Rainier Drive (Cedar Cove #6)(49)

She hadn’t told him yet because she didn’t want to get his hopes up. For now, this was her secret and she held it close to her heart. One thing was sure: if he was accepted and his work became popular, their current money problems would be over.

Maryellen’s general health had improved, and the doctor was pleased with how well the pregnancy was progressing. Judging by all the fetal activity she experienced, the baby was feeling just as good.

Caressing her abdomen, Maryellen felt fortunate to have carried this child as long as she had. In three weeks—but more likely two, according to Dr. DeGroot at her last appointment—she’d finally meet this baby of hers. As with Katie, she and Jon had decided they didn’t want to know the sex of their child before the birth.

The phone rang and Maryellen answered as quickly as she could. Since he’d been hired by the portrait studio, Jon occasionally phoned to check on her. He didn’t often, and she knew that was because he didn’t want to risk talking to his parents.

“Hello,” she said.

“Hi, Maryellen, it’s Rachel. I was just calling to see how you’re doing.”

“Hi, Rachel.” Maryellen responded, delighted to hear from her friend. “I’m feeling…pregnant.”

Rachel laughed. “Cliff came in to ask me if you’re ready for another beauty treatment.”

Her stepfather was both kind and generous and he, like her mother, had been more than accommodating. Grace had joked that they’d hold the wedding reception, two baptisms and baby showers all at one time, during the summer. Her sister, Kelly, was due to deliver her second child a few weeks after Maryellen. The family had a lot to celebrate.

“I’m fine, actually,” Maryellen said. “My hair’s still looking okay.” In fact, she planned to let it grow again. “I’ll call Cliff and thank him.”

“What about your nails?”

Maryellen examined her hands and sighed expressively. “That, my friend, is a different story.”

“I thought so. Let me book you an appointment.”

“It’s so far for you to come all this way,” she protested, although Maryellen would love to see her.

“Don’t you worry about it. I’ll be there at one o’clock on Wednesday.”

“Thanks—and when you get here be prepared to fill me in on all the gossip.”

“I will,” Rachel promised. Lowering her voice, she added, “You heard about Teri and that chess player, didn’t you?”

“You mean about her going over to Seattle and cutting Bobby Polgar’s hair?”

“Oh, there’s more. Much more.”

Maryellen sat up straighter. “Tell me now. I don’t want to wait until Wednesday.”

Rachel gave a small giggle. “He came to Cedar Cove a little while after the chess match, which he won, in case you didn’t know.”

Maryellen did. “To Cedar Cove? Bobby Polgar was in Cedar Cove?”

“Not once, but twice.”

“Twice.” This was even better than she’d imagined. “Tell me more.”

“Bobby’s from somewhere back east. I can’t remember where Teri said.”

“New York,” Maryellen supplied. Not that she was a keen follower of chess players—or chess, for that matter. But she’d read a lengthy article in the Smithsonian magazine about Bobby a few years ago, and for some reason remembered a lot of it. He’d been playing chess from the time he could walk. By the age of three, he was beating grown men in local chess clubs. It didn’t take him long to gain recognition. She recalled one picture in which this child, this little boy, sat with his small hand extended across the chessboard for a sportsmanlike victory shake.

“Anyway,” Rachel continued, “he came to Cedar Cove the first time to pay Teri, something he failed to do when she went to Seattle.”

“I hope she took the money.” In Maryellen’s view, Teri had earned it.

“She did, and they had a beer together, too.”

A beer? Somehow she couldn’t picture the great Bobby Polgar drinking beer with Teri Miller. “What about the second time?”

“He came back a week later. They must’ve gone out to dinner but I can’t say for sure because Teri’s been very quiet ever since.”

“Teri? Quiet?”

Rachel lowered her voice even more until Maryellen had to strain to hear. “The truth is, I think she’s falling for him.”

That was bad news. Bobby Polgar was the last man in the world Maryellen could see with a woman like Teri—irreverent and funny. She had a wicked sense of humor and a heart of gold. But Teri and Bobby Polgar, one of the world’s intellectual geniuses? It’d never work.

“Speaking of romance, how’s it going with you and Nate?” Maryellen asked.

“Good. I’ll tell you all about it on Wednesday,” Rachel said.

“I can’t wait.” For years Maryellen had watched the girls at Get Nailed bemoan the lack of romance in their lives. Then within a year or so, they all seemed to be finding love, and in the most unlikely places, too.

Rachel had been attracted to Nate Olsen after the first date. But then Nate had informed her he was seeing a girl back home; disappointed, Rachel had tried to forget him and gone about her life. All of a sudden Nate was back and she’d fallen head over heels in love.