That’s why I slept like crap.
Now, to solidify the truth of the matter, she’s staring at me with a bright smile, as if she’s been able to toss a wool dryer ball into the pile of static electricity that crackled between us last night and remove it all.
“You’re wearing my shirt.”
Naturally, since that’s all I’ve been able to think about since seeing her, those are the words that tumble out of my mouth.
She glances down. “Yeah. I got a little chilly.” She chuckles. “Ironic, I know.” She sobers. “Is it okay? I can run next door and grab something of mine.”
I bend to pick up the wooden spoon and swish it through the air. “It’s fine.”
Only Poppy could add layers of clothing and somehow seem sexier to me than ever before.
I shove that thought out of my head.
“Is something burning?” She sniffs.
I pivot to my griddle to find my pancakes charred. Serves me right. I toss that batch into the trash and pour more batter, keeping all my focus on the food. “How’d you sleep?”
“Great!” Poppy sounds so cheerful. I cast a quick glance at her to find her smiling back at me. She’s like the actual morning sun. All bright and glow-y.
“Rose still asleep?”
She frowns at that. “Yeah.”
“Everything okay with you two?”
Poppy sighs. “We’ll be fine. She’s still acting snippy about moving back to Florida. I can’t figure out why. I mean, I get it. She loves Mood Reader and the people we’ve met here, but Noli needs us, so I don’t know why she’s being all irritated. We both decided we have to go.”
I keep my attention on the pancakes. “Those we’re closest to can push us the furthest because they know we won’t leave.”
Poppy is quiet for a minute, and when I look up at her, she’s staring back at me with an unreadable expression on her face. She blinks. “You know, I never got a good idea of your relationship with Holland. Are you two close?”
I roll my shoulders and let out a puff of air. “That’s a loaded question.”
She shrugs, waiting on me.
I think for a minute before trying to explain it. “Holland’s the golden boy. I’m not. My parents”—I angle my head at her—“who I love, don’t get me wrong…”
She nods for me to continue.
“They’re proud of him. Rightly so. And me… I’ve done some things they aren’t proud of. I know they love me too, but sometimes it’s all Holland, all the time. It’s a lot to live with.”
“So you’re not very close, then?”
I consider that for a minute, and a pang of sadness hits out of left field. “Growing up, we were thick as thieves.”
I never stop to think about how much I miss my brother. How much I miss what we used to have. But that’s the truth of it. It doesn’t help that Holland took Tricia’s side—or at least never cared to hear my side of things all those years ago. I don’t know if I ever got over that loss of loyalty.
“My sisters and me too. Though, I’ve had to function in a mom role.” Poppy speaks quietly.
I flip a pancake onto her plate and set it in front of her, nudging the syrup in her direction and waiting for her to go on. I know some of her past from the emails, but I want to know more.
“My mom passed when I was a sophomore in high school. A car accident.”
“I’m so sorry, Poppy.” My heart constricts. My mom may give me a hard time, but I love her something fierce, and I can’t imagine having already lived half of my life without her.
Poppy nods. “Thanks. She was the best sort of woman. Kind and sweet. My dad was sort of a loafer. She brought out the good in him, kept him on the straight and narrow, but then after she died, it was like the good stuff about him disappeared, and then after a couple months, he left.”
