“It’s a surprise,” she says, looking like it’s the dumbest question.
“Okay.”
Poppy takes a big gulp of hers as Kade takes a sip. His eyes go wide.
“Poppy, what’s actually in this?” He sets it down on the counter behind him.
“It’s a chocolate and strawberry one. It’s Miss Betty’s secret flavor. I thought you’d like it.”
“Oh, shit,” I mutter.
“Is it yucky?” Poppy asks.
“It’s okay. I just can’t eat strawberries.”
Poppy’s eyes go wide. “You can’t? What’s going to happen?”
“It’s okay,” Kade says, nervously running his hand through his hair.
Hives start to break out on his face. And while I know that’s the worst of it, having experienced this in high school, I can already see tears welling in Poppy’s eyes.
“What can I get you?” I ask, resting a hand on his shoulder.
“Got any allergy meds?” he asks.
Hives start to break out on his neck as tears streak down Poppy’s face.
“Everything okay?” Rylee asks, coming over to us. It seems like all eyes are on us.
“Can you grab some allergy meds from the first aid kit?” I ask.
She nods, heading back into the kitchen as Poppy buries her face into my stomach, tears wetting my shirt.
“I’m sorry,” she keeps repeating.
“Hey, come here.” Kade holds his arms out to her and she goes. “It’s okay. You didn’t know, and it’s my fault for not thinking to tell you.”
“I thought you’d like it,” Poppy sniffles.
“Maybe next time we can get something different.”
“Really?”
“Really.”
Rylee comes back with two pills and a tall glass of water. Kade nods his head in thanks to her.
“Are you going to be okay?” Poppy asks.
Kade pops the pills and swallows them down. “I’ll be fine, Poppy.”
“Does this mean we don’t get to ride horses today?” she asks.
“I’ll tell you what,” Kade says. “Maybe we can ride horses after school tomorrow? You mom can bring you to the ranch after school.”
“Yeah?” she asks, brushing a tear away.
“Yeah,” I say. “And maybe we can have Kade over for dinner tonight.”
