“A long time. Mom is really sick and she doesn’t think she’s going to live very long.”
Polly’s heart broke. Both Rebecca and Sarah had to get on board in order to fight this. “First of all, the doctors aren’t giving up. You both have to believe she’ll get better. Do you?”
“I don’t know. Mom quit talking about it when I asked.”
“Well, I’m not ready to believe that your mom is going to die, but if that happens, Rebecca, she will make sure that you are in the best place possible so you have a great family and a wonderful future. You trust her to do that for you, don’t you?”
“But what if she can’t? What if she dies today and she hasn’t made any plans for me? What will happen then?”
“I don’t really know, sweetie. But that won’t happen today.”
“Will you talk to her and ask if I can come live with you? I don’t want to leave Bellingwood. I’m finally making friends and I can help you at Sycamore House. I can help in the barn and cook for you and I won’t take very much space. Please don’t let someone else take me away.”
Polly gulped back a breath. “Oh, Rebecca,” she said. “I don’t know what to say.”
“I promise to be good. I’d study hard and get good grades. I’d do whatever you told me to do.” Rebecca started to weep.
“Oh sweetie,” Polly unbuckled her seatbelt and reached across to hug Rebecca. She unbuckled Rebecca’s belt and pulled her across the seat into her lap and held on while the two of them cried.
“I’m really scared, Polly.”
“I know you are, honey.” There were so many things this poor little girl had to be afraid of. It was one thing to face the loss of the one person who had been there for her entire life, but it was an entirely different thing to be helpless in a big world with no one around for protection.
Polly pushed Rebecca back so she could look into her eyes. “I promise you that I will speak with your mother and find out what is really happening with her cancer. We need to help her fight to get better so that you don’t have to worry about living without her. That’s the first step, okay?”
Rebecca nodded, her lips still quivering.
“I also promise that I will talk to her about you. It might very well be that she already has a plan in place and now is the time to assure you that she’s thought about this and that you will be safe no matter what happens.”
“But what if she doesn’t have a plan?”
“Then I will find a way to help her make one.”
“Can I stay with you?”
“I don’t know if that’s what she wants, but …” Polly gripped Rebecca’s shoulders, “we will talk about all of the possibilities, okay? I’m not saying no to you. I’m just saying that we don’t have enough information yet.”
She pulled the little girl in for another hug. “Does this help?”
“Uh huh.”
“Okay. You get buckled back in and we’ll pick up a robe and a candle for your mom.” Polly helped Rebecca back to her seat and re-buckled her own seatbelt. Her mind was racing. Henry was just going to love this. He was already annoyed at her for offering to take care of Sarah Heater. What was he going to say if she considered adopting an orphaned child? Her stomach flip flopped. What in the world had she gotten into?
She was distracted the entire time they shopped, agreeing with Rebecca’s choices as they looked for a robe. They made it through the check-out lane and were walking back to the truck when Polly heard a familiar voice several vehicles away. She looked up and saw Lori Victor with a short, stocky man. Lori’s face was red and she was jabbing her finger into his chest. Polly didn’t recognize the man and couldn’t hear what they were saying, but it was definitely an argument. He was as angry as Lori was. She looked for the BMW and when she found it, was surprised that Seth wasn’t there. That was strange.
“Do you know them?” Rebecca asked.
Polly’s first inclination was to get in the car and slink away, but the more she thought about it, the bolder she got. “I know her. Here, you get in the truck. I’m going to introduce myself.” She handed the keys to Rebecca and strode across the lot.
“Hi Lori,” she called out as she approached. The woman looked at her in shock. “I thought that was you. Where’s Seth?”
This time it was the man’s turn to look at Lori in shock while she stood there dumbfounded.
Polly reached them and stuck her hand out. “Hi, I’m Polly Giller from Bellingwood. You are?”
He automatically shook her hand and his face turned white. “Barry, uh, Barry Manush.”
“Oh, are you from around here?” Polly knew she was being horribly intrusive, but the woman had upset her yesterday and she wasn’t about to let her off the hook.”
“He’s a friend. He’s helping me.”
“Oh,” Polly nodded. “It’s nice to meet you, Mr. Manush. So, where is Seth today?” She turned back to Lori. After all the fuss that woman had made about not being able to leave her son, it was surprising to see her without him.
“He’s being cared for,” Lori said shortly. “Excuse us, we need to go.”
“Well, it’s good to see you. I’m glad you were able to get out a little bit. It has to be difficult being cooped up all day long with a little boy, especially when he’s missing his daddy.”
Lori grabbed the man by his upper arm and spun him away, walking toward her car. Polly gave a little chuckle and went back to her truck and crawled in. “Are you ready to see your mom?” she asked Rebecca.
“Thank you for buying this, Polly.” Rebecca held up the bags with the robe and candle arrangement.
“You’re welcome, Rebecca.”
“Who was that?”
“That was Lori Victor and a friend of hers.”
“Was it her husband who was killed last week?”
“Yes it was.”
“She seemed awfully mad at that man.”
“Yes she did.” Polly glanced back at the parking lot, looking for the BMW. She saw it leave and then saw another vehicle follow it out. They hadn’t arrived together. Polly pressed down on the gas to try to catch up to the second car, but he turned east and she needed to go back west to get to the road leading to the hospital.
“Screw it,” she said and flipped on her left turn signal. When she realized what she’d said in front of a little girl, she slapped a hand of her mouth. “Sorry!”
“What?” Rebecca asked, giggling. “Mom’s said worse.”
“Make sure you’re buckled in. I’m checking something out.” She pressed down harder on the gas and zipped past a couple of cars. Barry Manush had gotten to Highway 30 and was speeding up. “We’re going to be just a little later than I expected,” Polly said and ran the stop sign to catch up with him.
“Wow,” was all Rebecca could say.
“Yep. Wow. Hold on.”
Polly finally got close and said, “It’s a Missouri license plate,” and she said the numbers out loud several times. “There’s a napkin in the glove compartment and here’s a pencil. Write that down, will you?” She repeated it several more times until she was sure Rebecca had it, then turned off on the Highway 17 exit when Manush continued west toward Ames.
“I’m not sure what I was doing there, Rebecca. Promise you won’t tell anyone?” she giggled.
“I promise, but that was fun! Why did you chase him?”
“Because there’s something strange going on with Bruce Victor’s wife and I have a funny feeling that he might be connected to Annalise Stephens.”
“Who’s that?”
“Oh,” Polly grinned. “Well, Annalise Stephens is married to Patrick and he’s one of the owners of the winery where Bruce Victor’s body was found.”
“Do you think he’s the killer?”
“I don’t know for sure, but I do know that he and Lori Victor acted very guilty when I showed up today.”
“Are you going to tell the Sheriff?”
Polly stopped at a stop sign and signaled a le
ft turn. “I should, shouldn’t I?”
They drove alongside an empty coal train as it traveled west and Polly made her way to the hospital. When she parked the truck, she turned to Rebecca. “I’m also going to ask your mom if she would consider moving into Sycamore House until she’s feeling better. I think she should be somewhere safe with people around who can take care of her.”
“Really? That would be great!”
“I’m going to ask her, but if she says no, we’re both going to be okay with that, right?”
“She won’t say no. She can’t say no.” Rebecca grabbed the bags with her gifts. “I won’t let her say no.”
“Then let’s go upstairs and see if we can cheer her up. Are you ready?”
“I’m ready.”
The two of them went in to Sarah Heater’s hospital room. She was sitting up in bed and looked better than she had in days. Rebecca ran into the room and jumped on the bed, hugging her mom. Sarah held her tight and Rebecca relaxed into her, allowing the woman to stroke her hair. Polly reached over and took the bags from Rebecca and sat down beside them in a chair.
Finally Rebecca sat back up and said, “We chased a bad man today, mom. Polly even ran a stop sign.”
The shock on Polly’s face matched Sarah’s. “Rebecca!” Polly said.
The little girl clapped a hand over her mouth. “Oops. I wasn’t supposed to say anything.”
“A bad man?” Sarah asked.
“I don’t know if he was a bad man. I just wanted to get his license plate because he’s involved with the wife of the man who was killed last week.”
“And you chased him.”
“Well, it wasn’t so much chasing as it was racing to catch up. He wasn’t really trying to get away from me, he just had a head start.” Polly laughed. “We weren’t in any danger.”
The woman nodded and her eyes sparkled as she smiled. “I guess a little excitement is good for the heart, but …”
“I’m sorry,” Polly said. “I should be more careful with Rebecca in the car. Please don’t worry. I’m generally a very safe driver.”
“We brought you a present!” Rebecca said and reached out for the bags. Polly handed them both to her and Rebecca opened the first one. “We got you a robe so that you can be warm while you’re in the hospital. This one is soft and pretty.” It was quite pretty; yellow with a soft blue pattern woven throughout. “And we got you this. Polly says you can’t light a candle in here, but it still smells good. I know you like candles.”
Rebecca gently placed the large round candle in her mother’s hands.
“This is beautiful, Rebecca. Thank you, but I think they’re sending me home on Monday.”
“Really!” Polly said. “Then this is the perfect time to talk to you about something.”
“What’s that?” Sarah asked.
Rebecca sat back on the bed and took her mother’s hand. “You have to listen to her, Mom. And don’t say no, okay?”
“That depends.”
“Just listen.”
Polly started. “I would like to invite you to stay at Sycamore House while you are dealing with this. You can’t do it alone and Rebecca can’t help you with everything that you need. We have an extra room on the main level of the addition and I can help Rebecca and bring you down for doctor’s appointments and make sure that Rebecca gets to school every day.”
The woman slumped back into her pillow.
“Mom? What do you think?”
“Rebecca, could you go out to the nurse’s station and ask them to refill this with fresh ice water?” Sarah handed her daughter the mug. “And take your time. I need to talk to Polly.”
“I want to stay,” Rebecca protested.
“No. Go. It’s okay.”
Rebecca took the mug and slowly walked out of the room. When she cleared the door, Sarah took Polly’s hand.
“I don’t know why you’re doing this for us, but you must be some kind of angel. If I’m not working, I can’t afford rent and utilities. We were just barely making it as it was and I didn’t know what we were going to do. But this is a lot for you to take on. I barely know you and don’t know how to let you help me.”
“Look, Sarah,” Polly said. “Rebecca is a wonderful girl and you are a wonderful mother to her. She’s worried sick about you and neither one of you should have to do this on your own. If there’s one thing I’ve learned this last year, it’s how important it is to let other people in when you need help. I’ve been on the receiving end of that since I moved to Bellingwood. How can I not help you when you need it most?”
“How will I get all of our things out of that house?”
“You don’t need to worry about that either. I have plenty of friends and we’ll store everything at Sycamore House until you get back on your feet.”
Sadness replaced the relief on Sarah Heater’s face. When she looked at Polly again, her eyes were glistening with tears. “Polly, I don’t know if I’m going to get back on my feet. The doctors told me I have less than a year to live, even if I do chemotherapy.”
Polly’s heart sank. “You what?”
“We’re going ahead with treatment, but it doesn’t look good. If I don’t do the chemo, it could only be a couple more months and I want to be around as long as possible for Rebecca.”
“Sarah, I’m so sorry. We’ll do everything we can to make this next year good for you, then.” Everything inside Polly clenched up. She wasn’t sure if it was sorrow or fear or what.
“I’m sorry, too,” Sarah said quietly. “I feel awful for putting this on you, but I don’t have anyone else.”
“It’s okay. Sometimes friends show up when you need them the most.”
“I’ve never had a lot of friends.”
“Well, I hate to say it, but you’re about to have even more. My friends fill up my life and they might fill yours up, too.”
Sarah smiled. “That would be nice for Rebecca. We’ve moved around a lot and I’ve been bad about letting her make friends, knowing that I’ll have to yank her away from them. It’s mostly been just the two of us.”
Rebecca peeked around the door. “Can I come in now? I have your water.”
“Come on in, honey,” Sarah said. “Thank you.”
“Are you going to come to Sycamore House, mom?”
“I will.”
Rebecca put the mug down on the table and flung her arms around her mother. “I’m so glad! You’ll love it there. There is a dog and cats and horses and … oh Mom, you won’t believe what else happened this morning!”
“What’s that, dear?” Sarah smiled and listened with wide eyes while her daughter told her of the morning’s adventure with the animals in the barn.
“And I know I really want to be a veterinarian now. I watched Doctor Ogden fix Nat’s leg and it was so cool. He said I could watch him whenever he came over and he told me that if I wanted to visit the clinic, all I had to do was call.”
Sarah looked up at Polly. “She’s always loved animals, but we could never afford to have one in the house.” She turned to her daughter. “Do you help Polly with her animals?”
“I fed them this morning and I even made breakfast in her apartment. I can’t wait for you to get there so I can make breakfast for you again.”
“That will be very nice, Rebecca. I can’t wait to get there either.”
“I’ll tell you what,” Polly said. “This afternoon when we get back to Bellingwood, Rebecca and I will go over to the house and I will take a lot of pictures with my phone so that tomorrow you can tell me what things you’d like to have in your room. Then we can also decide what goes into storage.”
“Where am I going to sleep?” Rebecca asked. “Are there two beds there?”
“We can put another bed in for you, Rebecca.” Polly tried to decipher Sarah’s sad eyes. “But I think there will be nights when your mom is really tired and doesn’t feel very good because of the chemotherapy. When that happens, you can come up and stay in my apartment. How d
oes that sound?”
“Good. Is that okay, mom?”
“That will be fine.”
“Can I help you put on your robe?” Rebecca asked.
Sarah looked down at the IV on her arm and said, “Let’s just put it on top of me.” She stroked the material, “This is really beautiful, Rebecca. You chose a very nice robe.”
Rebecca arranged the robe so that it was covering her mother and Polly took the candle. “Would you like us to put this in your new room?” she asked.
“Thank you, Polly.” Sarah’s eyes said more than the words she spoke.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
“I’ll get the door, sweetie,” Polly said when they got out of the truck. She opened the door into the storage room at Sycamore House and found Andrew sitting at his desk. Rebecca’s arms were filled with bags of things she had collected from her room at home and Polly carried several more bags of items Rebecca was certain her mother would want.
“Guess what, Andrew?” Rebecca stopped at his desk and dropped her bags. “I’m moving into Sycamore House with my mom until she gets better!”
He looked up to Polly for confirmation and she nodded. “Mrs. Heater will live in a room in the addition. Rebecca will spend her time there or in my apartment. What do you think about that?”
“That’s going to be awesome,” he gushed. “We can do everything together.”
“You sure can,” Polly said. “Why don’t you help Rebecca carry her things upstairs while I take these over to her mom’s room?”
“Should we take Obiwan outside?” Andrew asked.
“That would be perfect. Thanks.” Polly went into the kitchen and found Sylvie, Hannah and Rachel all hard at work.
“Hi girls,” she said, slipping past Hannah, who was working at the prep table.
Sylvie pulled a pan of rolls out of the oven, set them on the counter and then dropped the hot pads beside them. She followed Polly to the other door.
“How are things going? I haven’t had a single free moment to talk to you this week.”
Diane Greenwood Muir - Bellingwood 06 - A Season of Change Page 17
