Reflecting Love's Charms (Bellingwood Book 14) (16 page)

"Wouldn't that be terrific?" Kathryn said. "Do you think it's possible?"

"From the looks of the empty bottles and labels we discovered, the business was in full swing. I'm hoping to find someone whose family was involved, just to get some more information."

The front door bell rang and Beryl waltzed in with Rebecca in tow. Beryl was in full regalia, wearing a long purple dress, a raspberry beaded belt hanging low on her waist. An immense beaded brooch held a raspberry scarf in place on her shoulder and a bright purple wide-brimmed hat adorned her head.

"Hello all," she called out.

Rebecca caught Polly's eye and grinned. She'd been caught up in Beryl's colorful frenzy, but instead of purple, she wore a shorter, blue dress with a gold chain at her waist, a gold, teal and pink scarf slung around her neck and a gold beret on her head.

"Excuse me," Polly said to Kathryn and Lila, "that's my daughter."

Before Polly could walk away, Lila Kahane stopped her. "Is that really Beryl Watson? The artist?"

"Have you heard of her?"

"Oh my, yes. Anybody who is anybody knows of Beryl Watson." Lila turned on her daughter. "Why didn't you tell me you knew Beryl Watson?"

"I didn't assume you'd know who she was," Sal replied.

"You must introduce us."

Polly gave a quick shrug and walked over to where Beryl and Rebecca were talking to Elise. "You two look fabulous," she said.

"Don't we?" Beryl did a quick spin. "We skipped our lesson this morning and did some shopping. Rebecca needed something fun and wild in her wardrobe. Did we succeed?"

"You certainly did." Polly hugged Rebecca to her. "You really look great. I love this style on you."

"Beryl calls it boho casual," Rebecca said, then she whispered to Polly. "I don't think she really knows what that is, but I like it." She tugged at the scarf, then patted the beret. "I want more things like this. And this dress is so cool." She spun around and the dress lifted in the breeze she created. "It's comfortable, too."

"You're really growing up," Polly said. "I need to quit thinking of you as a girl and remember that you're growing into a young woman. It's killing me, you know."

They turned around when Joss came in the front door, followed by Sandy Davis.

"No babies?" Polly asked, greeting each of them with a hug.

Joss huffed a laugh. "Not if I can help it. Their dad is over at the new house with them. He thought this would be the perfect time for them to get used to it while there is no furniture there. I think it's great. Whatever he wants to do."

"And you?" Polly asked Sandy.

"Benji's mom. He's in Des Moines today. Hopefully I won't be gone too long. I think she wants to go shopping this afternoon, so I can’t strand her with the baby."

Camille tapped a knife on a mug to get everyone's attention.

"Hello everyone, and welcome," she said. "We'll start soon, but please order whatever you'd like to drink from the coffee shop. It's on us. Our own Sylvie Donovan and her crew baked the delightful treats for this afternoon. Sal will be seated at this table," and she pointed at a table near the bathroom. "If you put your gifts there, we'll have a little fun and get to it. Thank you for coming."

"Really?" Sandy asked. "Free coffee? Oh my goodness, you have no idea how much I was looking forward to being here today. Just so I could buy a coffee. Thank you."

Polly laughed. "We all have our addictions, don't we? This is one of my worst."

Lila had not left Beryl’s side since the moment Sal had introduced them. Beryl finally put her hand on Lila's arm to stop the woman from talking. Taking Polly's arm, she drew her aside. "Do you really like Rebecca's outfit?"

"Oh Beryl, it's fantastic. Did you two go to Ames? By yourselves?"

Beryl scowled at her. "I knew just where I was going. We didn't get lost once. I promise."

"Thank you for making her feel so special."

"I can't wait until tomorrow's party," Beryl said. "She's going to be so surprised."

Polly nodded. "So you met Lila Kahane?"

Beryl quickly glanced over her shoulder. "Apparently Sal is more like her father than her mother. Though I believe I've given the woman a year's worth of name-dropping. Good heavens, she's shallow."

"You're so funny," Polly said. "Here you finally have an adoring fan show up in your back yard and you're not interested in her adulation."

"It would be one thing if she'd actually purchased something of mine. As it is, she's trying to drop names with me of wealthy people in Boston who own my work. Honey, I already know them." Beryl nodded at a cluster of women. "Who's the babe?"

Polly followed her gaze. "That's Mark's mother, Kathryn Ogden. Isn't she gorgeous? And she's as nice as they come, too."

"Well, that explains that," Beryl said. "This child of theirs has great potential for beauty." She scrunched up her face. "I certainly hope it isn't an ugly baby, though. Have you ever had to stand over someone's newborn and lie about how cute they are? It's not fun. Lydia's Marilyn? She was one seriously ugly infant. I was scared she'd never grow out of it."

"Beryl," Polly hissed in a whisper. "Stop that."

"Her next two weren't very attractive either. But Lydia and Aaron loved them like they were perfect. They must have seen something in them that I couldn't see."

"You're dreadful."

"At least Andy's babies were cute. They had those little round cheeks and button noses that you just wanted to squeeze..."

"I got so tired of you squeezing my babies' noses," Andy said, coming up behind Beryl. "I was just sure you were going to wear them off."

Beryl reached out and tweaked Andy's nose, causing the other woman to jump back.

"Don't ever change, Beryl," Polly said. "You're one in a million."

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

Sal finished opening her gifts, and then after people ate their fill and congratulated her, the shower broke up and women drifted out of the coffee shop. Some of them left with the adorable mason jar centerpieces that Camille and Elise made. Sylvie had brought up ten jars from Sycamore House's stock. They'd originally used them at the barn raising and hoedown three years ago and Polly was afraid they'd never see the bottom of those boxes. Filling the jars with M&Ms would have been enough, but they'd attached the lid to the outside of the jar with bright ribbons, and stuck a wooden skewer into it with a gift card to Sweet Beans from Sal.

Since Rebecca was sitting by herself at a table while others were cleaning up, Polly walked over and dropped into a chair beside her. "Had a long day?"

"Yeah. I need a nap. We didn't sleep very much last night. Molly was too excited and kept waking up."

"I need to stay; do you just want to walk on home?"

Rebecca yawned. "Do you mind?"

"No, that's fine," Polly said with a smile. "You don't even have to take the dogs out. Henry and Heath might be home, but ignore them and go lie down. We're supposed to be at Bill and Marie's by six thirty." Polly picked at the sleeve of Rebecca's dress. "You should wear this. It's wonderful."

Rebecca looked down at herself. "It was fun with Beryl this morning. A clerk thought she was my grandma and we didn't tell anybody anything different."

"Wouldn't she be a crazy grandma?" Polly asked.

"I told her that if I had to pick one, she'd be it." Rebecca leaned in. "But then I told her that she didn't act like any grandma I'd ever known. She was too cool. I think Beryl liked that."

"You're a smart girl."

"You should have seen that store, though. Polly, they had the coolest clothes."

"We'll have to go back sometime."

Rebecca's shoulders dropped and her face fell. "I like shopping at Goodwill with Kayla because we always have so much fun finding things to wear. We could never take her where Beryl took me. The clothes are expensive." She looked at Polly. "It isn't fair that they don't have any money."

"They're doing better than they were, honey," Polly said. "Stephanie is really frugal. I know how much money she makes and she could afford to shop at some of those stores once in a while. But she doesn't want to and honestly," Polly raised her shoulder, "I don't blame her. At your age when you're still growing and your body is changing it just feels weird to spend a lot of money on something you won't wear very long."

"Sal wouldn't agree," Rebecca said with a laugh. "I don't see her in the same clothes very often."

Polly laughed and then snorted a little. "You're right. Maybe I have a strange attitude toward clothing. It's something I wear. That's all. Sal sees clothing as part of her presentation to the world. But you're stuck with me. Sorry to say."

"That's okay," Rebecca said, patting Polly's arm. "Most of the time it's just fine. I don't pay too much attention to what I wear, but sometimes it's really fun to get to buy fun things and dress up. I feel like I'm a different person." She put her hand on the back of her head and struck a pose. "Like maybe a world traveler or a spy or maybe even a famous artist."

"I'm not so sure I like the whole spy thing, but you can do anything you want. And I'll even spring for some of the fancy clothes to go along with it."

"Beryl says that the kind of clothes you wear make people look at you in different ways," Rebecca said.

"She's right," Polly said. "What do you think she was trying to portray today?"

"I don't know. That she loves color?"

"Look over there." Polly pointed to where Beryl was standing with Lila Kahane, Lydia Merritt, and Andy Specek. "Tell me who Beryl wore that outfit for?"

Rebecca shook her head.

"She wore it for Lila. Lydia and Andy have seen her in everything under the sun, including those silly shorts she wears in the summer when she's painting in her studio."

"They’re the worst," Rebecca said in complete agreement. "She should be ashamed of those."

Polly leaned over, "But I'll bet they're comfortable. However, when she is going to meet someone who already has a preconceived idea of who she is, what does she do?"

"Oh," Rebecca said. "She wore that because she knew Mrs. Kahane wanted to meet a flamboyant artist."

"Exactly. That's what she was trying to tell you. Beryl dressed for her audience."

"But everyone else in town knows Beryl. They don't care what she wears."

"They've seen her in her flamboyant clothes and in her..." The truth was, Beryl rarely dressed sedately. "…less flamboyant outfits."

Rebecca chuckled.

"What I think Beryl was trying to tell you was that you're in charge of how people perceive you. If Beryl dressed in a trim, navy suit with a white blouse and dark pumps, would you think of her as an artist?"

"No," Rebecca looked at Polly like she was nuts.

"But the thing is, Rebecca…" Polly looked straight at her. "…and don't you ever forget this. You're in charge of how people perceive you, but if they get it wrong, that's their problem, not yours." Polly tapped her index finger on Rebecca's chest. "Nobody gets to tell you what's right or wrong for you to wear." Then she smiled. "Except me and Henry, of course."

"So if I wore a slinky dress to school?" Rebecca got a wicked grin on her face.

"I'd lock you in the house until you changed your clothes. You're a smart girl and that would be a dumb choice."

"I know. I was just messing with you. I still think that some of the dress code stuff is stupid, though."

Polly sighed. "So do I, but since there are plenty of people who make bad choices, we get stuck with the rules that stop those bad choices from being made. However," she said with a smile, "junior high and high school are just a short period of your life and you can work within those rules to come up with great outfits."

"She isn't going to be here for my party, is she," Rebecca said.

"Kayla?"

"Yeah."

"It doesn't feel like it. I talked to them again last night, though."

"You did? What did Kayla say?"

"That she misses you. But I actually spoke with Stephanie. We talked about Kayla and school and we talked about keeping them safe."

"I just wish that man would do something stupid so he'd get caught and everything would go back to normal."

Polly nodded. "I get that. We'll just hope this works itself out really soon."

Rebecca stood up. "I'd better go home if I'm going to take a nap. Thanks for everything." She bent to hug Polly. "I love you, y'know."

"I love you, too. Just one more day until your birthday."

"What did you get me?"

"Nice try, goofball. I'll see you at home."

Rebecca skipped to the front door, turned and waved at Beryl, then with the jangle of a bell, she was gone.

~~~

"What are you doing tonight?" Polly asked Sal as she tucked gifts back into boxes, doing her best to make sure the cards were attached.

"Lisa made reservations at a restaurant in Ames." Sal sat back in the booth where she'd taken refuge.

Her mother was still talking with Beryl, and Polly refused to look that way in case Beryl attempted to plead for help. So far, though, Beryl had been polite and nice. The surprising thing was that Lydia and Andy were still involved in the conversation.

"Mark's mom didn't come in until today?"

Sal nodded. "They met about an hour before we came up here. Mom started off right away on the fact that we weren't married. She asked Kathryn if their family would do things that way. Of course this was after she'd peppered Mark with questions last night about why he wasn't being honorable about this." She laughed. "Honorable. Like he's the only one responsible for the choice in this matter. She hasn't asked why I'm not being honorable."

"Are you going to get married?" Polly asked. "You avoid this question all the time. What do you want to do?"

Sal hunched in on herself, turned to glance at her mother and then dropped her head. "I don't know."

"And Mark's okay with that?"

"He has to be."

"What are your reasons for not wanting to get married?"

A tear leaked out of one of Sal's eyes before she brushed it away and hardened her face. "I have a lot of reasons. And now's not the time."

"Okay," Polly said. "I'm sorry. You have to do what you think is right."

"That's not it."

"You aren't doing what you think is right?"

Sal picked up a piece of tissue paper and smoothed it out on the table, running her hand back and forth across the top of it. She picked it up to brush a crumb off the table and then started smoothing it out again. "I'm so scared, Polly."

"I understand that. This is all really big."

"But what if Mark and I end up like Mom and Dad? Dad hides from her. He refuses to fully retire so he doesn't have to spend time at home. She is gone all the time, doing her own thing, but when she's with him, she constantly tells him what he's doing wrong. He just takes it and turns the television on. He never disagrees with her and never fights back. I don't want to become that harpy with Mark."

"Why do you think you'd start doing that?"

"Surely Mom wasn't like this when they first got married. Why would Dad have married a woman like that? Something changed her. Was it because I came along? Maybe she realized that being a mother changed everything. What if she wanted to do something else with her life but was stuck raising a bratty little girl? They never had any more kids, you know."

"Have you ever asked either of them?" Polly reached out and took the paper from Sal, then folded it down to fit in the gift bag she was holding.

"No. We don't talk about things like that."

Polly chuckled. That was the truth in most of the families she'd known. Fortunately, she'd grown up with Everett Giller and he refused to allow her to get away with hiding her feelings. They'd stayed up until three o'clock in the morning one night after she sulked around the house all day. Every time she tried to get away from him, he found her and sat quietly beside her until she moved on. The only place she'd been safe that night was in the bathroom, and even then, he stood outside the door until she came back to the living room. She'd escaped to her bedroom and he followed her in, pulled up a chair and sat there, reading his book. She couldn't even remember what it had been all about, but Polly had learned that night that it was much easier to just talk to him.

She bent over and picked up the gift from Rebecca. Sal took it out of her hands.

"This is really cool," Sal said. "That little girl shows promise."

Rebecca had done a pencil sketch of Sal working in the nursery, hanging a quilted hot air balloon on the wall. Polly had taken the picture one afternoon, thinking it was a perfect shot and when Rebecca saw it, she agreed. Once it was finished, she'd spent a Sunday afternoon with Henry at the shop picking out wood for a frame and then another afternoon with Polly in Ames picking up glass and hardware to finish it.

"She does," Polly said.

"And how cute was she today," Sal said. "That adorable dress and beret?" She chuckled. "You can tell that Beryl has fun with her. I'm sorry I can't be at her party tomorrow afternoon." She looked around. "Where's my purse?"

A quick glance at the table where she'd been sitting and Sal started to heave herself out of the booth.

"I'll get it," Polly said. "Sit still."

Sal slumped. "Thanks. There's something in it for Rebecca."

Polly collected the purse and then set it on the table in front of Sal, hauling another pile of gifts over to pack up.

"This is a gift certificate for a day out with me. I want to take her to Omaha or Minneapolis to go shopping." Sal looked up at Polly. "Without you, okay?"

"That's fine with me," Polly said with a shrug. "She loves you."

"I might leave the baby with you."

Polly put her hands up. "Oh no you don't. I love you so much you have no idea, but you are not leaving a brand new baby with me for a whole day. Ain't no way. You can call Marie or Jessie or I don't care who, but until that baby of yours can walk and feed itself, I refuse to be responsible."