Diane Greenwood Muir - Bellingwood 06 - A Season of Change (9 page)

Lydia came around the corner, bouncing Seth on her hip. “It seems like it might be time for a snack. Am I right?”

Lori looked at her watch and her demeanor completely changed. With a sweet, mommy voice, she said, “It certainly is. I forgot all about that, didn’t I, Seth. It isn’t every day we have visitors. Do you want to show them which chair is yours?”

Seth bubbled liquid from his lips and giggled, then pointed to a chair with a child’s seat firmly attached. “My chair,” he said and squirmed.

Lydia looked at his mother, who said. “He can climb in all by himself, but needs a little help with the belt buckle.”
Lydia put him down on the floor and he toddled to his chair, then climbed in and pointed to the belt.

“Hep?”
He practically batted his eyes at his new friend. Lydia buckled him in, then sat down beside him.

“You know,” she said to Lori. “I’
d be glad to come over tomorrow if you have things you need to do.” She leaned over and kissed him on his head.

“I can handle it,” Lori said. She opened one of the flaps of the picnic basket. “What did you make?”

“Little boys love spaghetti, don’t they? And there’s some homemade macaroni and cheese in there. I thought he might like that too,” Lydia said.

“Those are his favorites.”

“They’re pretty much every little boy’s favorites. There is some chicken salad that would be wonderful with Polly’s bread. I sliced up a roast beef and made mashed potatoes and gravy and there are four individual pot pies in there that you can put in the freezer and pull out whenever you want something different.”

“This is too much!”

“It’s never too much. You have a wonderful little boy to take care of and I want to make sure that is all you worry about.” Lydia stood up. “We’ll get out of your hair now, but let me know when I can watch him for you.”

“We’ll be fine.”

“Don’t forget, there are people who are glad to help.

“Thank you both,” Lori said and started to walk out of the dining room, then stopped. “Seth, say goodbye to Lydia and Polly, okay?”

“K. Bye!” He waved and smiled as they left the dining room.

“He’s a wonderful little boy,” Lydia said. “You’re very lucky.”

“Thank you.”

“He’s bright, too.”

“His testing shows that he will have some successes,” Lori affirmed. “It’s never going to be easy, but we’ll be fine.”

Polly slipped her jacket on and followed Lydia to the front door. “Please call if you need anything.”

“Thank you.” She watched them leave and then shut the door as Polly got into Lydia’s Jeep.

“She was doing better than I expected,” Polly said to Lydia.

“She has a little boy to take care of. That’s her focus now.”

“You know I want to fix this for her, don’t you?”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, after we figure out who did this to Bruce and string them up by their toes, I want to help get her involved with people so she isn’t alone.”

“Of course you do,” Lydia chuckled. “And I’m sure you will find a unique way to add her to the Sycamore House family. You just can’t stand to see someone on the outside, can you?”

“Nope. I can’t. Did you know her son had Down syndrome?”

“Not until I met him. But he is a sweetie.”

“Did you know Maude and Ken Wallers have a daughter with Down syndrome?”

“Sure. That’s Naomi. She’s a sweetheart. Her older sister, Gwen, keeps an eye on her at school. Naomi does okay, but she’ll live with Ken and Maude for the rest of her life.”

“Do we need some music?” Lydia pressed a button and
Serpentine Fire
blasted through the Jeep. They were both bouncing and twisting in their seats when they got back to Sycamore House.

CHAPTER NINE

Smoothing out the bedspread in the master bedroom at Henry’s house, Polly heard his truck pull in to the driveway. She looked out the window and
watched Henry follow his Dad to the side door. She patted the comforter down and went to the top of the steps. The side door opened to a short hallway at the base of the stairway and Bill Sturtz grinned up at her.

“Have you finally moved in? It’s about time.”

Polly laughed and walked downstairs. She hugged Henry’s dad. “Not yet, Bill. Your boy hasn’t asked me. And besides, if you and Marie are coming home, that’s a lot of people in this house.”

“My blood has gotten thin living down south. It’s cold up here,” Bill complained. “But if my boy needs me, I’m ready.”

“You don’t have to work today, Dad. You have all weekend to settle in before we get busy on Monday.”

“Have they opened up the job site yet?” Polly asked.

“Aaron told me I could have it this afternoon. The boys and I will set up the trailer tomorrow so we’re ready on Monday.”

“I’m going with you,” Bill Sturtz announced. “If I’m to manage things from this end, I want to know everything you are doing.”

“Then you’ll want to put your running shoes on, Dad. There are a lot of projects in the works.”

Henry moved into the dining room and set two suitcases on the floor. Then, with his foot, pushed the door shut. “Dad, take your coat off and occupy Polly while I take your things upstairs. Polly, will you be up for dinner tonight?”

“Why don’t you two come over to Sycamore House? I’ll cook. There’s a wedding downstairs, but we can show your dad around since he didn’t get a chance to see it over Christmas.”

“Dad? How does that sound?”

“Until Marie shows up, I’m a free man. I can go anywhere and do anything.”

Polly slipped past them and went into the living room. The drapes were still at the cleaners and wouldn’t be back until Monday, but she didn’t figure the two men would worry about that. They had hired carpet cleaners to come in on Monday, so if Bill and Henry were both out of the house and busy, that would make it much easier.

Bill followed her and took his coat off, dropping it on the sofa. He sat down beside it. “It feels odd to be here without Marie. She makes my house a home. Everything looks familiar, but it just doesn’t feel right yet.” He looked up at the windows. “Did Henry decide to do without the drapes?”

“No, they’re at the cleaners. We thought it would be nice to clean them before your wife arrived so she could enjoy being back in her home.”

“I guess you don’t know my Marie very well,” Bill laughed. “That woman will feel like she’s unnecessary if you don’t leave something for her to do. She’s been looking forward to digging back into this house since Henry called us. Our little condo doesn’t get very dirty and she has been watching way too much daytime television.”

“Henry couldn’t let her come back and think he’d been a slob,” Polly said.

“That boy is no slouch. I taught him how to keep a shop clean so that he could find things. Now, his bedroom was always a problem. We used to have to wade through his dirty underwear to get to his bed in the morning. I told Mother that we should buy a squirt gun and shoot him from the doorway so we didn’t have to worry about contracting the plague.”

Henry had walked in while Bill was talking and shook his head. “It was never that bad. Lonnie was much worse. Mom used to
open the windows in the middle of winter just to air it out.”

“You two!” Polly scolded. “She’s not here to defend herself. Stop it.” Then she poked Henry in the side. “It’s nice to hear you used to have a problem with cleanliness though, after all the trouble you give me about my apartment.”

“I’ve never given you any trouble. I just help you clean it.”

“If he’s helping, it has to be bad.” Bill Sturtz lifted himself off the sofa and walked to the other side of the living room. “Does old Mrs. Naylor still call you to fix things for her?”

“I’m over there for something every week.”

“You’re a good boy.” Bill ran his hand along the top of a glass front hutch. “Do you remember helping me build this? It’s your mother’s favorite piece.”

“I remember, Dad. It’s still one of the most beautiful things we’ve made.”

“You didn’t even take her china out of it!”

“That’s where the china belongs. What did you think I was going to do, put it in boxes?”

“You haven’t changed a thing in this house, son. What were you thinking? We left it to you.”

“Well, you’re back. And you can decide whether you want to leave your things as they are or move them around.”

“Maybe that’s what Marie can do. She can sort through all of our old stuff and get rid of it.”

“Whatever she wants. This is your house again and as long as you are living in Bellingwood, that’s how it’s going to be. Okay, Dad?”

“We’ll talk about that some other time. This might be too much work for your mom. She’s getting old, you know.” The man laughed at his own joke. Marie Sturtz was in her early sixties and still walked a mile or two every morning before Bill got out of bed. She talked about her gardens in Arizona and that was one thing Henry lamented. He’d let the gardens go at the house since he had neither the time nor the inclination to deal with them.

“I’d like to see you try to tell Mom she was too old to do anything,” Henry laughed.

Polly watched the two men reconnect. Bill and Marie Sturtz had moved to Arizona because she hated Iowa winters, but also because they wanted to get out of Henry’s way. He’d been unable to convince them that he could make his own way even if they stayed in town, but they had insisted. Now that he’d asked them to come back, Polly hoped they would all be able to make it work. He didn’t often say it, but she knew he missed having his dad around to help in the shop. His mother meant the world to him and he was looking forward to having her back, too.

“I’m going to pick up the boys from school,” Polly said. “Will I see you two later?”

Bill clapped his son on the back, “Is she a good cook or am I going to nod politely tonight?”

“She’s good, Dad. You don’t see me starving to death.”

“Then we’ll see you later. Henry and I will bring ice cream.”

Polly chuckled. “He always does and it’s good to know where he got that from.” She slipped out the side door. The temperature had dropped and she wanted to get to the school before Jason and Andrew started walking to Sycamore House.

She was in a parking place when she saw the boys exit the building. The weather had been nice enough lately that they usually walked to Sycamore House and wouldn’t be expecting her, so she got out to meet them. Andrew was animatedly talking to a girl his age. Her hood was pulled up and a scarf wrapped around her neck. As bundled up as she was, she still used her hands as she talked. Jason saw Polly and waved, then said something to his brother and the girl. Polly wondered if this was the same girl Andrew had talked about earlier in the week.

“I thought you might want a ride today. That wind is really cold,” Polly said when they approached her.

The little girl looked around and didn’t say anything, but pushed her hands in her pockets and held her coat close. It wasn’t difficult to see that the coat was second-hand. It was a little too big, the pockets had small rips on their corners, and the flap over the zipper was well-worn. The girl was very neat and clean, but everything she wore was just a little off. The pants were a bit short, her tennis shoes were tight and the backpack was much older than the new styles most of the kids were carrying.

“Do you need a ride?” Polly asked.

“Mom should be here by now,” the girl said.

“Polly, this is Rebecca. Remember I told you about my friend?” Andrew jumped in and took Polly’s hand.

“Hi Rebecca. Has Andrew told you anything about me?”

Rebecca looked up and Polly took in a deep breath. Her eyes were extraordinary, not exactly blue, but a gorgeous purple. The hair poking out from under the hood was a beautiful, sandy brown. There was a little twist to the girl’s nose and her lips were bright red in the cold air.

“Everybody knows you,” Rebecca said shyly. “Andrew go
es to your house all the time. You have horses and cats and donkeys and a dog.” She looked at her feet, “He said you find dead people.”

“Of course he did. He thinks that’s cool. I keep telling him that it isn’t very cool at all. It’s kind of embarrassing.”

Jason moved his feet on the pavement. “I’m going to get in the truck. Can I have your keys, Polly?”

“It’s unlocked. Go ahead.”

He took off and Polly said, “Why don’t you two get in the truck, too. We can warm up and wait a few minutes. If your mom shows up, that’s great. If not, I can take you home.”

“I can walk,” the little girl said.
             

“No honey, it’s cold out. We’ll give her a few minutes. Maybe she’s just running late.”

Polly followed them to her truck and was grateful that they were all small children. She didn’t have a back seat, which meant she was limited to how many people she could carry, but if she had to add one more little girl to the mix today, they’d make do.

The next ten minutes passed quickly with Andrew and Rebecca jabbering back and forth. They were telling a story about aliens who lived in Jason’s closet in order to explain why he could never find anything and his room was always a mess.
Jason looked over their heads at Polly and rolled his eyes, but as long as the two younger kids were entertaining themselves, Polly didn’t complain.

Finally, she said, “Rebecca, let me take you home. You can find out what happened to your mother that way.”

“Thank you,” the little girl said. “Just go down the street here and cross the highway. I’ll show you from there.”

Polly followed her directions and found herself on a street where she and Obiwan ran when the weather cooperated. This wasn’t the best part of town. The houses were run down and yards were never clean. Just one street over, everything changed, but back on this corner, hidden out of the way, was a neighborhood that needed help.

Rebecca pointed to a dark green house. “That’s my house.”

“Is that her car in the driveway?” Andrew asked. “I wonder why she didn’t come get you.”

“I don’t know. Thanks for the ride.”

Jason opened his door to let the girl out and she jumped to the ground and walked slowly to the front door.

“Her mom always comes to get her, Polly. She never forgets. I think something’s wrong.”

Polly took a deep breath. “Okay, you two stay here. Do you understand? Stay here.”

“We will. Are you going to check on her?” Andrew said.

“I’ll see what she wants me to do.” Polly got out of the truck and ran up beside Rebecca.

“Is your mom okay, Rebecca?”

“I don’t know. She wasn’t feeling very good last night, but she got up okay this morning. She said she’d be at school
to get me.”

“Let’s go in and make sure she isn’t sick.”

The little girl stopped on the stoop, her hand reaching for the door handle. She dropped her hand and didn’t move.

“What’s wrong, Rebecca?”

“You always find dead bodies. I don’t want you to go in and find my mom.”

Polly knelt beside her. “I don’t always find bodies. If your mom was okay this morning, she is probably just sick. She might need someone, though, so let’s go inside.”

Rebecca took a deep breath and opened the front door, holding it as Polly followed her inside. The house was neat and clean, though the furniture was spare.

“Mom? Mom? Are you here?”

A sound came from the back and Rebecca ran toward it. Polly followed closely behind into her mother’s bedroom. The woman was trying to sit up on her bed and looked up in shock at Polly. Her skin was pale and her eyes barely focused.

“Who are you? Why are you in my house?”

“Mom, this is Polly. She takes care of Andrew and lives in the old schoolhouse. What’s wrong with you?”