Startled, she glanced over her shoulder and spotted Emily Davenport a few feet away, holding a leash with an energetic puppy on the other end. The woman looked sadder every time Poppy saw her, and now she walked toward Emily with a gentle smile, wishing and hoping that one day, Emily would find some kind of happiness again.
“Hey,” Poppy said. “Thank you.”
“I’m happy for you two,” Emily replied. “Boone’s one of the good ones.”
“He is.” She nodded toward the puppy. “I see Molly convinced you to adopt.”
“She did, but it didn’t take too much convincing. Bilbo is adorable, and I couldn’t say no.”
Poppy hesitated, but decided if she didn’t say anything, it would be weird. “I heard about Ethan. Is he okay?”
“I wouldn’t know. He won’t talk to me.” Emily shrugged and attempted a smile. “They only kept him overnight, so he’ll be fine. I guess.” She sighed. “Regan says he’s lucky as hell, but I wonder. He drinks too much, and sometimes I think he wants to end up like Rick, six feet under.”
Poppy didn’t know what to say, so she said nothing. She didn’t know Ethan Caldwell all that well, but she knew enough to know he hadn’t gotten over the death of his best friend—Emily’s husband. And that he blamed himself.
“Am I interrupting?” They both turned, and Poppy’s jaw tightened. Great. She wasn’t in the mood for her mother, not today when the sun was shining and the air was fresh. Not today when this For Sale sign signaled a new life she couldn’t wait to grab.
“I’m just leaving,” Emily said with a wave as she pulled her puppy along and headed back the way she came.
Serena Fairbanks glanced toward the house, and then her eyes settled on the sign. They’d had maybe two conversations since that awful day in the summer at the park, and both of them had ended just as abruptly as they’d started. And they’d ended badly. Poppy hadn’t seen her mother in weeks and still hadn’t forgiven her for sending Boone away all those years ago, for reading her diary, and for lying about it all. She knew she would in time, but it was still fresh. Still hurtful.
“You’re selling,” her mother said softly.
“I am.”
“Moving in with Boone?”
“Already have.” Poppy held up her ring. “We’re getting married over the holidays. Going somewhere warm. Bali, I think.”
“How lovely.” Serena made no effort to hide her pained expression. “I want the best for you, Poppy.”
“Do you?” Poppy wasn’t so sure. “You had me twisted up thinking I meant nothing to Boone, when it was the furthest thing from the truth.” She needed her mother to understand something. “We’re good, Mom. Really good. I’ve told him everything. He knows about LA, about what happened with Mark, about that night when he attacked me and gave me this.” She pointed to the scar on her face. “He knows I’d been so down that I let a man control me until I didn’t know which end was up. He knows about the endometritis and that I’ll probably never have children. And he knows that I love him the way he deserves to be loved. More importantly, he does the same for me. He completes me. He’s my person, and we’re a family now.” She looked her mother straight in the eye. “Boone and Benji are my family, and if you want any chance of being a part of our lives, you need to be as open and honest as I’m being right now. You need to love me and be happy for me the way a mother should be happy for her child. You can’t be jealous because I have something you lost. Maybe something you never had. You need to take Dad out of the equation, because what happened between the two of you has nothing to do with me or the man I love.”
Her mother didn’t answer at first, and when she did, Poppy barely heard her. “I’m sorry, Poppy. Please accept my apology.”
“I do, Mom, but the thing is? We’ve been here before. Right in this exact moment. But because I’m happier than I’ve ever been, and because I’m generous, so much so that I wish you can find this same kind of happiness, I’m willing to believe this time is different. But the thing is, Boone is my love. He owns my heart, and he’s going to be my husband, and the only way you can be in our lives is if you support us. No more snide comments or rude looks. There is no other way.” She turned and watched Emily until she disappeared around the corner. “Life’s too short, and I’m not wasting another second.”
She walked forward, because she wasn’t joking about being happier than a pig in mud, and she kissed her surprised mother on the cheek. “I have to go. We’re having dinner tomorrow with Elise, after Pumpkinfest. You’re more than welcome to come.” Poppy stepped back. “The ball’s in your court, Mom. I hope you play things right.”
Poppy turned, got into her car, and sped out of town, headed toward River Road and her new home. It didn’t take long before she pulled in behind Boone’s truck, and a minute after that, she walked through the front doors, went all the way to the back, and paused at the entrance to the kitchen.
Benji was at the island, staring at his tablet with a notebook in front of him and Mabel at his feet. He scratched his head and looked up at his dad, who leaned across from the other side. Neither one knew she was home yet, and she took a good long while to drink them in. Her men. Her heart.
“But Daddy, this doesn’t make sense. I hate math.”
“I hear ya, Benny, because I’m not great at it either. Poppy will help you when she gets home.”
Benji cocked his head to the side. “Is she smarter than you? Liam says girls aren’t smarter than boys.”
“Liam doesn’t know what he’s talking about.”
“So is she?”
“Hell, yeah.”
“That’s a bad word.”
“We might want to keep that one between us. You know how Nana hates bad language.”
Poppy stepped inside the kitchen. “I won’t tell.”
They both looked up just as Mabel started to bark, and for that one perfect moment, Poppy felt as if her heart wasn’t big enough for this. As if this love was too much to handle. But then Boone was in front of her, a smile on his face. And then his mouth was on hers, and her head was spinning.
“Eww. Can’t you take that somewhere else?”
Poppy peeked over Boone’s shoulder and chuckled at Benji’s scrunched-up face and horrified eyes. God, she loved him.
“I love us,” she said simply, resting in the arms she’d dreamt about since she was sixteen.
“Ditto.”
She yanked her head back. “You’ve been watching Ghost again.”
Boone grinned. “What can I say? Swayze was a god.”
What could he say indeed? She reached for another kiss, and just before they touched, she whispered, “Ditto.”
And to Benji’s great disgust, they didn’t take the kiss somewhere else.
Shake the Frost
I hope you enjoyed our lovely Poppy and her happily ever after with the love of her life, Boone Avery. Next up this fall is Emily and Ethan’s book, SHAKE THE FROST! Make sure to sign up to my newsletter, I’ll be sending out a sneak peek at chapter one soon!