Unexpected Riches (Bellingwood Book 13) (13 page)

"This is pretty awesome service," he said, stopping at the top of the steps.

"And don't you forget it, big boy. You owe me for last night."

It was his turn to look at her in confusion. Polly reached up and kissed him, wrapping her arms around his neck. She deepened the kiss and then broke away.

"Ohhhh," was all he could say.

"Like I told you, you owe me."

He grinned. "I'll pay. I'll pay. Is Tallie spending another night?"

"We'll see. I'd like her to stay with Beryl, but if that strange man is spending nights there, it's probably not an option. But I have all day to work on it."

"And that means you will have a great plan before the night arrives." Henry took the coffee and sandwiches from her and bent over to get another kiss. "Thank you."

She winked. "Thank
you
! I'll see you later." Polly watched him go down the steps and then turned back to the dining room.

"Heath says he can be late today if you want him to take me to school," Rebecca said.

Polly looked at the two of them and waited for the explanation.

"Jason is riding down with his buddy, Scar," Heath said. "They have something due this morning. If Rebecca leaves five minutes early, I have plenty of time. It's just that parking sucks, but I don't mind."

"Take your scarf if you have to walk across the parking lot," Polly said.

He gave her an agreeable nod and she chuckled. "Scarf will stay in the truck?"

"You're funny," Rebecca said. "I can't get away with that. She watches me all the way."

Polly sat back down. "You two finish up and get moving. Tallie, do you need more sleep before the day starts? I'm sure Beryl will want to meet you and once you start down that path, it will take a while."

"I'm pretty awake right now," Tallie said. "I keep thinking about that coffee shop. A caramel mocha coffee sounds wonderful." She glanced at the cup of coffee in front of her. "Not that this wasn't great." Tallie sat back in her chair. "I just keep walking into it. I'm sorry. I'm not usually this awkward."

"You're fine. Let me call Beryl and see what time she can meet us." Polly smiled as she thought about it. "You might as well take a nap, though. Beryl is not a morning person."

Rebecca looked at Tallie, put her hand over her own mouth and faked a yawn. She waited until Tallie couldn't help herself and yawned. "There," Rebecca said. "I got you started. Yawn a couple more times and then you'll start feeling sleepy."

Tallie chuckled. "You're kind of funny."

"She's a real riot," Heath said, standing up. "You about ready to go, short stuff?"

"Don't you be calling me names, lunkhead," Rebecca retorted. She stood to follow him, then turned back to Polly and Tallie. "You gotta keep these boys in line. It was nice to meet you, Tallie. I hope I'll see you later."

"I'm sure you will," Tallie replied. "I'll be around town for a few more days. Your artwork is really good. You should be proud of what you're doing. I hope you keep up with it."

"Me too," Rebecca said. "Thanks." She went into the living room and they listened as she crossed to her bedroom.

"She is really good," Tallie repeated.

Polly nodded. "She's been working with Beryl. She's gotten better, but I think most of all, it's given her confidence to try anything. I'm pretty proud of her."

Rebecca and Heath went through and waved as they left by the back door.

"You haven't eaten much," Polly said. "Can I make something different for you?"

"No," Tallie said. "I just don't feel like it. The thought of food makes me queasy."

Polly grinned. "Just a second. I might have the perfect thing." She went to the freezer, took out a small container and returned to the table. "Frozen chocolate chip cookies. They're the perfect antidote for stress and shock. Sugar and chocolate. What more could a girl want? Dunk 'em in your coffee."

"I've never done that before."

"That's just a sad state of affairs. Now is a great time to start." Polly pushed the container in front of Tallie. "You try one while I clean up. Are you sure you don't want anything more to eat?"

"This will be enough," Tallie said. "Can I help?"

"Nope. You're my guest." Polly leaned back and stretched to reach a box of small plastic bags. "I'm going to assemble the rest of these sandwiches to put into the freezer anyway. After that, all I have to do is fill the dishwasher and I'm done. Maybe by then you'll be ready to sleep. I'll spend some time in the office and let you know when we're meeting Beryl. Sound good?"

Tallie took a deep breath and blew air out of her mouth, puffing her cheeks. "I suppose so. I slept okay last night, but it wasn't very long. This has been a really weird week. I feel like things are never going to get back to normal."

"I know that feeling," Polly said. "But trust me, they always do. Either that or we adjust to the new normal. You're going to be fine."

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

Yawning at the sight of Tallie asleep on the sofa, wrapped around the two dogs, Polly shook herself. She needed to go down to the office.

"We haven't seen you for a while," Jeff Lyndsay said when she walked into the office.

Polly stuck her lower lip out. "Sorry. I'm a bad owner."

"Yes you are." He followed her into her office, shut the door and sat down. "Tell me what happened at the inn last night. Do we have a problem?"

"I don't think so," she said. "It probably has something to do with Ethan Carter, the young man I found on Saturday. His sister was staying in one of the rooms that was shot up."

He frowned at her. "Where is she now?"

"In our apartment."

"Is that safe?"

Polly chuckled. "As safe as anywhere else. The only way anyone could have known she was at the inn was by her car. I don't know where it is right now, but as long as it isn't parked here, they won’t know she's with us." She nodded. "I thought about asking Beryl to take her in."

"That would put both of them in danger."

"Exactly. I don't know what to do. Henry's fine with her staying at our place, but we just don't have a lot of room up there."

Jeff chuckled. "You have the entire upper level of a school and it's not enough room. How funny is that."

"Not funny," Polly replied. "It's weird. Have you talked to Grey this morning?"

"Luckily the windows that were shot out are on the back side of the building. No one will see the damage unless they deliberately drive that way. He won’t rent rooms back there until the windows are replaced and things look normal again. Before the police left at whatever ungodly hour they finished, they helped cover the windows to keep wildlife out. I've already talked to Henry. He's ordering the windows and doors. As soon as Chief Wallers gives me permission, those two rooms will be put back to normal."

"Wow," Polly said. "Thanks."

"It never surprises me," Jeff said.

"What?"

"The things you come up with to make my job interesting."

"I didn't do this! You can't blame me."

He laughed. "You're the one who found that poor boy's body. If you hadn't done that, his sister wouldn't have come to town and our hotel wouldn't have been the subject of a drive-by shooting."

"You’re trying to make me feel guilty." Polly put her head in her hands.

"Can we talk about installing video surveillance out there?"

She looked up at him and frowned. "I guess."

Jeff sat forward. "No argument."

"I can't argue about this. We have to keep our guests safe. Dang, I'm tired."

"You had a short night. Do you want coffee or would you like me to close your blinds and turn the lights off when I leave?”

Polly yawned. "I'll be fine. I'm going up to Sweet Beans with Tallie later this morning. Don't worry about me."

"If you need anything, you know my number," Jeff said. When he got to her door, he flipped the light off and pulled the door closed quietly behind him.

She dropped her hands and head to the desk and shut her eyes. "Just for a few minutes. Then I'll call Beryl."

~~~

It felt like only a few minutes had passed when Polly jolted awake. The dream was already fading, but she'd been back in early Bellingwood. This time she'd been a clerk at the local hotel when gangsters came through on their horses, shooting up the town. They'd ridden past and shot out windows, knocking plants off tables and even shattering one of the kerosene lamps sitting on the counter. She'd been in the process of patting out the small fire when something woke her up.

She tried to place the annoying sound, finally realizing it was her cell phone, but Polly couldn't find the silly thing. It had to be around here somewhere. Buzzing in the back pocket of her jeans drove through the foggy mist in her brain and she pulled the phone out.

Polly swiped the phone open. She'd been asleep for forty-five minutes. That was longer than she'd intended, but at least it was another forty-five minutes she could add to the sleep tally for the night.

Sure enough, the call was from Beryl. Polly re-dialed and waited as it rang.

"Is your ass dragging as much as mine is?" Beryl asked. "That was a hell of a night. Are you okay?"

"Good morning to you," Polly said.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. What's up with my family and friends getting shot at?"

"They're your family and friends. You tell me."

"I certainly don't know what to think. I understand that you took young Miss Tallie back to your house last night. How is she?"

"Oh Beryl, I think she's fine. I left her upstairs with my animals to get some more sleep and I'm in my office. The poor girl has been through so much this week. But I promised to contact you and see if we could meet at Sweet Beans. Do you have time this morning?"

"Of course I do."

"What about your friend? Is he staying at your house? You can bring him along, if you'd like."

Beryl released a deep sigh. "Not today."

"You're going to have to tell us who he is. Curiosity is going to reach new heights for me."

"I know," Beryl said. "This isn't easy for me. But I promise to tell you everything when I’m ready."

"Okay. I shouldn't push. Do you want to invite Lydia and Andy to meet us for coffee, too?"

"I'll call them," Beryl said. "But Polly, I can't wait to see you. There's so much to tell!"

"About what?"

"About what I found! You won't believe it."

Polly smiled. "Then I can't wait ... and you're mean for teasing me that way."

"I practice, you know," Beryl said. "See you later. Tra la!"

Polly went back upstairs to wake Tallie. The girl was already awake, fully dressed and curled up under a blanket on the sofa with both cats in her lap.

"How long have you been up?" Polly asked.

"Not long. Did you reach Mrs. Watson?"

"Yes, and we're meeting her and a couple of other friends at the coffee shop. Do you have anything else you need to do this morning?"

Tallie shook her head. "I have to make an appointment with the funeral home to take care of Ethan, but the sheriff said they weren't releasing his body yet. Otherwise, nothing." She stopped. "Oh, I probably need to find out what's happening with my car. I have to get the windows replaced."

"And you'll want to get it detailed so that the glass is cleaned out of there. I'm sure that someone from the police will talk to you later today. All of the answers will come."

"I didn't do anything wrong," Tallie said, her voice tinged with a whine. "And now I have to spend money to get my life back together. It's not fair."

"I tell Rebecca that life isn't fair. But that doesn't help you at all, does it."

Tallie shook her head. "It’s all Ethan's fault. I told him it was stupid."

"As much as I want to know what's going on," Polly interrupted her, "I think it would be best to save the story for Beryl. She'd kill me if I got this information first."

"Sorry."

"I understand that you're frustrated and want to talk about it." Polly looked at her. "Do you have other family back home?"

"Yes," Tallie said, nodding. "Mom and Dad live in Albuquerque."

"And they sent you up here to deal with your brother’s death?" Polly put her hand out. "I'm sorry. It's none of my business. That was insensitive of me."

"It's okay. They can’t leave home. Mom and Dad own a restaurant and then there's my sister, Beth. She lives with them." Tallie took a deep breath. "They can't leave her and she doesn't travel very well."

"I'm sorry," Polly said. "I didn't mean to pry."

"It's really no problem. I would have told you about them anyway, but it just hadn't come up yet. I'm not ashamed or anything. It's just sometimes difficult to explain."

~~~

Polly and Tallie walked into Sweet Beans, fully expecting to arrive before anyone else, but to Polly's surprise, her friends were already at a table.

"Hurry over here, girls," Beryl called out, standing and waving at them.

"Tallie Carter, this crazy woman is Beryl Watson," Polly said. "Beside her is Lydia Merritt and this is Andy Saner."

Andy looked over her glasses at Polly.

"What?" Polly asked.

The woman laughed. "I've been married for a while now, Polly. It's Specek."

"And I'm Sylvie Donovan." Sylvie slid into a seat next to Lydia.

Polly took a breath and smiled. "These are the first friends I found in Bellingwood." She sat beside Andy and gestured to the last empty chair. "I guess I should rephrase that because they found me. Everyone, this is Tallie Carter. She's Ethan's sister."

Sylvie touched Tallie's shoulder. "We are so sorry for your loss."

"Yes we are, dear," Lydia said. "If there is anything we can do to make your stay in Bellingwood more comfortable, we want to do it."

"Yeah," Beryl said mockingly. "We'll shoot up your car and hotel room just to make sure you fall in love with our little town. If that isn't enough, I'm sure we can come up with something better. Maybe we can steal your first-born, too."

"Beryl, stop it," Andy said. She swatted at Beryl.

"I'm okay," Tallie said. "Polly and her family took care of me last night, but I wish I knew who did it."

"We all do," Lydia interrupted. "Aaron wasn't happy to get that phone call this morning. He and Ken..."

"Chief Wallers," Polly whispered to Tallie."

Lydia nodded and smiled. "Anyway, he and Ken are working together on this."

Tallie looked at Polly. "Aaron? Sheriff Merritt?" Her eyes grew big. "Oh. I get it."

"Yeah," Beryl said. "We stay friends with his wife just in case he tosses us in the clink. Someone has to be around to bail us out. Especially Polly. She's bad news, you know."

Polly stood up. "I haven't had enough caffeine yet to deal with the likes of you, ma'am. Tallie, what did you want?"

"Let me get it," Tallie said. "I owe you for taking me in last night."

"No you don't."

Tallie made a stopping motion with her hand. "Let me. Sit back down. I assume they know your regular drink here?"

The other four women at the table started giggling and Polly spun on them. "Stop it."

As one, they shook their heads no. Beryl was the first to speak. "Nobody ever tells you that you can't pay. That was terrific. And yes, Tallie, they know Polly's regular drink. She says thank you, by the way. Now sit your butt down, girlie."

Polly frowned at her.

"Yes. I meant you. Sit down."

Polly sat back down and scratched her head while Tallie walked to the counter. "What just happened here?"

"You got served," Lydia said. "We all know she wouldn't have gotten away with it if you two had been alone, but it was fun to watch you flounder."

"You guys are awful. The poor girl lost her brother, drove all the way to Iowa and then had her room shot up. I could have bought a cup of coffee for her."

Sylvie put her hand on the table in front of Polly and leaned forward. "Do we want snacks? I have some things in the bakery that aren't pretty enough to be on display."

"That would be wonderful," Andy said. "May I help you?"

"No, that's fine. I'll be right back." Sylvie greeted a few customers on her way to the back room.

"This is nice," Lydia said. "All of us having coffee together. We should do it more often."

"Polly's up here all the time from what I hear," Beryl said. "All we need to do is drop in and we'll find her."

"Where do you hear that?" Polly asked. "I am not. I've been working at the Bell House and yesterday I worked at the hotel." She dropped her shoulders. "That was awful. I didn't get to come up here at all. I had to drink black coffee all day long."

Tallie put a drink down in front of her. "You didn't tell me they wouldn't charge me for yours. I gave the lady a big tip."