Reflecting Love's Charms (Bellingwood Book 14)

by Diane Greenwood Muir

  When the kids joined her in the dining room in their work clothes, she hustled them down the back steps and out the door to the truck.

  "What are we doing today?"

  "Working on the porch with Henry, and I want to finish cleaning all of the junk out of the yard so Eliseo can bring the tiller over and start making grass grow again."

  "I get the wheel barrow," Rebecca said.

  "Ah man," Andrew whined. "That means I have to pick up the junk."

  "I think you both pick up junk," Polly said. "We have plenty of gloves."

  "I want the pink ones," Rebecca called out.

  Polly watched Andrew in the rear view mirror. He nearly opened his mouth to argue, then clamped it shut. He caught her eye and grinned. "I get the black ones."

  She pulled into the driveway and waved at Heath, who was rolling Henry's portable air compressor across the lawn. Polly was unnerved at the speed with which Henry sent nails into boards with his nail gun. The first few times she'd been around him, she backed off, sure that one was going to fly out and nail her right in the heart. Henry hadn't argued or done anything other than wait for her to live through the experience a few times. It was still strange to see him travel down a board at such high speed, but at least she was comfortable letting Andrew and Rebecca work in his vicinity.

  He'd asked about her father's nail guns, showing her the boxes where they were stored. She didn't have a memory of her dad using them when she was in the workshop, but as she'd grown older, she was generally too busy to spend much time there.

  Andrew saw people at the back of the house and took off running before she could stop him. "Go ahead," Polly said to Rebecca. "They found another room this morning. I haven't talked to them since earlier today. Maybe you'll learn something new."

  Rebecca ran to follow Andrew, and Polly wandered over to the porch. "Hey there, hotstuff," she said, hooking her arm into Henry's. "How was the rest of your day?"

  He shook his head. "Randy punched a hole in a wall because he was jacking around with a two by four, then Ernie drove over a pile of wood, popped two tires, and managed to spit something up that poked a hole in a gas tank."

  "Crap!" she exclaimed. "Are they fired?"

  "Not today," he said with a grimace. "Mark thinks it was just a full moon. I'm about done with Randy, though. He's starting to cost me money."

  "Ernie?"

  Henry shrugged. "Bad day for him. He felt terrible. Then, when I was driving over here, Dad called and said that Mom saw a doctor today and he's worried about her blood pressure. That's got everyone in an uproar because Jessie thinks it's Molly's fault."

  Polly slipped her hand down to take his, stoking the top of it with her thumb. "I'm sorry. What does your mom say?"

  "That she'll figure this out and nobody is taking Molly away from her."

  "Is your dad upset?"

  Henry huffed out a breath. "Probably more than Mom. He started talking about moving back to Arizona and said something about this not happening if they'd been there."

  "Oh no," Polly said. "That made you feel really guilty, didn't it."

  "Gah." Henry sat down on a floor joist. "I love having them be part of the business, but I want them to be around for a long time. If being here for me shortens those years, I'll make changes right now."

  Polly stood over him, still holding his hand. "Have you talked to your mother about this?"

  He shook his head.

  "So you don't know what her doctor said. You don't know how bad this is or anything."

  "Hmph," he said. "No."

  "It could just be that she needs to take medication and better care of herself, right?"

  Henry didn't say anything.

  "Right?"

  He looked up. "I let Dad scare me. But I want her to be okay for a long time."

  "Do you want to go talk to her?"

  He nodded at the porch. "I need to work on this."

  "Can I go talk to her?"

  Henry stood back up. "Is it crazy of me to want you to fix this?"

  Polly chuckled. "Not at all. You keep an eye on the kids. Don't let them bother the people out back too much and make them clean up the rest of this yard. It shouldn't take them any longer than an hour to finish. I'm going to take a ride over to the house and see for myself how Marie is doing. And then, if everything is okay, I'm going to go out to the shop and calm your father down. I'll let you know what I find out."

  "It's just high blood pressure, right?" he asked plaintively.

  "Right." Polly reached up and kissed his cheek. "And thank you for letting me stick my nose in this."

  He kissed her cheek. "Go, before I realize how ridiculous I'm being and make you stay here."

  She ran for her truck, waved and backed out of the driveway. This was probably one of the sillier things she'd done lately. Marie was going to think they'd all lost their minds. Family was so strange. They could yell at each other about the oddest things, but when it came to having a frank conversation about something like high blood pressure, that was too difficult.

  It only took a few minutes to get across town. Polly drove into the parking area of the shop and turned off her truck, then took a breath. She headed for the back door of the house and stopped when she saw Molly and Marie in the back yard. Molly was in a cute little swimsuit, playing in a sandbox that Bill had made two weeks ago. Marie looked up from her lawn chair when she heard Polly's footsteps in the grass.

  "Polly!" the little girl screamed.

  Marie helped Molly get out of the box and released her to run to Polly. "What are you doing here today?" Marie asked as Polly bent down to scoop up Jessie's daughter.

  Polly brushed sand from Molly's bottom and then kissed her cheek. "How are you?"

  "Sand." Molly pointed at the sandbox.

  "Do you want to go back in?"

  Molly shook her head and snuggled into Polly's neck.

  "I guess she wants a hug," Marie said. "Do you have a minute to sit?"

  "I'm here because your husband and son are worried," Polly said. She took the arm of a second lawn chair and dragged it over to the sandbox.

  "About me?" Marie asked. "Because of the doctor's appointment?" She rolled her eyes. "Those men."

  "Bill seems to think that if you'd gone to Arizona, this wouldn't be a problem and now Henry's worried that you're going to die an early death."

  Marie laughed out loud. "And neither one of them had the courage to talk to me about it. I tried to tell Bill that it was no big deal, but he is intent on worrying about me. My parents have high blood pressure and so does my brother. It was bound to happen. I don't know how I've done so well for as long as I did. We'll start the medication; I'll check it regularly and make a few alterations in my lifestyle and then move forward."

  "I told Henry that he was worrying too much, but one of us needed to talk to you or he wouldn't sleep tonight. It's bad enough when I don't sleep, but that's not normal for him."

  "He could sleep through anything," Marie said.

  Molly settled down into Polly's lap and leaned against her, putting her thumb into her mouth. Polly looked up at Marie.

  "Honey, thumb," Marie said.

  When Molly didn't remove it, Marie nodded at Polly, who gently tugged the thumb out of the little girl's mouth. Molly resolutely put it right back in and Polly took it out again, then held her hand. She tried not to chuckle at the pouty lip that popped out, but before long, Molly relaxed against her again.

  "Her nap was disturbed because of my appointment," Marie said. "I tried to schedule it so as to not disrupt her, but they just didn't have another time."

  "Everything else is okay?" Polly asked.

  "Healthy as an old lady horse. I told Bill that nothing was prying me away from this little girl. For heaven's sake, she's the one who keeps me so healthy. I haven't been so active since Lonnie and Henry were kids. I'm going to miss having a baby around as this one grows up. She changes so much."

  Marie was always so careful about not m
aking them feel guilty for not having babies, but every once in a while, Polly felt a little guilt for depriving her mother-in-law of the joy of being a grandmother.

  "I understand you had some excitement at the new house," Marie said. "Henry told us that there was an old whiskey still down there."

  "This morning they opened a new underground room and found barrels and empty bottles." Polly grinned. "They also found some labels that Franklin Bell must have had printed. It's strange to think that my house was part of history. We read about Prohibition and here I am finding it."

  "You should talk to my father sometime." Marie’s parents were world travelers. Polly had only met them a couple of times, though they had a home in Bellingwood.

  "He isn't old enough to have been alive when the Bell House was built," Polly said.

  "No, but his parents were. And they were a bunch of story tellers. If you get him started, he'll probably have plenty to tell you about the early days of Bellingwood."

  Polly chuckled. "That would be great. Are they coming back for the Sesquicentennial?"

  "They wouldn't miss it. Mom will dig out her bonnet and skirt and Dad will regale the city with tales; half made up and the other half true. You have to guess which is which and more than likely he doesn't even know any longer. But honey, didn't Henry tell you they were coming home this week? They want to meet your family and when I told them Rebecca's birthday party was on Sunday, they moved up their travel plans. I asked Henry to invite you all over to dinner Saturday night."

  Polly had a hard time keeping her laughter in check, not wanting to wake Molly. The little girl had turned into a cuddly, warm ball on her lap and as long as Marie didn't say anything, Polly was going to continue to keep the child quiet.

  "That's why he didn't have a problem with me coming over to talk to you about your high blood pressure," Polly said.

  "What do you mean?"

  "Because he had completely forgotten to tell me about the invitation and by making you do it, he knows I'll have calmed down by the time I see him again." Laughter rumbled in her chest and Molly squirmed against it, then settled back in to sleep.

  "I'm so sorry," Marie said. "I should have called you myself, but it all happened yesterday and he stopped by this morning. I just assumed he said something."

  "Please don't worry." Polly smiled. "I'm not upset. I'm looking forward to seeing your parents again. Can I bring anything?"

  Marie shook her head. "Of course not. Mom and I have a great time in the kitchen together. She'll want to make something exotic and I won't have nearly the ingredients for it, but she'll make it up as she goes. Dad will hold court in the living room. I can almost see him striding up and down the length of it as he engages everyone in his stories. Bill will hide upstairs until he absolutely has to come down."

  "He doesn't get along with your parents?"

  Marie screwed up her mouth as she thought about how to respond. "That's not it, exactly. Bill always feels common around them. My parents don't think of him that way, but because they are educated and have been all over the world, he always tries to measure himself against their lives." She gave Polly a sad smile. "The thing is, my father would love to know the things that Bill knows - like how to create beauty with his hands. And though this was my parents’ home, they aren't connected to people in town any longer. They know people, but they have no strong sense of community here." Marie shrugged. "They don't know you and to be honest, they're not close to Lonnie or Henry either. Oh, they're the fun grandparents that my kids loved to talk about, but there were never hugs or sitting on their lap or snuggling up against them on Christmas morning while we sang Christmas carols. Dad knows what they missed out on, though he wouldn't have changed his life. And he thinks the world of Bill for providing that for me. But Bill is still uncomfortable."

  "I guess I'm lucky," Polly said.

  "What's that, dear?"

  "Because I have you here. Both of you."

  "Yes you do and I promise you that I'm not going anywhere."

  "Do you think your parents will ever settle down in Bellingwood?"

  "Someday maybe they'll have to," Marie replied. "They can't travel forever, though it feels like they're going to try their very best to do so."

  "Do you miss them?"

  "I don't think so. This has always been their life. I got out of it as soon as I was able, but I've never known anything different with them."

  Jessie came around the corner of the house and saw her daughter on Polly's lap. "Hi there," she said in low tones.

  "Hi yourself. I have a snuggly baby." Polly stroked Molly's hair. "She's pretty cute."

  "I just came out to see if she needed anything." Jessie smiled at Marie. "I needed a break. Your husband and Les are spraying finish in there today and even the air purifier isn't cleaning it up."

  "Pull up a chair, honey," Marie said.

  Jessie grabbed the closest chair. "Have you heard anything from Stephanie?"

  "That's right," Marie said. "You've had a really rough week. How are things working out at the office?"

  "We have a good temp girl," Polly replied, "but we miss Stephanie, and Rebecca misses Kayla. She called last night to tell us they were safe."

  "Do you know where they are?" Jessie asked.

  Molly must have finally heard her mother's voice because she came awake and started to work up to tears. Jessie leaned over and took her daughter from Polly and patting her, put her back to sleep in her own arms.

  "They won't tell us," Polly said. "And I guess I don't blame Stephanie for that. If their father is nearby, it's probably not safe for them to be here. I just hope that he's found soon so everyone can get back to normal."

  Jessie kissed her daughter's head. "Do you think he's here?"

  "I don't know what to think. He might be. But then again, he could still be hiding in Ohio. Right now it's all up in the air."

  "I can't even begin to think about how bad that was for Stephanie," Jessie said. "Nobody should treat their daughter like that."

  Polly smiled and nodded. Jessie's mother had nothing to do with her and she hadn't seen her father since he'd come out to Iowa to find her. Neither Jessie nor Stephanie had lived through a normal childhood, but at least they'd both found people in Bellingwood who stepped in as friends and family. Polly was so grateful to Marie Sturtz for what she did for Jessie and Molly. When Jessie had needed a solid rock, Marie was there to provide it.

  "I'm glad she got out of there," Polly said. "Now I just want her to come home."

  They all looked up as Bill Sturtz came into the back yard. "It looks like I found the garden," he said.

  Marie chuckled. "What?"

  "All the prettiest flowers are right here in my back yard."

  "You sweet talker, you."

  "Jess, you should go on home with your tired baby," he said. "Len and I are going to be spraying in there for the next couple of hours. If the phone rings, they can leave a message and we'll handle it tomorrow."

  Marie hopped out of her chair. "Let me round up Molly's things. You stay right there."

  "I can do it, Marie." Bill stepped in front of her. "Just tell me what I need to do."

  She pushed him back. "William Sturtz, you're a wonderful man and I love you, but if you get fretful about my blood pressure, you're going to send it sky high and then you and I will have a long talk. I am fine. The doctor says I'm healthy. Don't you dare turn this into something that it isn't. Got it?" She pecked his cheek with a kiss and swept past him.

  He turned and looked sheepishly at Polly and Jessie. "Am I in trouble?"

  Polly laughed. "If you weren't so cute, you'd be in trouble all the time, I'm thinking."

  "Maybe you and your family should meet us at Davey's for dinner tonight. I don't know that I want to stay at home alone with her until I figure out how to get out of this one."

  "We're working over at the new house," Polly said. "And we'll be sweaty messes by the time we're through. I think you're on your own tonight."r />
  He lifted his eyes to the sky. "Heaven help me."

  Marie came back outside with a backpack. "Here you go, Jessie." She put it on the ground in front of Jessie's chair and then sat back down and looked up at her husband. "You go work and don't come in the house until you decide that I'm going to be fine. Got it?"

  "Yes ma'am," he said and sauntered off. Polly watched him leave and laughed when he turned back around and stuck his tongue out at his wife.

  "You two still have a lot of fun, don't you," Polly said.

  "Every day."

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  Every day this week, Polly woke up stiff and sore. It was finally Friday. The weekend was too busy for more construction. At some point her muscles would be back in shape, but she had another day of aches to wash away under a hot shower.

  Sal was already driving to Des Moines to collect her mother from the airport. She had begged Polly to meet them for a late lunch at Davey's and then give a tour of Sycamore House and the Bell House.

  With all that had been going on over at the Bell House this week, Polly looked forward to watching Mrs. Kahane traipse through the yard to show her the Prohibition hideout and storage they'd uncovered. Students from the university had found their way to Bellingwood all week, and last night they'd pronounced the tunnel quite safe.

  Andrew was beside himself. He'd been allowed to walk through the tunnel just before his mother picked him up and it was as if his brain found a new high speed. He'd babbled to Rebecca about the stories he could tell and she'd grown excited with him at the possibilities.