Unexpected Riches (Bellingwood Book 13) (21 page)

"What did you do?"

I dropped Jason into a bath. He was lucky I didn't spank his little bottom. He knew better, but Andrew had found a couple of tubes of my lipstick and Jason thought it would be fun."

"This is why I'm very happy with bringing older kids into my family," Polly said.

"You just wait," Sylvie retorted. "You'll get yours someday."

Polly held up a cross she made with her index fingers. "Stay away from me with that talk. I like it that all of you young chickadees are having babies."

"Young chickadees?" Sal asked.

"Yeah. Like them." Polly waved her fingers at Sandy and Joss. "You know, not me in my old age here."

Sal frowned at her. "We're only thirty-five."

"You may be thirty-five, but after this weekend, I feel like I'm in my..." Polly looked at Sylvie, who was giving her an "I dare you" look. "I feel like I'm in my early fifties or something."

Sal relaxed and Polly glanced at her, wondering what that was about.

"How are things with Heath?" Joss asked.

"He's doing good tonight." Polly grinned. "He felt much better when I told him he didn't have to go to school for a few days."

Sandy peered at her. "What happened to Heath?"

"Somebody beat him up Friday night. Heath stepped in to protect a girl he was with. A few bruised ribs and some good cuts from a knife." Polly shook her head. "I don't know that I've been that scared for someone else in a long time. He was a mess."

"Do you know who it was?"

"Not yet. Heath insists he doesn't know them, but Boone isn't that big and he's been going to school there for three years. We aren't finished with the conversation."

Their regular waitress, Bri, stepped in, carrying two pizzas. Everybody moved things to make room and she put them in the middle of the table. "It's good to see you all here at the same time this week," she said. "Can I get anything else?"

Sal held up her hand and Bri nodded. "I'll be right back."

"What was that?" Polly asked.

"Nothing," Sal said. "You'll see."

They passed plates back and forth, filling them with pizza and soon chatter died down as they ate.

"When do you think your house is going to be ready?" Sandy asked Joss.

Joss mumbled something, then pointed to her mouth.

"Sorry," Sandy giggled.

"Nate says we'll be in by mid-April, but Henry thinks it's more like May," Joss said, after swallowing. "All I know is that I want to get our house on the market so that once I move out, I don't have to think about it again. But oh dear lord, I don't want to pack and clean things."

"Hah," Polly said. "Your house is so clean and orderly, all you'll have to do is slide things into boxes and they'll find their own transportation. They wouldn't dare disobey you."

"That would be nice, but with Sophie and Cooper underfoot, packing will be the death of me. When we get closer, Mom said she'd help with the kids."

"I'll help you pack," Polly said.

"Me too," Camille said. "I can't wait to see the inside of that beautiful home you're building."

Sandy nodded and put her hand up. "I'll be there."

Bri stepped back in and put plastic champagne glasses in front of everyone, filled with something bubbly. Another waitress handed her a final glass that she gave to Sal.

"What's this?" Polly asked.

"I have an announcement," Sal said. She put her head down and took a deep breath, then looked back up. "I'm not sure how to say this, so I'm just going to put it out there. I'm pregnant."

Polly slowly turned to look at her friend. "You're going to have a baby?"

"That's generally what happens at the end of being pregnant," Sal responded.

Polly looked at the glass in front of her and then back at Sal. "A baby?"

"Uh huh. Now pick up that glass and make a toast before I think that you believe it's a bad idea."

"It's great," Polly said. Her mind was still a little fuzzy from the announcement, but she picked the glass up and raised it high. "I'm so happy for you, Sal. Here's to an exciting new life you're about to lead."

"Hear, hear," the other women said, raising their glasses.

Polly took a sip. "Hey, this is the real thing. We're really celebrating."

"Mine's not, of course," Sal said. "But yes, we're celebrating."

They peppered Sal with questions until she put her hand up. "Let me fix this for you," she said. "I found out around Thanksgiving and told Mark at Christmas, just in case everything fell apart." She glared at Polly. "Because thirty-five is old, you know. I'm keeping the baby and we're really happy about this. We talked about getting married, but we'll probably elope. I haven't told my parents." She sighed. "Because I'm just not ready for that. We're going to fly out to see them so Mom doesn't have a heart attack on the phone. Now that the first trimester is over and the baby is healthy, I'm ready to tell people. So I'm telling you."

"Look at her," Sylvie said, pointing at Polly.

The rest of them laughed.

"What?" Polly said.

"You're crying."

"Shut up." Polly put her glass down and turned so she could hug her friend. "I'm so damned happy for you."

Sal whispered. "I never thought it would be me. I always thought you'd have babies and I'd be an old maid."

"I don't want babies and you could never be an old maid," Polly said.

"We have to have a baby shower at the coffee shop," Camille said. "Ohhh, everyone is going to be so excited about this." She rubbed her hands together. "I love babies."

Polly snickered. "Maybe your mom will move to Bellingwood so she can help you."

"Now
you
shut up," Sal said. "That's the most horrible curse you could wish upon anyone. Well, everyone in Bellingwood at least. We want to keep her as far away from here as possible. Maybe I won't tell her anything ever and she'll continue to believe that I'm going to move back to Boston and pick up my old life."

"Have you had morning sickness?" Sandy asked.

Sal moaned. "It's just been the worst. But I couldn't tell anybody since I didn't want you to know. Poor Mark has been wonderful."

"Do his parents know?" Polly asked.

"Not yet." She glanced at the kitchen. "I suppose they will now. Dylan will find out from Bri and then he'll tell his wife and she'll probably call her mother."

"Maybe Mark better call his sister and tell her to be quiet until you can spill the beans," Sylvie said.

"Whatever," Sal said with a shrug. "I wanted to tell you before the whole world knew. Now we tell everyone else."

Polly hugged her again. "I am so glad you're going to be here in Bellingwood for this. We're going to have a blast."

"Maybe Rebecca can babysit when I need a shopping fix?" Sal asked.

"She'd love it." Polly raised her glass again. "To all of life's funny little surprises."

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

Rather than hurrying home, they'd all stayed late at Pizzazz talking about the many changes happening in everyone's lives. Sylvie and Camille cut out first, complaining about their early morning. Sandy had taken off around nine thirty, worried that Benji hadn't called her yet. She couldn't help herself.

Joss knew that Nate had put the twins to bed and was watching television, so she didn't need to hurry home. Mark was taking care of the dachshunds, giving Sal the opportunity to spend time with her friends.

They realized they were the last ones in the restaurant when the tables had been wiped clean and the kitchen staff was leaving. Instead of calling it a night, the three headed for the Jefferson Street Alehouse, not ready to leave each other yet. They'd talked about all of the changes on their horizons. Sal had asked Joss question after question about taking care of babies. She was another young woman who had never really spent much time around children throughout her life and Polly was glad Joss was there to give Sal some down-to-earth advice.

They talked about Joss's new house and her absolute panic over the process in front of her. She felt as if she hadn't spent nearly enough time making decisions about all of the different appliances and paint, carpet and trim colors.

As Polly listened to her friends fret over the things coming at them, she realized how much she'd changed in the last few years. Most of that was because of Henry. If it had to do with something practical, he'd help her figure out how to deal with it. If it was emotional, he just held onto her while she worked through it. And through all of the mess this last weekend with Heath, he'd stepped up in a big way. He made a great dad. That didn't surprise her. Bill Sturtz was the same type of man and you couldn't be any more calm and sensible than Henry's mother, Marie.

She'd tiptoed up the back steps well after midnight. The house was quiet as she crossed into her bedroom. Hayden wasn't in the living room, so she hoped that meant Heath was feeling well enough for them to put the air bed up in his room.

Obiwan lifted his head and thumped his tail when she pushed the bedroom door open and Henry flipped on the light.

"Did you have a good evening?" he asked.

"Sal's pregnant," Polly replied. "Due in July."

He sat up. "Sal Kahane? Your Sal is having a baby?"

"I know. Imagine that. But she is and they're looking forward to it."

"When are they getting married?"

Polly sat down on the edge of the bed beside him. "Now, how old-fashioned are you? What if they don't want to be married?"

"You're right," he said. "So they aren't?"

"I didn't say that."

He creased his forehead. "What are you doing to me? You woke me up and now you're messing with my poor brain."

"I don't know what they're going to do. If they get married, they'll probably run away somewhere. But first they have to tell her parents." Polly rolled her eyes. "That is not a time I'd want to be a fly on the wall. Her mother is going to flip out. She'll want Sal to move back to Boston, with or without Mark."

"So she can raise Sal's baby?"

"Exactly. It won't be pretty. How were things around here this evening?"

"Quiet. Hayden had a pile of homework, Rebecca and Heath watched a stupid movie and I worked in my office."

"Hayden's in Heath's room?"

Henry nodded. "I hate that we only have three bedrooms."

"Me too. I need to get back into the Bell House so we can start working on it."

"Patience, dear Prudence. I told you it was going to take a long time."

"But this place didn't take that long." Polly poked his arm. "And it's much bigger."

Henry pulled her back to lie in his arms and kissed her lips. "Remember, you paid me to do the work on Sycamore House. You'd be amazed at how motivational that can be."

"I have other ways to motivate you now."

He chuckled and helped her sit back up. "Yes you do. However, Sturtz Construction has gotten busier these last few years. It's amazing what falling in love and wanting to build a life will do for a man."

"Would your dad build a crib for Sal?"

"He'd love to. He said something to me once about not getting to make baby room furniture for us. It would mean the world if you asked him."

Polly reached over, turned his light off and walked to the other side of the bed, slipping out of her clothes and dropping them on the floor. She felt around for her night shirt and pulled it over her head before climbing in under the covers.

"You're a slob, you know," Henry said, laughing.

"I feel guilty about it sometimes. Then there are those other times when I just can't put one more thing away because I ran out of cleaning mojo. But at least I try to contain it to our bedroom now." She snuggled up close to him. "With people in and out, I'm always having to tidy up. It's just easier to keep after it."

"It's a good thing you have Rebecca around."

"Have you seen her room?"

"But she helps you."

Polly nodded. "Most of the time, and so does Heath. Henry, what am I going to do in that big house? There's no way I'll be able to keep it clean."

"You'll hire someone."

She sputtered a laugh. "That will kill me."

"No it won't," he said. "You grew up with Mary in your house. She kept things clean and your Dad paid her."

"I suppose."

"And you're always good about finding people who need jobs and then putting them to work. I have confidence that you'll manage this."

"I have to talk to Heath tomorrow about the boys that beat him up," she said quietly. "I've put it off for two days, making the excuse that he wasn't healthy enough for the conversation."

"Do you want me to talk to him for you?"

"No. I told him I would. He's expecting it. Do I wait until Hayden's gone back to school?"

"See how it plays out in the morning," Henry said. "It might not be a terrible idea to have his brother involved in the conversation."

"Has Hayden said any more about where he wants to go to school?"

Henry chuckled. "No. Apparently our conversation stirred up more questions than answers. Now he isn't even sure that he wants to go to medical school."

"What?"

"If he goes straight research, he can stay at Iowa State."

"He shouldn't make life decisions based on staying close. He should feel like he has the option to do anything he wants."

"We'll keep talking. But if he wants to stay in the Midwest, that's his decision."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. His decision. Just so he makes it based on what he wants to do for his own life, not what he thinks he should do for Heath."

"Sometimes that's hard for people to separate."

"It kills me that young people let so many things press down on them. They have so much potential and so many possibilities. Grab them all."

He pulled her into a hug. "I love you."

"I love you too," she mumbled into his shoulder. "Are you shutting me up?"

"We need to get some sleep."

"I miss having hours to talk to you about things."

"When did we do that?"

"You know, back before we had kids."

He laughed. "I don't remember hours of conversation, but we did get more sleep."

Polly took a long, deep breath and slowly exhaled.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm relaxing so I'll go to sleep."

"Goodnight, sweet girl."

~~~

Polly woke with a start. It was still dark out and Henry was pulling on his jeans. Then she realized she was hearing an alarm.

"What in the hell is that?" she yelled.

"It's the house alarm. I don't know what's going on." He turned on the lights as he left the room.

She jumped out of bed, put her jeans on and pulled a sweatshirt over her head.

Hayden was standing in Heath's bedroom door and Rebecca had come out of her room.

"What's going on?" Rebecca asked.

"We don't know. It's the house alarm," Polly said. "Have you guys been in your rooms all night?"

Rebecca nodded.

"Yeah. We haven't moved," Hayden said. "I told Heath to stay put."

"Take Han." Henry grabbed the dog's collar, picked him up and handed him to Hayden. "Shut the door."

Rebecca picked up Leia and held her close. "Are the police coming?"

At that moment, Polly's phone rang. "Hello?"

"Is this Polly Giller?"

"Yes it is."

"Do you have an emergency?"

"I don't know. I'm assuming we do."

"Should we send the police?"

Polly looked at Henry. "Police?"

He nodded.

"Yes, please."

"Stay on the line while we contact them," the voice said. "Is someone in your house?"

"I don't know," she said. "This is a big building. They might be downstairs."

"Lock all of your doors and remain inside."

"Don't go out there, Henry," she said as he put his hand on the front door handle.

"I'll be fine."

Polly realized that the fear she felt as he opened the door was probably the same thing she'd put him through so many times and she held her breath.

He silently closed the door behind him and all of a sudden she couldn't breathe.

"Are you okay, Polly?" Rebecca asked.

It took a moment for her to regain her thoughts. "I'm fine," she whispered.

Hayden came back out of Heath's bedroom and shut the door. "I think it's safe now. Whoever was here is gone now."

"How do you know that?"

"I saw him run down the driveway. He had a car parked on the other side of the barn."

"Would you recognize him if you saw him again?"

Hayden shook his head. "He was in a dark hoodie and jeans and the car was parked too far away for me to see it. I'm sorry." He started for the front door.

"Where are you going?" she asked.

"To help Henry."

When had she become the weak female? "No. You stay here with your brother and Rebecca. I'll go. Come on, Obiwan."

The alarms switched off and Polly took a deep breath. "That's better."

Hayden stepped toward the door and opened his mouth as if to protest, but Polly put her hand up. "My house. My rules. When things settle out, I'll let you know."

She met Henry as he was coming in the front door. "He's gone," Henry said.

"Hayden watched him from the bedroom window."

"I'm sorry I couldn't see him very well," Hayden said.

Henry turned around to go back downstairs. "He broke the window into your office, Polly."

She chuckled as she followed him down the steps. "I didn't know those were all alarmed."

"Jeff and I had a conversation last year."

"And you didn't talk to me about it?"

"What would you have said?"

"That it was a waste of money. Who would want to break in?"

"Look at all that time we saved," Henry said with a smile.

"It's a good thing I'm thankful for the alarm tonight or you'd be in trouble. How bad is the mess?"

"Bad. He went ripping through the boxes of Beryl's things."

"I'm so glad we took her aunt's tote bag of papers over to her house." Her head shot up. "You don't suppose he'd try to break into her place, too, do you?"

"What was he looking for? If he found it here, probably not."

Polly patted around for her phone and realized she'd left it upstairs. "I'm calling the police back. They need to send someone by her house just in case."

"You don't know who did this," Henry said.

"I have a good idea and he knows where Beryl lives."

They looked up at flashing lights in the driveway and Henry headed for the main door.