Look Always Forward (Bellingwood Book 11) (23 page)

"Wait," Polly said. "That day you swept the kid's legs out from under him. Did you learn that playing hockey?"

He chuckled. "Well, not that exact move, but I can still face down an aggressor."

"Now, tell me what you are thinking." She gestured to the grassy area.

Grey stood up and walked away from the table, stirring the two dogs into life. Han sat up and Grey stopped to pick up his leash. He handed Obiwan's leash to Polly. She walked with him.

"I'd like to put ice in here this winter. Maybe teach some of the boys and girls how to skate and find out if any of them show any skill for the game. You have a league in Des Moines and several young teams in the state. Maybe someday we could do something in Bellingwood, but we need to start. This isn't much, but even a little bit of ice for a short period of time could be interesting." He turned and grinned at her. "There's that word again."

"That's a pretty big dream," Polly said. "I can't even imagine how to make it happen."

"I'm sure your husband can. And don't forget your groundskeeper. Both of them are quite creative and practical. They both understand how to create something from nothing."

"Henry is amazing. It still astounds me that he can take my ideas and turn them into something like Sycamore House and then, this place. I start dreaming and he makes it happen."

Grey was walking close to her and nudged her arm. "The two of you are very fortunate to have found each other. It's a joy to see you together. You fit."

She nodded. He was right. That was a perfect description. They fit together. Sometimes it was so natural she couldn't believe they hadn't always been together. Polly looped her arm through his as they walked. "Who are you thinking will come skate with you?"

"That young man in your sickroom. He needs me. He sees nothing out there in front of him for his life. All he ever focuses on is the pain that he's in. And those young men who assaulted us. They are so wrapped up in their anger that they have lost their true north. They don't know who they're supposed to be and right now, no one is helping them discover that. The world is afraid of them. Their parents are afraid of them, their teachers and friends are afraid of them, so they live in a bubble, knowing that at any moment it could break and they'd be lost."

"Wow," Polly said. "I'm just mad at them. Who in the hell do they think they are, treating people like that? Do you know that two of them were in the coffee shop today and were taken out by the police?"

He stopped and turned to her, pain in his eyes. "I'm too late."

Polly put her hand on his. "Grey, you've been here less than two weeks. You can't save the world in that amount of time."

"You said there were two boys today. We were attacked by more than that."

"One of the boys who lives with his aunt and uncle on their farm wasn't there. I don't know what happened to him."

"I want to meet him. He'll remember me. Maybe he and I can start moving earth here in preparation for the ice this winter."

She tightened her grip on his hand. "You are a character. I will find out who he is. Henry told me the other night and I've forgotten. His parents were killed, so I'm sure that he is as lost as you can get."

"You give me permission to begin this project?"

"Talk to Henry," Polly said. "If he thinks it is possible and the two of you can come up with a budget we can manage, my answer is yes."

"The budget is not something I will saddle you with," he said. "The boys and I will raise the funds and I have money of my own."

"No big decisions today," Polly said. "I'll tell Henry you want to make an appointment to discuss this and we'll move forward from there. You are a character, you know."

"It's my best trait," he responded with a smile.

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

Nobody moved the next afternoon when Polly asked if they wanted to go to the library and then get ice cream. Kayla and Rebecca sat on either end of the sofa in the media room with Andrew in the middle playing a game. The girls whimpered and Rebecca gave a weary shake of her head.

Gina was a very active girl and had kept the three older kids moving all day long. She'd kept Rebecca and Kayla up late the night before, begging them to talk about boys, teachers at school, the horses and donkeys at the barn - anything she could come up with. Polly had checked on them a couple of times, but finally gave up and went to sleep.

The little girl had gotten up when she heard Polly and Henry moving and in her excitement, stirred Rebecca and Kayla awake. She begged to go to the barn, so by eight o'clock they were out of the house. Andrew showed up soon after and Polly sent him down to join them. They had ridden horses, much to Gina's delight, taken a wagon ride, and helped Eliseo in the garden. As soon as the swimming pool was open, Gina pulled out her swimsuit and announced that she couldn't wait, so off they went.

When Darla Landry showed up with her son, Polly was certain that she'd sent the young girl home completely exhausted. Darla wouldn't have to do much this evening to entertain her daughter.

Polly was in the kitchen mixing a marinade for the chicken they would grill this evening when Rebecca came over.

"What's up?" Polly asked.

"Can Kayla and Andrew spend the rest of the evening with me? We won't be able to relax like this when school starts. I'm not ready to have them go home yet."

Polly shrugged. "They have to ask permission, but I certainly don't care. What are you planning to do?"

"Not much. Just sit around and talk. We won't get in your hair or anything and Henry usually watches TV in your room if he isn't working in the office. We'll stay out here."

"That's fine," Polly said. "Don't worry about getting in our hair. We're both kinda used to you all. As long as Stephanie and Sylvie don't care, I'm fine with it. In fact, tell Kayla to ask Stephanie if she wants to eat dinner outside with us. I have plenty."

Rebecca gave her an odd look, but said, "Is there anything we can do to help?"

"You can start on the corn," Polly said, pointing to a bag filled with corn on the cob. She opened the refrigerator and took out a container. "I've already mixed up the butter and herbs."

"Do it in the garage?" Rebecca asked. She'd been through this routine several times already.

Polly handed her a box of aluminum foil and utensils. "Thank you."

"Kayla, I need help," Rebecca called across the room after dropping the aluminum foil on the floor the second time. She handed the bag of corn and the butter to her friend and gathered the rest into her hands. Kayla shared another of those odd looks with her friend, but Rebecca pushed her forward.

Polly smiled as she watched them walk across the room. Rebecca was always going to be in charge. All she would be able to do was watch and guide her as best as she could.

"Henry's here," Rebecca yelled back from the stairway.

Han and Obiwan went tearing through the house to greet him. He walked in from his office and put his hand out toward Andrew, who gave it a high five slap and went back to his game.

"What are you doing?" Henry asked. "I came home early."

"I'm getting supper ready. Are you good to grill tonight?"

"They did it again?" He shook his head.

"Who did what? The girls are taking care of the corn. I have the chicken and there are salads in the fridge downstairs."

"Not them they, but they they." He gave her a look of disgust. "She calls and asks if I will be able to make it home in time to deal with dinner so that you're free, but does she call you?"

"Who?"

"Where's your phone. Have you had it on today?"

Polly thought back through her day. She'd been busy enough to not pay much attention to whether or not her phone was working. She'd made some calls in her office, but maybe not on her phone. That didn't make sense, though. She used that phone for everything. She patted her back pocket and realized it wasn't there.

"I don't know where it is. Did you try to call me?"

"No, I was too busy trying to get things wrapped up so I could get home on time."

"Dial it, would you?"

He used his phone to call hers and when she didn't hear his ring tone, Polly panicked. "I can't believe I've lost my phone. You know how I depend on that thing."

"It has to be here. Where did you go today?"

She thought back over her day. "I haven't left the property. I was down in the barn for a while, I walked the dogs a couple of times, and I was in my office."

Henry walked over to their bedroom. Polly followed and so did the dogs. The cats jumped down from their ledges on the cat tree when Polly and Henry entered the room.

He strode over to her side of the bed and picked up her phone. "Things were a little chaotic this morning. But I still can't believe you walked out of this place without it."

"I can't either." Polly took it out of his hands and sat down on the end of the bed. When she swiped it, nothing happened. "I think it's dead."

"Of course it is."

"This has never happened to me before. Am I losing my mind?"

He chuckled. "Three girls, two dogs, two cats and a husband are too much for your early morning workout, eh?"

"I guess that's over my limit." She plugged her phone in. "So who called me and what did I miss?"

"That's what I don't fully understand. I can't believe she wasn't here worrying about you when you didn't answer your phone. She never called me back all worried either."

"Who?"

"Lydia. Something about an important girls' night tonight."

Polly jumped at the knock at their front door. "You don't suppose that's her, do you?"

"I'll go see," he said.

Her phone had just crested the one percent mark for power. "I can. You change. We need to talk about tonight."

He looked at her, his brows knit together.

"No big deal. Get comfortable. I'll see who it is." Polly walked across the living room to the front door and found Jeff there with his hand raised to knock again.

"I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry," he said. "I totally forgot to tell you."

"Tell me what?"

"Lydia stopped by while you were across the street at the pool getting the kids and I was supposed to have you call her right away. I got busy with those crazy church ladies and totally forgot. She's going to kill me."

Polly laughed. "It's my fault. I forgot my phone this morning and it's dead. I'll call her now. Henry just told me."

He ran the back of his hand across his forehead with great drama. "Thank goodness. I thought my life had ended. She's no one that I want to have angry at me."

Polly patted his shoulder. "You'll live. I'll take the hit on this one. But you owe me."

"Uh huh. I could have made you talk to those little old ladies."

"Jeff?" Stephanie's voice came up from the bottom of the stairs.

"Be right there, my sweet," he called back. "See. It never ends."

"You're a nut." Polly grinned as he ran back down the steps. It should have felt weird to have her home and business in the same building, but it couldn't be any more normal. She loved having these people around.

"Is it charged enough yet?" she asked loudly after shutting the door and starting back to the bedroom.

"I dunno," Henry said.

Polly shut the door to the bedroom once she got in there. "I don't want to go out tonight. This has been a crazy day and I just let Rebecca invite Kayla and Andrew to spend the evening. I hate leaving you with that."

"Because they're so hard to get along with?" he asked. "It's fine. I have work to do in the office anyway."

"But I'm making you cook dinner and everything."

"If I were you, I wouldn't worry about it. Call Lydia. Tell her you're alive and that you'll be there. It's been a while since you've all spent time together. Go. Get silly."

~~~

Polly walked into the coffee shop and looked for her friends. After Lydia had bawled her out for being unavailable all day and terrifying her to within an inch of a heart attack, she finally told Polly that they were meeting at six o'clock. She sat down at a table, arranging herself so she could see the front door.

Most of the shops were open in the evenings this week before school started. A couple of stores had started it the summer Polly moved into town and in the last two years, it had taken on a festival-type atmosphere. Kids had one last hurrah with their friends before homework and activities absorbed their evenings. Stores offered great deals on back-to-school items before they put everything out for clearance and the whole community enjoyed beautiful summer evenings in town.

Polly had promised Rebecca that they could come up Friday night for the street dance.

"Do you want something to drink?" Polly looked up to see Jeff standing over her.

"What are you doing?" she asked.

"Camille and I are taking care of the evenings this week. The young'uns are back in school and you know how evenings are on campus. None of them had planned on working these hours. I'd forgotten about this week. So, we've got it."

Polly smirked at him. "No Helena?"

"She might have gotten fired today," he said with a smile.

"Sylvie says she's always quit before she got fired. But I'm glad. She had some interesting ideas about who she would work for."

"We don't need that," he replied. "This place should be relaxing and fun for everyone, including my manager. She doesn't need an employee terrorizing her. None of us do."

"That's good." Polly said. "Have you seen Lydia? I'm supposed to meet her."

"No," he said. "And I didn't forget to give you any other messages from her. I promise."

"Don't worry. It was my fault."

"So... coffee?"

Polly glanced up at the menu on the wall. She was hungry, but since Lydia hadn't told her what was happening tonight, she didn't feel safe in ordering. "No, I'd better wait."

"Let me know," Jeff walked away to a table filled with high school girls. He stopped and talked to them, then moved on to another table with two women.

Polly watched him work the room and grinned as she realized she was feeling proud. He was natural and comfortable with people.

After a few more minutes of waiting, she couldn't stand it and sent a text to Lydia.
"You said the coffee shop at six, right?"

"We're here, where are you?"
came back the reply.

Polly recognized a few people, but none were her friends.

"What in the hell?"
she sent.
"You're freaking me out."

"Serves you right."

The front door opened and Lydia came bustling in with Beryl. They made a beeline for Polly's table and the two women each grabbed an arm and lifted Polly out of the seat.

"Mess with my heart, will you?" Lydia said. "That is unacceptable."

"I said I was sorry. I had no idea that I'd gotten that far out of contact with you," Polly protested. Then she locked her legs in place to stop their forward movement. "And besides, isn't this whole thing a little last minute?"

Lydia grinned at her. "You're so easy. Come outside. Sylvie's on the patio with Andy. We figured you would see us out there."

"What are we doing tonight? I'm starving," Polly said. She waved to Sylvie and Andy when they turned the corner.

"We're working for our dinner tonight," Beryl said, dropping into a chair beside Sylvie. "Sit and I'll explain."

"Do you know what's going on?" Polly asked Andy, who shook her head no.

Beryl pulled up two manila envelopes. "We're breaking into two teams and each is responsible for parts of our dinner. Inside the envelope is your first clue. Go to the shop or house that the clue refers you to and they'll give you the dinner item and your next clue. Since it's my game, I'm playing along the route. You'll see me at random times. Polly, you and Andy are one team while Lydia and Sylvie are the other. Are you ready?"