A Big Life in a Small Town (Bellingwood #2) (12 page)

"It isn't registered down in Boone?"

"Nope," Lydia said. "That was the first place Amy checked. She'll do some more searching on Tuesday, but isn't too hopeful. She remembers them talking about their will when she was young, because it made her mom cry to think about what might happen to the children if they died. There is one somewhere, it's just not showing up."

"We did find Bill's old uniform from when he was in the Army. He served in the Korean War, right, Lydia?" Andy asked.

"He did," she replied. "Do you remember the year all of the churches in town encouraged veterans to wear their uniforms to church for Veteran's Day? My goodness, that was a beautiful sight. Bill was still alive then. They all cleaned and pressed those uniforms and found their medals and polished their boots. I don't think there was a dry eye in town that day. Madeline was quite proud of her husband. He still fit in that uniform. Some of the
men only had their jackets, and those had to be let out. But, every former military person was honored all around town that day. We haven't done something that big in years. It might be time to stir up a few organizers again and get them planning."

"I'm surprised they didn't bury him in it," Sylvie said.

"He was cremated. Madeline always said he came into the world naked as a jaybird, and that's the way he wanted to go out of the world. They weren't supposed to do anything special, only burn his remains and then she could do whatever she wanted with them."

"Amy said Laurence had a problem with that when his dad died and has absolutely thrown a fit over the fact that his mother had already paid for a cremation. But, since that paperwork was easy to find, he had to live with it." Lydia giggled. "Live with it. Oh, I crack myself up."

Plates were empty in front of them and Andy moved to begin clearing the table. Sylvie said, "I have dessert," and walked over to get her box. She opened it and pulled out a pie carrier. Freezer packs fluttered out around the carrier and she scrambled to toss them back in the box.

She pulled the top off to reveal two pies. Polly's mouth began watering when she saw the meringue on the top pie. "Is that possibly lemon meringue?" she asked.

Sylvie smiled. "It sure is. I take it you like lemon meringue?"

"I would do about anything for a piece of that." Polly replied.

"Well, you don't have to do anything. I promise. You've done enough to make me want to give you one of these every week for a year!" Sylvie laughed.

She pulled off the divider and revealed a second pie covered with whipped cream.

"What's that one?" Beryl asked.

"Chocolate cream," Sylvie said. "I figured we could have both chocolate and fruit tonight. Andy handed her two pie servers and set a stack of plates in front of her, then took the carrier away and put it back in the box.

"Who wants what?" Sylvie asked.

"I have to have both!" Polly declared. "But, that might kill me. Can you cut small slices?"

A unanimous vote of small slices for everyone and dishes were passed around. Andy refilled the carafes and brought them to the table.

When everyone had pie in front of them, Beryl announced, "Now,
it’s time for my part of the evening." She began pulling out various sized boxes from the shopping bags she had brought in, stacking them in the center of the table.

"This is a wacky game of truth or dare. Each of us takes a box and opens it. There are three options. You can either answer the question on the paper, do the dare on the paper or pass it to someone else in the room. But, you have to declare which option you are taking before you open the box. If you choose to pass it, you have to announce who you are passing it to. And if someone passes you a box, you are obligated to do the truth or the dare. If you pass a box, you have to take another and do the truth or the dare. Are you ready?"

"How are you going to play? Didn't you stuff the boxes?" Lydia asked.

"No. I was honest. I took the boxes and papers over to Deena and asked her to put them together for me. I set this up weeks ago, knowing we'd get together again sometime." Beryl laughed and looked at Andy. "And you didn't think I was organized. Hah. I showed you!"

Each person took a small box and looked at Beryl for more direction.

"Okay. Fine," she said. "I'll start. I'm going to take the dare." She opened her box and read the paper, then began giggling. "I have to eat something old and yucky from your refrigerator." Beryl turned to Sylvie, "I didn't know we'd be at Andy's place. This is going to be a cinch. She's always cleaning out her fridge. There won't be anything bad in there."

"That's what you think, dear heart," Andy said. "I have just the thing." She went over to her refrigerator and pulled out a bag of moldy bread. "I was saving it for the birds outside and it got away from me. I should have tossed it out today, but now I'm glad I didn't." She opened the bag and set it in front of Beryl.

"That figures," Beryl said. "At least it wasn't congealed gravy or something." She reached in and took a slice of bread out that was covered in green mold. "I don't know if I can do this," she said.

"Eat the bread, eat the bread." They took up the chant Andy had started and Beryl shut her eyes and took a bite, swallowed it quickly and grabbed her glass of lemonade. After rinsing her mouth a couple of times, she shuddered and said, "Your turn, Polly."

"Okay," Polly said. "Truth," and she opened the box. "What was one of your most embarrassing moments in your work place?" she read out loud.

"Hmmm, I've had a lot. And you all know about Doug Randall seeing my underwear strewn down the stairway. Oh!" she said. "I know! It was at the Library. It was the fall I was taking classes toward my Master's Degree. I went to class in the evening, worked during the day and studied at night and during my breaks. I was tired all the time that semester. One day I was shelving some books and sat down on a step stool for a minute. I must have fallen asleep and when my body fully relaxed, I fell over and out into the main aisle. A young man working close by came over to help me up and I had absolutely no explanation for why I was all a jumble on the floor. I couldn't tell anyone I'd been sleeping. That was when I decided the degree could wait."

"Did you ever finish it," Sylvie asked.

"No, I haven't. Life and everything else kind of took precedence and I didn't need it for my job. It just seemed like the thing to do. Maybe someday, though."

Polly looked at Lydia and said, "It's to you."

Lydia announced that she would take truth and opened her box. "What is your guilty pleasure?" she read out loud. "I hate to admit it," she said. "It's a little twisted."

"What is it?" Polly asked.

"I take the kiddos to Chuck-E-Cheese because I love that hideous, awful pizza."

Andy grimaced and Sylvie said, "That's the worst pizza in the world! I was glad to have my boys get past that stage."

"I know!" Lydia said. "It's absolutely awful and I love it. I even love that stupid, dancing mouse. Whenever I get a craving, I offer to take my grandkids out for an evening and we drive to Des Moines. I get my awful pizza and they think Grandma is cool."

Lydia looked at Sylvie and said, "
Now it's your turn."

Sylvie looked at the box in her hand and said, "Dare. I'm afraid of truth tonight." She opened the box and pulled the paper out and read it, then looked up at the table. "This is weird," she said. "Okay, fine."

"What is it?" Andy asked.

"I'm not supposed to say," Sylvie replied and stood up. She walked into the kitchen and washed her hands. Then, she spun around three times and came back to the table, but before she sat down, she rubbed her sudsy hands all over Andy's face.

"What was that for?" Andy spluttered.

"It was the dare," Sylvie replied and handed Andy the slip of paper. "You happened to be sitting on my right side."

Polly's phone rang. She looked at the display and saw that it was a call from Doug.

"Just a second," she said. "I need to get this." She stepped out of the room and said, "Hello?"

"Hey, Polly," Doug said. "Everything is fine here, I think."

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"Well, a car pulled up and the girl who is staying upstairs got in it and drove away. She didn't say anything to anyone, but she brought Leia down and put her in the auditorium with us."

"What? That's weird! Did she have any bags with her?"

"I'm not sure, but I don't think so. Maybe she'll come back tonight. I didn't want to upset you, but I thought you should know since she never goes anywhere."

"Thanks Doug. We'll be back after a bit. Would you mind keeping Leia with you until I get there?"

"No problem."

"How are Jason and Andrew doing?"

"They're doing great. That Andrew is a little spitfire."

"He sure is. Okay, thanks for letting me know. I feel like I should build a room for you to live there. You keep taking care of things for me."

"You build the room. I'll move in!" Doug said brightly.

"See you in a bit," Polly said and hung up. She went back into the dining room and sat down.

"What's up?" Sylvie asked.

"I suppose it's nothing. That was Doug and he called to tell me that Elise just got in someone's car and drove away. She put Leia in the auditorium and didn't say a word. It's strange, that's all."

"Are you worried about her?" Lydia asked.

"Well, I got these calls last night for a Linda Marberry. Someone was certain she was staying with me. I insisted that I had no one there by that name, but it makes me wonder. I asked Elise about it today and she denied knowing anything about it, but now she's gone." Polly looked at the time on her phone. "It's nine o'clock. Where would she be going at this hour in Bellingwood?"

"Do you need to hurry back to Sycamore House?" Andy said.

"We should head back soon, I suppose, but you aren't going to get out of taking a turn," Polly laughed. "Will that be
okay?" she asked Sylvie, who nodded her assent.

"
Well, fine. I'm doing truth, then," Andy said and opened her box. "Describe your worst date." She looked at Beryl, "Really? That's what you want to know?"

"Excuse me," Beryl said. "I had no idea who would get that question. It could easily have been me!"

"But, you were there for my worst date."

"Oh, lordie. Yes, I was. That was a helluva night!" Beryl laughed.

"Well, tell us!" Polly insisted.

"It was my junior prom. I wasn't dating anyone and Miss Thing over here was dating some weird guy from Boone, so she asked him to find a buddy to be my date. He had a friend who agreed to go with me and we all met up for pizza the week before in Boone. First thing, he was short. Way short. I'd already bought these pretty white sandals, but I remember having to go downtown to find a pair of flats. Mom wasn't too happy about spending that money, but I didn’t want to tower over him. He seemed like a nice enough guy, and I was willing to get past the height issue. I was even willing to try to ignore his lisp."

Everyone at the table was giggling by now. "What I didn't realize was that he not only couldn't dance, but he wouldn't dance. We sat at a table all night long. He didn't want to get his picture taken. He didn't want to participate in anything. He and his buddy kept going outside and all of a sudden, it must have hit Beryl too, we realized they were getting high. In fact, I think that was the last year they let people go in and out of the building at a dance. After that year, once you were out, you stayed out. But, anyway, when he came back one time, he started getting handsy with me. I was so shocked I didn't know what to do. I moved my chair away, thinking he'd get the hint. Well, he was all relaxed and happy and started draping himself over me, trying to feel me up. Finally I slapped him. He giggled. I pushed him back and he went over his chair onto the floor. He kept laughing and came back for more.

"That was it for me. I told him that I was calling my dad to come get me. He tried to kiss me goodbye. He totally didn't get it, I guess. I shoved him again and back he went into the chair and pulled down a bunch of decorations that were hanging there. One of the sponsors came over and asked if everything was okay and told us that if we didn't settle down, we'd be asked to leave. I started crying, picked up my purse, walked out of the gym and kept walking until I got to the highway. I got to a pay phone, called my dad and he came to get me.

"Yeeeeaaahhh," Beryl drew the word out. "I still feel guilty about that."

"You should!" Andy said, "I almost didn't go to my senior prom because I was so scared something awful would happen again."

"But, you were with your sweetheart that year and it all worked out fine, didn't it?" Beryl retorted.

"I suppose. It wasn't really your fault, though. You were just dating a weirdo who happened to be friends with someone who was even stranger. I should have picked up on it the night we met for pizza, but I wanted to believe the best about him."

"That'll teach ya," Beryl laughed. "Now," she went on. "We should let these youngsters get home and get to bed."

"I'm sorry for ducking out early," Polly apologized.