Read Reflecting Love's Charms (Bellingwood Book 14) for Free Online

this is all true? If I need to be prepared, I'd like to have some lead time."
    "Okay," Stu said. "Talk to you later."
    "Did you get all that?" Polly asked Jeff.
    "Yeah. Bad guy coming to town. We're all going to die."
    She chuckled. "I don't think it's all that ghastly." Polly flexed the muscle in her arm. "And he's never come up against a woman who isn't scared to death of him."
    "Don't you even think about it," Jeff warned.
    "I'll try not to, but we don't want anyone else around here to be in danger, either."
    "The sheriff and the police can keep an eye on us. And if you aren't good, I'll tell Henry."
    Polly smiled at him. "Now you're just being mean."
    "I have to keep you safe one way or the other. You're always walking into something."
    "Rachel says she has a friend who is going to answer the phones tomorrow. Are you good with that?"
    Jeff shrugged. "She came by earlier. Kristen Travis. She does a lot of temp work, so she'll be perfect." He put his head down. "I don't want to hire anyone new for that position."
    "You won't have to." Polly stood up and walked over to him, then rubbed his shoulders. "This is all going to work out. It just has to."

 
    CHAPTER FOUR

     
    "Let’s see what you’ve drawn." When Polly got to the apartment, she found Rebecca at the dining room table. The television was on across the room, an untouched glass of water sat beside her, and she idly doodled in her sketchbook.
    "Nothing. I don't feel like doing anything. Everybody says that when you're sad or missing someone, you're supposed to be way creative." Rebecca tapped on her temple. "I'm just blank. I can't think of a thing to draw."
    "I suspect that creative people have to get past the initial shock of whatever it is that makes them sad before they can turn it into a beautiful expression," Polly said. "You're still in shock."
    Rebecca turned in her chair to make eye contact. "Okay, I'm being really serious now, Polly. I know my birthday is coming up and I think that I should have my own phone." She put her hand up to stop Polly from speaking. "Hear me out. If I had a phone right now, Kayla could call me and tell me where she is and we could go get her. Then everything would be okay."
    "I love you, sweetie, but we've had this discussion over and over. No phone until next year at the very earliest."
    "But, what if she wants to call me and talk about whatever is going on?"
    Polly grinned. "Then she will call my cell phone just like she always does. And that was a very nice try, but you having a cell phone wouldn't have changed the outcome of this situation in the least."
    "It's just not fair," Rebecca whined.
    "Life isn't fair and you'll get a cell phone when you get one. And guess what?"
    "What?"
    "Within a couple of years after you've had it, you won't even remember all of these days of not having one. But for now, the answer is no."
    "What if I told you that's all I wanted for my birthday?"
    "Then you're going to have a very boring birthday. Let it go, Rebecca. Please."
    "Fine. Can I stay home from school again tomorrow?"
    Polly took two ice cream sandwiches out of the freezer and sat down beside Rebecca, pushing one in front of the girl. "Now why would you need to stay home?"
    "Because I won't be able to concentrate on my schoolwork if all I'm thinking about is Kayla and Stephanie." Rebecca ripped the paper wrapper on her treat and took a small bite off the end.
    "Let's see," Polly said. She put her index finger on the divot in her chin and looked upward. "How can we help you concentrate at school? Oh, I know! I'll call your teachers and tell them that since you're having difficulty, you should be taking notes in each class because I'll want to see them at the end of the day." She paused. "No, I've got a better idea. I'll ask them to set up a video recorder so that we can go through each of your classes after school and make sure you didn't miss anything while you were sitting there. Does any of this work for you?"
    "I just wanted another