Diane Greenwood Muir - Bellingwood 06 - A Season of Change (13 page)

“I know. Will the mom be coming home soon?”

“I don’t know. She has cancer. She’s trying to manage it as best she can, but Henry, she doesn’t have any family, she doesn’t have insurance, she doesn’t have friends and I don’t know how she’s going to hold down a job with this.”

“What are you thinking?”

“I have no idea. I just needed to talk to you about it. It’s too much for me to process right now. How did things end up with Annalise and Simon?”

“As much as Patrick loves his wife, he hates her brother. He finally asked them to leave. But I don’t think that’s the end of them.”

“How are you doing? Will you be ready to start on Monday?”

“You betcha,” he laughed. “Now that Dad’s here, he’s cracking the whip. He’s got contacts all over and is ready to bring everyone on board. Polly, he’s going to wear me out.”

She laughed with him. It felt good to talk about something normal.

“You know. Dad wonders if it was Annalise and her brother who killed Bruce Victor.”

“What?” Polly was shocked. “Where would he come up with that idea?”

“He said they’re shady and since Simon wants in on the deal so badly, they’d do anything to get him involved.”

“They wouldn’t kill someone. Especially the person who built up the vineyard and has been making wine for them.”

“There’s something strange going on with Simon and Bruce and Annalise. Wayne said she threatened to fire him and figured she threatened Bruce too, so that Simon could have his job.”

“But so they fire him, why would they kill him?”

“Because apparently Wayne and Bruce have contracts with the Terrible Trio for the next five years.”

“Where did you all get that name for them?”

Henry chuckled. “That was what people called them when they were in school and even though they left town for fifteen years, it stuck. I told them they should have used that for the name of the winery. Nobody thought it was funny.”

“It’s kind of funny.”

“That’s what I thought.”

“What made your Dad think Annalise and Simon killed Bruce?”

“He said it was a vibe they gave off.”

“Well, I’d admit that they seemed odd together. She was a completely different person. All of that sulky, pouty girl went away. It was like she’d taken some type of happy drug.”

Henry coughed.

“No.”

“I’m not saying anything, but that was too much of a radical change from every other time I’d met her.”

“You don’t think it was just because she was glad to be with her brother?”

“Okay, we’ll call it that.”

“Tell your father that if he wants to take over the dead body retrieval and investigation in Bellingwood, I’m glad to give it up.”

“I’ll let him know. So, you have a little girl living with you for a while?”

Polly took a breath. “And a little boy for the weekend. This puts a crimp in things for us, doesn’t it?”

“With Dad here, I think it’s safe to say we
wouldn’t have any alone time anyway. Do you want to try to do dinner tonight?”

“Can I get back to you on that?”

“Sure. Take care of Rebecca. She has to be pretty upset by everything that has happened and if you need a hug, you know where to find me.”

“Thanks, Henry. I love you.”

“Love you too. Let me know when you get back into town.”

“Okay, thanks.”

Polly hung up and went back to sit beside Andrew. “I think we should treat Rebecca to a trip to the bookstore and then McDonalds. How does that sound?”

He grinned up at her. “That sounds awesome. I have five dollars. I was going to buy a couple of books, but I could share that with Rebecca.”

“Don’t worry about it. Today’s books are on me.”

“I can’t wait to tell her.”

“Here she comes. You can tell her on the way to the truck.” Polly stood up and met Rebecca as she approached them. Her eyes were still red from crying and without saying anything she slipped her hand into Polly’s.

Andrew sensed that it wasn’t a good time to say anything and they walked in silence back to the truck.

When they were belted in, Polly said, “Andrew and I go to a used bookstore when we come to Boone. Are you up for that?”

Rebecca nodded yes and Andrew took it as a sign that she was better, “Polly said she’s buying books today. I can’t wait to show you what they have. It’s different every time I come down. Sometimes I only have enough money to buy one book, but sometimes when I save up, I can buy four! How many can we buy today, Polly?”

“Let’s see what you come up with when we get there. We won’t go crazy, but books are a pretty good way to help a broken heart.”

She parked in front of the bookstore and while she waited for a few cars to pass before opening her door into traffic, Andrew pulled Rebecca out of the passenger door onto the sidewalk. They were inside the store, kneeling in front of the big, black Labrador retriever that greeted customers. Rebecca had wrapped her arms around the dog to hug it and Andrew was patting it on the back.

“Go on,” Polly said, shooing them to the stacks of books. “You know where to go.”

“Come on! I have to show you!” Andrew took Rebecca’s hand and drew her back into the store.

Polly took a history book off a rack and wandered into a corner to read. Her mind wasn’t on the book and she read the first page over and over, not knowing at all what she was reading.

“They’re good kids,” the owner said.

“They are. We’re splurging a little today. Andrew’s showing off.”

“Can I help you find anything?”

“No thanks. I’m just waiting for them.”

“If you need anything, let me know.”

“Thanks,” Polly said distractedly. What she needed was some guidance and she wasn’t sure where to turn. Every time she ran into a situation, she called Lydia. It didn’t seem fair to ask the woman to help with one more thing, but who else would know what to do? She put the book back and spun a turning rack filled with books by Iowa authors. There were so many. She smiled. Maybe someday she would have time to write her story.

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

Andrew and Rebecca were tucked in and sound asleep when Polly’s phone buzzed. She’d finally turned her light back on and pulled out a book to read, willing her mind to stop replaying their morning at the hospital.

She checked her phone and found a text from Henry.

Can you come outside and play? I miss you a
nd I’m parked in your driveway.

She giggled. Sometimes he made her feel like a junior high girl.

Polly put her robe on and slipped her feet into a pair of tennis shoes, then checked on the kids. Their faces were peaceful in sleep.

“You stay here,” she whispered to the animals. “I’ll be back.” She ran down the back steps as quietly as possible and out through the garage. Henry pushed the passenger door open for her and smiled.

“You don’t have enough clothes on to be outside. It’s chilly tonight.”

“I hoped your truck would be warm.” She reached forward and turned up the heat. “What are you doing out here?”

“I told you. I missed you today. I’m not sure if I like all of these other people clamoring for your attention.”

“I missed you too.” Polly leaned back in the seat. “I feel like a fool out here in my robe and tennis shoes. It’s really not the best way to impress my boyfriend.”

“You’re a nut,” he laughed. “I’ve seen you in much worse.”

Polly nodded. “So how are things with your dad?”

“He called mom tonight and sounded like a kid as he described our day. He has big plans. I’m a little concerned I won’t be able to keep up with him.”

“Will your mom be okay with moving back to Bellingwood?”

“I think so. We’ll see how long it takes for me to go insane living in the house with them, though. I won’t be comfortable having my mommy ask me where I am all the time.”

“She wouldn’t do that.”

Polly watched him grin in the light of the street lamps. “Yes she would. Especially if I’m not home when she thinks I should be home and she convinces Dad that I’m dead in a ditch somewhere.”

“Why wouldn’t she just text and ask?”

He turned to her. “Polly. I’m thirty-eight years old. I shouldn’t have to tell my mom where I am all the time.”

“Well, it seems like the courteous thing to do if she’s living in the same house with you, don’t you think?”

“You aren’t going to help me with this, are you?”

“If you were living with me, I’d want to know why you were later than usual or if you were even planning to come home that night. It’s common courtesy.”

“Living with you? That sounds better than with my parents.”

Polly took his hand. “I don’t even know how that would work. There isn’t enough room in that apartment for two people to live all the time. I’d end up killing you when you got in my way, I’m sure of that. And there isn’t a good place for you to work. There isn’t any room for either of us to hide from the other if we need quiet time. Besides, who would be responsible for laundry and cooking? And if I have the kids there, you’d go insane with all of the activity.”

Henry was silent and she continued. “I suppose we could find a place for an office for you. It seems like we wake up about the same time every day. And you could shower first because I usually go to the barn. That way you’d be done when I got back.”

She chuckled. “That would be awesome. I could go out and help Eliseo in the barn and then come back and you’d have breakfast all ready for me. Wouldn’t that be great?”

Polly turned to him and watched as his head slowly turned back and forth.

“What?”

“You are seriously talking about this,” he said quietly.

She yanked her hand
back to her lap and scooted closer to the door, putting more space between them. “No. I wasn’t. Ignore everything I just said. It wouldn’t work. There isn’t enough room.”

“Don’t you dare panic on me, Polly Giller,” Henry demanded. “We haven’t talked about these things because I want you to be confident that I’m sticking around and that I’m not playing with you, but this time you brought it up and you can’t run from me
so easily.”

“I really should go back upstairs. The kids are all alone.”

“They’re fine. We’re right here.”

“But I didn’t tell them where I was going. What if Rebecca wakes up? She’s had a horrible couple of days.”

“She’ll wake Andrew. If we see a light turn on, you can run inside, but you can’t run away from me.”

“I shouldn’t have said anything, Henry.”

“Why not? Why can’t we talk about this?”

“Because the very best way to ruin what we have is to do something stupid like move in together. If you end up hating me, where would you go then?”

“I’d go back home and kick my parents out.”

“Wrong answer,” she snapped.

Henry took a breath. “I’m sorry. The right answer was, ‘I won’t ever end up hating you.’ That was a bad reaction on my part. Polly, what will it take to convince you that I’m in love with you and want to spend the rest of my life with you?”

Polly couldn’t control herself. She glanced at her left hand, then quickly covered it with her right hand.

“Would that work?” he asked.

“Would what work?”

“Will you finally trust me if I ask you to marry me?”

“Henry, that’s not what I meant.”

“I know. You’ve told me over and over that you aren’t ready to go that far, that you aren’t finished with being Polly Giller yet. Can you tell me why you can’t be Polly Giller and be married to me all at the same time?”

Polly started to answer and caught something out of the corner of her eye, then chuckled when she saw lights flash behind
them.

Stu Decker got out of his vehicle and walked up to Henry’s side of the truck, motioning for Henry to roll his window down.

“What’s up, Officer?” Henry asked.

“We’ve had reports of vandalism here at Sycamore House and it looks like I might have caught you in the act, sir,” Stu said with as straight a face as he could muster.

“I have an alibi. The owner is sitting right here.”

Stu waved at Polly. “I saw your truck parked here and thought I should check it out just in case. I was pretty sure it was you, but didn’t want to drive away and then be called back and feel horrible because I’d missed the obvious. Are you two just out enjoying the beautiful evening?” He pointed at Polly, “You don’t dress up much for dates anymore, do you?”

“Go bother someone else,” she said. “Or I’ll tell your boss you were slacking on the job.”

“We wouldn’t want that,” Stu said. He reached in and shook Henry’s hand. “Have a good night. Nice to see you both.” He turned and walked back to his car and Polly shivered as Henry rolled his window back up.

“Where were we?” he asked.

“I don’t know. I really don’t want to talk about this tonight.”

Henry expelled his breath … loudly. “When will you want to talk about it? You have to give me some credit for being incredibly patient, don’t you?”

“Of course I do, but you aren’t going to give me an ultimatum or something, are you?”

“What do you mean?”

“That if I don’t talk about it your patience will run out?”

“No, Polly. I love you. That doesn’t ever run out.”

“But what about waiting? Will you get tired of waiting for me?”

“I’m already tired of it, but that doesn’t mean I’m going anywhere. I can’t make you be anything different than you are. I fell in love with you, not someone I want you to be.”

“That was really the right answer,” she smiled. “Okay, here’s the deal. I will talk about all of this with you. I promise.”

“Okay …” He hesitated. “What does that mean?”

“I want to spend time talking to you about everything, but I want to be alone with you and wear normal clothes.” She gestured at her body, then pointed upstairs. “I don’t want to worry about kids asleep in my apartment or deputies pulling in behind us. I want to talk to you and listen to you all at the same time. Yes?” She looked up at him.

“Absolutely. When do you want to have this long, private conversation?”

“Your dad leaves on Friday to go back to Arizona, right?”

“Yes, and he and Mom will be in town on Monday.”

“Then we will try for an evening next weekend. I promise.”

“That sounds fair.” Henry took her hand again, pulling it to the top of the console. “So what’s going on with Sarah?”

“I don’t know, Henry. I have no idea. I spent the entire day baking and doing laundry so that I wouldn’t have to think about it. I should have brought you a platter of goodies.”

“Why do you have to be the one who worries about this?”

“There is no one else. She has no family and no friends and if this cancer is as bad as she is afraid it is, she won’t be able to work. I can’t let them be evicted from their home and wor
ry about paying for chemo. That stuff is expensive. Doctor Mason was great getting her down there and I know he is good about helping people who need help, but that isn’t going to last very long.”

“Have you called Lydia?”

Polly flung her hands up, “I can’t call her every time I don’t know what to do. She has so many things on her plate.”

“But she’d give you good advice and tell you who to contact to get help for this woman.”

Polly turned to face him, pulling her leg up on the seat. “Okay, I was kind of thinking about one thing and I know you’ll think I’m nuts, but it’s totally doable.”

He rolled his eyes.
             

“Stop that.
I want to ask her stay in a room in the addition.”

Before she could go any further, Henry put his hand on her knee, “Polly. You can’t.”

“What do you mean? She can’t afford to stay in that house if she isn’t working. If she lives, then she can do something else. If she doesn’t, Rebecca shouldn’t be on the street wondering where she’ll sleep or how she’ll eat. I won’t walk away from them.”

“But you can’t take responsibility for this woman’s health.”

“Why not? If she needs someone to take her to Boone for chemotherapy, I can drive. If she needs someone to make sure her daughter gets to school every day, I can do that. If she needs someone to pick up medicine for her at the pharmacy, I can do that. If she needs someone to change her sheets and make sure that she eats every day, why can’t I do that?”

“Because it will take up your whole life and you have a lot of things right now that require your attention. You have animals and friends and a business. We’re trying to get the hotel renovated. There things
you’re responsible for. You can’t do this.”

“Like hell I can’t. If we don’t take care of each other, what in the world are we good for?” Polly stamped her foot on the floorboard, making the truck shake. “How can you ask me to leave this poor woman alone? She has no one else. Would you be able to ignore her?” She was yelling by this point.

“Whoa. I’m sorry. But Polly, you have no idea what it will take to get this woman through all of the treatment that she’s about to face. There will be days when she can’t do anything for herself at all. You will have to do that. This has the potential to be the worst thing you have ever been through.”

“It’s not the worst thing I’ve ever been through. I lost my mom and that was the worst thing,” Polly said. She spun back around in her seat and put her hand on the door handle and then said
in measured tones. “I’m furious that your response is to tell me that I can’t do something rather than to help me find a way to make it happen. If you are going to spend a lifetime stopping me rather than encouraging and helping me, I don’t know that we even need to bother having that conversation next week.”

She opened the door and got out. “Good night, Henry.” Before he could respond, she shut the door and went back inside. She didn’t want to go upstairs, so she slumped into the chair in Andrew’s nook and dropped her head to the desk.

“Polly?” Henry put his hand on her shoulder. He’d gotten in through the doors very quietly. He knelt down beside her. “You’re right. I’m the last person who should tell you that you can’t do something. You are my Polly and if you decide that things need to happen, you find a way. You’ve never been unreasonable and I was wrong to assume that you hadn’t given this some thought. Maybe I was just afraid of how much time this would take away from me. I will help you do whatever you want to do for Rebecca and her mother.”