"This is so sweet," Polly said. "Do you think we're spoiling her?"
He chuckled. "Of course we are. But this was mostly the boys' idea. Once I get the lower rooms finished and sealed, they'll put the framework up and build it out. Dad and I will keep an eye on the project, but we'll only get involved if they have questions or need help." He tapped the phone. "Heath did the drawings at school. He said his engineering teacher gave him some pointers, but he figured it out on his own."
Polly tucked up close to Henry and rested her head on his arm. "I can't believe you didn't tell me."
"It would have ruined your surprise this morning and that was the last thing any of us wanted to do. We like surprising you."
"That was a pretty nice surprise." She yawned. "And even better that I don't have to do a lot of preparation for this afternoon. I can't believe you got everyone to do the work for me."
"They're just bringing lawn chairs and a few card tables. It's Mother's Day. You should get a pass."
Polly took two deep breaths and forced her shoulders to relax, then worked her way through the muscles down her body until she started to drift off to sleep. Henry startled her as he pulled his arm out from underneath her, but she turned over and snuggled back into him.
"I love you," she said.
"I love you too."
~~~
Having a catering company in your house made party planning a snap. Polly and Rachel set food containers out on two tables Eliseo and Henry had brought from Sycamore House while Doug and Billy set up the drink coolers on another table, just outside of the gazebo. It was enough for Polly that food would probably be spilled on the floor of her new building; she wanted to avoid sugary, colorful drinks staining the floor. Heath, Hayden, and Rebecca were setting up the croquet set in the side yard. For as much as they laughed when Polly wanted to play it, the kids all chose to pull it out when they had a group of friends over.
She looked up at the sound of voices and recognized a few girls from Rebecca's class.
"Rebecca, you have friends here," Polly called out, pointing at the other side of the house.
Rebecca ran over and grabbed the two girls by the hands, pulling them back to where she'd been helping Heath and Hayden.
"She looks really happy after what happened to her last night," Rachel said.
Polly nodded in agreement. "I don't know if it hasn't hit her or if she is really just that resilient. But for today, I'm just going to let her be happy and relaxed. She's with people who love her and make her feel safe. That's all that matters right now. It might be different tomorrow and if it is, I'll deal with it."
"You know everyone is going to be talking about it today, right?"
"I hadn't thought about it," Polly said with a laugh. "But you're right." She shook her head. "It will make for a long evening if I have to answer the same questions over and over."
Rachel looked over at her and grinned. "You could just tell them you'll send an email blast out tomorrow with all the pertinent details."
"You're rotten." Polly sighed. "But it sounds like a great idea."
Two more kids came in, saw where the others were and ran across the yard.
"Hello, Hello," Beryl called out as she crossed into the back yard. "I brought my posse." She turned back to the front of the house and yelled, "Posse, hurry up. You're making me look bad."
She stopped in front of the steps up to the gazebo. "Isn't this fancy. Henry will do just about anything to get you into the sack."
"Beryl!" Polly scolded. "Where did you get that idea?"
Beryl laughed out loud as she looked at the faces of the young people standing there. "Can't let these youngsters think they're the only ones who like..." She craned her neck forward. "Sex," she said in a loud whisper.
Doug shook his head and Billy gave Rachel a pinched look.
"You can't be starting the party this way," Polly said, walking forward. "Be good."
Beryl rolled her eyes. "You never let me have any fun. Boys, would you go help Aaron? He's bringing in tables and chairs."
The two boys ran away from the gazebo with looks of relief.
"They're so easy," Beryl said. She handed a package to Polly. "Here it is. Where shall we put it?"
"I brought Rebecca's easel," Polly said. We'll just put it up here for now. Let everyone wonder what it is." She took the painting-shaped package and propped it up on the easel at the back of the gazebo. Beryl had taken one of Polly’s photographs of the two of them sketching the walnut trees on Beryl’s land from last January and turned it into a painting to hang on Rebecca’s bedroom wall.
"What do you think of my Mother's Day present?" Polly asked Beryl, turning back around to see Lydia and Andy crossing the yard, both of their mouths gaping open.
"Is this it?" Lydia asked. "It's gorgeous. You are such a lucky girl. I could never get Aaron to build anything like this."
Andy looked at Len, who was coming up behind them with an armload of lawn chairs.
"Your back yard looks out over the cemetery," he said.
"So does Polly's," Andy quipped. "You don't see her complaining about it." She took two of the chairs from him and set them up. "For that matter, you don't see me complaining about it either."
"Your yard isn't quite as big." he said.
"Okay, I'll give you that," she replied. "But wouldn't it be nice to sit outside in a swing under a gazebo?"
Len shook his head. "It's a cemetery."
She laughed at him as she came up the steps to Polly and Beryl. "He complains about it every time I try to do something in the back yard. I think he's afraid that I'm going to dig a hole and push him in someday."
Lydia flipped out a table cloth and spread it across her table. "Do you have those clips, honey?" she asked.
Aaron pulled a handful out of his pocket and handed them to her, then walked away as Lydia clipped the cloth to the table, smoothing out nonexistent wrinkles.
"Did you girls do it yet?" she asked.
Beryl scowled. "We were waiting for you. Get your tidy butt up here and hurry. We don't want to embarrass Polly in front of a crowd."
Lydia put her hand on the railing and smiled down at the steps. "This is a very nice addition to the yard. You're going to enjoy it."
"I hope we all do," Polly said. "I can see a few of our parties happening back here."
"Not without bug spray." Beryl brushed a bug away from her face. "Okay. Your little girlie-girl told us what was happening for Mother's Day for you and we wanted in on it. So here is mine." She held her hand out with a small box.
At the same time, Lydia and Andy presented theirs.
"You shouldn't have done this," Polly said.
"We had to," Lydia replied, stepping in to give her a quick hug. "It's your first Mother's Day as a mom and it's fun to celebrate with you. Go ahead, open them."
Polly smiled. "You are embarrassing me, you know." She opened the box from Beryl and took out a painter's palette. "I love it. Of course it's you. Thank you." She reached up and gave Beryl a quick kiss on the cheek, then opened the second box from Andy and started howling with laughter. "Are you kidding me?" she asked, holding up a gravestone charm.
"I thought that since we shared the cemetery now, it was the perfect reminder of our friendship." Andy grinned and pointed. "Whenever you can't sleep, just signal me and we'll meet in the middle and share a glass of wine. How's that?"
Polly laughed. "You've been hanging around Beryl too much, but I love it. It's awesome." She opened the last box in her hands and took it out, then looked at Lydia. "What is it?"
"It's a teardrop," Lydia said. "A simple teardrop. For all those times you need a mother of your own so you can weep and be safe."
"Oh," Polly said, tears rushing to her eyes. "Look, you did it again. Thank you for this. These are so perfect."
"Did you bring the rest so we can see them?" Beryl asked.
"No," Polly said. "That was dumb of me. Everything is still at home. I'll work on the bracelet
and show you later this week. You can't believe how wonderful people were about choosing the charms. Each one is so unique."
"You have a lot of unique friends," Lydia said.
Andy nodded. "You engage with everybody in such different ways, too. That's pretty terrific."
"Thank you again," Polly said, looking up and out. "There's Sylvie and the boys. I should help her get the cupcakes set up."
The ladies backed up so Polly could step past them and run down the steps to Sylvie. "Let me help carry this stuff."
"The boys have more," Sylvie said. "I'm sorry we're so late. I meant to get here a half hour ago."
"That's okay. This is a relaxed party. No need to be in a rush."
"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 th
at. 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."
Reflecting Love's Charms (Bellingwood Book 14) Page 25