Out of the Shadows (Bellingwood Book 12) (22 page)

As they walked through his apartment to the central courtyard, Polly asked, "Are you coming to Sycamore House for the festivities on Saturday?"

Grey snapped the leash on Brutus and put the dog down. The dog's nose never came up from the ground, sniffing everything in its path. "I find myself in a quandary," he said. "As much as I would enjoy the company and entertainment, my duties here require that I remain in place."

"But won’t the guests be out and about?"

"More than likely," he agreed. "But if one person needs me, I should be available. And perhaps I should ask if the inn is on the route for local children begging for treats."

Polly's mind was whirling as fast as possible. There had to be a way to get him to Sycamore House. Sylvie didn't want her to tell Grey or Eliseo that they should pursue a date with her, but if they were there, something could possibly happen.

"When are you bringing Denis Sutworth in to start working?" she asked.

"Mrs. Morrow will transport the boy here tomorrow and Friday so that we might begin his training. It will be quite pleasant to have someone in place so that I might avoid the guilt of leaving, if even for short periods of time. And having him here will also allow me to spend more time building this." He pointed at the rink-sized space that had been cleared and smoothed.

"You got quite a bit done yesterday," she said.

Grey smiled at her. "Yesterday was an opportunity to clean and clear. I'd done most of this work before young Master Heath arrived. He enjoyed driving the bob-cat and moved piles of dirt to the back of the lot. In speaking with your husband, he believes that he can make use of the dirt in preparing the space for your friend's new home."

"Joss and Nate?"

He nodded.

"You aren't getting off that easy." Polly grinned at him. "What if Denis Sutworth worked Saturday evening? There will probably be nothing going on and if he has any questions, he can call and you’d be back within minutes."

Grey followed Brutus as the dog tugged him forward, desperate to smell something else in the yard. "Is there any particular reason for your attempt to bring me to Sycamore House on Saturday evening?"

"Well..." Polly said.

"I gave my promise to Mrs. Donovan that my initial outburst would never occur again. She is a lovely woman and though my heart reacted upon meeting her, I find that our professional relationship is much too important to me. I will not sabotage it by allowing those feelings to erupt again."

Polly was tongue-tied. There were so many things she wanted to say to him, but found that she couldn't betray her friend. Even if it were for Sylvie's own good. "Let me encourage you to make every attempt to come. We have a wonderful time, you'll meet more people from Bellingwood, the costumes are great fun, and..."

He put his hand out to stop her. "Denis, Mrs. Morrow, and I will discuss his comfort level in attending the desk by himself. That boy is doing much better at spending time alone. We are, by no means, finished with his treatment, but he has come a long way and should be proud of the work he's done in the last two months. As I understand it, his orthopedic surgeon is also quite pleased with the progress he's made."

"That's all on you and Evelyn," Polly said.

"Denis has an extraordinary team of caregivers dedicated to assisting him find a return to health."

Polly scowled. "From what I hear, I don't know that it's so much a return as it is new-found health. Here's hoping he can maintain the progress."

"Every day that he is able to move forward is a good day for the world, don't you think?" he asked with a smile. "We always look for big transformations to prove that the world is getting better, but sometimes we need to see the small steps that individuals take and realize that their little world is just as important." He bent down to pick Brutus up. "And we never know which person's little world might be the one thing that changes the entire world for the better."

They walked back inside the apartment and Grey put Brutus down on the floor. "This is your home now. What do you think?" The dog burst into a run, dashing through the rooms before coming back to Grey's feet. He yipped.

"I have sliced roast beef," Grey said.

Polly took in a quick breath. "I'll run up to the grocery store and get a bag of dog food for you." She laughed. "Every time I take one of the animals to the vet, they always ask what I feed them and write it down on their chart. I'll call Marnie so that I buy the right thing for Brutus."

"That's quite a lot to ask of you," Grey said. "Brutus and I can take care of it after lunch. Things generally slow down enough that I can get out of here for an hour or two." He glanced at the front door. "But this week is different than most. I've had more drop-in business due to the haunted house."

"Let me take care of this. You are doing me a huge favor by taking Brutus in. He's already happier here with you than he was at my house," Polly said.

"It seems I shall be grateful for Master Sutworth's upcoming employment," Grey said. "It is uncomfortable for me to ask for help when I could so easily do things for myself."

"I'm the one who asked you for help. Please believe me. You two get more acquainted and I'll be back soon with food for your boy." She put her hand on the door leading to the lobby and when she didn't hear any more protests, turned back to see Grey pick the dog back up and nuzzle his neck. This was a great decision.

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

Running errands for someone else was much more fun than buying things for herself. Polly drove away from the inn a second time that morning after dropping off dog food and a couple of toys she'd picked up at the grocery store. As she turned onto the highway, her phone blew up with notifications.

"What in the world?" There was enough traffic that she bristled with curiosity all the way to Sycamore House, but as soon as she pulled into her garage, she swiped her phone open to find a slew of texted pictures from Beryl. She'd been taking numerous pictures of her two new residents for the last two days and had finally figured out how to send them via text message.

"Meet May and Hem,"
Beryl announced. She'd also figured out how to text a group of people. Polly wondered who was coaching her. "Polly made me keep them and if I'm distracted because of so much cute during the next few months, you can all blame her. The
mayhem starts every morning at dawn. Well, to be honest, that's Miss Kitty's time to be awake. The kittens still snuggle in bed with me. Yes, they are all in my bed. It's the best way I've found to keep warm on these chilly fall nights. Unless of course, one of you would like to send your..."

The texting stopped and pictures began coming through, one after another. They wrestled, they slept a lot. They snuggled, they were absolutely adorable. Polly had forgotten how much fun it was to have a pair of kittens in the house, but she wasn't in a hurry to return to that. Luke and Leia were still playful, but not quite as frenetic.

After a few minutes passed and no more pictures came through, Polly texted back.
"I'm in love. When is the next party at your house?"

Another text came through and Polly scrolled back, only to find that it was from Jeff, not Beryl.
"Where are you? There are some people here that want to speak with you?"

"I'm in the garage. I'll be right there,"
she replied.

She checked her calendar to make sure she hadn't missed an appointment. Jeff and Stephanie had finally shamed her into taking the time to learn how to use the Sycamore House calendar. It wasn't that she couldn't, but she certainly enjoyed making them work for it.

Polly walked through the kitchen and smiled at Rachel. It felt right to have the lights on and the ovens working. She pulled back the heavy, black curtains hanging in the hall, meant to block light from the kitchen. There was a full crew of people working with Lydia to build the Haunted House. All of this work for one night. There were some big haunted houses throughout the area, but Polly hated those things. She always felt out of control while walking through them. 'Always' meant the one time that she'd been dragged into one by Sal when they lived in Boston. That was the last one she ever wanted to experience. Fortunately, Lydia ensured that this haunted house, though it be frightening and spooky, was G-rated for younger kids ... which meant that wimpy adults could enjoy it as well.

They'd moved things so that it would feed out the side door, rather than turn back on itself and send people out the front door. With the number of people coming in for the masquerade ball, Lydia and Jeff had worked out a plan to make traffic patterns as smooth as possible.

Wending her way through props, tarps, and scenery flats, Polly finally got to the front door of the office. Six people of all ages were sitting in the main office and Stephanie stood when she entered. "Could I speak to you in your office?" she asked.

Polly nodded, smiled around the room and followed Stephanie who shut the door behind them.

"What's up?" Polly asked.

"Jeff's naughty. I don't think he knew what was happening here. If he'd stopped and listened to me, I would have waved you off."

Polly pointed to the door. "Who are those people?"

"Haunted house kooks. They want to talk to you about finding dead bodies and how you do it and about finding Jim Bridger and Jeremy Booten. They made some noise about interviewing you regarding the Sycamore House Haunted House and Masquerade Ball, but that's not what this is about."

"I see," Polly responded. "Where's Jeff now?"

"That's the thing," Stephanie whispered. "As soon as he texted you, he got a call and had to leave. So you can't even pass them off on him."

Polly chuckled. "That was fast. I was just in the garage. Show them into the conference room and I'll be right there."

"You're sure?"

"I can't be rude. They've already seen me. Maybe they can tell me how so many people from out of town heard about Bellingwood's ghost."

Stephanie put her hand on the door handle and Polly stopped her. "Let's kill 'em with kindness. Would you and Rachel mind bringing in coffee and tea for them? And if Rachel has anything sweet to eat, that too?"

"We'll take care of it," Stephanie said. "Good luck." She left and pulled the door shut again. Polly heard her speaking to the group and saw people moving around the main office as she dropped into her chair.

"You're in trouble now, you know,"
she texted to Jeff.
"I just wanted you to be fully aware."

"Sorry. Got a call from the Mayor's office. There's some kind of emergency meeting about Halloween."

Polly creased her brow at the phone.
"Are you serious? What's going on?"

"I'm not sure. I'll let you know when I find out."

"They can't cancel it."

"I don't know anything yet. Don't panic."

"Okay then. You handle this and you're forgiven."

He sent back a smiley face and Polly took a deep breath. This had to be the weirdest Halloween season ever. The rest of the world was worrying about Christmas invading retail stores and all she could think was that she had too many dead bodies and at least one of them wasn't ready to move on.

Steeling herself, Polly stood up, walked out of her office and into the conference room. "Hello," she said. "I'm Polly Giller. How may I help you today?"

Everyone started speaking at once. Polly remained in place and waited, hoping they'd realize how rude they were being. It was a technique she'd first seen used in junior high band. The band teacher had told the class that they were no longer children and if they couldn't conduct themselves better than common hooligans (that had been the first time Polly had heard the word used outside of her books), then they would face the consequences.

She grinned to herself, watching as they looked at each other and then at her. "That was my fault," she said. "I must have invited chaos with my question. Are you all together?"

It was interesting to see them physically separate themselves from each other, moving into smaller groups.

"We're not together," one of the older men said. "This is my wife, Mary, and our friend, Jean. We've come from Missouri."

A young woman pointed at the girl with her and said, "I'm Gina Cates and this is Angel West."

Polly nodded. "Where are you from?"

Angel spoke up. "We're here from Idaho. We want to see Muriel Springer." She had a soft, lush voice, one that Polly was sure attracted the attention of both men and women alike.

"And you?" Polly asked the last person, a middle aged man wearing a blue pea coat. His hair seemed prematurely gray and looked as if he'd cut it himself, sharp lines and angles around his face. He wore a pair of rectangular glasses and had a look she identified with academia. He had to be a professor somewhere.

He stood to shake her hand and said, "Marty Evensong. I've come into town to investigate your gift as well as the rumored paranormal activity."

"The ghost," Polly said.

"Well, yes," he replied.

A light tap on the door preceded Stephanie and Rachel coming in with carafes and trays. They placed them on the table and brought out napkins, cups and glasses from a cabinet.

"There is coffee, tea, and ice water," Stephanie said. "The baked goods come from Sweet Beans Coffee Shop and Bakery."

"That means they're amazing," Polly interjected. "I hope you enjoy them." She reached forward and pushed the two trays closer to the six and looked at them expectantly, then took up the coffee carafe and said, "Would anyone like coffee?"

The looks on their faces were priceless, but it only took moments for them to regroup.

"Tell us what comes over you when you go out to look for a body?"

"Did you sense the ghost's presence since you are Bellingwood's resident dead body finder?"

"What kind of tools do you use when you find bodies? Do you have, like, a divining rod or something?"

"Do you ever get used to seeing death?"

"Did you know that you would be doing this when you were a child? Did you find bodies then?"

"What about your husband? Does he approve of your side business?"

"Was Jim Bridger's body as decayed as the other young man?"

"I heard that your dog has ESP too. Is he the one who leads you to bodies?"

Polly finally put her hand up to stop their questions. They'd bombarded her and most of the talking had overlapped. In fact, she knew that she'd missed some of their questions because they'd hurled them so quickly.

"I'm sorry that I misled you," she said quietly. "I'm not here to answer questions about my life or my family. I don't know you people and you don't know me. Any rumors that you might have heard in town or online are simply that. Rumors. Whatever truth there is in those rumors is none of your business."

"But Miss Giller," one of the men said. Polly had already put their names out of her head. She didn't care to get to know any of them personally.

"I'm sorry if you thought you could trap me into telling you anything," Polly said. "It's just not going to happen. I'd hoped we could have a cordial conversation about the ghost of Springer House and events here at Sycamore House, but the rest of this is sensationalism at its finest. Please enjoy the coffee and goodies my team has provided and then, since this is a business, I'll ask that you leave."

"But Miss Giller," he pressed again. "Surely you can understand our interest."

"No," she replied. "I don't understand. What's it to you? What is any of this to you? Does your life change today if I tell you personal information? No. But mine does. You don't respect me enough to be polite in my own building. You barged in here, expecting to find juicy bits of gossip to spread, so why in the world would I trust you with my life? Do you want me asking about your children? Your families? Your pets? No." She put her hand on the door handle. "I'm sorry that we couldn't have a conversation."

Before they could speak, she walked out and pulled the door shut behind her. Polly sagged against the closed door and Stephanie gave her a worried look.

"Are you okay?"

"I'm fine." Polly walked over to Stephanie's desk. "I forget how much protection Bellingwood offers me. People accept me for who I am, even my eccentricities. Outsiders want to make a big deal out of those things that are odd about me; they want to try to expose me. It's disgusting."

The individual man, Marty something, came out of the conference room first. "Miss Giller, I am a trained paranormal investigator. I would like to..."

She put her hand up again. "Stop right there. I will not be a target of any investigation of yours. I've asked you to leave. Up to this point I've been polite. Please leave."

"But you don’t understand the importance of understanding what it is that you do."

Polly looked down at Stephanie. "If he hasn't turned and walked out of this office in fifteen seconds, please dial the police station. I will not be harassed in my own home."

Stephanie put her hand on the phone, Polly turned back to the man and straightened up. "I wanted to be polite, but that's over. I won’t be the subject of any investigation." She pointed to the door. "You can either leave on your own, or I will call for help."

"You're making a huge mistake," he said. "Don't think for a minute that I'm the last person who will come to Bellingwood in search of answers. Your story is getting out there and others will find you."

Stephanie started dialing the phone.

"I'm leaving." He strode to the front door. "Don’t say you weren't warned. It would have been easier if you just talked to me."