All Roads Lead Home (Bellingwood) (53 page)

"This car has been in our family since my grandpa
bought back in 1955. It's a Ford Thunderbird."

Henry seemed proud of that and Polly smiled. She knew
it had to be a pretty great car since he was so happy about it.

"Cool!" she said.

"It is cool," he replied. "I guess you
don't like old cars?"

"Well, I've never been around anyone who
does," she giggled a little sheepishly.

"I've been taking care of this baby since I was
in high school. As soon as Dad would let me, I was under the hood figuring out
how it worked. Both he and grandpa took pretty good care of it, so I haven't
had to do any restoration. It sits inside the shop unless I'm going out for a
drive and I kind of thought that since tonight was special, it would be fun to
show off a beautiful girl in a beautiful ride!"

She ran her hand over the dashboard. It was the same
color as the outside paint job. "Alright, this is
pretty cool," she said.

"It's even more fun in the summer with the no
top, but we'll leave it up tonight. It's cold out there." He winked at
her.

"Tell me what's special about the car,"
Polly asked.

She smiled as Henry began describing the engine and
telling her about the very first year the Ford Thunderbird had been built. As
he talked about the history of the car and the dreams of its creators, she
realized how comfortable she was. She hadn't been on a date since the breakup with
Joey Delancy last spring and Henry was animated as he compared the Thunderbird
to other Ford cars of the time.

As he pulled on to Highway 30 and headed for Ames, he
stopped talking. "Did you hear anything I said? You look as if you were a
million miles away."

"No, I was listening. I was just thinking about
how nice it was to be out with someone I enjoyed. I'm hoping you won't get all
psychotic on me tonight, okay?"

"I promise. No psychotic. And if I do, you can
kick the wheels of my baby here."

"Thanks," she said. "Where are you
taking me?"

"There's a nice little restaurant on Main Street.
I've only been there once when Mom and Dad were in town. I think you'll like
it."

"So," she said. "A fancy dinner and
then a boat ride?"

He chuckled. "No boat rides tonight. Maybe we'll
drive around and look at Christmas lights. And I'll be sure to get you home on
time, I promise. I know tomorrow is a school day."

"That sounds great." She placed her hand
over his which was on the steering wheel. "Thanks for this, if I forget to
say so later. This is really nice." She left her hand there for a few
moments and when she pulled away, he took it in his. They rode in silence, then
he let go to turn on the radio.

"I'm kind of a sucker for Christmas music,"
he said. "I figure that I only get to listen to it once a year, so it's
always on in my truck." He fiddled with the knob until he tuned in
"Holly, Jolly Christmas." He
glanced
back down at the seat to find that Polly had left her hand where he could take
it again. He took it in his and before either of them knew it, they were
humming along to the music.

Henry took an exit and wove his way through the
streets of Ames until he pulled up in front of a small restaurant across from
the old train depot. When they went inside, they were greeted by a hostess who
seated them after Henry gave her his name. The ambiance was warm and
comfortable and their waiter was on hand with a menu and wine list. After they
ordered, he disappeared, returning with bread and wine.

They talked all through supper, only stopping to
acknowledge the food that arrived and the waiter's short interruptions
regarding any needs they might have. Henry told her about his family, growing
up with a father who knew how to do nearly everything. When he finally had
enough of working for others, he turned his part time job as a fix-it man and
cabinet maker, into a full-time business. Henry grew up helping out in the
shop, learning his father's craft, went away to college for four years and then
decided he was going to be just as happy working with his dad.

Polly told him about growing up on the farm and losing
her mother. When he asked how hard that had been, she thought for a moment and
said, "You know, I realize that it should have been awful, but Dad,
Sylvester and Mary did everything they could to keep life normal for me. Mary
was there and she had always loved me, so it wasn't that difficult."

"Did your Dad ever date again?" Henry asked.

"I think he did while I was in college, but I
don't think it was ever serious. He never introduced me to anyone as being
special in his life." She paused and thought about it. "You know,
that's too bad. I never thought about it, but he should have found someone else
so he could have been happy. I wasn't around enough to be with him when he was
lonely and he was always available when I was home. Wow, I must have seemed
very self-centered to him."

"Oh, I can't imagine that's true," Henry
replied. "If he had wanted to do something else, he would have. You're his
daughter and you know what you want and know how to go get it."

Polly laughed. "I suppose you're right. I never
thought about it before."

They talked some more about her friends in Boston and
how much she had enjoyed living there. "Have you ever been on the east
coast?" she asked Henry.

"No. Not really," Henry said. "Maybe
someday I'll be a tourist. It didn't ever seem like something I wanted to do
all by myself."

It was Polly's turn to wink. "I'll take you out
there someday and show you all up and down the eastern seaboard."

"Now, that's a date!" Henry laughed.

After dinner, they walked back to the car and he
opened the door for her again. Polly snickered. "You're going to make me
feel all girly."

"You should," he responded. "You look
all girly tonight." As she put her left foot into the car, he bent in and
kissed her lightly on the lips, then took her hand and helped her into her seat.

Polly went still when the door shut beside her. He'd
kissed her! It was nothing like the possessive kisses from Joey. Polly could
feel the blood rushing to her face and hoped Henry wouldn't notice when he opened
his door and the light came on.

He got back into the car and backed out of the parking
space, putting his right arm up over the seat back as he turned to look out the
rear window. Polly felt like a kid again, wondering if he would touch her
shoulder. The bucket seats kept them separated unless she sat on the little
center hump, so she decided to stay where she was. Henry left his arm there
brushing her shoulder and neck with his fingers as they began to drive around
Ames.

They oohed and
aahed
and talked
about Christmas lights until Polly yawned.

Henry laughed, "I've never bored someone to sleep
before, so it’s probably time to start heading back to Bellingwood." He
turned a corner and began heading west.

"No," she said. "It's not that. I had
two little kids in my bed last night and a baby in the room. I don't think I
got nearly enough sleep."

"Oh, that's right!" Henry exclaimed. "I
forgot about that. So, who are these people staying with you?"

Polly told him about her past with Bruce and found
herself telling him everything that had happened since Bruce and Hannah drove
into town.

"It seems like you're becoming the focal point
for crazy stuff in Bellingwood, Polly. We've never seen this much
activity!" He laughed.

"That's not funny," she said. "I lived
a pretty quiet life in Boston, too, you know. Nothing crazy ever happened to me
until I moved back to Iowa."

"It's alright, Polly. I’m kidding you, but, you
are certainly upping the level of entertainment for us poor ‘ole country
folk!" Henry's speech pattern slowed to a drawl.

"There you go," Polly chortled.
"Feeding into the Iowa
stereotype.
A bunch of slow,
country hicks who couldn't find their way around a big city, much less be smart
enough to deal with high powered business men."

"I'll bet you heard a lot of that while you were
in Boston, didn't you!"

"Oh, you have no idea," she said. "I
was in Filene's once when I first got to Boston. I was at the checkout counter
and because my finances were still in flux, I wanted to write a check from my
Iowa account. I asked the clerk if I could write a check from a bank in Iowa
and she stuck her nose in the air and said quite primly, ‘Out here, Miss, we
pronounce that O-HI-O!’ She took my check, though, and I laughed and laughed on
my way home. She had no idea that anything existed west of the Mississippi
River. Sometimes it felt as if they still believed we traveled in covered
wagons and had to battle wild Indians to get from our home to work every day."

Polly shook her head. "It wasn't always that bad,
but I did discover that Iowans ... well, probably people from the Midwest ...
had a much better grasp of the entirety of the United States than those in
Boston did. All they paid attention to was their little corner of the world. It
extended from Maine down to Hilton Head and sometimes out to Pennsylvania and
the Great Lakes, but anything beyond that was wilderness in their eyes."

"I made some good friends, though," she
giggled. "One of these days, I'll convince them to get on a plane and
rather than fly over the Midwest to the other coast, stop and see what’s going
on out here."

As they drove, he left his arm on the back of the
seat. Polly didn't pull away, but the closer they got to Bellingwood, the more
awkward she began to feel. She liked Henry, but wasn’t ready to start a
full-out relationship with him. It had been so long since anyone had paid
attention to her like this, she wanted to take her time and not hurry it along.

He finally pulled up in front of the school. All the
lights were on and the white twinkling Christmas lights around Sycamore House
looked wonderful. Polly thought they would look even better if it snowed.

Henry put the car in park and reached for his door. Polly
stopped him. "This was a wonderful evening, Henry. Thank you."

He smiled and his eyes seemed to light up, "I had
a great time, too, Polly. I hope you will let me take you out again someday
soon."

"That would be nice," she said. "
Well,"
and she turned to look at the front door of Sycamore
House, "I probably need to make sure everything is still standing."

Henry opened his car door and got to her side just as
she was pushing it open. He took her hand and helped her stand up, then walked
her to the front door, which unlocked as she approached it.

"This
bluetooth
door
locking system has been a real lifesaver," she said. "I couldn’t take
any more key stress after the fiasco this fall. This is better. I love that I
can just send a key to your smartphones. I'd hate to have to come downstairs
every time somebody wanted to get in the place."

"You're quite the tech geek, Polly," Henry
laughed. He opened the door and waited as she stepped inside.

"Well, good night, Henry. Thank you again ... so
much," she said.

He stepped in and kissed her again, another light kiss
on her lips. Before she could do anything more, he stepped back and let go of
her hand.

"I'll see you tomorrow, Polly."

"Good night, Henry. Thank you."

She watched as he walked back to his car,
then
waved as he drove away. She shut the door to Sycamore
house and heard it lock behind her, then walked back to the kitchen and saw
that it was clean and the lights were off. Heading back for the stairs, she
flipped the main level lights off and walked upstairs, her mind chasing itself
around and around about Henry. She turned off the lights in the hall as she
opened the door to her apartment. Glancing back at the first bedroom, she saw
light coming out from under the door and smiled. She hoped they were happy to
be together again.

As soon as she walked into her apartment, she was
greeted by a bouncing Obiwan.

"Well, darn it!" she exclaimed. "I
forgot all about you!
Alright.
Let me get some real clothes on and we'll go outside."

Polly quickly changed into her sweats, snapped a leash
on Obiwan, grabbed a flashlight and ran downstairs to give him a quick run
around the school. She was going to be glad to drop into her own bed, all by
herself tonight.