Look Always Forward (Bellingwood Book 11)

by Diane Greenwood Muir

  When Rebecca walked past her, Polly put her hand out to stop the girl, but Rebecca neatly avoided her touch and moved on.

  Andrew stepped between Andy and Polly, bent both of his elbows and tilted his head, indicating they should take his arms. Once they obeyed, he led them to the table, pulled a chair out for Andy first and then for Polly. Rebecca presented him with the bag Polly had picked up at the pharmacy. The two of them shook out the red-checked tablecloth and with only a little help from the adults, soon had it situated. Kayla bowed formally and presented him with the napkins. He snapped out one and placed it in Andy's lap, then snapped the other and reached to place it into Polly's lap.

  She tried to help and he scowled. "I have it, ma'am," he said.

  Giggling from the two girls had him turning to both of them with that scowl on his face. Kayla smirked. "He's been practicing for hours," she said.

  Rebecca handed the bag from Secret Woods Winery to Beryl.

  "They're too young to serve wine," she said, opening the bag. She took a bottle out and placed it in a wine bucket beside her. "I felt it best not to corrupt them at such an early age, but aren't they spectacular?"

  "How long have you been planning this?" Polly asked.

  "I talked to Jeff this afternoon and he set it up with Rebecca."

  Lydia pulled her Jeep in next to Polly's truck and parked, causing Andrew, Rebecca and Kayla to scurry away. They repeated their earlier performance for Sylvie and Lydia, who smiled through the surprise and allowed Andrew to escort them to the table. He snapped two napkins open and placed them in their laps and then stepped back and stood at attention.

  Sylvie whispered at him, "What are you doing here?"

  He ignored her and smiled.

  "They're under strict orders not to fraternize," Beryl said. "There's a tip in it for them if they keep it professional tonight. But you girls have to be nice, okay?"

  Andrew joined Rebecca and Kayla at the next table, helping them to lay out the food items. Kayla brought plates and silverware over and set it out in front of each woman, followed by Rebecca with their wine glasses.

  Polly turned and snuck a glance, catching Andrew scooping soup into bowls. When Kayla and Rebecca returned, he pointed at the bread and they unwrapped it and dropped it into a couple of baskets. Kayla returned with the baskets while Rebecca and Andrew carefully delivered bowls of soup to each person.

  "No one spilled anything," Polly said. Rebecca turned away from Beryl and caught Polly's eye, then rolled her eyes in relief.

  "Wine?" Beryl asked, uncorking the bottle. She filled the glasses and took another bottle out to chill in the ice.

  "Where's the soup from?" Andy asked.

  "She sent us to Davey's," Sylvie responded. "What was that clue? Something about a slutty bartender? I'm glad Lydia remembered that evening. It seems so long ago."

  Polly swallowed the bite of bread she had in her mouth. "How long have you been planning this evening?" she asked Beryl.

  "A few days. It's no big thing."

  "For someone who likes to think of herself as a hermit hiding in a small town, you certainly know plenty of people," Polly replied. "They did all this for you with no question?"

  Beryl laughed. "There were questions, but once I explained, they thought it was great fun. I didn't know when I was going to be able to pull it off, but then I remembered that this week was when everything was open and decided to see what I could do."

  The kids had their backs to them at the other table and were fussing about.

  "Do you need help?" Beryl asked.

  "No, I think we've got it," Rebecca replied. She started whispering to Andrew and Kayla. Andrew turned around. "Whenever you're ready."

  "Where's the main course from?" Polly asked.

  "That has to be what we picked up at the barn," Lydia said.

  Andy's head shot up. "The barn?"

  Lydia laughed. "The clue said they were the biggest beasts on four legs we'd ever seen, so we drove to the barn. Eliseo put a box in the Jeep and told us we couldn't look." She swatted at Beryl. "Just tell me it isn't some strange exotic meat."

  "Alligator, coming right up," Andrew announced and with a flourish, presented a plate to Polly, upending it into her lap. "I'm so sorry," he cried. "I'm so sorry!"

  Polly laughed and picked the plate up and then worked to retrieve her meal. Two pieces of fried chicken were still sitting on her legs, she'd caught the plate before too many baked beans had fallen, but lost most of the potato salad and corn bread.

  Andrew was in shock and his face crumpled as he realized what he'd done. She was afraid he might cry, but instead, he rushed inside the coffee shop.

  "I've got this," Beryl said, starting to stand up.

  "No, he's my son," Sylvie replied. "I'll talk to him."

  Rebecca and Kayla couldn't move in their shock until Beryl said, "Go ahead girls. It's okay. Nobody is upset over a little spilled food. Serve the rest. We have plenty to refill Polly's plate."

  "My dad would have been really mad if we ever did anything like that," Kayla said. "I can't believe nobody's upset."

  "Andrew is," Rebecca reminded her.

  "Yeah, but he did it," Kayla whispered back. "None of the adults are mad."

  "It's just a little food and everything will clean right up," Polly said. "In fact," she handed her plate back to Rebecca. "I should go inside and wipe off my leg. Fill me up again, would you? The chicken is fine. It didn't make it any further than my lap and that's good for longer than the ten second rule." She stood up and patted Beryl's shoulder. "We're not ruining the party. We'll all be right back, I promise."

  "You'd better," Beryl said. "I haven't handed out prizes yet."

  "I can't even imagine," Polly said with a laugh, opening the door into the coffee shop.

  Andrew was tucked into his mother's shoulder in a corner by the back bookshelves, his shoulders shaking. It killed her to see him react so hard to something that was such a non-issue, but she walked past to the bathroom, nodding at Camille who was cleaning up behind the coffee counter.

  Sylvie came into the bathroom while Polly dried her legs. Her skin caught most of the food, leaving her shorts relatively clean.

  "Andrew feels horrible," Sylvie said. "But I think he was more embarrassed than anything."

  Polly smiled. "I hope he's okay. Poor kid. It was no big deal."

  "I think it was to him. I loved that he was having fun, but he was getting a little cocky out there."

  "Well, of course he was. The only boy with all of those women and girls. He was hot stuff. And you know he's mortified that Rebecca saw him make a mistake.

  "It's all about her, isn't it," Sylvie said with a sigh.

  "I'm afraid she's going to torture him for a while. He's comfortable with her and she's just starting to find her freedom again. I've talked to both of them," Polly said, "But neither of them will figure it all out until they go through it." She laughed. "We know what that's like, right? I mean, really. If I would have listened to Mary and Dad when they tried to hint at the boys I should avoid, I wouldn't have had some of those awful dates."

  "My mother liked Anthony," Sylvie said, with a touch of disgust in her voice. "She thought he'd take good care of me. That woman was not a good judge of male character." She put a bright look back on her face. "But I keep telling myself that he gave me Jason and Andrew and they are wonderful. Now if we can just get Andrew to perk back up and finish the evening."

  "Was he crying?" Polly asked.

  "Yes, the poor thing. I told him to go wash his face and order fruity drinks for him and the girls. He can hide until his face quits being splotchy, but he is coming back. He can't run away from every embarrassing moment."

  "Good. We'll be kind." Polly thought about it. "Well, most of us will be kind. I have no idea what Beryl will do. Whatever it is, I hope he can laugh."

  Sylvie chuckled. "Me too. He'll be fine. Everybody has to face things like this in their lives. I'm afraid this will be the least of
his embarrassing moments." She held the door open and followed Polly back through the coffee shop to the patio, deliberately avoiding Andrew, who was sitting at the coffee bar.

  Kayla and Rebecca had taken seats at the other table and were eating. Polly found her plate refilled and sitting in front of her seat. "Everything okay out here?" she asked.

  "Is our boy gonna make it?" Lydia asked quietly.

  Sylvie nodded "He'll be fine."

  They all glanced up as he came out the door carrying drinks for Kayla and Rebecca. No one said anything to him, just watched in silence. He placed the drinks in front of the girls, then sat down with his back to the women's table.

  "Nothing like spilled milk to kick an evening off to a rollicking start," Beryl said. She lifted her wine glass. "I suggest we toast to good friends, our worst embarrassing moments and life that continues no matter what."

  "Here here," the ladies said, tipping their wine glasses at each other.

  "Garçon," Beryl said. When no one responded, she spoke a little louder. "Ahem. Garçon."

  Rebecca poked Andrew and he looked up.

  "That's you, young man," Beryl said. "You're the garçon. Remember?"

  He shook his head and stood up, then came over to stand beside her. "How may I help you?" he asked politely.

  "You may ask the ladies if they would like anything more." Beryl pulled his sleeve, so he would bend toward her. "The world didn't fall apart," she whispered, loudly enough so that people could hear. "You're still adorable and well-mannered. None of that has changed. Do you understand me?"

  His face flushed bright red and he nodded.

  "Now, after your girlfriends and you have made sure that everyone here has had enough to eat, I want the three of you to take your plates and go inside. The rest of the conversation between us old ladies might be too much for small ears to hear. I'd hate to embarrass any of you any more than we already have."

  Beryl turned to the rest of the ladies at the table. "We haven't talked about sex or anything, have we?"

  Andy dropped her fork back to her plate and started to laugh while Lydia's mouth dropped open. "Beryl!" she said.

  "I was just asking. I didn't think we had, but I couldn't remember. It's been so long since I've given it much thought that I was worried the conversation might have happened without my knowing."

  Sylvie dropped her head into her hand and Polly sat back and grinned. Rebecca and Kayla took their cue from her and giggled. They picked up the salad bowls and brought them to the table, placing them in the center.

  "We could serve you," Rebecca said, "but I think it might be good for us to go inside as soon as possible. Isn't that right?" She looked at Kayla who couldn't take her eyes off Beryl.

  "We'll take care of it from here," Andy said. "Please go inside before the woman embarrasses us any further."

  "They all know that you got drunk at the last big party, don't they?" Beryl asked, doing her best to portray innocence.

  Sylvie stood up and opened the door. "Go in. Now. I can't stand this. Please hurry before we have to kill her to protect you."

  Andrew shook his head and went inside, followed closely by Rebecca and Kayla.

  "Beryl Watson, you are absolutely insane," Sylvie said.

  Beryl shrugged. "I took the pressure off the boy, didn't I? The story he and those girls will remember from tonight is going to be about how crazy I am, not that he dumped a plate of food in Polly's lap. I'm an old lady and no one ever knows what is going to come out of my mouth. I can take the heat."

  Sylvie's eyes filled and she bent over to hug Beryl's shoulders. "You are an amazing woman. It's too bad that more people don't understand how terrific you are. Thank you."

  "Ain't no big thing," Beryl said.

  Lydia looked across at her friend. "I take you for granted far too often."

  Andy nodded. "We always have. I've been her friend for as long as I can remember and every time we're together, she surprises me." She smiled at Beryl. "I'm awfully thankful for you."

  Beryl picked up her parasol and tapped Andy on the head. "Stop it now. You're embarrassing me and you know I don't like it if I'm not in control. Finish your meals." She looked at Polly. "I want to hear more about that nice young man out at the hotel. I understand he's taken a liking to our Sylvie."

  "How do you hear these things?" Sylvie asked, putting her fork down firmly on her plate. "You live by yourself, you never get out and yet you always know things you shouldn't know."

  "I have spies everywhere." Beryl crouched forward, her eyes darting back and forth. "You never know where they're hiding."

  At that moment, the sound of a child's scream rang out. Polly jumped from her seat and ran toward the sound. On the other side of the street, a young woman was fighting with a high school aged boy for her purse. Her daughter was screaming in fear.

  Polly didn't even think about it, but ran across the street to help the woman. "You there. Stop what you're doing," she demanded.

  She realized that she was about to confront Heath Harvey again. He was with one of the boys who'd tried to bully her and Grey the other day. By the time she put her feet on the sidewalk, the boys had taken off, running south.

  "Are you okay?" she asked.

  The woman nodded and wrapped her arms around her daughter.

  "Call the police," Polly yelled and took off after the boys. She wasn't going to let them get away. She'd already told herself that they couldn't do much to her other than punch her a couple of times and she was betting that they wouldn't even do that. She saw them duck into the alley and stopped at the end, wondering if she wanted another black eye.

  Footsteps behind her caused her to glance up, only to see Rebecca, Andrew and Kayla coming.

  "What are you three doing?" she asked.

  "We saw you chase someone and thought you might need help," Rebecca said.

  That clinched it for Polly. It was one thing to put herself in danger, but the last people she wanted to see get hurt was these three kids. She looked down the alley and then back at Rebecca.

  "I know who it was," she said. "I'm not walking into a fight with them. Not tonight. Let's go back and see if the woman is okay. She had a scare."

  They walked back up the block and found a small crowd surrounding the woman and her daughter. Bert Bradford was walking down the street toward them and Polly waved at him.

  She stopped and put her hands on Rebecca's shoulder. "Go on back to the coffee shop. Tell them that I'm fine. I'll be there in a few minutes."

  The kids hesitated and she said, "Go. I need to talk to Officer Bradford."

  Rebecca scowled and harrumphed, but finally walked back across the street with Andrew and Kayla.

  "What happened?" Bert asked after they left.

  "Heath Harvey and one of the boys you took in yesterday tried to steal this woman's purse. I chased them into the alley, but decided not to follow any further."

  He nodded. "I'm glad. We'll keep an eye out for them."

  "What did you do with the other boy?" Polly asked.

  "Ladd Berant," he said. "We couldn't keep him. The chief did his best to frighten him, but there are just some kids who are too cocky for their own good. He thinks he is smarter than all of us put together. It's too bad, though. One of these days he's going to go too far."

  "How long do they get to get away with harassment like this?"

  "You're certain it was Heath Harvey?" he asked.

  "Absolutely."

  "Attempted theft is more serious than intimidation. We'll find him and maybe this will put the fear of God into him." Bert gritted his teeth. "He usually doesn't do things like this on his own. Berant is the leader of this little gang and the rest of the boys do what he says. More than likely he's close by, giving directions."

  "This is going to be a rough week for you guys if they're here with everyone on the streets."

  Bert nodded, then looked over his shoulder at the group still gathered on the sidewalk. "I need to take care of her. Thank
s for your help, but please don't get yourself in trouble chasing down our local gang members. There are people above me who wouldn't be pleased if you got hurt."

  "Got it. I'll try to be good," Polly said. She smiled at him and walked back across the street. Yeah. This was going to take some explaining.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

  Too much had happened and no one felt like continuing the party, so Polly took Kayla home. Lydia had asked Beryl to save the prizes for another evening, but the wild woman was not to be dissuaded. She took out four gift bags and passed them to each of her friends. Lydia and Sylvie were hesitant, knowing they'd lost the competition. Sylvie laughed out loud when she pulled out a bright red feather boa.

  "What is this?" she asked.

  Beryl nodded to the rest of them. "Open yours."

  Each woman found the same thing in their gift bag.

  "These aren't winner or loser prizes," Lydia protested. "They are crazy."

  Beryl took another boa out and wrapped it around her neck. "I get tired of being the only wild person in this group. You all need to join me. From now on, whenever we get together, I demand that we wear these. Especially if we go out to dinner. Are you with me?"

  Polly looked at her friends, who all had huge smiles on their faces. "I'm in for the boa. Who needs to be boring?"

  Andy tossed hers around her neck, then pulled some of it up under her eyes. "Am I mysterious?"

  "You'll do it?" Beryl asked, quite flabbergasted.

  Lydia sat up straight and wrapped her boa from the top of her head to under her chin a few times. "Of course we will. But you don't care how we wear it, do you?"

  "You're the best," Beryl said. "Sometimes I worry whether or not my whimsy gets under your skin."

  "We're with you, crazy woman," Andy said. "You're the only reason I don't wear dark blue suits every day, even when I'm playing with my grandchildren."

  They'd helped clean up and pack everything back into Lydia's Jeep. Sylvie left with Andrew, and Polly put the girls in her truck.