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

Nate stood up beside his wife. "We aren't going to get in too much trouble and we'll be back in plenty of time to get him dressed for the evening."

Henry glanced at Nate, curiosity in his eyes. "Aren't we going to help set up the auditorium?"

"Oh right!" Nate clapped Henry on the back, laughing loudly. "I guess we'd better get moving then."

The four went down the steps and Henry and Nate left by the front door. When Polly tried to follow them, Joss stopped her. "Nope. We're not going that way. Come with me."

She opened the door to the auditorium and stepped in. Tables toward the front of the room were filled with women she'd come to know since moving to Bellingwood and hot pink seemed to be the color of the event. There were pink and white balloons and hot pink cloths on the tables. A fountain was flowing with pink liquid and cupcakes were decorated with pink and purple frosting. A bright purple drape
covered a pile of something on a table off to the side and Polly wasn't surprised to see her closest friends dressed in pink and purple.

"We had to have it here so Sarah and Rebecca could be part of things. And there were so many women who wanted to come
, we needed a large space," Joss whispered.

"I can't believe that I put this blouse on," Polly said. "I match."

Joss grinned. "Everyone in town remembers your purple undies." She unbuttoned the black tunic she was wearing to reveal a purple t-shirt. "We had to do this one more time for you."

Lydia was waving madly from the front of the room. "Here's our girl!" she said. "Come on in, Polly. We've been waiting."

A smattering of applause greeted Polly as she and Joss walked to the front. "I'm a little embarrassed," she said. "I wasn't expecting a party."

"Well, of course you weren't," Beryl said. "But it's what we do."

Polly looked around the room and smiled at people she'd grown to know so well. It felt as if she'd always known these women. They were entwined in her daily life and some had become close friends. They'd each shown up at different times, but the connections were strong.

"Where's Sylvie?" she asked, looking around again.

"In the kitchen," Lydia said. "She'll be here in a minute." She raised her voice. "This morning we're not going to subject Polly to any games. If you know her at all, you know that she'd hate that. There are a few things we want to share with her and then we'll have a relaxed brunch together. Help yourself to the champagne punch or coffee and we'll get started."

Some of the women already had glasses of the pink punch at their tables and the noise level in the room rose as the women milled around, drinking champagne and chatting with each other.

Rebecca ran up and hugged Polly. "Mom said I could come today but I can't have any punch."

"No," Polly said, smiling down. "No champagne for you. But I wonder if Sylvie has some punch in the kitchen without champagne. Would you like that?"

"Yes, please! Mom would like some of that, too, I think. She's just drinking water."

"Let's see what we can find." Polly took Rebecca's hand and headed for the door to the kitchen, waving at Lydia and Andy. "We're going to get some virgin punch."

Sylvie, Hannah and Rachel were scurrying around in the kitchen when Polly and Rebecca got to the window.

"You three shouldn't be working this hard," Polly said.

Sylvie looked up. "Of course we should. We're almost ready. Do you need something?"

"Rebecca and I were wondering if there was any punch without champagne in it. She'd like a glass and I think Sarah would, too."

"Certainly." Sylvie stopped in her tracks. "We should have thought of that. I have a pitcher right here in the refrigerator, all mixed up. Others might want some. I'm so sorry."

"No problem! We've got this."
Polly carried the pitcher back in, passing Bunny, Drea and Sal. "What are you three doing?" she asked.

Sal smiled. "We're the waitresses."

"What? I didn't ask you to come out here to do that?" Polly was stricken.

"Stop it," Sal said. "We've been talking to Lydia for the last month and this was part of the plan. Just quit worrying about it and enjoy your day. We're here to help you have fun, not the other way around. Now go. Have fun."

Polly shook her head and took the pitcher over to the table filled with drinks and poured a cup for Rebecca. "Oh," she said. "And one for your mom." She poured another and put the pitcher down. Rebecca took the two cups back to the table and Sarah smiled over at Polly.

"Ladies," Lydia called out. "We want to get this part out of the way so you can enjoy your food. The girls are going to begin by bringing around breads and muffins. The main dish will be out in a bit."

Polly watched helplessly as Sal, Drea and Bunny; Sylvie, Hannah and Rachel carried in baskets and placed them on the tables. She would have hired someone so her friends could just relax, but Sal told her to back off, so she said nothing.

"While you are enjoying yourselves, Polly would you come here please?"

Polly smiled weakly and went up to stand beside Lydia.

"We know you didn't want a wedding shower and you didn't get a bachelorette party. You also said you don't want a lot of wedding gifts, so all of us in this room have come up with some things that we hope you enjoy."

Lydia nodded to Beryl, who handed her a purple gift bag. "We bought this for you. Beryl always threatened to take you to Victoria's Secret if those purple panties were your idea of fancy." Lydia drew out a purple teddy and Polly felt her face flush bright red. "Since you and Henry are leaving on Monday for your honeymoon, be sure to pack this."

Polly's mouth opened and closed a couple of times, then she just ducked her head and shook it in disbelief.

"The next thing is something we've been searching for. Helen Randall had to ask Doug for help. He called us old ladies and insinuated we should have been able to find it on our own. But he was a good boy and hooked us up."

Andy handed Polly a wrapped package. "Go ahead. Open it. We're all dying to see it."

She held it while Polly ripped the paper off, revealing a Star Wars R2D2 droid robot.

"Are you kidding?" Polly asked. "Does this really work?"

"All of the reviews say so. We thought this would be more fun than kitchen kitsch," Lydia said.

Polly laughed. "This is perfect! What fun!" She put it down on the table in front of her.

Helen Randall grinned and said. "Doug put batteries in it, so it's ready to go."

"Send it around and let everyone look at it," Polly said, and she spoke up, "Thank you all. These are really fun gifts. This isn't like any wedding shower I've ever been to and I like it so much better."

"We're not done," Lydia said. "That table back there is filled with gifts for you."

"Oh no, you shouldn't have."

"Ladies?" Lydia nodded at Andy and Beryl.

They lifted the cloth and revealed a table filled with books.

"What is this?" Polly asked.

"
Since you didn't want gifts, we talked to Joss and decided that we are going to become friends of the library. All of these books were on a wish list that she created. Everyone here bought a couple of books and we are donating them to the library in your name. I hope that's okay."

Polly started shaking and her eyes filled with tears. "This is perfect. I couldn't have asked for a better gift. All of you?" She looked around the room and the women were nodding.

"Andy's in charge of organizing us and we're going to work with the Library board to raise money for some of the big repairs that need to happen in the building. Joss is ready to put us to work."

"Wow." Polly looked for her friend. Joss was beaming. She had so much to be happy for today. This was perfect.

"Thank you, everyone." Polly put her hand on a pile of books. "These are perfect gifts. Thank you all for coming today."

Lydia glanced back at the kitchen door and then said, "That's all the business we have. I think it's time to eat. They're ready for you in the kitchen. Shall we let Polly go first?"

Polly shook her head. "No, I'll go last. I can wait." She whispered to Lydia. "I had a big breakfast. Y'all are killing me."

Lydia took her arm and drew her aside. "I know you didn't want your girlfriends to work, but they weren't looking forward to making small talk with a bunch of people they didn't know. I tried to stop this, but no one was having it."

"I can't believe they're not just relaxing."

"They didn't want you to feel like you had to entertain them. You have a lot going on this weekend."

"But they're here to see me, not stand around in a kitchen."

"I tried."

"They're impossible. You all are. But I love the R2D2 droid. I've wanted one of those for years, but at some point I thought I'd gotten too old."

While the women were filing out of the room to go through the line at the kitchen, sirens wailed as they came into the parking lot of Sycamore House. Polly was already moving when she heard them stop at her front door
.

CHAPTER SEVEN

Eliseo was holding the side doors open when Polly reached the front hallway. Two EMTs and Jeff
came in the front door and headed that way.

"What happened?" she asked. "Who's hurt?"

Jeff pointed the EMTs to the addition. "Take the elevator to the second floor. He's in the first room. The door is open."

"Curtis Locke? What happened?" Polly asked.

Jeff moved toward her. "I think it's a heart attack. He called my cell phone and said he was feeling sick. He just wanted to know if he could get some soda. After a few questions, I knew I needed to come over. When I got here, I called for more help."

"You came in from Ames to deal with this?"

Jeff glared at her. "I was with your husband. Remember? Wedding fun?"

Lydia put her hand on Polly's shoulder. "I'm going to tell the girls what's happening and keep them contained.
We don't need to be out here making a scene. Come back when you're finished."

Polly nodded and followed Jeff toward the addition. "Thank you for coming right over. How would we have ever known?"

"He probably could have made it downstairs, but somehow I believe that having him bust into the auditorium clutching his heart might have been a little more dramatic than you needed."

She swatted him. "You're awful."

"I know. I made Nate come. He's the only one of us who has any medical training and even though he thought I was insane, he came anyway. He's still upstairs with him."

"Thank you again. I'd feel terrible if something happened to the poor man. Where are you guys partying anyway?" She finally took a good look at him. He was a mess. His clothes were always immaculate, but today he was dres
sed in an old t-shirt and jeans and there was paint splattered on his face and forearms.

"What in the world have you been doing?" she asked.

"I've never been to a bachelor party quite like this one." He looked up as the EMTs came through with Curtis Locke on a gurney. Nate was following them, looking just as messy as Jeff.

The man on the gurney reached out for Polly as they wheeled him past and she walked with them toward the front door. He grabbed her arm, "Find my little girl, please. Don't let me die without knowing she's safe."

"Do we have your wife's phone number?" Polly asked him.

"Just find my Jessie. You have to find her."

"I have a few ideas where to look. I will do my very best. Can we call your wife?"

He nodded and the young man pushing the gurney said, "We have to go. We're taking him to Boone."

"Find Jessie," Curt Locke said one last time.

"Tell me you have his wife's phone number," Polly said to Jeff as the door closed behind the EMTs.

"Sure, it's in his file. Do you want me to call her or will you?"

"I'll make the call. It's my responsibility. But before I do, will the two of you tell me what you are putting Henry through this morning? You look like you've been painting. Are you really making that poor man do construction at his bachelor party?"

"Trust me, he's not doing anything today," Nate said. "We're doing all the work."

"What do you mean? What are you doing?"

"Wanna see?" Nate asked.

"
Of course I do."

Nate took out his phone and swiped it open and then handed it to her with the photo gallery open. The first picture she saw was Henry sitting in a chaise lounge with two blow-up palm trees behind him and a large umbrella over his head. He was wearing a Hawaiian shirt and a pair of shorts and was drinking something pink with an umbrella in it."

"This is hilarious," she said. "What's going on?"

"Keep scrolling through the pictures. The story is all there."

As she went through the pictures, she realized that they were at the library. "Today has a theme, doesn't it?"

"Yep. Since you girls are raising money and buying books, it fell to us to do the dirty work. We're repainting the outside trim today. But keep going."

Polly scrolled to another picture and realized that Henry's mother and another woman were in moo-moos and his sister was in a grass skirt. They were serving drinks to Henry from a homemade Tiki bar.

"You chose to work rather than have a bachelor party?"

"What else were we going to do on a Saturday morning? And the poor man is already married, so it's not like wants to get himself in trouble." Nate grinned and took his phone back. "A few of us have been talking about working at the library anyway. We thought it would be fun to make our favorite construction guy sit on his tail while the rest of us worked. His mom and sister got in on the planning and came up with the Hawaiian theme."

"I wondered why they weren't here," Polly interrupted.

"Yeah. They were worried you might be upset, but figured that once you knew what was going on, you'd laugh."

"We should probably get going," Jeff said. "We promised to pick lunch up on the way."

"Where's the phone number for Curt Locke's wife?" Polly asked.

"Oh, right. Sorry." Jeff motioned for her to follow him into the office and he flipped through some papers on the desk that Sarah was using in the main office. "It's on the computer, but I'm not going to ask you to figure out the system today."

"You know I'm not a tech moron," Polly complained. "I can learn that."

"But you don't want to, so you're just as bad."

"Whatever. Just give me the number."

He handed her a printout of the room information they had for Curtis Locke. "Let me know if they're
staying here. If I need to find another room, I can."

"Thanks Jeff. What time are you all coming back?"

"Most of the setup crews will be here by three."

She watched them leave, and called the number on the sheet of paper in front of her.

It rang a couple of times and a young man's voice answered. "Locke residence," he said.

"Hello. Is Mrs. Locke available?" Polly asked.

"She's outside. Who should I say is calling?"

"Tell her this is Polly Giller in Iowa."

"Just a minute."

Polly heard silence then, "Mom! Some lady from Iowa is calling. Mom!"

It took a few more moments before, "Hello, this is Kelly Locke, who is this?"

"Mrs. Locke, this is Polly Giller from Bellingwood, Iowa. Your husband is staying with us here at Sycamore House ..."

"Is something wrong? Is he okay? What's happened?"

"Mrs. Locke, we think your husband has had a heart attack. He's on the way to the hospital in Boone. I'm so sorry to have to call you with this."

"No!" the woman responded, her voice rising. "What am I supposed to do? I can't come out there. I don't have a place to stay and I have my son. Is it bad? Was he alive when they took him?"

Polly waited as the woman sobbed on the other end of the call. "Your husband is in good hands. The doctors will take care of him. He was talking to me before they left in the ambulance."

"Thank goodness." She held the phone away from her mouth and yelled. "Ethan, turn that music off. I need quiet to think. Your dad had a heart attack in Iowa. Please stop!"

Then the call went dead. Polly looked at her phone.
Yep, the call had been ended.

It rang again and Polly answered it.

"I'm sorry," Kelly Locke said. "I must have disconnected us. I'm not sure what to do. I have to be at work on Monday. I told him not to go after that girl. She'll find her way back when she's ready. And now this. Tell me where this hospital is?"

"It's in Boone. I can find a phone number for you."

"No, that's fine. I'll find it myself. You're the one helping him find Jessie, right?"

"Yes, ma'am."

"He said you were the daughter of a college buddy of his. It's nice of you to help him. I told him there were a lot of people in Iowa and he might not have any luck. But he said you put him in touch with a deputy."

"Yes, and this morning I did find the young man that she came out here with, but I haven't had a chance to tell your husband yet."

"Have you talked to Jessie?"

"He says she's not there any longer."
             

"She left him? That girl isn't going to be happy anywhere. Well, I hope she figures this out."

"It sounded like she was going to try to get a job somewhere. Can you tell me what kind of jobs she's had before? That might make it easier for us to figure out where she's gone."

"I don't know. She didn't have a lot of gumption, so she only got menial jobs. Why wouldn't she call us?"

"If you'd like me to put you in touch with the Boone County Sheriff's Department, they can help you work through this, Mrs. Locke. And I'd be glad to make some more calls, but I'd really like to have some idea where to start."

"I understand that. Let me make some decisions here and I will be in contact with you later on today."

"Your husband's room here at Sycamore House is still open. If you want to stay here, you're more than welcome to do that or there are a couple of hotels down in Boone."

"Thank you, Miss Giller."

"It's Polly. Call any time. Let me know what else we can do for you. Goodbye."

After the call was finished, Polly went into her office and sat down at her desk. The day was already out of control. It wasn't even noon and she was ready to hide. She opened her computer and searched for malls in Waterloo and Cedar Falls. Maybe Jessie had been able to get a job at one of the shops there. It wouldn't hurt anyone if she made a couple of quick phone calls. She opened the directories and beginning with what she thought was probably the largest mall, Crossroads Center, calling one shop after another, asking for Jessie Locke. Twenty minutes passed and no one gave her a positive response.

"Polly?" Drea stood in her office doorway.

"I forgot!" Polly exclaimed. "I'm so sorry. I got wrapped up in something and completely forgot that I was supposed to be somewhere."

"What are you working on?" Drea sat down in front of Polly's desk.

"I'm calling stores in Waterloo, looking for that guy's daughter. He left here in an ambulance and I feel awful, knowing that she's all alone."

"How old is she?"

"I think he said she was nineteen. Old enough to know better, but still young enough to make stupid decisions."

"You don't think she'd make really stupid decisions like prostitution or drugs, do you?"

Polly shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know what to think. I don't know these people at all. This guy was a friend of my dad's from college."

Drea looked at her in confusion.

"I know. He must have married a much younger woman. It sounds like it took him a long time to get his life back together after Viet Nam. But now he's had a heart attack and his wife has a job and a kid at home and she doesn't know whether to come out here or not and ..."

"And you are supposed to be celebrating this weekend, not taking on the cares of the world."

"But he has no one else and Dad would have helped."

"You're right, but come on back to the party. Here's the deal. I promise that this afternoon, you can put all of us on the phones and we'll call every store in Waterloo or wherever it is and try to find this girl. If we help, then will you try to relax about it?"

Polly grinned across the desk at her friend. "Do or do not, there is no try."

"Then Yoda, you will relax about it because we are helping. Come on, let's get back to the party. There are a lot of ladies in there that I don't know and pretty soon Bunny is going to lose control."

"What do you mean?" Polly stood up, laughing.

"She's going to start begging them all to find her a husband. It will be embarrassing. She already cornered a couple of them and asked if they were bringing their sons to the party tonight."