One Perfect Honeymoon (Bellingwood) (5 page)

CHAPTER NINE

"Ugh," Polly said when her alarm went off the next morning.

"What time is it?" Henry groaned.

"Dunno. Don't care."

He rustled around. "It's five o'clock. Why is your alarm bothering me?"

Polly giggled. "Oops. I'd set it yesterday morning. Sorry about that."

"Go back to sleep. We're on vacation."

She picked her phone up, intending to ensure that no more alarms would bother them, but when she swiped it open, there were eight emails and four new text messages.

"I'll be right back." Polly slipped out of bed, past the puppies and into the bathroom. She sat down and opened her phone. There were messages from everyone.

"What happened" she asked herself and started with the first email from Lydia.

"Polly, I know that you are far from home and we are taking care of everyone, but Sarah Heater was just rushed to the hospital."

Polly checked the time on the email - ten thirty last night. Why didn't someone call her? It was only nine thirty out here. She read on.

"Evelyn Morrow was with her and called the squad. She contacted Sylvie, who called me and we went right up to your place to talk to Rebecca. I took Rebecca down to Boone last night for just a few minutes. The doctors think it's pneumonia. They aren't sure how she contracted it, since Evelyn has been taking such good care of her, but you know how beaten down that poor woman is. Rebecca is at Sylvie's and you aren't supposed to worry.

"I love you and I know this is hard and will mess up your vacation, but I also know that you'd want to know. Call if you need me. You know I'm up early in the morning."

Polly dropped her head down between her knees and took a deep breath. This couldn't be happening. Sarah could not die while she was so far away. Poor Rebecca trusted Polly to be there for her.

She looked upward and breathed out, "Please not now. Please."

There were more messages. A text from Sylvie told her Rebecca was staying with them until Polly got back, another from Jessie begging Polly to call when she got up the next morning, and a third from Joss asking if she could help. Emails had come in from Evelyn Morrow and one this morning from Jeff. Henry's mother, Marie, had emailed as well, offering to do anything she could.

Polly couldn't imagine living anywhere else other than Bellingwood. Her friends were her family and they took care of things before she even knew there was a problem.

"Polly?" Henry's voice came from the other room. "Are you okay in there?"

She sighed loudly and stood up, then opened the door. "It's Sarah. They rushed her to the hospital last night. Rebecca is at Sylvie's now."

He reached out and took her hand. "What happened?"

"Lydia says they're sure it's pneumonia."

"She doesn't have enough energy to deal with that."

"I know. And poor Rebecca. I wish I were there to hold her."

"Do we need to just head home?"

Polly leaned into him, settling her head on his chest. "No. We're on vacation. I want to spend this time with you."

"Honey, I get it. If you want to just start driving home, we can do that."

"No. Really. Let's keep doing what we were planning to do. I'll call Lydia and I can probably reach Rebecca before she goes to school. Do you want to go back to sleep or can I make the calls out there?"

"I wouldn't be able to sleep anyway. Come on out and curl up beside me while you talk to your family."

She reached up and kissed him. "This is why I love you."

He helped her get settled on the king-size bed and then reached down and picked each of the puppies up and set them beside her. Padme and Kirk weren't finished sleeping and curled up in the crook of Polly's legs, yawned and fell back to sleep. Khan and Han rustled around where Henry had been sleeping until he sat down and separated them. Their little yips and yelps were adorable.

"You two hush. Polly has to make a call."

Polly dialed Sylvie's number, praying that she was right about the time adjustment.

"Good morning, Polly. I see you got my message," Sylvie said quietly.

"I got a lot of messages. How's our little girl?"

"She's doing as well as can be expected. This was pretty scary. Especially since we woke her up to tell her that her mom was going to the hospital. That was pretty difficult for her."

"Had Sarah been showing signs of this?"             

"She had a slight cough, but when she saw her oncologist on Monday, he didn't think it was anything."

"There ya go," Polly said flatly. "Do I need to come home?"

"Don't you dare. We've got this. You and Henry need this time together."

"Does Rebecca need me?"

"She has plenty of people to take care of her. We all love her and Andrew has really kicked it up a notch this morning. He's been pretty good. Actually, even Jason has been good. He told her that he'd saddle up Tom and Huck if she and Andrew wanted to ride around the neighborhood tonight."

"He's a sweetie. Can I talk to her?"

"Of course, but please don't worry. We've got this." In the background, Polly heard Sylvie talking to Rebecca and then the little voice came on the line.

"Polly?"

"Hi honey, how are you doing this morning?"

"I'm okay. Did Sylvie tell you?"

"She sure did. In fact, a lot of people contacted me last night. But I'm worried about you. I miss you."

"I miss you too."

Polly heard the girl's voice begin to break. "I'm sorry you have to face this without me."

"It's okay." Rebecca's voice hitched.

"No, it's not okay, but I'm proud of you for saying that."

"Will you call the hospital today and ask how Mom is? No one really tells me anything."

Polly smiled. It was hard to protect kids from the worst of life, but Rebecca needed to know that she could trust Polly to be honest. "Of course I will. When you get home from school, I'll call and tell you what I know. How's that?"

"When are you coming home?" Rebecca's voice quavered.

"We aren't supposed to get home until Monday night."

"Oh. Okay. I really miss you." That was all it took. Rebecca started to weep on the other end of the phone. "I wish you were here, Polly. What if she dies?"

"Oh sweetie. I wish I were there too, but I'm not. You know Sylvie loves you, right?"

"Yes."

"And Lydia. She loves you very much too, right?"

"She took me to the hospital last night."

"That's because she loves you. Eliseo loves you, Jeff loves you, Jessie loves you. I guess even Jason and Andrew love you."

"But they aren't you and Henry."

"I know, but for now they're going to have to stand in for us, okay? And I promise that whenever you want to talk to me, all you have to do is ask someone to use their phone and we'll be able to talk right away. I'm sorry I haven't talked to you much before this."

"Okay. Andrew says I have to get ready for school. Will you call me later and tell me about Mom?"

"Absolutely. Hand the phone to Sylvie. I love you, sweetie."

"I love you too." Rebecca's voice trailed off as the phone was transferred to Sylvie.

"Are you still okay?" Sylvie asked Polly.

"That was hard. I feel like I should just come home. That poor little girl."

"We've got this. Don't worry. Promise me that."

"I can't, but thank you for taking care of her."

"As many times as you've been there for my boys, of course I'll do this."

"Say, since I have you on the phone," Polly winked over at Henry. "What do you think about a puppy?"

"You know I don't have room for one of those. What are you talking about?" Sylvie used her best scolding voice.

"I also know that you're looking at houses and that you've found three you're interested in. As soon as you get into a house, you'll have plenty of room."

"That's not fair. Why do you have puppies?"

Polly explained what they'd been doing throughout most of their trip and she could practically hear Sylvie rolling her eyes on the other end of the phone.

Then she heard Andrew yell, "Is Polly bringing us a puppy?"

"No," Sylvie snapped. "Now go brush your teeth. The car is leaving in five minutes." She waited a beat and said to Polly. "See what you did?"

"You know that both boys would love it. I'm sending you a picture. I named her Padme and I think she'd fit into your lives perfectly."

"You're a rotten friend, Polly Giller."

"The worst. I'll call after school and talk to Rebecca again. Hopefully I'll know more about Sarah. Thank you for everything."

"You're welcome. Have a wonderful day. Everything is fine here."

"I love you."

"Love you too." As Sylvie pulled the phone away, Polly heard her yell, "Jason, the bus is here. Get moving. Andrew ..."

"How was Rebecca?" Henry asked. The two pups he was holding had fallen back to sleep beside him.

Polly put her hand on Han's warm little tummy. It didn't make any sense to her why people didn't want animals in their lives. A mere touch and they calmed her.

"She's pretty upset. She cried when she realized how far away I was." Polly touched Henry's cheek. "And she said the sweetest thing about you. No one in town loves her like you and I do."

He smiled up at Polly. "Well, that yanks at a man's heart strings. Are we heading back now?"

"Sylvie said we should stay here. They've got it and we're supposed to enjoy our vacation."

"Go ahead and call Lydia. See what she has to say," he said.

"Okay. Maybe she'll tell me to come home."

Polly dialed the phone and felt herself relax when Lydia answered.

"Hi there, sweetie. I'm glad to hear from you. Are you doing okay?"

"I just talked to Rebecca. She's pretty upset."

"She had a shock last night and I doubt that she got much sleep."

"Thank you for taking her to the hospital to see her mother."

"We weren't there very long. Just enough for her to give her mama a kiss and a hug. That poor woman is so weak and sick. Evelyn was beside herself that she might have missed something."

"I suspect that at this stage in Sarah's life, anything can happen and happen in a hurry."

"That's what the doctor said."

"Is she going to die this time? Do I need to hurry back?"

Lydia took a deep breath and paused before answering. "I don't know what to tell you, Polly. Pneumonia in someone that weak isn't good, but they're going to help her as much as possible. I hate the idea of you cutting your vacation short, though. You and Henry should have some time together without the problems of Bellingwood pressing on the two of you."

"I don't know what you're telling me."

"I don't either. I won't sugar coat this. Sarah isn't well, but she hasn't been well for a long time. On the other hand, she's in the hospital and they're going to do everything they can for her. I'd hate to have you end your vacation for no good reason."

"Sylvie said I should stay, but I don't think she understands how much Rebecca and I need each other through this."

"Sylvie is being practical. But, if you were to press her about this same situation involving one of her boys, there'd be no question. She'd be here as soon as possible."

"So you're telling me to come home."

"It's a decision you and Henry have to make together. Don't you have four or five days left?"

"Yeah. But ..." Polly didn't know what else to say.

"I'm sorry I'm not being more helpful."

"You want to tell me to come home, but you don't think that's fair to say. Am I right?"

"I love you very much, Polly. You'll make the right decision."