Page 52 of His Best Friend's Baby

Even so, Polly hadn’t expected to be quite so enthusiastically received. Elsa Hargreaves and Ruth Lange immediately rushed forward with broadly beaming grins.

‘Seth, great to see you. And Polly, how lovely! And, oh my goodness, is this your little Summer all grown up?’

Elsa held out her arms to Summer, almost as if she were an aunt or a grandmother, and the little girl was a family favourite.

‘Look at you,’ Elsa crooned as Summer was happily transferred and she cuddled her on her hip. ‘Aren’t you gorgeous?’ And then she laughed as Summer tried to grab one of her curling, auburn locks.

‘She’s always trying to grab at my glasses,’ said Polly. ‘I’ve taken to wearing contact lenses nearly all the time.’

‘Well, you look great,’ said Ruth. ‘And I love your hair. That stripe looks amazing.’

‘Thanks.’

‘Elsa,’ said Ruth, turning to her friend. ‘Maybe I should get you to do something like that with my hair?’

‘Are you a hairdresser?’ Polly asked Elsa.

‘Sure am,’ she said. ‘I have The Hair Affair in town, although I’ve only worked part time since I had the boys.’

‘My closest girlfriend is a hairdresser,’ Polly confided, but she didn’t like to admit that Celia was practically her only female friend. Although perhaps she had a semi-reasonable excuse, given that the IT workforce was predominantly male.

‘You have great taste in friends then,’ responded Elsa with a smiling wink. ‘And your friend must be a total pro. Your hair looks great.’

And just like that, Polly could feel herself relaxing with these women, the very same women whose friendliness had bothered her a year ago. Had she really changed so much? Having a good job and successfully caring for Summer had made her more confident, of course.

Or was it being here with Seth that made the difference? Not that Seth was actually hanging around with her. Already, he was over with a group of guys, chatting and laughing and looking like he went to a kids’ park every weekend.

Summer, of course, loved the park. She adored being pushed on the swing, and she squealed with delight as Polly guided her down the slippery dip. But what she seemed to love most was watching all the other kids.

She couldn’t walk yet, but she could stand quite well on her sturdy little legs. And as she stood there now, feet solidly apart, clapping her little hands as she watched the other children running around, laughing and calling to each other, she was clearly itching to get moving.

‘Won’t be long now.’ Seth’s voice sounded close beside Polly. ‘Summer will be taking off after those kids in no time.’

Polly turned to find him watching her little girl with a smile of unmistakable affection and her heart went straight into meltdown.

‘Actually, I’ve just had an idea,’ she said on a sudden, impulsive whim—her second mad whim in just twenty-four hours. ‘What would you think about inviting these people around to your place this afternoon to help celebrate Summer’s birthday?’

Seth turned to her, surprise and something very close to delight dancing in his eyes. Although this was followed by a moment of caution, as if he might have wanted to quiz her about this sudden turnaround regarding his friends. But after the briefest hesitation, he smiled. ‘Why not? That’s a great idea.’

‘I know it’s super-short notice, so everyone might already have other commitments,’ Polly said. ‘But I already have the kids’ cake and the other chocolate cake for adults, and that cake’s actually way too big for just you and me. We could keep the party simple. We don’t need bells and whistles and balloons for a one-year-old. Just afternoon tea with cakes and drinks and maybe a couple of fruit platters?’

‘Fair enough,’ said Seth. ‘Sounds good to me.’ He grinned at Polly and the shimmer in his eyes suggested he might actually want to kiss her. He refrained, which was probably just as well. Instead, he said, ‘Would you like me to spread the word?’

Chapter Seventeen

The questions thatremained unasked and unanswered were burning in Seth as he drove home from the park. He couldn’t stop thinking about the unbelievably sensational night he and Polly had shared. He would go crazy if they didn’t have The Serious Talk very soon.

Right now, though, Polly was all worked up about Summer’s birthday and the surprisingly enthusiastic response to her party invitation. Just about everyone from this morning’s gathering was coming.

‘But please, please, no presents,’ Polly had insisted. ‘That has to be the rule when it’s a last-minute invitation.’

This was well received and Polly was so chuffed about her spontaneous party plan that Seth didn’t want to burst her happy bubble. He had no choice but to be patient, although he was determined to make time before their guests arrived to finish the conversation they’d started last night.

They called at the supermarket to buy extra fruit and paper napkins for the party and Seth grabbed beer and bubbly from the bottle shop. And as soon as they arrived home, they gave Summer a happy splash in the blow-up pool and she dunked ducklings with great enthusiasm.

Afterwards, Polly prepared finger food for the baby’s lunch, ahead of settling her down for her nap.

‘I’m sure she’ll sleep soundly now after such a big morning,’ Polly said as she headed off for the spare bedroom with a sleepy Summer in her arms.

---