The River Rolls On (Bellingwood Book 10) (26 page)

"No I don't," Polly said with a chuckle. "She's going to be a royal pain in the hind end when we won't let her do things her way or when we demand that she listen to our opinions, but she's smart - smarter than anyone realizes. She'll figure it out. And if she doesn't, well then, I guess I'll deal with it."

"Just like you deal with everything else," Joss said, glancing behind Polly. "Here they come."

"Would you believe Kayla has never read a Harry Potter book?" Andrew demanded, slapping the book down on the counter. "Can you believe it?"

"Why's that?" Joss asked.

"I don't know," Kayla said. "I didn't read much before we came here."

"Your two friends have checked this book out several times," Joss said. "They need to let you have fun reading it by yourself. Don't you dare spoil any of the mysteries for her, got it?"

Andrew nodded emphatically and put a stack of paperbacks beside Kayla's book. "What are these about?" he asked.

Polly picked the top book up and looked at him. "What made you pick this up?"

"Is it the television show that Mom watches sometimes?"

She turned the book so Joss could see. "Perry Mason books?"

"There's a ton of them back there. No one ever reads them anymore. Can I?"

The two women looked at each other and Joss asked, "Are you done with the young adult books?"

"Nah, but these look kind of fun. They're just mysteries, right?"

"Okay," Joss said. "Give 'em a shot. It would be nice to see them in circulation again. Tell your friends if you like 'em. What do you have, Rebecca?"

"Mom told me about the Black Stallion books. I've never read those. We talked about it when she watched the Percherons. Now that she's gone, maybe it's time for me to read them."

"I'm sorry for your loss," Joss said, reaching out to touch Rebecca's hand. "She was a wonderful mother and a terrific woman."

Rebecca pulled her hand back and dropped it to her side. "Thank you," she said quietly.

"Let me check these out and you can head for the General Store," Joss said. She quickly moved through the books and put them in the bags Andrew and Rebecca had been carrying. When she handed Kayla's book to her, Rebecca opened her bag so that she could drop it in.

Polly gave Joss a gentle smile as they left and when they got to the front door, she held it open for the three kids. She took a deep breath once they were outside.

"Ice cream now?" she asked.

They walked down the sidewalk and crossed the street to the General Store, then went inside. A table was open and Andrew ran to sit down in a chair.

"What do you want?" Polly asked. "I'm having a hot fudge sundae with nuts and whipped cream and a cherry on top."

"Can I have a banana split?" Andrew asked with a huge grin on his face.

Polly laughed at him. "What would your mother say?"

"She'd say I was going to spoil my dinner. Can I?"

"What if I split it with you?" Rebecca asked him. "Then it wouldn't be so bad, would it?"

"You're a smart girl, Rebecca," Polly said. "What about you, Kayla?"

"That sounds good, but I don't have anyone to split it with."

"Do you really want one?" Polly asked her. "Because I think I know how we can work this out."

Kayla's eyes lit up. "Yes!"

"I'll be right back. The three of you sit here and don't move." Polly went up to the counter and when the young girl who was taking orders stopped in front of her to ask what she wanted, Polly leaned in and said. "A hot fudge sundae with nuts, whipped cream and a cherry for me and then I'd like you to make up a double banana split for three kids to share. Make sure there are plenty of cherries and spoons and fun stuff for them. I don't care what it costs."

The girl smiled and nodded. "I know just what they want. We'll bring it over in a few minutes, okay?"

"Thanks," Polly said. She pulled napkins out of the dispenser and went back to the table to join the kids. "Banana splits are coming. You had better not get me in trouble, though." These kids weren't going to be able to eat that much ice cream and get through dinner. Sylvie would probably kill her and Stephanie would never let her take Kayla out again, but she just couldn't find it in herself to feel guilty. If three kids were who she was going to celebrate her freedom with, they were doing it in style.

She watched Rebecca try to laugh and joke with Andrew and Kayla. Something about Joss's comment had changed her demeanor. "Are you okay, Rebecca?" Polly asked.

Andrew and Kayla stopped talking to watch what was happening.

"Yeah," Rebecca said. "I think so. It's just weird to have people talk about Mom in the past tense. They're going to do that a lot, aren't they?"

"Well, she is gone," Polly said.

"She's not gone. Saying she's gone is like you're saying she's coming back. She's dead. She's never coming back."

"Right..."

Rebecca had started to wind up and then immediately she forced herself to calm back down. "It's weird, that's all. They're going to say nice things about her and expect me to do what? Cry for them?"

Polly glanced at Andrew and Kayla. They were completely at a loss as to what to say.

"Maybe we should talk about this later tonight," Polly said. She watched Rebecca fold in on herself and knew she'd handled that one badly. "I'm sorry," she said quietly. "I don't know what to tell you. People have different ideas about how to handle death. You and your mom talked about it and you've thought about it and I'm guessing she answered your questions and when you needed to cry because you knew how much you were going to miss her, she held you and talked to you. Right?"

Rebecca nodded.

"I miss my mom, too," Kayla said simply.

Polly put her hand on Kayla's back, thankful that enough time had passed and they had gotten to know each other well enough that the girl didn't flinch quite as often. "I'll bet you do."

"I didn't get to tell her goodbye before she died. You were lucky, Rebecca."

Andrew squirmed uncomfortably in his seat and Rebecca looked across the table at her friend, then blinked as she tried to regain her composure.

"I'm sorry, Kayla," Rebecca said. "I was being selfish. This is just so weird for me."

"No one here knew my mom and we didn't even get to have a funeral."

Polly's heart broke. Why hadn't she thought to do anything for Stephanie and Kayla? It had been such a strange time for them. Stephanie had gone back to Ohio to talk to the prosecutors and when she got back to Sycamore House, life just moved on.

Rebecca stood up and took Polly's hand, pulling on it, asking Polly to follow her. She drew Polly out the front door and said, "I know we haven't talked about this, but I think we should ask Stephanie and Kayla to be part of the service on Saturday. It won't add any more people, so we don't have to plan for it, but they need to say goodbye to their Mom, too, don't you think?"

Polly felt tears squirt out of her eyes as she reached out and pulled Rebecca close. "You are an amazing little girl. I am awfully proud of you. You don't have to do this if you don't want to, though. No one else is even going to think of it, so there's no pressure."

"I want to. It's the right thing. Kayla's right. They didn't get a funeral and they should have one."

"You wreck my heart sometimes, Rebecca. I think the world of you."

"Mom would want me to do this."

"Yes she would." Polly gave her another squeeze and said. "I think I see the ice cream coming. Are you ready for this?"

"Thanks, Polly," Rebecca said.

"I love you, sweetie."

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

Dancing in anticipation, Rebecca stood at the main doors into the auditorium between Henry and Polly.

"People are going to think I'm strange," she said.

Henry put his hand on her back. "You're in good company. Since the day Polly got here, she's stirred the community up. They never know what to think when she's around."

"You guys are okay with this, right?" Rebecca asked.

"Honey, this is awesome. Your mom would love it."

"I let everybody do the sad funeral thing, but now it's time to party. Is that really okay? Mom didn't want us to be sad."

"It's just fine," Polly assured her.

They'd had a rather somber memorial service at the Methodist church. Stephanie and Kayla tried to refuse to be part of it, but after spending time with Reverend Boehm on Friday afternoon, they'd agreed that it might be good to celebrate their own mother's death. The service had been fairly standard, as memorial services go. Hymns, a message of hope and each of the girls took a few moments to talk about how much their mothers had meant to them. There had been very few dry eyes in the church and Polly had been pleased with the number of her friends that had attended. Many of them had grown to know Sarah and Rebecca over the last year and a half and they were there to celebrate the life of a woman who had loved her daughter more than anything.

Rev. Boehm had agreed to hold the congregation for an extra ten minutes so Rebecca, Henry and Polly could get back to Sycamore House first. Rebecca had checked the auditorium one last time and pronounced it ready to go. Sylvie, Rachel, Hannah and Stephanie were in the kitchen putting the finishing touches on the meal.

The front door of Sycamore House opened and Polly wasn't at all surprised to see Lydia and Aaron come in, followed by Andy and Len Specek and Beryl Watson.

"That was a beautiful service, Rebecca," Lydia said, hugging the girl. "You are very lucky to have spent so many years with your mother."

"Yes I was," Rebecca said. "She was great."

Aaron put his hand on the crash bar to open the door, and Rebecca stopped him. "Just a few more minutes," she said.

He looked at her and then at Polly, confusion creasing his forehead.

"Just wait," Polly echoed, winking at him.

The foyer began to fill with people and Rebecca slipped away. Polly waited and chatted with her friends until Rebecca flung open the doors and Cyndi Lauper's "Girls Just Want to Have Fun" blasted over the speakers in the auditorium.

"What is this?" Lydia asked.

Beryl started to laugh and grabbed her friend's arm. "It's a discotheque! I don't think I've ever been to a funeral luncheon quite like this one."

Murmuring and surprised laughter accompanied the guests entering the auditorium.

They'd spent all day Friday decorating the room. Jon and Ray had stayed through mid-afternoon, catching an early evening flight out. Before he left, Ray handed Polly a flash drive and told her that was every bit of information he'd collected on the people that surrounded her. There was nothing in there that was a threat to her or her friends and family. He hinted that there were things she might want to know in the future, but for now, it was unimportant. Polly didn't know what to do with the drive, so she tucked it away behind the junk in a drawer in her desk. Now all she needed to do was forget that it even existed. It had been good to see them and Polly appreciated everything they had done. When she tried to talk to Ray about payment, he took her aside, his grip on her arm tight.

Ray was angry that she'd asked again. He'd done this because they were family and he thought she understood that. Polly nodded and then in a moment of seriousness, he asked if she would consider helping him out sometimes when he needed to have a quiet place for his employees to run away to. That had surprised her. Why would he want to send people to the middle of Iowa? There was nothing here for them to do ... no ocean beaches or mountains or resorts. He'd smiled ... a bit patronizingly and told her that she didn't know what she had here. But, if she would make Sycamore Inn available when he needed it, he'd consider the debt fully paid. Polly agreed. It was a simple enough request and she would be glad to do that for him.

They'd helped in the auditorium before leaving, covering the windows to limit the afternoon's light. Henry and Eliseo had hung disco balls from the ceiling and installed black lights around the room. Neon tablecloths and party ware, balloons, and streamers filled the room. There were glow sticks on the tables and even Sylvie's punch glowed.

It took a few moments for people to find a seat in the room and the noise settled down when Rebecca took the stage with a microphone. Jeff turned down the music, which at this point was playing "Boogie Wonderland."

"Thank you for coming to celebrate my mother's life," Rebecca said. "We talked for a long time about what we would do today and one day she said that she missed out on the disco era. She loved to dance. This might be different than you'd expect..." Rebecca paused for effect and gestured around the room. "But it's what she wanted. Mom always said that even if I missed her, I should remember how much fun we had and that today would be one last hurrah and nobody could stop us."

Rebecca took a deep breath and bent down to pick a glow stick up from the floor. She snapped it and said, "So let's party like it's the seventies. Lunch is ready, just head out the door to the kitchen line and please laugh and have a good time." She raised her glow stick. "Thanks Mom."

Jeff took the microphone from her and lifted her down from the stage. Rebecca's face was beaming when Polly and Henry got to her side.

"Was I okay?" she asked.

"You were great," Polly said. "I'm proud of you and I know your mom would be, too."

"Did you see Mrs. Hastings is here?"

Polly looked around. "I think some of your classmates and their families are here with her, too. That's pretty cool."

"Have you seen Andrew?"

"He's over there with a couple of boys from your class," Polly said, pointing to the cake table. Sylvie had used tonic water to add a glow to the frosting on cupcakes and it was wild seeing them reflect the black light.

"Can I go?"

"You can do whatever you want today," Henry said to her. "We'll take care of the weird adults."

"Thanks." Rebecca handed him her glow stick and started to walk away, then thought better of it and took it back. "I might get lost in the dark," she said with a laugh.

He took Polly's hand and drew her close. "Do you think she'll ever get back to being a kid?"

Polly watched her rush up to Andrew and his friends, bobbing in time to the music. "She's working on it. We just need to keep crises away from her for a while. Can we do that?"

He stepped back and gave her a look of incredulity. "We? What's this 'we' stuff? You're the one who brings excitement to this relationship. I'm just trying to hold on."

"Help me, then?" She leaned forward and gave him a kiss on the cheek.

"Polly, can I talk to you for a minute?"

She turned at the sound of Sal's voice. "Sure, what's up?"

"Away from all of this. I need to talk to you."

Henry squeezed her hand and she left him to follow Sal out the back door into the hallway behind the stage.

"I need to apologize to you," Sal said. "I can't believe I was so out of control the other night. You and Sylvie tried to tell me to stop it, but I couldn't get over myself. I don't know when to stop. You know I love you, don't you?"

"Of course I do," Polly said. "You don't have to apologize. You were stressed and things were falling apart. I understand."

"But I never heard from you again. I figured you would at least call to yell at me."

Polly took Sal's hand. "Honey, I'm sorry. My life has been so nuts the last couple of days, I haven't had time to do anything but move from one thing to the next. Thursday was crazy busy with trying to sleep and talking to the FBI and then yesterday we spent the whole day decorating and getting ready for today. I'm so sorry."

"No. I don't want you to apologize. That's my job," Sal said. "I should have called you." She gestured back to the auditorium. "I should have been here to help. I was being all self-centered and whiny and you needed me."

"It's okay. Henry said you've been at the coffee shop. Are you handling that any better now?"

"I think so," Sal said. "He tells me that it's going to be okay. We can't save the apartments, but that's probably better anyway. I don't want to be a landlord."

"Maybe they did you a favor," Polly said with a laugh.

"The next time I act like silly self-centered Bunny Farnam will you promise to beat me upside the head?" Sal asked. "It just hit me that I've been doing that for the last couple of days and now, here I am dragging you away from Rebecca just so you'll tell me that you don't hate me."

"Stop it. I love you to pieces. Come on. Let's go back in and dance."

"That little girl is certainly lucky to have you."

"She's pretty amazing."

"Yes she is. You're going to have your hands full as she grows up."

"Yes, I am," Polly said, opening the door. Earth, Wind and Fire was playing over the speakers and she couldn't help herself. She grabbed Sal's arms and spun her into the room, then twirled up against her. "This is the best music ever," Polly said. She pointed to Lydia. "Look at her."

Lydia was dancing around Aaron as he held two plates of food. When she slid up and down his side, Polly laughed out loud. "You'll never see that happen again," she said.

Sal's eyes were huge. "I can't believe I'm seeing it now! There's Mark, looking lost. He's been worried about us. I should tell him that things are fine."

"Go take care of your man," Polly said. She danced her way to Henry, who was talking to Nate and Joss. "Wanna dance, big boy?" she asked.

"This was a great idea," Joss said. "I think you and Rebecca both needed a party to toss off the stress of the last few weeks."

Henry looked around the room. "You know, I think that everyone here needed this to toss off the stress of the last couple of weeks. We've all been on edge, worrying about that serial killer... not knowing where he was or if he would grab Polly out from under us. This is good. It's just different enough to break apart any leftover tension."

Evelyn Morrow approached Polly, holding two glasses of punch. She handed one to Polly and the other to Henry. "I heard Sarah and Rebecca planning this," she said with a smile. "It's grand that you sent Sarah off with such a big party. It would have made her happy. That woman wanted the world for her daughter. I'm glad you two can offer her a wonderful life."

Polly shook her head and looked across the room at Rebecca, who had found a seat at a table with Kayla and Mrs. Hastings. They were talking animatedly and Rebecca was drawing on the tablecloth. She laughed and glanced around the room, taking it all in, then returned to the conversation. "I think Rebecca is going to find a way to make her own way in the world. Henry and I will just make sure she's safe and loved."

"Are you two planning to have children of your own?" Evelyn asked. "You have a great deal to offer a big family."

Henry took Polly's hand and they looked at each other. He spoke up. "We're not planning on having children in the normal way. At least not right now. But I'd have to guess that Rebecca is just the first child who will end up in our family. How does that sound?"

Evelyn smiled and reached down to put her hand on their clasped hands. She lifted their hands so she could hold them in hers. "That sounds exactly right for you. Rebecca has no idea what she's started, does she?"

"I don't know what tomorrow has in store," Polly said. "But I do know that I'm going to miss having you here. It's been a joy."

"Thank you for caring for Sarah," Evelyn said. "You all made it easy to give meaning to her final months. I'll miss the everyday excitement that happens here." She gave Polly a wicked grin. "But I don't think I'll miss treating your friends when they're nearly run over or worrying about whether some madman is coming after you. Those gave me a few nights of unsettled sleep."

"You're welcome to come by any day," Polly said. "In fact, I'm sure Rebecca would be glad to see you as often as possible."