I glance over, expecting to see her expression, if not back to being as cheerful as it was, at least excited. Instead, she’s chewing on her cheek.
“I’m sure you’re looking forward to your reunion.”
I know, I know. I’m asking a leading question. Don’t give me that look. This isn’t a court room. There’s no judge here to overrule me.
Poppy sighs. “I guess. Can I tell you the truth, though?”
I wait, and she takes my silence as her cue to go on.
“I’m nervous. It’s all been such a whirlwind. I don’t feel like Holland and I have connected at all since he left, except through the emails.”
I hate that I have to pretend like I don’t know what she’s talking about. I don’t like being dishonest. I clear my throat, but when I speak, my voice still sounds pitchy. “Emails?”
“We’ve been writing back and forth. It was this idea I had. Holland probably thinks it’s stupid and a waste of time, but I thought it would be a good way to keep our relationship moving in the right direction.”
I clench my teeth together. I could punch Holland for not putting in the time to cultivate his connection with Poppy.
“Anyway, it’s working…to an extent,” she says.
“What do you mean?”
“Getting Holland’s email responses has been a definite highlight, but he’s like a different person over email than he is over the phone. It’s weird.”
I tug on the collar of my shirt, suddenly feeling like my truck’s AC has given out. I hold my hand in front of the vent. It’s still blowing cool air, so I guess it’s just me. I’m burning in the hell Holland’s created for me—or I’ve created for myself. “Huh. That is weird.”
“I don’t know what to make of it.” Poppy kneads her hands together. “I’m rambling. Sorry. This is totally inappropriate and way more information than you need. But yeah, I’m nervous to see him.”
I flex my hands against the steering wheel and exit to the airport. “I can always remind my brother that he needs to get his head out of his—”
“No, no.” Poppy chuckles. “Please don’t say anything to him. It’s something I’ve got to figure out. Or he and I do, I guess.” She pauses. “I hope I didn’t put you in an awkward position.”
“You didn’t.”
Holland did.
If this was Twister, I’d be spread-eagle with my feet in opposite corners and my arms crisscrossed in between…all thanks to my baby brother.
“You’re just, like, my only friend right now.”
Friend-zoned, for the win.
“I don’t want to bug Noli and Rose with my complicated feelings,” Poppy continues. “They think Holland and I are relationship goals.”
“I’ve never understood that phrase.”
“What, relationship goals?”
“Yeah. Isn’t every relationship different? Wouldn’t my goal in dating someone be different than yours or Rose’s or Holland’s?”
Poppy looks thoughtful. “I guess you’re right. I think most of us hold up an ideal, and when we see two people who are happy and look like they’re meeting that ideal, then we say that’s the goal.”
“But no one knows the real story from the outside looking in, right?”
What am I doing? She’s looking at me like she wants to ask a very specific question. I can imagine it would go something like,What’s the real story with you, Big?
But we’re nearing the exit for the airport, and this is not the time to open up that can of worms, so I slam the lid on those little buggers and save them for a rainy day. “Enough of my philosophizing.”
Poppy snorts, but then her eyes go wide. “I love this song!”
