“It’s been a little insane around here.” Polly took a deep breath. “I’ve just asked Sarah Heater to move into one of the rooms in the addition.”
“Wow.” Sylvie’s eyes grew big. “What’s up with that?”
“She’s all alone and she’s dying, Sylvie. I couldn’t let her flounder. She needs help and Rebecca needs a safe place to live. I have the room and I can make the time to help them out.”
Sylvie reached over and took Polly’s forearm. “You have to be kidding me. This is totally insane.”
Polly scowled. “Are you going to give me trouble about this too?”
“Maybe a little bit. Have you given this much thought? That’s a lot of responsibility.”
“Henry and I nearly broke up because he tried to tell me I couldn’t do this. I have given it a lot of thought.” Polly put the bags down and crossed her arms. “Tell me what you would do in this situation, Sylvie Donovan.”
“I, uh.” Sylvie deflated. “I’d do the same thing. Girl, you wear me out. I don’t know where you get your unending energy, but just being around you exhausts me.”
Polly chuckled. She really needed her friends to be okay with this. She counted on them. “I get my energy because I have all of y’all around, backing me up and covering my tush when I get in over my head.” She chuckled again. “That was a lot of body part references, but you know what I mean. The only reason I can do all of this is because you’re here with Hannah and Rachel, and Jeff makes sure that the business is running smoothly. Eliseo takes care of my animal rescues and Lydia, Beryl and Andy take care of the people I encounter. You and Joss are my best friends and give me a little bit of sanity and Henry? Well, he loves me and reminds me that I’m still a girl who needs a safe place to land when it gets to be too much.”
“I can’t wait to be done with these classes so that I’m not running back and forth to Des Moines all the time. Sometimes I feel like I ask you to do too much for me, too. I love the way you watch over my boys.”
“Well, they’re part of my posse too, you know. Andrew drops everything to take care of Obiwan when I’m too busy and if Jason weren’t helping Eliseo, I don’t know what I’d do. I’m going to be the one who is in trouble when you’re done with school and they’re not here every afternoon.”
“Maybe I’ll let you keep them,” Sylvie winked. “I shouldn’t have questioned you, but this is going to be a lot of work.”
“I know and I’m going to get as many people involved as I can so that it doesn’t overwhelm me.”
“Just let me know what we can do to help.”
“Thanks.” Polly hugged Sylvie. “I have things to take to Sarah’s room. She’ll be here on Monday.”
She picked up the bags and started to walk away, but stopped when Sylvie said, “So how bad was that fight with Henry?”
Polly turned around and grinned, “He was in real trouble, but this time I didn’t yell at him. He was quicker to figure it out, too.”
“We’re all going to be glad when the two of you get married,” Sylvie laughed.
“Whatever.” Polly turned the corner and went out the side door and into the covered walkway that was part of the addition. She walked to the back room, set the bags down and opened the door. This room would be perfect. Light came in through the big windows which looked out on the sycamore trees in the back and the horse pen and pasture to the south. As soon as spring arrived, there would be a great deal of life happening outside those windows. Maybe she would put benches and a swing outside the back door so Sarah could soak up the afternoon sun.
Rachel had made up the bed, so things were as ready as they could be. Polly opened the bags of clothing and books that Rebecca had insisted her mom would want and put things into a dresser and arranged toiletries in the bathroom. The new candle went on the desk with a few books and Polly gathered up the empty bags. There was plenty of room here for a cot for Rebecca and some of her favorite things.
She sat down in the chair and pulled out her phone and called Henry.
“Hi, Polly, are you back in town?”
“I am. I miss you.”
He gave a small laugh. “I miss you, too. What are we going to do about that? You have a houseful of kids tonight.”
“And it’s not going to get any better. They’re releasing Sarah Heater on Monday.”
“We need to find time. I have some things I want to talk to you about.”
“Am I in trouble? Is this going to be a bad conversation?”
“I hope not,” he said. “Do you think the kids could be alone tonight? If you came over to my house, I’d even cook for us.”
“That sounds wonderful. You know what? I should ask Doug and Billy if they could hang with the kids. Let me make a call. What time do you want me to come over?”
“You get here as soon as you can and we’ll go from there. If you showed up in fifteen minutes, I’d be fine with that.”
Polly laughed, “It will take me a little longer than that to settle my world down, but I’ll be there.”
“I’ll see you in a bit. I love you, Polly.”
“I love you too.”
She had promised him that they would talk about things, but hadn’t expected him to take the lead on this. Now to get everyone settled so she could escape.
The first stop was the kitchen and she pulled Sylvie aside. “Henry asked me to come over to his house for dinner tonight. I’m going to see if Doug and Billy can hang out with the kids. Are you okay with that?”
“Big date, huh?” Sylvie grinned and poked Polly’s side. “What’s he got planned?”
“I have no idea. He said we needed to talk.”
Sylvie’s face fell. “Good talk or bad talk?”
“I think good talk. He told me I wasn’t in trouble.”
“Whew. I hate it when people tell me we have to talk and don’t tell me why. But hey, if you don’t want to bother Doug and Billy, Jason can be in charge. I’m right down here if something happens.”
“If they’re busy, that will be fine, but I know the kids like spending time with them. I’ll be sure to let you know what’s happening before I leave.”
“Just send me a text. Have fun tonight!” Sylvie winked at her and Polly went on through and up the stairs to her apartment.
The television was on, even though the two kids were sitting at the dining room table with books and paper. Polly turned it off, “What are you two doing?” she asked.
“We were watching Indiana Jones and I told her about that vase you found last summer,” Andrew said. “We’re trying to draw those Egyptian symbols.”
Polly put her hand on his back as she looked at their work. “You’re doing great. The two of you are perfect friends, aren’t you?”
“He’s my best friend,” Rebecca said, then she looked up at Polly. “You are too, and my mom …” her voice trailed off.
“Your mom will always be your very best friend, Rebecca,” Polly said.
They all glanced up when Jason came in the front door. He was dressed in jeans and cowboy boots, a green t-shirt hung loosely from his shoulders and a ball cap was pulled low over his face.
“Hats off inside, eh bud?” Polly said.
He pulled the hat off and dropped it on the table in the entryway. “Sorry,” he mumbled.
“While I have you all here, I was wondering what you wanted to do tonight,” she started. As she took a breath, Andrew began to say something and she held her hand up.
“Henry has asked me to go out with him on a date and so … ” she paused.
“What?” Andrew asked.
“Well, you can either hang out here or I thought I’d ask Doug and Billy if they were busy. Maybe you all could go play games at their apartment. They’d order pizza. What do you think?”
Rebecca stayed quiet. Polly understood. She didn’t know the boys yet, but both Andrew and Jason were excited.
“Come on, Rebecca. You’ll love them. They’re great,” Andrew said.
“
I don’t know,” she said.
Andrew slumped. “If she doesn’t want to go, we can stay here.”
Polly knelt down in front of Rebecca’s chair. “Doug and Billy are like the brothers I never had. I think you’ll love them. What if you go over and have pizza. If it’s awful, then you can come back. Would that be okay, Jason? Because I’d want you to be over here with Andrew and Rebecca.”
“Sure,” he shrugged. “Whatever.”
Polly stretched her neck. Adolescence wasn’t going to come easy for this one. “Okay, let me call and see what they say.” She walked into her bedroom and called Doug’s phone.
“Hey, Miss Polly, what ‘cha want?” he sang out.
“I want you, Doug.”
“Wow. That’s a new one, but I’m not really comfortable with it. Henry’s a little possessive.”
She laughed. “What I really want is to know what you and Billy are doing this evening. I have three kids who would like to come over and have pizza … on me … and maybe play games and watch television. I’m going out with Henry.”
“Well, Billy isn’t going anywhere tonight and he’d probably love some company since Rachel is working, but I. Have. A. Date!” He spaced the words out and his voice raised in volume with each new word.
“With Anita?” Polly asked.
“Yup. I’m taking her to that Mexican place in Ames. She likes Mexican food, Polly!”
“I’m so glad. So, how does it feel to leave Billy at home by himself on a Saturday night?”
“It feels great, but if you’re giving him something to do, it’s not quite as much fun.”
“Can I talk to him?”
“Sure, just a second.”
She heard him yell, “Billy. Polly wants to talk to you since you don’t have any plans for tonight.”
In a few moments, Billy said, “Hey Polly, what’s up?”
“I have three kids who would like to hang out with you. Pizza is on me. Do you want to do it here or have them come over there?”
“Can I bring Big Jack if I come over there?”
Polly looked around the apartment. With all of Rebecca’s things, the living room was filling up. Another dog in the place might disrupt the finely choreographed chaos. “How about they come to you. This place is getting a little full.”
“Sure. Send ‘em over anytime. Doug’s mom gave us a bunch of cookies and brownies and we’ve got chips and pop. I’ll order pizza when they get here.”
“Thank you, Billy. A lot.”
“No prob. Rachel will show up when she’s done.”
“I’ll be back by then. Thanks.”
Polly hung up and went back to the living room. “Doug is going out on a date and you guys are going to hang with Billy. He’s got cookies and brownies and chips and pop. Tell him what kind of pizza you want.”
“Cool!” Andrew said, jumping out of his chair. “What should we take over with us?”
“Take anything you want to play with, but you can always come back here to get anything you need. The apartment will be open.”
“We’ll take Obiwan outside before we go home tonight,” Jason said. “I’m going back down to the barn.”
He left and Polly called Sylvie to let her know what was happening.
“Why don’t I take Rebecca home with us after I’m finished tonight,” Sylvie said. “That way you don’t have to worry about what time you get back. I’ll tell Billy what’s happening. Take your time tonight, okay?”
“You’re the best, Sylvie. Thanks.”
She took a quick shower and changed into a nice pair of blue slacks and a sweater.
“Are you guys good until Jason gets back? Your mom is right downstairs.”
“We’re fine. We aren’t going anywhere.”
Polly bent over to place a quick kiss on the top of Rebecca’s head and ruffled Andrew’s hair. “I think you guys are wonderful. I’ll see you tomorrow, okay?”
Both kids were distracted by their work at the table, but they waved as she left. It only took a few minutes to get to Henry’s house. Even after living in Bellingwood for nearly two years, she was still astonished at how close everything was. When she pulled into his driveway, Henry opened the door and was waiting for her.
“I’m glad you’re here,” he said. “How much time do we have until you need to go home?”
“Sylvie’s got it. I’m in no hurry.”
He grinned. “Wonderful. We can relax.”
She followed him inside and dropped her phone and keys on the table, then took her shoes off.
“Dinner won’t be ready for a while. What should we do?” he asked.
“First I want to do this,” and she put her hands on his cheeks and pulled him in for a kiss, then slipped her arms around his neck. He wrapped his arms around her waist and lifted her a bit as they melted together. When they finally released, she said, “And then I want to know what you need to talk about because I’m so nervous and tense I can’t stand it.”
“It’s not a bad thing, I promise,” Henry chuckled. “But come on over and sit down with me. We have a lot to discuss.”
Polly sat down. She was really tired of her stomach churning, and it was spinning out of control again. Henry sat beside her and on the table was a set of blue prints - all rolled up.
“What’s that?” she asked.
“That’s part of what I want to talk to you about, but that will come in a minute. First of all, I need to tell you how much I love you and that I can’t imagine ever not being with you. When you came into my life, you changed me. You bring life to everyone you know and you lit something inside of me that hasn’t stopped burning. You are my life now, Polly and I’m not going to ever let you go.”
She breathed. It didn’t feel like he was finished.
“Secondly, things are starting to change around us and I don’t want those changes to happen to each of us separately any longer. You are too important to me and when things explode in your life I want to be there to help you get through them and I desperately need you to be the life in my every day.”
He slid to one knee on the floor in front of her and opened his palm, exposing her mother’s engagement ring. “Polly Giller, will you marry me?”
Tears spurted from her eyes and she couldn’t breathe, much less speak.
Henry looked up at her, concern filling his eyes. “Polly, you have to say something. I’ve been terrified about this for days.”
She still couldn’t speak, but had the presence of mind to nod, furiously. She threw her arms around his neck and buried her face in his shoulder, sobbing uncontrollably.
“I really hope these are good tears, because if you’re upset with me, I’m very confused.” He held her close while she cried.
When she finally regained control, she began to giggle and sat back on the couch, looking around for a tissue. There was a box on a table across the room and she patted him on the shoulder before standing up to retrieve it. She continued to laugh while blowing her nose loudly and then said, “Well, how’s that for a touching moment. I’m so dainty, aren’t I?”
Henry hadn’t moved from the floor and he was still holding the ring. “What am I going to do with this?” he asked.
Polly grinned and returned to her seat. “You’re going to put it on my hand. Of course I will marry you, Henry Sturtz. Of course I will.” She took another swipe at her face with a tissue, removing the last of the tears and leaned over to gently kiss him. “Of course I will,” she repeated. “I guess all you needed to do was ask.”
“Now you tell me. I’ve been worrying about this for months. I didn’t want to rush you and after our conversation the other night, I thought you’d never be ready. But I couldn’t stand it any longer. I need to be with you.”
“And I need to be with you, too. So what’s with the blueprints?”
He sat back on the sofa with her and unrolled them. “I’m a little tentative about showing these to you, because it will change Sycamore House.”
�
�What do you mean?”
She realized she was looking at the top floor of Sycamore House. Henry had turned the entire thing into a home for them. A wall set in from the main stairway with a doorway, enclosed the upper hallway. “What’s this?” she pointed at a line by the back bathrooms.
“We will turn this back room into our bedroom and enclose the bathroom, making it a master suite. The other two rooms will be open for guest rooms or children …”
Polly interrupted him. “We need to talk about that.”
“I figured. Don’t worry, I know what’s coming and I am not planning to say no. Do you want to talk about that now or keep looking at the plans?”
“Oooh, keep looking at the plans. Tell me more.”
“The big hallway will become our living room. I’ll take the entryway off the main door to your apartment and we’ll leave your living room as a game room, library, whatever. The dining room and kitchen will stay the same and I thought we could turn your bedroom into a kind of office. I might put up a wall to create a hallway for people to pass through to the back stairs. What do you think?”
Polly squeezed his thigh. “This is amazing. It really works! I’ve been thinking and thinking about how I could make room for you in my apartment and I just couldn’t get there. Especially not with Rebecca living with me now.”
“The first thing you’ll need to do is talk to Jeff. Do you know how many guests he has scheduled?”
“I’ll talk to him on Monday and ask him to start backing off until we get the hotel finished.”
“I can push a little harder to get one wing of Sycamore Inn finished if that will help.”
“Let me talk to him first. He’s pretty good at what he does.”
“Are you sure about all of this?”
She traced some of the lines on the blueprint. “You’ve really been planning, haven’t you?”
“This didn’t take too much, but yeah. I guess I have.”
“How are you going to renovate this with the hotel and the winery?”
He chuckled. “I promise you, this is a priority. As soon as you open those rooms up, I’m building these walls. I wanted it to be safe for your animals and any kids that show up in our lives to move around without worrying about what’s happening downstairs.”
Diane Greenwood Muir - Bellingwood 06 - A Season of Change Page 18
