Unexpected Riches (Bellingwood Book 13) (5 page)

Beryl read through the article about Evaline Carter and Thomas Kenner. She smiled and handed the paper back to Polly. "Yes, they're family and I actually knew her. That's one of our family stories. But they never got married. He went back to England to fight in World War One and was killed before he could come back and marry her. She died an old maid in the early sixties."

"I wonder what she had to say about Muriel Springer killing herself when she thought her husband had died in World War Two," Polly said.

"She never said anything to me." Beryl handed the newspaper back to Polly. "I'd like a scan of that article sometime. Aunt Evaline never said much about Thomas, but when she did, she'd smile and get a faraway look in her eyes."

"Can you imagine someone falling so in love with you that they traveled across the ocean and half of the country to find you?" Sal asked. "And that was back before we had jets and fast cars. He really had to work for her."

"Then why would he go back?" Polly asked.

"Aunt Evaline said he couldn't let his fellow countrymen fight alone. He promised to return, but he had to go. It was important to him."

"They should have gotten married before he left."

Beryl nodded. "She regretted that they didn't. I have letters that he sent to her. He regretted it, too."

Polly put the newspaper back in the envelope. "What are you doing out today?"

"I just dropped the kittens off with Marnie at the vet's office." Beryl heaved a huge sigh. "I know they'll be okay tonight and I certainly don't want to have to fight with them to keep them out of food and water, so it's best this way, but I'm going to miss them."

Sal looked at the time on her phone. "Speaking of missing them. I have two little kiddos at home who are desperate to go outside." She chuckled. "Not that they love going out in the cold. Mark scoops the snow out of the yard for them. There's nothing sillier than watching a dachshund try to negotiate snowdrifts so they can pee. I try not to laugh at them, but sometimes I can't help myself. They're adorable."

She reached over to hug Polly. "I had fun today. Call me the next time you want help. This is a treasure trove of excitement."

"Don't forget your candlesticks," Polly said. She turned and picked up the box.

"I'll leave the box. Maybe I can put things in it the next time I'm here, but thanks for these. I can't wait to clean them up. They're beautiful."

"Thank you," Polly replied.

After the door closed behind Sal, Beryl looked around the kitchen. "The Springers really didn't take a thing with them when they left for Chicago, did they?"

"No. I'm going to have to ask Simon Gardner for help sorting through these things," Polly said. "I don't know what's worth keeping or what should be thrown in the trash."

"These are wild." Beryl picked up the turquoise vase that Sal had put on the counter. The top of the vase came off and Beryl flinched.

Polly grinned. "I think it was made that way. Do you want them?"

"They'd be kind of awesome in that front room, don't you think?" Beryl asked.

"Take them. I have newsprint over here. We can wrap them up."

"But what if they're worth money?"

"Please," Polly said with a scowl. "They make you smile. That's worth more than money."

Beryl put the vase back together and placed it on the counter. "Are you going to show me around? Do I have to beg for a tour?"

"I didn't realize you hadn't been here yet. Andy and Lydia saw it just after I bought it."

"I was in Boston, remember?"

Polly took Beryl's arm. "Come with me. We haven't done a thing because I'm still trying to figure out how to handle what was left here, but Henry says the floors are safe. He brought electricity in from outside because we don't know what's in the walls and I might start a fire."

Beryl smiled and followed Polly into the dining room. She ran her hand across the table and then looked at the doorways.

"How did this table get in here?" she asked.

"Henry says it must have been built in the room. The legs could come off, but he doesn't think they were made to ever come apart."

"So you're keeping it?"

Polly scratched her head. "It's a nice table and big enough for large family meals. I don't know why I wouldn't."

"Wow."

"You haven't seen the best thing yet," Polly said. "Follow me." She took Beryl through the other rooms on the main floor until they came to the foyer.

"What is that crazy thing?" Beryl asked.

"It's a fountain." Polly snapped her head up. "Do you suppose it was part of the hotel?"

"It wouldn't be the first thing I'd put into a home when I renovated it." Beryl walked around the fountain, looking into the nooks and crannies. "It would have been more interesting with a naked boy peeing water on the plants below."

"Whatever."

"Well it would. Are you keeping it?"

"I dunno. There are so many decisions we have to make. I get overwhelmed when I think about all of them."

"This can't be as big of a deal as renovating that school house."

"I was younger then and a whole lot more naive," Polly said. "I just kept pushing ahead because the only person I was responsible for was me. Nobody knew me or cared what I was doing. It didn't even occur to me that I was messing in the town's history. But here, it feels like every time I turn around there's something about the house that came from a different time in Bellingwood's past. And everyone is paying attention to what I'm doing."

"We were all paying attention when you renovated Sycamore House," Beryl said quietly. "Trust me, we were paying very close attention."

"But I didn't know it then. Now people stop me when I'm buying groceries and ask if we're going to have an open house or whether the ghost is bothering me."

"It's the life of a celebrity." Beryl poked Polly's arm. "Now show me the rooms upstairs."

CHAPTER FIVE

Polly walked into Sweet Beans Tuesday afternoon, desperate for more caffeine. She'd spent the morning in Story City working through paperwork for taxes. Her accountant, Steve Cook, had offered her a cup of coffee, but it was horrible, bitter stuff and she'd stopped drinking it halfway through.

"Hey there, Ms. Giller." Skylar Morris finished wiping down a table and went behind the counter. "Your regular?"

"Yes please," she said. "Make it a large." Polly pointed at a plate behind the glass. "What's that?"

"It rocks," he replied. "Mrs. Donovan said she was given the recipe by a little old lady down south."

Polly grinned at him. "What is it?"

"Old Lady Cake." He glanced up and winked. "I'm not kidding. It's a Dutch recipe. It has all of those Christmas flavors in it and anise for a kick."

"Then I want a piece of that, too." Polly glanced around the room and saw Elise sitting in a booth, peering at her computer. "Wave at me when it's ready."

"I got 'cha," he said.

Polly walked across the room and stood at the table, waiting for Elise to look up. When it didn't happen, she coughed and put her hand on the edge of the table.

"Oh!" Elise jumped in her seat and then relaxed. "I'm sorry. I was concentrating."

"I shouldn't have bothered you."

Elise grimaced. "No, I'm always like this. If you didn't bother me, I'd never come out of my head." She scooted to the edge of the bench with a startled look on her face. "Will you excuse me? I didn't realize I needed to go to the bathroom."

Polly watched her friend run away. "Nice to know you’re glad to see me," she muttered. The coffee shop was quiet, so she sat down across from where Elise had been sitting.

"Here you go," Sky said, putting Polly's coffee and the plate in front of her. "I barely warmed the cake up. You'll love it."

"Thanks." The scent of cloves and nutmeg filled the air and Polly took a bite. He was right. It was terrific. She blew on the coffee before taking a sip. It was the perfect temperature. Skylar knew how to take care of her. Polly turned around to catch his eye and waved to thank him.

"I'm so sorry," Elise said as she slipped back into the booth. "I don't even know how long I've been here. What time is it?"

"One thirty. No classes today?"

"Not until this evening." Elise pulled out her phone. "Speaking of that, I need to set an alarm. If I don't remind myself to go to class, I'm worse than my students at being forgetful."

"We haven't seen much of you. How are things going?"

Elise tapped a few keys and closed her laptop. "Oh Polly, I'm having the best time. I'd forgotten what it was like to be around people who are as smart as or smarter than me. I don't have to make an effort to come up with conversation. There's always something interesting to talk about. It's so much fun to be able to talk about Ramanujan's formula and not..." She looked at Polly and grinned. "Get that face."

Polly laughed. "You mean the face that asks who is Ramanujan and why should I care about his formula?"

"That's the one."

"Should I care?" Polly asked.

"Nah. It's a crazy math thing." Elise picked up her mug and looked at it. "I'm empty. I should probably stop. What are you eating?"

Polly cut a piece of the cake and pushed it to the edge of her plate. "Try it. It's all cinnamony and yummy."

"I want one of those chocolate cupcakes with the cream filling that Sylvie makes. I'll be right back." Elise jumped up and then sat back down and reached for her purse and the cup. "Now I'll be right back."

"Maybe something without caffeine?" Polly said.

"I'm a little high."

Polly sat back and took another drink of her coffee. She hadn't seen Elise this animated in a long time.

"Just one more cup," Elise said, sitting back down. "Then I'll stop. I can't believe you put a coffee shop in Bellingwood just for me."

"Yep. We were psychic and knew you were moving back to town," Polly said. "I'm surprised to find you here, though."

"Because you think I'm at Sycamore House in my room?"

"Or at your office on campus."

Elise nodded. "I'm trying to be better. Nobody bothers me here and I can participate in society from afar. I really like Camille, too. She said that she's going to introduce me to some of her family one of these days. I'll bet she has some gorgeous cousins."

"You're interested in meeting men?" Polly's eyes grew big. "Who are you and what did you do with Elise?"

"I told you. I'm trying." Elise looked out of the booth, behind Polly and waved. "There she is. Hi, Camille."

Polly waited for Camille to join them before looking up.

"Hello, Polly," Camille said. "How do you like Sylvie's Old Lady Cake?"

"It's very good."

Camille motioned to Elise to move over and the girl actually pushed her computer out of the way and scooted toward the wall.

"I got it," Camille said to Elise. "We close in two weeks." She turned back to Polly. "I found a house and I'm buying it."

Polly sat back and put her hands on the table in front of her. "You bought a house? Here in Bellingwood?"

"It's a cute little house out on Hickory. I saw the sign go up last week and I jumped on it."

Polly creased her brows. "Hickory? Isn't that the road that goes into Secret Woods?"

Camille nodded.

"The pretty little white house on the corner?"

"That's the one. The last owner spent a lot of time fixing it up and it's just perfect." She turned back to Elise. "You'll love it."

"I can't wait. I've never done anything like this before. A house and a yard. Maybe a dog or a cat."

"One of each," Camille said.

"Wait," Polly said. "You're both moving out of Sycamore House and in with each other?"

Camille shrugged. "It's really the only way I can swing it and still have a life. I need a roommate. We'll have fun together."

Polly looked at Elise.

"The rent is perfect and it isn't in a building full of people," Elise said. "I hated living in an apartment. All of those people. Tromping around upstairs when I was trying to think, parties at whatever hour in the middle of the night." She lowered her voice. "And the sex. The girl above me was loud. I'd be embarrassed to be that loud and know that other people heard me."

"Did you ever say anything to her?" Polly asked.

Elise screwed her face up in shock. "Me? Say anything?" She laughed. "Uhhh, no. I bought a pair of noise canceling headphones."

"So you're going to be roommates," Polly said. "Are you sure about this?"

The two young women nodded enthusiastically as they looked at each other and then back to Polly.

"Can I make a recommendation?"

"Sure," Camille said.

"Give yourselves a six month or one-year limit and then revisit it."

Camille turned to Elise. "That makes sense. If something happened, in a year, I'd be fine doing the mortgage on my own."

"And I could find my own place after living here for a year." Elise looked at Polly. "But I don't know why you think this is a bad idea."

Polly shook her head. "No, I'm sorry. I think it's great, but I can't imagine putting two independent adults in the same house. You guys don't live the same way. You'll have different ideas of how to clean and when to clean. Do you know how you're going to split food costs? And what if one of you is always cold while the other one wants it to be freezing in the summer? Do you have separate bathrooms? Who owns the furniture? And what about when one of you wants to study in front of the television while the other one wants to watch a movie?"

The two young women looked at each other and nodded.

"We'll handle it," Camille said. "We just have to talk."

Elise looked over her glasses at Polly. "Don’t you say it," she said.

"What?" Camille asked.

"I won't talk about things. I just let them happen around me and never say a word."

"We'll figure it out," Camille reassured her. "Don't worry."

"She says I'm not supposed to worry," Elise said to Polly. "And it will be nice to be in a real house again." She put her hand up. "Not that living at Sycamore House hasn't been wonderful. It really has and I can never thank you enough for putting up with me, but I’ll have my own address and I can decorate my space with my own things."

Polly smiled and nodded. "You two will have a ball." She gave Camille an ornery grin. "There’s a bedroom for your mother when she visits?"

"Oh," Camille said with a shudder. "Since we're so close to Sycamore Inn, I might just rent her a room there. That way she doesn't drive me nuts."

"She's a lovely lady," Elise said. "I like her very much."

"You've met Camille's mother?" Polly had no idea any of this had happened.

"We went to Omaha two weeks ago," Elise said. "I met her family."

"You met her family? The big family?" Polly was flabbergasted. Elise
was
changing.

"No," Camille said. "Just my family. My little brother played in a band at church. We went over on Saturday night and then came back Sunday afternoon. There was going to be a big family dinner, but I knew Elise couldn't do that." She shrugged. "But she wasn’t busy and we were talking and the next thing we knew I was driving, she was riding, and we were in Omaha."

Polly put her hand on the table and reached across to Elise. "I'm so proud of you."

"I know, right?" Elise said. She patted Polly's hand and then patted Camille's arm. "Camille is good for me. She doesn't know how bad I was, so she doesn't let me get away with my fears."

"Well, I'm sorry I said anything negative about the two of you living together," Polly said. "I should have kept my mouth shut."

"It's okay." Elise reached over and patted Polly's hand again. "You're a worry wart and can't help yourself. We love that about you."

Polly laughed. "It sounds like you can talk about some things."

"Just with people I trust," Elise said. Her face flushed. "And now I've embarrassed myself."

"Don't ever be embarrassed about teasing me," Polly said. "I can take it." She glanced up at the doorbell ringing. This would be a terrible place for her to work, she was distracted by everything that happened around her.

"Joss," Polly said. "I'm over here." She turned to Elise. "You've met Joss, right?"

"She's the librarian, right?" Elise whispered.

"Yes."

"I was in there a few times looking for a quiet place to work." She picked up her coffee. "They don't serve this, though."

"How are you ladies?" Joss asked, standing at the table's edge.

"My tenants are moving out," Polly said. "Camille is buying a house and Elise is moving in with her."

"That's wonderful," Joss said. "Congratulations." She opened her mouth to say something more and then shook her head.

"What's up?" Polly asked.

"I was about to make a snide comment about buying a house rather than building one. But I don't need to rain on your parade today. I'm grumpy."

Polly stood up. "Let’s take you and your grumpy self to another table. These two are celebrating and I was already a grey cloud in their sunny day."

" It was good advice, Polly," Camille said.

Polly bent back over. "I'm very happy for both of you. Let me know what we can do to help you move and we'll be there." She reached over and took Elise's hand. "I'm so happy." She picked up her coffee cup and plate and followed Joss back to the counter.

"Another one?" Sky asked Polly.

"Just plain coffee now," she said.

He drew off a mug and handed it to her. "Your regular, Mrs. Mikkels?"

Joss rolled her eyes at him. "How old am I?" She stuck her tongue out at Polly. "He refuses to call me by my first name. Drives me nuts."

"Everybody calls you Mrs. Mikkels," he protested.

"Whatever. When you call me Joss, your tip will get bigger." She winked at Polly and dropped a penny in the tip jar.