It's not the best day to be moving into a new house. But that was exactly what Poppy found herself doing. She had spent all day carrying boxes to the second-story apartment over the garage of the Carrington mansion, her new home. To say that Poppy was unhappy about the move would be a major understatement.
For the first eighteen years of her life, Poppy had lived on a farm just outside of Pangburn, Arkansas, a sweet little town no one outside of White County had ever heard of. She had lived with her grandparents, Papa and Gran, on their farm and attended the local school with less than a thousand students. She loved her school. Her art teacher, Mrs. Roe, made every day wonderful. She introduced Poppy to watercolors in middle school. Now, a few years later, Poppy's sketches and paintings had greatly improved.
As a senior, Poppy was not happy about having to go to a new school where she knew no one. Gran had promised that Searcy had a great art department, and she would love it. Poppy was not so sure. On her fifth trip up the two flights of stairs loaded with boxes, she was ready to throw away what was still in the truck. But she knew she could not.
As much as she hated to admit it, much of what she had been hauling up the stairs had actually been her art supplies. Most of their possessions had been sold at auction when they sold the farm. After Papa died last fall, the farm proved too much for Gran. She decided to sell and move to town. A decision that was made without consulting Poppy, she might add. Poppy understood the need to sell the farm, but why did they have to move to Searcy? Why could they not find a small house in Pangburn?
This was a conversation that Poppy had repeatedly had with Gran to no avail since she had first told Poppy about the plan to move. Gran had arranged to work for Mr. Carrington, a local lawyer whose wife had died many years before. She said he was lonely and needed someone to help with the housework and cook as his long-time housekeeper had retired. Poppy felt terrible for the guy that he had lost his wife. After all, losing people was something Poppy knew well. Her own mother had died in childbirth, and she had never known her father. She had been raised by her grandparents. Now, she not only lost her Papa, but also her home and school. So, from Poppy's perspective, she lost much more than Mr. Carrington.
Why should she have to move and uproot her life just because he wanted a housekeeper who lived onsite? She could not understand why her grandmother could not work for the guy during the day and then come home to Pangburn at night. It wasn't that far.
But, no matter how much she begged, her grandmother would not relent. They were moving to Searcy and into the garageapartment that came free with the job. That was the one part of the deal that Poppy could not combat. Free was free. Money was tight even after selling the farm and most of their possessions. But, no matter how tight things were, Gran always found the money for art lessons and supplies. So, Poppy begrudgingly continued hauling boxes until the truck Gran borrowed was empty.
While Gran returned the truck to the guy she borrowed it from, Poppy fixed herself a tall glass of water and planted herself on the plastic chair she found on the balcony outside her room.
In truth, as much as she hated moving, she was secretly in love with her new room. The garage apartment was two stories. The first story had a small living room, kitchen, Gran's bedroom, and bath. The second story was an open loft space with incredible windows, a bath, and a balcony that ran the length of her room. It was all hers. Gran had given her permission to make it into her own private art studio/bedroom.
Sitting in the late afternoon heat, enjoying her cool drink, Poppy heard splashing down below. From her vantage point, she saw a guy and two girls running around in swimsuits, pushing each other into the water. The girls looked younger than the guys but still older than her. A second guy was swimming in the pool, but she could not see him.
Oh, how she would give anything to strip off her sweaty clothes, don her swimsuit, and join them. She was young, not stupid. She might be living in a house with a pool, but she was just "the help," same as Gran. She would not be welcome at their little pool party.
Not being able to join the swimmers did not keep her from spying on them. One of the guys was tall with dark hair. He kept running up and grabbing the girls and throwing them in the water. The girls shrieked and carried on as if they were being killed, but Poppy could tell they loved it. The girls were screaming, "Tatum!Stop it!" But he ignored them and tossed them in one after the other.
The other guy did not join in. Instead, he steadily swam laps up and down the pool. He kept his head under the water so Poppy could not see him. After several minutes, the Tatum guy seemed to halt the fun and began packing up. He put on a T-shirt and flip-flops and gathered up his keys.
Poppy heard him tell the girls to get out as they had to go. The guy swimming laps stopped and stood in the shallow end with his back to her. Poppy still was not able to see him properly. From what she could see, he was built. As the girls packed up and put on cover-ups, the guy, still in the water, pushed himself up on the side of the pool. He still had his back to her, but something about this guy interested her.
She had never had a boyfriend. Papa and Gran would have never allowed it. Not after the way her mother had gotten pregnant at twenty without being married. Knowing Gran as she did, she knew she had to have been so embarrassed. If she was, to her credit, she had never held Poppy accountable for her mother's sins.
Poppy continued to watch as the girls and the Tatum guy left in one of the two red Jeeps parked in the drive. Once they left, her mystery guy, as she had begun to think of him, slipped back into the pool and swam for about thirty more minutes.
Poppy watched each stroke and honestly felt herself getting hotter with each one. No boy had ever commanded her interest the way this one did. Just when she thought she could not take watching him anymore, he pulled himself out of the pool and walked into the main house through the sliding glass door. To Poppy's dismay, he never turned to face her, so other than seeing that he was built like the Adonis statue she had learned about in art, she had no idea what he looked like up close. But it somehow did not matter. He had captivated her attention on a cellular level.
Once he went inside, Poppy lost all interest in being out in the evening heat. She returned to her room and began to arrange her art supplies and personal items. Gran returned home with burgers and fries, a rare treat as she did not believe in eating out if it could be helped. Poppy suspected it was a bribe to try and make up for forcing the move. A fact that was confirmed when she looked in the bag and found a fried apple pie for dessert. Though she would have loathed to admit it, maybe living in town might have some advantages. Eating juicy burgers, fries, fried pies, and watching a gorgeous, half-naked guy swimming laps was not all bad. No, life in town might just be okay after all.
After a shower, Poppy put on a T-shirt and shorts. Without turning on the light, she quietly wandered out to her balcony to check and see if her mystery swimmer had returned. Much to her delight, he had.
She watched from the balcony for a few minutes. He was diving off the board and then swimming to the opposite end. He did this several times. The lights in the pool were on, as well as the lights around the perimeter of the pool. For the first time, Poppy could see the mystery swimmer clearly. He took her breath away.
Just as she had suspected, his face was as perfect as the rest of him. As gorgeous as he was, it was not the face that had enraptured Poppy. He was completely nude. She had never seen a naked man in the flesh before.
From an artist's point of view, he was perfect. He was art come to life. She had spent hours studying the works of masters and was enamored with the statue of David and the works of Bernini. Suddenly, she knew she had to draw him. As quietly as possible, she raced inside and grabbed her sketchbook. She spent the next half hour drawing her mystery man.
By the time he finished swimming and went inside, Poppy was exhausted. The move had worn her out physically, and concentratingon sketching him zapped her mentally. Poppy quickly fell into a deep, satisfied sleep and dreamt of her naked mystery, Adonis. Her last thought as she drifted off to sleep was that Searcy was turning out to be much better than she had anticipated.
Chapter 3
Carrington House
Searcy, Arkansas
July 1999
The next day and the days that followed, Poppy enjoyed a simple but very enjoyable pattern. She spent her mornings drawing and painting, taking advantage of the beautiful morning light in her room. Afternoons were spent helping Gran prepare dinner for the Carringtons. The need to know more about her mystery swimmer had driven Poppy to volunteer to help Gran with the Carrington’s laundry and housework. It gave her a reason to wander through the house, including his personal space. His name was Bennett, and he was Mr. Carrington’s only child. She discovered that the sliding glass door by the pool opened into his room.
Talking to her grandmother, she discovered he was about to leave to do his final year of law school at the University of Arkansas. She was able to piece together that Bennett was twenty-four. Twenty-four and eighteen seemed far apart in age and world experience, given that she was still in high school.
She comforted herself with the thought that she should have already been out of school and in college. She was born prematurely and had spent several months in the hospital as anewborn. When it came time to send her to school, her grandparents did not let her start kindergarten until she was six. Poppy guessed it was partly to hold onto the only grandbaby they would ever have and because her birthday was in June. She would have been among the youngest in the class if she had gone at 5:00. Whatever their reason, Poppy realized that if they had sent her on at 5:00, she would be out of school and in college.
