“Let’s get these tiles laid out,” she said with her head held high and her shoulders back.
She picked up one of the new ones and he was right, they were slightly darker. Putting her Decker Dilemma on the back burner, she scolded herself for being distracted and got to work.
“I think the best way to go is random. If they’re going to be stacked, then we don’t want a set pattern.”
“I agree. It just shows how irreplaceable Poppy is,” Kiki said, her eyes narrowed at Decker. They were full of threat and the promise of retaliation.
Decker looked back and forth between the two women in the tell-tale sign that men were stupid. Because he wasn’t picking up on the undertones of the conversation.
“Do you want help putting up the tile?” he asked.
“Clive and I can do it. Why don’t you disappear into your workshop.”Because that’s what you do,hung in the air.
“Am I missing something?” he asked.
“Okay,” Miles said, taking Decker’s arm and leading him toward the slider. “You and I are going to do as the lady asks.” Decker started to argue, and Miles cut him off. “Don’t listen, hear, remember?”
Poppy turned on her heels and faced her crew, who were looking at her with the one emotion she hated most—pity.
It was clear to everyone that something had transpired between her and Decker and the last thing she wanted to do was talk about it. So she did what she’d done for her entire life, moved on like everything was fine.
Fine. Fine. Fine.
“Do we have any idea when the island will be installed?’ she asked.
Jessika broke the silence. “That’s Decker’s project. Want me to get him back?”
“No!” Poppy said a little too shrill.
And then, of all people, it was Diana who came to stand beside Poppy. She set down the camera and said, “We don’t need a man to help us do what a team of women can. Am I right?”
“Damn straight,” Kiki said. “I say we get some dollies and roll that sucker in place ourselves.”
“Who will film it?” Wasim asked.
Diana smacked him hard on the back. “That’s what the wall cams are for. Welcome to the circus, my man. Now glove up and get ready to get your hands dirty.”
“I thought you said it was a girl-power moment?” Wasim asked, so confused Poppy wanted to laugh.
“Son,” Clive whispered. “Thirty-five years of marriage has taught me to never call a woman a girl, and when it comes to woman-power always say yes to what is asked of you. Understood?”
“Grabbing gloves,” Wasim said.
DIARY ROOM:
Miles: One of the signs of coupledom is definitely connection and anyone can see that the connection between my uncle and Miss Hart is real.
Producer: Is that why you haven’t told him that the show is really a show about love?
Miles: I debated whether or not to tell them, but when I saw the way my uncle looked at her, I decided that it was their journey. I didn’t want to be the narrator of their story.
21
Even the scent of sawdust and aged wood couldn’t calm Decker’s thoughts. Something had transpired back there but he’d be damned if he knew what.
It was as if there had been a silent conversation between Poppy, Kiki, and Miles, but when it came to him, he was lost in translation.
“What the hell happened back there?” he asked Miles, who was sanding down some of the original wood paneling. The goal was to get it back to raw wood, then re-stain it.
