Tomorrow's Promises (Bellingwood Book 7) (21 page)

A couple of quick internet searches and they had it programmed and were on the road, heading to eastern Iowa.

"We should make some phone calls to let our guys know what we're doing," Polly said.

"Hah. Mark doesn't care. When I texted to tell him I was going out with you, I think he was relieved to not be responsible for me."

"I'll let Nate know what's happening when I get there. He's working all day today at the pharmacy," Joss said.

Polly gave them each a thin smile. "I feel a little silly calling Henry, then."

"You shouldn't," Joss replied. "It's cute to watch you two be all couple-y. It won't last forever, so you might as well make it worth your time now. Call him. Are you going to call the girl's parents?"

"I don't think so. I'll let her do that." Polly hesitated over her phone's screen. "I feel kind of guilty, though. It was her father who asked me to do this."

"If you think the right thing to do is let her make the call, that's the right thing to do. Call your husband and don't worry about it."

"Okay." Polly swiped the phone to call Henry and waited while it rang.

"Hello, Polldoll," he said.

"Nope. That doesn't work either."

"Rats. What's up?"

"I'm with Joss and Sal and we're heading to Oelwein."

"Of course you are. What are you going over there for?" Polly waited for him to put it together. "Oh yeah," he said. "You're on another rescue mission. Did you find the girl?"

"We did. She was chained to a bed, Henry."

"What?" His voice changed from playful to furious. "Who the ... what that ... I hope they've caught him."

"The jackass was at work like nothing was out of the ordinary. Henry, I can't believe this stuff happens in Iowa."

"I tell you, Polly, people always amaze me with how depraved they can be."

"When I watched those girls come out of that house in Ohio on the news, I thought it was something that happened far away from me. This is too close."

"Honey, there are terrible things that happen in Bellingwood every day, too."

"Don't tell me that. It's my idyllic little utopia and I want to keep it that way. At least in my head."

"Even with all the dead bodies you find? You know better than anyone that people will do horrible things to each other."

"I know. You're right. But I like to put
on my rose-colored glasses as often as possible, okay?"

"You're one lucky girl, Polly. You've managed to surround yourself with really great people, but those are only a small portion of the folks who live there. You know that, right?"

"I guess I just hope that maybe I can be a good influence on the world."

"That's why I love you. Now go rescue yourself a girl and bring her home. I know you'll take care of her as long as she needs you and you know I'll be there to help you."

"Thank you. I was a little worried you would give me trouble."

"I'm learning. Sometimes you're a force to be reckoned with, but it's always for the good. Call me if you need anything."

They hung up and Polly started thinking about things Jessie would need if the girl consented to stay with her.

"I'll be with you in a minute," she said to Joss and Sal. "I need to make another couple of phone calls."

Her first call was to Jeff Lyndsay. She was surprised when Sarah Heater answered.

"Hi Sarah, this is Polly. What are you doing with Jeff's phone?"

"He got caught in a meeting with people from the city. Something about the storm damage, so he asked me to man the phones. What can I do for you?"

"Did Kelly Locke leave this morning?"

"She sure did. It was pretty early. Like about eight o'clock. She told me they were releasing her husband and she wanted to get on the road as soon as possible. Rachel has already cleaned out their room. She stopped in to see if we were going to charge her for the room or food, but Jeff said that you were taking care of it."

"Okay. That's fine. Is Rachel still around?"

"Sure. She's in the kitchen with Sylvie. They're doing inventory after this week while getting things ready for tonight. Do you need something?"

"Can you direct me to the kitchen phone, then? I need to ask Rachel for a favor."

"Sure. I'd be glad to. And Polly?"

"Yes, Sarah."

"Thank you so much for taking care of my girl yesterday. I didn't realize the week was going to be so difficult for her. I'm glad she went and I hope she goes again, but you were wonderful."

"I didn't do anything, but you know that I adore her."

"I do know that. Thank you. Now, just a second."

"Sycamore House Kitchen, this is Rachel, how may I help you?"

"Wow. That's so stinking professional. It almost sounds like a real place," Polly said.

"Hi Polly. Sylvie says we're going to get busier so we have to sound like that all the time."

"Sylvie's the boss!"

"Do you want to talk to her?"

"No, I need to ask if you have time to run up to my apartment and change a bed."

"Sure, which one?"

"Let's do the front room. I'm bringing a girl back from Oelwein who has been in a terrible situation and I want to just open the door and let her go in."

"Absolutely. No problem. Rebecca and Andrew are upstairs with the animals. I'll ask them to help."

"Good luck with that," Polly said. "But thank you."

"I'm glad to do it."

Polly hung up and set the phone in her lap. She knew Henry was right. There were plenty of people everywhere who weren't as wonderful as her friends, but wow, she'd gotten lucky.

"It isn't luck," Sal said from the back seat.

"What. Did I say that out loud?"

"Yep," Joss smiled at her. "And Sal's right. It isn't about luck. You make people want to do the right thing. You treat your employees like friends and your friends are more like the good part of your family. None of us want to ever hurt you because we'd be hurting ourselves.
You give and you give and you don't expect anything from anyone."

"And you love us like crazy, too."

"Well you two can just stop all that nonsense right now," Polly said, wiping at her eyes. "Right now."

CHAPTER
TWENTY-ONE

"Unlock the doors, please?" Polly chuckled as she reminded Joss again that the back seat was child-proofed. She patted Joss on the shoulder and said, "Thank you for driving today. I'm glad you two were along." Polly gathered up the shopping bags and stepped out of the car.

"It's just in here," she said to Jessie, and waited for her to come around Joss's car. Polly opened the door from the garage into the back hallway. "Now there's a big, loving dog up at the top of the steps. He's going to be glad to see you. Very glad."

The girl nodded. She hadn't said anything on the drive back to Bellingwood. Polly had taken a pair of loose pants and a top into the police station and when Jessie came out of the bathroom without the clothes she'd worn in. She hoped they were gone forever.

Sal and Joss had sat up front and chattered about inane things during the trip. It nearly killed Polly to not reach across the back seat and gather the petite young woman into her, but Jessie crossed her arms and dropped her head, essentially closing out the rest of the world.

"There are also a couple of kids upstairs. Andrew and Rebecca. You can ignore them if you like. I'll show you to your room and the bathroom. Are you ready?"

Jessie nodded and Polly opened the door leading up to her home. Sure enough, Obiwan was at the top of the steps, wagging his tail.

"His name is Obiwan."

That was the first
time Jessie reacted. "Like Star Wars?"

"Yeah. Like Star Wars. The cats are Luke and Leia. I have an obsession."

"That's funny."

"People think I'm a little odd. I just got an R2D2 robot as a wedding gift from a bunch of my friends."

"Really?"

"Yeah. If I'm a little odd, my friends aren't much better."

Obiwan waited for them to reach the top step and then began sniffing Jessie's leg. She reached down and stroked his head. "I've never had a dog. Mom told us they'd shed all over the house."

"Oh, he sheds like crazy, but it's worth it. I just have to change the vacuum bag
more often."

They made it past Henry's office and into the media room, Polly's old living room. Rebecca and Andrew were at her dining room table.

"Rebecca. Andrew. This is Jessie Locke. She's going to be staying with me for a couple of days."

The kids looked up from whatever it was they were drawing.

"What are you working on?" Polly asked.

"She's showing me how to draw dragons," Andrew said. "I want mine to have horns. She says they don't have horns."

"Well, don't hurt each other." Polly said. She turned to Jessie. "Do you want anything to drink or eat?"

"Not right now."

"I'll be back after a while, kids."

"Okay."

Polly led her across the big living room and opened the door to the front bedroom.

"Wow. This is huge," Jessie said.

"This is an old schoolhouse. It was a classroom. I'll put your bags in here and then let me show you to the bathroom."

Jessie followed her to the second spa bathroom and her mouth fell open again. "You live here?"

"Well, yeah. I used to live in that apartment where the kids were at. The office was my old bedroom. But when I got married, we took over the whole floor. We have guest rooms for rent in an addition on the other side of the building. There are a lot of things that happen here at Sycamore House. Andrew's mother is our chef and he's here today because there will be a wedding reception tonight." Polly tapped her foot on the floor. "Right below us. That's the auditorium where everything happens. If you want to see the whole place, I'll show you around, but I thought you might want to take a bath or a shower first."

"Why are you doing this for me?"

"Because your father asked me to find you and I'm certainly not going to find you and then let you get lost again."

A little bit of fire returned to Jessie's eyes. "I'm not moving back home."

Polly hesitantly reached out to touch her forearm. When the girl didn't pull away, she left her fingers there. "You certainly don't have to. If you want to stay in Iowa, I'll help you find a good job and a place to live."

"But why? You don't know me."

"I don't have to know
you
. Your dad and my dad went to college together a long time ago. So, someone knew someone once upon a time. And besides, it's the right thing to do. You've been through enough. I can't fix what happened to you, but I don't have to let it get any worse."

"I don't know what I'm going to say to my parents. I don't want to call them."

"They're really worried about you and so is Maggie. You're going to need to get hold of her too."

Jessie's eyes lit up. "Did you talk to her?"

"A couple of times. She helped me find you."

"I'm glad. Can I call her tonight?"

"You sure can. Will you call your parents?"

"I'll call Dad. At least I know he'll be glad that I'm okay."

Polly wasn't sure what to do with that. Kelly Locke would be devastated to know that her daughter had been harmed, but at some level, Polly was certain the woman figured that Jessie had brought the trouble down on herself. Calling Curtis was the thing to do.

"Why don't we get the call to your dad done first? That way the hardest thing is over and you can move forward."

"I don't have a phone."

"I know. You can use mine."

"Will you stay with me?"

"Of course. Let's go into your bedroom and shut the door so no one bothers you."

They did so and Polly sat down at the desk while Jessie sat on the bed. Polly brought up her father's number and handed the phone across to the young girl.

Jessie waited a moment and then said, "Daddy?"

That was all it took before tears came out of her eyes and she began to sob.

"I'm okay. I'm with Polly at her house."

Polly caught Jessie's eye, pointed to herself and then to the door. Once the ice was broken, she didn't need to be there. The girl nodded and Polly slipped out, shutting the door. She sat down on the sofa and waited, not knowing how long the call would take. Obiwan curled up beside her and she relaxed while rubbing his head. It took about fifteen minutes before Jessie re-emerged. Her eyes were red-rimmed and her face was blotchy from tears.

"Thank you."

"You're welcome. What do you think, now that the first step is behind you?"

"I'm better. They aren't going to make me go home. I told him that I still didn't want to do that and he agreed with me. Mom is pissed, but she's always pissed, so that doesn't matter."

Polly wasn't surprised that Kelly had managed to turn a happy moment into an opportunity to be annoyed, but at least the call was over.

"Did he say anything about his car?"

"He said that since he couldn't drive for a while because of the heart attack, I can keep it here and we'll discuss it later."

"That's terrific," Polly said, smiling. "The keys are downstairs."

"I have to get a job. Mom said she'd mail my phone, but they're going to cut me off in two months."

"Then we'll have to get right on it. But not today. Today you are going to rest and find some sanity after this last week. Do you want to take a shower or have the grand tour?"

"I want a shower. I want to get rid of the smell."

"There should be another couple of outfits in those bags. We weren't sure of your size. Would you believe Officer Nelson told us what it was? He does all the shopping for his kids because his wife hates to do it."

"He said that you sent him to find me."

"Well, he did his job. All I had to do was give him a little bit of information."

"I have to go back over there, don't I?"

"Yes, I'm sure you do. But don't worry. Whenever you have to go, there will be someone with you."

Jessie stood up and slowly walked toward the bedroom. "I'm really tired. Would it be okay if I went to sleep after I cleaned up?"

"I don't care what you do today," Polly said. "Sal picked out a night gown for you and Joss bought pajamas. Whatever you're comfortable wearing, just drop into bed and if I don't see you when it's time for supper, I'll knock on your door."

"I can't believe you saved me."

"Someday when you least expect it, you're going to be in a position to do something for a person who desperately needs it and you're just going to take care of them because you can't imagine doing anything else. Then you'll believe it."

The girl started for the bathroom and then stopped. "I don't have any shampoo or anything."

"Everything you need is in there. But if it isn't, let me know."

Polly leaned back on the couch and smiled. This was the stuff that filled her heart.

"Polly?" Rebecca was standing in the doorway.

"Yes, honey."

"Can we get some brownies? I'm kind of hungry."

"Well, sure." Polly hauled herself up off the couch and patted Obiwan's head as she walked past him. "Maybe some milk, too?"

"Andrew was just going to get it, but I thought we should ask."

"It's okay. I trust you two, but thanks for asking. How are the dragons coming?"

Rebecca ran to the table and picked up a piece of paper. "This is Rikka. She's the queen of the land."

Andrew piped up and showed her his blue dragon. "This is the Blue Knight. He's king of the sky and his name is Startron."

"Well, you two have done a great job. Are you writing a story about these two?"

"Rebecca thinks I should write a love story. That's stupid."

"I don't think you meant to use that word, did you?" Polly asked him.

"But it is."

"Andrew?" Polly's voice warned him.

"Okay. It's not stupid. But I don't want to write about love."

"Then just say that." Polly put a plate of brownies out on the table and set down two glasses of milk.

"Polly!" She heard Jason's voice from the front door and ran out. He rarely came upstairs since summer had arrived. If there was an opportunity for him to do something in the barn with the horses or donkeys, he chose that every time."

"Is everything okay?"

"Yeah. Eliseo sent me up to ask if you wanted to ride tomorrow morning? Rachel too."

"I'd love to," she said. "Would you like a brownie?"

"Would I!" He dashed past her into the other room and when she arrived, he had poured himself a glass of milk and sat down at the table beside his brother.

"What 'cha drawing?" he asked, tugging at the sheet of paper.

"It's nothing," Andrew said and quickly flipped it upside down.

"Hey! That looks cool. I didn't know you could draw."

Andrew shyly turned the paper back over and said, "Rebecca was showing me. You think it's cool?"

"Yeah. It's a dragon. I can even tell what it is. Good job." He slugged down the rest of the glass of milk and took another brownie off the plate, then looked up at Polly. "Can I take a couple of these to Eliseo?"

"Sure," she said, in shock. This Jason she could deal with as easily as she could the young boy who had counted on her to make sure things were safe last year. "Take as many as you like. Are you coming back up for supper?"

"Okay. What time?"

"Well, why don't we say six thirty. We have a guest with us tonight, too. It's a girl."

"Do I know her?"

"Not yet. Her dad had the heart attack last week."

"Oh," he said abruptly. "Okay. I'll see you later."

He scooted out the door and was gone before she could say anything more.

"He liked my dragon," Andrew said. "Should I frame this and put it on my wall?"

"You probably should. Finish your brownies. I need to call Henry."