Secrets and Revelations (Bellingwood #4) (8 page)

The three boys slunk off and dropped into chairs in the lounge.

Mrs. Rothenfuss' mouth was still hanging open. She sneered at Polly, "I told my husband when you moved into town that you would be trouble. I saw you in the bank the other day and the next thing I’ll ask him to do is force you to close your accounts and take them elsewhere. You think that you are important because you can afford to renovate this place. But, you are as common as dirt and don't think for a minute that because you are friends with the Sheriff's wife and that uppity artist
, it will help you out. As long as you insist on bringing in undesirables, you will find there are plenty of people who don't want anything to do with you. I am only using this ... facility," she paused and nearly spat out the words, "because every other large space in town is already booked. But trust me, next year it will be different."

She stalked back into the office and attempted to slam the door, but was ineffective as its hydraulics caught and slowed the door down.

Polly glanced at her assistant and began giggling. Soon, they were both quietly laughing. Roy Dunston stood there watching them as the rest of the boys came back up from the barn.

"
That was impressive!" he said.

Polly replied. "That might have been the stupidest thing I've done today, but it felt great."

"How much power does she have in this town?" he asked. “Can she really force you to change banks?”

"I doubt it,” Polly said, “even if her husband is the president of the bank. One of these days I think I'd like to meet him. I wonder what he's like as a person."

Henry had joined them. "He's a nice enough guy. He works a lot and when he's not at work, he’s at some church or city council meeting. I suspect he does everything he can to avoid being at home alone with her."

Polly
tilted her head toward the lounge, "I'm just sorry those kids had to hear that kind of garbage. They're in Bellingwood to see what is good about Iowa."

"Don't worry about it," Roy said. "They've heard much worse and lived in situations that abuse them in ways you can't imagine. They've already compartmentalized her into a place in their heads and dealt with it. Give them time with the folks you've got lined up to host them and they'll be able to identify her as the aberration and not the norm."

"Bob! Sandy! Hi there!" Henry said to a couple in their forties who walked in. "Roy Dunston, this is Bob and Sandy Morrison, one of our host couples. They farm outside of town about ten miles. They've got some cattle and pigs, but Sandy raises chickens and has the best fresh eggs around."

Two more families came in and introductions were made. The final three families had arrived and everyone gathered in the lounge, spreading into the other classrooms. Before long, the young men from Chicago had been assigned to their host families and everyone was clustered into small groups.

"Excuse me," Roy called out over the hubbub. "I'm grateful to all the families who have agreed to add two more kids to their lives during these next two weeks. Boys, let's give them a hand."

After some applause, he continued. "I will be around regularly to see you. You have my phone number and I'm going to hand you a card on the way out with phone numbers for Mr. Lyndsay and Mr. Sturtz. We're all coming together on Monday and next Friday night for dinner here at Sycamore House. Two weeks will pass very quickly, so make the most of your time. Are you ready?"

The boys nodded yes and followed their hosts out of the room, gathering up bags as they went.

Roy stood at the front door watching as they drove away.
He turned back to the others, "I'm always emotional when they leave and I worry for them. They have great potential for good, but have never known what it was like to be accepted simply because they exist. Your friends come through for us every year, but I still worry."

Polly glanced at the time and said, "I have a dinner date and need to get ready. Have a good evening boys!"

Henry and Roy said goodbye and left by the front door as she went up to her apartment to get ready. Just before seven o'clock, Polly walked down her back steps, out into the garage and then up the stairs to the garage apartment where Doug Randall and Billy Endicott were now living. Her knock at the door was answered by Billy, who smiled and swept his arm out to invite her inside.

He gave her a few minutes to absorb the impact of the room and said, "Well, what do you think?"

Polly simply nodded and continued to look around, taking it all in. The boys had done a nice job and she was glad that she had insisted on sound proof insulation in the walls. From the looks of the electronics, the entire community should be thankful. The large front room was separated into two sections, the largest was a theater with an immense television screen hanging from the wall and two leather recliners sitting on either side of a comfortable looking sectional. Done in black, chrome and silver with splashes of color on the walls, it was the perfect place for two young men with nothing to spend money on but their apartment.

Just as she was thinking about how this was a great place for two single young men, a girl came out of the kitchen. She smiled shyly at Polly and turned to go back
where she’d come from.

Before she could get away, Billy said, "Wait a minute Rachel."

Rachel stopped and waited for him to continue. She looked familiar, but Polly wasn't sure why. She was dressed in black and had piercings above one eye, through a nostril and covering both ears. Her right wrist showed signs of a tattoo, but at the moment it was covered by a skin tight black shirt under a sheer jacket. Polly saw another brightly colored tattoo coming up out of her shirt on the right side of her neck, but couldn't identify what it might be. Her eyes were rimmed in black and she wore deep purple eye shadow and bright red lipstick. The girl's hair was colored jet black with hot pink and purple streaks cutting down and across her head.

Both women looked at Billy expectantly as he said, "Polly, this is Rachel Devins. She helped us when we cleaned out that dead guy's house."

"Oh!" Polly said and walked toward Rachel with her hand out, "It's nice to meet you again. I really appreciated everyone's help that day." When Polly agreed to clean out the rental house of a former employee after his death, Billy and Doug had called on their friends and they responded. It didn't hurt that they used her computer lab whenever possible to play video games, but the kids had genuinely been helpful that day.

"It was no big deal," Rachel said. The poor girl was desperately shy and looked to Billy for help. When he didn't say anything more, she turned back to the kitchen. "I need to help Doug finish dinner or he'll burn something," she said over her shoulder and escaped.

Polly turned back to Billy and raised her eyebrows in a question. "New roommate?" she asked.

"What?" he said, his eyes huge. "No!" Then he smiled, "But I've asked her out a couple of times. I like her. And she's a really good cook. She wants to be a chef, but she doesn't have the money to go to school right now."

"You have a girlfriend?" Polly pressed.

"Well, no, I mean yes." He was flustered. "I suppose so. She's cool. And she likes to play games, too."

"That seems perfect. Will you show me around the rest of the apartment?"

Doug came out of the kitchen wearing an apron over his jeans and shirt. "Billy! Did you offer her something to drink?"

He turned to Polly. "We're not old enough for wine, but we bought sparkling grape juice. Would you like that or a Dew or something?"

"I'd love grape juice," Polly said, smiling. They were trying so hard, it made her want to hug them.

Doug opened a small refrigerator positioned beside one of the recliners and pulled out a bottle. Polly nearly burst out laughing, but maintained her composure. It was filled with soda and four bottles of sparkling grape juice.

"You show her around, Billy. I'll pour this," Doug said, nodding toward the bedrooms.

"This is my room," Billy said
, leading her through a door off the main room. It was a typical boy's room with a computer set up on a desk and a laptop casually sitting on his bed. The bed was rumpled, but the comforter was pulled up and tucked under his pillows. He took her through the bathroom into the other bedroom. Polly could tell Doug's mother had been allowed to decorate in here. There were family pictures on the walls and framed pieces that he had drawn throughout the years. They were pretty good and she could see how he'd grown as an artist. He had flung a quilt over his bed, and the closet door was doing its best to hold back the onslaught of clothes, both dirty and clean. His desk also had a computer underneath it and two monitors on top which were lost among piles of books, comics and sketch pads.

"I didn't know Doug drew," she said to Billy.

"Oh yeah. He always wanted to draw comic books and never did anything about it."

"He's pretty good."

They walked into the dining room. Doug met them and handed a wine glass to Polly and a Pepsi to Billy.

"What do you think, Polly?" he asked.

"I think you guys are going to be just fine here. I like what you’ve done with the place. What about your parents? What do they think?"

"My mom is just glad I'm out of the house," Billy said. "She was afraid I'd live at home forever. It didn't matter to me where I lived."

"Mom and Dad told me that now I'm in my own place they're emptying out the house and are going to do everything they always wanted to do." Doug smirked and said, "Like I ever stopped them. Dad is turning the basement into a model railroad town. He's been doing a little bit since he retired, but there was never room enough for him to spread out."

Polly said. "I love those. Maybe he'll let me come over and run it sometime."

Rachel stuck her head out of the kitchen and said, "Guys? A little help here?"

"We're almost ready," Doug said, "It's time to put it on the table."

The table was set with real dishes and silverware. She wasn't sure what she had expected, but so far it was impressive. She wandered into the living area and over to the big windows looking out on the back yard and the tree lined creek. While the kids bustled back and forth, she watched the trees moving in the breeze and caught glimpses of birds flitting back and forth from branch to branch.

Soon Doug called, "Polly, we're ready to eat."

She headed back into the dining room and Billy stood behind a chair, pointing at its seat. He held it out as she sat down and she chuckled.

"Thank you," she said, looking up at him.

He blushed and said, "We flipped for it."

"You lost?"

"Oh, no!" and he turned away.

The three
kids sat down with her and Polly took in the small feast. "This looks fantastic," she said.

"Rachel cooked. She's pretty good," Doug said.

"It was no big deal. I just mess with the recipes. This is Beef Bourguignon and here are roasted red potatoes, carrots and zucchini." She passed the first plate and then the second dish to Polly. "Don't worry, Doug got the red wine from his mom for this. It's only good for cooking."

Polly smiled, "I wasn't worried. Do you cook a lot at home?"

"Not really," Rachel said, "No one likes it when I experiment. I don't mind cooking for these two though. They'll eat anything."

"How long have you been dating?" Polly asked Billy. She figured it was just as easy to get the weird conversations out of the way. People got a lot more comfortable in a hurry when they realized that she wasn't afraid of too many conversations."

"Umm. I don't know. Rachel?"

"It was after that day we cleaned the guy’s house out. You and Doug took me and Caleb out for pizza."

"That was a date?" he asked. Polly rolled her eyes.

"It was for me," she said. "I had to ask you out on the next one though."

"That's just because I don't have a car."

"We could walk, you know."

"Children! Children!" Doug interrupted. He looked at Polly, "They're starting to act like an old married couple. It's a good thing Rachel has a car and a mother who wants to know where she is, or she'd be sleeping on our couch."

Rachel turned to look at him, "Your couch?"

"It's our landlord," he stage-whispered back to her. "Be good."

"Right. The couch," she said.

Polly put her hands over her ears, "La-la-la-la-la. I don't want to know."

She caught a look that passed between Rachel, Billy and Doug.
Billy dropped his head and Doug shrugged.

Finally Billy said, "Okay. I'll ask."

"Ask what?" Polly pressed.

"Rachel wanted me to ask if you could use more help with the horses.
She'd like to learn how to ride and since she's always here in the evenings, maybe she could help in the barn until they got to know her. We haven't talked to Mr. Aquila, but since Jason has learned, well, Rachel really loves horses and I told her we had to ask you first."

"Have you ever spent any time around horses, Rachel?" Polly asked.

"Not really. My parents said it was too expensive. But, I love animals."