A Big Life in a Small Town (Bellingwood #2) (7 page)

"Whew!" Polly exclaimed. "I couldn't imagine how you would do the electricity and build out the stalls on that day."

"No," he said, trying to assure her, "there will be plenty of work that happens before and afterwards, too."

Polly's phone rang. She pulled it out of the pocket of her jacket and looked at the number. She didn't recognize the area code, so answered it with, "Sycamore House, can I help you?"

"I'm looking for Linda Marberry, could you connect me to her room?" said the man's voice on the other end.

"I'm sorry," Polly said. "You must have a wrong number. There is no one by that name here."

"Linda Marberry. I'm certain she is there. She would have checked in two weeks ago."

"Again, I'm sorry," Polly replied. "I know no one by that name and we are not a hotel. No one has checked in using that name in the last two weeks."

"It is urgent that I reach her. There has been a death in the family and she must return home."

Polly took a deep breath. "I'm sorry that I can't help you. There is no one here by that name."

Henry looked at her quizzically. She shook her head and said into the phone, "Thank you for calling," and hung up.

"What was that?" he asked.

Polly was pulling into the parking lot of the restaurant, spotted a parking place and aimed her truck toward it as a small car pulled in. "Damn," she growled. "Brat."

She drove to the other end of the parking lot and pulled into another space, turned the truck off and sat in her seat. "Someone called looking for a Linda Marberry. He said she checked in two weeks ago, exactly when Elise got here. Then he said that someone in her family died. I wonder if that was why she was crying this afternoon. But, it doesn't make any sense."

"Do you mean, why she would change her name?" Henry asked.

"And why would someone call me to get to her and not call her cell phone. Someone has her number and called her today," Polly agreed.

"And why is she there without a car? How can you live in a rural community in Iowa without a car for two months?" Henry continued.

"And why is she hiding upstairs all the time and ... “Polly looked at him, stricken. "What is going on here? I thought I had a terribly shy math nerd upstairs. Do I?"

"I don't know," Henry said. "Is there something we should do about this tonight or can we have dinner?"

Polly sat back in her seat. "Oh, we're having dinner. What am I supposed to do, walk up to her room and ask if she is Linda Marberry? If she is and doesn't want me to know, she'll only lie to me. If she isn't, she'll think I'm nuts."

Henry got out of the truck and walked around to hold her door as she opened it. He held his hand out as she jumped to the ground, then said, "Got your keys?"

She patted her coat pocket and nodded in acknowledgment as he tripped the lock button on the driver's side door. He took her arm and they walked up to the front of the restaurant. After they were seated, Polly looked at the menu and remembered how intimidating it was. "I don't know what to order," she said to Henry. He laughed and shrugged and spent a few moments poring over the menu himself.

When the waiter arrived, Polly panicked and Henry ordered first, then both men looked at her expectantly. "Fine," she said. "Barbecue Dinner," and placed her menu in the waiter's open hand.

"What would you like for your two sides?" he asked, chuckling by this point and returned the menu to her when her face fell. He pointed at the listing of sides and waited while she glanced at it.

"Green beans and cottage cheese," she quickly said. "Am I done now?" The waiter nodded and walked away.

Henry said, "Not good under pressure?"

"Shut up," she responded
with a chuckle. "Hmm. Maybe I’m not."

"How much longer ..." she began and her phone buzzed again. She pulled it out and looked at it. The area code was the same as the last call, but the number was different. She showed it to Henry, then answered it, "Sycamore House."

"I'm looking for Linda Marberry," a different voice announced.

"I'm sorry," Polly responded. "There is no Linda Marberry at this number."

"Look, lady. I don't know who you think you are, but you must connect me with Linda Marberry immediately."

"I'm trying to be polite about this. You must have a wrong number. Please do not call back."

The phone clicked off and Polly sat for a moment with her phone still at her ear.

"Is everything
okay, Polly?" Henry asked.

"Okay, that was two phone calls and I don't like it." She looked up at him. "Henry, I'm sorry, but I don't think I can do a movie tonight. I want to go back to Sycamore House after dinner. I’m not comfortable with Elise being there alone if people are looking for her."

"Do you want to leave right now? I can ask the waiter to box up our meals and we can take them to go."

"Would you mind?" she asked. "I think I'm going to call Aaron and see what he says about this."

"I'll be right back." Henry picked up his coat and stepped out of the booth. She watched as he flagged down their waiter who nodded and went into the kitchen. Polly stood up, picked up her coat and walked over to him as the waiter returned with the ticket. Henry tried to take it, but Polly snatched it away, looked at it, then handed a credit card to the waiter who smiled at them. Henry shook his head and smiled back.

Within a few minutes, the transaction was taken care of, the food had come out of the kitchen in a bag and the two were heading back to Polly's truck.

"I'm so sorry, Henry. This isn't what I wanted for tonight," she apologized.

"Polly," he said, "please don't worry about it. We'll deal with this and then have dinner and a movie another night. It's
fine."

"Do you mind if I call Aaron?" she asked.

"Give me your keys. I'll drive. You call Aaron," he responded.

She tossed him her keys and after he unlocked her door and held it for her, she pulled her seatbelt on and waited for him to get in and settled. As he pulled out of the parking lot, she dialed Aaron.

"Hello Polly. I thought you were on a date tonight with Henry. Do I need to arrest him for something?"

She laughed. "No, but I need your help again."

"What's up?"

Polly told him about the strange phone calls and her reclusive resident. "I'm worried about her, Aaron," she said finally.

"That does sound a little odd," Aaron agreed. "Why don't you text the phone numbers to me and I'll see what I can find out for you. I hate to say this again, Polly, but I still don't like the idea of you living in that big ole place alone."

"Good heavens, Aaron. Are you going to make Doug and Billy move in with me permanently?" she asked.

"Well, that would be pretty funny, but no, I suppose it makes no good sense. Send me the numbers and we'll talk tomorrow, okay?"

"Thank you, Aaron," Polly said and hung up.

Henry asked, "Are you worried something is going to happen tonight?"

"I don't know what to think. Do I wait to talk to Elise tomorrow after Aaron gets information on the phone calls or do I confront her with this tonight? Am I worried that someone is calling me to reach her and there are a lot of questions? Yes." She dropped her chin to her chest and shut her eyes.

"I hate feeling out of control," she said. "About the time things were getting normal again in my life, there's no more normal."

Henry reached across the console and took her hand. "I know. I get it. Tell me what I can do to help you out here."

"I don't think there's anything you can do," she responded. "Thanks."

They drove into Bellingwood and pulled up in front of Sycamore House. The security lights were on out front, but the only room with lights on was the room in which Elise was staying.

"Why don't I come in and we can watch a movie upstairs and have dinner?" Henry said.

"That sounds great," Polly replied. “
I know it might sound paranoid, but I just don’t feel comfortable being away tonight.”

They left the truck parked in front of the building and went inside and up the stairs. Polly hesitated in front of Elise's room, but went on to her apartment and opened the door. Obiwan and Luke seemed glad to see her and while Henry took the food to the table, she snuggled them both, a cat in one arm and a dog's head under the other hand.

Soon he announced that dinner was served and they settled in to eat. After dinner, Polly and Henry pored over the movie guide and finally settled down to watch. Henry sat down at one end of the sofa and Polly took the other end, tucking her feet underneath her. She pulled a blanket over her and offered the other end to Henry who draped it across his lap. She snuggled into the pillow and promptly fell asleep.

A cold wet nose in the palm of Polly's hand woke her with a start. The movie playing on the television wasn't one she recognized as she peered across the room. She sat straight up and looked at the clock on her phone. It was 1:22 and Henry was asleep at the other end of the sofa.

"Henry?" she asked quietly.

His eyes popped open. "I must have fallen asleep!"

She laughed, "Well, that seems obvious. We both did."

"It's your fault, you know. You dropped off to sleep and looked so relaxed, I didn't want to disturb you and that was the last thing I remember."

"I should probably take you home. We have to get Sam and Jimmy and be in Ames by nine o'clock to pick up the rental truck."

"
Okay." He sat up and stretched.

Obiwan had padded over to stand in front of the door and wagged as the two of them pulled their jackets on.

"Do you mind if he rides along?" Polly asked. "Then I can walk him one more time before I go to sleep."

"Sure!" Henry replied. "So, you didn't hear anything more from your callers."

"No, there was nothing more there. I don't want to do it, but I'm going to have to talk to Elise tomorrow. I can't imagine what she is going to say to me, though."

Polly hooked the leash on to Obiwan's collar and they went out to her truck. A light snowfall was coming down dusting the red truck and sidewalks. She could see the flakes in the light of the street lamps she had lining her driveway and began singing quietly to herself "Sleigh bells ring, are you listening, In the lane, snow is glistening, A beautiful sight, We're happy tonight. Walking in a winter wonderland."

"You're a little late with the Christmas songs, Polly," Henry remarked.

"Exactly how is that a Christmas song?" she chided. Obiwan began walking toward the side of the building and the two of them walked with him. Polly looked upstairs and noticed the lights were still on in Elise’s room. She was well on her way to becoming a night owl.

She watched him process on the words of the song and then he said, "Whaddya know! It's not! I don't think I realized that."

"Once I get horses, I want to look for a sleigh," Polly said. "Wouldn't that be wonderful next winter?"

Henry cocked his head and looked at her sideways. "Sometime I need to show you my shop."

"
Well, random!" Polly laughed.

"It's not a random thought," Henry chuckled. "Though I didn’t invite you to board my train of thought. I have a sleigh."

"You what?" she gasped. "You have a sleigh?"

"Dad and I found an old one several years ago and brought it back to restore it. It is still in terrible shape and you know how I hate restoration work."

"But now you will think about restoring it?"

"Maybe if I had some help," he smirked.

"I can't wait to see it!" Polly said. She moved the leash to her right hand and wrapped her arm around Henry's. "What fun we could have in the winter. We could have evening sleigh rides and come back for hot cocoa and popcorn. In December, we could project Christmas movies in the auditorium and turn Sycamore House into a Winter Wonderland!"

"You really love big experiences, don't you, Polly?"

"I guess I do and the more people who will share them with me, the better!" she laughed.

They'd walked all around the building and Obiwan headed back to the front door.

"Why don't you ride with us, Obiwan," Polly said as she guided him to the truck. Henry brushed the snow off the window, opened the door and pulled the seat forward so the dog could jump in to the back, then shut it and walked around to the driver's door, where he brushed more snow off and opened it for Polly.

"You're good at this whole chivalry thing, aren't you, Henry. You almost make it feel completely natural," she giggled.

He simply shook his head and shut the door when she got settled, then walked back to the passenger side and got in. Polly ran the windshield wipers and the snow scattered as she drove to Henry's house.

"Thanks for a nice evening," she said. "I'm sorry I fell asleep on you."

"Since I fell asleep as well, I'm pretty sure you don't need to apologize," he replied.

She pulled into his driveway and said, "Would you like me to walk you to your door?" Polly batted her eyelids at him.