“Are you okay?” Auntie Trish asks, studying me where I’m lost in thought.
“Y-yeah.” I sigh.
The next few days pass in a blur. We have more social worker visits, more police visits but nothing really changes. Aside from being told that Mom’s been bailed as suspected and assured that any contact with us will land her straight back inside. Dad’s still in custody, he has bigger issues than just possession it seems, but I zoned out when the officer was explaining it. They’re both going away and will be until I’m old enough to live my own life. If it’s five years to twenty-five years, it really makes no difference to me now. Our relationship was ruined years ago because of all this.
It’s Tuesday afternoon and I’m walking back from the park with the kids after getting them out for some sun when I walk up the street to find a familiar car sitting in the driveway. I walk up beside it, telling Austin and Sofia to head inside while I bump Cooper’s stroller up the steps.
“Jada, what are you doing here?” I don’t mean it to come out accusatory, but it does, and I wince. “I mean, it’s good to see you.”
“You too, Poppy. How are you doing?”
“Oh, you know,” I mutter, unstrapping Cooper and lifting him into my arms.
“I’ll just go grab his bottle.”
We both watch as my aunt disappears inside.
“You’re a real cutie,” Jada coos at Cooper. “Seems like a lifetime ago having babies this young around.”
An awkward silence falls between us as Cooper giggles at Jada.
“Harley is missing you,” she finally says.
“It’s only been a few days.”
“She’s worried you’re not going to come back.”
“Well, I probably won’t,” I say on a sigh.
“Poppy,” she says, her serious tone making me turn to look at her. “I know things are complicated and confusing right now, but if you want to come back and go to school, there is a place for you at my house.”
My chin drops in shock.
“I know you’ve got a lot of things to think about right now and a lot of things are up in the air, but I’d never forgive myself if I didn’t at least offer you the chance of keeping just one thing normal in your life. I know how hard starting over at a new school can be, especially on top of everything else.”
“Wow,” I breathe. “I really didn’t see that coming.”
She chuckles at me as Auntie Trish comes back.
“You want to feed him?” I offer to Jada, although I soon regret the offer when I glance at her pristine black pantsuit.
But she surprises me when her face lights up. “Yes, I’d love to. It’s been so long since I held a baby.”
I pass him over and she gets him settled before Auntie Trish hands over his bottle. Cooper greedily sucks it into his mouth the second Jada has it anywhere near, making her laugh.
The three of us chat about the weather and other nonsense subjects while avoiding the huge elephant that’s staring at us.
I can only assume that Jada’s already told Auntie Trish about the offer she just made me but neither of them bring it up.
Jada stays for another thirty minutes before announcing that she needs to get back.
She turns to me, a serious yet kind expression on her face. “Think about what I said, the offer is open should you want it. Oh and, Harley wanted me to let you know that there’s a party at Ethan’s Friday night and she’d love for you to come. You can stay at ours as long as you need.”
“Thank you, I really appreciate it,” I say, feeling totally blown away by her offer.
We wave her off before Auntie Trish goes to put Cooper down for a nap while the squeals of Austin and Sofia sound out from the house where they’re playing.
“She’s nice,” Auntie Trish says when she finally joins me once more. “I’m glad you accepted her arrival better than her son.” She laughs.
“Jada is an incredible mom. Harley, Zayn, and Letty are lucky to have her.”
“She was serious with what she said. If you feel like you need to go back, then she’s willing to make that happen.”
“I know,” I say, still trying to get my head around it.
“I’ll leave you to it. You don’t need to make any decisions right away, like she said, there’s a lot up in the air right now. A lot of answers we don’t have. Just take it one step at a time. School and the future can wait.”
28
Poppy
Jada’s offer and her mention of Harley wanting me to go back this weekend spun around my head all night. But no matter how much time passed, I was no closer to finding an answer.
Would it be easier to go back to Rosewood and return to school Monday as if nothing happened? Sure. But do I want to? I have no idea.
Going back means dealing with Zayn, and worse, Preston. I still have no idea if my suspicion about this all being down to him is warranted or not, but it still niggles away at me.
Uncle Evan and Auntie Trish’s home phone rang during dinner last night, and the second she discovered it was Jake checking up on me, seeing as I was still refusing to deal with the many missed calls and messages on my cell, she immediately invited him to dinner tonight.
She’s trying so hard to make things as normal as possible for me, but as each hour passes, I’m realizing that there’s a bigger hole opening up inside me.
Auntie Trish and Uncle Evan are incredible, but as much as I want this place to become home, it’s never going to be.
The thought of Jake coming for the night perks me up and I even find myself showering and pulling on real clothes and some makeup.
“Poppy, you look lovely.” Auntie Trish beams at me when I finally leave the safety of my room. I’ve been spending more and more time locked up in there while slowly handing over the role of mother of the kids to our aunt and uncle.
“Thank you. It feels good to be normal.”
“One step at a time, Poppy.”
I give her a sad smile before offering to help her in the kitchen. I can see she wants to argue about it, but after another look in my eyes, she concedes and allows me to take over vegetable chopping. It’s the perfect kind of mind-numbing job I need until our guest arrives.
I’m pulling open the front door the second the rumble of an engine vibrates through the house.
“Hey,” I say, smiling wider than I’m sure I have in days when Jake climbs from the car and walks over to me. “No Amalie?”
“Nah, she’s having a girls’ night with Cami, Rae, and Chelsea. You’re stuck with just me, I’m afraid.”
“Ugh, how will I cope?” I joke as he ruffles my hair like he used to do when we were kids.
“How you holding up?”
I consider lying but I’m pretty sure it would be pointless, Jake can read me better than that. “I have no idea. Everything is just… weird.”
“You homesick yet?” he asks, probably knowing that I’ve never actually left Rosewood for any length of time before.
“Yeah. I never thought I would be, but I actually miss the place. Jada offered for me to move in with her?” He stills at my words.