She climbed in the front seat, since, due to child safety laws, Tabitha rode in the back in her safety seat.
“Where to?” Poppy asked cheerily.
“Golden Years.”
“Oh, um, congratulations!” Tiana had seen Poppy across the room at the fundraiser the night before but hadn’t gotten a chance to speak to her since she tied the knot.
“Thanks. I still can’t quite believe it.” Poppy smiled as she looked down at her ring, then her belly.
“How are you feeling?”
“Good, most days.” Poppy glanced over at Tiana, then back at the road, then back at Tiana. “Do you want to talk about it or not?”
“Or not.” Tiana didn’t even know what to say.
“Got it.” Poppy turned up the music, and she, Tiana, and Tabitha sang along to “Bed Chem” by Sabrina Carpenter at the top of their lungs, which Tiana really needed but wasn’t sure was appropriate for Tabby. She gave Poppy a look, and she said, “Fun aunt.”
Tiana forgot that Deacon was half siblings to Poppy and Liam.
When they arrived at Golden Years, Tiana hugged Poppy. “Thank you.”
Before she got out, Poppy put her hand on her arm and turned back to Tabitha. “Tabby, do you want to watchEncantoon my phone?”
Tabitha enthusiastically agreed. Poppy handed Tabitha her AirPods and her phone playing the movieEncanto.
Poppy shifted toward Tiana. “Whatever’s going on, IknowNiko loves you, and it’s worth it to figure it out because heisone of the good ones.”
“I thought you said you didn’t know him that well.”
“No, but AJ knows him better than anyone, and last night at the gala I mentioned something about you two not being a real couple, and he said that it’s real to Niko and if it’s not real for you, it’s going to destroy him.”
“Destroy him?” Tiana repeated.
“Destroy him. And AJ isn’t prone to exaggeration. I know that things might have moved fast for you. Or that buying a building might have freaked you out, but he was trying to protect you. If you would have seen him the day he was getting the property records, how mad he was that Brock had put in an offer.”
Tiana bit the inside of her lip, trying not to feel overwhelmed.
“Anyway, it’s not any of my business. Other than I,selfishly, would love to have you as my sister-in-law, and I think you areamazing and deserve to have a man who buys a building because your ex is trying to use it as a way to fuck with you.”
“Well, when you put it like that,” she joked, but still felt a pit in her stomach. She leaned over and gave her one more hug before hopping out. “Thanks for everything.”
Today, Cindy wasn’t at the front desk, it was one of the nurses, Gina. She was on the phone and buzzed her back after Tiana signed in.
The walk down the hall seemed longer than normal, she didn’t know why. She felt like she was moving in slow motion. Part of her was hoping Pops was asleep so she could just sit with her thoughts, another part of her thought that would be torture.
When she rounded the corner and saw him sitting up in his chair by the window, alert, his color looking better than it had in…she couldn’t remember. Despite her stomach being in more knots than her iPhone earphones, she couldn’t be happier to see Pops looking so good, especially after him going to the fundraiser the night before.
“Hey, Pops.” She smiled as she leaned down and kissed his cheek, then lowered down into the chair across from him.
He looked up from the TV with a smile, and when he saw her face, it dropped. He picked up the remote and turned the TV down with a sigh. “Tiny, Tiny, Tiny, what am I gonna do with you, girl?”
“What?” she asked. “What do you mean?”
“What happened?”
“What do you mean—what happened?”
He sighed.
