Free Look Always Forward (Bellingwood Book 11) by Diane Greenwood Muir Page A

and he ignored it. And I think he enjoyed ignoring it!" She pursed her lips. "I'm calling Lydia."
    The waitress came with their salads and after she left, Henry picked up his fork. "Let's enjoy our supper and you can talk to Lydia tomorrow. Maybe Beryl is just messing with you and soon she won't be able to stand it. Then she'll tell you what's going on."
    "I suppose you're right," Polly said. She glanced back at their table again. Beryl was laughing and touching the man's forearm. "But she's flirting with him."
    "Eat your food," he said.
    "If she was trying to hide him from us, she wouldn't have brought him to Davey's. They could have gone anywhere else and been more discreet than this."
    "Exactly. It's probably nothing. Eat."
    Polly looked down at her salad and then up at him. "This has been a weird meal so far. We should probably have played the story-telling game. It would have been easier."
    Henry raised an eyebrow.
    "Making up fictional stories about the people we see here. This real stuff is enough to make me insane."

 
    CHAPTER SEVEN

     
    Huffing out an exasperated sigh, Polly called Lydia as soon as they were back in the truck.
    "Hello dear, how are you?" Lydia asked.             
    "Confused."
    Lydia chuckled and asked, "Well, that's a new response. What's going on?"
    "You tell me," Polly replied. "I just sat through dinner at Davey's watching Beryl and some strange man together. She was all dressed up and it looked like she was flirting with him. Who is it?"
    "Don't tell me you didn't introduce yourself," Lydia said.
    "Of course I did. I even caused an awkward silence hoping that one or the other one of them would cave in and introduce him to me. Beryl just ignored it and he wasn't helpful either. Who is it?"
    "Hmmm," Lydia said. "I don't know of any special man in Beryl's life. Is she hiding a new beau?"
    "They're hardly hiding if they're eating together at Davey's," Polly retorted. "Now do you know something about this or not?"
    "I'll tell you mine if you tell me yours," Lydia said.
    "Mine? I don't have anything interesting going on."
    "That's not the rumor I've heard. You and Jeff have gotten awfully busy over there at Sycamore House. You hired a manager for the coffee shop and it appears you've rescued another poor soul and hired him to manage the inn."
    Polly sighed. Nothing got past this woman. "You already know everything. Yes and yes. What more is there to tell you?"
    "I want to hear all about these people. What do you think of them? Why did you hire them? Was it your decision or Jeff's? What does Henry think about all of this?" Lydia took a breath and before Polly could respond, she rushed ahead. "Not because Henry has any say in it, I'm just interested in his opinion. I know that he doesn't tell you what to do."
    Polly laughed. "I knew that. Maybe we should have coffee or lunch in the next couple of days and hash out all of the gossip in town."
    "We should get together," Lydia said firmly. "Another dinner with the five of us. What do you think?"
    "I'm game. The only person we need to worry about is Sylvie. She's going out of her mind. I can't force her to hire someone, but until she does, she's stretched pretty thin."
    "Let me work on her and we'll find a time. We can do it at my house again. It's been too long and I miss having you all come over."
    "That sounds great."
    "It's a plan, then. I'll make the calls tomorrow and work on a plan. I love you sweetie, have a good night."
    With that, Lydia was gone.
    Polly looked at the phone in her hand and then at Henry. "She hung up," Polly said.
    "Did you find out what you were looking for?"
    "No. She hung up. I don't know whether she deliberately ignored the reason for my call or if she was distracted by the party. And I don't know what to do now."
    He laughed. "That'll teach ya. You're too nice. You won't call her back either, will you?"
    "I can't. If she's deliberately avoiding my question, she'll just keep doing it. If she was being ditzy, I