Treasure Uncovered (Bellingwood #3) by Diane Greenwood Muir Page A
Authors: Diane Greenwood Muir
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for a few minutes and landed on a light jazz channel and began opening envelopes.
People were coming and going and she assumed most of them were preparing for one or the other wedding receptions that was happening in the auditorium over the weekend. It took all of her willpower to remain at her desk and work rather than wander around and chat with people.
Jeff knocked on her door, "Polly, do you have a minute?"
"Sure, Jeff. I'd rather do about anything than this."
He smiled, stepped in, shut the door and sat down.
"I think I might have found someone to fill the position, but it's a little outside of the box."
"What do you mean by that? Are you implying that we've been hiring normal people up until now?"
"Okay, you’ve got me there. But this one is going to require us to take a little bit of a risk."
Polly sat back and scowled. "Is he going to die on me?"
Jeff laughed, "You aren't going to make this easy, are you?"
"I'm sorry," she said, "Go ahead."
"I know you might be gun shy after finding out that Harry Bern’s background was a little thin and yes, this one isn’t much better, but I like him a lot."
"What do you mean, isn’t much better?"
"Well, he won't give me much information. Said he wants to work here for a month. He asked if we could pay him in cash, and then at the end of the month, if things works out, he'll tell us everything about himself and we can do all of the background checks we want and get him on the regular payroll."
"Oh, Jeff!" Polly mocked. "That doesn't sound weird at all. Of course I want to hire someone who is living here incognito. Of course I want to have him around our guests and my house."
He shook his head, "You're right. It's too strange and too risky. I'll tell him we're not interested."
"Why in the world would you think he'd be good for us?"
"Because he's polite and his hands are calloused. He's known what hard work is. He asked about your horses and how long you'd had them and if he took the job would you consider allowing him to help you care for them. He asked about the property and talked about big gardens and knows what to do with lawns. He asked about new construction and said that he'd done that in the past and wondered if he would be able to help out with any of that."
Jeff sat back. "I didn't think that giving him a one month trial would be such a bad thing. I talked about our guests and the events that we have here. He said he didn't have a lot of nice clothes, but if you wouldn't mind providing him with Sycamore House shirts, he'd wear those whenever he was working. He told me he had scrubbed a lot of toilets in his time and that good hard work was worth doing well."
"You're kicking me in the teeth here, Jeff. He sounds perfect. Why do you suppose he doesn't want us to know who he is yet?"
"I don't know, Polly. But, if he's willing to come clean at the end of a month, why couldn't we take a chance on him?"
"Did he tell you anything at all?"
"He told me he was in the army a long time ago. I'd put him around forty-eight or so. Who knows, maybe he served in Desert Storm in Iraq."
Polly scowled again, "That’s an odd coincidence, don't you think? We have two men show up in Bellingwood and they both served in the Army, probably in Desert Storm?"
"I don't know," Jeff replied. "People move around a lot. Harry came into town at least a year and a half ago. It's not like they both showed up at the same time."
"It’s still a strange coincidence. He didn't say anything about Harry, did he?"
"No, but I did tell him why we were hiring. I figured I needed to be up front about the fact that the last few custodians here haven't worked out."
Jeff hesitated and continued, "There is one more thing, Polly. He's been burned and scarred very badly. I didn't ask him about it, but he doesn't try to hide it and he doesn't act like he's ashamed of it."
"Is that why you want to hire him?"
Jeff looked down, "I suppose that’s part of it. He genuinely seems like a good person
People were coming and going and she assumed most of them were preparing for one or the other wedding receptions that was happening in the auditorium over the weekend. It took all of her willpower to remain at her desk and work rather than wander around and chat with people.
Jeff knocked on her door, "Polly, do you have a minute?"
"Sure, Jeff. I'd rather do about anything than this."
He smiled, stepped in, shut the door and sat down.
"I think I might have found someone to fill the position, but it's a little outside of the box."
"What do you mean by that? Are you implying that we've been hiring normal people up until now?"
"Okay, you’ve got me there. But this one is going to require us to take a little bit of a risk."
Polly sat back and scowled. "Is he going to die on me?"
Jeff laughed, "You aren't going to make this easy, are you?"
"I'm sorry," she said, "Go ahead."
"I know you might be gun shy after finding out that Harry Bern’s background was a little thin and yes, this one isn’t much better, but I like him a lot."
"What do you mean, isn’t much better?"
"Well, he won't give me much information. Said he wants to work here for a month. He asked if we could pay him in cash, and then at the end of the month, if things works out, he'll tell us everything about himself and we can do all of the background checks we want and get him on the regular payroll."
"Oh, Jeff!" Polly mocked. "That doesn't sound weird at all. Of course I want to hire someone who is living here incognito. Of course I want to have him around our guests and my house."
He shook his head, "You're right. It's too strange and too risky. I'll tell him we're not interested."
"Why in the world would you think he'd be good for us?"
"Because he's polite and his hands are calloused. He's known what hard work is. He asked about your horses and how long you'd had them and if he took the job would you consider allowing him to help you care for them. He asked about the property and talked about big gardens and knows what to do with lawns. He asked about new construction and said that he'd done that in the past and wondered if he would be able to help out with any of that."
Jeff sat back. "I didn't think that giving him a one month trial would be such a bad thing. I talked about our guests and the events that we have here. He said he didn't have a lot of nice clothes, but if you wouldn't mind providing him with Sycamore House shirts, he'd wear those whenever he was working. He told me he had scrubbed a lot of toilets in his time and that good hard work was worth doing well."
"You're kicking me in the teeth here, Jeff. He sounds perfect. Why do you suppose he doesn't want us to know who he is yet?"
"I don't know, Polly. But, if he's willing to come clean at the end of a month, why couldn't we take a chance on him?"
"Did he tell you anything at all?"
"He told me he was in the army a long time ago. I'd put him around forty-eight or so. Who knows, maybe he served in Desert Storm in Iraq."
Polly scowled again, "That’s an odd coincidence, don't you think? We have two men show up in Bellingwood and they both served in the Army, probably in Desert Storm?"
"I don't know," Jeff replied. "People move around a lot. Harry came into town at least a year and a half ago. It's not like they both showed up at the same time."
"It’s still a strange coincidence. He didn't say anything about Harry, did he?"
"No, but I did tell him why we were hiring. I figured I needed to be up front about the fact that the last few custodians here haven't worked out."
Jeff hesitated and continued, "There is one more thing, Polly. He's been burned and scarred very badly. I didn't ask him about it, but he doesn't try to hide it and he doesn't act like he's ashamed of it."
"Is that why you want to hire him?"
Jeff looked down, "I suppose that’s part of it. He genuinely seems like a good person
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