Secrets and Revelations (Bellingwood #4) (11 page)

They pulled up in front of the new farm store in Ankeny and he parked.

"Is this going to take a long time?" Polly asked.

"Maybe. It's a new store. There are a lot of things in here. Come on. You're up for this, aren't you?" He jumped out of the truck. "I'll take you someplace nice for lunch if you're good. Maybe even ice cream!"

"Fine. But I'm not going to like it."

They walked through the store and before she knew it, Polly had a cart and it was full. When she came out of the women's wear section, she snarled at him and he simply grinned.

She found two pairs of insulated bib overalls that would fit Andrew and Jason and couldn't stop giggling at the thought of those two boys enjoying them in the winter. He balked at the Farmall belt she found, but she snuck it in under the sweater for Sylvie.

"You don't get out and shop much, do you?" he asked.

"No! This is fun!"

He finally called it quits and guided her to check out. "Polly you are a danger in a store like that."

"That's why I shop online. I can talk myself out of being stupid when it's not right there in front of me. But all of these things are going to be great. And there were some excellent buys in there."

They ate barbecue for lunch and she moaned all the way through her meal. The burnt ends were as tender as anything she could remember and she soaked the bread with sauce and ate with her fingers.

When her phone buzzed in her back pocket, she looked at Henry and said, "Now what do I do?"

"What do you mean?"

"My phone's buzzing and my fingers are messy."

He chuckled. "Lick the fingers, let the phone go to voicemail. You're taking a day off. I think we should be able to eat barbecue once without a crisis happening at Sycamore House. Please?"

She nodded and picked up another bite from her basket. When they finished, she finally cleaned her fingers.

"Now what?" she asked.

"To the western store. You need boots and a hat for Jason's birthday, right?"

"Yes! Thank you."

Her phone buzzed again and she reached back and pulled it out, then shook her head. It was Jeff.

"Hey, Jeff," she answered. "Please tell me there's no crisis."

"Well. It's only a little one."

"Oh crap. I was having such a good day. And since my good days are generally being destroyed now by the queen bitch, what has happened this time?"

"One of the quilts has been damaged."

"Damaged? What do you mean?"

"Well, it's been defaced. I didn't even notice it. Jason did."

"What happened?"

"Someone took lipstick and wrote all over the panel on one of the quilts."

"They what? What was written?"

"Die, Bitch. And it was written in bright red."

"How did you not notice this? When did it happen? Can it be cleaned? Does she know? Whose quilt is it?"

"I don't know for sure when it happened. It could have been there all day. The quilt is hanging on the wall to the kitchen and I haven't been back there today. Jason didn't notice it all the times he was back and forth until just now, but he said he never looked. I don’t know how long since it happened."

"Have you called her?"

"I tried, but there was no answer. I called Marla Singer and she's coming over. We're going to talk about the quilt show anyway. The quilt belongs to someone in town. No one we know."

"Oh, for god's sake. Do I need to come back right now? I'm in Des Moines."

"No, I just thought you needed to share in my misery. Finish what you're doing and come back whenever. I'm sure it will all still be here and I'll be in that quiet place under my desk."

Laughter rumbled up from her stomach. "Oh, I recognize that quiet place," she said. "I'm going to finish shopping here then and we'll be back later. Let me know if you need me to do anything."

"I will." He sighed long and loudly. "I don't want to think about who might have done this."

"What do you mean?"

"Think about it, Polly. Bright, red lipstick. She was mad at Mrs. Rothenfuss yesterday."

"Don't even say that out loud, Jeff. That's not fair."

"How well do you know her
, Polly? You don't know if she would react like this."

"I know she isn't capable of doing something horrible like this. I just know it. Don't you dare say this out loud to anyone else, do you hear me?"

"Of course I won't. But you and I can't be naive about this. She has every reason to lash out."

"Well, so do I.
I'm sure there is red lipstick upstairs in my room somewhere and I didn't do it. Sylvie has lipstick. Maybe Jason or Andrew did it."

"I won't say anything, but we're going to have to ask."

"Not without me around. I won't let her be railroaded by you or anyone."

Henry had stood by listening to her side of the conversation and his eyes were wide.

"I promise I won't question her and you should know me better than that. I don't railroad people."

"You're right. I'm sorry. It just bothers me that she's suspected of this."

"We'll work it out. Marla will be here in a few minutes and we'll go from there."

"Let me know," Polly said and jammed the phone in her back pocket.

"Who did what to what?" Henry asked.

"Someone used red lipstick to write 'Die Bitch' on a quilt panel. Jeff thought maybe Rachel Devins had done it. There's something ugly between her family and Cindy Rothenfuss."

"Can they fix it?"

"He can't reach the bitch, so he called Marla Singer, who used to run this thing. She's coming over and they'll figure it out. I certainly hope so, or I might own a quilt I don't need."

They headed for the western store and Polly picked up a hat and boots for Jason's birthday gift and without another thought, added a second hat for Rachel.

She was quiet on the trip back to Bellingwood and Henry didn't push it. He put his hand on the console and left it there, open palm up and Polly reached over to
take it. She squeezed his hand and held on while they drove.

Eliseo was mowing the grass when they pulled in and waved at them.
He made a pass close to the garage and she beckoned him over.

"Hey," he said. "How was your day?"

"I got the hat for Jason." She pulled it out of the box and he grinned, acknowledging it.

"That's perfect."

"How was Rachel this morning?" she asked, fiddling with the tissue paper the hat had been wrapped in.

"She was great. She dug right in and helped. She didn't even complain about scooping out stalls. I think Jason likes having someone else around, too. They talked the entire time."

"Did she act like anything was wrong or out of place?"

"I don't think so." H
e furrowed his brow. "Is something up?"

Polly told him about the encounter at Sycamore House the night before and then about the damage to the quilt.

"I know what quilt you're talking about," he said. "I didn't see any damage this morning, but I could have missed it. Rachel said she had to be at work by eleven to help out with lunch today. She left straight from the barn to her car to go home. I watched her drive away. Maybe she found time," he shrugged, "but she didn’t give any indication that anything was wrong while we were together."

"Thanks. I'll tell Jeff that."

"If you put that box in the office, I'll get it later and wrap it for the boy."

"I can wrap it for you," Polly
offered.

"Thanks, then." He waved as he pulled away to finish his task.

Henry had unloaded most of the boxes from the bed of the truck, stacking them inside the garage.

"I'll get the two-wheeler and take these upstairs later."

"Thank you," she said. "But Tigger is going up to my bed right now. I've missed him."

"Then let me help you get your purchases upstairs."

Polly leaned up and kissed him. "You've been wonderful all day. I can make a few trips to get these things. You should go home and start thinking about those plans for a bedroom set. Look at all of this extra time I'm giving you."

"I'm a lucky man," he laughed. "Let me take one load upstairs. I want to knock on Roy's door and see if he has plans for dinner. Do you want to come with us?"

"Sure. It would be fun to hear him tell stories about college-Henry."

They went upstairs and found Andrew sleeping on Polly's bed with books and the animals surrounding him. Obiwan was sitting up on the bed, having heard her come up the steps.

She put her finger to her lips and quietly walked past the sleeping boy to the living room, pulling the door shut behind her.

"Well, that's cute," she said. "I'll let him sleep and sort my bags out here. You go see if Roy is free and if he's not, maybe we can make dinner here tonight."

"Thanks, Polly." Henry kissed her and held her until she went limp in his arms. “I had a great day with you."

"Wow. Me too. I hate it when you do that to me, but please don't ever stop."

He kissed her once more and walked her to the couch, where she fell limply into a lump.

"I'll be back," he whispered. "Don't forget me."

"Not likely to.

Polly rolled out of bed when her alarm clock rang and moaned. She had been out much too late last night with Henry and Roy Dunston. They had entertained her with stories of their antics in college and ended up closing down Davey's, then had come back to her apartment. Roy finally gave up at two, but Henry had stayed for another half hour or so.

Six thirty was much too early, but there were animals who needed her. Obiwan bounced off the bed in anticipation, wagging all the way to the front door of her apartment. She pulled her jeans on and one look in a mirror had her reaching for the nearest ball cap.

He bolted for the far end of the pasture while Polly opened the barn, surprised not to see anyone else already there. Eliseo wasn't far behind her and he looked as rough as she felt.

"We're a pair," she laughed. "I know where I was last night. What were you doing?"

"I was hanging drywall. I finished the ceiling last week. I picked up more supplies yesterday after work and stayed up most of the night to finish the job." He chuckled. "Maybe I should better plan my time.
Were you out partying or something? You look rough!"

"I was out, but this is my no-sleep look, not my been-drinkin' look. That one has much redder eyes and a pleasant snarling conversational tone to it. Is it just us this morning?"

"Rachel said she'd be here and Jason will show up when Sylvie gets him moving. They're not late yet."

He went to the feed room and came back out with a bucket and opened Nan's stall. "Good morning, beautiful girl," he said to her.
Polly followed suit and soon all four horses were fed.

Rachel came in, looking as peaked as the rest of them. She yawned and said, "Seven o'clock on a Sunday morning is early!"

Polly handed her a rake. "I know. There are some mornings I wish these animals could pick up a fork and feed themselves."

Rachel giggled and took the rake, then looked at Polly as if to ask where she should start.
Polly pointed at Daisy's stall. "You start with Daisy. She's pretty polite about moving out of the way while you clean up. Nan's the only one that I stay away from. I clean her stall when she's long gone. Eliseo doesn't have any problem with her, but that’s because she's sweet on him."

The horses were soon out in the pasture.
Polly heard scuffling at the main door and saw Jason come tearing in.

"I'm sorry I'm late,
" he said as he came to a stop in front of her. "Mom's coming too. She wants to talk to you."

Sure enough, Sylvie and Andrew were crossing the exercise pen.
Polly handed her rake to Jason and walked out to meet them.

"Good morning!
What brings you two down here?"

"We are going out for breakfast before church and I thought I'd say hello," Sylvie said. "Have you talked to Lydia about tonight yet?"

"No," Polly said. She rolled her eyes up to the top of her head, thinking. "I don't think so. Why?"

"I talked to Hannah last night and she's about ready to come out of her skin. She's had two sick kids and Bruce offered to take them to his mother's this afternoon if she wanted to run away."

"You should bring her! I thought about inviting Joss Mikkels."

Sylvie said to Polly conspiratorially, "We should have it here tonight."

"In the barn?" Polly gasped.

"No, you
crazy person." Sylvie laughed out loud. "In the lounge. We have that great big kitchen and we could eat at the back table and then we should do something silly."

"Like play poker!" Polly exclaimed. "That would be a hoot."

"I’ve never played," Sylvie looked a little green. "And I can't afford to lose any money."

"Oh, not for money. We could play for," Polly twisted her lips as she thought about it. "Why don't we play for M&Ms. No, Dove Chocolates. Wait. Yeah - Dove Chocolates. I'll get those today.
What shall we do for dinner?"

"Joss and Hannah are our guests. They don't have to bring anything. You should make your rolls. Lydia, Andy and Beryl could bring salads and I'll make a big pot of spaghetti."

Sylvie's mind was ticking away. "Oh! And I'll call Doug to see if he'll keep an eye on Andrew and Jason. I'll make enough to feed everyone. Eliseo can have some too if he's around."

"I love you, girlfriend," Polly said. "He'll probably be at his house working on walls, but Doug is a great idea. They can eat downstairs with us if they want. Tell him to bring the rest of the sparkling grape juice. Unless they've been slugging it down, they have some already refrigerated. It will be a party.

"Should you invite Henry and his friend?"

"I'll ask. But, everyone h
as to go away when we settle into our poker night. How's that for the invitation?"

Sylvie nodded. "So, dinner at six on the nose and everyone is gone by seven thirty unless they are specifically invited to play poker."

"You tell Doug and I'll get hold of Lydia and Henry. I can't wait for Joss to meet you all."

Sylvie spun around and headed for the door and noticed that Andrew wasn't following. He'd wandered off and was nowhere to be found.

"Andrew?" she called and looked around.

"I have no idea," Polly
said. She walked toward the other end of the barn, peering into open stalls. When she found him, he was sitting on a bale of hay reading a catalog.

"Your mom is ready to go. What are you doing back here?"

"You guys were boring." He set the catalog back on a shelf and followed her. "We're going to breakfast at Joe's. Are you coming along?"

"Not this morning," Polly said and ruffled his hair. He seemed to be just the perfect height for that and he never complained. "I have a party to plan and I think your mom is looking forward to spending time with you."

"She's cool," he replied. "When she isn't yelling at us."

Sylvie met them and winked at Polly. "We better hurry if we are going to get breakfast and get to church." She looked at Polly. "Tell Jason we're picking him up in two hours. His age doesn't have Sunday School in the summer, but he's going to church with us."

"I'll tell him. Thanks for bringing him over."

"I know he'd rather be here than anywhere else, but not all day today."

Polly watched the two of them leave and realized that every other living body was outside. It was a beautiful morning and she went out to find them.

Later that afternoon, she pulled the second batch of bread out of the machine and shaped it into rolls. Leaving them to rise, she ran downstairs with her bags of Dove Chocolate. If everyone could keep from eating them all night, they'd have plenty.
She'd bought four different kinds to represent different monetary denominations. They'd set up a round table in the lounge and even though she didn't have a green velvet top for it, she'd found a green table cloth that would fit. This was going to be hilarious.

Sylvie was in the kitchen and everything smelled wonderful. Her homemade spaghetti sauce roiling away on the stovetop had Polly's stomach growling in anticipation.

Henry and Roy had begged off. Apparently they had an evening planned in Des Moines with some old friends. Eliseo was worried he had to show up and when she let him off the hook, he was relieved. He wanted to get more work done on his house before the week of Bellingwood Days began. Billy and Rachel were going to a movie, but Doug said he'd be there. He had a night of games planned for the boys and seemed a little relieved to have someone around.

She finished arranging the table and ran into the kitchen to get bowls for the chocolate money. Sylvie was talking to someone on her cell-phone.

When she hung up, she turned to Polly, "Hannah is coming over early. She's had it with everyone. I think Bruce even pushed her too far this afternoon."

Polly chuckled. Hannah w
as married to Bruce McKenzie, one of her friends from high school. They had been pulled over for speeding last December in Polly's driveway. He was driving a car that was laden with drugs and there were some tense moments until Lydia's husband, Sheriff Merritt, finally tracked down the truth. Bruce had nothing to do with it and was soon reunited with his family, but the most difficult thing had been trying to reconcile him with his parents. His father had driven Bruce away years before and now when his young family needed the old man the most, Bruce was terrified of approaching his dad for help.

Hannah worked with Sylvie at Sycamore House, helping her prepare for the many events that Jeff Lyndsay scheduled. She was a sweet girl and Polly looked forward to getting to know her better.

"Oh!" Polly said. "I have rolls rising. I'll be back in a bit. The card table is ready. All we have to do is eat."

She ran up the back steps, through the apartment and into the kitchen. She put the rolls in the oven, set the timer on her phone, and called for Obiwan to follow her. She ran down the back stairs with him, clipped on his leash and headed outside. He didn't quite seem to understand her hurry and it felt as if he was deliberately stalling, stopping to smell every inch along the way.

"You're a brat when you want to be, aren't you, big boy. I'll walk with you later until you're worn out enough to sleep tonight."

Polly got back into her apartment just as her phone rang its buzzer. She pulled the rolls out of the oven. They were perfect. She let them cool and then filled a second bread basket and went back down to the kitchen.

"There you are!" Lydia took one of the baskets out of Polly's hands and set it on the table. "We thought maybe you'd fallen asleep up there."

Polly frowned. "I'm much too excited about a night with you all to be sleeping."

Her face broke into laughter as she saw Beryl sneaking around behind Sylvie, who was oblivious to the woman's attention. Sylvie backed up and nearly dropped the two of them to the floor.

"What are you doing, you crazy woman?" she
asked after Beryl caught her and they stayed upright.

"Just trying to see what it's like to be you."

Polly could see Sylvie making a decision in her head and all of a sudden, the wooden spoon covered in spaghetti sauce that she had in her hand was swiping its way down Beryl's face.

"I've been slimed!" the woman cried. Then she wiped some of it off with her index finger and tasted it. "I've been slimed with the best spaghetti sauce this side of the Mississippi. Wow, girl, this is good stuff."

Hannah came in and Polly saw Joss Mikkels peek around the corner of the kitchen. "Am I in the right place?" she asked.

"You sure are!
Do you know any of these people?" Polly crossed the room and took her by the arm, leading her into the craziness.

Joss smiled at Lydia and Beryl. "I think so."

"We’ll find a way at dinner to make sure you know everyone. At least I'm in charge tonight and you won't have to answer embarrassing questions." Polly looked pointedly at Lydia.

"You had fun getting to know those women and they had even more fun getting to know you. No complaining," the woman admonished.

Doug came in the back door, followed by Jason and Andrew. "Is it food yet?" he asked. "I knew you had some great feasts over here, but I didn't know I'd get to join in."

"Any time you play games with my boys, I will feed you," Sylvie laughed. "Everyone find a seat. I think we're ready."

The trestle table at the back of the kitchen was soon filled with laughter. Finally Lydia tapped a fork against her glass until the noise died down.

"I know Polly promised her friend that we wouldn't ask embarrassing questions, but I've found that once a couple of those have been answered, everyone realizes they are as normal as the next person. Since we have kids with us tonight, I won't ask anything terribly embarrassing. That will come later, but I think you should tell the person on your right what you want most for your next birthday."

Jason immediately turned to Doug. He knew exactly what it was that he wanted. Polly had to stop and think. What could she possibly want that she didn't already have? She watched the interactions happening around the table. Jason's eyes got big as he listened to his mother's gift idea and Beryl's eyes were dancing as she shared with Hannah.