Diane Greenwood Muir - Bellingwood 06 - A Season of Change by Diane Greenwood Muir Read Free Book Online

There was toilet paper all over and it didn’t look as if Obiwan was the only culprit. Chunks of toilet paper were gone from the roll and the cats both slunk in when she cleared her throat.
    “When did you all decide that this was going to be your new plaything?” she asked. “We’ve been together for a year and now you discover the toilet paper? What am I supposed to do?”
    She knelt down and gathered up the pieces and long strands, then tossed them in the trash can under the sink. “Really. What am I supposed to do?” She shook her head and walked back into the bedroom and sat on the bed. Luke and Leia jumped up to sit beside her and she rubbed Luke’s head while Leia jumped on her lap. “I love you two, but you are bad cats.”
    Polly put Leia down on the bed and headed for the back steps. “Come on, Obiwan. You have an afternoon of reading ahead and we don’t want to be late.” He followed her downstairs and out to the truck, then sat in the passenger seat as she backed out of the garage and headed downtown. When he saw the library, his tail wagged.
    “You do enjoy this, don’t you?” Polly scratched his head and snapped the leash on his collar. They trotted across the street and up the steps of the library.
    The door to the library opened for her and she smiled down at little Rhett Clarence.
    “Hi, Miss Polly. I was waiting for you.”
    “Obiwan couldn’t wait to see you today, Rhett,” she said and patted the boy’s head. “Do you have a book ready to read?”
    “I left it in his room. I thought he might want to say hello to everyone first.”
    “Thank you for getting the door for us.”
    He ran up the steps to the main level where Joss was sitting at the desk. She grinned at Polly. “Rhett has been watching that door for the last ten minutes.”
    Polly took Obiwan around the back of the desk so he could greet Joss. They had been doing this since Thanksgiving and as soon as he got a snuggle from Joss, he was ready to go to work.
    “It looks like he is as ready as Rhett,” Polly laughed. “I’ll talk to you after a while.”
    “Are we still on for tonight?”
    “We are, but we might make it an early evening. Henry hasn’t been sleeping well and things start up tomorrow at the winery.”
    “We’ll talk,” Joss said. “Go ahead. You have a full schedule today.”
    She had set aside a corner of a room for Obiwan and the children. It was quiet and they had a couple of large pillows where the kids could sit with the dog while they read to him. Some of the children were a bit leery of the big dog and chose to sit across from him, but others, like Rhett, wanted to curl up beside him on the pillow and pet him while they read. Obiwan had fallen into the role of reading therapy dog like a champion, never pushing kids to pay attention to him unless they wanted to. Polly usually took a book in with her and read in another comfortable chair Joss provided. She’d gotten to know several of the young moms who brought their kids in.
    The project had been a huge success. Some children who hated reading were now confident in their skills. One little girl had barely spoken aloud when she first came to the library, but now she bounced in and hugged Polly before sitting beside Obiwan. Several of the children had needed quite a bit of help in the beginning, learning words and their meanings. Every once in a while, a new child would come in and Polly would spend time helping them push their way through books.
    When one little boy proudly told her that he was reading to his cat at home now, she knew this had been a great idea. There was no better feeling than seeing a child learn to love reading. Obiwan was the perfect companion. He gave the kids a great level of confidence so they could then interact with Polly as she helped them learn. Joss had known what she was doing when she asked Polly to take this on. It worked for everyone.
    Polly was always surprised when Joss came in at the end of the afternoon. It