Treasure Uncovered (Bellingwood #3) (22 page)

He stood there, speechless. "Well, I would need to talk to Vanessa..."

"Tell her that I will be expecting the two of you next Thursday at nine thirty. You don't need to bring anything except maybe the receipt for the window. I'll have coffee and rolls for us. Now, if you will excuse me, I see someone I need to speak with."

Beryl turned away and walked toward another cluster of people. Polly watched as Beryl's neighbor tried to comprehend what had just happened.

"Nice to see you again, Miss Giller," he said, then walked out the front door and left.

Polly chuckled and said to Sal, "Well, that was hilarious."

"What just happened?" Sal asked.

“Beryl ensured that he would never complain about anything around here again. And I'll bet she has also ensured that he'll keep a pretty good eye on her safety."

"She wasn't letting him say no to coffee."

"And she also didn't let her invitation be set aside. That was fabulous!"

Len Specek, who was handling the installation of the cabinets for Henry, was standing in a corner, waiting for the party to die down so he could go back to work. Polly watched him eyeing Andy and sidling up to her, said. "Go talk to him. He doesn't look comfortable."

"If I go anywhere near him, Beryl is going to say something awful, I just know it!" Andy replied.

"Sheesh," Polly said. "Come on." She grabbed both Sal and Andy and approached the poor man.

"Hi, Mr. Specek," Polly said. "I'd like you to meet my friend, Sal Kahane from Boston."

He reached out and shook her hand. "Welcome to Bellingwood," he said. "I hope you are enjoying your stay."

"It's a wonderful community," Sal replied. "I can see why Polly loves it so much."

Polly could barely hold back her laughter as she watched Beryl sneak up behind Andy. She glanced at Len Specek, who had absolutely no idea what was about to transpire.

"Who's the hot dish?" Beryl said directly in Andy's ear.

Andy jumped and then clutched her heart.

"Careful dear, you'll bloody my nose if you keep flinging your head around like that. Then, there will be blood on my floor again and Polly won't be happy." Beryl laughed. "So, is this the hot thing you've been hiding from all of us?"

Andy looked at Polly with a scowl on her face. "See, I told you."

Polly shrugged and smiled.

"Hey! You! I'm right here. Are you going to introduce me or am I going to have to embarrass you?"

Andy took a deep breath, stepped to the side and said, very graciously, "Beryl Watson, I know you have met Len Specek since it isn't like he is new in town. So, please, I'm begging you, be polite."

"Why, Len Specek!" Beryl said, "You look fabulous! It's so good to see you again. It has been absolutely years since we've seen each other."

"Months," Andy muttered. "You saw him at the hoe-down. Now you're being obnoxious."

Beryl continued gaily, ignoring the obvious discomfort of her friend. "I'm so glad that you and Andy are finding time to be with each other. It's wonderful when old friends reconnect, isn't it? She has spent this last week telling me absolutely ..." Beryl paused, "nothing about you and it's making me crazy. So, I think that you and she should come over for dinner next week sometime. Let's make it Sunday noon. I would love to reconnect with you and since Andy has been such a wonderful friend this last week, maybe I can tell her thank you all at the same time!"

"Oh no," Andy said. "You don't have to agree to this, Len."

"Yes he does!" Beryl insisted. "Don't you?"

The poor man obviously had nothing to say, but finally responded, "Dinner would be nice." He took Andy's hand, "I'm sure it will be very nice. Don't worry, Andy. It will be fine."

Polly heard Sal giggle, then Lydia stepped in and said, "Beryl, you have to be nice."

"I am being nice. I invited them over for dinner. How is that not nice?"

"Don't you want some cake and maybe some punch?" Lydia asked, taking Beryl's arm and moving her away.

"That's why you wouldn't let me eat dessert at Davey's. Is everyone waiting for me?" Beryl spun around and said to Andy, "Look what you made me do. I got all interested in you and your friend here and everyone had to wait for cake."

Deena rushed over to the cake table and handed the knife to Beryl, who made the first cut, then announced, "Let them eat cake!"

Soon, plates were handed around the room and Beryl wandered over to heft herself up on a cabinet under a window. Polly and Sal made their way to her.

"Sal and I are going back to Sycamore House. I'm glad you are back where you belong and I can't wait to see you working out here again.

"I know that you did most of the design for this place, P
olly and I love it. Thank you."

"Please be good to Andy," Polly pleaded.

"Nope. Not gonna. She doesn't get to have a new boyfriend and hide him from us. If she'd been upfront about this from the beginning, it would have been far less painful for her."

"Alrighty then," Polly laughed.

She leaned in and hugged Beryl, then turned to wave goodbye to Andy and Lydia. Sal followed her out to the truck and they drove back across town.

"This has been a crazy day, Polly," Sal said as they went in the front door of Sycamore House. "Is it like this all the time?"

"Oh, heaven's no. If there was this much excitement every day, I'd be exhausted all the time!"

They moved aside as three very young men rushed to the front door, followed by several children who were chasing each
other out into the parking lot.

"There's a wedding reception tonight. I'm sure they're decorating the hall," Polly remarked as they headed up the steps.

When they got to the top, Sal moved toward her door and Polly said, "Come on over whenever you're ready. The door will be unlocked."

She went on into her own apartment, sat down on the sofa and was immediately joined by two cats and a dog. As she leaned back, Obiwan attempted to curl up on her hip, sprawling himself out on the rest of the couch, while the two cats finally perched, one on her chest and the other behind her head. She shut her eyes and woke up when all three animals jumped off and came to attention.

Polly had enough time to sit up and rub her eyes before Sylvie's boys came barreling in.

"Oh. Hi, Polly!" Jason said. "I didn't expect to see you here."

Andrew chimed in, "You're never on the couch when we get here!"

"I know," Polly replied. "But, I'm here now. Did you stop and say hi to your mom?"

"She was busy," Andrew said. "But she gave me this!"

He showed her a zippered bag of cookies. "She said we could eat them all!"

Polly watched as he counted the cookies in the bag. When he looked back up, he announced, "There are seven in here. Would you like one too?"

She stood up and headed for the kitchen, with the boys following her. "I would love one. Who wants milk?"

Jason stood in front of the cupboard which held the glasses. "I know Andrew does and I do, too. Should I get a glass for you?"

"That would be great, Jason. Thank you." Polly pulled out the last gallon of milk. She hardly ever drank the stuff, but since the boys had started coming to her house every day after school, she made sure to have plenty of juices and milk on hand.

Andrew had placed napkins out for each of them and when he began counting out the cookies, he hesitated. "Would you like two cookies, Polly?"

She giggled to herself and said, "No thank you, Andrew. I've had plenty to eat today and I'm going out to dinner tonight. One cookie will be perfect."

"Cool!" he said as he split the cookies up. She nearly choked, though, when she realized that he had carefully chosen the largest cookie and placed it on her napkin. He was climbing into his chair as she wrapped her arms around him and kissed his head.

When she released him, he brushed his hair back into place and said, "What was that for?"

"You're a great kid. You're both great kids."

Andrew dramatically rolled his eyes at his brother and got down to the business of eating his cookies.

Polly took a bite and said, "Hey, what kind of cookie is this?"

"Mom calls them monster cookies," Jason said. "She says the original recipe called for cookies that were this big."

Polly laughed as he spread his arms open wide. There were M&Ms, chocolate chips, peanut butter and oatmeal exploding in her mouth. "These are great cookies," she said.

"What do you boys plan to do this afternoon since you don't have any homework?" she asked.

Andrew grinned, "It's my turn to choose the game today. We're racing!"

"I always beat him, but he still
wants to race me," Jason said.

"Someday I'm going to win," Andrew declared. He jumped up, slugged down the rest of his milk and ran for the entertainment center. He pulled out a game and plugged the controllers in and sat down on the floor.

"Come on, Jason!" he said. "Come on!"

Jason's attempt to be dignified as he walked over to sit beside his brother touched Polly's heart. She smiled as she picked up their glasses and napkins, wiping the crumbs from the table into her hand.

Jason said, "We'll play one game and then take Obiwan outside. Is that alright?"

"That sounds great," she said. Polly began cleaning up, assuming that after dinner tonight, if they wanted to settle somewhere, they might come back to her apartment.

Jason and Andrew, true to their word, took Obiwan outside and when they returned, Jason said, "Eliseo asked me to tell you that he and I could take care of the horses tonight. Would that be alright? And Mom said to ask if we could stay later because the reception gets over at ten o'clock."

"Sure, both of those are fine," Polly said, while she tried to wrap her head around finishing a double date in her apartment with two young boys. She had looked forward to spending her last evening with Sal having fun, maybe playing games or watching classic movies, something both she and Sal did a lot of when they were in college. Polly fancied herself in love with Cary Grant, while Sal was a swooning fan girl in love with Gregory Peck. It mattered to neither of them that those men were old enough to be their grandfathers and were both dead, it was enough that they were gorgeous, suave and debonair on screen.

She shrugged it off. They would figure something out.

Jason was out in the barn with Eliseo when Sal knocked at Polly's door and came in. Andrew was sitting on the couch curled up with the animals, writing in one of his many notebooks. His mouth dropped open and he didn't say a word, but simply stared at the tall, dark-haired beauty that walked in. She was dressed to kill in three inch sparkling black heels with legs that went up to the middle of her thigh, where they were suddenly interrupted by a skin tight red dress. Sal had piled her dark hair on top of her head, adding to her height and her makeup was designed to light up her eyes. She wore simple diamond earrings, which Polly recognized as a gift from an old boyfriend in college and a diamond chain around her neck.

"Umm. Wow." Polly said. "I haven't seen you dress up like this in years! We're going to have to change our plans for tonight."

"Too much?" Sal asked, grinning as she spun around.

"For Hickory Park it is," Polly laughed. "Let me make a couple of quick calls and oh, for heaven's sake, it's going to be a riot getting you up and in the pickup truck while you're wearing that dress!" She started to laugh out loud and looked down at Andrew. He was still a little star struck.

She quickly called Henry and said, "We have to go somewhere nicer than Hickory Park tonight and you have to dress up."

"Why?" he whined. "It's been a busy week."

"Just do it. You'll see why."

"I'll be over in a while, then. I have to pick out what to wear now!" He laughed and they hung up and she made her next call to Mark Ogden.

"Absolutely no overalls tonight. We're d
ressing up!"

"But, I ironed them and everything!" he laughed. "Okay, that's no problem. How dressed up are we doing?"

"A lot dressed up," she laughed. "Trust me."

"I look forward to it. You always look gorgeous when you dress up."

"Tonight you won't even notice I'm in the room," Polly laughed.

"Well, you've done it," she said to Sal. "Now you have to come help me find something to wear that doesn't make me look like your lowly stepsister."

Nodding toward the boys on the sofa, Sal grinned, “It looks like they’re impressed with you.” She turned to them. “What d’ya think, boys?”

Jason said, “She looks beautiful. You both do!”

Andrew turned to his brother, “We haveta find a man for mom so she can dress up like that.”

Jason poked him and the two boys laughed.

Henry and Mark knocked, then walked in Polly's front door and both of them grinned and gaped at the two young women.

Mark elbowed Henry and said, "You didn't tell me she was so hot."

"You've seen her before," Henry commented. "You know how hot she is."

They laughed and Polly said, "Mark, I'd like to introduce you to my friend, Sal Kahane from Boston. She'll be your date this evening."

Mark stepped in, took Sal's right hand, lifted it and tipped his forehead to it. "I assumed a friend of Polly's would be bright and fun, but I didn't dare make the assumption she would also be stunning; that would have been too much to ask. You both look beautiful this evening." He took her hand and tucked it into the crook of his arm.

Polly looked Henry up and down and whistled. "Stop it woman," he said." You're making me blush."

"You look pretty good for someone who has been working outside all day," she commented. He looked wonderful, wearing a charcoal jacket over a black, high-collared shirt.

"Hey!" Mark protested.

"You look fine," she said.

Sal smiled and said, "Really fine."

"That's better."

"We should get going. I left the truck running so it would stay warm," Henry said.

Polly turned to the boys who were sitting on the sofa watching things unfold. "Thanks for taking care of the dog tonight. I'll see you tomorrow, okay?"

Sal and Polly grabbed coats as they walked to the hall and Polly pulled the door shut behind her.

When they got to the truck, they found that Henry had placed a step stool on the ground so the girls could easily enter the truck. "I'm sorry this isn't fancier, ladies," he said, "but I hope you will be comfortable."

Mark helped Sal get in to the back, shut her door, and moved the stool for Polly to step up into the front seat. He picked up the stool and walked around to the other side of the truck as Henry got in and waited for them to all belt in.

"We decided that no matter how fabulous you looked, we were going to Hickory Park," Henry said. "It's not often you can cause an entire restaurant to turn and gawk at your dates, so that's our plan for the evening."

Polly smiled, "Sounds good to me. Are you going to take us dancing after dinner?"

She turned around to Sal, "Mark is practically a professional dancer. His mother owns an Arthur Murray studio in the Minneapolis area and he's amazing."

"Really!" Sal said. "I might be a little intimidated by that and now I'm a little worried about my high heels."

"I'll be kind," Mark laughed. "I've danced with women in higher heels than those and managed to keep them from hurting either one of us."

Henry put his right arm on the console beside him and opened his hand. When Polly didn't do anything about it, he poked her leg and then returned his hand to the console. She looked sideways at him and grinned, but ignored the obvious invitation.

He poked her once more and she said, "What?"

Henry raised his eyebrows and waggled his fingers.

Polly crossed her arms and giggled, then turned in her seat so she could see her friends in the back and said to Sal, "Mark is the one who has been trying to teach me everything he knows about how to work with the horses. I'm awfully glad he's been around to help out while they recuperated." She turned to Mark and continued, "You know, you've never told me how it is that you love those animals so much when you grew up in the city."

Henry shook his head at her obvious attempt to ignore him and put his hand back on the wheel. As soon as he did so, Polly put her left hand on the console. Without waiting a moment, he set his on top of it and lightly squeezed her fingers.

"It was my grandpa," Mark responded. "My dad's father. He had a farm out in Watertown. It was only about a forty-five minute drive and I spent every bit of free time I could with him. As soon as school was out in the summer, I moved out to the farm with him and Grandma. When I was in high school and got my driver's license, I went out every Friday night and came home on Sundays every chance I had. I liked that way better than having a social life. I worked hard, but it was fun."

"Did your brothers and sister do the same thing?" Polly asked.

"Not really," he mused. "Mom always sent them out for a week or two in the summer, but none of them liked it as much as I did. They spent more time at the dance studio, covering for me, I guess."

Sal asked, "So, you'd rather be a country boy than a city boy?"

"Absolutely!" he said. "When I found the practice here in Bellingwood, I couldn't believe my luck. It's close enough to home that I can get there in a few hours, it's near a couple of nice cities and every day I'm surrounded by farmland. Pert' near perfect," he drawled.

"What's the strangest thing that has happened to you on a farm?" Polly asked.

"I'll tell you the most embarrassing thing, but this happened when I was still a kid.” He grinned and began his story. “So, grandpa and I were pulling pigs one spring ..."

Sal chuckled. "Why were you pulling pigs? Do you have to do that when they won't go where you want them to go?"

Everyone in the truck laughed and after Mark regained his composure, he apologized. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't laugh. I forget that most people have no idea what some of the things I say actually mean. No. Sometimes we have to help the sow give birth."

"You what?" Sal exclaimed. "That sounds awful. Like a gynecologist?"

"Umm, sure. But, it's definitely not in a doctor's office. Anyway, I knew this poor sow had a bunch of piglets in there and she was doing everything she could, but nothing was happening. So, I did what every young man does, I stuck my hand in there to find the piglet, but then I couldn't find anything."

Polly caught Sal shuddering out of the corner of her eye. She looked at Mark and saw his eyes twinkling. However much embarrassment he had felt at the time had obviously passed and this was now a great story.

"You stuck your hand up her ..." Sal started quietly, then stopped.

"Yes. That's what you're supposed to do. Well, I finally had to call grandpa over to give me an extra hand ..."

"Because yours was stuck up this poor sow's hoo hah?" Sal giggled.

"Apparently not," he laughed.

"What?"

"Well, the reason I couldn't find any piglets in there was because I'd stuck my hands in the wrong hole. Grandpa laughed and laughed and then pulled the piglets while I tried not to think about what I had just done."

"That poor pig!" Sal exclaimed. "Not only did you assault her, but you really assaulted her! I can't imagine she liked you very much after that."

"She might have been the sow who chased me out of the pen one day.

"Is this a true story?" Sal asked.

"It sure is," he said. "It was one of my most embarrassing moments on a farm, but grandpa told me not to worry about it, those things happened."

Henry chuckled. "That's not a story you should be telling girls on a blind date, my friend."

"Probably not," Mark laughed. "But, she asked for a weird story and I don't know why it occurred to me to tell that one. I have a lot of stories from being out on the farms around here. That's one of my favorites, though. Most of the good stories are those like Polly's horses. There's nothing I love more than seeing beautiful animals return to health. Okay, and I love helping out with the births of new animal babies."

"Even after that pig experience?" Sal asked.

"Especially after that. I watched Grandpa pull those little piglets out and then watched the sow relax as they lined up to feed and it was the most beautiful sight. I still get excited when a new foal is born and the mother begins to clean it up or when I get to watch a calf come up on its wobbly legs for the first time. I have a great job. And I get to be outside all the time."

"I can't imagine having this much fresh air every day," Sal laughed. "I'm pretty sure it would mess up my lungs, not to mention force me to be outside instead of under the protective cover of steel and glass."

"Have you always lived in the city?"

"I always have and I suppose I always will. It’s my natural habitat. I have to be able to get to the stores and restaurants and clubs and, well, all of that!"

"I don't miss it," Polly said quietly.

"Well, of course you don't," Sal responded. "You grew up out here and don't forget, you have Mr. Hunk over there to keep you company when things get boring."

"That's right," Henry laughed. He grinned at Polly, "She thinks I'm a hunk," and then chortled with laughter. "No one has ever called me that before, but I'll take it."

"You're alright," Polly said and winked at him, squeezing his hand. "You don't offend me."

They were laughing as he pulled into the lot of Hickory Park. He pulled up front and Mark tapped him on the shoulder, "I'll get it," he said and jumped out. He helped both Sal and Polly out of the truck and shut the doors, then escorted them to the front door of the restaurant and they waited inside for Henry to join them.

Henry had been right. As they were escorted to their booth, most of the people they passed looked up and watched them go by. They were completely overdressed and Polly was having the time of her life. She was certain that Sal garnered most of the attention, but felt pretty confident she wasn't shaming their small group. She hadn't worn heels in a while and was quite proud of herself for being able to stride along behind her friend, even if she didn't have the courage to wear, much less purchase, stilettos as high as Sal was used to wearing.

They were seated and menus brought to the table. The poor waiter couldn't keep his eyes off Sal's cleavage, but since she had her back to him, she was completely oblivious to his attention. Polly smiled. Mark and Henry enjoyed the attention and when Henry remarked that he hoped no one thought they'd purchased escorts for the evening, Polly poked him in the side with her index finger.

"Be careful," she said, "Or the entire place will know that we're on a date and I'm not making any money on this evening."

"Got it," he laughed.

The food came out and Polly tried to be dainty, but soon gave in and picked up her sandwich. "If I drop any of this in my lap, I'm going to be annoyed, but here we go!"

They laughed and told stories and just as they were ready to look at the dessert menu, Polly's phone rang in her purse.

"I should have left this at home," she muttered, but pulled it out. It was Jeff Lyndsay calling.

"Hey Jeff, what's up?"

"I'm sorry to bother you," he said, "but there is something going on out in the barn. The horses are making a lot of noise. One of the guests who was outside having a cigarette noticed it. Jason started to go out to see what was going on, but his mother wouldn't let him. What should I do?"

"Where's Eliseo?" she asked.

"Well, duh. That's a good idea. He's down in his room in the basement waiting until the reception is over."

"Just a sec," she said, then put her hand over the phone and said to Mark, "Jeff says the horses are making a lot of noise. Sylvie wouldn't let Jason go check it out and that means she thinks it is a big deal."

"Ask Jeff if either he or Eliseo would go out and see what's going on and we should probably head back to check on them."

"Jeff?"

"I have my leather shoes on, Polly. I'm not going to be happy about this, am I?"

She chuckled in spite of her concern. He had sworn to never dip those shoes in horse crap, but she knew he would help her out. "Take Eliseo with you to check it out. We're going to head back. We'll be there in less than thirty minutes."

"I'm sorry about this," he repeated.