Polly took a seat and began to wring her hands. She barely knew this woman and was terrified of what she was about to hear. She suddenly had flashbacks to the night her parents told her that her mother was dying. It was one of her most awful memories.
“Rebecca, I have cancer. We don’t know how far along it is, but I’m going to have surgery. They will test everything and then we will make decisions on what to do from there.”
Rebecca’s eyes filled as she listened to her mother. “Are you going to die?”
“I hope not, sweetheart, but the doctor was pretty scared when he came in to see me. They did a lot of tests last night.”
“What if they’re wrong?”
“If they’re wrong, then I go home and live a long and happy life with you and we’ll forget that today ever happened.”
“Oh, Mom,” she cried again and fell into her mother’s arms, sobbing.
“What can I do?” Polly asked.
“I hate to ask so much of you,” Sarah said. “You barely know us. But I know who you are and I trust you. Rebecca loves Andrew like a brother. Everyone in Bellingwood knows what a good person you are.”
“Sarah, I’ll do anything I can.”
“Will you take care of Rebecca while I’m here? We have no one else.”
“You don’t have any other family?”
Sarah shook her head. “That’s a story for another day, but no, there isn’t anyone. Would you do this?”
“Of course I will. She can stay with me as long as necessary.”
“Thank you. I don’t know what else to do.”
“This is exactly what you should do. How else can I help?”
“If I know that Rebecca is safe, that makes everything much easier.”
“You shouldn’t be here alone, making all of these decisions.”
“Doctor Mason brought in a wonderful young oncologist. They will help me make the best decisions I can.”
“Sarah, I know plenty of people who would be more than willing to help. For heaven’s sake, they would be hurt if you didn’t let them do something.”
“I will take care of this. Don’t worry.”
Rebecca continued to cry quietly in her mother’s arms.
“I’ll leave the two of you alone for a few minutes,” Polly said. “I think Rebecca could use some mom-time.”
Sarah smiled at her as she left. Polly stood outside the door to the room and caught her breath. The poor woman. She was all alone and facing something as awful as this.
Andrew looked up when Polly joined him. “Is she going to be okay? Rebecca was really scared.”
“Rebecca is going to be scared for a while, Andrew. Her mom has cancer.”
“What?” He slammed his book shut. “If she dies, is Rebecca going to have to move away?”
“What do you mean?” she asked.
“Last year Ethan Denton’s mom died and he had to move back to Denver to live with his grandma.”
“I don’t know that Sarah Heater is going to die. We can’t assume the worst, Andrew.”
“But if she does, Rebecca can’t leave. She’s my best friend and I’m hers.”
“I get that, Andrew. I get that. Let’s just pray that everything works out.”
“So that she’ll get better or so that Rebecca will stay if her mom dies.”
“Let’s start by praying that Sarah gets better and we can finish by praying for Rebecca to have the best life possible with or without her mom. How’s that?”
“Okay. I’ll do it.” He looked down at his book. “Should I do it right now?”
“It wouldn’t hurt.”
Rebecca came out into the hall. “She wants to see you, Polly. I’m supposed to stay out here.”
“I told Andrew,” Polly said. She ruffled the hair on his head. “He thinks you are a pretty good friend.”
The girl just stared at them and then sat beside Andrew. Polly and went back into the room and sat down.
“Polly, this is bad. Doctor Mason and Doctor Edom were pretty grim when we talked this morning. I don’t know what to do.” She burst into tears and Polly reached forward and took her hand.
“I know, Sarah. This has to be the scariest thing you’ve ever faced. I wouldn’t know what to do either.”
“I hate the idea of leaving my daughter.”
“Surely you aren’t at that point yet, Sarah,” Polly protested. “Medicine is an amazing thing these days. Cancer doesn’t always mean death.”
“I can’t afford all of that medication. I don’t have any insurance and I have no money. We’re barely staying in the house. If I’m going to die, there is no sense in dragging this out and investing a lot of money in me.”
“Sarah, no. You can’t look at it that way. We aren’t going to make any decisions until we know better what is happening. There have to be different avenues to help pay for this.”
“I don’t want to be a burden.”
“Well, opting for death over treatment is not something you should be willing to do. Your daughter needs you here and she needs you to be more than a memory. She needs to know that you are planning to fight for every moment you have with her.”
The woman sank back into her pillow. “You’re right. I’m so frightened.”
“Oh, Sarah. Of course you are. I’m not going anywhere.”
The woman gave a wan smile. “I’ve heard about your family over there at Sycamore House. Did we just become distant relatives?”
Polly grinned, “Absolutely. And when it comes to family, there’s nothing we won’t do for each other, including annoying you with other family members. I have an awful lot of women friends who will want to help you get through this. You aren’t going to be able to hide away any longer.”
Sarah smiled, then she shuddered. “Oh no. Gary.”
“Gary?”
“My sometimes boyfriend. He’s out on a run this week and should be back tomorrow. Wait, tonight. I need to call him.”
“Sarah, I have to ask you a question about Gary.”
“What’s that?”
“Has he ever hurt you?”
Tears sprang back into the woman’s eyes. “Rebecca knew about that, didn’t she.”
“She didn’t say anything to me, just to Andrew. She said he was mean.”
“He is mean when he drinks. I know he isn’t good for me, but sometimes I just get so lonely. He’s never hurt Rebecca, though.”
“Sarah, he shouldn’t be hurting you.”
“I know, but it’s not the worst thing that’s ever happened to me. He’s better than most.”
“Oh Sarah,” Polly sighed. “I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be sorry. I take care of myself. But, I’m sure he’ll be gone when he finds out I have cancer.”
“Do you know his phone number?”
Sarah nodded.
“Would you like to use my phone?” Polly swiped it open and handed it to the woman. “I’ll just go outside and let you talk to him.” She stood up to leave. “I’ll be right outside the door. Say my name and I’ll come back in.”
Polly stood in the door and nodded at a nurse. Nurses were always so efficient. Everything in that room was in turmoil and Polly could only imagine it felt that way in a lot of the rooms on the floor and yet the nurses continued to do their job, sometimes with a smile and sometimes with tears they shared with patients. She was glad she didn’t have to face that trauma every day.
“Polly?” Sarah called.
“Yes,” Polly went back into the room. “Did you reach him?”
“I did,” she said matter-of-factly. “At least that’s over. He did exactly what I expected him to do. Told me that he couldn’t handle it. He doesn’t have anything at the house, so he’ll just keep on driving.”
“I’m sorry, Sarah.” What a hard life this woman had lived so far and yet she’d given her daughter such zest for life. Polly hoped this didn’t crush the girl. “If you’d like to spend more time with Rebecca, I was going to take Andrew up to the used book store. W
e could come back in a while to get her.”
“No, take her with you. She needs to live a little today and I’m worn out. I will probably sleep until the next time a nurse comes in to poke at me.”
“I’ll send her back in to say goodbye, then I will bring her back tomorrow and every evening until you come home.”
Sarah nodded. “You make friends really fast, don’t you, Polly.”
“It’s not difficult when it’s someone I like,” Polly replied. “I’ll send Rebecca in. Take your time. We’re not in any hurry.”
“Thank you.”
Polly went back to the waiting area and told Rebecca that her mother wanted to see her. She dropped into a chair across from Andrew and took her phone back out. She entered contact information into the phone number Sarah had called and saved it, then dialed Henry. As the phone rang, she stood up and walked away from the waiting area.
“Hello there, sweet thing. How are you doing?”
“Is sweet thing your replacement for pretty girl?”
“It is until I can come up with something better. What’s up?”
“I’m at the hospital with Rebecca and Sarah Heater. It looks as if I’m going to be involved with them for a while.”
“Did you just rescue another family, Polly?”
“You be good. What else was I supposed to do?”
“I know. Will the mom be coming home soon?”
“I don’t know. She has cancer. She’s trying to manage it as best she can, but Henry, she doesn’t have any family, she doesn’t have insurance, she doesn’t have friends and I don’t know how she’s going to hold down a job with this.”
“What are you thinking?”
“I have no idea. I just needed to talk to you about it. It’s too much for me to process right now. How did things end up with Annalise and Simon?”
“As much as Patrick loves his wife, he hates her brother. He finally asked them to leave. But I don’t think that’s the end of them.”
“How are you doing? Will you be ready to start on Monday?”
“You betcha,” he laughed. “Now that Dad’s here, he’s cracking the whip. He’s got contacts all over and is ready to bring everyone on board. Polly, he’s going to wear me out.”
She laughed with him. It felt good to talk about something normal.
“You know. Dad wonders if it was Annalise and her brother who killed Bruce Victor.”
“What?” Polly was shocked. “Where would he come up with that idea?”
“He said they’re shady and since Simon wants in on the deal so badly, they’d do anything to get him involved.”
“They wouldn’t kill someone. Especially the person who built up the vineyard and has been making wine for them.”
“There’s something strange going on with Simon and Bruce and Annalise. Wayne said she threatened to fire him and figured she threatened Bruce too, so that Simon could have his job.”
“But so they fire him, why would they kill him?”
“Because apparently Wayne and Bruce have contracts with the Terrible Trio for the next five years.”
“Where did you all get that name for them?”
Henry chuckled. “That was what people called them when they were in school and even though they left town for fifteen years, it stuck. I told them they should have used that for the name of the winery. Nobody thought it was funny.”
“It’s kind of funny.”
“That’s what I thought.”
“What made your Dad think Annalise and Simon killed Bruce?”
“He said it was a vibe they gave off.”
“Well, I’d admit that they seemed odd together. She was a completely different person. All of that sulky, pouty girl went away. It was like she’d taken some type of happy drug.”
Henry coughed.
“No.”
“I’m not saying anything, but that was too much of a radical change from every other time I’d met her.”
“You don’t think it was just because she was glad to be with her brother?”
“Okay, we’ll call it that.”
“Tell your father that if he wants to take over the dead body retrieval and investigation in Bellingwood, I’m glad to give it up.”
“I’ll let him know. So, you have a little girl living with you for a while?”
Polly took a breath. “And a little boy for the weekend. This puts a crimp in things for us, doesn’t it?”
“With Dad here, I think it’s safe to say we wouldn’t have any alone time anyway. Do you want to try to do dinner tonight?”
“Can I get back to you on that?”
“Sure. Take care of Rebecca. She has to be pretty upset by everything that has happened and if you need a hug, you know where to find me.”
“Thanks, Henry. I love you.”
“Love you too. Let me know when you get back into town.”
“Okay, thanks.”
Polly hung up and went back to sit beside Andrew. “I think we should treat Rebecca to a trip to the bookstore and then McDonalds. How does that sound?”
He grinned up at her. “That sounds awesome. I have five dollars. I was going to buy a couple of books, but I could share that with Rebecca.”
“Don’t worry about it. Today’s books are on me.”
“I can’t wait to tell her.”
“Here she comes. You can tell her on the way to the truck.” Polly stood up and met Rebecca as she approached them. Her eyes were still red from crying and without saying anything she slipped her hand into Polly’s.
Andrew sensed that it wasn’t a good time to say anything and they walked in silence back to the truck.
When they were belted in, Polly said, “Andrew and I go to a used bookstore when we come to Boone. Are you up for that?”
Rebecca nodded yes and Andrew took it as a sign that she was better, “Polly said she’s buying books today. I can’t wait to show you what they have. It’s different every time I come down. Sometimes I only have enough money to buy one book, but sometimes when I save up, I can buy four! How many can we buy today, Polly?”
“Let’s see what you come up with when we get there. We won’t go crazy, but books are a pretty good way to help a broken heart.”
She parked in front of the bookstore and while she waited for a few cars to pass before opening her door into traffic, Andrew pulled Rebecca out of the passenger door onto the sidewalk. They were inside the store, kneeling in front of the big, black Labrador retriever that greeted customers. Rebecca had wrapped her arms around the dog to hug it and Andrew was patting it on the back.
“Go on,” Polly said, shooing them to the stacks of books. “You know where to go.”
“Come on! I have to show you!” Andrew took Rebecca’s hand and drew her back into the store.
Polly took a history book off a rack and wandered into a corner to read. Her mind wasn’t on the book and she read the first page over and over, not knowing at all what she was reading.
“They’re good kids,” the owner said.
“They are. We’re splurging a little today. Andrew’s showing off.”
“Can I help you find anything?”
“No thanks. I’m just waiting for them.”
“If you need anything, let me know.”
“Thanks,” Polly said distractedly. What she needed was some guidance and she wasn’t sure where to turn. Every time she ran into a situation, she called Lydia. It didn’t seem fair to ask the woman to help with one more thing, but who else would know what to do? She put the book back and spun a turning rack filled with books by Iowa authors. There were so many. She smiled. Maybe someday she would have time to write her story.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Andrew and Rebecca were tucked in and sound asleep when Polly’s phone buzzed. She’d finally turned her light back on and pulled out a book to read, willing her mind to stop replaying their morning at the hospital.
She checked her phone and found a text from Henry.
Can y
ou come outside and play? I miss you and I’m parked in your driveway.
She giggled. Sometimes he made her feel like a junior high girl.
Polly put her robe on and slipped her feet into a pair of tennis shoes, then checked on the kids. Their faces were peaceful in sleep.
“You stay here,” she whispered to the animals. “I’ll be back.” She ran down the back steps as quietly as possible and out through the garage. Henry pushed the passenger door open for her and smiled.
“You don’t have enough clothes on to be outside. It’s chilly tonight.”
“I hoped your truck would be warm.” She reached forward and turned up the heat. “What are you doing out here?”
“I told you. I missed you today. I’m not sure if I like all of these other people clamoring for your attention.”
“I missed you too.” Polly leaned back in the seat. “I feel like a fool out here in my robe and tennis shoes. It’s really not the best way to impress my boyfriend.”
“You’re a nut,” he laughed. “I’ve seen you in much worse.”
Polly nodded. “So how are things with your dad?”
“He called mom tonight and sounded like a kid as he described our day. He has big plans. I’m a little concerned I won’t be able to keep up with him.”
“Will your mom be okay with moving back to Bellingwood?”
“I think so. We’ll see how long it takes for me to go insane living in the house with them, though. I won’t be comfortable having my mommy ask me where I am all the time.”
“She wouldn’t do that.”
Polly watched him grin in the light of the street lamps. “Yes she would. Especially if I’m not home when she thinks I should be home and she convinces Dad that I’m dead in a ditch somewhere.”
“Why wouldn’t she just text and ask?”
He turned to her. “Polly. I’m thirty-eight years old. I shouldn’t have to tell my mom where I am all the time.”
“Well, it seems like the courteous thing to do if she’s living in the same house with you, don’t you think?”
“You aren’t going to help me with this, are you?”
“If you were living with me, I’d want to know why you were later than usual or if you were even planning to come home that night. It’s common courtesy.”
Diane Greenwood Muir - Bellingwood 06 - A Season of Change Page 12
