Tomorrow's Promises (Bellingwood Book 7) (4 page)

"He'd better be. I'm taking all next week off to play hausfrau, so he promised to make sure he had his evenings free."

"He's a small town veterinarian," Polly said, with a hint of warning in her voice. "You can't be mad if someone needs him."

Sal grimaced. "I can be mad, but it won't do me any good. Don't worry. I'll be a good little princess." She patted Polly's back. "So, are you taking us to the Diner? I was telling Drea and Bunny that they just couldn't miss this wonderful piece of Americana."

Before Polly could speak, Sal continued, "And I promise you that I've been good. I told them that you wouldn't put up with any cute remarks about how quaint Bellingwood is. These are normal people and you love them."

"I wasn't going to say anything," Polly said. "But you're right."

She looked over at Lydia and Andy, who were trying hard to contain their laughter. Beryl had given up and was snickering as loudly as possible.

"What?" Polly asked.

"You keep everyone in line," Beryl said. "Even your friends are a little afraid of you."

"No one's afraid of me." Polly was chagrined. "You're not, are you?" She looked up at Sal.

"I'm a little afraid," Sal replied.

"I'm always afraid, but you give me courage," Bunny said.

They turned and looked at Drea. She grinned. "I have two brothers. I have no fear."

"And they're gorgeous." Polly fanned herself. "So gorgeous."

"Stop it," Bunny
scolded. "You're married. Leave some for the rest of us."

Polly patted
her knee. "Your day will come, sweetie. You just have to quit worrying about it so much."

Bunny didn't respond right away, but when she stood up, she said. "So, you hooked Sal up when she came out to Iowa. Do you have a hot date for me tonight?"

"Umm. No?" Polly was so shocked she wasn't sure what to say. She looked at Sal and Drea for help, but they both shrugged their shoulders as if to disavow any responsibility for the girl's behavior. It had been so long since Polly had spent time with Bunny, she'd forgotten how self-centered the poor thing was. Neither Sal nor Drea knew her very well. She'd always been Polly's friend and they only knew Bunny peripherally.

"Why not?" Bunny whined.

"Sweetie, you are only going to be here for a couple of days and tomorrow night you can dress up in your best dress and dance with all of the single men at the party. I promise."

"
Tonight's not going to be as much fun if you have a date and Sal has a date."

"That reminds me. I've invited our friends, Joss and Nate Mikkels to go with us, too," Polly said.

"That figures," Bunny said. "Another couple."

"You can be my date," Drea said in a deep voice. "I'll put my hair up and look macho. Will that help?"

"Oh well. It's just another in a long string of lonely nights for me. Whatever. Which room is mine?" she asked dejectedly.

"You will be in here," Polly said, walking toward the front room. "Drea, you're in the middle room. Lydia decorated them and I don't know which is my favorite. They're both beautiful."

Bunny stood in front of a pile of suitcases and looked over at everyone. "Could I have a little help, please?"

Sal let out a loud, dramatic moan. "I had to carry those things up the stairs for her. She was afraid she'd break a nail if she carried anything heavier than her purse."

"It's not often that you're supplanted as the diva in the group, Sal Kahane. Manual labor, eh? You might as well just give up and move to Iowa!" Polly followed Sal and picked up a suitcase. She wasn't prepared for it to be quite so heavy. "Bunny, you're only here for the weekend. How could you pack so much?"

"I didn't want to forget anything. The suitcase Sal is carrying has all of my shoes for the weekend."

Polly turned around and looked at Lydia, Beryl and Andy. They were close to tears from holding back laughter.

Beryl was done in. "Shoes! She has a suitcase for shoes! Two days and she has a suitcase for shoes."

Drea snapped the wheels down on a small black suitcase and flung a satchel over her shoulder. "In here?" she asked, heading for the door to the middle bedroom.

"I'll be right there," Polly said.

"Oh, take your time," Drea said drolly. "I think I can handle this on my own. Is that the bathroom?"

"It is, but I think I'll show you to a different one." It suddenly occurred to Polly that she couldn't imagine Bunny and Drea sharing a bathroom. Fortunately, the
one off her old bedroom was available and she knew Drea would be fine with a few extra steps.

Polly and Sal dropped Bunny's luggage inside the door, and Sal leaned against Polly. "How ya doing?"

"I'm fine," Polly said. "At this point, I'm just ready for the party to get started."

"Bunny," Sal said. "Are you changing for lunch?" She winked down at Polly.

"Of course! I feel like I've been dragged behind a four-horse team for hours," the girl said blithely. "This is casual, right?"

"Right," Polly said. "Very casual. Jeans and a t-shirt casual."

Bunny fluttered her hand, effectively dismissing them. "I'll be out in a few minutes. I just want to freshen up. It's absolutely lovely that you have a sink in here, Polly."

They backed out and Polly pulled the door shut. She and Sal fell into each other in a fit of giggles.

"I'd forgotten about all of that," Polly whispered.

"Girls," Lydia scolded. "Be good."

"Oh, this is us being good. We could be so much worse," Sal said.

Polly knocked on Drea's door.

"Come in," Drea called.

"Bunny is changing her clothes. You have a few moments if you want to do the same," Polly said.

"Is this okay?" Drea gestured at the clothes she was wearing - a sharply pressed pair of black jeans and a red, floral blouse.

"It's perfect. I just wanted you to know you have time."

"I'll bet I do," Drea laughed. "She's a piece of work. No amount of Dramamine could relax me enough to put up with her chatter. If it had been later in the day, I'd have just gotten drunk." She stepped forward and gathered Polly in her arms. "I'm glad to see you so happy. My family all sends their love. In fact ...," she released Polly and went to her satchel. "Mama wanted you to have this."

Drea handed Polly a wrapped package. "Go ahead. Open it. It isn't new. It's been part of our family since they were in Italy. Mama wanted me to tell you how much she loves you and how happy she is that you have found a wonderful man."

She shook her head. "I'm almost certain there might have been a sideswipe at me since I'm not married yet, but this is for you."

Polly carefully separated the tape from the paper and set it aside. "Oh my," she gasped as she opened the box. "I remember this. It's from her table!"
She unfolded a white lace table runner that had been in Drea's home. Her eyes filled. "This is beautiful. Thank you."

"Mama always thought of you as her adopted daughter," Drea said. "I have a few other gifts in here for you, but those can wait. I wanted to do this one while we were alone."

"Thank you and give your mother this for me." Polly kissed Drea on both cheeks and pulled her into a hug.

"Okay, enough emotion. Let's go out and see how long Bunny keeps us waiting. Your friends probably think that she's the most ridiculous person they've ever met."

"They know their share of crazy," Polly said. "I'm just excited that all of you finally have an opportunity to meet each other."

The two girls re-entered the living room to gales of laughter.

"What are you telling them?" Polly asked Sal.

"We were just talking about the flight out from Boston. There was a little old man who insisted that he was going to sit with me. He kept trying to hold my hand, telling me that he'd never flown before. Fortunately, we left him in Chicago."

Polly and Drea sat back down on the sofa, waiting for Bunny to emerge.

"I'm getting kind of hungry." Beryl tapped her watch impatiently. "How long is this going to take?"

"I don't know," Polly said, sighing. "I'll check." She got up and walked toward Bunny's room, hoping the girl would just open the door and come out. When she got there, she rapped twice. "Bunny, sweetie? We're starving. Can you hurry it up?"

"I'm almost there. I want to be perfect. You never know who I'll meet."

"It's a diner, sweetie. Just hurry."

Bunny flung the door open and danced around Polly. "Am I casual enough?" she asked. She was wearing stilettos, a pair of pale yellow capris and a layered, flouncy yellow top. Her hair had been teased into submission and she wore a pair of hoop earrings that were at least three inches in diameter.

"You'll do," Polly said, trying not to look too shocked. "Let's get something to eat. I want to hear everything that has been happening in your life." She took Bunny's arm and propelled her to the front door. "Sal, will you drive? We won't fit in my truck."

"Absolutely," Sal said. "Let's head out." She turned to Lydia, Andy and Beryl. "Thanks for being so patient."

"As long as I get food, I won't get murderous," Beryl said. "And I'd better get food soon."

"Beryl," Lydia warned, in her best mother voice.

"What? I'm starving!"

CHAPTER FOUR

Polly paced back and forth late that night while Henry lay back on the pillow with his hands beh
ind his head. "Just come to bed," he said. "You can't fix anything by worrying about it."

"Were you even there? I wanted to smack
the twit," Polly said. "What is her problem? I do
not
remember it being this bad."

"You dealt with her, Polly. She settled down."

"But, everyone was uncomfortable. I couldn't wait to get out of there. The one weekend I want to enjoy my friends and little Miss Twit-face has to come into town and make it all about her."

"Polly, you have to let this go.
No one else was as exasperated by her behavior as you were. Even Mark and Sal ignored her."

"But, she was practically in his damned lap. She knows they are a thing, but did she care?" Polly turned on him. "No. As the only unmarried man at the table, he was going to damned well pay attention to her. Damn it, Henry. I want to drive her little ass down to Des Moines tomorrow and put her on a plane back to Boston. I don't want her ruining any more of this weekend."

"I'll bet that after the public scolding you gave her, she'll be on her best behavior."

Polly flopped belly-down on the bed beside him. "I'm so embarrassed. I was just so
mad. When she ran her hand through Mark's hair, I was done."

"You know. Sal probably could have taken care of it herself and since Mark wasn't encouraging anything, she wasn't worried. Even I saw that."

"But, I'm her friend. Or at least I'm supposed to be. I've seen Bunny play these games before. She doesn't play them to participate. She plays to win and isn't satisfied until the object of her attention has dropped everything else to be hers. Then she finds some reason to hate him and moves on."

Henry turned onto his side and ran his hand up and down Polly's back. "You know, I was reading an article a few weeks ago about people who were toxic friends. You might want to decide that Bunny isn't worth your effort. You are a better friend to her than she is to you."

"No kidding," Polly said and rolled her shoulders under his hand. "This afternoon we had to hear all about her life. We had to hear about how much she hates her job and how she is never going to find a husband and will never have babies of her own. Not once did she ask about you and me. If Drea or Sal asked a question, it was all I could do to get a sentence or two out before she latched on to something that related to some other thing going on in her life and change the subject back to her. It didn't matter at all that we are celebrating our marriage this weekend. Everything was about me not finding her a date for dinner tonight. Can you even believe it? She can't freakin' be happy for me without making me feel guilty for not taking better care of her."

Polly felt angry tears leak out of her eyes. "I'm so damned mad. I just want her gone. Why did I have to invite her?"

"Because you are much too kind-hearted and she's been a close friend." Henry gave a small chuckle. "I was going to say that you were much too nice, but after that tongue-lashing you gave her at dinner, nice isn't a word any of us will use to describe you."

"I wasn't that bad, was I?" Polly whimpered, feeling chagrined at what she had done.

"Those times you took me out?" Henry said. "Those were gentle love-taps compared to what you did tonight."

Polly flopped her head on the bed. "I'm a terrible person." She looked up at him. "Did I upset everyone?"

"No honey." Henry stroked her back again. "You said exactly what we were all thinking. None of us had the courage to speak up and when it was over, we were pretty much relieved that her antics stopped. Nobody thinks less of you. I promise."

After putting up with Bunny's self-centered behavior at lunch and then her whining for the rest of the afternoon, Polly prayed
she'd be better was out with a large group. They had gone to a sports bar in Boone. It was the same place that she'd gone with Joey when he had been in town, but it had gone through several different owners and the Giggling Goat was now some generically named bar. The food was fine and the alcohol still got them tipsy, but it wasn't as much fun without the crazy name.

When they were seated, Bunny managed to arrange
it so she sat beside Mark Ogden. All through dinner, she flirted with him - playing with his clothes and his hair. She kept sliding closer and closer and when he moved away so that he could put his other arm around the back of Sal's chair, Bunny didn't stop.

Mark's face had been priceless. He was so worried that Sal would be upset. He had yet to learn that Sal simply didn't play games with other women. When she was in a relationship, she just plain didn't worry. Sal Kahane was so fully confident in herself that she knew someone as silly as Bunny couldn't compete. She had flicked Bunny's hand off his back a couple of times and when Bunny, a little drunk, had climbed into Mark's lap to get to something across the table,
had pinched the girl's backside.

Drea, Henry, Joss and Nate Mikkels had all tried to ignore what was happening. Sal waved Polly off once, quietly shrugging her shoulders and patting Mark's ar
m. The others tried to have fun. Drea and Joss had hit it off and everyone was fascinated that Polly and Henry were driving his classic Thunderbird on their honeymoon. They were even more surprised that Joss and Nate were planning to go with them in their 1962 Chevy Impala. The two couples were driving to Joplin to pick up Route 66 and head for the Grand Canyon. What better way to travel on the "The Mother Road" than in classic cars? When they got to the Canyonlands in Utah, they were renting Jeep Wranglers, but until then, classic vehicles were their mode of travel.

Drea asked about air conditioning.
Especially since they planned to drive through Texas, Arizona and New Mexico. It was the middle of June, for heaven's sake. Polly had batted her eyes at Henry. This wasn't a new conversation. They had gone back and forth between taking his truck with all of its conveniences, and taking the car. But it was something he wanted desperately to do, so she'd relented and purchased lightweight clothing and several fun hats. If they were driving in the heat of the summer, they were driving with the roof down.

Then, Bunny climbed into Mark's lap and Polly went ballistic. She physically lifted the girl
off of a very surprised Mark and dropped Bunny back in her own chair, then stood over her, shaking her finger.

"You stupid, selfish, bitch," Polly had said. "It wasn't enough that you made everyone carry your crap and wait on you
today. We also had to listen to you go on and on about yourself. Now you embarrass yourself by coming on to someone who is obviously not interested. I've had it. You should apologize to every single person at this table, but you won't because you believe the world revolves around you. So, keep your damned hands to yourself and keep your mouth shut."

Bunny had the grace to look chagrined. She muttered "I'm sorry" and then pouted the rest of the evening. Polly knew her outburst had effectively killed the
fun, but the strain on everyone's faces while Bunny was out of control was apparent. Bunny sniffled and snuffled in her seat and pushed back from the table, in order to make it obvious that she wasn't getting close to Mark. Every once in a while, she sent a grim look Polly's way.

After Polly took a few deep breaths and calmed herself, she apologized. "I'm sorry for coming unglued, guys. I didn't mean to wreck the evening."

Since no one was willing to make it any more difficult for Bunny, they had simply acknowledged Polly's apology and pretty soon, the evening broke up. Drea and Bunny rode with Polly and Henry in his truck and the ride home had been silent, except for texts constantly coming in from Sal and Joss, who were apparently laughing hysterically at what had happened.

Bunny had sulkily gone to her room and Drea had given Polly a hug, telling her that the little fool had it coming and Polly was the only person she knew who had the balls to say it out loud.

Polly crawled up and put her head on the pillow beside Henry's, then caressed his face. "Maybe I was mad at her because this weekend was supposed to be for us and she was intent on stealing the limelight. It's not like I don't know that about her. She always has to be the star. Maybe I was just jealous."

"Honey, you don't do jealous. At least not like that. She was making all of us uncomfortable and Mark wanted to crawl under the table. Since she was your friend, he
wasn't sure how to handle it. I suspect he breathed a huge sigh of relief when you shut her down. A little sulky behavior on her part isn't going to destroy the weekend for me, don't let it affect you, okay?"

"Them's easy words to say," Polly remarked. "Them's not so easy words to live."

"Tomorrow, you're going to be busy with your friends. If you let Bunny ruin your weekend, you'll be sorry for a very long time. Just ignore her and act like her bad behavior doesn't even exist."

"You say that like it's a new idea. Bunny doesn't let people ignore her, but I'll try. At least I have a lot of people around here who don't care about her."

"Exactly. If you want more entertainment, sic Sylvie on her. You know how she puts up with bad behavior."

Polly started laughing and let out a snort. "That's perfect. She's managed more than her fair shar
e of nasty wedding behaviors." She hugged him. "I love you and I'm sorry that I screwed up the evening."

"I keep telling you - you didn't. Bunny did. No one is mad at you."

Then Polly sat straight up. "I didn't tell you what happened this morning! I had to call Aaron."

Henry groaned. "I'd have heard about a dead body. What happened?"

"This guy showed up who knew Dad in college and he needs my help finding his runaway daughter."

Henry pulled back. "He needs your help? How do you plan to manage that with a party and a honeymoon?" He raised the right side of his upper lip and growled. "You aren't going to try to talk me out of this trip again, are you?"

"No, I won't do that. At least I hope not. That's why I called Aaron. Hopefully Anita finds enough information so they can track the girl down."

"
Good." He breathed a sigh of relief. "How did he find you?"

Polly told him everything she knew about Curt Locke and his daughter, ending by saying that the man was staying at Sycamore House until they knew something more.

"I swear, Polly," Henry said. "They come out of nowhere to find you. I don't understand how this happens."

She chuckled. "I keep telling people that it isn't my fault."

"It might not be your fault, but I'm beginning to wonder if you weren't implanted with a rescue magnet."

"But you love that about me, right?"

Henry reached across and wrapped his arms around her, pulling her against him. "I love everything about you. Now, have you calmed down enough to be able to sleep?"

"I'm almost there," she grinned. "I might need a little more attention from you, though."

"But there are people sleeping right next door," he said in a stage whisper.

"I know how you insulated these walls. And I promise to be quiet."

"You're a bad girl, Polly Giller."

"You said you loved everything about me. Were you lying?"

"Not at all."