I had any more wine, old fart over there
would make me do something I didn't want to do." Beryl grinned.

"Yeah?"
Aaron asked. "Like what?"

"Like let you drive me home or make me sleep
upstairs or some other horrible thing," she retorted.

Lydia started to speak and Beryl interrupted her. "No,
none of us are spending the night here tonight. We'll sit around and eat your
goodies and drink coffee and then go home to our nice little houses. You've had
your sad day cooking marathon and now your sweet-ums is home for the night, so
when we've stuffed sugar in our tummies and cleaned up the mess, we'll leave
you two to run around the house
nekkid
or something."

Aaron dropped his head in his hands, "I didn't
marry all of these women, how is it they are in my life?" he mumbled.

"What was that, Aaron?" Polly asked.

"Nothing.
It's just that Lydia's friend list keeps growing and
none
of you have burly men around to
keep me sane. Will one of you try to find a man in the next few months,
please?" he begged.

Beryl's eyes rolled, "Well y'all know it isn't
gonna be me. There isn't a man this side of the Atlantic that I'd tolerate in
my house."

Andy and Sylvie both giggled into their coffee.

"What are you two giggling about?" she asked.

Andy replied, "Well, I, for one, was thinking
about a burly Russian man trying to
wrangle
you into
obedience. It made me laugh.
A lot."
And the whole room burst out into giggles.

"And you, smart stuff?" Beryl asked Sylvie.

"Honestly, I was thinking that I didn't want a
man in my life either. I have two boys and that is plenty of testosterone for
me. But, I like the Russian man image better."

The rest of the evening passed as the women laughed at
their war stories from old dates. Aaron fell asleep sometime after his third
glass of wine.

At ten o'clock, Sylvie said, "I need to get the
boys home. Are you about ready to go, Polly?"

"
I sure
am," Polly said. "Let's get some more of
this stuff upstairs."

"No way," Lydia replied. "I've got
this. I'll leave the old man here while I clean and then stir him when it's
time to head upstairs."

Aaron growled, "The old man is awake. I'll
help you take the stuff up
."

"Everyone
grab
a handful,"
Beryl called out. "It will be done in one trip that way,
then
we can all go home guilt free."

The lights were all on at the school when they drove
up and Sylvie said, "I love seeing it all lit up like this again. Thanks
for doing this, Polly."

"Wait until you see all of the plans I have for
it. We're going to have a great time!" Polly replied.

They went inside and both dogs rushed to greet them at
the front door. Obiwan jumped into Polly's arms and she carried him around the
steps. The boys were sprawled out on the floor in front of the kitchen, playing
video games on laptops and handhelds. Plates and cups and wrappers were
scattered on the counter.

Doug
leaped up
and said, "Oh! You're back! Did you guys have a good time?"

"Not as good a time as it looks like you
had!" Polly said.

Andrew ran up to his mom, who reached out to hug him
close. "This was the best, mom. Can we
do
it again?
"

"I'm sure we'll figure something out. I'm glad
you guys had fun. Now, let's get this mess cleaned up and we'll head home. You
have to get up and go to church in the morning!"

Jason looked up from the game he was playing,
"Aw, mom. I'm not done yet. Can't we stay a little longer?"

"Nope, not tonight, Jason.
Save your game and let's get going. Don't argue with
me."

He was obviously accustomed to that tone of voice and
rapidly did as she asked. The six of them gathered the trash and Sylvie's
dishes, making quick work of the kitchen. Doug and Billy gathered up their
things.

Billy said to Polly, "I've had a good time
hanging out here. I think you've got a good thing going. Thanks for letting us
play here with our friends."

She squeezed his shoulder. "Thank you." Polly
pulled cash out of her purse and Billy stopped her. "No,
me
and Doug talked about this. We're not taking your
money. We have as much fun as anyone and you let us bring our friends over
here, so we still owe you."

"Alright, then.
But, I haven't forgotten about dinner!" she said
as everyone walked to the front door. Big Jack leaped out of the door as soon
as it was open and Obiwan tried to follow. Polly grabbed his collar and held
on.