The college counselor, who contacted her with her scholarship offer, told Poppy about the hardship scholarship she qualified for. She encouraged Poppy to apply. Hopefully, if she got it, she would be able to go to New York. Poppy had until July 1 to submit her confirmation and accept her scholarship.
As a backup, Poppy got a waitressing job at Colton's, a local steak restaurant, the week she graduated. She signed up for every hour she could get and saved every dime.
She did not tell Gran about her plans. As far as Gran knew, she would stay in Searcy, attend ASU, and work at Colton's. It was ironic as the only thing Poppy was positive about was that she was definitely not doing that. After having her heart broken over spring break, she wanted to get as far away from Searcy, the Carrington house, and Bennett as possible.
Poppy knew that Bennett graduated from law school the same weekend she graduated from high school. She saw some kind of twisted symmetry in that. Having no idea that Poppy and Bennett had any history, Gran was notorious for dropping little nuggets about what was happening in his life, which was how Poppy had found out about his graduation. To Poppy's relief, Bennett did not move home after school. And, according to Gran, Mr. Carrington was not set to be at the house until the end of the summer. Gran set her vacation to correspond with Mr. Carrington being gone. She had plans to go to her sister's in Memphis for two weeks. With work, Poppy couldn't join.
On Poppy's nineteenth birthday, Gran made her a huge breakfast and gave her a large easel that Poppy had wanted for years. After breakfast, Gran packed her car and left for Tennessee. While Gran hated leaving Poppy alone, especially on her birthday, Poppy was super excited. It would be the first time she would be all on her own and she couldn't wait.
Poppy worked a double shift that night and got home a little after 11:00. Tips had been good all night. After counting them, Poppy hid her money in her sock drawer and considered taking a shower before going to bed. However, the idea of a dip in the pool spoke to her. She was the only one on the property. No one would know. After all, she spent all last summer watching other people enjoying that pool. Why should she be the only one missing out?
Poppy decided to go skinny dipping. Before she could change her mind, Poppy raced down the backstairs and through the hedge, promising herself that she would dive in, swim around a few minutes, and then get out with no one being the wiser. Without turning on any of the pool lights, Poppy used the full moon's light to guide her. Once in the pool area, she quickly removed her flip-flops, Colton's T-shirt, and denim shorts. The last item to remove was her bra. With that gone, Poppy decided to dive head first off the diving board into the deep.
A fabulous swimmer, she swam the whole length of the pool underwater, only surfacing once she reached the steps of the shadow end. She pulled herself up the ladder and began making her way back to the board, totally forgetting her promise to dive in, swim, and get out. Poppy felt more alive than she had in months. She had just dived into the pool for the fourth time when she heard something above her. Surfacing in the shallow end, she was stunned to see Bennett standing between her and the ladder.
"What the hell are you doing here?" demanded Poppy. Bennett was not supposed to be there. If she had known he was home, she would have stayed in her room and avoided him at all costs.
Walking slowly toward her with his hands on his hips, Bennett said, "Don't be like that, Red. I have missed you."
Putting her hands up to stop him, she kept her body under the water and said, "Red? Don’t call me that, and don’t come any closer. I'm not dressed.”
"A fact of which I am well aware," said Bennett, creeping ever closer. “I’ve been watching you since I heard the first big splash. I must say you have fabulous form. Your diving isn’t bad either.”
Rolling her eyes at him and slowly swimming backward, Poppy could not stop herself from blushing. As he came closer, she said, "No, I mean it. Stop. I’ll scream."
"Chill, Red, you know I would never hurt you." Bennett stopped and kept his position still. He did not want to scare her but he had to talk to her. He had been waiting to do it for months.
"I have been waiting for this day for so long. Thank you for having your birthday on the same day my dad always takes his vacation. That was very helpful."
"What are you talking about? How did you even know today was my birthday?"
Holding his ground, he tread water and said, "I have my ways. The hardest part was staying gone as long as I did. You are one tough woman to stay away from. Please tell me you missed me as much as I missed you. Did you think of me at all? I am not sure what kind of witchy voodoo magic you have, but not a single day has passed since March that I have not thought of you and planned for this moment."
"I have no idea what you are even talking about. Why are you even here? You know what, don't answer that. All you do is get me going and full of hope, make a bunch of promises, and disappear. So why don't you do that now? Turn around and disappear back to wherever you have been since March."
"You knew where I was and why I had to go."
"Let me guess, I was in high school and was going to ruin your life."
"Yeah, something like that. But great news, Poppy, I don't know if you heard, but rumor has it you are all graduated, and as of today,you are nineteen. Can't get much more legal than that." As he said that, Bennett began swimming toward Poppy.
Poppy continued to back up until her back was against the edge of the pool. With nowhere to go, she planted her feet on the underwater edge and held on the sides with her hands. When Bennett reached her, he put his arms on each side of her head and held on to the side. Without touching, he pressed his body in close.
He was so close Poppy could not breathe. Forcing herself to look into Bennett's eyes, she said, "Whether or not I am legal has nothing to do with you. Whatever you and I had is over."
Bennett let her finish. Then, he pushed her wet curls behind her ear. Allowing his finger to drift down over her cheek and to the crease in her chest, he said, "Poppy, what we have is far from over. I know it and you know it. Tell me you feel this."
Without missing a beat, Poppy replied, "Yeah, I felt it before, and it left me alone, sad, and feeling like a fool."
Poppy could tell her words cut him. Part of her was glad. He had cut her with his actions. It was only fair that he should suffer as she had. The other part of her wanted to pull him close and see if he was right and if what they had started before was still there.
Looking deeply into her eyes, he said, "I am deeply sorry I hurt you. For what it is worth, I was right there with you. You were never far from my mind. I just knew that I had to be the strong one for us both. You were too young. I wanted you to finish school and graduate without the threat of scandal. And, I'll admit the choice I made was selfish. I wanted both my career and you. The only way I could think of how to do that was to go away until now. So, what do you say? Are you ready to give us a second chance, or will you hold on to all that hurt and keep us from seeing if this thing between us can be something?"
When he finished talking, all that could be heard were the cicadas croaking around them. She took several seconds to thinkand then, having made up her mind that they had both suffered enough, Poppy slowly let go of the sides of the pool and allowed her body to float into him. Using one arm to hold them steady and the other to haul her in close, Bennett tucked Poppy's tiny perfect body into his. Reaching to place soft kisses on his neck, she whispered, "Please don't ever leave me like that again." Capturing her lips in a deep kiss, he responded, "I promise I won't."
Chapter 8
Carrington House
