Pages of the Past (Bellingwood Book 9) (17 page)

Polly took a shuddering breath. "Have you told this boy that you aren't going to see him again?" Polly asked.

"No-o-o-o."

"Why not?"

"I like him. He's cute and it doesn't freak him out that I'm eight months pregnant."

"So that's the requirement for a good man now? Seems like your standards are pretty low."

"You don't know what it's like. No one wants to date a girl with a kid."

"Because you've met everyone?" Polly was frustrated.

"Well, no."

"Honey, I know that you are freaked out and upset right now, but you have got to understand that you are worth so much more than this. Even if you never meet a man and get married, that's better than taking abuse from some jerk."

"No it's not. I just want someone to love me."

"I love you. Henry and Rebecca love you. Your parents love you."

At Jessie's look of disdain, Polly pressed forward. "I know. Your mother has a hard time showing it, but she does love you."

"Then why do I keep hooking up with boys that treat me like this. No nice guy ever wants to go out with me."

"I know you don't want to hear this, but you're in too much of a hurry. You are only twenty-one. You have decades in front of you. People are going to come in and out of your life. Some of them will be jerks, some of them will be ehhh, and some will be wonderful. But you don't have to settle for a jerk because you think there isn't enough time to wait for someone wonderful. What if I'd settled when I was twenty-one? I'd have completely missed out on meeting Henry."

"Yeah? Did you have jerks in your life?"

"Oh honey, I had one of the worst jerks in my life and I had a hard time getting rid of him. I'm just saying that you don't have to settle. It doesn't matter if you're pregnant or if you have a child. When the right person for you shows up, you won't have to worry about whether or not they're going to hurt you."

"When am I ever going to learn?"

Polly gave a slight chuckle. "I want to give you a piece of advice and I want you to hear this clearly. When anyone ever tells you that you are to keep your relationship a secret and that no one is supposed to know what happens between you, that's a clear signal he's a loser. There's a big difference between privacy and secrecy. You don't know what happens in our bedroom because that's private, but there is very little that I'm ashamed to talk about in my relationship with Henry."

She thought about it. "At the beginning, I guess we didn't tell people because we didn't want them all up in our business, but that probably wasn't the right thing to do. It got weird after a while and it's not like people didn't know anyway. Just know that if a boy wants you to keep things secret, you need to ask why. If he's hiding you from someone, or if he's hiding from somebody, it's bad."

"That makes sense. It's going to be hard to break up with him. I see him all the time."

"Tell me who it is."

Jessie dropped her head. "I really don't want to get him into trouble."

"He hit you, Jessie. He's in trouble. He should have been in trouble with you. Don't protect him."

"Cody Clark."

"How long has he been working for Henry, do you know?"

"He came on after I started working there. When things got really busy last fall."

"Okay. What does your day look like tomorrow at work?"

Jessie shrugged. "I don't know. It's a normal day."

"Let me talk to Henry. I don't think you need to go in to work until he's dealt with this."

"Is Cody going to lose his job?"

Polly scowled. "What do you think? If the jerk can't keep his hands off of you, who knows what else he thinks is okay to do. Henry doesn't need someone like that working for him."

"He's going to hate me."

"Maybe, but honey, you should hate him first. He doesn't deserve anything from you."

Jessie sat for a minute and then her shoulders drooped. "I was going to have a date for Valentine's Day. I guess that's out the window."

"The things we worry about," Polly said, rubbing Jessie's shoulder. "I'd rather you have a great life before Valentine's Day and for that entire year after Valentine's Day. One evening shouldn't define your happiness, okay?"

"I guess I'll tell Sylvie I can work, then." She perked up. "More money for my apartment fund."

"There ya go." Polly hid the shudder that went through her at the thought of Jessie living on her own. She knew it was going to have to happen someday and probably sooner rather than later, but this was now the third really bad decision she'd made regarding men.

"I'm going to change," Jessie said, interrupting Polly's train of thought. "Do you care if I watch television?"

"That's fine." Polly watched her walk out of the room. Being a mom totally stunk.

She went into the living room and found Henry and Rebecca on the couch with Han and the two cats. Rebecca was showing him something in one of her books.

He looked up. "Everything okay?"

"We need to talk."

"I was afraid of that."

"Rebecca," Polly said. "Jessie is going to change and watch some television before she goes to bed. I'll bet she could use a friend. Do you mind hanging out with her?"

"Really? How long do I get?"

"How about another hour." That would get Rebecca to bed only a half hour past her regular bedtime. It seemed okay for tonight.

Polly took Henry's hand and led him into the bedroom, closing the door behind them, locking the animals out in the main room.

"This seems serious," he said.

"You have to fire Cody Clark. Tomorrow."

He pursed his lips together, walked over to the desk and sat down in the chair.

"Henry?"

"Don't talk to me right now."

"Do I need to leave the room?" She stood in silence, waiting for him to settle down. The man just didn't react visibly. If he hadn't said anything, she would never have known how angry he was.

He took a deep breath. "That's who hit her?"

"They've been dating. There's been some verbal abuse before this and he slugged her in the arm once."

"I put him in front of her. I entrusted her to my guys. He's a punk, but he was always willing to be the one to go back to the shop for things. I know his parents." His jaw started working back and forth.

Polly nodded and waited.

"Do you have any idea how much I want to yell and swear right now?" he asked.

"I can only imagine."

"He hasn't hurt her baby, has he?"

"No," Polly shook her head.

"I'm going to scare that little..." He stopped and gave her a sheepish grin. "I won't use the word. But he's going to be very scared."

"That's not going to change his behavior. You know that, right?"

Henry held his hand out and Polly crossed the room to take it. He pulled her into his lap and buried his face in her shoulder. "I know this isn't my fault," he said. "But I wish I could have protected her from this."

Polly pulled back and looked at him. There were tears in his eyes. "Oh honey. As much as I love that girl, she would have found him on her own. I'm going to make sure that she's still seeing her counselor. We have to find a way to break this pattern for her."

"She needs a good man."

"No. What she needs is the confidence that she is okay all by herself."

"I love you so much."

"I love you too, you big softie."

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

"Little elves are in our house. Do you smell that?" Henry asked.

"It smells like breakfast. Who's cooking in my kitchen?"

He chuckled. "Maybe we should get up and see."

"Don't wanna. Wanna stay in bed. Will you stay with me?"

"I'd love to, but I have to work," he said. Then he turned to look at her. "I know you. You never want to stay in bed. What are you trying to avoid?" he asked.

"Everything. There is nothing out there that I want to deal with today. I don't want to have to deal with Aaron's sister and whatever horrible thing she's going to tell us when she comes to Bellingwood. I don't want to have to deal with Jessie and her inability to make abusive men go away. I don't want to look at Stephanie and wonder why any father would choose to hurt his daughter or why a mother wouldn't protect her kids. I don't want to do anything. I just want to stay in bed. Please stay here with me. Please?"

Henry brushed a lock of hair away from her face, caressed her cheek and leaned in for a kiss. She shut her eyes and waited.

"What?" she demanded, opening her eyes again. He was grinning down at her.

"You're gullible. We have to get moving."

Polly swatted his arm. "You're a rat!"

He kissed her lips and unfolded himself from the animals on the bed. "I'll take a shower. You check on our kitchen and make sure there aren't strangers out there cooking eggs and sausage." Henry stopped at the bathroom door. "And don't worry about the dogs. I'll take them out."

Obiwan was already on the floor and the cats had leaped to their perches on the cat tree. Poor Han was still too small to negotiate the bed. He looked over the edge and then back at Polly, pleading for some assistance.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," she said, picking him up. She gave him a quick kiss on the nose and put him on the floor. He nearly wagged his tail off his bottom in glee and ran underneath Obiwan's chest to get to the door first.

Polly grabbed her robe and opened the door into the main room, waiting while all four animals raced to escape. Both of the other bedroom doors were open and she heard giggling in the kitchen.

"What are you two doing this morning?" she asked when she walked into the dining room.

Rebecca was putting plates out on the table. "We made a plan last night."

"You did. What kind of plan was that?"

"You always make breakfast for us, so Jessie and I decided it was our turn."

"That sounds wonderful. Thank you. How is everyone doing this morning?"

Jessie turned from the stovetop. "I'm doing fine. Thank you for listening to me last night. Rebecca and I talked about it. She told me that I have to be nicer to myself and not let boys define me."

"She said that?"

"Yes I did," Rebecca said, standing a little straighter.

"That's good stuff. Where did you hear those words?"

"Some girls at school were talking about boyfriends and our teacher said it."

"Mrs. Hastings?"

"Yeah. She got mad because they were more interested in boys than in being smart. She said that girls can be anything they want to be and if boys got in the way they weren't worth it."

"She must have been really mad."

Rebecca giggled again and stood in front of the cupboard where the glasses were. She pointed and Jessie pulled four down for her. "Brooke told Shelby that as long as she married someone with a good job, she didn't need to worry about knowing English and Math and stuff." She gave Polly a look of contempt. "They get bad grades and don't care. It's more important for them to talk about..." Rebecca put her hands on her hips and swung them back and forth "makeup and new clothes and the right tops to wear with skirts."

"Good for Mrs. Hastings, then."

"We're only in sixth grade," Rebecca said in protest. "It's not like I'm going to get married next year."

"I'd hope not!"

"I don't ever want to get married."

"Ever?"

"Maybe someday. But I want to go to France. Ms. Watson said she'd take me."

"She did!"

"She said that every artist should see Paris in the springtime."

Polly chuckled. Beryl was laying it on a bit thick, but as long as she had Rebecca's attention, that was fine.

"So, no marriage."

"At least until after I see Paris. And maybe Rome and Cairo and London."

"Is Beryl taking you to those places?"

"She said that if I go, she'll go."

"I'm fine with all of that," Polly said. "Boys can wait until we're ready for them. Right?"

"We're starting a girl's club," Rebecca said. "Me and Jessie and Kayla and Stephanie if she wants to come. I think we should invite Rachel, too."

"How about me?" Polly asked.

"You don't count. You're married."

"But I'm a girl."

"No, this is for us single girls."

"I see."

Rebecca looked up. "Do you think Ms. Watson would come?"

It was all Polly could do not to laugh out loud, but she contained herself. "I think she would be honored. It's great that you want her there. Not Sylvie?"

"She's got boys and everybody knows that she and Eliseo are going to end up together."

"It sounds like you've got this all figured out."

Rebecca shrugged and Jessie winked at Polly, then turned back to the scrambled eggs.

"I think it's a wonderful plan. Where are you going to meet?" Polly asked.

"Jessie and I haven't figured out all the details yet. But the first thing we're going to do is make a pact to say nice things to each other. Because we don't need boys to tell us how great we are. We should do that for ourselves."

"You
are
great," Henry said, coming into the room. "What are we talking about?"

"It's nothing." Rebecca ducked behind the peninsula to get silverware.

"I'm taking the dogs out. How much time do I have?" he asked.

Jessie opened the stove and closed it. "The timer says seven minutes, so maybe ten before it's on the table."

"We'll be back long before that. Have you fed the dogs?"

"I took care of it," Rebecca announced.

"I'm going to work today," Jessie called after him. "Cody isn't going to scare me."

"You won't even see him. I can promise you that," Henry said over his shoulder as he passed through into his office, the dogs close on his heels.

"Jessie, you don't have to go in," Polly said. "You know that, right?"

Jessie glanced at Rebecca, who stood and waited for her response and said, "Yes I do. It's time for me to figure this out. I have a baby coming and last night it hit me that it's not just about me anymore."

Polly took a seat at the table and smiled when Rebecca handed her a mug of coffee. "Thanks, sweetie. You two sure know how to take care of me."

"I'll be right back," Rebecca said to Jessie and ran out of the room.

"It sounds like you two had a great talk," Polly said.

Jessie took toast out of the toaster and spread butter on it. "It isn't just about the baby, you know."

"What do you mean?"

"When a twelve year old girl has to tell me I'm worth it, something's messed up. I realized that I'm important to her too and she shouldn't see me bruised and beaten because I'm too chicken to wait for the right person in my life."

Polly felt tears threaten. "That's really wise, Jessie. It takes most people a lot longer to figure that out."

"She has so much to deal..." Jessie stopped when Rebecca came back into the room.

"I made up names for our group last night." Rebecca held up a piece of paper and then put it down in front of Polly. "I was so excited I couldn't go to sleep."

"Girl Power. Girlfriends. Girl's Rock. Girl Talk. It's a Girl Thing. Syc Sistahs. Bellingwood Belles. Sycamore Chicks." Polly read them out loud. "These are fun names."

"I'm going to ask Kayla to help me come up with some more." Rebecca looked at Jessie. "Do you have any ideas?"

"Not yet, but I'll give it some thought today. We can discuss it tonight."

Rebecca stood at the end of the peninsula. "I wish Kayla was still here when you got home from work. But Stephanie and you have the same hours."

"Maybe you should all go out to dinner sometime this week," Polly said.

"Could we? Maybe tonight?" Rebecca lit up and then she stopped. "Oh no. Not this week. Mom and I are going to be busy. Maybe soon."

"You'll find a time. But it would be fun for you to have an official planning meeting."

Obiwan and Han dashed into the kitchen hoping to find one last morsel of food.

"Those were some busy dogs this morning," Henry said. "You'd think they had never marked their territories. Every single leaf and clump of grass under the snow was a target, but they're good to go for the next half hour." He sat down beside Polly. "Food in. Poop out. It's a cycle."

She chuckled and put her hand on his, then pushed the piece of paper over in front of him.

"What's this?"

"The girls are going to start a club. All about supporting each other. They want Beryl to join them."

"Really!"

"I think it's great. I'm a married woman, so I can't go."

"That probably leaves me out, too."

Rebecca put a plate of food in front of him. "You're silly."

"That's me." He snaked Polly's coffee mug away from her and took a drink.

"Hey! Get your own."

"Too many people in the kitchen. I'd step on someone."

Jessie came over with two more plates and said, "I've got it. You go ahead and sit down, Rebecca."

"What's your favorite name on there?" Rebecca asked Henry.

"Syc Sistahs. Is that Sycamore House?"

"Uh huh."

"That's my pick."

Rebecca turned to Jessie. "Cross that one off."

"No respect," he said, laughing. "Absolutely no respect."

After everyone left the house, Polly finished cleaning the kitchen. Luke leaped up onto the counter and batted at the suds in the sink. When he got bored, he jumped across to the other side and wandered around the counter to the end of the peninsula to watch her work.

"Kind of the long way around, bud," she said, drying her hands on a towel. "Do you want to hang out in the bathroom while I shower?"

It was a ridiculous question. She and Henry had given up shutting doors. The animals would have none of it. Dogs whined and whimpered, cats poked their paws underneath and meowed until someone let them in. It just wasn't worth it. With everyone gone, she left all the doors open and once Luke and Leia identified where she would be for the next few minutes, took off to explore the outside world from their perches.

~~~

Polly was sketching on a pad and looked up when she heard a quiet tap on her door frame. Papers covered her desk and she didn't even bother attempting to straighten them.

"Hey Jeff, what's up?"

He entered and shut the door behind him, then sat down. "I need to talk to you."

That worried her. "Sounds serious. Is everything okay?"

He chuckled. "Sorry. It's fine. Didn't mean to scare you. But I want to talk to you about next week."

"What's next week?" Polly sat back in her chair and opened the calendar on her computer. There was nothing there. She pointed at the screen. "See? I'm learning."

"It's been two years and I've done nothing but harass you about it. It's about time."

"Whatever. Tell me what you have next week."

"I'd like to take some time. Since it's just after Valentine's Day, there's nothing much happening here."

"Of course. Absolutely. Are you going home?" She bit her lips closed. "I'm sorry. None of my business."

"We're friends. It's always your business, but yes... and no. We got a call this morning that Stephanie needs to go home to Ohio. The prosecutor wants to talk to her about pressing charges against her father. Since it's not far from Columbus and my family, I thought I'd go with her and stop and say hello."