Pages of the Past (Bellingwood Book 9) Read Online Free PDF

belly as she stroked him.
    "You know I don't care. It looks as if you have the full-on doggie spa thing going on."
    Henry went on into their bedroom and pushed the door closed. She heard the television come on. Football. It was his Sunday afternoon escape. He didn't want to go to anyone's house to watch it, he didn't even particularly care to watch it on the big screen in the media room. He just liked to sit in the big, comfy chair with his feet up. More often than not, one of the cats or Han was in his lap, but he preferred being alone.
    Polly had taken to napping on Sunday afternoons. She'd discovered that if she relaxed her body, she could consider the sounds of the game as white noise. Henry had tried to talk to her about the teams that were playing, but when both of them discovered that first of all, she didn't care, and secondly, he didn't really want to chat during the games, they gave up and let the other do their thing.
    She went in and waited while the two cats darted in the open door. Without saying anything to Henry, who was already seated and watching the television intently, she crossed to her side of the bed, pulled her shoes off and stretched out, nestling her head into the pillow.
     
    ~~~
     
    "I'll see you all later," Polly said as she went down the back steps. She and her friends rarely missed a Sunday evening at Pizzazz downtown. Henry was still watching football, while Rebecca and Jessie were making spaghetti for dinner to take down to eat with Sarah and Evelyn Morrow.
    She opened the back door by the garage and waited while Sal Kahane pulled in. She'd texted Polly earlier that she would pick her up. Polly usually walked to the pizza place, it was only a few blocks, but the temperatures were low enough that the wind chill was quite bitter.
    Polly darted to Sal's car and jumped in. "Thanks for picking me up."
    "Nobody should be walking in this. It's awful."
    "No worse than what we dealt with in Boston."
    "I know. You're right. I keep thinking that maybe I should move to Hawaii or southern Florida or somewhere warm. I don't know that I'm cut out to be a Canuck."
    "We don't live in Canada."
    "There is only one state between us."
    "A long state! Stop complaining."
    Sal laughed. "I'm going to bet you a pizza that before the end of this winter, you're going to tell me at least once that you hate winter. You always complained when we were living together."
    "I don't complain anymore. I love living in Iowa." Polly wasn't about to admit that she'd silently been complaining for days.
    "Uh huh. We'll see." Sal pulled into a parking space across the street from Pizzazz. There were plenty of spaces in front of the pizza place and she'd gone around the block to get the right angle.
    "What are we doing on this side of the street?" Polly asked.
    "I want you to look at the empty building right in front of us."
    "Okay. Very nice empty building."
    "Take a good look at it. Look closely."
    Polly rolled her eyes to the side. "It's a building. What about it?"
    "Have you taken a good look?"
    "As much as possible."
    "Fine. We'll talk about it at dinner."
    "Tell me." Polly glanced at her friend and saw a wicked gleam in her eyes.
    "Nope. You have to wait until everyone is there."
    "You're just mean."
    Sal backed into the street, then did a sharp turn and pulled into a space directly in front of the restaurant. "I love small towns," she said. "You can do this kind of stuff and everyone expects it. The first time someone turned in front of me to grab a spot on the other side of the street, I nearly collapsed. You'd never get away with that out east. But here, it's just what you do."
    "It seems like you've perfected the move."
    "Only if there are no cars for three blocks in either direction."
    Sylvie pulled in beside them and as they were getting out, Joss pulled in on the other side of her.
    "Things are really quiet here tonight," Sal commented.
    "Wonder what's up?" Polly asked.
    They went inside and saw only two other tables with