Treasure Uncovered (Bellingwood #3) (13 page)

"I didn't know I was supposed to."

"It's pretty pink. The only brown that happens comes from tanning beds and trips to the Caribbean."

"Well, that's just crap. This is the twenty-first century. Are you kidding me?"

"You're back in small town Iowa, Polly. Some of the towns that have packing plants around here have had to deal with a lot of prejudices. There are whispers that Bellingwood is lucky because we don't have to worry about having more than one language in town."

"Gah!" Polly spat, "The next thing you're going to do is tell me we have a chapter of the Ku Klux Klan here."

"We used to! There are still people in town whose parents and grandparents were members of the Klan. I read somewhere that it is trying to make its way back into Iowa small towns. People don't like the fact that the world gets into their safe, little town."

"Don't tell me you feel that way, Sylvie."

"Oh, good heavens no," she said. "I want my boys to grow up knowing there is no difference in people, but I also want you to know that you are pushing a lot of buttons with the people you are hiring here at Sycamore House."

Polly stopped and took a deep breath. "If I ever hear any nasty bigotry directed at people who work here or who are guests here, I will throw a bigger tantrum than this town has ever seen. They can keep their pre-World War One sensibilities in their own homes.  That man served this country and was wounded for it. And that shouldn't even matter. But it had better."

She hit the door frame with her fist as she left the kitchen and stalked to her office. Jeff stepped out of his office to speak to her, took one look at her face and stepped back in. Polly shut the door without slamming it, sat down at her desk and took a deep breath. She took two more and shut her eyes, trying to regain control. She wasn't angry with Sylvie, who was only trying to prepare Polly for what could come, but her fury at the injustice of it was making it difficult to regain her composure.

A knock at her door got her attention and she looked up to see Sylvie standing there. Polly beckoned for her to come in.

"I'm sorry I said anything, Polly. Maybe you'll never hear a word against him and it wasn't my place to make you think twice about who you hire. Heck, you put your trust in me and the last thing I want to do is hurt you."

"No, it's alright. I'm nearly back to normal. I get worked up when I know there is nothing I can do to change bad behavior. Bigots have spent a lifetime building up their beliefs and I can't change it because I'm mad at them."

"That's why I started talking to my boys a long time ago," Sylvie said. "I don't want them growing up like my mother did. It took everything she had in her to give me the freedom not to hate, but she'd had a fear of other races ingrained in her. Even when she knew it was wrong, she would cross to the other side of the street or try to avoid people in the mall in Des Moines. Then, every night she would sit down with me and tell me that I should listen to what she said and not watch what she did. She hated that her fears caused her to do that, but she couldn't shake them."

"I wasn't angry at you, Sylvie. Please know that."

"I do, but I also shouldn't have said anything. I think both things about him shocked me enough that I was stupid and then I opened my mouth."

"We're fine. I'm alright."

"Speaking of alright, did you see Beryl yesterday? How is she doing?"

"I'm going back over there this morning. Hopefully she won't have killed Andy yet. I think this process of living together is going to last less than a week and Beryl will be back at her own house."

"Can you imagine taking care of that woman?" Sylvie laughed.

"Not really. She mooned an intern at the hospital on purpose because he was asking her too many questions."

"Oh, no!"

"Exactly."

"Tell her I love her and I'll stop by Andy's tomorrow with goodies, okay?"

"I will."

"Now," Sylvie said, "I'm going to change the subject again. Do you know where Eliseo is staying?"

"I don't. He asked if we would give him a month's trial run here before he gave us all his information, so I know very little about him. Why?"

"I was only wondering. I haven't seen him downtown much. Do you mind if I keep the refrigerator stocked and tell him that he can have some of the leftovers from these events? I might show him where things are in the kitchen. One man isn't going to eat all that much."

"That's fine, Sylvie. The kitchen is yours, you know that. You and Jeff are dealing with the budgets for these events, so as long as you know what you're doing, I'm fine with it."

"Thanks. I'm going back to work. I think poor Hannah was a little worried about us. Between you asking me about Doc Ogden and my asking you about Eliseo, she probably thinks we hate each other now. I should fix that."

"Love you, Sylvie. You're awesome," Polly said.

Sylvie walked out the door, stopped herself with a hand on the door frame, "Love you too Polly. I'm glad you're my friend. I can't imagine how boring my life would be right now. I love seeing people when they come into the grocery store, but I knew that I needed something more. You helped me find it. So, ... yeah. Thank you."

"You'd have figured something out. You're pretty smart." Polly winked at her friend, who quickly left the office.

She grabbed her keys and phone and poked her head in Jeff's office, "I'm going to be gone for a while. Do you need anything from me?"

"Are you alright? You looked pretty pissed."

"I'm fine. I hate realizing that there are some things about people I can't change or fix. Do you have everything ready to go for this big shindig today?"

"They're coming in at noon to start decorating. Until then everything will be fine, but after that, if I were you, I'd stay far, far away from the auditorium."

"Say, does Eliseo have a phone?" she asked.

"I don't think so, why?"

"Get another phone for Sycamore House and give it to him. If he stays, great, it’s his, but if he leaves, stick it in a drawer until we get another custodian. Don't you think we should be able to reach him?"

Jeff smiled and nodded. "That's a good idea. I'll take care of it."

She went outside, got in her truck and pulled out of the parking lot. It was a beautiful Saturday and she needed to be out in it. She drove through Bellingwood, not sure where she was going. At some point, she would end up at Andy's house, but not yet. She pulled into a parking space down town and texted Andy, "Would you and Beryl like me to bring something fun for lunch?"

"Lydia has already taken care of it. There's plenty. Come over any time," Andy texted back.

She heard sirens and in her rear view mirror, she saw two Bellingwood police cars fly down Elm Street. Doing something she hadn't done since she was in high school, she backed out of the parking space, went around the block and followed them. They made a couple of turns and before she knew it, they had stopped in front of Harry Bern's empty house. She hung back and watched as Ken Wallers and another young man she didn't know got out of their cars. They had pulled their weapons and were approaching the house.

Polly knew she shouldn't be there, but couldn't leave now. She watched Ken open the screen door and the other man go around to the back of the house. Ken put his hand on the door and it pushed open. He entered the house and she had no idea what happened next, so she called Lydia.

"Do you have your scanner on?" she asked.

"I'm over at Andy's," Lydia said. "Is something happening?"

"Of course. I knew that. Well, I'm a little embarrassed to admit it, but I followed Ken Wallers over to Harry Bern's house and he and another patrolman went in with their guns drawn."

"Don't you go near them!"

"I'm not. I'm not! But, if you were home and heard what was going on, I was hoping you would tell me."

"Polly get yourself away from there. I'm not hanging up until I hear you put that truck in drive and leave."

Polly sighed, "I never get to have any fun. Alright. I'm leaving."

She parked behind Lydia's Jeep and after knocking on the front door, opened it and said, "Can I come in?"

Andy rushed out of the kitchen and held the door open, "Of course. You don't have to ask. Just come in!"

"How's the patient today?" Polly asked.

"See for yourself," Andy said and gestured toward the sofa. Beryl was perched on her left hip and Polly watched as she squirmed back and forth, wriggling around.

"Has she been like this all morning?"

"Crap. No. She was fine until just this moment." Andy stood in front of Beryl, "What's wrong, honey? Can I help?"

"Good god, woman. I'm just trying to get comfortable. I think I can figure it out on my own."

"Do you need another painkiller?"

"Get away from me you mother hen. I'm fine." Beryl settled down and breathed a sigh of relief. "There. I needed to adjust a few things."

"Are you sure you don't need anything?"

Beryl looked around Andy at Polly, "Tell me the truth. Do I look like I'm going to die any time soon?"

Polly giggled and said, "I don't think so, but then I don't have all the facts."

"My dearest friend here is acting like I have a death mark hanging over my head and if she doesn't take care of every little issue for me, I will fall into some bleak stupor and drift away from the world."

Polly bit her lip to keep from laughing.

"Fine, you old biddy. You're much less sure of yourself when there’s no audience. If you need something from me, tell me. Otherwise, you're on your own."

Andy stalked out to the kitchen.

Beryl whispered, "She doesn't mean it. She'll be back in five minutes to make sure I'm still alive. Trust me."

Polly shook her head and sat down in the chair next to Beryl. "Are you feeling more normal now that you've slept in a real bed?"

"I slept all night! At least Andy isn't in every two hours to take my blood pressure and jam a thermometer in my mouth. And there isn't any beeping and whirring either."

"That's so great. We're glad you're back. Sylvie says she’s stopping by tomorrow with goodies."

Lydia came in to the living room carrying a tray filled with sandwiches and fruit. She set them down on the coffee table. Andy followed with another tray which contained a pitcher of tea and glasses filled to the brim with ice.

"Why were you following the police chief this morning, Polly?" Lydia asked.

"Because I was out driving around and I didn't have anything better to do," Polly said.

"You can get yourself in trouble doing stuff like that."

"I can get myself in trouble opening up an employee's door," Polly lamented. "I don't even have to work at it and trouble gets in my way."

Beryl snickered. "Maybe the people around Bellingwood will start dumping their bodies on your front lawn because they know you'll deal with them."

"Don't even say that!" Polly cried. She looked up and said, "You didn't hear that. She didn't mean it." She turned to her friends and said, "That was me talking to the universe. Just in case."

They laughed and Polly asked, "So, Lydia, have you heard anything about the thefts happening around town?"

Lydia nodded. "Aaron is working with Ken. He's pretty sure it is someone from the area because they know the farmers’ habits and schedules."

"Mark told me they broke into one of those truck toolboxes. I thought those were pretty sturdy."

"They wanted in badly enough to do some serious damage. Sam had some expensive tools in there. You're going to keep your barn locked up, right?"

"I don't have anything out there that isn't easily replaceable, so I'm not too worried, but yes, we'll make sure things are locked. Good heavens, I quit worrying about locking my truck when I moved back to Iowa. I'm not happy that people are forcing me to think about that again."

"What is the world coming to," Beryl asked, "when a little town like Bellingwood has to worry about locking things up because bad boys are trying to make an easy buck?"

"That's the thing," Andy said. "This can't be easy for them. They're expending as much time and effort trying to pull off these thefts as they would if they got a regular job. They're fools."

They talked a little longer about the thefts and Polly finally said, "I should get back to Sycamore House. I want to make sure they don't need any extra help for this big wedding reception."

"Who is getting married?" Andy asked.

"It's a couple from Ogden; I don't know their names."

"Oh," Andy replied. "I hadn't heard of anyone getting married in town this weekend. Do you want to take a sandwich or anything back with you?"

"I'm good. Sylvie is making a spread and I can always snitch from that if I get hungry this afternoon. Love you guys!"

She hugged everyone and whispered to Beryl, "Be nice to her. You know you love her."

Beryl squeezed her back and released her. "I'll be good," she said.

Polly drove back to Sycamore House and smiled as she saw the parking lot begin to fill up. A young couple was starting their life together today and they had chosen her home as the location of the celebration. A year ago, she never would have imagined her life looked like this. Change was good.