Pages of the Past (Bellingwood Book 9) (29 page)

"Taking care of you is full-time work," he said with a sigh.

"You don't have to walk with me. You know that. Go eat."

Henry looked yearningly at the buffet table. "Do you mean that?"

"Of course I do, you nut." Polly kissed his cheek and laughed at him. "I'm going to say hello to Lydia's table and then check on Rebecca and Sarah. I'll find you when it's time to dance, I promise."

She made her way past tables filled with people she'd spent the last two years getting to know. Some stopped her to tell her that she'd done a wonderful job with the place, another couple stopped her to tell her how terrific their daughter's wedding reception had been and she finally arrived at Beryl's side.

"How are you all?" she asked.

Aaron stood up. "Are you joining us?"

"No. I just wanted to stop by and meet Helen's date for the evening. How are you, Mr. Leon?"

He stood and shook her hand. "Fine, thank you. It's a lovely affair you're having."

"I'm glad you could make it. Are you ready to kick up your heels?"

"I don't dance very well, ma'am, but Mrs. Lydia and Mrs. Andrea have been practicing with me. They told me I needed to learn, so I've been learning. I hope this band plays something other than that rock and roll stuff. I can't dance to that."

"We'll see what we can do," Polly said. She knelt down beside Beryl, held out her camera, and said, "Would you mind taking pictures of Sarah and Rebecca tonight? I know you're a better photographer than I am and I know that you'll pay more attention than I will."

Beryl pulled Polly in for a hug. "You're a sweetheart. Of course I will. It will keep me from becoming a wallflower and you know how I hate sitting by myself when everyone else is having fun."

"We'd never leave you alone," Lydia said.

"You'd better. That man of yours should keep you on the dance floor all night - making up for those weeks and months he didn't hold you tight."

Aaron was standing behind Lydia's chair and bent over and kissed his wife on the head. She reached up and took the hand resting on her shoulder. "We'll find ways," she said.

"Enjoy your evening," Polly said. "I want to check on Rebecca's table, too."

Beryl followed and when Polly settled down between Rebecca and Sarah, said, "Look up and give me a smile, ladies," then took a picture. "I'm going to be all over the place tonight. You might want to make sure you smile all the time. She took pictures of everyone at the table. Kayla hammed it up with her sister and Beryl caught a wonderful picture of the two of them with Kayla kissing her sister's forehead.

"How are you feeling, Sarah?" Polly asked.

"I'm wonderful. Thank you for everything. This has been a good week." She was smiling and looked radiant, though Polly knew that was due to the Evelyn's use of makeup rather than her health. In truth, she was quite pale and thin. Rebecca had found a beautiful red and black dress for her mother and she'd borrowed a shawl from Lydia.

"I'm glad you're here. Let me know if you need anything."

"I have everything I need right here." Sarah reached out and squeezed her daughter's hand. "You've given me my heart's desire."

The band was moving to the stage and Jeff lowered the lights at the front of the auditorium.

"Excuse me, I'm going to find Henry," Polly said.

Rebecca ran after Polly and stopped her by taking her hand.

"What is it, honey?"

"Could Henry…" Rebecca looked down at her feet.

"Could Henry what?" Polly pressed.

"Could he ask my mom to dance tonight?"

"Are you sure she wants that?"

"Just for a minute. It's Valentine's Day. It doesn't have to be very long. Please?"

Polly wasn't at all sure what to do about those pleading eyes. She knew Henry would do whatever she asked of him, but didn't know how Sarah would react to it. "I'll ask him. But if she says no, you'll be okay with that, right?"

"She won't."

"You go on back and finish your dinner. I'll talk to Henry."

Rebecca hugged Polly tight. "Thank you for making this a perfect night for us."

Polly took a deep breath as Rebecca skipped back to her table. If this was what raising kids was like, she was going to be in trouble. How could she say ever no to that child? Rebecca didn't ask unreasonable favors, but she did make it nearly impossible to ever refuse her anything.

She stopped to say hello to several others on her way back to the table. Her friends were finished eating and opening cupcakes.

"Do you want something to drink?" Henry asked.

"No, I'm fine."

"Polly." His scolding wasn't too strong.

"Come on," she said, taking his hand. "Dance with me. Let's get this party started."

"But cake!"

She took his hand and tugged him out of the chair. "Cake can wait. Anyone else?"

Joss looked at her husband, eyes still filled with the excitement of a new home. "Please, honey?" she asked.

"As long as you don't expect me to dip you or spin you around or anything like that."

The three couples made their way to the dance floor and found that others followed them.

"When I was in high school, no one ever liked dancing unless they were a couple," Polly said.

Henry pulled her in tight to him. "It was the only time that we got to hold someone close. If we got those girls close enough, you know we could feel their..."

"You brat," she said. "Are you serious?"

"Come on, like you didn't know that."

"I'm so naive," she said with a laugh.

"We were just horny high school boys trying to figure out what came next."

"You knew what came next."

He tipped her face up to his. "I didn't know, Polly. I truly didn't know. Talk about naive. I was that boy."

"Thank heavens. I didn't like dances because I was so bad at it. It's a good thing Mark Ogden showed up when he did."

Henry coughed.

"What?" she asked innocently, dramatically batting her eyes at him.

"That was a bad weekend."

"Only because you were being a dope."

"It was still a bad weekend. I thought I was losing you to him and you didn't even know that I'd found you."

"Stop thinking about it. Look at me. I'm dancing with you and you can feel my breasts pressed up against you." Polly couldn't help herself and giggled. "That's just so weird."

The song came to an end and she said, "Would you ask Sarah Heater to dance tonight? Rebecca wants you to."

Henry glanced over at their table. "Sure. I can do that. Why?"

"I think Rebecca wants Sarah to have some good experiences. I want Rebecca to have the memories. You don't mind?"

"I'll do it now. That way if Sarah gets tired, she can go back to her room. Am I being the perfect husband?"

"You always are," Polly said. "Thank you."

She turned to see if there was anyone else in her vicinity that might want to dance with her and spied Doug Randall. She beckoned to him and he shook his head violently. She beckoned again and winked. He shook his head again. Polly finally walked over to him and bent down to whisper in his ear. "I'm going to embarrass you if you don't help me out here. Please?"

"But I don't like dancing."

"You'd better learn. Girls like it. Come on. It's easy." What was she doing offering to show him to dance? She'd come a long ways.

"You aren't going to let me get out of this, are you?"

"Nope. Come on. Do a girl a favor."

He heaved a sigh and stood up to follow her to the dance floor.

"Put your left hand here and give me your right hand," Polly said. "Now relax. You listen to music all the time. You can do this."

"You're mean."

"Why, yes I am. But see, you're fine." She moved with him and smiled when she saw that Rebecca had pulled Andrew out onto the dance floor. He shuffled along with her while she watched her mother and Henry glide along beside them. Beryl was taking pictures as fast as the camera would recharge.

Then the music stopped and everyone was turning to the corner of the room near the kitchen.

"Dude," Doug said quietly. "He's really doing it."

"What?" Polly asked.

Doug took her hand and pulled her with him, pointing to the action. "That."

Polly saw Doug's friend, Billy, down on one knee in front of Rachel. She was dressed in her chef's apron and hat, but her eyes sparkled with tears as he slipped the ring on her finger.

"Yes," she said and dropped down in front of him to kiss and hug him. "Yes, of course I will."

"It's going to change everything," Doug said.

"But for the better?" Polly asked.

"We'll see."

"I thought you liked Rachel."

"I do. I just hope he's ready for all this."

Kayla chose that moment to grab Polly's hand. "Polly, come quick."

"What's wrong?"

"Jessie needs you. She's in the hallway."

"Get Henry," Polly said to Doug and ran after Kayla. She found Jessie and Stephanie standing together. Jessie was bent over, breathing heavily.

"What happened?" Polly asked.

"My water broke. I think I'm going to have a baby. Right now."

Henry rushed into the hallway, took a look at Polly and Jessie and said, "Are we taking a ride tonight?"

Polly nodded. "We'll head for the truck. Would you go upstairs and get her go bag? And grab some clothes for me too? I've got a stack on the corner of my dresser just for this."

"I'll meet you in the garage."

"Let's go through the kitchen," Polly said. "You don't want to go back through the party."

"No," Jessie said, with wide eyes. "It was embarrassing enough that people around me saw it happen."

"Don't worry about them." Polly looked up and saw Doug standing in the doorway, his mouth open. "Doug?"

"Uh, yes?"

"Could you tell Jeff where I've gone and maybe let Joss and Sal and Lydia know too? And Evelyn. Rebecca knows she's staying downstairs until I get back."

He was still staring at them.

"Could you do that for me, please, Doug?"

He snapped out of his trance and said, "Sure. Joss and Rebecca."

"Sal and Lydia too. Thank you. Remember to tell Billy and Rachel congratulations for me."

He turned and headed back into the party.

"I think we freaked him out," Polly said. "Let's get going."

"Polly?" Jessie said, grabbing her hand.

"Yes, honey?"

"I'm scared out of my mind. I don't know if I can do this."

Polly gave an evil cackle. "It's a little late now. You have no choice. But don't worry. I'll be right there with you. We'll get through this and everything changes tomorrow. You'll see. It's going to be a blast."

I’m so glad you enjoy these stories about Polly Giller and her friends. There are many ways to stay in touch with Diane and the Bellingwood community.

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