Diane Greenwood Muir - Bellingwood 06 - A Season of Change (11 page)

“Take care of your kids and let me know if you need anything. Order a pizza and make them deliver it. Okay?”

“I will. Thanks again.”

Polly hung up and slipped down the back steps and into the kitchen. Sylvie had a large crew on hand this evening. There was a wedding tonight and two wedding receptions tomorrow. She had a big weekend and everyone was working. Polly walked in and caught Sylvie sitting at the back table, her head nestled in her arms. She glanced up at Rachel, who put her hand over her mouth and faked a large yawn.

“Sylvie?” Polly placed her hand on Sylvie’s shoulder.

“What? What? Did I miss something? What am I doing with my head down? Rachel! Where are we?”

“We’re fine, Sylvie. Everyone is eating and Hannah and I are cleaning up. The kids are taking care of the tables.”

“Okay. Thanks. What’s up, Polly?”

“Have you slept this week?”

“Not at all. I’m not going to sleep until May at this rate. Is everything okay with the boys?”

“Everything is fine. Can I ask you a silly question?”

Hannah walked over and put a cup of coffee on the table beside Sylvie. “Do you need one?” she asked Polly.

“No, I’m fine. Thanks.” Polly turned back to Sylvie. “Do you know anything about Andrew’s friend, Rebecca Heater?”

Sylvie thought for a moment. “I didn’t even know he had a friend named Rebecca.”

“She’s a little girl in his class and she moved here last fall.”

“Oh. Is she his girlfriend or something?”

“I don’t think so. She’s really creative and I think they kind of get each other.”

“She’s probably that girl who draws pictures for his stories.”

“I think that’s right. Anyway. I took her home after school today and found her mother deathly ill. Doctor Mason came over and sent her to Boone, so Rebecca is staying here at Sycamore House until her mom comes home.”

“I should be more upset that I don’t know anything about this girl, but I’m too tired to even think about it,” Sylvie said. “I’ll be upset later. How’s that?”

“You don’t need to be upset at all. I was going to ask if you would mind if Andrew and maybe even Jason stayed here with me for the weekend while Rebecca is around. I’d set the air bed up in the living room and we could have a slumber party. They can play video games and watch movies and I’ll feed them.”

“Really?” Sylvie looked up at Polly, a glimmer of hope in her eyes. “I could have the apartment all to myself and not worry about the boys?”

“If that works for you.”

Sylvie surged across the table and hugged Polly. “You really are the best friend in the world. How long will you keep them?”

Polly hugged her back and then stepped away, laughing. “They can stay as long as you need them to stay, but promise me you’ll take them home eventually. When Jason comes back up from the barn, we could go over to your place and get their things. Can I do anything else to help?”

“No, that would be awesome. Can you keep them until Sunday night? After being here all day tomorrow, I could sleep in on Sunday and catch up on some studying. I’ll be back in the kitchen Sunday afternoon, though. There are some techniques I need to practice for class.”

“Sylvie, I’ll do anything for you. Of course they can stay that long. Jason will help Eliseo tomorrow and Andrew and Rebecca can hang out with me.”

“This is perfect. I might live through this weekend after all.”

“Really, Sylvie. You need to talk to me about things like this. I should help you out more often.”

“You have enough to deal with, but I appreciate it. By the way, what was up with the graffiti on your garage?”

“The vandal is back. I don’t know what I’m going to do about it, but one of these days I’m going to catch him and then I’m going to pour a bucket of red paint over his head.”

“I’ll bet you would, too. Tell my boys I love them and if they need me, I’ll be here, but otherwise … I’m sleeping in a quiet apartment this weekend. Whee!” Sylvie took a drink from the coffee cup, firmly set it back on the table and strode back into the middle of the kitchen. “Okay. I’m better. What’s next?”

Polly figured that was as good a time as any to leave. She glanced at the bag of laundry and thought she might as well ask the boys to bring theirs with them too. Once she got started, there was no reason not to just keep washing clothes this weekend.

She went back upstairs to find that Jason had returned. He was in the dining room eating crackers.

“Hey guys,” she said. “I have a proposal for you. Rebecca is spending the weekend with me and I just talked to your mom. She has a really busy weekend ahead. What do you think about getting your things and staying here at Sycamore House? You can play games and watch movies, sleep when you want and hang out. We’ll get pizza tonight.”

Andrew jumped off the sofa and pumped his fist in the air. “Yes! That’s awesome! It will be cool, won’t it Jason?”

Jason just nodded. He didn’t seem quite as excited. “Sure. Can I hang out with Eliseo in the barn tomorrow?”

“As long as you want. And if you want to call Doug and Billy and see if they’re around, you can do that too.”

His face lit up. “I’m in.”

“Great. Put your coats on and we’ll go get your things and pick up a pizza.”

Andrew rushed to Polly and threw his arms around her. “You’re the best ever. This is going to be awesome
.”

CHAPTER ELEVEN

Leaning up on her arms so she could look into the living room, Polly watched Andrew and Rebecca sleep. He was on the air mattress and Rebecca had taken the couch. Luke and Leia
were curled up around Andrew even though he sprawled from corner to corner. Polly had pulled the blanket over him about two o’clock and now it was bunched around his ankles again. Poor Rebecca was curled into a ball at one end of the sofa and hadn’t stirred all night. This was going to be a tough weekend for her and Polly was glad Andrew was around to help distract the little girl.

Jason escaped to Doug and Billy’s apartment, calling Doug to beg him for the couch. The giggles and game playing that happened in the living room last night wouldn’t have been as much fun with an older brother scowling over them. Polly had made sure Doug was okay with having a houseguest for the weekend and he thought it would be great fun. Since Jason was there, Doug invited a group of friends over tonight for a gaming party. Polly asked about Anita Banks, knowing that she’d been up earlier in the week to dig into the strange email Polly received. Doug blew Polly off, saying that he’d been at a job site and had missed her. One of these days Polly was going to have to dig a little deeper. She just couldn’t let it go.

She chuckled to herself. She really was in training for Lydia’s job of taking care of everyone in her sphere of influence.

Andrew stirred and rolled over, then opened his eyes. He looked up at Polly and gave a little wave, then glanced back at Rebecca, who had yet to move. Both cats stretched and ambled off the bed to the floor, then walked into the bedroom. Luke looked up at Polly and in a split second, jumped up beside her. He sat down and started cleaning his shoulder.

Andrew tried to mouth something at her and Polly beckoned for him to come into the bedroom. He stood up and came across the room to her. “What time is it?”

“It’s about seven. Did you get enough sleep last night?”

“That was fun. What are we going to do today?”

“I don’t know. I want to take Rebecca down to the hospital to see her mom. If you went with us, we might take a side trip to the bookstore. What do you think about that?”

His eyes lit up. “I’ve wanted her to see that place!”

“Why don’t you go into the bathroom and get dressed for the day. When Rebecca wakes up, we’ll make breakfast. I want to go over to the hotel and then to the winery and say hello to Henry.”

“Is that where you found that guy’s body?”

Andrew thought it was just the coolest thing to have a friend who kept finding dead bodies. Fortunately, his mother understood that Polly did her best to protect him from the reality of it. So far, he was handling it all very well.

“It is. Now go get dressed. Can I talk you into taking Obiwan outside for me?”

He nodded distractedly and wandered back into the living room to collect his things before disappearing into the ba
throom. Polly jumped out of bed, grabbed a robe and ran downstairs to do more laundry. She’d gotten through two loads and figured if she kept at it, everything in three homes would be clean before the weekend was over.

She pulled the sheets out of the dryer and started a load of her own clothes. Andrew came downstairs with the dog while she was folding the last of Rebecca’s sheets. “Rebecca is still asleep,” he said. “She must be tired.”

“She had an emotional day yesterday. I’m sure she’s exhausted. I’m going to take a shower, so if you get back before I’m out of the bathroom, stay quiet, okay?”

“Okay. Do you want me to feed the animals?”

“That would be great. Obiwan would love you for it.”

He patted his thigh and Obiwan followed him. Polly laughed. This was the perfect age. If she could have kids in her life starting at this age, it would be just fine. The idea of changing diapers and cleaning baby vomit off of all her shirts was more than she wanted to think about. People expected her biological clock to be ticking at age thirty-three, but it seemed to be in permanent stasis and she was fine with that. If it ever clicked on, she’d deal with it, but things were pretty wonderful as they were.

She stuffed the folded sheets into a large shopping bag and ran back up the steps. Before closing the door to the bathroom, she checked on Rebecca one more time. The girl was still resting peacefully, so Polly hurried through her shower and got dressed.

Andrew hadn’t come back upstairs when she came out of the bathroom. He was really giving Obiwan a good run this morning. She slipped on a pair of socks and stripped her own bed, piling up more laundry at the top of the stairway. Then, she went through the living room into the kitchen. The cats followed close behind her, hoping for breakfast, so she fed them and put Obiwan’s food in his dish.

“Polly?” Rebecca’s voice called.

“Yes, honey.”

“Where’s Andrew?”

“He took Obiwan outside. He should be back soon. Are you ready to get up?” Polly turned around and watched as the girl stretched. Her hair was pressed to her face and she brushed it aside.

“What time is it?”

“It’s about seven thirty.”

“Do I have to take a bath? Mom doesn’t make me on the weekends.”

“Then you don’t have to here either. Why don’t you go into the bathroom and change your clothes for the day. We’re going to run some errands and go to Boone. Do you need help with anything?”

“I’m fine.” She picked up her bag and went into the bathroom and shut the door. Polly’s heart was heavy. She wanted to hold onto the poor little thing and tell her it would be okay, but they hadn’t gotten to that point yet.

Andrew came running in the front door and yelled, “Polly!” Then he stopped and looked around furtively, “I’m sorry,” he said, much quieter.

“It’s okay. She’s up. What’s going on?” Obiwan dashed past her to the kitchen and his food dish and Andrew looked around the room for Rebecca.

“Where is she?”

“She’s in the bathroom. What’s got you all in a dither?”

“The vandal did it again!”

“What? What happened?”

“Eliseo found it. He and Doug and Billy and Jason are cleaning it up right now.”

“What did he find?”

“They got someone’s trash and dumped it all along the backyard by the tree line. Eliseo said not to worry about it, though. They’re wearing gloves.”

Polly ran through the house to the back window. Sure enough, the boys were out there with garbage bags. This just made her sick to her stomach. She rapped on the window, but they couldn’t hear her.

“You stay here. I’ll be back. When Rebecca comes out of the bathroom, tell her we’ll get breakfast in a minute.”

Polly ran downstairs and out through the garage. Eliseo looked up when he saw her come across the yard. “I told Andrew you shouldn’t worry. It will only take a few minutes to clean up.”

“How bad was it?”

“It’s gross,” Jason said. “Eliseo thinks it’s from Joe’s Diner.”

Polly took her phone out and photographed the remaining mess, as well as the three of them doing the cleanup. “Thank you for cleaning this up,” she said. “Doug, pizza is on me tonight.”

“Cool! No worries. You do enough for us.”

“Polly, we’ve got this,” Eliseo said. “Don’t worry.”
             

“It’s just so weird,” she said. “There’s no sense behind it.”

“You’re right, it makes no sense, but go on upstairs and take care of the kids. I’ve got Jason today. We’re going to spend time hitching the horses to the wagon since it’s a beautiful day. Jason is ready to learn.”

“Thanks, Eliseo. I owe you.”

He shook his head as she turned around and went back inside. The laundry was ready to be dealt with, so she tossed another load in and folded the towels Rebecca had brought from their house, setting them in another bag.

When she got back upstairs, Andrew and Rebecca had moved the air bed into her room, and put it up against a wall so it was out of the way. They were on the couch watching cartoons.

“Are you calling the police?” Andrew asked. “Will the Chief come over this morning?”

“I’ll call them and see what he wants to do, but since it’s garbage, I suspect he won’t bother with it. What would you two like for breakfast?”

Andrew turned to Rebecca, who shrugged. “I don’t know,” he said.

“Then it will be salad and tomato juice,” Polly announced and walked into the kitchen.

She opened the refrigerator and pulled out bacon and milk, then chuckled when she heard Andrew say, “She’s kidding. I promise.”

“Pancakes and bacon?” she called back into the living room.

Even Rebecca giggled at that.

Polly opened the email app on her phone to see if something had come in from the vandal. Sure enough there was something new from igotyou.

You’re trash, pretty girl. He’ll see.

That was a new take on the whole thing. Polly flipped the pancakes on the griddle. What if this wasn’t about her, but about Henry? All along she’d been trying to come up with people who might hate her. What if they’d been looking at it all wrong?

She called the police station and asked when Ken Wallers would be on duty again. The dispatcher told her that he’d contact Ken and have him call her.

“Are you ready?” Polly asked and put the pancakes and bacon on the dining room table. The kids ran over and sat down. “I’m going to keep making pancakes until you can’t take it anymore,” she said. “Don’t stop until you’re stuffed.”

When they slowed down, she turned off the griddle and joined them, finishing what was left on the platter. They’d left her a few slices of bacon and she nonchalantly reached over and rubbed Andrew’s back. “Do you want to take Rebecca downstairs to your nook under the stairs while I clean up? Make sure you take your coats. We’ll leave from there.”

Andrew jumped out of his seat, but stopped before dashing away and looked at the table.

“I’ve got it, Andrew,” Polly said. “You go, I’ll clean up.”

“Thanks Polly. Come on Rebecca!” He
took her hand grabbed both coats, and pulled her through the bedroom. They were giggling as they hit the back steps.

“I love having that kid around,” Polly said to Obiwan. He put his head on her lap, pleading in his eyes. “No, you beggar-butt. This last piece of bacon is mine.” She started to put it in her mouth and sighed, then broke off two little pieces and dropped the bigger piece on the floor in front of Obiwan. The other two she offered to the cats. B
eing the tough mama wasn’t easy.

Once the kitchen was clean and the dishes were in the dishwasher, Polly snagged a jacket and scooped up the laundry to head downstairs. The kids were looking at some of Andrew’s books, so she folded another load and got more started.

“Are you ready to go?” she asked.

“Andrew has really cool books,” Rebecca said. “He says I can borrow some.”

“Do you have a library card?” Andrew asked. “We should go sometime.”

Rebecca looked down at her shoes. “No.”

“Can we get her a library card?” He looked up at Polly.

“I will talk to her mother about it and then I will talk to Mrs. Mikkels. I think that would be a terrific idea. Now, let’s go over to Henry’s job site and see what he’s up to before we go to Boone.”

The three of them climbed into Polly’s truck. When she backed out of the garage, she turned to look at the back yard, but everyone was gone. It hadn’t taken that long to clean up the mess and she was thankful, but she became infuriated once again when the garage door came back down and she saw the red spray paint.

“What’s that?” Rebecca gasped.

“That’s someone’s idea of a really bad prank,” Polly spat.

“Who would do that?” she asked.

“I have no idea, but when I find out, I’m going to make them clean it up with a toothbrush.”

“That would take forever.”

“Uh huh.” The sight put Polly in a bad mood and she needed to shake it, so she took a deep breath and drove. It didn’t take long for them to get to the job site. Henry’s truck was parked in front of the trailer along with several other vehicles.