Reflecting Love's Charms (Bellingwood Book 14)

by Diane Greenwood Muir

He nodded toward the room. "Rebecca will probably tell you everything. We don't have any word yet on Stephanie's condition. They were taking her into surgery..." He looked up at a clock on the wall. "About now. Let Rebecca tell you her story and if you have any more questions, I'll be close by. Okay?"

  Polly glanced at Henry. This evening was never going to end. "We have to get Kayla down here," she said.

  "Why don't we find out what's going on and then I'll call Mom or Hayden or somebody. But I want to see my girl."

  Stu opened the door and Rebecca burst up out of a chair and leapt into Polly's arms. "I'm sorry!" she cried.

  Polly held her and then Rebecca looked up at Henry. "I love you guys. I didn't know if I'd ever see you again."

  He put his arms out and she threw herself at him, sobbing. Henry bent down, tucked his arm under her knees and cradled her in his arms as he walked to the sofa. Rebecca cried into his shoulder while Polly rubbed the girl's back.

  Rebecca choked out a few more sobs and then sat up, collected herself and stood, rearranging her dress. "Sorry about that," she said. "I'm not a little girl."

  "Yes you are, honey," Polly said. "At least to us you are. Can you tell us what happened tonight?"

  "I don't even know where to start," Rebecca said. "I thought that after I told Mr. Decker everything I'd have it all straight in my head, but it's gone back to being a jumble. Did he tell you if Stephanie is okay? Nobody will say anything to me. I keep asking and asking."

  "He said she's going into surgery. That's all we know," Henry said.

  "Is someone bringing Kayla down?" Rebecca asked. "She should be at the hospital when Stephanie wakes up."

  Polly and Henry exchanged a look and he stood up. "I'll call home." He held his index finger out. "But no talking until I'm back."

  Rebecca flung herself at Polly again. "All I could think was that I hadn't hardly seen you at all these last few days and I was so sorry."

  "It's all okay," Polly said. "Whether we're near or far, I know you love me. You know that too, right? Your whole family loves you. All the time. Even if we get mad and say rotten things to each other, it never changes how much love there is. Do you know that?"

  "Kinda," Rebecca said. She pulled back. "Yes. I know that. I worked so hard to try to figure out how to get away from that man." She drew her eyes together and pursed her lips. "He was evil, Polly. His face was mean and he said bad things. I can't believe he's Kayla's dad. She's nothing like him."

  Henry came back in. "Aaron already talked to Lydia and it sounds like everyone is meeting at the hospital. We should go over there." He waited for Rebecca to stand beside him. "Hayden and Heath can't wait to see you."

  "Hayden?" Rebecca asked. Then her eyes grew big. "He came home because of..." She glanced at Polly. "I forgot all about that. We're still doing it, aren't we?"

  "I already know about him making breakfast," Polly said.

  Henry and Rebecca looked at each other and nodded.

  "What?" Polly asked.

  "Breakfast casserole. You got it. Happy Mother's Day," Henry said. "We're free to go. Come on."

  When they got into the truck, Polly handed Rebecca her sweater and the beret she'd found earlier.

  "I knew you'd find that," Rebecca said. When he got out of the car to grab me, I threw it."

  "You did that for a clue?" Polly asked. "That was smart."

  "I wanted you to know I had come that way." Rebecca sat forward. "I knew you'd think I had just gone somewhere else if you didn’t find me at home."

  "Good for you. What did he say to get you in his car?"

  Rebecca shook her head. "No. I would never get in a stranger's car. I thought he was just going to ask me for directions, but then he slid over and jumped out and grabbed me. He had a really ugly knife and told me he would be glad to cut me all the way up my belly if I screamed or made a scene."

  Henry gripped the steering wheel, the veins on his hands popping up.

  "Then what happened?" Polly asked, as calmly and quietly as she could.

  "We came down here to Boone. He was staying in a hotel and told me that if I was quiet, he wouldn't hurt me. I didn't know what else to do. I thought it would be smart to just figure out all of my options and as long as he wasn't hurting me, I had time to find a way to escape."

  "That's awfully pragmatic," Polly said.

  "I told myself to think like you would."

  Henry gave Polly a sideways glance and a quick shake of his head. She wasn't sure whether he was upset at that comment or proud. For the moment, she was going to just be proud.

  He pulled into the parking lot at the hospital and they went inside and inquired about Stephanie Armstrong. Once they received directions, Rebecca stopped in front of a vending machine. "Do you have any money?" she asked. "I haven't had anything to eat since Sal’s shower."

  Henry patted his pocket and sighed. "What do you want?" he asked. "I'll go pick something up." He looked at Polly. "I'm hungry too, I guess."

  "None of us had anything to eat except those cookies I made," Polly said. "Are you sure you want to go out?"

  "I'll pick up plenty. You go on," he said. Henry drew Rebecca into another hug. "I've been so worried about you today. I'm glad you're back. You'll have to forgive me if I never let you leave the house alone again."

  "He's kidding, right?" Rebecca asked, taking Polly's hand as they walked toward the waiting room.

  Polly chuckled. "I'm not sure. He was more upset today than I've ever seen him."

  She pushed through the door and Jeff looked up. "Polly, you're here. I figured you'd take Rebecca straight home."

  "I don't want to leave Stephanie," Rebecca said. "Not until I know she's okay." She turned to Polly. "It was her that saved me tonight. She was amazing."

  Jeff nodded. "She was amazing. I was so proud of her."

  "What happened?" Polly asked.

  He glanced at Rebecca.

  "We haven't had time yet," she said.

  "You go, then."

  "I'm going to have to keep telling this story until I get it straight," Rebecca said. "It's still a jumble."

  She sat down across from them and leaned forward, her hands on her knees. "We left the hotel after he finally talked to Stephanie. I knew that was going to be my last chance to get away from him. He hadn't done anything to me yet, but he kept talking about how pretty I was and how much he couldn't wait to be able to see his Kayla again." She grimaced. "Before we got to the hotel, he stopped and picked up something brown in a bottle. He got pretty drunk. I thought maybe that would help me when I wanted to get away. Mom used to have some boyfriends that got drunk." She took a breath. "Anyway, he got really mad when he kept having to leave messages on Stephanie's phone. I didn't know how to tell him that she had left town. He kind of knew that she wasn't around, but then he quit making sense about it. When I heard him tell her that she had to call by nine o'clock, I started to get worried, though."

  "I'll bet you did," Polly said.

  "I was never so glad to hear that phone ring. He'd tied me to the bed." Rebecca sneered. "Using my own new scarf. He did some weird loop-di-loo with my hands and then he tied it around my neck so I couldn't move. I was pretty freaked out."

  Polly forced herself to breathe.

  "When Stephanie called, he sat down on the bed beside me and I thought it was all over." Tears squirted out of Rebecca's eyes, but she put her hands up to stop Polly from moving toward her. "I'm fine. He didn't do anything. In fact, he lay down and put his hand on my leg and then," she looked up, "he fell asleep. I couldn't believe it. He totally passed out right there. I knew what time we were supposed to meet Stephanie, so I kicked him and woke him up."

  Rebecca looked at Polly. "I couldn't reach his balls." She clasped her hand over her mouth and grinned. "Sorry. But I couldn't, even though I wanted to. I just kicked him in the leg. He didn't even notice. He asked me what time it was and when I told him, he untied me from the bed, but tied my hands behind my back and took me out to the ca
r again."

  Jeff reached over and took Polly's hand. It felt good just to have someone else with her while she heard this. Polly's mind reeled as she tried to figure out a good way to tell all of this to Henry so he didn't fall apart. Emphasizing Rebecca's strength would be a start.

  "We drove to the park," Rebecca said, "and he stopped right where he said he would."

  "He was driving drunk?"

  Rebecca shrugged. "It wasn't that far and he did okay." She scowled at Polly. "And really? After all this, you're worried about him being drunk in the car?"

  "Whatever. Go on. But this is the last time I want to hear about you in a car with a drunk driver. Got it?"

  Rebecca looked at Jeff with mock frustration. "Will you talk to her, please?"

  He smiled. "Go on."

  "I turned around to watch for the cars and when I saw one pull in, I didn't know whether I hoped it was Stephanie and Kayla or not. I didn't want Kayla to go through that." Rebecca furrowed her brow. "There weren't any lights on in the park. I didn't realize that until now, so I couldn't tell that it wasn't Kayla. They parked a ways away from us and Stephanie got out. Her dad opened his door and then opened my door. I was in the back seat right behind him. He pulled me out by my hair and he did it so fast, I fell down." She put her hands on her knees and Polly realized they'd been bandaged. "He pulled me back up and I had to figure out how to get my feet under me so I didn't do that again. He was pissed and yanked me around."

  Polly turned to Jeff. "Were you there? Did you see all of this happening?"

  He blew air out through his nose. "Yes. We were back in a covered shelter. And Aaron had all of the lights inside the park turned off so this guy couldn't see anyone."

  "That was it," Rebecca said. "Stephanie parked so she had to come around her car. Kayla was in the back seat behind her and she got out of the car, too. He was so gross, Polly. He kept telling them that he loved his girls and they were the only people in the world who understood him and the only reason he let their mother live so long was because she took care of them and made them ready for him. He didn't like old ladies, just pretty young girls who could be trained to make him happy."

  "Oh ick," Polly said. "I'm so sorry you had to hear that."

  "That wasn’t the worst of it, trust me." Rebecca shook her head. "All I could think was how bad it was that Stephanie had to grow up like that and she'd better not let Kayla ever have to go through it. I was going to do anything I could to make sure that never happened. I didn't know that it wasn't Kayla right away. They came around the car and walked toward us. He was dragging me." Rebecca rubbed the back of her head. "It really hurt but I knew you wouldn't cry or scream about it. You told me that those kinds of hurts don't last long and I kept trying to remember that."

  "Oh, honey."

  "No," Rebecca said. "You were right. It helped me keep focused. I just had to ignore it and wait for the right moment."

  "You shouldn't have had to wait for any right moment. It shouldn’t have happened at all," Henry said from behind her.

  Polly looked up in shock. She hadn't heard him come in either.

  "I brought a crowd." He pushed the door back open and people came flooding into the room.

  One by one and in small groups, they all rushed to Rebecca to hug her and tell her how worried they were.

  Heath picked Rebecca up so her feet dangled and buried his face in her shoulder. From her vantage point, Polly saw tears streaming down his face. He didn't say a word, just held onto Rebecca as he cried. His brother put his hand on Heath's shoulder, rubbing it back and forth.

  Andrew and Kayla held back. When Rebecca was finished hugging Heath, she turned and looked for them and ran to Kayla. "I've missed you all week long," she said. "You can't ever go away like that again. Not ever."

  "I missed you, too," Kayla said. "Are you okay? Did he hurt you?"

  Rebecca shook her head. "I'm okay."

  "What about Stephanie? No one will tell me anything. What happened?"

  Jeff stood up and walked across the room. "Come with me, Kayla. I'll tell you what happened with your sister. You should be very proud of her." He turned and nodded at Polly, then walked the girl out of the room.

  Rebecca stood awkwardly beside Andrew, unsure as to what to say or do.

  "I'm glad you're okay," he finally said. "I was scared something bad would happen."

  "You didn't know that I'd take care of myself?" she asked and gave a sly grin to Polly.

  "No?" His worried face brought laughs from everyone.

  "It's okay, son," Henry said, putting his hand on Andrew's back. "She's going to be a lifetime of trouble for men who love her. I can tell that right now. Just like Polly."

  Andrew looked back and forth between Rebecca and Henry. "That can't be true. She can't be like Polly. I can't take it."

  Henry guided him to the chair next to where Rebecca had been sitting. "I'm with you. Come on. I have plenty of sandwiches. Have a burger while Rebecca finishes telling us her story."

  CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

  "Hmmm..." Rebecca said, dragging out the word. She looked around the room to make sure everyone was paying attention to her. "Where was I? Oh yeah. He had me by my hair and was dragging me across the parking lot."

  Andrew put his burger into his lap and braced his hands on the arms of his chair before turning to stare at Rebecca. Since no one else had been party to the earlier details of her story, shock rippled through the room.

  "But he wasn't done with me yet," she said quietly. "He pulled me up so I was standing in front of him and then all of a sudden he had that big knife in his hands again. He held it right here." She touched her neck. "Then he told Stephanie that he didn't want her and he didn't want me. All he wanted was Kayla. That she hadn't been spoiled by the bitch who raised her and he hoped Stephanie hadn't been telling her a bunch of lies. He told Kayla to come to him, but he wasn't letting me go until she got in the car."

  Rebecca looked around. "I couldn’t even tell that wasn't Kayla. That woman looked just like her. But he made some nasty comment about how she'd let herself go, just like the bitch he married. He was going to fix that, though. If he had to starve her until she was little again, he'd do it. Stephanie didn't say a word and Kayla started across the parking lot to us."

  Rebecca took a deep breath and put the burger she'd been given back in Andrew's lap, as if the thought of food suddenly repulsed her. "Something gave it away then. I don't know what he saw, because it was really dark in that parking lot." She drew in a halting breath. "He tensed up and that lady saw something too. He was going to kill me. He yelled at her to stop and she threw her hoodie back and had a gun in her hand, yelling at him. He yelled that he was going to kill me and he screamed at Stephanie. He called her a bitch and a traitor and said that it was her fault and she'd have to explain why I was dead."

  Polly felt her stomach lurch and grabbed the hand of the person next to her, while watching Rebecca's face turn red. She glanced up and saw that it was Heath. He gripped her hand back with so much strength, she finally pulled away and then put her hand back on top of his. Henry was standing behind Rebecca and reached out to touch her shoulder, making her jump. She looked up and relaxed, then nodded.

  "That's when Stephanie screeched like a maniac," Rebecca said. "She rushed her dad. I don't know what she thought she was going to do, but he dropped me to the ground and went right for her. I..." Rebecca looked at Polly. "What's the word? I was on the ground and tried to get away. Scrambled?"

  "Scrabbled," Polly said.

  "Yeah. That's it. I knew I had to get out of there, but I couldn't take my eyes off what was happening. He rushed back at Stephanie and..." Rebecca began to shake, her voice quavering. Andrew dropped what he had in his hands and put his arm around her, then with his other hand, took hers to calm her. Henry's hand was still on her shoulder, but he bent forward and laid his head on top of hers.

  "He stuck the knife right in Stephanie's stomach. There was so much blood everywhere.
The lady, I think her name is Miss Hart. Anyway, she shot him."

  "Oh, Rebecca," Polly said. She went down on her knees and crossed over to Rebecca, then held on to her waist. "I'm so sorry."

  "He let go of the knife and fell down. The lady kicked the knife away. It came over toward me and I just stared at it. Then all of a sudden there were a million people around me and I started crying when Sheriff Merritt picked me up just like I was a little girl. I didn't think I was going to cry, but I did. One of the other deputies untied my hands." Rebecca touched Polly's arm. "I told him I didn't want to see that scarf again. Is that okay?"

  Polly chuckled through her tears. "They can burn it or do whatever they want to it. I'll never let it back in the house again. I promise."

  "I saw Jeff with Stephanie. I couldn't believe he was there and you weren't." Rebecca tilted her head back to Henry. "Aaron told me he wouldn't let you guys come. Were you really scared?"

  "You have no idea, baby," Polly said. "We were out of our minds."

  "It's a good thing we didn't know what was happening," Henry said.

  Hayden, who had taken the seat on the other side of Rebecca, stood up, gesturing for Henry to take it instead. Polly was glad Henry didn't protest. He came around and sat down beside Rebecca, putting his arm around her so she was completely encompassed.

  "I've never been so upset in my entire life," he said.

  "Can Kayla stay with us tonight?" Rebecca asked.

  "If she wants to." Polly turned to Marie, who got up and stepped out of the room, coming back in a few moments later with Kayla and Jeff.

  Kayla was pale and her face pinched and tight. She came around the chairs and stood in front of Rebecca. "I'm really sorry he did that to you. Jeff told me what happened."

  "Stephanie is a hero," Rebecca said. "And I'm sorry your dad is dead."

  "I'm not." Kayla clenched her jaw and her fists. Her eyes flashed with fury. "He deserved to die after what he did to you and then to Stephanie. I hate him so much. I just wish he would have died a long time ago."

  "Don't say that," Rebecca said, taking her hand back from Andrew. She reached over and took Kayla's hand. "He's your dad. He was really messed up, but you don't want to hate him."