Reflecting Love's Charms (Bellingwood Book 14) (26 page)

"Thanks. But still, the afternoon went longer than I planned."

"What did you do?"

Sylvie smiled as she followed Polly up the steps into the gazebo. "This is beautiful. Andrew and Jason told me about Henry’s plan. They were over here helping yesterday morning. I'm glad you know about it now. They were nearly ready to burst." She put a large Sweet Beans box down in an empty spot on the table. "They did a great Mother's Day for me. After church, they asked if we could go to Ames for lunch. Come to find out, Jason had called for reservations. The boys had saved up for the dinner and after that they wanted to take me to the Reiman Gardens." She smiled at her audience. "And get this. They actually told me that they wanted to walk around a beautiful quiet place with me because we never get to spend a lot of time together these days. How was I supposed to say no to that? So, we're a little late and even if I say I'm sorry, I'm really not. It was a perfect day."

She started setting out the cupcakes, which had been decorated with little painter palettes and easels. "I think Rebecca had a hand in the day, though," she said. "Andrew let it slip that she told him they needed to step it up with me."

"That girl is quite the little schemer," Beryl said. "If we aren't careful, she's going to have all of us being nice to each other."

"Wouldn't that be wonderful," Lydia said. "Have you heard anything from Kayla and Stephanie today?"

Polly shook her head. "Not yet. The day has just run away from me. Kayla kind of promised to try to be here for the party, so we'll see. It all depends on whether or not Stephanie gets out of the hospital."

"Thank God she wasn't hurt any worse than she was," Lydia said. "Oh look, there she is."

"I'll be back," Polly said and went back down the steps, crossing over to Jeff and Kayla. "There you are. I was just wondering if you were going to come."

Kayla looked exhausted, but she smiled and held out a little box to Polly. "This is for you and I'm going to have to give Rebecca her present later. It's stuck in the car somewhere and I couldn't find it."

"Rebecca will just be glad you're here," Polly said and gave Kayla a hug. "Thank you for this. Can I open it?"

"It's from me and Steph," Kayla said. "She said that I'm supposed to tell you that even though it's a bud, we blossomed because of you." She looked up at Jeff. "Was that right?"

"That was perfect," he said, putting his hand on her back. "Rebecca and some of your friends are over there. She'll be glad to see you."

"Thank you so much, Kayla. Can I hug you again?" Polly asked.

Kayla reached up and put her arms around Polly's neck and the two held on for a moment. "I'll be back later," Kayla said and ran off.

"How's Stephanie?" Polly asked Jeff as they walked across to the gazebo.

"She'll be fine, but they're keeping her another day." He put his hand on Polly's arm to stop her. "Can I ask a couple of things of you?"

"Of course. What can I do?"

"Sheriff Merritt said they'd bring her car up to Bellingwood for us. Can they park it at Sycamore House?"

"Absolutely," Polly said. "That's easy. Is there anything I need to get out of it to keep safe?" She shook her head. "No. We'll just park it in the garage until she can drive it. That's no big deal. What else?"

"Would you have room for Kayla for a few days this week? I hate to ask, but I'm probably taking Stephanie back to my place while she recuperates. I want to keep an eye on her and I want her to feel safe."

Polly pursed her lips. "Of course we'll keep Kayla, but Jeff, why would you not put Stephanie in one of the rooms in the addition? Her sister can stay with her, you can take care of her during the day and if she's in bad enough shape to need Evelyn Morrow, we can ask if she's free to help in the evenings. That way if Stephanie wants to be around people, she can be, rather than hidden away in your apartment clear over in Ames."

"I didn't want to ask."

"You're a moron," Polly said with a laugh. "After all of the people I've put in those rooms, when it comes to one of our own, why would you think I'd do anything different?"

"What if I take her back to my place tomorrow night and then when I come to work on Tuesday, I'll bring her and she can stay from then on. I want to make sure she's okay just getting out of the hospital. Please?"

"You two do whatever you want to do," Polly said. "But of course I'll keep Kayla with us until Stephanie feels good enough to have her around. Are you going back to the hospital this evening?"

He nodded. "I told her that I'd bring Kayla up to the party and arrange for her car to get to Bellingwood. All of Kayla's clothes for school are in the car or already up in your apartment, so at least she can go tomorrow."

"That's great." Polly took a deep breath. "It's going to take some doing for her to catch up on her school work, especially since there are so few days left in the school year. We'll have to push."

"I'd be glad to talk to her teachers. Tell them what happened," Jeff said.

"They probably know already. Don't worry. I'll help get her through this. Rebecca and Andrew will make sure she's in good shape."

"Speaking of Rebecca," Jeff said. "This is for you." He slipped a package into her hand. "And this is for her. I'm going to wish her happy birthday and then get out of here, okay?"

"Thanks, Jeff. Take care of our girl and let me know if you need anything else." Polly squeezed his hand and let go as he walked across the yard.

Rebecca looked up to see him coming toward her and ran to him with her arms wide open. He caught her up and hugged her as they spoke for a few minutes, then he released her and watched her run back to the croquet game. Kayla and two of the other girls were standing off to the side, talking to each other and giggling behind their hands. Polly looked around for the source of their laughter and realized that Doug and Billy, Hayden, Heath and Jason were moving croquet balls when Rebecca turned her back.

Polly headed back for the gazebo until she heard her name being called and turned to see Sal and Mark come in with Joss and Nate and their twins. Marie and Bill Sturtz followed them soon after with Marie's parents as well as Jessie and Molly Locke. Three more kids Rebecca's age came into the yard and ran over to where the other kids were playing.

"Are you okay?"

She turned into Henry's arms at the sound of his voice behind her. "I think I'm a little overwhelmed. This family thing gets bigger and bigger all the time. How am I supposed to keep it all under control?"

He laughed. "Maybe the chaos is a good thing." Then he reached beyond her to shake Nate's hand. "Hey buddy, how are you?" he asked, drawing Nate and then Mark Ogden away and over to the drinks.

Sal hugged Polly. "How are you doing?"

"I'm good," Polly said, leaning down to pick Cooper up. She hefted him onto her hip. "Look at her," she said, nodding toward Rebecca with her friends. "She's having a great day after an awful night. That's all I can ask." She looked around. "Where's your mother? I thought you weren’t coming to the party."

"I left her at home. We were done with each other," Sal said. "We took her out for lunch. She criticized everything. I gave her a crystal vase and she told me that I'd have to ship it to her because the airlines break everything. I finally told her to take a nap because we were going out for the afternoon."

"Well," Polly said. "I guess that's that. So when's she coming back to Bellingwood?"

"Not gonna happen," Sal said.

"Good luck with that," Joss interjected. "She'll beg to come see your baby."

Sal rubbed her belly. "I'm going to teach him, her, it to vomit all over Mom’s beautiful blouses and anything else she might wear that’s expensive." She looked down at the ground where Polly had set the boxes when she picked Cooper up. "I have one of those for you," she said.

"You didn't have to," Polly said. "This is embarrassing."

"I do too," Joss said, bending down to pick the two boxes up. "But since you're holding my little boy, I'll wait to give it to you.

Sal swatted at Polly's hand. "Don't you dare be embarrassed. It's exactly what should have happened. There wasn't much cost involved and it gave your friends a chance to tell you how important you are. Be nice."

"Are you yelling at me?" Polly asked, bouncing Cooper as he laughed and played with her necklace.

"I don't get to do that very often, so I'm taking the opportunity when I can." Sal pointed at the gazebo. "That's really nice. Are you going to invite us over for parties this summer?"

"All the time. Come on," Polly said. "Let's get close to some of those women who love holding little boys and girls." She poked her finger in Cooper's tummy, making him laugh. "You like all of these pretty ladies, don't you, you little flirt."

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

No one else was left but Kayla, Rebecca and Polly. Henry, Heath, and Hayden had packed the last of the tables into the truck and gone home.

"This house is really cool," Kayla said, walking to the entrance of the gazebo. "Especially that tunnel. I can't believe you get to use it whenever you want to."

"I never expected any of these presents," Rebecca said. "Mom would say that you're spoiling me."

"We get to do that," Polly replied with a smile. "The boys are so excited to be able to build the studio for you this summer."

"It's like a dream come true." Rebecca jumped up from her seat and ran to hug Polly. "And a trip to Taos with Beryl? I never expected anything like that."

"Between her travel miles and the two of you staying with Tallie, it made the trip quite reasonable," Polly said. "You'll have a wonderful time with those two artists. I hope you learn tons."

"Beryl said we're going to paint something every day and take lots of pictures so we can paint more when we come back." Rebecca turned to Kayla. "I wish you could come."

"Me too." Kayla said quietly, then she perked up. "But Stephanie said we're moving into a real apartment when she gets out of the hospital. I'm going to be busy decorating my room." She blinked her eyes. "Maybe you can paint something for me when you're there and I can hang it over my bed."

"I will!" Rebecca said. She bounced on her feet. "I've never flown in a plane before. Beryl says you see the clouds from the top instead of the bottom. Is that true?"

Polly nodded. "It sure is."

"Will I see mountains from the plane?"

"I suppose so," Polly said with a smile. "And you'll drive through them on your way up to Taos, so you'll see plenty."

Rebecca dropped back down into her chair. "I didn't think about that. Is Beryl driving from the airport up to Tallie's house? We'll be lost for sure."

Polly laughed out loud. "No. I've already spoken with Tallie. She'll be at the airport to pick you two up. We won't let Beryl loose in a vehicle any time soon."

"Good," Rebecca said with a sigh of relief. She turned to Kayla. "Otherwise, I might end up in some little town off the beaten path and never find my way home."

"You have to come home. I'll miss you." Kayla pointed at Rebecca's hand. "And Andrew will miss you too. Can I see that again?"

Rebecca pulled the ring off her middle finger and handed it to Kayla.

"This is just so cool. Is he going to write notes to you?" Kayla spun the top of the adorable secret decoder ring that Andrew had found. It wasn't quite as gaudy as those Polly remembered from her childhood; this was stainless steel and quite simple. Henry had raised his eyebrows at a ring, but when he saw what it was, they lowered just a bit. Not completely, but he tried not to panic.

"He said that he would," Rebecca said. "Maybe whole letters when I'm gone."

"But there won't be enough time for mail to get to you," Kayla protested.

"He can send texts to me." Rebecca grinned at Polly. "Thank you for letting me get a phone. I really promise to be responsible."

"I know you will, honey." Polly shivered and rubbed her hands on her arms. "It's starting to get chilly. Shall we head home?"

"We can leave," Rebecca said, "but I'm not ready to go home yet."

"Where should we go?"

"Down to the hospital to see Stephanie? I haven't seen her today and really should say thank you. She saved my life last night."

"It's getting late," Polly said. "Visiting hours are over and she needs her rest so she can come home."

"Stephanie was worried that you guys would fire her for leaving like we did," Kayla said.

Polly shook her head. "No way. Jeff has been lost without her. I don't ever want to live through a week like that again. He complained every single time he saw me. And besides, I know something that you don't know yet." She winked at Kayla as she stood and folded her chair up. "Let's put these in the garage. We're supposed to have storms this week and I don't want them to blow away."

"What do you know?" Kayla asked as they walked to the truck.

"Maybe I shouldn't tell you and let her surprise you with it." Polly and Jeff had already discussed Stephanie's raise and new title, as well as the fact that they were cleaning Polly's office out for her. He texted Polly that he had told Stephanie this afternoon and she should go ahead and let Kayla know. Kayla had been worried about how they could afford a new apartment and could use a little boost.

"That's not fair," Kayla said.

Rebecca stopped in front of Polly and turned around. "Did anyone ever tell you that you're mean?"

"Who, me?" Polly asked, laughing. She opened up the door into the garage and took the girls' chairs from them, stacking things along the inside wall. "Mean? Go on, hop in the truck. We'll go riding around for a few minutes before we go home. Let's see what's happening downtown." She watched the girls run to her truck and climb in the back seat. That was one thing she liked about having Andrew with them; at least one always wanted to sit up front with her.

"When we get home tonight, Kayla, you and Rebecca need to find your school clothes. You're staying with us for a couple of nights."

"And then to Jeff's house?"

"No," Polly said. "I think you might stay in the addition while Stephanie gets better. That way she has people around her all day long and you guys are close at night. She can also go to work when she feels better."

"I get to stay with you," Kayla said, jumping up and down in the seat.

"Put your belts on, girls," Polly said. She waited until she saw them both snap their belts into place before backing out of the driveway. Polly still found it hard to believe that someday her family would live here. It was so far away, but events like today's made it seem more probable.

"You still haven't told me the surprise," Kayla said. "I haven't forgotten."

"No, I guess you haven't. What would you say if I told you that we were giving Stephanie my office?"

Kayla grinned, while Rebecca frowned. "Why won't you keep your office, Polly?"

"Because things are changing at Sycamore House. Stephanie is going to be Jeff's assistant. Her new title will be Assistant Manager. We're going to hire a receptionist to answer phones."

"Will she make more money?" Kayla asked and then looked ashamed. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't ask that."

"But you should. Yes, she will."

"So it won't be so expensive for us to live in a better place? Stephanie said we were going to be able to just barely get by and we'd have to cut back on some things in order to swing it."

"Hopefully this will help."

"It will be great," Kayla said. "And we won't have to live in the trailer park anymore and I can have friends come over and see where we live. It will be awesome."

Rebecca sat forward. "I can't believe you aren't going to have an office, Polly."

"I'll share Henry's for now," Polly said. "When we move out, Jeff and I are talking about moving all of the main offices upstairs to the apartment. Sylvie and Rachel can have an office for their catering and if we hire other people as we grow, there will still be plenty of office space."

"Wow," Rebecca said, sitting back again. "That's weird to think about. Things are really changing, aren't they?”

"They always do, honey. Remember, change is good." Polly turned a corner and drove past the coffee shop. "Where do you want to go tonight?"

"Everything's closed, isn't it," Rebecca said.

Polly nodded. "It's Sunday night. People are home getting ready for the week."

"I'm just not ready to be done with the day. Can we drive to Ames? It's not even eight o'clock yet."

"This is me spoiling you," Polly said, pulling into a parking space. "Just a second. I'm calling Henry to tell him we're going to be late getting home."

"Yay!" Rebecca and Kayla said together, high-fiving each other.

Polly swiped the call open.

"Hey there, sweet stuff, what'cha doin'?" Henry asked.

"Spoiling our daughter. She's not ready for the day to be over so we're going to drive to Ames."

"You're doing what?"

"Driving to Ames. I know. I'm a pushover, but..."

He interrupted her. "It's okay. You don't have to explain. How late will you be out?"

"We're just driving down there. Maybe we'll go through McDonalds and get a little ice cream cone or something."

The girls repeated their "Yay" and high five in the backseat.

"Apparently that's a good idea," he said. "Let me know if you'll be later than nine thirty."

"Everything quiet there?"

"Hayden's working in my office and Heath is at the dining room table. I'm in bed watching television."

"Okay, that's cool."

"Did you hear me?" he asked.

"Uhhh, yeah."

"I'm in bed. All by myself. Alone. Without you."

Polly chuckled. "Oh that. Do you think you can stay awake long enough for me to get home tonight?"

"If I can't, you have my permission to wake me up."

"I love you, Henry Sturtz."

"I love you too. Take care of our girl and I'll see you later."

Polly put her phone down and turned to the back seat. "It's a go. And for the record, if I hear that you fell asleep in school tomorrow, it's not my fault."

"Of course not," Rebecca said. "It never is." She laughed a little maniacally. Polly knew she was wound up. It was probably good to try to drain some of this energy before she settled down for the night.

Polly backed out and headed down the highway toward Boone. She soon tuned out of the conversations Rebecca and Kayla were having. They'd had an entire week without each other and it seemed that Kayla had missed out on just so many important happenings at school. Just north of Boone, Polly turned east on the road that would take her across to Highway 17. This road was so familiar to her now. Only a few miles and she'd turn south again. It always fascinated her to drive past homes at night, seeing lights glowing inside. She wondered at the stories behind those walls. They couldn't all be good, but at the same time, they couldn't all be bad.

She stopped at the sign and waited for a grain truck to go past before turning onto the highway.

"How are you girls doing?" she asked. "Still awake?"

"Not funny," Rebecca retorted. "I don't know if I'm ever going to sleep tonight."

"You do have a pile of gifts to go through at home." Polly shook her head and chuckled. "And that's on top of the pile of stuff you have all over your floor. If I'd known Kayla was spending a few nights, I would have made you clean."

"But it's my birthday," Rebecca whined.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's still a dump."

"I could clean it up," Kayla said. "I like to do that."

"I tell you what, Kayla. If you can get that room cleaned up and organized, there would be money in it for you."

"Hey, I'd clean it for money," Rebecca said.

Polly laughed. "No you wouldn't."

"Do you mean it?" Kayla asked.

Rebecca huffed. "Of course she does. I don't care if you clean."

"Really? You'd let me? Will you let me clean out your locker at school, too?"

"I suppose," Rebecca said. "I have to get everything out of there before the end of the school year. We might as well start this week."

"What does your locker look like, Kayla?" Polly asked.

"Her locker is always clean," Rebecca replied. "Everything is in its place. She has pretty things hanging inside the door and it's all organized."

Polly stopped to wait for a train to cross in front of them. She looked down the line and didn't see any hope of it being a short train, so she threw the truck in park and sat back, watching the rail cars go by. That got boring so she glanced to her right into the parking lot of the big Co-op, wondering if the grain truck had turned in. She didn't see it, but wasn't surprised. The place was so big, it absorbed trucks.

"What do you suppose that is?" she asked, pointing into the lot.