Another mystery for another day.
“And I came because I couldn’t stomach to miss today.” Opal opened the pink box and inside was a single red velvet cupcake.
Guilt hit hard and Poppy’s eyes immediately welled up. She covered her mouth to keep the agony from forming a sound and escaping into the atmosphere.
How could she have overlooked her adoption day? She’d been so busy contemplating if a boy liked her or not that she’d nearly missed one of the most precious days of her entire year.
“How could I have forgotten?” Her voice was hoarse.
“You’re busy living your life, like I wanted you to,” Opal said. “I considered not coming and letting you live in the moment. Maybe I made the wrong decision.”
Poppy took her aunt’s hands, which felt frailer than they had a few months ago. “No, Auntie, I’m so glad you came. We’ve never missed celebrating the day we became a family, and I don’t want to start now. I just can’t believe I forgot.”
This was another big sign that she couldn’t afford a distraction. First, she forgets her A-Day—the day her childhood actually began. Next, she’d lose her head. And if she were going to make the deadline and do this house justice, she’d need every brain cell she owned to make it a reality.
Plus, there was a potential show on the line when this was all said and done. A shot at her dream! There wasn’t anything worth risking either of those. Especially not a man. Men leave. That’s what they do. And a man who had over a million followers—most of whom were women with model-like bodies—had more than enough options. Poppy was just a convenient right-now. He’d get over her the second she was no longer a challenge and what would she be left with?
A broken heart for all of America to watch shatter. No thank you!
Opal patted Poppy’s hand. “That’s not necessarily a bad thing. It means that maybe you’re so busy with your life you’re finally chasing your happy.”
Emotions, like guilt and disappointment, welled up in her eyes. “It feels so selfish.”
“It’s okay to be selfish sometimes.”
It was the same thing Kiki said to her the other night. What if it was time to move forward and let go of some of the grief of her childhood? Let go of the past and open herself up to the possibility of love and a life bigger than her show and flipping houses.
Don’t get her wrong, she loved her job. But there were times, like the past few houses, when she wished she’d had someone to celebrate with. And sadder times, like whensomeone said something particularly bad about her in the press, that she’d wished she had someone to hold her.
Is that what Decker needed the other night? Just someone to hold him? Then why did it morph so quickly into a green light for a game of naked exploration?
Opal pulled her into her side. “Let’s go get some fresh air and take a moment.”
“You mean eat our cupcake on our favorite lounger?”
Opal gave a bright smile. “That’s the one.”
“You bet.”
Hand in hand, the two Hart women made their way through the construction zone and were about to clear the sliders when Opal stumbled over the ledge.
Poppy’s instincts kicked in and she tried to balance her aunt with their joined hands. When it was clear her aunt was going down, she wrapped her arms around Opal and broke the fall.
Like a slab of bricks, they hit the floor, with Poppy’s right side taking the majority of the impact.
“Oh my,” Opal yelped.
Poppy just grunted through the pain as all the air was forced out of her lungs. Knowing she’d be bruised from ribs to her hip bone, she took stock. Poppy was acting like a mattress and Opal was on top. They were twisted together like a couple of coiled cables.
“Auntie, are you okay?”
“Why did you do that?” Opal scolded. “It was just a silly fall. Then you made it into a big something.”
“That’s what family does,” Poppy said, quietly feeling like she was fifteen and being scolded for jumping off the roof into the pool.
“Whoa!” someone yelled and that someone was Decker.
Like a real Prince Charming, he came bounding over and was on them in seconds. He ran his hands over Opal, likely looking for broken bones.
