Out of the Shadows (Bellingwood Book 12) (4 page)

"I trust you," Polly said. "But do me a favor, will you?"

"What?"

"Not just this weekend, but always. If something happens and you or Hayden needs one of us to help you out, you'll call. Okay? It will take time for us to get there, but we'll always come."

"Yeah. Okay."

"I know it sounds weird, but you aren't alone anymore."

He nodded.                           

They rode in silence until they were north of Boone. "Have you ever driven in Ames?" she asked. Then she laughed. "I guess not if you've never spent time with Hayden. That was a dumb question. The better question is, did you do much driving while you lived with your aunt and uncle?"

"No. They were afraid I'd wreck something. At least that's what they always said."

"Would you want to try?"

"Driving in Ames? In your truck?"

She nodded. "Yeah. Today. Do you want to give it a try? If you want to bail at any time, pull into a parking lot and I'll take over."

Heath visibly gulped. "No. Not today. You find where Hayden lives and I'll pay attention to everything. I didn't even think about this."

"Is it because it's my truck?"

"Well yeah. This is nice. I don't want to mess it up."

"Tell me what happens if you mess it up," she pressed.

"I don't know. You get mad at me and never let me drive again."

"Does that sound like me?"

He dropped his head. "No."

"What happens is that we fix the truck and move on. It's just a thing. Are you sure you don't want to try?" Polly hit her turn signal and pulled into a parking lot. She stopped, turned off the truck, and put her hand on the door handle.

"I can't believe you're letting me do this," he said. "I've driven Henry's truck, but I know how much you love this thing."

Polly smiled at him. "I know it makes no sense to you, but I love you more than I do my truck. Let's switch seats. You'll be fine and I know where we're going."

Heath jumped out of the truck and Polly lifted herself across the console and into the passenger seat. She belted in and waited for him to climb in and get settled.

"There are buttons on the side of the seat to move it," she said and waited while he made adjustments. He checked the mirrors and flipped the turn signal off and on, then put his hands where the key should have been.

"Press the button." Polly held up the fob. "The truck needs to know this is here, but you're good to go."

Heath put the truck into gear, looked behind him and pulled back out onto the highway. They drove a few miles as he brought it up to speed and he said, "This is nicer than Henry's truck."

"Yeah. Don't tell him that. He gets all jealous and stuff."

"But he bought this for you, right?"

"That's right. He still gets jealous. He wants a new truck, but he's has to wait. We have too many vehicles right now."

Heath nodded, keeping his eyes on the road in front of him. He was driving stiffly, his hands in the right place on the steering wheel, his eyes darting from the road to the mirrors and back to the road.

"You're doing fine, Heath. Relax. I wasn't kidding about the truck."

By the time they got onto Highway 30, he began to relax. Polly released her grip on the underside of her right leg and rubbed her hand against her thigh. She really was okay with this, but until he relaxed, she was tense.

"Take this exit," she said. "It's the easiest way to get to your brother's apartment. Luckily for you he lives out here on the west end of town."

"How do you know this?" Heath asked.

"Google and I are very good friends. Okay, turn left here," she directed and pointed to the street he should take.

Heath took a deep breath and pulled off onto a side street and parked under a tree.

"What are you doing?" she asked.

He turned to face her. "This is probably the only time I'm going to have the courage to say anything, but thank you for trusting me. I don't deserve it and I know it. Hayden and I’ve talked a lot about what I did these last two years. He didn't know everything so he made me tell him. And Rebecca never lets up. She's always telling me that I can be a better person. That it's my choice."

"She's right, you know," Polly said.

"Maybe. I never had choices."

Polly started to speak, but he put his hand up to stop her. "I know. I made bad choices. But they seemed like the only ones I could make. I don't know why you took me in. Hayden still can't figure it out. I don't know why you let me drive down here today or made all that stuff." He gestured at the bags in the back seat. "But you don't stop. And it feels like you never will."

These were the most words she had ever heard him say and all Polly wanted to do was keep him talking. Now wasn't the time to talk about the other truck. He'd had too much family input up to this point. And besides, maybe it would be better coming from Henry. Who knew, maybe Heath would get interested in cars. They could always use another gearhead.

She'd waited too long. Heath was staring at her. "You're right. I’ll never stop. And sometimes it will drive you out of your mind." She looked him in the eyes. "I want to hug you now, you know."

He laughed. "I've heard that about you. Andrew complains."

"He's getting used to it. I won't hug you now, but someday soon you won't be able to stop that either." Polly did reach over and touch his leg. "Thank you for talking to me today. Can we try to do that again?"

Heath shrugged again and Polly knew that the moment was over. If that was all she got, it would be enough for now. "After you turn around, we need to go down two blocks and turn right. It's the second building on the left."

He pulled into a driveway, backed up and headed back the way they'd come, then followed her directions to the apartment complex.

"Do you want to call your brother?" she asked.

He nodded and swiped his phone to make the call. He jumped out of the truck as he spoke to Hayden, then swiped the call closed and opened the back door. "He's coming down. I told him there was a lot of food here."

Polly got out and walked around the truck to where Heath was gathering bags. She touched his arm. "I hope you have a great weekend. I'll be back at five o'clock on Sunday to pick you up. If you need anything, please call us, okay?"

"We'll be fine," he said. "Thanks for this."

"I love you, Heath Harvey. Don't you forget that this weekend."

He stared at her and then his concentration was broken. "Hay! She made brownies and cookies."

Hayden strode over and pulled his brother into a hug. "You got everything you need?"

Heath nodded and handed him a tote bag. He bumped the back door shut with his hip and said, "Thanks, Polly. I'll see you on Sunday."

She watched the two brothers walk away. Hayden had Heath in a headlock. This was going to be okay.

CHAPTER FOUR

Polly told Rebecca they could go on any adventure they wanted to in Bellingwood, as long as they stayed safe and were home by five. Rebecca called Andrew and Kayla as soon as she could and the three talked for over an hour on video chat while Polly cleaned the kitchen.

Since they weren't going away for the weekend, Henry made plans to move Nate's shop into the building at his new house. The Mikkels' house wouldn't be ready until next spring, but Nate was ready to give up his rented shop space and make things permanent. The two men were like kids in a candy store, they were so excited. Henry's dad had been building boxes for cabinets and they'd been busily sketching plans to finish a small office and bathroom. From what Polly could see, the office was more like a lounge with comfortable chairs, a flat screen and a tiny kitchen. Yes, there was a desk drawn into a corner, but that could hardly be called an office.

Henry hadn't returned home until after eleven o'clock Friday night and then was up and out early this morning. Rebecca and Polly got up late, had a quick breakfast and after Rebecca's lesson with Beryl, Polly was on her own. Kayla and Andrew showed up, both carrying backpacks and before Polly could ask questions, Rebecca threw hers over her shoulder and they'd taken off down the back steps. They weren't giving her any opportunity to change her mind.

She'd spent time that morning thinking about who she could take on an adventure of her own. Since Nate and Henry had plans, Joss would be busy with the twins. Polly loved them, but that wasn't who she wanted to gallivant around the county with. Sal and Mark were in Minneapolis for the weekend, spending time with his family; Sylvie was just plain too busy and Lydia was in Dayton with Marilyn's kids. Andy and Len were doing something romantic and Beryl had seemed glad to wave goodbye after Rebecca’s lesson. She was preoccupied with other things.

Polly could usually talk the kids into adventures, but they had their own thing going on today and Jason was busy with Eliseo. All of these friends and she found herself pouting because there was no one to play with.

"Apparently I need more friends," Polly said to Obiwan who was sitting on the sofa beside her. He rolled over to show his belly and she rubbed it. Han looked up from the bone he was gnawing, saw that nothing important was happening and went back to his task. "I could take you two for a walk, but everywhere we go is no longer an adventure. It's known territory. What should I do?"

Obiwan made a noise in his throat and Polly stroked his chest. "You're right. We could do that. It sounds like a great idea. Let me change my clothes and then we're outta here."

It was a gorgeous sunny day, but the air was cool enough Polly wanted a sweatshirt. She changed her clothes and pulled her heavy-duty boots out. This walk was going to be bigger than a pair of tennis shoes. The dogs were both waiting, wagging their tails as she came back into the living room. "I can't believe I'm doing this. I just gave you two a bath."

They went down the back steps and Polly took two leashes, but didn't bother to put them on the dogs. She rolled them up around her hand. They walked down the tree line through sycamore leaves that crunched underfoot. Fall had taken a long time to arrive, but it was glorious now. With only a couple of weeks until Halloween, the property was beginning to put on its colorful fall garb.

Jason was in the pasture, throwing a big red ball into the air for the horses and donkeys.

"Hey there, Polly," he said, coming over to the fence. Tom followed and nuzzled her hand.

"The dogs and I are going exploring," she said. "I'd invite you to join us, but I know you're busy." She laughed and pointed at Demi trying to get his nose under the ball.

"Eliseo said we were all driving him crazy, so I thought it would be more fun out here. We got everything done this morning even without Heath." He grumbled out the last words and Polly glanced at him.

The two walked along the fence to the gate.

"What's up with that?" Polly asked as she waited for the dogs to enter the pasture.

"What?"

"You and Heath. Why don't you like him?"

Jason shrugged. It must be a high school boy thing. "He's fine."

"Fine seems like a bad thing."

"He's just..." He let it hang.

"Just what? Tell me, I'm trying to understand," Polly said.

"He doesn't do anything. He doesn't care about anything. He works here because he has to, but he doesn't like it. I can't believe anyone can be around these horses and not like them. He’s never gotten close enough to one of them to find out if he does or not."

"It hasn't..."

Jason interrupted her. "I know, I know. It hasn't been easy since his parents died, but he should get over it. They aren't coming back and it's like he died too. How's he going to live if he just floats along?"

Polly glared at him. "You're one to take that stance. After all you've been through?"

"I figured it out, didn't I?"

"With a lot of help from everyone around you," she said. "Give the guy a break."

"Hey," Jason said. "I give him a break. You're the one who asked."

"Okay. You're right. I asked. Just be patient. Deal?"

"It's not my problem with patience," Jason said. "I don't care what he does. If he doesn't have friends or want to do anything with his life, that's his problem, not mine. I've got my own life to live."

Polly bit her tongue. If he wanted to be obtuse about this, fine. "I'm taking the dogs through the other field to try to find my way to Mikkels' new place. We haven't done that yet. See you later." She stalked across the pasture to the gate on the other side. It opened onto a bridge that spanned the creek. Eliseo had spent months working with the horses to teach them it was safe to cross that bridge. When she finally set foot in the south field, she stopped, took a breath and turned to look back at Jason. He pushed the ball with his foot toward Nan, gave it a small kick and she bent forward to lift it with her nose.

"I wanted to yell at him," she said to the dogs. "It's like he doesn't have any idea what people did for him when he was in trouble. That entitled freakin' brat. Not his problem, my ass." She kicked a clump of dirt and it broke apart. "How would he feel if I said that the next time he needed something. 'Not my problem, you selfish kid. Figure it out yourself.'"

Han must have seen something because he barked and leaped, running after it. Obiwan was close behind him and the two dogs chased whatever small animal was running for its life until they came to a sharp stop. Han started digging at the ground in front of him.

Polly chuckled. "Fine. I work myself into an emotional lather and you two want to play. Put me in my place, will you?"

They hadn't been in this field much and that meant there were new smells everywhere. The dogs could barely contain themselves as they marked territory and chased mice. Polly picked her way across the field. There wasn't a lot of land, but it was a long plot. Eliseo had tilled the north end for planting next spring. This south end he was leaving as pasture land for the horses. He'd mowed it down earlier in the season, but the grasses had grown up and the ground was uneven. She was glad she'd put her boots on. Walking was treacherous.

Nate and Joss's land backed up to theirs at a corner. There were only a few feet that they had in common. Directly to the west was farmland owned by Dan Severt. He'd sold this piece to Polly because it was useless to him. Though they'd met because one of his coyote traps had injured Obiwan, she'd enjoyed getting to know him and his wife, Leona.

Polly pulled up on the barbed wire fence to let the dogs through onto Nate's land, and then crawled through herself. Dan farmed right up to the edge of the property that bordered Nate's and Polly smiled as she looked out over the harvested corn field. She loved the fact that yards and fields were practically interchangeable. After living in the city for so long, it was still fun to see working farm land right on the edge of town. For that matter, there were a couple of small cornfields in strange places throughout Bellingwood. This was the life.

Obiwan and Han took off across the cornfield, chasing another small rodent and Polly watched them run. This was a great idea. Those two would be exhausted tonight and even if she had to give them another bath, the dirt would be worth it. She wandered over to a fence post and found a place between barbs to lean against it, watching the dogs chase each other.

She wasn't going to worry about Jason. He and Heath would have to work this out. Neither of them was going anywhere and it had only been a couple of months. She had to keep reminding herself of that. It felt like Heath had been with them forever. But he hadn't and he was still a messed up kid. She wasn't seeing discernible changes in him every day, but if she thought about it, he was better now than when he'd first moved in.

And when she dropped him off to spend the weekend with Hayden last night, she'd seen a glimmer of his potential. She needed to make sure those brothers spent more time together.

Obiwan started barking, an insistent bark, much different than his playful yipping and yapping. Polly looked for them and saw him standing in front of Han about seventy-five yards away. The younger dog was trying to get to something that Obiwan was protecting.

"Obiwan. Han. Come here," Polly commanded. Obiwan looked at her, snapped at Han and then barked again, refusing to move. Polly called again and when neither dog obeyed, walked across the field toward them.

This was even worse than the pasture she'd walked through. The ridges from the corn, the broken stalks and the debris didn’t make walking easy. She continued to call the dogs and as she got closer, clicked her tongue against her teeth the way Henry had taught her. It was enough to make Han obey and he dashed for her side, wagging his tail the entire way. She reached down, caught his collar and snapped the leash on.

The closer she got to Obiwan, the more she realized that this was going to be bad. "What have you found, boy?" she asked softly, holding tight to Han's leash. Dirt and cornstalks made it nearly impossible to see what Obiwan was protecting until she was practically on top of it. She looked down, spun in her tracks and walked away, then dropped to her knees in the dirt and took deep breaths, willing herself to regain control of her esophagus.

Han rushed up, trying to lick her face.

"Stop it," she choked out. "Sit." He sat.

Polly collapsed to a seated position. "Why me?" She looked upwards. "Why me? Why? Why? Why? I hate this job. Can't you give it to someone else?"

She bent forward and propping her elbows on her legs, dropped her head into her hands. "I can't look at it again. I can't even think about it." She gulped once more. "Obiwan, come here, now." When he didn't move, she clapped her hands together. "I said, Come."

He looked down and then to her and slunk over. Polly snapped the other leash on his collar and pulled him in close so she could bury her face in his neck and shut everything else out.

"I have to make a phone call," she said. "Who would have thought?" Then it hit her. She should have realized. Anyone else in Bellingwood could walk into unknown territory and never encounter anything out of the ordinary, but not Polly Giller. All she had to do was wander away by herself.

Polly lifted her head and holding on to the two leashes with her left hand, dug the phone out of her back pocket. "He won’t want to hear from me. Someday he's going to quit answering my calls."

She swiped the phone to place the call and waited as it rang.

"Beep. Aaron Merritt's phone. If this is anyone but Polly Giller, simply say hello, but if this is Polly Giller, you've done it again, haven't you. Beep."

"Stop it," she said. "I know it's you. I've heard your voice mail before."

"Are you calling me for your regular reason?" he asked.

"Yes and this is a bad one."

"What do you mean bad? Bad as in you know the person really well - bad?"

"No. There's no way I can tell who this is - bad. It's horrible, Aaron. I nearly puked my guts out."

"Oh Polly, I'm sorry. Where are you?"

Dan Severt's cornfield."

He gave a pathetic chuckle. "What are you doing in Dan's cornfield? The one behind your land? Why in the world are you there?"

Polly heaved a huge sigh. "Apparently I needed to find this body. I told the dogs I wanted an adventure today. I found one."