Out of the Shadows (Bellingwood Book 12) (2 page)

As soon as the cats realized she was alert, they leapt to the floor and stretched. Han rolled over on his back looking for belly rubs while Obiwan yawned and put his paw on her arm.

"I have to get moving," she said. "I can't waste the day away."

She didn't have to be anywhere today. They hadn't been certain when Joey's trial would be over and so she'd made no plans. By now, everyone in town that cared would know he'd be imprisoned for life. She and Henry had come back quietly, arriving in time for a late dinner with Heath and Rebecca. Polly didn't feel like celebrating, though she knew her friends might see it differently. It didn't seem right to celebrate the fact that someone she knew would be locked away for the rest of his life, no matter how horrible his actions were.

Picking her phone up, Polly made her way to the bathroom. She looked at the shower and shook her head. She wanted to sit around in her pajamas, drink coffee, read a book and hug her animals. She'd start in the living room and if she came back to the bed, no one was stopping her. Henry was at work and the kids were in school. Her plan was perfect.

She swiped the phone open and groaned at the number of texts waiting for her attention. Unless someone desperately needed her, she wasn't responding. That's all there was to it.

Most everything was from friends who wanted to let her know they were thinking about her. That was nice. She'd deal with them later. Jeff Lyndsay had texted to tell her that he was up at the coffee shop if she was looking for him. The nut. Stephanie would tell her the same information. He was only reaching out.

She smiled at the text from Jason. He'd been in court one day last week, giving his account of the night they caught Joey after the fire. He'd been proud to be part of this with her. And she'd been proud of him. He was composed and articulate on the stand, probably due in no small part to the time Al Dempsey had spent with him.

Sylvie had brought Rebecca and Andrew to the courthouse that day so they could see what the experience was like. Hopefully that would be the only time they were exposed to it.

Jason wanted her to know that he was glad it was finally over and she was safe.

Everything else could wait. Polly dropped her phone on the sofa as she went through the living room to the kitchen. Coffee was waiting for her and she poured a cup, then took a deep breath, inhaling its scent.

Leaves on the sycamore trees were turning and falling to the ground. The plants in the garden on the corner were dying and Eliseo had emptied the water from the fountain. It felt as if the world was tucking itself in for its winter's sleep. Polly yawned and walked back to the living room. Her book was still on the coffee table, so she sat down, drew a blanket over her body, and snuggled in. The animals curled up around her as she leaned back. She yawned again, pushed the coffee toward the center of the table and sighed.

Quick thoughts of Joey and the life he faced wouldn't leave her. Every time she relaxed, something else popped into her mind and she'd come alert. There was nothing she could do for him any longer. He'd made his choices and she couldn't fix it.

She reached up to touch her cheek and realized she was crying. "Why do I feel so guilty?" she asked out loud. "I didn't do anything wrong."

Obiwan nudged her leg and she stroked his head. After trying to relax one last time, Polly gave up. She tossed the blanket off, stood up and headed for the shower. If thoughts of Joey were going to haunt her all day, it would be better to be out with friends than trying to sleep here all by herself.

There was coffee at Sweet Beans. Lots and lots of coffee and lots and lots of people.

CHAPTER TWO

Han had two ideas about bath time and either or both would show up in any given evening. He either loved bath time and soaked Polly clear through while he played, or he hated it and soaked Polly clear through in his struggle to get away. She was never sure which Han would show up and when both of them did, she came out completely drenched.

Tonight, he'd settled on playful and after she rinsed him down one last time, she leaned back against the wall and brushed her hair away from her face. Henry had offered to help - once. He'd gotten so frustrated with water going everywhere that he stalked out and slammed the door. That wasn’t long after Han had come to live with them. He'd apologized to Polly later, but never again offered to help with bath time. She could talk him into drying his dog down with a towel and tonight that was going to be his job.

"Henry, I'm ready for you," she called out.

He opened the door from his office and clicked his tongue against his teeth before Han could launch himself into Henry's arms. "Sit. Stay," Henry commanded and took the top towel from the stack of dog towels in the closet. They had a stack of dog towels. Polly could hardly believe it herself. But then, there were towels at the barn for the horses and donkeys and there were towels for the Sycamore House kitchen and more towels for the kitchen at Sweet Beans. Everyone had their own towels. It made her laugh. Did everyone have towels specifically for their dogs?

Henry wrapped a towel around Han and lifted the dog into his arms, snagging a second towel on the way. "Do you want help cleaning up?" he asked, giving her a sidelong glance as he left the room.

"No. Thanks," she said. "Don't worry. I've got it."

"I'll be back in a few minutes if you change your mind."

The door leading to the media room opened and Rebecca stood in the doorway looking at the mess. "Polly?"

"Yes, Rebecca." Polly pulled herself up and took two more towels down, then dropped the toilet cover and sat down so she could rub Obiwan dry. When Rebecca didn't respond, she peered at the girl. "What's up?"

"Do you believe in ghosts?"

"There's no such thing." Polly held the towel between herself and the dog as he gave himself a shake, then chuckled at herself. She was already wet. Who cared? She rubbed the towel down his back and bent over to smell his head. "You're so much better now. You
were
a stinky dog." She let him shake once more before using a fresh towel to fluff him up. When she looked back up, Rebecca was gone. She didn't know what that was about. Hopefully Sarah wasn't haunting her daughter. She laughed to herself again. Ghosts weren't real. It was just junior high silliness.

As she wiped out the tub, Polly thought back to her junior high days. Someone had told her that ouija boards would scream if you burned them because they had a spirit inside, guiding the arrow. She'd only played with a board once after that and it had given her nightmares for a week. When Mary found out what was scaring her, she promised not to tell Everett, but made Polly promise to stay away from that stuff. Polly had. She didn't need those nightmares. She didn't need the nightmare she'd had last night either.

That might have been behind the grand dog-washing extravaganza. She wanted to be able to pull Obiwan close tonight if necessary. And though she’d never admit it to Henry, the dog had gotten pretty smelly.

After putting the towels in the washing machine, Polly stuck her head into the media room. "You two have your homework done, right?"

Heath had draped himself over one end of the sofa to  watch football, his feet propped up on the coffee table. They'd had more than a few discussions about leaving his shoes in his room and not putting them up on furniture. Polly's directions about being polite had gone right over his head. When Henry made a remark about where his shoes had been and the number of animals that did unspeakable things on the ground and bug guts and everything else, it finally clicked. Heath’s shoes were no longer an issue.

"Toss me the towels, Henry," Polly said and put her hands out to catch them.

Henry whispered to Heath. "Watch this." He formed the first towel into a ball and lobbed it straight at Polly. She went high for it and the towel smacked her in the face and then fell to the ground. Heath smiled hesitantly.

"One more," Henry said. He tossed the next towel to her and though she reached out for it, that one also fell to the ground.

"Not fair," Polly said. "You didn't aim well."

"He..." Heath spoke up to defend Henry, but Henry stopped him.

"It's okay. It's one of her things. She can't catch."

Polly scooped up the towels. "You can't throw." She put them in the machine and turned it on. "I get no respect," she muttered. "No respect at all." She finished cleaning up the bathroom and went back into the media room. "Nobody said anything. Is homework done?"

Heath nodded and Rebecca looked up from her sketchpad. "I did everything after school with Andrew and Kayla."

"Everything?" Polly pressed. "And you practiced your flute, too?"

Rebecca rolled her eyes. "Yes."

"You have a concert coming up," Polly said. "I want you to be ready."

"I'm ready now."

Henry coughed and looked at the two of them.

"What?" Polly asked.

He tilted his head at the television screen and pursed his lips.

"I didn't tell you to be quiet last night when we were watching the movie," she protested.

"We've seen
Back to the Future
nearly as many times as
Star Wars
," he with a sigh. "You have the dialog memorized. It's not the same."

"Fine. I'm leaving." Polly crossed in front of the television and waved her hands up and down, then put her hand in front of Henry's face before walking away. He didn't react or respond, but released the dog from his lap. Obiwan and Han chased each other around Polly's legs and she grinned. She'd asked for it.

She pulled a blanket from the back of the sofa in the living room and threw it over the cushions before sitting down. Okay, that was ridiculous. She protected the couch from wet, clean dogs, but let them up on it the rest of the time with no concerns. She sat down and reached over to pick up a book. Neither she nor Henry had done anything about planning for the weekend, so maybe they were staying home. She hadn't even talked to Rebecca about staying somewhere else. A sense of malaise had followed the nightmare and Polly still hadn't shaken it.

"Heath, have you packed for the weekend?" she yelled back to the media room. "Is Hayden picking you up in Boone after school or coming here? Or do you want me to take you over to Ames?"

She waited for a response and when she turned to repeat her question was startled to find Henry standing over her.

"What?" she asked, with a grin.

"You're yelling across the house and the television is blaring."

"Yeah? So?" She laughed until she snorted.

"You didn't grow up with a sibling. That is blatantly obvious."

"What do you mean?" she asked coyly.

"Mom would have had our head if we yelled across the house."

"So it's a bad thing?" Polly put the book back down and stood up. She wrapped her arms around Henry's waist. "Are you yelling at me?"

"No, but maybe you should get face to face with the boy if you have questions."

Polly glared at the media room. "You guys don't like it when I bother you during a football game, remember?"

"Okay," he said. "You're right. We don't. But, listen..." They both stopped and listened. "It's a commercial." He stepped back into the room and said, "Heath, could you come here, please?"

As the boy stepped into the living room, Henry said, "Did you hear what Polly asked?"

"I'm just taking a couple of shirts," Heath said. "I don't need much. Hayden has everything."

"Do you need a ride?" Polly asked. "We probably should have talked about this earlier."

"There's some guys going to Ames after school tomorrow. I can hitch a ride with them."

"I know you don't like riding the bus, Heath, but I’d rather you come home and I’ll take you," Polly said. "Let me make up cookies and brownies for the weekend."

"You don't have to do that."

She scowled at him. "Boys in college never get homemade goodies. Let me do it?"

Heath shrugged. "If you want to. And I don't mind the bus. At least for now. I'm saving for a car."

"For now, I'll take you to Ames, if you'd like," Polly said.

The announcers came back and both Henry and Heath looked toward the media room.

"Go," she said and they were gone.

Polly started to sit back down on the sofa in the tiny space that the dogs had left her when the clock in the dining room chimed. They'd finally gotten her father's wall clock back from being repaired. While it had taken time getting used to hearing the chimes throughout the night, it was a source of comfort to her.

She opened her mouth to call Rebecca's name, then remembered Henry's admonition. Why had he come up with this? The apartment wasn't so big that they couldn't hear each other, but it was probably about respect. If his parents hadn't allowed him and Lonnie to yell at each other, that was more than likely it.

Rebecca knew that nine o'clock was her bewitching hour and Polly waited a few minutes to see if the girl would come out on her own. Rebecca hated going to bed. She was a night owl and would do whatever she could get away with in order to stay up longer. Polly wasn't ready to give up on her bed time yet. Sleep was too important for these kids.

A couple more minutes passed and Rebecca still hadn't come out, so Polly pulled herself back up off the couch and went into the media room. Rebecca was studiously ignoring her, sketching on her pad as fast as she could, head down. Polly walked across to the back of the sofa, bent over and whispered in Rebecca's ear. "It's time. You have to start your evening routine. One more night and then the weekend will be here, okay?"

"Just let me work out this ear," Rebecca said. "I almost have it."

It was always something. An ear, a tree, blending the right color for a dragon or a tiny little dot that was a fly being swished by a horse's tail. Every night there was something that Rebecca had to finish before she would put her artwork down.

"You have until the quarter hour chime and your time is up. Fair?" Polly asked.

"Not really, but okay. I wish I was a professional artist so I could be creative any time I want," Rebecca grumped.

"Someday," Polly said. This was an old argument. "But quarter after. No later. I don't want to come back for you." She winked at Henry. "And I'm not yelling for you either."

~~~

Polly was nearly asleep when Henry and Han climbed into bed.

"Did they win?" she asked.

"Do you care?"

She yawned. "I want you to be happy."

He rubbed her shoulder. "You're so good to me."

Polly turned to face him. "Darned right I am. I'm the best wife you've got."

"Yes you are. I couldn't ask for anyone better." He leaned forward and kissed her nose. "I need to talk to you about something."

"Now? I was nearly asleep."

"I'm sorry. But we're rarely alone."

Polly sat up and crossed her legs in front of her. "Is something wrong? You sound serious."

"No," he said, patting her knee. "It's just something that you need to make a decision about."

"Well then, what?"

"Your truck."

Polly poked her lower lip out. "Is there a problem with my baby? Don't take it away from me."

"Not that truck, you nut," he said with a laugh. "The other truck."

"I don't have another truck in my life." She stretched her arm out and put her hand in front of his face. "I'm not acknowledging its existence. It's dead to me."

Henry sighed. "Then I'm not sure how to deal with this."

"You promised I would never have to drive it again. I don't want it in my life."

"We own the truck, Polly," he said. "We need to make decisions about it."