All Roads Lead Home (Bellingwood) (5 page)

Lee had shoulder length blonde hair and her eyes were
already smiling. Before they got to the barn, Polly’s
heart jumped when Lee let loose with a sho
ut, "Brad! Brad! She's here!"

There was some rustling in the barn
as
the two women
entered. A good looking young man in jeans and a plaid shirt glanced up from a
pile of hay he seemed to be arranging.

"That stupid cat had kittens in here last night,
Lee."

"Well, if you wouldn't feed that stupid cat, she
might not think you were hers," Lee retorted.

She turned to Polly. "He likes us all to think he
hates small animals, but we know better. He's a big softy. He'll be out here
every night making sure they're warm and
safe. What do you want to bet
he builds a
pen around this pile of hay so nothing can get to
them.
"

Polly smiled at the two and leaned over to look
inside
the space
Brad had been working on. There was a mama cat with
five
tiny balls
of fur gathered around.

"Oh, they are adorable, aren't
they?
I haven't
had cats in years!"

Lee got a hopeful look on her face, "Would you
like one or maybe two when they're old enough to be weaned?"

Polly laughed. "Let me think about it
, but
I bet
they'd be wonderful at the old school house. I'll let you know."

"Alright, alright, Lee.
Leave her alone. Cats come and go so fast around here
we don't even bother naming them," Brad said.

"Oh, don't let him kid you. He named mama cat the
first time he saw her." Lee responded.

"I don't think 'stupid cat' is actually a name,
Lee."
Brad said.

"No, it's not. But Snuffles is and she loves
you." Lee poked her husband in the arm and he yanked it away.

"Whatever."

Then
he
said
. "The
barn boards are over here." He walked to the other side of the barn and
there were a number of beautifully grayed and weathered boards propped against
the wall. Polly gasped. "Those are gorgeous!"

Lee said, "I know. They
really are. When we pulled the
barn down and I saw them, I thought they'd be
perfect. A little work and they'll
be
even more beautiful
."

"I want them all,” Polly said.
“
I
need
to get someone down here to pick them up, but I want every single one of them. Anything
I don't use on my floors will be used somewhere else."

She
reached in
her jeans pocket for her checkbook. "I'll write you the check today, but
it might take a few days for me to round up a truck and some guys to move
these. Is that alright?"

"That will be fine," said Brad. "I
won't need this space for
a few weeks
or so. Call
when you're
coming to
get them and we'll get you loaded and ready to go."

Polly wrote out the check and before Brad could put
his hands on it, Lee took it. "I'll make sure
this
gets in the
right account, honey. I don't think you need to put it in
one of
your
little savings account
s
. We can use this in other places."

Brad shook his head and smiled at his wife. "She's
always telling me what to do. Thanks a lot Miss Giller and i
f you want a couple of cats, I'll
glad
ly
bring them up. B
oth of us would like to see what you're doing with
that old school house. It was sure a shame when it closed down and even more of
a shame to see it sitting there all boarded up."

"I'll call later this week and I wil
l think about those cats. But
, you two are welcome to come any time. When the
floors get laid, I'll let you know so you can see where your boards are living!"

Lee and Polly walked out of the barn while Brad went
back to work
,
setting up the home for the kittens.

"Would you like to come in for some coffee or
tea?" Lee asked.

"I don't think so
today. It's been nice to meet you though," Polly said. "I
need to get back to the craziness on the
home
front
. I like to remind them I'm still
around and they can't make decisions without me!"

Polly turned to go back to her truck.

"Oh,
Lee, I
do have a stupid question,” she said.

"Yes?"

"If you hadn't come out of the back door, I would
have had no idea which door to use. It's been so long since I've been in the
country." Polly said.

"That's hilarious!" Lee laughed. "I
suppose I would have answered the front doo
r
just like I do the back door, but
now
that you've been here once, you never have to use the front door. You're a
friend."

"I'll see you another time, then!" Polly
said and opened the door to her car. As she sat down and turned the key, it
occurred to her she still hadn't gotten a good answer. It wasn't going to be
any easier the next time she had to go to someone's home.

Polly backed down the driveway and out onto the main
road. If she hurried, she would have time to stop at the Post Office before
lunch. The building got quiet during
the
lunch hour
and she liked having
some of the foremen and contractors show up at
her
kitchen
table to tell her what
they’d been doing
during the morning
.

Her dreams were all coming true. It seemed like life
couldn't get any better.

Heaving a sigh,
Polly
dropped into a chair in
the
kitchen. She was going to have to get more furniture
pulled upstairs. She didn't have a comfortable chair anywhere. It was either
stand, sit in the kitchen or lie down in her bed, unless she was driving
somewhere to get something for someone. Now that she li
ved here, her days seemed long and the nights were
short
, which was strange because outside
, the nights were long
and
days were much too short
.
She was never
ready for the sun to set so early in the evenings.

They still had
a
great deal of
work
to do
on the old
bathrooms upstairs. They were completely gutting the rooms and would turn each
of them into a spa bathroom.

Painting these upstairs classrooms had been an
incredible feat. Fourteen foot ceilings weren't an easy reach, but she knew she
needed to keep going. This was one
part
of the renovation
she could do and she
wanted
to
not only make decisions, but
be
part of the work
.
She knew
it might seem strange to some
, but before she chose the paint for a room, she tried
to imagine
the
room filled with children as they learned from their
teacher. Each room seemed to tell a story and she was happy with how things had
turned out.

Henry had been busy. The rooms upstairs
were framed and trimmed
and bookshelves built into the walls. He
shaped each of the pieces in a class
room on the main floor and then
took them
upstairs
for installation. His
two young assistants, Jimmy Rio and Sam
Terhune
, were more than willing to traipse up and down the
steps
all day.

The week had been long. Electricians and plumbers were
working on the lower level trying to get everything in place before drywall was
hung. They had two more weeks before
that
was scheduled, but they had been all over the place
every day of the week.

As she sat staring out the window at the broken down
playground, her cell phone rang. She sighed. There was no more room left in her
mind to make another decision, but knew if someone had a question, it was her
job to come up with an answer. She didn't recognize the phone number, so
offered a tentative, "Hello?"

"Hi Polly,
it's
Lydia Merritt. How
are you doing?"

Polly shook her h
ead.
She pulled the phone away, stared it,
took
a deep breath,
then
came back to the conversation.

"Hello, Lydia! I'm doing alright. How are you?"
She felt badly that her voice didn’t sound energetic,
but that was all she had left.

"Well, I'm probably doing better than you, dear. I
haven't had a building full of workers all week. Are you exhausted?" Lydia
asked.

"Honestly, Lydia. I really am. Times like this I
wish I had a bathtub, a soft chair and someone to rub my feet."

"I have a bathtub and a soft chair and I could probably
be talked into rubbing your feet, but I suppose you might not want to be around
anybody at all this evening."

Polly wasn't sure how to respond. She hesitated before
answering.

"I don't know if I have the energy tonight for
people," she said.

"I didn't figure you would. Whenever you get up,
check outside your front door. I left you some dinner. You shouldn't have to do
anything. It's simple."

"Oh, Lydia
,
y
ou didn't have to do that. You guys
already
left me
a lot of food
." Polly said.

"I know. But it's Friday night and you can take
this up to your bed, curl up with a book and fall asleep. That is, if you don't
mind a few crumbs in your bed," Lydia said. "And, I have another
reason for pampering you a little and then calling you.
”

She went on before Polly could speak,
"Tomorrow evening I have tickets to a play over
at Iowa State University. Beryl and Andy are going. I asked Sylvie if she
wanted to take her kids, but it sounds like her mother is coming into town, so
she declined. We thought we'd make an evening of it. Dinner and the play and
maybe drinks or something afterward and then ... you come stay at my house for
the night. Pack a bag. We're going to have a slumber party. You'll get a real
chair to sit in, carpet under your feet, a bed you don't have to make in the
morning and breakfast on the table.
How about it?"

"I'd love to go out with you, but a slumber
party? I don’t think I’m ready for that."
Polly said.

"Sure you are. It will be great," Lydia
responded, "The girls and I plan to hang out in front of the fireplace. The
old man is leaving town tomorrow and won't be back until Sunday night. I
thought we could have some fun."

Lydia's enthusiasm was contagious. Polly hadn't been
to a slumber party since she was in elementary school and she certainly hadn't
been to one with women who were so much older. What was she supposed to think
about all of this?

She opened her mouth, but before she could respond,
Lydia said, "You have to. You have to!"

"Alright
,
I'm in." Polly said, then continued
"But, Lydia, this has to be the craziest thing I've ever heard!"

"Oh, honey," Lydia said. "You just
wait. Crazy is what we do when we get bored around here. And don’t think the
play will be the most wonderful thing you’ll see tomorrow.
W
ait until Beryl
gets a couple of my famous chocolate martinis in her! That will be wonderful."

Polly had stood up while she was talking and walked to
her front door. She opened
it
and there was a small
,
square, blue basket with a
pretty
red
checkered napkin wrapped around its contents. She picked it up, pushed
the door shut, clicked the lock and walked to the stairs. She sat down and
opened the napkin.