Unexpected Riches (Bellingwood Book 13) (10 page)

"The poor girl. I hope they don't make her identify the body. His wallet was there. That should be enough. Maybe she'd rather stay at my house. No, that wouldn't work right now. The kittens and I are sleeping in the guest room downstairs while they recuperate. That way they can't tear through the house like they usually do. It's bad enough as it is." She giggled. "Sorry. Go on."

"So, she's meeting with someone in Boone today and apparently there's a treasure that her brother was looking for up here."

"A treasure? In Bellingwood? That's ridiculous."

Polly smiled at her friend. "That's what she said, too. But her brother believed it was here and she thinks he was killed because of it."

"I should probably ask what her name is," Beryl said.

"Natalie Carter."

"That's a beautiful name."

"But people call her Tallie."

"I like that even better. Now, how did you find out that they're related to me?" Beryl yelped. "Stop that. Come back here, you little brat. Just a second, Polly. May escaped and she's the one I'm worried about."

Polly sat back down in the chair and laughed. This was the craziest conversation she'd had with Beryl in a long time. Until those kittens got past this crisis in her world, she was going to be quite distracted. Polly needed to remember to thank Elise for taking care of Leia for the first couple of days after the kitten had been spayed, even if she'd run away in the middle of it. With all of the chaos during those days, Polly hadn't had time to worry about whether or not the kitten was going to be okay. Leia had just sucked it up and lived through it.

"I'm back," Beryl said. "They're in their bedroom now. Can't trust them at all. No jumping, no running, no biting, no fun. Remind me to never do this again."

Polly huffed a laugh. "Bet me. You'll do it again in a heartbeat if you fall in love with another animal."

"I'm done with that. Three cats are more than enough for one old lady. Now, what else do you know?"

"Not very much," Polly said. "She's a descendant of Lester Carter and knows about Jedidiah and Bellingwood. The poor girl drove all night to get here and was completely exhausted, so I gave her a room and I'm supposed to call her at one o'clock. She wants to get some lunch before heading down to Boone to meet with Aaron."

"That poor girl isn't meeting with him today. I'll take care of that right now," Beryl declared. "Do you think she'd like to meet me for lunch? I'd bring Lydia and you should come too. What could Aaron say to that?"

"I don't think he'd be able to say very much," Polly replied. "But I'm not sure if I can go. I promised Grey I would stay here until he got back and I don't know how long that will take."

"Call him and ask," Beryl said. "You have to eat sometime. Surely he won't be gone all day."

"Not this time," Polly said. "But if you have lunch with Tallie and I can't be there, you'll just have to tell me about it later."

Beryl thought about it. "We could do that, but I don't want to. You've been part of this since the beginning. You should know what's going on. Especially if we're going to go on a treasure hunt. You find everything."

"I only find dead bodies."

"And cars and camera equipment last time. You're our finder. Hush up, in there. Quit your whining."

"What?"

"They're going to be the death of me, Polly. Why did I let you talk me into this?"

"Into the kittens? Not my fault. And oh, by the way. You found them. I didn't."

"Please let me blame you. It makes it easier on my soul when I'm mad at them."

"Nope. Not taking that responsibility."

"Hush up. I'll be in to pick you up in a minute. You will not die in there. It's a big room and everything you need is there. Shhh!"

"Everything but you and Miss Kitty," Polly said.

"That little May makes more noise than any cat I've ever known. Especially when she isn't getting what she wants. Quite the persistent little creature."

"She's good for you."

"Uh huh. Whatever. My productivity has decreased significantly since they got here. I'm blaming you for that, too."

"It has not," Polly scolded. "I know better."

"You're a worthless friend. Will you give Tallie my phone number when you talk to her next? I can't wait to meet her. This could be a lot of fun."

"She just lost her brother, Beryl."

Beryl's voice fell. "I know that. I'm sorry. I promise to be good."

"I'll tell her. Now go give your kittens some love."

"They never get enough. They're going to suck me dry, you know."

"Good-bye, Beryl. I love you. Did that fill you up a little bit?"

"Of course it did, you silly girl. Tell her to call me and I'm calling Lydia as soon as we hang up. She won't have to meet with Aaron today unless she really wants to. She's with family now."

"Got it. Be good."

CHAPTER TEN

Polly didn't need to worry about getting away from the hotel for lunch. Aaron insisted on speaking with Tallie Carter. He needed answers and she needed to come to grips with the reality of losing her brother. Try as Beryl might, she wasn't able to change things at the sheriff's office.

It was a good thing, too. Grey called, quite concerned that he was taking up too much of Polly's day, but didn't feel that he should leave the family. Denis was going to be admitted into a facility in Fort Dodge for thirty days. It was obvious by the tone of Grey's voice that he felt he had failed the young man, yet at the same time, he knew that Denis’s life was the boy’s own responsibility. Polly didn't want to ask about Leslie Sutworth. She was fragile on her best days.

They needed to find someone to help at the inn. Though he hadn't said anything yet, Grey was an integral part of Denis's rehabilitation. Traveling from Bellingwood to Fort Dodge on a regular basis would be time-consuming. Her employees were part of her family and when one member needed support, the rest would step up.

Polly picked up the phone to call Tallie Carter's room at one o'clock when a tall, good-looking older man came in the front door.

"Good afternoon," she said. "I'm Polly Giller. Do you have a reservation?"

"You should find it under Darien Blackstone," he said, smiling at her.

Polly had to look down before she giggled out loud. She was ashamed of herself. His British accent and that beautiful name were almost too much for her to handle. She steeled herself while pulling his information up on the computer. "It's right here. I see you've stayed with us before. Friends or family in town?"

He continued to smile. "You could say so. I understand you are the owner?"

"I am," she said. "How did you know?"

"I've heard things about Polly Giller." He put his hand up. "All good things, though. Mr. Greyson was to assign room fifteen to me. I prefer the larger accommodations since I will be in town for several days. Is it available?"

Polly nodded. The information was already in his file. "Certainly." She swiped a pass card for him and slipped it into an envelope. "Have we met before?" she asked.

"Not formally, but it is good to meet you today," he replied. "I look forward to seeing you again." With that, he picked up the portfolio he'd set down on the counter top and turned to leave.

She watched him walk away, trying to recall where she'd met him before. Surely she'd remember someone as attractive as him, but she had no memory of someone with a British accent. She looked at the time and grabbed up the phone to dial Tallie's room.

It only rang once before the girl answered. "Hello?"

"I'm sorry to be late calling you, Tallie. This is Polly Giller at the front desk."

"That's okay. I've been up long enough to take a wonderfully hot shower. If I come up to the front desk will you point me in the way of some lunch?"

"I'd love to. See you in a bit."

Polly hung up and dialed Beryl's number again.

"Hello again," Beryl said. "What have you got for me this time?"

"Tallie is going to be here in just a few minutes for directions to the diner. Do you want to do something this evening with all of us? I'd be glad to invite her over to Sycamore House and cook a meal for everyone."

Beryl hesitated.

"If this makes you nervous," Polly said, "we can wait until later. It was just a thought."

"That's not it. I have plans." Beryl sighed. "This really couldn't have happened at a worse time, could it?"

"I don't think that death usually picks good times to happen," Polly said.

"That was terribly selfish of me. I'm sorry. There are just so many things going on right now. How am I supposed to balance it all?"

Polly laughed. "You’ve been balancing life for quite a few years. Is it really that out of control today?"

"It's these damned cats," Beryl said. "They put unreasonable expectations on me and don't know any better. What in the world am I supposed to do about that?"

"They're cats, Beryl. They'll figure it out."

"But what if they're lonely and miss me when I'm gone?"

"They will be lonely and they will miss you. Where are you going?"

"Just out."

That made Polly laugh out loud. "They'll get over it. They have each other and they have Miss Kitty. Now quit obsessing."

"You don't know what it's like."

"Really?" Polly asked. "I don't?"

"Shut up."

"Should I ask what your plans are for tonight?"

Beryl snickered. "You can ask, but I probably won't tell you."

"That's not very nice. You know everything about me," Polly said. "Do you have a secret love life..." She stopped talking, realizing where she'd seen Darien Blackstone before. "He's here."

"What are you talking about, crazy girl?"

"Darien Blackstone. I just met him. That's the man you wouldn't introduce to me six months ago when we saw you at Davey's. I just checked him into the inn."

The phone went dead in Polly's hand and she stared at it, a wicked grin on her face. When you don't know what to say, maybe the best thing is to say nothing. Polly thought about calling Beryl back, but decided to leave it alone. Beryl would feel guilty about hanging up on her and find a way to make it up to Polly. As for Tallie, they'd come up with a time when everyone could gather.

Polly waited. If she was going to spend many days here at the hotel, she’d need a better way to manage her time. There had to be something more she could do to keep herself occupied. She left the counter and dug around under the counters in the lobby until she found cleaning cloths. Grey had probably already wiped down the counters and table tops, but Polly assumed there wasn't any such thing as too clean. She took books off the shelves and dusted, not finding much to be concerned about.

The front doorbell rang as Tallie Carter walked in, saw Polly by the fireplace and smiled. "This is a lovely place. The fire makes this room very cozy."

"I like restoring old buildings," Polly said. "The hotel was a good decision. Are you ready for directions to the diner?"

"Didn't I see it downtown?" Tallie asked. She smiled, a little embarrassed. "I drove around before I came here, just to get my bearings. It's strange to drive into a town that you've heard about as part of your long-past history and not find dirt roads and cowboys on horseback drawing their guns."

Polly laughed. "In Iowa? You're further out west than we are."

"I know, but that's all we really knew of Bellingwood. Lester left his brothers here to start a town when Iowa was still only about twenty years old. That's a long time ago. And now the town is all modern and normal. You even have a fancy coffee shop."

"You should stop in there sometime. A friend of mine runs the bakery," Polly said. "She's amazing."

"Maybe tomorrow morning I'll go up for coffee. Could I buy you a cup? You're the only person I've met so far."

"I'd love to meet you up there. How long are you planning to stay in town?"

Tallie shrugged. "I'm flexible since I'm an artist. I finished two commissions last week and everything else can wait until I get back. But I brought my travel kit just in case I find something that desperately needs to be captured."

"You're an artist." Polly shook her head. "So Beryl Watson's name wasn't familiar to you?"

Tallie creased her brow and thought. "No, I don't think so."

"Well, she's our local artist and is rather well known, especially on the East Coast." Polly looked up and chuckled. "I think Beryl always wondered where the artistic talent came from in her family. Apparently, it flitted around the generations."

"Now I can't wait to meet her. I wish I didn't have this meeting today. It would be so fun to talk to her."

"You need to get this over with first. Beryl’s a crazy, wonderful person and I think you'll love her."

Tallie looked at her watch. "I'd better hurry so I can eat before driving down to Boone. Will you be here when I come back?"

"I doubt it," Polly said, shaking her head. "However, if you'd like to have dinner with my family, we'd love to have you."

"No. Not tonight. It's been a long twenty-four hours and if I'm going to be worthwhile, I need sleep. I do my best work with at least nine hours of sleep." Tallie laughed. "Like you needed to know that. I'll talk to you tomorrow."

Polly watched her leave and turned back to her dusting. Her phone buzzed with a text and she stopped to take it out of her pocket.

"
I'm sorry for hanging up on you, but
..." It was from Beryl.

"
That's okay
," Polly texted back. "
I have new, fun information about Tallie Carter that I'll keep to myself until you're ready to actually talk to me again. Enjoy your secret plans
."

There, that should mess with the woman. Polly grinned as she held the phone in her hand, waiting for it to ring.

"
You're a mean girl, Polly Giller
," Beryl texted back. "
I'm not ready to talk to you yet because I don't want to answer your questions today. We’ll wait til tomorrow for the showdown
."

Polly read the text twice more. She didn't want things to go this way, so she dialed Beryl's number.

"I told you I'm not ready to talk."

"And I'm not going to ask you any questions," Polly said. "Your business is your business. I'm sorry if I taunted and upset you."

Beryl took a breath. "Thank you."

"But I do want you to know that Tallie Carter is an artist. I didn't ask what medium or anything like that, but when she told me that, you just had to know."

"Oh sweetie, that's wonderful. I'm looking her up online as soon as I get off the phone. I just knew there had to be more of us out there somewhere."

"You might have found your long lost sister," Polly said. "What's so interesting is that I think that branch of Carters knows more about Bellingwood’s history than you all do about them. She said that she's heard about Bellingwood. How crazy is that?"

"If you have to work at the hotel tomorrow, we're coming over for coffee and breakfast," Beryl said. "I won't be able to wait much longer to hear about what she knows and I'm not mean enough to keep you out of this loop, too."

Polly opened her mouth to say something about Darien Blackstone being in the vicinity, but thought better of it. "I’d love that. When Grey comes back, I’ll find out for certain what my schedule will be and let you know."

"Thanks for calling," Beryl said. "And I
am
sorry that I went away so abruptly."

"You owe me."

"Yes I do, my sweet girl. Yes, I do."

Polly smiled as she hung up. People played too many games and messed up too many relationships. She didn't have time for that silliness.

The fire was inviting and she sat down in a chair so she could see the front door. There were plenty of books on the shelves. Maybe one would interest her. She chuckled. Walls were made for shelves and shelves were made for books. Every place she touched had bookshelves lining the walls. It almost felt like nirvana.

Grey had done the same thing Sal did when she filled the shelves at Sweet Beans. He'd gone to thrift stores and picked up boxes of books, then brought them back and sorted through them to fill these shelves. There were signs in all of the shelves inviting people to take books with them to their rooms, on their travels, and to leave books they had finished reading. The turnover wasn't immense, but some took advantage of the library and moved books back and forth.

A well-read copy of Sherlock Holmes stuck out at Polly. She took the book back to the chair, sat down and put her feet up on the ottoman. The first thing she wanted to have fixed at Bell House was the fireplaces. Well, after the floors and electricity, plumbing, new walls and everything else. But she did want to have fireplaces again. This was fantastic. The animals would love curling up on the floor in front of a roaring fire in the middle of winter.

Polly flipped through the pages until she came to "The Sign of the Four" and her phone rang.