All Roads Lead Home (Bellingwood) (60 page)

Polly glanced at Lydia, who picked up a box of tissues
from the counter and handed it to her. Polly mouthed the word,
"chicken" at her friend and walked out to the living area. Placing
the box on the table in front of them, she glanced at Lyle McKenzie, sitting
stiffly in his chair, looking at nothing in particular. Kevin had moved forward
in his seat as if to care for his mother, but instead, looked stricken and
unsure as to what to do next.

Finally, Shirley McKenzie took a deep breath, pulled a
few tissues from the box and patted her eyes. "Excuse me," she said
to Polly, "Do you
…
?"

"It's right over here," Polly interrupted
and led her to the door into the bathroom. The room remained uncomfortably
silent while she was gone. When she returned, it seemed as if she had regained
her composure and she walked over to stand beside her husband.

Placing her hand on his shoulder, she said,
"Bruce, we'd like you to come home. Your father and I will help you get
back on your feet. We want to get to know your new family and meet those little
children of yours.

"We've discussed it and if you want to work on
the farm, there is plenty of work there. Kevin and Lyle were going to hire a
new farmhand this spring anyway. If you don't want to work on the farm, you're
welcome to stay with us until you find a job somewhere else. Isn't that right,
Lyle?"

Lyle McKenzie stood up and walked over to the couch. Bruce
shrank back toward Hannah, as if he were unsure as to what might happen next,
but then stood up to face his father.

"Son, you hurt your mother when you left town,
but she forgave you a long time ago. I'm a stubborn man with a lot of pride,
but you're family and no matter how old you are, I guess I'm still responsible
for you. If you want to come back, you're welcome to return."

Kevin McKenzie stood up as well and walked over to
stand beside his brother. "You know, there is an awful lot of machinery on
the farm that could use your touch. Dad's fighting with some lawn mowers right
now. We want you to come home."

Polly looked at Lydia, whose eyes were filling with
tears. She grabbed a few tissues and scurried to the kitchen, shoving two of
them into Lydia's waiting fingers.

"Thank you, Dad,” Bruce said. “I would like to
come home. That's where we were headed when we got sidetracked. I wanted to do
this on my own with you, but it looks like we managed to get everyone else
involved."

His father took a deep breath, then said, "I know
you have some legal trouble, son. Your mother says we're going to help you out
with that, too."

"No, you don't have to. It's all settled. There's
no more legal trouble. They have the guy who set us up. We're cleared and free to
go." Bruce replied.

"You know I'm not an easy man to get along with,
but your mother, well, she makes me remember that I'm not the only person on
the earth who has pride." He turned around and looked at Lydia. "I'm
also supposed to apologize for being rude to you. I suppose I was and if I
don't tell you I'm sorry for it, she told me I'm sleeping in the barn for the
rest of the winter." He glanced at his wife, who smiled at him. "And
that's cold and lonely. I'm not so stubborn that I want to do that and I'm not
so difficult that I don't know when I've been rude to a woman. So, I apologize."

Lydia nodded at him in acceptance.

Shirley McKenzie spoke up, "We don't have
anything ready for you, though, Hannah." She turned to Polly, "Would
it be alright if they spent another night or two here. We'd be glad to pay you.
That way we can get the basement ready for them."

"You can stay here as long as you need to,"
Polly said to Bruce and Hannah.

Shirley took Hannah's hand, drawing her up off the
sofa. "Will you introduce me to your little ones tonight before we leave?"

"Sure," Hannah said. "Let's go over to
our room."

"Bruce," Polly said, "Go ahead and send
Andrew and Jason back over here. I think they're spending the night." She
turned to Lydia. "Whoops, I forgot to ask their mom if that was alright.
I'd better go do that."

The two went downstairs and discovered that much of
the crowd had thinned out. Aaron was waiting at the bottom of the steps for
them.

"Is everything alright?" he asked.

"Oh, Polly and I got to witness one more
Christmas miracle," Lydia said as she sidled up to her husband and slipped
her arm around his waist. "Sycamore House keeps handing them out, doesn't
it!"

Polly walked over to stand by the front door which had
been opened as people were leaving. Henry came up behind her.

"The snow is beautiful, isn't it?" he asked.

"It is," she responded. "It kind of
makes the entire evening perfect."

"You know, I didn't get a chance to tell you
before, but you are beautiful tonight, too." He reached down and took her
hand in his very warm hand and squeezed it lightly. "I'm glad you're here,
Polly Giller. Very glad you're here." Then, he lightly touched her lips
with his and they stood together looking at the snow come down.

"I'm glad too," Polly whispered, more to
herself than anyone else.
"Merry Christmas."

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