Out of the Shadows (Bellingwood Book 12) (28 page)

"There you are," Henry said. "I was getting worried."

Polly reached up to kiss him. "Thank you." She patted the rose. "That was sweet. Made me cry."

He chuckled. "Of course it did." Then he put his hand out to greet Benji. "Benji Davis, old man. You've been back in town for months and I have to find that out from my wife? What's wrong with you?"

The two men walked over to a table where several other men about their age stood up.

Sandy grimaced. "That doesn't bode well for me."

Polly grinned and took her arm. "Come on. We have our own friends. They'll find us when they need something." She stretched her neck to look around the room and found Mark Ogden and Sal at a table on the other side of the auditorium. "Over here."

"Hi lovely," Sal said. "You look stunning tonight."

In fact, Sal was the one who was stunning. The woman could wear scarlet red like nobody's business and tonight's dress was a skin tight affair with slits up both sides of the dress. The back draped open nearly to her bottom and she was showing plenty of cleavage. Her mask was filigree made of black and silver rhinestones, but like the Phantom of the Opera, only covered one eye.

Polly coughed. "Old ladies are gonna be chattering tomorrow in church," she said with a laugh.

Mark shook his head. "I can hardly wait to hear about this one from the fellas. They're always teasing me about my hot East Coast babe."

"That's me," Sal said. "Is your husband here, Sandy?"

Sandy nodded toward the entrance. "Over there somewhere with high school buddies."

"He and Henry left us in a lurch," Polly said. "Have you seen the kids?"

"Which kids?" Sal asked. "I think your young man is there." She pointed toward the front of the room. "And Rebecca was at their table, but I don't see her now."

"I'll be back," Polly said. "Are you okay here, Sandy?"

Mark pulled out a chair and motioned for Sandy to sit with them. "We were headed to get some food. Would you join us?"

Polly smiled and took off across the room toward Heath and Hayden, laughing as she realized who they were. "You two are awesome," she said.

They'd found similar brown striped suits with crazy vests, wild ties and colorful shirts, then colored their hair orange. Hayden drew out a wand. "I'm Fred," he said.

Heath echoed. "And I'm George."

A young girl dressed in a grey cape with her brown hair pulled into pig tails smiled from behind Heath.

"And you're Moaning Myrtle," Polly said. "Introduce me?"

"This is Libby Miller," Heath said. "Libby, this is my ... uhhh ... guardian, Polly Giller."

Libby put her hand out and Polly took it.

"It's nice to meet you. No date for you, Hayden?" Polly was sure he blushed.

"Not tonight, ma'am. I'm too busy for that."

"I'm glad you're here this weekend. Have fun." She took Heath's sleeve. "Have you seen Rebecca? I think she's hiding from me."

He leaned in. "That's because she's proud of her costume and wants to surprise you. Do you want me to go get her?"

"Either that or tell me where to find her."

"They're awesome," Hayden said. "They went toward the kitchen when you came in."

Chitters and whispers behind Polly made her turn around and she chuckled as Kitty Hoffen danced into the auditorium. The noise soon gave way to hesitant laughter and the mood changed when people realized that she wasn't a ghost, but a very alive young woman. She found Lydia and dropped into a chair beside her, causing no small amount of consternation in the room. It didn't take long for Lydia's friends to approach the table to ask what was going on. They'd pulled it off.

"I'll be back," Polly said. "I have to see what they came up with." Heath nodded and pointed to the kitchen.

Polly was nearly there when the three kids came in the door and waited for her reaction. She stopped, allowed her mouth to drop open and then laughed out loud. "You're perfect," she said.

They'd chosen three characters from the movie "Young Frankenstein." Rebecca's hair had been fluffed up into Madeline Kahn's bouffant, white stripes and all. She was dressed in a white satin gown with a robe. Andrew wore a tuxedo and top hat, lines drawn on his neck and forehead where he'd been stitched together. Kayla's was the funniest costume of all. She wore a young man's suit with a black hat. They'd penciled in a mustache over her lips and fluffed her hair to look as out of control as Gene Wilder’s.

"I don't know how you pulled this off, but it's amazing," Polly said. "Have you taken lots of pictures?"

Rebecca rushed over, holding her hair as she walked. "Marie did. She helped us. We found the clothes Thursday night, but she had to sew some things to make them fit. Jessie took us over there this afternoon and we worked on putting it together. Isn't it great?"

"It really is," Polly laughed, trying not to think of Madeline Kahn singing "Oh Sweet Mystery of Life." No, she had to get that scene out of her head. The kids were perfectly innocent in their choices of characters and all she could do was laugh. So she did.

"So you like it?" Kayla asked.

Polly reached over and touched her mustache. "This is creative. You guys are terrific. You have the best costumes here."

"We only paid five dollars for this tuxedo," Andrew interjected. He lifted the jacket and pointed at the safety pins pulling it together in the back. "The pants were too big and Mrs. Sturtz didn't have time to fix them, but this is fine for now. Mom says I might even grow into them someday."

"Let's hope not," Polly said. "By then she can buy you a real one."

He straightened up. "I like looking good in a tux."

"You do look good," she replied. "Are you sitting with Heath and Hayden tonight?"

"We were." Rebecca pointed. "Did you know they were friends with Doug and Billy?"

Polly turned. Of course they'd know each other. The older boys were all about the same age. She remembered Rachel saying something about a friend of hers dating Hayden at one point.

The lights dimmed, leaving the room mostly lit by the ropes of orange and yellow lights hanging from the ceiling. At the same time, the curtains on the stage pulled back and the band Jeff had hired for the evening began playing their first song.

"Go on over," she whispered to Rebecca and watched as they headed over to join the other part of her family.

"We should take the first dance, shouldn’t we?" His hand on her back spun her into Henry's arms.

Polly brought her right hand up and put it on his shoulder. "You're quite the dashing young man tonight. A rose? Dancing? What's this all about?"

"Maybe I'm happy to be married to the most interesting person in Bellingwood."

"Hagatha Dromvinica?" she asked.

"She's pretty amazing." He pulled her close and then pushed her away. "What's that?"

Polly reached into an inside pocket of her small jacket. "My phone." She looked down at it. "It's the inn. I wonder what's going on. Have you seen Grey?"

Henry nodded toward the kitchen. "He was in the kitchen talking to Sylvie earlier."

She answered the phone. "Hello? Yes, Denis, what is it?"

"I'm sorry to bother you," Denis said, "but I think that Springer guy just drove in."

"How do you know that?" she asked, then whispered to Henry. "Go get Aaron, would you?"

He nodded and walked away.

"They left a description of his car for us. I didn't know he was staying here. He's not on the register. Should I have called the police? Mr. Greyson said I should call him if anything went wrong, but he didn't answer."

"You did just fine, Denis," Polly said. "Did the car pull into a parking space?"

"Just a minute," Denis replied. "It takes me time to get around."

Aaron stepped in next to her. "What's up?"

"I think your Springer fellow is at the inn. Denis is on the phone and recognized the car from the description you left there."

He took out his own phone and headed for the front door.

"Miss Giller?" Denis asked. "He's parked down the way a bit. I can't tell which room. What should I do?"

"Don't do anything. Sheriff Merritt is on his way. Go back to the desk and act like you know nothing. Are you nervous?"

"A little."

"If you get worried can you make it into Grey's apartment?"

"He left it unlocked so I can play with Brutus."

"Then go on in. We'll have people there in just a few minutes."

"Thank you, Miss Giller."

"It's Polly. It's always Polly," she said. "Go on back and stay safe. You've done a good thing."

She'd made her way into the kitchen. "Is Grey in here?" she asked Rachel.

"Mr. Greyson?" Rachel called out.

He stepped into the kitchen from the back storage room. "Yes? Oh, hello Polly. You look absolutely entrancing."

"Denis called," Polly said. "I think he found our murderer at Sycamore Inn."

"He called you?" Grey was perplexed and patted the pockets of his suit coat until he found his phone. "It's on silent. That poor boy. I'm so sorry that he bothered you."

"No, it's fine. But he's nervous," Polly said.

Grey nodded. "Of course he is." He stretched his hand out back toward the storage room and Sylvie came out.

Polly stared at the two of them.

"What?" Sylvie said. "We were just having a conversation."

"Of course you were," Polly readily agreed. "And I'm sorry that I interrupted."

"Stop it," Sylvie scolded. "It was only a conversation." She turned to Rachel. "Do you have enough help if I leave?"

Rachel nodded. "Yeah. Everyone's in the other room right now, but we'll be fine."

"Then I'll take Grey over to the inn to make sure that Denis is okay," Sylvie said. "My car's this way." She took Grey's hand and led him back the way they'd come.

"What in the...?" Polly said. She looked at Henry who shrugged, surprise on his face.

In turn, they both looked at Rachel.

"I've got nothing," Rachel said. "And she's never walked out on an event. This is a big deal."

"Are you sure you're okay?" Polly asked.

Two girls in white aprons came into the kitchen carrying empty dishes. Rachel nodded. "I have plenty of people here. We'll be fine. Sylvie had the whole thing put together anyway and you know how organized she is."

"Let me know if you need anything." Polly took Henry's arm and walked back into the auditorium. "What was that all about?" she asked.

"The universe fixing things without your intervention?" he asked with a grin.

Polly swatted his arm. "I was the one who told Grey that he needed to be here tonight."

Henry hugged her close. "You just won't let the universe work without your help, will you?"

"I didn't get Anita Baker up here for Doug. That was a miss."

He swept her back into his arms on the dance floor and kissed her lips. "Do you need to go over to the inn and help Aaron make the arrest?"

"Stop it," she said. "Now you're just being mean."

Her phone buzzed again and she pulled it out to look at the text.

"We got him,"
Aaron sent.
"He had the cameras, told us he hit you in the head and killed Mr. Bridger. Still insisting that Springer House belongs to him and he had a right to everything. Think the boy is a few bricks short. Enjoy your party."

Polly showed the message to Henry and he smiled at her. "Criminals really are stupid, aren't they? Why didn't he leave town last night?"

"Who knows?" Polly tucked her phone away. "But at least there's no ghost. When Monday comes, somebody normal can buy that property and clean it up."

"About that," Henry said. "We need to talk."

Don’t miss the first books in
Diane Greenwood Muir’s

Bellingwood Series

All Roads Lead Home – Bellingwood #1
A Big Life in a Small Town – Bellingwood #2
Treasure Uncovered – Bellingwood #3
Secrets and Revelations – Bellingwood #4
Life Between the Lines – Bellingwood #5
Room at the Inn – Bellingwood #5.5
A Season of Change – Bellingwood #6
Tomorrow's Promises – Bellingwood #7
Through the Storm – Bellingwood #8
A Perfect Honeymoon – Bellingwood #8.5
Pages of the Past – Bellingwood #9
The River Rolls On – Bellingwood #10
Look Always Forward – Bellingwood #11
Holidays are for Family – Bellingwood #11.5

A short story based
on the Biblical Book of Ruth (Kindle only)
Abiding Love

One of the most fun things about writing these books is getting to know all of you who read them. If you have a chance, find us on Facebook (facebook.com/pollygiller). If Bellingwood is a real place, this is where you’ll find it.

Contests and giveaways are a lot of fun – especially when they help me write the books. This time, I needed names for a pair of kittens. There were so many great entries and I honed the list to two pairs. The runner-up names were Wing & Nut from JoAnne Schulte. As you read the book, you will meet May & Hem from Maryann Wenner Potts. Since these new cuties match a pair that just entered my own life – Mayhem is a perfect description of the chaos (and lots of love) they’ve brought to my life.

There are many different people who help me as I write. Rebecca Bauman reads as I write. I send her every chapter. Her job isn’t to edit or criticize, she ignores continuity issues and errors and encourages me to keep going. Without this, there are days I’d never be able to write another word.

My beta readers are more than just readers. They edit, find those continuity problems, point out unnecessary words / phrases / thoughts, catch strange grammar and are such a necessary part of my process. Without them, I’d be lost. Thank you to these amazing people: Tracy Kesterson Simpson, Linda Watson, Alice Stewart, Fran Neff, Max Muir, Edna Fleming, Dave Muir, Linda Baker and Nancy Quist.

As I made final edits to Book 11, problems cropped up and were caught by several people. One woman, however, worked with me to fix them as quickly as possible and she came on board to do a final edit for me, catching things I messed up as I purged excess words and re-wrote sentences. Thank you to Judy Tew and Carol Greenwood for working quickly at the end of the process.

Writing these books is all about the people I get to know along the way. I am so fortunate! Thank you for being part of this.