Did they like a good McDonald's hamburger or were they above that, only eating foie gras and duck confit? The thought of either of those items turned Polly's stomach. Maybe living the international high life wasn't all that special.
But it was. They'd seen things she would never get an opportunity to see. They'd climbed the Eiffel Tower and had even met the Pope in Vatican City. They'd gone to Rio for Carnival and ridden on elephants in India. Marie had hated that life, but it was surprising to Polly that Henry was so willing to stay at home. He told her that he'd never had anyone to travel with, but he seemed to be as content as she was with living in Bellingwood.
Rebecca's heart was more attuned to travel. While they weren't traveling as a family this summer with all that was going on, next summer had to be different. However, Polly could hardly wait to give Rebecca her birthday present. She'd been planning it for months and it was killing her to wait.
Henry and Heath were at the shop finishing their gift for Rebecca. They wouldn't let Polly in on that secret either. She wasn't sure who was more ready to burst for tomorrow's fun: her or Rebecca.
As for the shower, Polly and Sal had long since managed that gift. Polly had hired Bill Sturtz to build a crib for the nursery and then she helped Sal refinish a few pieces they found at Simon Gardner's antique shop earlier this spring. Polly did all of the work, since Sal was afraid of getting too near the chemicals, but between the two of them, they'd started an absolutely adorable room for the baby. The pieces Sal had purchased this week would finish it. Since Sal and Mark didn't want to know the gender before the birth, Sal was using bright primary colors against the dark walnut furniture. Rainbows and balloons made it one of the happiest rooms Polly had ever seen.
What Sal didn't know was that Sylvie, Camille and Elise had asked Bill to make a bassinet for the baby. When Sal was trying to think of everything she might need, that never occurred to her and Polly was under strict orders to keep her in the dark about it.
So many fun things were happening this weekend; it broke Polly's heart that Stephanie and Kayla weren’t here to participate.
Han came bounding into the bedroom and leaped on top of Polly.
"What?" she whined, rolling over so he'd slide off.
He licked her face and put his paws out, his butt in the air; sure signs that he was ready to play.
"Why didn't Henry take you?"
The dog wagged his tail and bounced his front paws at her, growling in play. This silly thing wasn't giving up. She had Obiwan trained. Yes, Han was quite well trained when you gave him orders, but the rest of the time, he was a big, dumb goofy dog.
He bounced his paws again and spun around on the bed, then nosed at her face.
"Fine. I'm up." Polly tossed the blankets off and then grabbed them again and snuggled back in. May's weather was all over the place. Two weeks ago it had been cold and rainy and in the fifties, last week the temperatures were in the seventies and they had sunshine. But this morning it was back in the fifties and the sky was gray and threatening. Spring in Iowa was always entertaining.
Han refused to let her settle back in. He draped himself across her waist and stuck his nose in her face again. She could feel his bottom wagging with excitement.
"I don't do this very often, do I?" she asked. "Okay, okay. I'll suffer in the cold. Now get off me."
She pushed him aside, threw the blankets back again, shivered and sat up.
After a shower, Polly pulled on a pair of shorts and a sweatshirt, thankful again for radiant heat coming up from the floor. She chuckled. That was one thing she'd miss when they moved to the new house. There was no way she'd be able to talk Henry into redoing all of the floors. Maybe he'd just do their bedroom. But then she'd feel guilty that the kids didn't have it in their rooms and they'd miss it in the kitchen and living room. Yeah. She was just going to have to go without.
Henry had left the coffee pot on in the kitchen and there was enough left for a mug while she brewed a second pot. As she filled the pot with water from the sink, she looked out at the sycamore trees lining the drive. Leaves had started popping and after three years, the trees were branching out. They weren't nearly as big as her dreams told her they would be someday, but they were still beautiful. Polly looked across the street at the swimming pool's parking lot. If there was one thing she hated, it was that there was a public parking lot across from her house. Two cars were there this morning and with all the talk about Stephanie's father being in town, Polly worried. She'd been staked out before by people parking in that lot.
Parking spaces at Sycamore House were filling with people preparing for a wedding reception this evening. Sylvie would already have the cake here and Rachel would arrive later this morning to begin preparations for the meal. She and Jeff had an amazing staff.
With her coffee mug in one hand, Polly opened the refrigerator to look for something interesting to eat for breakfast. She opened the freezer and chuckled at the amount of ice cream. The sundaes had been a hit, but Henry had bought way too much. However, he'd managed to slide a box of ice cream sandwiches in as well. She looked around, chuckling at herself. There was no one here to see her, so she took one out, peeled the wrapping back and went out to the living room to eat her ice cream on the sofa. It was good to be alone on a Saturday morning.
Polly had no more gotten her feet up on the coffee table when a knock came at her front door.
"Who is it?" she called out.
"It's me. Jeff."
She looked around guiltily for a place to hide the ice cream and then decided to just own it. Unlocking the door, she frowned at him. "What are you doing?"
"I need to talk to you."
"Okay. Come on in." Polly brandished her ice cream sandwich. "Want one?"
He laughed and patted his stomach. "No. Get thee behind me. I'm doing good."
"Yes you are." She locked the door behind him and said, "Sit. What's up?"
"I know where Stephanie is."
"Okay. Where is Stephanie and how do you know this?"
"I'm a bad stalker boy," he said, dropping his head. "I should be ashamed."
"What did you do?"
"I went through the search history on her computer."
Polly sat down and nodded. "That's a great idea. What did you find?"
"Well, she was looking at hotels and I think I know where she went."
"And you're just going to taunt me with this information? Spit it out. Is she far away?"
He bent over and lowered her voice to a whisper. "I think she's only in Omaha."
"Why are we whispering?" Polly bent close to him.
"Because I don't want anyone else to hear."
She sat back up. "I'm all alone this morning. So, you found where she's staying in Omaha?"
"I think so. She did searches in Minneapolis and Sioux Falls and then she checked out Kansas City and Omaha. She hit a hotel's site in Omaha three times just before she took off."
"I talked to her last night," Polly said quietly. "She isn't ready to come home." Polly grinned. "And we both think you're a stalker."
Jeff sat straight up. "What did you talk about? Are they okay?"
"They're fine and I offered to wire her money if she needs it. They've gotten another cell phone. Jeff, her father absolutely terrifies her. He threatened Kayla."
"That makes sense," Jeff said.
"He left really terrible messages on her old cell phone. I can't imagine where he found her number, but she's saving them for the police."
"Did you tell her that they could stay with me?"
"More than you've told her?" Polly asked. "Of course I did. And I told her that they could stay here at Sycamore House or anywhere they felt safe."
"You know that it kills me she won't let me help her through this. We've been through just about everything else together."
"Stephanie believes that she is keeping us all safe by leaving town," Polly said. "I hope that she got to Omaha and stayed there, rather than moving on somewhere els
e."
"Ach," Jeff said, looking down at the floor. "I didn't even think about that. I was just so excited to find something ... anything that might help us find her."
~~~
Polly checked herself in the mirror one last time, then stopped at the dining room table to pick up the package Rebecca had wrapped for the shower. Beryl had taken the girl out for lunch after their lesson and the two would come to the coffee shop together.
"See you later," she said to the animals as she headed out the front door. It might be Rebecca's birthday weekend, but so far Polly felt like she'd had a fantastic treat with all of those hours by herself. She’d spent time reading and sprawled out on the sofa in the living room and the other sofa in the media room; she'd watched television and spent way too much time with her computer. So far it was a great day.
Enough cars would be parked around the coffee shop that Polly decided to just walk up. It was only two blocks and though it was cool, the rain had stopped, clouds had passed and the sun was out in full force.
There was no reason to arrive early. Camille and Elise were decorating. And at that, it wasn't very extravagant. Sal insisted that there were to be no silly baby shower games. She was not measuring her waist for anyone, and she'd made Camille promise that any decorations had to go home with people today; she didn't want anything to end up at her house. Sylvie was in charge of the goodies, Polly was footing the bill for any drinks people wanted from the coffee shop and other than that, it was simply an opportunity for people to get together to celebrate Sal's baby.
Sal and her mother were already at the Sweet Beans when Polly walked in.
"Hello, Polly," Lila Kahane said. "It's good to see you again."
"Are you having a nice weekend in Iowa?" Polly asked.
"It's very quaint."
"Mom, stop it."
"What?" Lila asked. "I didn't say anything negative. I just said that it's quaint."
"But we all know what you mean." Sal hooked her arm through her mother's and gave Polly a quick shake of her head. "Have you met Mark's mother yet, Polly?"
"No I haven't." Polly nodded toward a voluptuous, gorgeous woman talking to Lydia Merritt. "Is that her?"
"Yes. Isn't she amazing? Come on." Drawing her mother along with them, Sal led Polly over and said, "Kathryn? I'd like you to meet my friend, Polly Giller. Polly, this is Kathryn Ogden."
Mark's mother turned to Polly with a radiant smile and put her hand out to take Polly's. "I've heard so much about you, it's nice to finally meet you face to face."
"It's nice to meet you, too, Mrs. Ogden," Polly said.
It was easy to tell that the woman was a dancer. She held herself upright with grace and strength; every movement seemed to glide into the next. She wore a simple, deep blue wrap dress and her dark hair, sprinkled with hints of gray, was pulled into a loose pony tail.
"Your friend, Lydia, was just telling me about the house you are renovating. You found a still this week?"
Polly laughed. "We did. It's been fun to re-learn the history of Prohibition while I tried to figure out what it was we had there. Those were exciting times in this country and to think my house had a small part in it. Next thing you know, someone will tell me that Al Capone slept in one of the bedrooms."
"Wouldn't that be terrific?" Kathryn said. "Do you think it's possible?"
"From the looks of the empty bottles and labels we discovered, the business was in full swing. I'm hoping to find someone whose family was involved, just to get some more information."
The front door bell rang and Beryl waltzed in with Rebecca in tow. Beryl was in full regalia, wearing a long purple dress, a raspberry beaded belt hanging low on her waist. An immense beaded brooch held a raspberry scarf in place on her shoulder and a bright purple wide-brimmed hat adorned her head.
"Hello all," she called out.
Rebecca caught Polly's eye and grinned. She'd been caught up in Beryl's colorful frenzy, but instead of purple, she wore a shorter, blue dress with a gold chain at her waist, a gold, teal and pink scarf slung around her neck and a gold beret on her head.
"Excuse me," Polly said to Kathryn and Lila, "that's my daughter."
Before Polly could walk away, Lila Kahane stopped her. "Is that really Beryl Watson? The artist?"
"Have you heard of her?"
"Oh my, yes. Anybody who is anybody knows of Beryl Watson." Lila turned on her daughter. "Why didn't you tell me you knew Beryl Watson?"
"I didn't assume you'd know who she was," Sal replied.
"You must introduce us."
Polly gave a quick shrug and walked over to where Beryl and Rebecca were talking to Elise. "You two look fabulous," she said.
"Don't we?" Beryl did a quick spin. "We skipped our lesson this morning and did some shopping. Rebecca needed something fun and wild in her wardrobe. Did we succeed?"
"You certainly did." Polly hugged Rebecca to her. "You really look great. I love this style on you."
"Beryl calls it boho casual," Rebecca said, then she whispered to Polly. "I don't think she really knows what that is, but I like it." She tugged at the scarf, then patted the beret. "I want more things like this. And this dress is so cool." She spun around and the dress lifted in the breeze she created. "It's comfortable, too."
"You're really growing up," Polly said. "I need to quit thinking of you as a girl and remember that you're growing into a young woman. It's killing me, you know."
They turned around when Joss came in the front door, followed by Sandy Davis.
"No babies?" Polly asked, greeting each of them with a hug.
Joss huffed a laugh. "Not if I can help it. Their dad is over at the new house with them. He thought this would be the perfect time for them to get used to it while there is no furniture there. I think it's great. Whatever he wants to do."
"And you?" Polly asked Sandy.
"Benji's mom. He's in Des Moines today. Hopefully I won't be gone too long. I think she wants to go shopping this afternoon, so I can’t strand her with the baby."
Camille tapped a knife on a mug to get everyone's attention.
"Hello everyone, and welcome," she said. "We'll start soon, but please order whatever you'd like to drink from the coffee shop. It's on us. Our own Sylvie Donovan and her crew baked the delightful treats for this afternoon. Sal will be seated at this table," and she pointed at a table near the bathroom. "If you put your gifts there, we'll have a little fun and get to it. Thank you for coming."
"Really?" Sandy asked. "Free coffee? Oh my goodness, you have no idea how much I was looking forward to being here today. Just so I could buy a coffee. Thank you."
Polly laughed. "We all have our addictions, don't we? This is one of my worst."
Lila had not left Beryl’s side since the moment Sal had introduced them. Beryl finally put her hand on Lila's arm to stop the woman from talking. Taking Polly's arm, she drew her aside. "Do you really like Rebecca's outfit?"
"Oh Beryl, it's fantastic. Did you two go to Ames? By yourselves?"
Beryl scowled at her. "I knew just where I was going. We didn't get lost once. I promise."
"Thank you for making her feel so special."
"I can't wait until tomorrow's party," Beryl said. "She's going to be so surprised."
Polly nodded. "So you met Lila Kahane?"
Beryl quickly glanced over her shoulder. "Apparently Sal is more like her father than her mother. Though I believe I've given the woman a year's worth of name-dropping. Good heavens, she's shallow."
"You're so funny," Polly said. "Here you finally have an adoring fan show up in your back yard and you're not interested in her adulation."
"It would be one thing if she'd actually purchased something of mine. As it is, she's trying to drop names with me of wealthy people in Boston who own my work. Honey, I already know them." Beryl nodded at a cluster of women. "Who's the babe?"
Polly followed her gaze. "That's Mark's mother, Kathryn Ogden. Isn't she gorgeous? And she's as nice as they come, too.
"
"Well, that explains that," Beryl said. "This child of theirs has great potential for beauty." She scrunched up her face. "I certainly hope it isn't an ugly baby, though. Have you ever had to stand over someone's newborn and lie about how cute they are? It's not fun. Lydia's Marilyn? She was one seriously ugly infant. I was scared she'd never grow out of it."
"Beryl," Polly hissed in a whisper. "Stop that."
"Her next two weren't very attractive either. But Lydia and Aaron loved them like they were perfect. They must have seen something in them that I couldn't see."
"You're dreadful."
"At least Andy's babies were cute. They had those little round cheeks and button noses that you just wanted to squeeze..."
"I got so tired of you squeezing my babies' noses," Andy said, coming up behind Beryl. "I was just sure you were going to wear them off."
Beryl reached out and tweaked Andy's nose, causing the other woman to jump back.
"Don't ever change, Beryl," Polly said. "You're one in a million."
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Sal finished opening her gifts, and then after people ate their fill and congratulated her, the shower broke up and women drifted out of the coffee shop. Some of them left with the adorable mason jar centerpieces that Camille and Elise made. Sylvie had brought up ten jars from Sycamore House's stock. They'd originally used them at the barn raising and hoedown three years ago and Polly was afraid they'd never see the bottom of those boxes. Filling the jars with M&Ms would have been enough, but they'd attached the lid to the outside of the jar with bright ribbons, and stuck a wooden skewer into it with a gift card to Sweet Beans from Sal.
Since Rebecca was sitting by herself at a table while others were cleaning up, Polly walked over and dropped into a chair beside her. "Had a long day?"
Reflecting Love's Charms (Bellingwood Book 14) Page 15