All Roads Lead Home (Bellingwood) by Diane Greenwood Muir Read Free Book Online Page A

Polly. The most interesting and unique story about Polly
will win the prize."
    "What's the prize?" came from a few of the women around the room.
    "You're going to have to wait and see. We'll
announce it when everyone has had their picture taken." Lydia responded.
    As the women went to the table and began shuffling
through the pile of papers there, Polly turned to Lydia. "Do you do this
for everyone who moves in?"
    "Well, maybe or maybe not . Though there have been some
who don't get into the spirit of things." She patted Polly's arm. "You've
been a good sport about everything. Now get yourself a chocolate martini from
the bar and settle in. People are going to start asking you questions!"
    "Wait," Polly said, "Is this going to
go on all night? Are all of these ladies spending the night here?"
    "Well, a couple of them might have to leave so
they can get some sleep before church tomorrow, but they have Sunday School classes to teach. Did you meet Angela Boehm? She's
the Methodist pastor's wife and she's staying all night. She told him she might
make it to the 10:30 service or she might not. He chose to be fine with it ." Lydia
laughed a s she gave Polly a nudge toward the bar.
    "Coming right up!" said Andy, as she swirled
some chocolate sauce in the glass and poured a martini from a shaker. A squirt
of whipped cream, and a little more chocolate sauce topped it off before she
handed it to Polly.
    Polly took a sip, "Whoa! What's in here?"
she asked.
    "Oh, vodka and chocolate liqueur," Andy
replied. "Enjoy! And come back for another when you're done."
    Polly found herself pulled to the couch and women
began asking questions about her family, her school, her last job and anything
else they could come up with.
    She did her best to anchor names with people. Two
women sat down beside her. They'd already introduced themselves once, but she
looked at them quite pitifully and the older woman laughed. "You don't
remember any of our names, do you?" she said.
    Polly looked down at the sheet of paper in the woman’s
lap. "Oh, sure I do. You're, ummm .. ." she glanced down again.
    The woman laughed and said, "Oh, now you're
cheating! Yes, I'm Linda Morse and this is my sister, Sarah Conyers. We're both
so glad you've bought the old school. It will be wonderful to have that old
place renovated. It's been such a depressing sight out there all by i tself with boarded up windows. T he city only got around to mowing the yard when it was
shaggy, so you never knew if it was going to look nice or not."
    "You two are sisters?" Polly asked, ready to
let anyone talk if it meant she didn't have to for a while.
    "We sure are," said the younger one, Sarah. "We've
lived here forever , raised our kids and had good lives .
I think you're going to love it, even if we don't have wild old lady slumber
parties every week."
    "How many kids do you have, Sarah?" asked
Polly.
    "I've got two boys. My oldest boy is at Iowa
State and my youngest is a junior in high school. Both boys help their dad out
a lot on the farm. Ben, the oldest, plays football some in college. We love
going over to see the games. I was lucky today was an away game so I could come
out here, though," replied Sarah.
    "How about you, Linda?" Polly pushed.
    "Oh, I've got five kids. I guess it never felt
like I had enough. I loved having them around as little kids, then I enjoyed
having them grow up some and now I've even got some grandbabies who like to
visit me," Linda said.
    Then, Linda stopped. " Wait , this is
supposed to be us finding out about you. So, Sarah, do you have a question for
Polly?"
    Sarah gave a wicked little smile. "Alright Polly,
here's one for you. Who is the first boy you ever French-kissed?"
    Polly giggled a little. "Really?"
    Sarah said, "Yep, really. We want to know something a little wicked about you."
    Polly laughed. "Well, it had to be in the back seats
of the band bus. Which one was my first?" and she winked at the two ladies
who were sitting with her.
    She went on, "No,