Pages of the Past (Bellingwood Book 9) (9 page)

"Is that really true or do you kinda miss the Billy who dressed up in a robe and painted a light saber? I know I miss that boy."

"But he can't be that way for the rest of his life. He has to grow up sometime."

Polly slowly shook her head back and forth. "I don't think so. He's responsible. He goes to work and does a good job every day. He pays his bills. I know that he spends time with his parents. He enjoys his friends. He loves you and apparently will do anything to make you happy. He's kind and good to his dog and he's wonderful with Andrew and Rebecca. Tell me how growing up will make him a better person."

"But..."

"No buts. You fell in love with an amazing young man. Let him be that person until he chooses to do something differently. If he isn't ready to have your girly stuff in his apartment, let that be okay. He wants you there. Learn to fall in love with his best friend, because I'll tell you right now, if you separate those two boys, you'll be the one who pays in the long run. He'll let you get away with it, but someday down the road, it will come back to haunt you."

"Why am I the one who has to change everything?"

"Because you're the one thinking about it and asking the deep questions. This matters to you right now and this is the time when you can do the right thing."

"Crap."

Polly laughed. "What did you think I was going to tell you when you came in here?"

"I don't know, but I didn't think that I was going to be the one who was wrong. How do you make Henry fall in line all the time?"

"What?" Polly looked at her in shock. "Henry falls in line?"

"Everyone talks about how perfect he is. He never does anything wrong. He's always doing stuff for you. I heard someone say that he was whipped."

"Henry Sturtz whipped. That's a good one. It's occurred to no one that he does what he wants to do? If I ask for help, he does what he can to be there, but that goes both ways."

"Nobody else would bring puppies home from their honeymoon. He did that for you."

"Tell me another man out there who would have ignored those puppies, leaving them in the street to die."

"Well..."

"Henry does the right thing. And you'll notice he never apologizes for it either. He thinks about the things he's going to do and then he does them. People don't have enough on their own plates if they're worrying about my husband."

Rachel put her hands up defensively. "It wasn't me. I was just trying to figure out how you get him to be so nice to you."

"Mostly I don't ask him to do things I know he doesn't want to do. And if I am going to ask him to do something like that I make sure there's a darned good reason for it. If I asked him to drive off a bridge, he'd tell me I was nuts, but if I asked him to run the car into the river because the trunk was on fire, he'd figure out a way to get us both to safety and then send the car into the water. He's not a stupid man and I'm not a stupid woman. We listen and we talk and we respect the other person's ability to make good decisions."

"Maybe that's what I need to do."

"What's that?"

"Let Billy make good decisions."

"If he isn't ready for you to move in, you have to respect that."

"You're right. I'm just so ready to get our lives started. He isn't."

"He will be someday and if you let him get there on his own, it will make it easier."

"What if it takes ten years?"

Polly chuckled. "Okay. That might be a bit much, but I doubt Billy takes that long. He's only been out of his parent's house for a year. Let him have this."

"What am I going to do with Doug?"

"You might find him a girl to date. That's always a good distraction. And why don't you be the one to work with Doug to set up a game night. Do it on a Friday night after one of your early wedding rehearsal dinners. Make great food and invite their friends. Let him know that you aren't trying to separate him from his best friend. Encourage their fun."

"Maybe we could do it this Friday night." Rachel jumped up. "Thanks for talking me down, Polly."

"Where's Sylvie this morning? Don't you usually talk to her?"

"She had a delivery coming to the house. I think she's getting new living room furniture."

"She's what?"

Rachel shrugged. "I don't know. She didn't say much yesterday, just that she was going to be late."

"Huh. That's weird. She didn't tell me about it."

"Maybe she wants to surprise you and I wasn't supposed to say anything."

"No, she'd have told you."

"I'd better get back to work. Thanks again."

"No problem."

Polly watched her leave, took out her phone and dialed.

"Good morning, sweetums. Miss me already?" Henry said.

"Of course I do."

"So why are you calling?"

"I just found out that you are the perfect husband. People talk about it in town, you know."

"I didn't know that. Who let the cat out of the bag?"

"Apparently you do everything I want you to do, so you're whipped or something."

"Hmmm," he said. "I think you were doing everything I wanted you to do last night and I certainly don't remember whips."

"Stop it," she giggled, a flush rising through her face.

"So I guess that I've lost all my man points in town, eh?"

"Yep and I've taken them from you."

"Does this bother you?"

"A little. But on the other hand, as I was talking to Rachel about it, I realized how amazing you were and how much I love you. You're so danged smart and reasonable."

"There. That's the right way to look at it. Smart and reasonable. And completely smitten, by the way."

"Still?"

"I told you last year that there would never be a time I wasn't completely in love with you."

"Me too, Henry. Me too. I really am the luckiest woman in town."

"And don't you forget it. So was that the reason for your call or do you need something else, because I'm in a room full of men in hard hats and..."

"You're not!" Polly felt her entire body flush all over again.

Henry laughed out loud. "No. I'm not, but they are in the next room and I need to get back to work."

"Oh my," she breathed. "Scared me to death. No. The real reason I called was to tell you that I love you because you are amazing."

"I love you too."

CHAPTER NINE

"So what was that about?" Jeff asked, poking his head in Polly's door after Rachel left.

"Nothing," Polly said with a shrug. "What's up?"

"Are you going to be here for a while? I just got a confirmation on an interview and she has some time before heading to her job at ten thirty. She'll be here in fifteen minutes."

"Nothing like giving a girl a warning."

"If you're busy, I can do this. No worries. We'd talked yesterday and I called her this morning and she had time right now."

"I'm kidding. Of course I'm available. I'll finish up what I'm doing here and meet you in the conference room, right?"

"Thanks." He left her office and Polly turned back to her computer. She looked at the screen and back at the pile of bills on her desk. Then she lifted her upper lip in a snarl. She hated this part of the job. Jeff had all the fun. He got to deposit funds. She had to make it go away.

Little by little the pile was whittled down and the stack of checks in her printer grew.

"Polly?" Jeff asked from her door.

"She's here? I didn't see anyone come in."

"You must have been concentrating. She came in the front door."

Polly took a notepad and pencil and followed him into the conference room, then grinned when she saw Stephanie Armstrong seated at the table.

"I didn't know it was you," Polly said.

"I saw the ad come up and thought I'd take a shot. You don't have to give me an interview just because you know me, though."

"Oh no. Jeff is the one who put this together. He had no idea we'd met before. You're good."

"How do you know each other?" Jeff asked.

"Stephanie's sister is in Rebecca's class at school and spent the evening with us on Monday."

"Okay." He gestured to a chair and Polly sat down. He sat and leaned forward. "Do you have a resume?" he asked.

Stephanie handed him a manila folder. "I'm sorry. I don't have the job at the convenience store on there. This came up so fast and I didn't have time to get to the library and update my resume."

"No problem," he said, opening the folder. After a quick glance, he pushed it to Polly. "Tell me what interests you about this position?"

Polly put her hand on his forearm. "Which position are you talking about here today?"

He looked at her and pursed his lips. "I don't know. Either one."

"I can do anything," Stephanie jumped in. "You'll see that I worked a hotel front desk when I lived in Ohio. I did everything and that was when I was still in high school. I know that I'm not a manager at the convenience store, but I do most of the office work. I prepare the orders and check things in, stock shelves, clean, get deposits ready, schedule employees."

"What does your manager do?" Jeff asked.

She shrugged. "I don't ask anymore. He's a nice guy, but ..." she let the rest of the sentence trail off.

"Would you like to work here in the office as my assistant or out at the Inn?"

"Either position would be great. If I worked here, would it be regular hours? I only ask because of my sister. Polly took care of things the other night when I couldn't take her home. I'd like to have a little independence to make sure that she's safe after school."

Jeff nodded and Polly glanced up when she saw Sylvie come into the office.

"You two go on," she said. "I'll be back in a few minutes."

She shut the door behind her when she left the conference room. "Hey, Sylvie, what's up?"

"I'm sorry to bother you. Nothing really. I just wanted to let you know where I was. Are you interviewing?"

"Yeah. Jeff and I finally caved. We have to hire someone at the Inn and he's looking for someone else to work in the office here."

"That's cool. Who's the girl?"

"Stephanie Armstrong. Her sister Kayla is in Rebecca and Andrew's class."

"Oh, her!" Sylvie said, a grin taking over her face. "Andrew was so jealous of her, he sputtered and fumed the last two nights. He's still not over it."

"Poor boy. But he's the one who showed her Star Wars."

"But then she wanted to do girly things with Rebecca and he hated that. He's terrified that Rebecca won't want to be his friend anymore."

"Like that could happen. Those two are inseparable. I wish I'd had a friend like that when I was in elementary school. So, Rachel told me you ordered some new furniture."

"She did, did she? I was going to surprise you with it tomorrow night. There was no way I wanted you to come to my house and sit on that dingy old stuff we brought over from the apartment. It's all moved down to the basement. Jason and Andrew are going to love having a place to hang out."

"I can't believe you did that for us. You're a crazy girl. We don't care what it looks like."

"I care. It's the first time in my life I can afford to dress up my house and I want it to look nice for my inaugural party."

"I can't wait to see it. What did you buy?"

"Not telling. You have to come over and experience it."

"Have you planned the menu? Will you tell me what to bring?"

Sylvie scowled. "I'm a chef. You will bring nothing. How embarrassing would that be?"

"We have to bring something. That's the plan for these parties. Beryl and Andy won't let you get away with that."

"They already have. I know how to be firm."

"And Lydia?"

"She caved in just moments. There's something really wrong with her. Have you seen her lately? Her eyes are dark and she looks like she's going to cry at the drop of a hat. Is something going on with one of her kids..." Sylvie's face grew grim. "Or one of her grandkids? That would destroy her."

"No, that's not it. Maybe she'll talk about it tomorrow night."

"So... payback for me not telling you about the furniture?"

Polly chuckled. "No. She's just so private that until she talks about it, I don't want to be a gossip."

"You're a good person. Better than me." Sylvie took Polly's arm. "And I'll let you get away with it because you shamed me."

"Sorry?"

"Yeah. No." Sylvie took a breath as if she were steeling herself. "I'd better get to work. I'm sure Rachel is wondering where I've gotten to."

Jeff stepped out of the conference room as Sylvie left. He shut the door. "Got a minute, Polly?"

"Sure. Your office?"

"Okay."

They sat down in the chairs and he said. "I like her. She's smart and willing to learn and the price is right..."

"You don't have to sell me," Polly said. "If you want to hire her, I'm all for it. She's a nice girl. Henry says she's pleasant and decent to customers. He sees her when he's buying ice cream to keep me tranquil, I guess."

"Then my next question is where should we put her?"

"Where do we need her the worst?"

"It's really six of one, half dozen of the other," Jeff put his hands out and lifted each as if they were a balanced scale.

Polly sat back in the chair. "I don't want to tell you what to do," she said.

"Do you have an idea?"

She sat forward again. "Okay, hear me out and don't get all 'Polly's a busy-body' on me, okay?"

"Whatever. You are who you are. Pointing out the obvious seems like a waste of time."

"Jerk."

"Yes, boss. I am."

She laughed. "I was thinking that she and Kayla live in a really dingy trailer. They have no money to make it nice. Barely any money to buy furniture. We could take some of the furniture from my Dad's house to the caretaker's cottage and they could live there."

He thought for a moment and then shook his head. "I only hesitate because with the people that are in and out of there, I can't guarantee they'll be totally safe. I'd really like to put a married couple in there."

"Sexist much?"

"I know. It's horrible," he said. "But they're right on the highway and who knows what kind of creeps would show up in the middle of the night."

"Turn the vacancy light off."

"But still. Creeps. She's so young and if her younger sister is there with her. It's just too scary for me to do that to her."

"Then you've already made your decision."

"I know we don't help her living situation right away, but I'm going to pay better than the convenience store, so she'll make more money and other than special events, she'll have normal hours. And maybe..." He looked at Polly.

"Maybe what?"

"Maybe her sister could come here with Rebecca and Andrew after school. She'd have a better place to be and could leave with Stephanie at five."

"You're so smart. You should tell me what you're thinking before I start babbling."

Jeff grinned at her. "It's so much more fun when you babble. I'm going to offer her the job. Did you talk to Sarah Heater?"

"I think she's relieved that we aren't counting on her. It's settled. Go hire yourself an assistant."

He stood up and patted Polly's shoulder as he walked past her to go talk to Stephanie again. "Thanks."

~~~

When Polly's stomach rumbled a third time, she turned her monitor off and pushed back from her desk. The stomach wasn't going to feed itself. Sylvie and Rachel were serving a lunch meeting in the auditorium and she didn't want to bother them today. The last thing she wanted was to have to forage for food upstairs.

"Hey," she said, poking her head in Jeff's office. "I'm going to the diner for some food. You want anything?"

"Nah. I'm good." He held up an apple.

"Are you dieting again?"

"Go eat your lunch and leave me alone."

She shook her head. "You're a good looking man. Don't be silly."

"Dating, you know."

"If he doesn't love you for who you are right now, he isn't worth it."

"Easy for you to say, you svelte wench, you. And you're happily married, too."

"Maybe you should get a big dog that needs a lot of walks. You'd be surprised at how many calories you can use up."

He seemed to ponder the possibility and then laughed. "No, I think I'll just suffer and feel sorry for myself."

"I'm having a pork tenderloin," she said, tauntingly.

"Now you're a nasty wench. Get out before I throw this apple at you."

"Okay, you're sure you don't want me to bring anything back for you?"

Jeff gripped the arms of his chair dramatically and threw his head back. "Begone! You are my devil!"

Polly laughed at him as she walked out of the office.

Once she got in the truck, she texted Henry.
"I'm heading to the diner for lunch. Do you want me to bring you anything?"

"That would be great!"
he texted back.
"Can we call in an order and have you bring it to the shop?"

"Sure. I'll be over after a while."

"Thank you. You're the best wife I've ever had."

"Uh huh. That could be an interesting conversation."

He sent back a heart emoji and she drove out and headed downtown.

Lucy smiled at her when she went in. "Are you here to stay?"

"No, Henry is going to call in an order for takeout. Could you add a pork tenderloin with fries to that for me?"

"Sure, honey. Have a seat. I'll get you a Dew."

"Thank you." Polly looked around the diner and saw Aaron Merritt sitting by himself in a corner. "Lucy?"

"Yeah, hon."

"I'm going to talk to the Sheriff. Skip the Dew."

"I can bring it to you over there."

"Nah. I'll only be a few minutes. Wave at me when the food's done."

"Got it." Lucy swung around with a pot of coffee and headed for a table filled with young men.

Aaron hadn't looked up to see her coming and was shocked when Polly sat down across from him. "Hi, Polly," he said.