Pages of the Past (Bellingwood Book 9) by Diane Greenwood Muir Read Free Book Online Page B

I told you I was going back to college. I'm in charge and it scares the life out of me."
    "Are you going to train my baristas and manage the coffee shop too?" Sal asked with a grin.
    "Not on your crazy, coffee-loving life. That's all on you."
    Sal turned to Polly. "Will you do it?"
    "Nope. You're going to have to get involved."
    "I'm spending money. Isn't that enough?" This time she turned to Henry for support.
    He backed away. "Don't look at me. I'll take your money, but I'm not getting involved with the business of this place."
    "Fine then. I'm going to go flirt with your manager."
    "Jeff? Good luck with that."
    "He loves me."
    "Like I said. Good luck with that."

 
    CHAPTER FIVE

     
    Not wanting the kids to walk home in the bitter cold, Polly drove to the school. She watched for them to come out and as Rebecca pulled her scarf around her head, Andrew looked up and saw Polly's truck. They were with a girl whom Polly had seen a few times before. That had to be Rebecca's friend, Kayla. She followed her friends to Polly's truck and Andrew jumped in the front seat.
    "I called shotgun," he said. "Don't make me sit in back with the girls, okay?"
    The two girls clambered into the back seat and Polly waited for them to all belt in. "Are we ready?" she asked.
    "Thanks for getting us, Polly," Rebecca said. "This is Kayla."
    Polly turned in her seat and put her hand out. The girl took it in her left hand and looked at Polly in confusion. "Hi," she said.
    "I'm glad to meet you, Kayla. How was school today?"
    Kayla simply said, "Fine."
    Andrew, on the other hand, was wound up. "It was fine, except for that stupid Perry. He got us all in trouble again. Mrs. Hastings told him four times to sit down and quit playing, but he wouldn't. Then he got some of the other boys all riled up and when we went out of the room for lunch, he started a fight."
    "Were you in the fight?" Polly asked.
    "No!" Andrew was shocked at her question. "But Mrs. Hastings said we were all talking too much today and he really made her mad, so we had to write letters to the principal telling her that we were sorry for misbehaving in the hallway and making too much noise."
    "You had to write a letter?" That didn't sound like horrible punishment to Polly, but maybe the kids saw it differently.
    "That's the time when I get to read my book," Andrew complained.
    "And I get to draw," Rebecca chimed in. "If we get our work done, we get fifteen minutes to do whatever we want at our desk as long as we're quiet."
    "I see. And you had your work done?"
    "The stuff that we were supposed to hand in today."
    "Do you have homework tonight?"
    Andrew's sigh was loud and dramatic. "So much! She must have been really mad. We have math and social studies and science and then we're supposed to write a poem."
    "That's all due tomorrow?" Polly asked.
    Rebecca swatted her hand at Andrew. "No, it's not all due tomorrow. The math is due tomorrow and so is the poem."
    "It's a lot of homework," he said. And just like that, his focus shifted. "Is Han there today?"
    Polly took a breath so that she could shift with him. "No, he's with Henry. Would you two like to introduce Kayla to Obiwan, though, and take him on a quick walk? He's going to need it."
    Andrew nodded at Polly and then turned to say to Kayla, "Han is the brother to my dog. Her name is Padme. You know, from Star Wars? Do you know Star Wars?"
    She shook her head.
    "You haven't ever seen Star Wars? I've watched it a thousand times!" he said. "Polly, can we watch Star Wars?"
    "You know the deal. Homework and then play."
    "But we have so much homework! We'll never get to play."
    She scowled at him and he sat back in his seat. "Here's the deal," Polly said. "I'll make brownies while you work at the table on your homework. We'll see who finishes first."
    "But we have so much," Andrew whined.
    "Really? You're whining?"
    He grimaced and slumped lower in his seat, then sat up again. "Can we take Kayla down to see the animals?"
    Polly's laughter