Look Always Forward (Bellingwood Book 11) (24 page)

"Is the food going to go bad before we get to wherever we're going?" Lydia asked.

Beryl gestured with her head to two red coolers behind them. "Lydia, you take one for your Jeep and Polly, you take the other in your truck. There's ice in each of them to keep things cool enough. Any hot dishes will be insulated." She wriggled her nose at Lydia. "I may not be much of a cook, but I know how to avoid poisoning my friends."

Andy raised her hand and waited for Beryl to acknowledge that she had a question. "Where are we supposed to go when we're finished?"

"Don't worry," Beryl said. "That's the last clue." She waved the two envelopes in front of them. "Just so you know, there are prizes. You might want to think fast. Are you ready?"

Polly nodded at Andy, who took the envelope that Beryl was waving in front of her face. Lydia snatched the other one and scooted close to Sylvie so they could read it together.

"I've got the cooler, Andy," Polly said. "Let's go." Polly picked up the top cooler and carried it with her to the truck. She put it in the back behind her seat and climbed in, waiting for Andy to shut the door. "Okay, what does it say?"

"She dances rings round you and me, her waifs fly to the bumblebee."
Andy said.

"Lisa Foster's dance studio?" Polly asked. "I can't believe they're open tonight. It's just up here around the corner."

Andy nodded. "My granddaughter was in her show last spring. They did
Flight of the Bumblebee
."

Polly drove around the block and pulled into a space in front of the studio. Lights were on so she and Andy jumped out and approached the door. When she tugged on it, it opened and they went inside.

"May I help you?" a young girl in tights asked from behind a counter.

"This is going to sound crazy," Polly responded, "but do you have something for Polly Giller and Andy Specek?"

The girl laughed and bent down. She came back up with a small basket. "You guys must have fun."

Andy laughed. "We do. We always do. Is there a card in there?"

Polly opened the basket and the smell of garlic wafted up from within. Bundles wrapped in foil were nestled in red and white checked fabric, a tablecloth from Dylan Foster's pizza shop, Pizzazz. His wife, Lisa not only owned the dance studio, but was Mark Ogden's sister. She handed Andy the card.

"Thank you," Polly said as they left.             

"Have fun!"

"Where to next?"

They climbed back into the truck and Andy said,
"From the highest heights to the lowest lows, you need his help if you don't have the goes."

"What?" Polly asked, laughing. "The goes?"

Andy dropped her head and Polly watched her mutter the rhyme again. "She wouldn't mean the pharmacy, would she?"

Polly thought about it. "Ahhh, of course she would." She laughed and laughed as she backed out of the parking space and headed back downtown. They parked in front of the pharmacy and went inside, heading for the back.

Nate was waiting for them with a bag in hand. "I think this is for you," he said.

"Do you help people who don't have the goes?" Polly asked.

"What?"

"Never mind. Beryl dropped this off, didn't she?"

"Yeah. Earlier this morning. She said you'd be in. I haven't opened it. I hope I'm not helping pass contraband."

Polly opened the tote bag and saw red checked napkins and plastic wine glasses. "Nope. Just helping us put dinner together. Have you heard from your wife? Is she having a good week?"

He nodded. "She actually sounds more relaxed than she has in a long time. Her mother is doing everything and forcing her to rest and just play with the kids. I'm glad she went."

"Awesome. When are you and Henry getting back to the cars?"

"That's up to you," Nate said. "You give him the night off and I'll have someone here to work for me."

Polly scowled at him. "He can have any night he wants. I don't make his schedule."

Nate chuckled. "I know. Just messing with you. He said something about maybe tomorrow night. I'm flying out to drive back with Joss this weekend. She thought her dad was staying in Chicago longer than he really is. She shouldn't have to make the whole trip alone."

"You're a good man," Andy said. She tugged on Polly's sleeve. "We'd better hurry. What's the next clue?"

Polly used both hands to open the bag in front of Andy, who reached in and took out a third white card.

"She walks in beauty like the night. You'll find her tools a great dee-light."

Both of them said, "The beauty shop."

"Thanks, Nate," Polly said as they left the store. She put the bag in the back seat and followed Andy to the beauty shop. The owner's name was Dee Ryder. Polly didn't know her well. There were two shops in town and she'd ended up at the other one.

When they walked in the front door, Beryl spun on a stool and said, "You'd better hurry, Lydia is ahead of you and you don't want the loser's prizes tonight."

Andy crossed to the counter and said, "How are you, Dee? Do you know Polly Giller?"

The woman put her hand out. "It's nice to meet you. You're friends with these two?"

"I claim Andy all the time," Polly said. "But Beryl is a risk. I only claim her when I have to." She jumped as Beryl slid her arms around Polly's waist.

"What are you doing?" Polly asked.

"Just testing a theory."

"What theory is that?"

"You like me better than you say. You didn't even hit me."

Polly chuckled. "Do people often hit you when you sneak up on them?"

"You'd be surprised," Beryl said as she hustled them toward the front door. "Now you two better hurry and get out of here. You don't want them to beat you."

Andy headed for the front door and then turned back. "Hey," she said. "Stop that."

Beryl cackled. "Got 'cha." She took the tote bag from Dee and handed it to Polly. "Put that in the cooler. Dee kept it in the fridge for me today."

"Nice to meet you," Polly said as they left. She opened the cooler and put the tote bag in, then remembered that she needed the card from inside it.

When they were back in the truck, she handed it to Andy. "Okay, now where."

"Verdant growth, be it blue or green. The boys are cute, though no Charlie Sheen. Drive away, sweet girls, to the end of the lane and find our libation, though it be this group's bane."

"Secret Woods Winery," Polly said, laughing. "I wonder how much she had them set aside for us."

"Please not that much. I still haven't heard the end of that from Len. He can't believe I got drunk at my age."

"At your age?" Polly said. "What does that mean?"

Andy swatted at her. "I know! That's what I asked. Then I told him that he didn't marry an old lady and he couldn't treat me like one."

"Good for you." Polly drove down the highway and turned just past Sycamore Inn.

"How's your new guy working out?" Andy asked. "I've heard he's kind of a character."

"He is such a nice man. There's just something about him that makes you feel instantly safe and comfortable. I hope he stays for a long time." Polly pulled to a stop between two cars. "Well, let's go in and see what we've got."

They walked up to the front door and went inside. Sounds of a party came from one of the back rooms and a young man in a black vest and tie came forward. "May I help you?" he asked.

"I'm Polly Giller and this is Andy Specek. Do you have something for us?"

He nodded. "Just a moment."

Andy took a deep breath. "I wonder what Beryl's prizes are. She scares me. That woman likes to play games."

"How bad can it get?" Polly asked.

"You have to ask?"

Polly chuckled. "I suppose I shouldn't. Do you think we're nearly at the end of our trek?"

"I hope so," Andy said. "I'm starving. That garlic bread is killing me. Why did she make us pick it up first? To torture us?"

J. J. Roberts came out with an insulated bag and handed it to Polly. "Sounds like you girls are having quite the party tonight. Are you sure you wouldn't like company?"

"How much wine is in there?" Andy asked with a gasp.

"Just six bottles," he said.

"Six bottles! What does that woman think she's doing to us? I'm not getting drunk again."

He laughed. "I'm just kidding. There are only three in here. She told me about your last escapade. I'm just glad we were a small part of it." He handed a white card to Andy. "And I'm supposed to give you this, too. Have a good time tonight."

"Thanks, J. J.," Polly said. "Everything going well out here?"

"It's been a good summer," he replied. "Patrick is back in California for a few months. They needed him to work with Sword Lords, but he'll be back right at harvest." J. J. shrugged. "You know, the first couple of years are tough. But we're sticking with it. You guys have been great. Rachel is a great chef and Jeff Lyndsay is good to work with. We appreciate the extra business he throws our way."

It made Polly feel good to know that he trusted these guys with his guests. "I'm glad we can work together," she said.

"We need to hurry," Andy said, then looked at the two of them. "I'm sorry."

"No, you're right. We'll talk later, J. J.," Polly said.

He held the door for them as they left.

"Well, where do we go now?"

"What we call the beginning is often the end. And to make an end is to make a beginning. The end is where we start from - T.S. Eliot."
Andy replied.

"Are you kidding me?"

"What do you mean?"

"We're going back to the coffee shop," Polly said, shaking her head.

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

Once they got back downtown, Polly drove to the side of the coffee shop and parked in front of the patio. Lydia and Sylvie weren't back yet, but Beryl was at their table, spinning a bright yellow parasol over her head. She snapped her fingers as Polly got out and Rebecca, Kayla and Andrew came out of the coffee shop, dressed in black pants and white shirts. They did their best to keep straight faces as they crossed to Polly's truck.

"What are you three doing?" Polly asked.

"We're here to serve, ma'am," Andrew replied. "I will escort you two beautiful young women to your seats, while my associates retrieve your packages."

When Rebecca walked past her, Polly put her hand out to stop the girl, but Rebecca neatly avoided her touch and moved on.

Andrew stepped between Andy and Polly, bent both of his elbows and tilted his head, indicating they should take his arms. Once they obeyed, he led them to the table, pulled a chair out for Andy first and then for Polly. Rebecca presented him with the bag Polly had picked up at the pharmacy. The two of them shook out the red-checked tablecloth and with only a little help from the adults, soon had it situated. Kayla bowed formally and presented him with the napkins. He snapped out one and placed it in Andy's lap, then snapped the other and reached to place it into Polly's lap.

She tried to help and he scowled. "I have it, ma'am," he said.

Giggling from the two girls had him turning to both of them with that scowl on his face. Kayla smirked. "He's been practicing for hours," she said.

Rebecca handed the bag from Secret Woods Winery to Beryl.

"They're too young to serve wine," she said, opening the bag. She took a bottle out and placed it in a wine bucket beside her. "I felt it best not to corrupt them at such an early age, but aren't they spectacular?"

"How long have you been planning this?" Polly asked.

"I talked to Jeff this afternoon and he set it up with Rebecca."

Lydia pulled her Jeep in next to Polly's truck and parked, causing Andrew, Rebecca and Kayla to scurry away. They repeated their earlier performance for Sylvie and Lydia, who smiled through the surprise and allowed Andrew to escort them to the table. He snapped two napkins open and placed them in their laps and then stepped back and stood at attention.

Sylvie whispered at him, "What are you doing here?"

He ignored her and smiled.

"They're under strict orders not to fraternize," Beryl said. "There's a tip in it for them if they keep it professional tonight. But you girls have to be nice, okay?"

Andrew joined Rebecca and Kayla at the next table, helping them to lay out the food items. Kayla brought plates and silverware over and set it out in front of each woman, followed by Rebecca with their wine glasses.

Polly turned and snuck a glance, catching Andrew scooping soup into bowls. When Kayla and Rebecca returned, he pointed at the bread and they unwrapped it and dropped it into a couple of baskets. Kayla returned with the baskets while Rebecca and Andrew carefully delivered bowls of soup to each person.

"No one spilled anything," Polly said. Rebecca turned away from Beryl and caught Polly's eye, then rolled her eyes in relief.

"Wine?" Beryl asked, uncorking the bottle. She filled the glasses and took another bottle out to chill in the ice.

"Where's the soup from?" Andy asked.

"She sent us to Davey's," Sylvie responded. "What was that clue? Something about a slutty bartender? I'm glad Lydia remembered that evening. It seems so long ago."

Polly swallowed the bite of bread she had in her mouth. "How long have you been planning this evening?" she asked Beryl.

"A few days. It's no big thing."

"For someone who likes to think of herself as a hermit hiding in a small town, you certainly know plenty of people," Polly replied. "They did all this for you with no question?"

Beryl laughed. "There were questions, but once I explained, they thought it was great fun. I didn't know when I was going to be able to pull it off, but then I remembered that this week was when everything was open and decided to see what I could do."

The kids had their backs to them at the other table and were fussing about.

"Do you need help?" Beryl asked.

"No, I think we've got it," Rebecca replied. She started whispering to Andrew and Kayla. Andrew turned around. "Whenever you're ready."

"Where's the main course from?" Polly asked.

"That has to be what we picked up at the barn," Lydia said.

Andy's head shot up. "The barn?"

Lydia laughed. "The clue said they were the biggest beasts on four legs we'd ever seen, so we drove to the barn. Eliseo put a box in the Jeep and told us we couldn't look." She swatted at Beryl. "Just tell me it isn't some strange exotic meat."

"Alligator, coming right up," Andrew announced and with a flourish, presented a plate to Polly, upending it into her lap. "I'm so sorry," he cried. "I'm so sorry!"

Polly laughed and picked the plate up and then worked to retrieve her meal. Two pieces of fried chicken were still sitting on her legs, she'd caught the plate before too many baked beans had fallen, but lost most of the potato salad and corn bread.

Andrew was in shock and his face crumpled as he realized what he'd done. She was afraid he might cry, but instead, he rushed inside the coffee shop.

"I've got this," Beryl said, starting to stand up.

"No, he's my son," Sylvie replied. "I'll talk to him."

Rebecca and Kayla couldn't move in their shock until Beryl said, "Go ahead girls. It's okay. Nobody is upset over a little spilled food. Serve the rest. We have plenty to refill Polly's plate."

"My dad would have been really mad if we ever did anything like that," Kayla said. "I can't believe nobody's upset."

"Andrew is," Rebecca reminded her.

"Yeah, but he did it," Kayla whispered back. "None of the adults are mad."

"It's just a little food and everything will clean right up," Polly said. "In fact," she handed her plate back to Rebecca. "I should go inside and wipe off my leg. Fill me up again, would you? The chicken is fine. It didn't make it any further than my lap and that's good for longer than the ten second rule." She stood up and patted Beryl's shoulder. "We're not ruining the party. We'll all be right back, I promise."

"You'd better," Beryl said. "I haven't handed out prizes yet."

"I can't even imagine," Polly said with a laugh, opening the door into the coffee shop.

Andrew was tucked into his mother's shoulder in a corner by the back bookshelves, his shoulders shaking. It killed her to see him react so hard to something that was such a non-issue, but she walked past to the bathroom, nodding at Camille who was cleaning up behind the coffee counter.

Sylvie came into the bathroom while Polly dried her legs. Her skin caught most of the food, leaving her shorts relatively clean.

"Andrew feels horrible," Sylvie said. "But I think he was more embarrassed than anything."

Polly smiled. "I hope he's okay. Poor kid. It was no big deal."

"I think it was to him. I loved that he was having fun, but he was getting a little cocky out there."

"Well, of course he was. The only boy with all of those women and girls. He was hot stuff. And you know he's mortified that Rebecca saw him make a mistake.

"It's all about her, isn't it," Sylvie said with a sigh.

"I'm afraid she's going to torture him for a while. He's comfortable with her and she's just starting to find her freedom again. I've talked to both of them," Polly said, "But neither of them will figure it all out until they go through it." She laughed. "We know what that's like, right? I mean, really. If I would have listened to Mary and Dad when they tried to hint at the boys I should avoid, I wouldn't have had some of those awful dates."

"My mother liked Anthony," Sylvie said, with a touch of disgust in her voice. "She thought he'd take good care of me. That woman was not a good judge of male character." She put a bright look back on her face. "But I keep telling myself that he gave me Jason and Andrew and they are wonderful. Now if we can just get Andrew to perk back up and finish the evening."

"Was he crying?" Polly asked.

"Yes, the poor thing. I told him to go wash his face and order fruity drinks for him and the girls. He can hide until his face quits being splotchy, but he
is
coming back. He can't run away from every embarrassing moment."

"Good. We'll be kind." Polly thought about it. "Well, most of us will be kind. I have no idea what Beryl will do. Whatever it is, I hope he can laugh."

Sylvie chuckled. "Me too. He'll be fine. Everybody has to face things like this in their lives. I'm afraid this will be the least of his embarrassing moments." She held the door open and followed Polly back through the coffee shop to the patio, deliberately avoiding Andrew, who was sitting at the coffee bar.

Kayla and Rebecca had taken seats at the other table and were eating. Polly found her plate refilled and sitting in front of her seat. "Everything okay out here?" she asked.

"Is our boy gonna make it?" Lydia asked quietly.

Sylvie nodded "He'll be fine."

They all glanced up as he came out the door carrying drinks for Kayla and Rebecca. No one said anything to him, just watched in silence. He placed the drinks in front of the girls, then sat down with his back to the women's table.

"Nothing like spilled milk to kick an evening off to a rollicking start," Beryl said. She lifted her wine glass. "I suggest we toast to good friends, our worst embarrassing moments and life that continues no matter what."

"Here here," the ladies said, tipping their wine glasses at each other.

"Garçon," Beryl said. When no one responded, she spoke a little louder. "Ahem. Garçon."

Rebecca poked Andrew and he looked up.

"That's you, young man," Beryl said. "You're the garçon. Remember?"

He shook his head and stood up, then came over to stand beside her. "How may I help you?" he asked politely.

"You may ask the ladies if they would like anything more." Beryl pulled his sleeve, so he would bend toward her. "The world didn't fall apart," she whispered, loudly enough so that people could hear. "You're still adorable and well-mannered. None of that has changed. Do you understand me?"

His face flushed bright red and he nodded.

"Now, after your girlfriends and you have made sure that everyone here has had enough to eat, I want the three of you to take your plates and go inside. The rest of the conversation between us old ladies might be too much for small ears to hear. I'd hate to embarrass any of you any more than we already have."

Beryl turned to the rest of the ladies at the table. "We haven't talked about sex or anything, have we?"

Andy dropped her fork back to her plate and started to laugh while Lydia's mouth dropped open. "Beryl!" she said.

"I was just asking. I didn't think we had, but I couldn't remember. It's been so long since I've given it much thought that I was worried the conversation might have happened without my knowing."

Sylvie dropped her head into her hand and Polly sat back and grinned. Rebecca and Kayla took their cue from her and giggled. They picked up the salad bowls and brought them to the table, placing them in the center.

"We could serve you," Rebecca said, "but I think it might be good for us to go inside as soon as possible. Isn't that right?" She looked at Kayla who couldn't take her eyes off Beryl.

"We'll take care of it from here," Andy said. "Please go inside before the woman embarrasses us any further."

"They all know that you got drunk at the last big party, don't they?" Beryl asked, doing her best to portray innocence.

Sylvie stood up and opened the door. "Go in. Now. I can't stand this. Please hurry before we have to kill her to protect you."

Andrew shook his head and went inside, followed closely by Rebecca and Kayla.

"Beryl Watson, you are absolutely insane," Sylvie said.

Beryl shrugged. "I took the pressure off the boy, didn't I? The story he and those girls will remember from tonight is going to be about how crazy I am, not that he dumped a plate of food in Polly's lap. I'm an old lady and no one ever knows what is going to come out of my mouth. I can take the heat."