Look Always Forward (Bellingwood Book 11) (21 page)

"Yep."

She laughed. "You're so put upon. How about we give them a few minutes to do their thing. After that we'll walk to the coffee shop and to the General Store for ice cream."

"You like ice cream," he teased her.

"Yes I do," she said. "Got a problem with that?"

He threw his arms up in defense. "No problem at all."

"That's good, because I wouldn't want to tell your mother that you were a brat."

Andrew hung his head in shame. "She already knows I am."

"Oh Andrew," Polly said. "I was just kidding."

"Didn't she tell you how bad I was?"

That caught Polly off guard, because of course Sylvie
had
told her. She didn't want to lie to him, but she also didn't want him to worry that he couldn't mess up in the safety of his own home. There were some things that needed to be protected.

"She said you were having a rough time, but I thought you and I talked about stuff on Saturday. Did you do something else?"

"No," he said, shaking his head. "But that was bad enough." He looked up at Polly, worry on his face. "Am I always going to be stupid because of girls?"

She laughed out loud and pulled him into a hug "I love you so much."

He struggled and pulled away, a wan grin on his lips. "You
hug
me too much."

"I don't hug you enough and yes, you are probably always going to be stupid because of girls. You should ask Henry if he still gets stupid because of me. We can't help it when our hearts and our heads get confused because of love."

"It's not love," he said. "Mom called it puppy love. That sounds dumb."

"No matter what you call it, love messes with your heart and your head and sometimes your stomach. I promise that you will live through it as long as you don't piss your Mom off so much that she wants to kill you."

He glanced up at her and grinned.

"What?" she asked.

"You said 'pissed.'"

"I guess I did," she responded. "Are you telling on me?"

Rebecca came into the media room, dressed in a long denim skirt and bright, flowery blouse. "Can I wear this the first day of school?" Her hair had been pulled back into a pony tail, with casual, loose tendrils brushing her cheeks. She looked older than her twelve years.

"Sure," Polly said, shaken that the girl was growing up in front of her eyes. "You look fabulous." She looked over at Andrew who was staring with his mouth open. "We're thinking about walking up town for ice cream. Do you want to put your shorts back on so you're comfortable in the heat?"

Rebecca turned and ran out of the room.

Polly reached over and with her index finger, pushed up on Andrew's lower jaw. "Shut your mouth," she said. "You could catch flies with that trap."

"She's so..." He pursed his lips and scowled at Polly. "Whatever."

"She's so grownup? So pretty?"

"Whatever."

The three girls came running back into the media room, Rebecca and Kayla pulling Gina with them.

"Gina says she can't go with us because she doesn't have any money, but I told her it was no big deal," Rebecca said.

"It's no big deal," Polly repeated. "I've got this. I can afford ice cream for one little girl."

"But Mom said..." Gina started to protest.

"It's okay," Rebecca said, kneeling down to get closer to Gina's size. Polly wanted to laugh. It hadn't been that long ago, she'd done the same thing to Rebecca. "Unless you're allergic to ice cream, Polly's got it." She looked up at Polly. "Right?"

"Right," Polly said, nodding. "Now you aren't allergic to ice cream, are you?"

"No!" Gina exclaimed. "It's just that you're doing so much."

Polly sat on the arm of the sofa. "Sometimes the only thing you can do is say thank you. That was one of those things that my mother insisted I learn how to do."

"You didn't know how to say thank you?"

"Not at your age. But I learned," Polly said. "It's right up there with the most important words you'll ever learn how to say."

"What are those?" Gina asked, confused by this point.

Polly held her hand up and with the other, flipped down a finger as she recited the list. "I love you, I'm sorry, please, and thank you. As long as you use those words and phrases, you'll do well. That's what my mother said. When you're with me, unless you think something is going to be bad for you or hurt you, don't worry it being too difficult or expensive. If I offer and you want to do it, just smile and say thank you. Deal?"

Gina looked at each of the other kids in turn. They nodded in agreement.

"That's how Polly rolls," Andrew said.

"Okay." She processed for a moment and then said, "Thank you."

"Let's head out. I want to check on the coffee shop and then we'll get ice cream."

They left by the back door. Polly and Andrew found themselves at the back of the pack as Kayla and Rebecca taught Gina how to skip.

"We've been down this road before," Andrew said, sarcasm thick in his tone.

"We'll be down it again," Polly replied. "Stop being such a stick in the mud."

They waited to cross the street and as Polly turned the corner on Elm Street, she saw the same pack of boys that had come after her the day she was out with Alistair Greyson. She didn't want to run into trouble today. Not with the kids. The boys were loitering beside a building and weren't yet paying attention to Polly and her pack.

"Girls," she said "Stop and come back here."

"What's up?" Rebecca asked.

"I know them," Andrew whispered.

Polly pushed the girls behind her and turned back around. "We're taking a different route today. Let's walk down the highway and go up Maple Street. It's a couple of extra blocks, but that's okay."

Kayla whispered. "Is it because of those boys? They've been making trouble this summer. The tall one is mean. I heard he wrecked his dad's new truck and his dad wanted to kick him out of the house."

"Let's just go get ice cream," Polly said. "They can do their thing. We'll do ours."

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

Rebecca, Kayla, and Gina ran to the coffee shop after eating ice cream. The older girls promised to show Gina all of the books they had for kids. Andrew walked in the front, door, eyed a chair in front of a set of shelves and made a dash for it. He sat down, shut his eyes, reached onto the shelf and took out the first book he touched. He opened his eyes and nodded nonchalantly before turning to the first page. The boy could read anything.

"Hello, Ms. Giller," Helena Black said, coming around a table. "How are you today?"

"I'm fine, thank you," Polly replied. "Is Sylvie in back?"

The woman nodded and walked with Polly down the hallway. "There's a lot of excitement around here, you know."

"There is? What's going on?"

"Well, you know," Helena's voice dropped to a loud whisper. "The murder and everything."

"That was last week. Surely things have settled down."

"Do you ever think they settle down after something like that? But people keep coming in and ordering coffee. Maybe it was a good thing for us."

"I don't believe it was a good thing."

"No, no, no. That isn't what I meant. I just meant that all of the additional attention would bring more business in and that's what you always want as an owner, more business, right? I haven't had a chance to talk to Miss Kahane much about it. She always has her nose in that computer of hers or is too busy to chat. Do you think she'll be a good owner? Your employees talk about how good it is to work for you. But you two were friends before you came back to Iowa, isn't that right? You know her better than anyone."

"Helena?" A voice from behind them called out.

Polly and Helena both turned to see Camille Specht standing there.

"Yes?" Helena responded.

"You were working on re-stocking. Let Ms. Giller find her own way to the bakery."

"We were just chatting. I enjoy talking with the owners," Helena said. "They're so interesting, don't you think?"

"It was nice talking to you," Polly said. "Go ahead. I need to see Sylvie."

Helena moved in toward Polly and spoke softly as Camille went back into the main part of the coffee shop. "I don't know how she's going to do as manager. People probably wanted to have someone manage the shop that was from here."

"I think she'll be fine. She's a wonderful person," Polly said.

"But you don't understand. She's not like everyone else in Bellingwood. That's going to keep customers away. And like I said, owners want more business."

Polly pursed her lips and drew in a deep breath. Now was not the time or place to be having this conversation, but if this woman insisted, she'd let it happen. "I hope you aren't saying what I think you're saying," Polly said.

"All I'm saying is that there are people in Bellingwood who aren't as open minded as you and me."

"Then maybe they'd better get their coffee elsewhere," Polly said. "And as for open minded, that has nothing to do with anything. You don't need to be open minded, you just need to be a human being. Am I making myself clear? Because if you have a problem with Camille Specht as your manager, you and I will have a different conversation."

Helena Black shrugged. "It's up to you. It's your business. I was just trying to be helpful. I can't help it if people in town gossip and say things."

"Yes you can. You can stop it and insist that they have a little respect. But then," Polly said. "It's up to you." She spun on her heels and strode back down the hallway to the kitchen. By the time she walked in the doorway, she was seething.

"Hi there," Sylvie said.

"Hi," Polly spat.

"Uhh, what's up?"

"I just had a pointed conversation with Helena Black. Apparently, she's been hearing gossip about Camille."

Sylvie chuckled. "Do you remember when I warned you about people's reactions to Eliseo?"

Polly rolled her eyes. "Yeah. And I got mad then. But I think I'm madder now."

"Well, I learned my lesson that day," Sylvie said. "And you were right. Whatever the bigots were going to say about him just wasn't important. Camille is a wonderful person and Bellingwood can't remain isolated in its white little world forever. We're too close to the cities for that to remain a reality. They'll just have to suck it up and deal."

"Why is it that people even have to
deal
with this any longer," Polly said. "It's ridiculous." She shook her head. "I'm sorry. I didn't expect to be blindsided by that today. I just wanted to come say hello and see how you're doing."

"I'm okay. It's going to be slow for a while until I can get my feet under me, but I'll get there. I pulled loaves of bread out of the ovens this morning and they're already sold.  All of the pastries I made this morning were gone before eleven o'clock. I'm testing the ovens for cakes this afternoon. I'm building a wedding cake for Saturday. If I have to go back to Sycamore House to finish it, I want to know before Wednesday." She looked around and whispered. "Don't tell anyone, but I'm doing better than okay. This is fun."

"Have you talked to Rachel?"

Sylvie smiled. "Quite a bit. She's lonely all by herself. But she's busy, so at least that keeps her out of trouble."

"Do you or she need anything?"

"Five more people, but we can't afford that many right now," Sylvie said.

"You've talked to Jeff?"

Sylvie nodded. "We have a plan. Two girls are coming on next week, they'll move back and forth between the two kitchens. Hannah's little one is nearly four and starting pre-school this fall, so she wants to come over a couple of mornings during the week."

"Time has passed too quickly," Polly said. "I can't believe she's that old."

"Andrew is going into junior high and Jason will be a sophomore. What am I going to do when they're out of the house and going to college?" Sylvie asked. "I'm not ready for that."

Polly put both her hands up and said, "Whoa. Stop. You have years before that happens." Then she gave Sylvie an evil grin. "And who knows, maybe you'll have another baby and then you'll have decades ahead of you."

"How about we make a pact," Sylvie said, curling her upper lip in a snarl. "You have a baby first. Then I'll think about it."

"Got it," Polly said, laughing. "I'll be good."

Both of them turned when they heard a commotion.

"Polly!" Andrew yelled. She was already heading his way and nearly ran into him coming down the hallway.

"What's up?"

He grabbed her hand and pulled her back into the main room, where two of the boys who had been on the street earlier were standing over a table with a couple of high school age girls. The girls had pushed their chairs back against the outside window - fear evident on their faces.

Camille was striding across the room toward them and Skylar had the phone in his hand.

"I've got 9-1-1," he said.

"Stop it," Camille said sharply to the boys.

The two boys turned to her and laughed. A tall, blond boy said, "What 'cha gonna do to us? You can't put a hand on me or I'll sue your ass."

She stood firm and Polly stepped in beside her. Camille continued. "We're calling the police. You are threatening my customers and that gives me permission to put a hand on you. Now, back off."

"We aren't threatening anyone," he taunted. "We're just being friendly." He turned to the girl closest to him and reached out to touch her. She flinched. "Right, Janelle?"

When she didn't say anything, he repeated the words. "Right, Janelle? Tell the nice ladies that we're friends."

Polly moved to step between him and Janelle. "My manager asked you to stop. Now I'm asking you to leave. You are no longer welcome here. If you attempt to come in again, we will call the police and have them escort you out every single time. Now, go." She put as much strength and venom into the last two words as she could, but to no avail.

The boy stepped closer to her. "You don't have your protector with that big stick here today. I'm pretty sure I can take you."

"You don't scare me, little boy," Polly said. "I've seen your kind before. Do you wanna know where?"

He sneered at her. "Where?"

"Eldora. I don't know who you think you are, but you don't scare me and you can't intimidate me. If you hurt me, it just makes life more difficult when the police actually get here. Look around, you stupid little boy. This room is filled with people who can identify you. You can't hide, you can't run. One or two questions and I know who your parents are, where they work, and why they let you run loose. Figure it out soon, because your life isn't going to be worth anything if you continue like this."

Polly's heart was racing so fast, she was sure her face was beet red. The only thing she could see was the boy in front of her, everything else had dropped out of her vision. Her mouth was cotton-dry and she waited for him to punch her in the nose or slap her face. A small part of her wanted him to do just that. She could take the punch, but at the same time, she knew exactly what it felt like and wasn't in any hurry to repeat the pain. Explaining another black eye to Henry wouldn't be easy.

"Whatever, bitch," he said, backing up. "Come on." He grabbed his friend by the shirt and pulled him to the front door, only to be met by Bert Bradford, who backed him into the coffee shop again.

"You two again?" Bert asked. "We've been over this before. I'm tired of hearing about you intimidating people downtown. I told you the last time that if we heard another complaint, I was taking you in."

"I want a lawyer," the kid said. He turned to his friend. "Record this on your phone. It's police harassment. Make sure you put it up on YouTube. They can't treat us like this. When my lawyer hears about this, he'll have your badge. And we're going to own this stupid coffee shop too. I'm suing you all."

Bert sighed and grasped the kid's upper arm. He spun him to the door and with his other hand, grabbed the second kid's arm. "It's just a short walk to the police station," Bert said. "You can videotape anything you want. Notice me being quite polite to you. I haven't pushed you into a door frame or anything yet. Now keep moving."

He turned back to Polly and Camille. "As soon as I handle these two, I'll be back to take statements."

Polly knees went weak and she reached out to stabilize herself on the table in front of her. "Entitled much?" she said quietly.

"Are you okay?" Rebecca asked. She pulled a chair out and put it behind Polly.

"I think so. Why do I open my mouth like that? If he'd punched me, Henry would have killed me."

The two girls, Janelle and her friend, were still plastered against the window, but now they were staring at Polly.

"Do you go to school with those two?" Polly asked them.

Janelle nodded. "Ladd's going to be a senior."

"Have they always been like this?"

The other girl looked at Janelle and shrugged her shoulders. "Yeah. They call themselves a gang. But the ones who kinda kept them in control graduated. They think they're going to run the school next year. But they're stupid because they're just from Bellingwood. Nobody in Boone cares. They think they're all tough, but they aren't. They got beat up a lot last year."

"So they take it out on people that can't protect themselves," Polly said. "Are you two okay?"

The girls nodded.

Camille bent over the table. "You need to stay to talk to the police. Would you like another smoothie or something to eat? It's on the house. Go on up and tell Sky what you want. We've got this." She nodded at Sky and then said, "Maybe you should call your parents and tell them what's going on. Just in case."

The girls headed for the counter and Janelle turned back to Polly. "You were pretty cool. I wish I would have stood up to him like that. But I didn't want him to hurt me."

"He wasn't going to hurt anyone. Not in front of people." Polly grinned. "And besides, what if he did? A bloody nose or a black eye would only hurt you for a while, but the assault charge would stay with him for a long time. Sometimes you have to balance the odds."

"I never thought about it like that," Janelle responded.

Polly finally felt her mind come out of the fog and she looked for the rest of her entourage. Kayla and Andrew had taken Gina to the other side of the shop. Andrew was sitting with the little girl on an oversized chair, reading a book out loud, while Kayla sat next to them, effectively blocking Gina's view of the action.