Diane Greenwood Muir - Bellingwood 06 - A Season of Change

by Diane Greenwood Muir

  Polly looked at the ring on her left hand. “How did you get this? And it fits me perfectly.”

  Henry looked a little sheepish and reached into his pocket. “I stole this from your dresser. You’ve worn it several times when we went out.” He dropped a gold band into her hand. It was another of her mother’s rings. Polly was surprised she hadn’t missed it, but things had been out of control for a few months, anything could have happened and she wouldn’t have known it.

  “But how did you know that I wanted to wear Mom’s engagement ring?”

  He put his hand on top of hers. “When you pulled it out of the lock box last year and told me that your Dad wanted you to have it, I knew I didn’t want you to ever wear anything else. I took it out one night when I was with the kids and had it resized and cleaned up. They reinforced the setting and replaced one of the baguettes. It had to be perfect.” He smiled at her. “You deserve perfect.”

  “I’m going to drive you crazy, Henry. I hope you know that.”

  “As long as I have you, you can drive me anywhere you like.” He took her hand, “Thank you for saying yes to me tonight because I also bought a wedding ring to match it. I thought I was going to serve a romantic dinner and pop the question over candlelight, but I couldn’t wait any longer.”

  “I’m glad you didn’t wait. I’d have been a nervous wreck. So when do you want to do this?”

  He wrinkled his nose and drew back. “The wedding? Oh I don’t want to do that at all. I just want to be married to you.”

  “Well, that sounds fine with me. When do you want to get married? Tuesday? Wednesday?”

  Henry sat back on the sofa. “Are you kidding? You’d let me get away with that? Don’t you think we should talk about it a little more?”

  “I really don’t care about a wedding, Henry. It seems ridiculous at our age to spend thousands of dollars on dresses and tuxedos and worry about limousines and flowers. Don’t you think?”

  “Of course I think that, but I never hoped to hear those words from you.”

  “We get married whenever and wherever we want to get married and then we’ll have a big party at Sycamore House later on. I’m in no hurry. We can wait until Jeff has a free Saturday night and then we’ll invite everyone.”

  “I don’t even know what to say to you right now,” he gasped. “You’re perfect!”

  “Don’t forget that.” She winked at him. “You figure out how to get us married. But we aren’t going to tell a soul until it’s done so no one can stop us, okay?”

  “Okay.” He shook his head. “I still don’t know what to say. Are you serious?”

  “I’m completely serious. The wedding means so much less than the marriage to me. Are you in?”

  “Polly Giller, you’re going to marry me!” He jumped up from the sofa, grabbed her arms and pulled her up and into his arms. “I love you.”

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  Nothing was worse than a bitterly cold and windy day, so Polly waited in her truck for the kids to get out of school. Rebecca was going to be excited to spend time with her mother in a place that felt more like home than a hospital room.

  She knew she was early and didn’t mind having a few quiet moments. The diamond caught her eye and she twisted the ring on her finger. Yeah, that was going to be a problem. Polly didn’t often wear rings because they drove her nuts. She was always messing with jewelry, twisting and turning it. Even though her ears were pierced, she rarely wore earrings because she played with them until her earlobes turned red. She willed her right hand away from the left and gripped the steering wheel instead.

  She was engaged. In fact, she and Henry had applied for their marriage license this morning. He had taken her to Boone and they picked Sarah up at the hospital. Polly made sure the woman really did have enough energy before they went to the courthouse where she witnessed their wedding license application. All they had to do now was wait three days before they quietly got married.

  Sarah had promised to tell no one, reminding Polly that she didn’t know anyone in town to tell. But Polly knew her friends. As soon as Sarah was settled, people would be in to meet her and one misstep would have Lydia, Beryl and even Jeff coming for Polly’s throat. Rebecca had been out of the room when Polly asked for the favor. It would be just her luck that Rebecca would say something to Sylvie before Polly could tell everyone. Secrets were hard to keep in a small town.

  Polly had taken the ring off yesterday because she wasn’t ready to face the barrage of questions that would come her way. This was exactly the way Andy had felt when her relationship with Len Specek had begun last year. She wanted to enjoy it all by herself before sharing it with the world.

  Since she and Henry had spent the rest of yesterday cleaning his house once more before his mother arrived, Polly was glad to have the ring in a safe place. She might get used to wearing it soon, but having it fall off into a sink or get sucked into a vacuum cleaner after just one day was too much for her to think about.

  They finished at the courthouse, made a quick run to the Heater’s home to pick up a few more things, and then had taken an exhausted Sarah to Sycamore House. Polly spent the rest of the afternoon at Henry’s house cleaning things they hadn’t gotten to last night.

  Bill and Marie should be home by now after having driven in from Arizona. Henry announced they would all be eating at Davey’s this evening. Polly was nervous. She really liked his parents, but things had changed this weekend and now they were about to be family.

  Andrew opened the door to the truck and jumped in, scooting in close so Rebecca and Jason could also get in. Polly realized that it might be time to get a different vehicle if she was going to transport this many children. She was thankful they only had a couple of blocks to go. Polly twisted the diamond on her finger so that it was facing down and none of the kids would see it.

  “Rebecca and I got an A on our project,” he said, waving a piece of paper at her. “We make a great team.”

  “Yes you do. Congratulations.” Polly looked around the two to Jason, who was hugging the car door. “How did your day go, Jason?”

  “It was fine,” he muttered.

  Andrew cupped his hand across his mouth and whispered in Polly’s ear, “Missy Sechowitz likes him. She follows him around.”

  “Shut up, punk,” Jason grumbled and hunched into the car door a little more.

  Polly wasn’t sure what to do with that, so she chose to ignore them and hurry home.

  “Is she here?” Rebecca asked tentatively.

  Polly reached across Andrew and patted the girl’s knee. “She sure is and she’s so excited to see you.”

  Andrew was crestfallen. “What am I going to do now?”

  “You can come with me,” Rebecca said.

  “No, he’s fine,” Polly said. “We’ll go to the library. Do you have any books you’d like him to pick up for you?”

  Rebecca took a piece of paper out of her backpack and began scratching rapidly. She handed the list to Andrew and gave him her library card, then said to Polly. “I have books on the table upstairs. Can he take those back for me, too?”

  “You bet. We’ll do that. You just go see your mom.” Polly pulled into the garage and the kids piled out. Jason headed for the barn while Rebecca took off at a dead run through the kitchen.

  Andrew seemed forlorn. “I was getting used to having her around. Now I’m alone again.”

  “Hah,” Polly laughed. “Like you can’t find something to do. You take Obiwan outside and I’m going to talk to Rachel about dinner, then we’ll go to the library.”

  He ran upstairs and Polly went into the kitchen. Rachel was sitting at the back table in front of a laptop. She looked up when Polly sat down across from her.

  “Have you given any thought to some easy dinner options?” Polly asked.

  Rachel didn’t say anything and then she pointed at Polly’s hand. “Ummm, what’s that?”

  “Ahhh, it’s nothing,” Polly laughed.

  “
That’s not nothing. It’s really pretty. Can I see it?” Rachel reached across the table and brought Polly’s hand up. “It is what I think it is, isn’t it?”

  “If you think it’s a diamond ring, then you’re right on.”

  “Is it from Henry?”

  “Yes and you have to be quiet. I haven’t told anyone and there are people in this town who will kill me if they find out from someone other than me. You can’t even tell Billy.”

  Rachel’s kohl-lined eyes looked at Polly in shock. “But I tell him everything!”

  “You can’t tell him this, not until tomorrow. Promise?”

  “Okay,” she smiled. “I promise. But I’m telling him tomorrow night, no matter what.”

  “Got it. So, dinner for Sarah and Rebecca?”

  “I made chicken and noodles over mashed potatoes for lunch today. Do you think she would be able to eat that?”

  “That would be wonderful. Thank you, Rachel.”

  “It’s no big deal. Sylvie gets everything ready. All I have to do is cook and clean. It’s a pretty good job, Polly. Thanks.”

  “I’m glad you’re here.”

  Polly went on through the kitchen to Sarah Heater’s room, waving at Jeff as she walked past. She either needed to avoid him completely until tomorrow or just confront him right now. This was harder than she realized.

  She knocked on Sarah’s door and Rebecca opened it up and then stepped back. “I love this,” the little girl said. “Mom has everything she needs right here and look, I can put a sleeping bag on the floor right here.” Then she said quietly, “Mom says I can sleep upstairs tonight, but I’m worried that she might need me. What do you think, Polly?”

  “I don’t know. It’s really up to your mom.”

  “I’ll be fine, honey. I’m not an invalid yet.”

  “But I want to be with you.”

  “I can bring down an air mattress,” Polly said. “I have plenty of sheets and blankets for it. Whatever you’d like to do.”

  “That would be fine,” Sarah replied.

  “Andrew and I will come back with the bed. I know he wants to meet you.” Polly turned to Rebecca, “When you two are ready for dinner, Rachel made chicken and noodles. She made plenty.”

  Polly walked back into the main building and bracing herself, walked into Jeff’s office and sat down. “Are you busy?” she asked.

  “You know I’m never too busy for you. What’s up?”

  “I think Sarah Heater is settled into her room. Thanks for taking care of that for me. Are you ready for me to rock your world?”

  He waggled his eyes at her. “You know I love you, but that’s a little risqué, even for me.”

  “Uh huh. Whatever.” Polly put her left hand on the desk.

  “So, what is it you’re going to do to rock my world this time? Is it a restaurant or something else you’re planning to restore?”

  She wiggled her fingers, looked at her hand and back at him.

  “What is up with the weird looks, woman?” he asked.

  Polly lifted her hand and stuck it in front of his face. “That’s what’s up. How did you not notice that I was wearing a ring?”

  Jeff grabbed her hand and leaped out of his chair. He ran around the desk and pulled her up out of her chair into a hug. “You said yes! I’m so proud of you, Polly.”

  “Wait. You’re proud of me? For wanting to marry Henry?”

  “We thought it would never happen. You have avoided talk of marriage for the last year and that poor sap has been courting you so hard, I thought he was going to give himself a stroke.”

  “Oh, shut up.” She sat back down. “I’m not that bad.”

  “Yes you are. When’s the big day? I will cancel anything you want, just give me time to figure it out.”

  “Don’t make plans yet. We don’t know when the wedding will happen, but I do need to talk to you about the rooms upstairs. I’m about to steal them all away from you.”

  “For your own house! That’s a great idea.” He skipped through the calendar on his computer and began muttering. “I can put him here and she hasn’t confirmed. I can shift this around here.” He turned back to Polly. “I can have it emptied out completely in a month. One of the rooms will empty out next week, then another the week after that and finally the last one will be empty. I just won’t take any more reservations until the hotel is open.” He turned back to look at her. “I’m so happy for you. Have you told Lydia yet? She’s going to want to plan a huge party.”

  “I haven’t told anyone, so please promise that you’ll be quiet for a day. We’re having dinner with Henry’s parents tonight and then I’ll talk to Lydia and the girls tomorrow. Can you do that?”

  “It will kill me, but I’ll zip it until you say.”

  “Thank you, Jeff, and as soon as I want to talk about a date, I’ll let you know.”

  She went upstairs and within a short time, she and Andrew had put Rebecca’s bed together in the downstairs room. Sarah was still sitting up in the overstuffed chair, but she was yawning.

  “Come on, Andrew. We have places to go and things to do.” She turned to Sarah. “If you need anything, you have my cell number and Rebecca knows where everything is in Sycamore House. Feel free to ask for what you need.”

  Sarah smiled at them as they left.

  “She looks really sick, Polly,” Andrew said.

  “She is really sick, so we are going to make sure that she and Rebecca are taken care of while they’re here. Do you know where Rebecca’s books are?”

  “There’s a stack upstairs.”

  “Why don’t you go get them and meet me back at the truck.” Polly was more than glad to let his little legs run up the stairs again. That was one terrific thing about having kids around part-time. They were still willing to help out when she asked. She walked through the auditorium and tried to imagine what type of wedding celebration she could have in here. It wasn’t going to be anything normal, it would have to be something quite different.

  Andrew raced her up the front steps of the library and held the door open for her. He carried the books to the circulation desk, where Andy was sitting with Joss. Polly took the ring off her finger and slipped it into the pocket of her jeans. She had been ready to tell Joss, but she wouldn’t tell Andy before Lydia, that would be too hard on her friends.

  “How was your weekend?” Joss asked and winked. “Did you and Henry have a good time?”

  “We had a wonderful time,” Polly said. “And we even got the house clean enough so he won’t worry about his mom coming home.” She looked up at the clock. “They should be there now. I’ll be glad when she finally settles in. He’s been a wreck about this.”

  “Is he really going to live with them again?” Andy asked.

  “Probably not for very long. He’ll figure something out,” Polly said nonchalantly.

  Joss stood up and walked around the desk. “I want you to see what we’ve done with the children’s room before you get here tomorrow night with Obiwan,” and guided Polly into another room. Nothing had changed and Polly wondered what was up.

  “So did you have the long talk with him? Tell me what happened?”

  “You aren’t even going to believe it,” Polly said. “And if you tell Andy, I will kill you, but …” she pulled the ring out of her pocket and slipped it onto her finger.

  Joss took a breath and Polly stopped her. “Don’t you dare squeal or yell or anything. She can’t know yet.”

  “But, this is wonderful. After all of that turmoil and now you’re engaged? I can’t stand not doing something.” Joss grabbed her into a hug. “When are you getting married? Have you set a date? Where are you going to live? Is he moving into Sycamore House?”

  “I have no date yet and yes, we’re going to re-do the upper level at Sycamore House. But that’s all I’m going to tell you because you don’t know anything. Right?”

  Joss straightened up and managed to achieve a poker face. “I know nothing. But when can I talk abou
t it?”

  “I’ll tell Lydia and Beryl and Andy tomorrow. I promise. Then, I don’t care who else knows.”

  “Whew. I wouldn’t be able to hold out much longer than that.”

  When they got back to Sycamore House, Andrew took Rebecca’s books to her and then came back upstairs. He watched television while Polly dressed for the evening out. She made sure the ring was back on her finger when Henry picked her up.

  “I’m a little nervous about seeing your parents tonight, Henry. I hope they approve.”

  “Oh come on, you know better than that.”

  “They don’t know me very well.”

  “They know I love you and they’ll be very glad that I’m happy. Now stop worrying.”

  He dropped her off at the front door. The parking lot was packed. She waited for him to join her and they went inside. His parents showed up soon after and while they were waiting for a table, Polly’s worst nightmare walked in the door. Aaron and Lydia Merritt came in with Len, Andy, and Beryl.

  “Bill and Marie, it’s so good to have you back in town,” Lydia said, rushing over to give them a hug. “When did you get home?”

  “Just today,” Marie said. “It really did feel good to drive into town and know I was staying for a while. I love not facing winter in Iowa, but I missed everyone.”

  “Are you having an intimate dinner or should we get a table for everyone?” Lydia asked.

  Polly took Henry’s hand and squeezed it. He looked down at her and grinned. “Whatever you want to do,” he laughed.

  She shrugged, while Bill and Aaron shook hands and then strode over to the hostess.

  “It’s going to take a few more minutes for a large table, but we won’t starve,” Bill said when they returned. “Have you found the murderer yet, Sheriff?” he asked Aaron.

  “We have some leads,” Aaron said. “We’re still waiting to find out how he was actually killed. He was beaten and stabbed.”

  “Someone sure wanted that poor boy dead,” Bill said. “Don’t you always look at the wife first?”

  Aaron smiled. “We do. We’re not ruling anyone out yet.”