Secrets and Revelations (Bellingwood #4) by Diane Greenwood Muir

festival. As long as they don't cross the fence, I don't care who looks at my beauties."
    "Have you heard anything from Sal lately?" Mark asked.
    Polly had to follow his abrupt topic change. Sal Kahane was her best friend from Boston College.
    "I email back and forth with her every once in a while," Polly said. "Why? Is there something up?"
    "No, I just wondered if she'd said anything to you about coming out to visit."
    "She hasn't said anything yet. Are you two making plans for something?"
    "No!" he exclaimed. "Well, no big plans yet. She thought she might come out in November or December. I know she doesn't celebrate Christmas, but I thought it would be fun for her to see what we do out here."
    "Oh, she celebrates Christmas more than you think," Polly laughed. "Her parents aren't terribly happy with it, but Sal is kind of an all-inclusive holiday girl. She starts with Thanksgiving, enjoys Hanukah, then Christmas and rounds out the season with an immense New Year's Eve party. We always had a big Christmas tree in our dorm room. Everyone else thought we were over the top, but Sal loved it as much as I did. I even got her to go to a Christmas Eve service one year. Pretty sure she was the one in tears when the candles were all lit at midnight."
    "Then maybe she would come out for Christmas," Mark mused. "My family is coming down to Bellingwood this year. We're already making plans."
    "That might be a little intimidating," Polly remarked. "You're going to make her meet your family?"
    "Why?" he innocently asked.
    "Because that's kind of a next step thing in a relationship," Polly said. "Have you even gone out to see her in Boston?"
    "Not yet, but I think I’m flying out in mid-September.
    "You are?" Polly was surprised.
    "Maybe," he said coyly. "Now don't you be getting any big ideas. And if she's not comfortable meeting my family, then we'll figure something else out, but I'd love to have her here for the holiday celebrations."
    Polly shook her head. "You two don't have a clue, do you?"
    "What do you mean?" he protested.
    "For this to work, one of you is going to have to give up the life you’re comfortable with. Is that going to be you? Is it going to be Sal?"
    "We're not talking about that right now. We've decided to just enjoy finding out about each other and go from there."
    "You’re right. I'll be good," Polly said and patted his leg. "You two are adults and it's not like I can talk. I'm not making a lot of future plans with Henry."
    "Exactly!" Mark said as he turned the horses back into the Sycamore House driveway.
    Polly saw Lydia and Beryl standing at the front door of the building and waved at them.
    "Do you want to do a drive-by?" Mark asked.
    "Can we?"
    "Of course." He moved the reins and the horses picked up speed and then as they approached the two women, he pulled back and they came to a stop.
    "What do you think of Polly's new wheels?" he asked them.
    "Girl, you're gonna be the talk of the town!" Beryl said.
    "Could I touch them?" Lydia asked quietly.
    "Of course you can, Lydia!" Polly said. She glanced at Mark, who nodded and held out his hand as she stepped down to the ground.
    "I'm sorry. It didn't even occur to me that you'd never gotten to meet them." Polly put her hand on Demi's neck, who was standing closest to Lydia. "Walk around front so he can see you."
    Lydia stood in front of the horse and he lifted his head.
    "He's just saying hello," Polly said.
    "They're really quite beautiful, aren't they," Lydia said. "I feel so small next to them."
    Polly chuckled. "You should come down to the barn sometime with me and have all four of them surround you. There's nothing quite like it!"
    "How do you know which one is which?"
    "Nat has the biggest white blaze on his forehead. Nan is the largest of them and she has a spot of white on her nose. Now, these two both have white on their feet, but Daisy's is on her front right foot and back left, while Demi's two back feet have white on them. You can also see that Demi