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

has a small white patch up near his eyes. Those are the easiest ways to tell who is who."
    "That's amazing, Polly. How long did it take you to figure all that out?"
    Polly smiled. "Honestly, when Mark introduced me, I knew I was going to have to identify them pretty quickly, so I entered all of their differences into my phone's note app. But, when they first got here, each had such different needs, it was easy to get to know them while they recuperated."
    Beryl slid over to Mark. "Hey there, pretty boy. Will you give me a ride?" she asked, dramatically batting her eyes.
    Mark had the decency to blush. "I was just about to take them back to the barn, but we can take a spin around the place. Do you mind walking back up from there?"
    He reached down and gave her a hand. Polly smiled as the woman clambered up to the bench seat. After the water heater exploded in her art studio and scalded her, Beryl had returned to normal pretty quickly. Henry renovated her studio with the help of several others and last month, Beryl announced she was in love with her new place and wasn't inviting anyone over because she was going back to work. Polly knew that the accident had messed with her work schedule and she was madly trying to finish several commissioned paintings.
    Lydia stepped back and watched with Polly as Mark and Beryl rode away.
    "What are you two doing here today?" Polly asked.
    "I had to go down to Boone and since Andy is busy with Len all the time, I made Beryl leave her studio for a while. We drove in and saw you and Mark with the horses and thought we'd stop by. I also wanted to look at the gardens and see how they were doing. Have you looked at them lately?"
    Polly hung her head. "Not very closely. It all looks very pretty, though. Maybe I'm afraid that if I get too close I will destroy something.
    "Stop it. You can't hurt anything over there. Come on. Let's take a walk. Beryl can catch up."
    Polly stopped and said, "I thought Len was working with Henry. How come Andy doesn't have time for you?"
    "She does and he is, but they had something planned for today. Don't mind me. I was much too comfortable with her being available to me unless she was with her grandkids."
    "Speaking of grandkids, how is your new baby?"
    Lydia's daughter, Marilyn, was the mother of a set of twins and a brand new baby, which meant that Lydia hadn't been around quite as much. Polly's life had gotten busier so she wasn't lonely, but she did miss spending time with the women who had welcomed her to Bellingwood last fall. There had been some wonderful moments with these women, but even in a few short months, lives had changed and they were busy with other things.
    "That little girl is a grandma's dream. She's going to be the prettiest little thing you will ever see. Trust me," Lydia laughed. "We're just glad she is healthy and happy. I’m taking the twins this weekend so Marilyn and Brian can rest a little with her. Marilyn calls it GrammaCamp, I just call it perfect."
    They approached the garden and Lydia bent over to pull weeds away from some blooming flowers.
    "Should I be doing that?" Polly asked.
    Lydia laughed whole heartedly, "No, Polly. If you have to ask, I think it might be a horrible mistake." She continued to laugh as they walked along the path. They stopped in front of the bubbling pond. "All of this is such a wonderful addition to the corner here," she said. "We should have done this a long time ago."
    "I'm just glad you did it now," Polly said. She sat down on a wooden bench. "And I should probably come out here more often. It's awfully peaceful, especially with the water bubbling. But, whenever I'm out, Obiwan is with me and I won't let him anywhere near it."
    "He has gotten big. Has he finished growing yet?"
    "I don't think so. It seems like he fills out and gets a little taller every time I take him to get his nails trimmed."
    "You don't do that yourself?"
    "No! He whimpered at me the first time and I felt so guilty I cried. Now I make