Tomorrow's Promises (Bellingwood Book 7) (15 page)

"Of course I will."

"But you have an amazing life here and I don't want you to think I'm horning in on it."

Polly squeezed Sal's fingers and then sat back in her chair. "You're a nut. You are one of my very best friends and even though I haven't shown it this week, I love having you around. And besides, this isn't my little town. People move in and out all the time."

"But it is your friends I'm getting to know."

"Don't be silly. We've never been like that." Polly jumped up and ran around the desk to hug Sal. "If you think you'll be happy here, I can hardly wait!"

"Oh, I'm so glad," Sal breathed a sigh of relief. "I just wanted to make sure."

"Be sure. This is going to be fun."

"It will be, won't it? We'll rock Iowa until they don't know what to do."

"Or something like that."

Sal scooted her chair back and stood. "I'd better get back to Mark's house. Are you sure you don't want to go with us tonight?"

"It sounds like you two have some things to talk about. We'll find a time before you go back to Boston."

Polly watched Sal leave and shook her head. Life never slowed down. She went back to her desk and was surprised to find that there was a message in her Facebook inbox. It was from Maggie Dunn.

"I looked you up online and I think Jessie needs your help. But you have to promise not to tell her mom where she is."

Polly responded.
"I can't make that promise, but I will do everything I can to make sure that Jessie is safe."

"I won't tell you where she is if you are going to send that witch after her. She hates Jessie."

This conversation surprised Polly. She didn't even know the girl.

"I don't think that's true, but Jessie's dad had a heart attack last weekend and I know he'd like to know that she's safe."

"I didn't know that. Is he okay?"

"He will be fine, but he's worried about his daughter. They both are. Do you have a way to reach Jessie?"

"We talk on Facebook. She has to go to the library to do it though. We're supposed to talk at eight o'clock on Saturdays, Tuesdays and Thursdays, but I haven't heard from her since last week."

"Will you tell me where she is? Does she have a job? Is she living someplace safe?"

Polly waited ... and then waited some more.

"Maggie? Are you still there?"

"I don't think she's in a good place. But I want to talk to her before I tell you where she is."

"I understand that. If I give you my cell number, will you call me when you hear from her?"

"Yes. If she doesn't log in tonight, can I call you anyway?"

"Absolutely."

"You can't call the police or tell her mom, okay?"

"Maggie, I told you, I won't promise any of that. My only goal is to make sure that she is safe and okay. I won't make her go back home or do anything she doesn't want to do, but her family needs to know."

"Okay."

Polly gave the girl her cell phone number and sat back in her chair, then looked up and said in the way of a prayer, "Please let her log in tonight so we can find her."

She became distracted by a sudden influx of young people, coming in and moving throughout the building. Some of them waved at her. She recognized them from short conversations throughout the week. If there was one thing that kids this age were good at, it was digging in when they were needed. What a way to spend their summer break. She gave a sigh and headed for the kitchen.

CHAPTER
FIFTEEN

"Shh," Polly said to whichever cat was purring loudly beside her head. She opened her eyes and saw a piece of paper on top of Henry's pillow. He'd left her a note.

"You were sound asleep. The dog's been walked. I made coffee. You're cute when you're asleep. I love you."

Last night she took supper to him about eight o'clock and he hadn't come home until after eleven thirty. He'd dropped into bed and she couldn't believe that she was the one who had slept through all of the regular morning activities.

"Good morning,"
she texted him
. "I love you, too. Are you going to get a break this weekend?"

It didn't take long for him to respond
. "I hope so. There are a lot of houses that need to be protected from the rain that's coming in. It won't be long, though. I promise."

"Okay, let me know if you need anything."

"Lunch and a kiss?"

"I'll be there."

She smiled. Even in the midst of all of this, he still made her feel important.

Neither Jessie, nor her friend, Maggie
, had contacted her last night, but at least someone was communicating with the girl. Polly was going to Boone early this morning to see Curt Locke. His wife didn't go down until the middle of the afternoon and Polly wanted to talk to him about what she'd learned. At this point she didn't know what to think, but the bad feelings between Kelly and her daughter weren't going to make it easy to get the girl to safety. A side trip to the Sheriff's office in Boone might also be in order. If nothing else, Anita might be able to give her a little insight as to what was happening with Henry's Uncle Loren.

Obiwan looked up from his spot on Henry's side as she swung her legs over the side of the bed. "Yeah, you slug," she said. "You've already been out. You're going to take another nap, aren't you?" He thumped his tail and stretched his front paws out to reach her. Polly rubbed his head. "I love you, too. I'd better get going, though."

After a shower and cup of coffee, Polly headed down the back steps. It was still early, but there were plenty of people moving around the building. Rachel was in charge of the kitchen when Sylvie was gone and Polly poked her head in to see what was going on.

"Good morning," she said to Lydia and Andy. "She has you working today?"

Lydia pulled her hands out of the soapy water in the sink and dried them on a towel hanging off her apron. "Good morning, Polly. I was just coming in when your sweet husband was driving away. That boy was up and at 'em early this morning."

"He's been doing that all week. And just think, we could have been riding down into the Grand Canyon on burros."

Lydia chuckled. "I'm not sure I'd choose that for my vacation expedition, but to each his own. I haven't had an opportunity to talk to Marie this week. It seems like every time I think to call her, something else comes up. How are they handling Loren's death?"

"They're fine. No one has had much time to think about it. I'm going to Boone. I might haunt Anita for some information if she has any."

"Aaron hasn't said anything, but I haven't seen much of him this week either. You should stop over at the Methodist Church later. The ladies are serving lunch on the front lawn today."

"I promised Henry I'd feed him. That's a great idea."

"Well stop by. It's just boxed sandwiches. We'll put it in a bag for you two."

Polly hugged her, "I'll probably be there, then. Thank you."

She went out to her truck. When she turned it on and looked at the clock, she realized she had plenty of time to drive around town. After the destruction that had swooped through last Sunday evening, Polly hadn't really had time to explore things. She drove north. There were several cul de sacs that were still roped off, but debris was constantly being hauled out of town and streets were reopening every day. Henry said his main goal was to at least get temporary walls and roofs up so people could return home. It was going to take a long time for many of the residents to return to normal, but maybe when they began to redefine normal, life wouldn't be quite so frightening.

After passing a series of flattened homes and seeing families still going through rubble in an attempt to find anything that could be salvaged, Polly'd had more than she could take. Ben Bowen's wife was still a wreck. Their youngest son and his wife lived in Lehigh and wanted them to move in until they could rebuild, but Amanda refused to leave Bellingwood. Every morning she went back to their home with black garbage bags and picked through the rubble until she found something familiar. Ben was worried about her, but didn't know what to do to help. He had rented a storage unit so that everything she collected could be held until they found a place to live, and she carried bag after bag off the site. Much of it was broken glassware and china – useless - but each piece brought more tears. She'd come back to Sycamore House one night clutching a pair of candlesticks. Ben had gone out the next morning and purchased two candles for her. It was all he knew to do.

Polly's phone rang as she was driving to Boone. She didn't recognize the number.

"Good morning," she said.

"Miss Giller?" It was Maggie Dunn.

"Yes, and call me Polly. Is everything okay with Jessie?"

"She didn't log on last night. I stayed up really late and Mom told me I shouldn't call you, but I'm worried about her. She always talks to me and it's been too long."

Polly blew out a breath. "I'm going to the hospital in Boone to see her father right now. Can you tell me anything about where she has been living? Anything at all? I'm going to need something more concrete if I'm to find her."

"That Dennis guy is a real creep. I think he's done something to her."

"He told me that she left him two weeks ago and went to Waterloo to find a job."

"He's a liar. She had to get a job, but only because he made her. For a while, he didn't care what she did, but Jessie told me that he's been getting really weird lately. He's all pushy and possessive. I think she was starting to get a little scared of him. She said he does crack and then he wants her to do it too. I made her promise not to, but I don't know. He always telling her what to do. She goes to the library to get on the Internet when he works late. I don't know if his schedule changed or what, but she hasn't been on since last Thursday."

"So, she's still living with him?"

"I think so."

"Do you believe she's in danger?"

"Maybe ..." the girl's voice trailed off. That didn't give Polly a lot of confidence.

Polly hoped that her phone call last weekend hadn't gotten the poor girl into trouble with this jerk. "I need to ask some more questions around here, Maggie. I'll do what I can. Keep an eye out for her. Maybe his schedule did change and she'll find a way to get to you. Let me know as soon as you hear something."

"You have my number now, will you call me?"

"I will call you as soon as I can."

"Thank you."

Polly pulled into the parking lot at the hospital. "Keep in touch, Maggie."

She went inside, asked for Curtis Locke, and followed the volunteer's directions to his room. He was sitting up and watching television when she knocked on the door.

"Hello, Miss Giller," he said.

"Hi. And it's Polly. I mean it. May I come in?"

He nodded to the chair beside his bed and she sat down.

"It's nice to see you. I want to thank you for everything you've done for my family. Especially since I know you've been busy after the tornado. You've been very kind to all of us."

"I'm glad to help." She bit her lip and continued. "Mr. Locke, I need to ask a couple of questions about your wife's relationship with Jessie."

He dropped his head back on the pillow and let out a sigh. "Those two are like oil and water. It's my fault. I should have been there more to make it easy on Kelly. She raised those kids without me. Jessie could never find it in her to just do what her mother wanted. She's run away before, but we were always able to bring her home. This feels a little more permanent. I just hate the thought of never seeing her again."

"I've been in contact with her friend, Maggie."

His eyes lit up. "You have? Has she been helpful?"

"I reached out to her last night and she's been chatting with your daughter on a pretty regular basis, but lost contact with her last week. I think Jessie is still with that boy and there might be some trouble."

He rose up and his eyes flashed. "He'd best not hurt my girl."

Polly was certain he would set off alarms on all of the machinery he was hooked up to and nurses would rush into the room at any minute. "No. You can't do anything from here. I'm not giving up, though."

He didn't relax. "Just tell me where he lives. I don't need to be in this room any longer. I'll check myself out."

She put her hand on his, attempting to avoid the IV needle. "Really. There's nothing you can do until we find out more information. I guess, though, I need to know what you expect from Jessie. If I find her, what do I tell her?"

He sat back, confused. "What do you mean? Tell her that her mother and I want her to come home."

"What if she doesn't want to come home? She's an adult and living in her mother's home might not be what she wants."

"I don't care what she wants." His voice began to rise and then it was as if he heard himself. "I do care what she wants," he said, a little more evenly. "But she's still my little girl and I don't think she's ready to be living on her own."

"She seems to be making very adult decisions right now, even if they're wrong. I think she's asking you to treat her like an adult," Polly said. "I know it was hard for Dad to let me decide to stay in Boston after I was done with college, but when I told him what I wanted to do, he supported me."

"But you talked to him about it before you went off and did it."

"You're right. I did. I don't think Jessie's making good decisions and she needs your help with that."

He looked at Polly, his eyes sad and tired. "I haven't helped her very much. Even when she was fighting with her mother, it was easier just to let them duke it out. I wasn't around enough to feel like I was part of things and they didn't make it easy for me to come home and be part of their lives. But, that's on me. Spending all that time on the road is a hard life for a family."

"Are you going back to Colorado when they release you tomorrow?" Polly asked.

He put a hand on his forehead and shut his eyes. "Damn it, I can't believe I had a heart attack. It just makes this all so much harder to handle. Kelly isn't going to let me stay out here. We haven't even talked about how I'm going to get my car back home. This is all such a mess. She has to be at work on Monday." He took a couple of deep breaths. "I've really screwed this whole thing up."

"You have to quit taking the blame for things that happened around you, Mr. Locke. Sometimes things just get out of control."

"I don't want to leave you with this."

Polly smiled. "My husband thinks my main purpose in life is as a rescuer. I've rescued horses, donkeys, cats and sometimes I help people. I certainly don't mind doing what I can."

"Do you believe this man she's with is dangerous?"

"I don't know that, but I can assure you that if it feels like he is, I won't do anything stupid. I have too many friends in law enforcement that would make my life miserable if I got myself or anyone else in trouble."

"Then if I have to leave tomorrow with my wife, will you stay in touch with me? I don't have much money, but will do what I can to bring her home." He looked up at her. "If I leave my car with you, Jessie could drive it back home."

"You can certainly leave your car at Sycamore House. I will stay in contact, but as long as Jessie is safe, I can't make her go anywhere."

"I know that. Just have her call me. She doesn't have to call her mother. I understand that they don't like each other very much right now, but I want to talk to my baby girl." He looked as if he were going to cry. Polly wasn't sure if that was a result of what his body had been through this last week or his emotional state.