Poppy's Fall

Chapter 8

The laughter came out of nowhere and Ryan probably thought she was going crazy but she couldn’t help it.  The truck was stuck, they were covered in mud and here she was laughing because what else was there to do? 

“Poppy?” Ryan cautiously approached her. 

“I’m ok, really.” Poppy took the hand Ryan extended but it appeared that she was stuck as well. 

The harder Ryan pulled the more evident it became that both her feet were immovable.  Finally with one last hard tug Poppy practically flew into him.  Ryan caught her around the waist but she came at him so fast that he stumbled backward and fell onto his back dragging Poppy on top of him.  She was still laughing which should have reassured him but he was mortified.  As far as first dates went, this one had been a complete and utter disaster. 

“I’m so sorry.” Ryan began but Poppy was shaking her head.

“I lost a boot.” Sure enough one of her boots had stayed behind in the muck.  Her giggles subsided and her face grew serious at the realization of how close their faces were.

Ryan seemed to have realized the same as his breath quickened.  He reached to cup a hand behind her neck, pulling her towards him.  Poppy closed her eyes, anticipating the moment their lips would touch.

“Poppy? What are you doing?”

The pair sprang apart at the voice, struggling to get up on their feet.  When they finally did Ellie was standing in front of them with her hands on her hips; Aidan stood behind her with a knowing smirk. 

Ryan nodded his greeting “Aidan, Ellie.”

“Come on Poppy, we’ll go stand over there while they sort this out.”  Ellie pointed to a spot a little further away, no doubt far enough not to be heard.  Poppy didn’t know why she followed but with one last look behind her she did and knew she wouldn’t have to wait very long for it.

“What the hell is going on?” Ellie asked her face barely visible from underneath her yellow rain slicker.

And there it was.

Poppy c****d an eyebrow not appreciating being made to feel like she was fourteen years old and got caught smoking a cigarette. “We got stuck.”

Ellie, who was clearly waiting for a longer answer, regarded Poppy as though she had grown three heads.  “You know what I meant.  What are you doing here with him in the first place?”

Poppy recalled the events leading up to this moment…

Only two minutes into their drive from the cliffs there was a loud pop.  The truck swerved a bit but Ryan had it under control in seconds and luckily there had been no oncoming traffic.  He pulled over and quickly discovered a left rear flat tire.  Poppy joined him outside to examine the damage. 

“Sorry about that, I’ll have it fixed in no time.”  He had already placed the jack underneath the truck and raised it, grunting in the process.

“Is there anything I can do?”  She asked him, knowing what his answer would be.

"Absolutely not,” Ryan’s face flushed at the thought of making a woman change a tire. 

It wasn’t that he didn't think she could do it.  He knew women could very well do anything a man could, and probably better than a man at that.  But he was an old-fashioned gentleman.  It was the way he had been raised.

Ryan very nearly cursed when the crossbar he was using to take the nuts off snapped like a weak twig.  Ok, it would probably take a little longer than “no time”. 

“Are you sure I can’t do anything?” Poppy asked again but she noticed how frustrated he looked.

“I’m sure.”

Ryan rummaged through a toolbox in the back of his truck and came up with a torque wrench.  After a few easy turns the tire was changed within minutes and they were on their way again, hopefully in time to catch the sunset as he had planned.  Poppy glanced at him from time to time, happy to see there was no trace of embarrassment left on his face.  He had seemed so crestfallen that they had gotten a flat tire.  She wanted to tell him it wasn’t his fault, but she was sure none of her words would help. 

“Here we are.” Ryan announced breaking into Poppy’s thoughts.

‘Here’ was a dirt road leading to…

“A beach?” Poppy sat up straight.  This was unexpected. 

“I was thinking we could set up the picnic here and watch the sunset,” Ryan looked out to the fading sun through the windshield. “But it looks like we might miss it.”

He looked so unhappy that everything seemed to be going wrong, she didn’t have the heart to tell him that the sand looked quite wet, and she sure as heck wasn’t going to point out those menacing clouds creeping in closer and closer. 

Poppy kept an eye on the clouds as they climbed their way through the large boulder type rocks acting as a break wall.  Ryan had taken hold of her hand at some point and even after setting foot on the sand he didn’t let go.  They walked a little way along the coast enjoying the last few rays of the sun.  Then all hell broke loose.

The clouds Poppy had tried to ignore were suddenly rolling in much faster.  There were a few warning drops and within seconds she and Ryan were soaked through.  They ran to the truck as fast as they possibly could only to find out it wouldn’t start.  The engine didn’t seem like it wanted to turn.  Ryan jumped out and popped the hood, peeking underneath.  Poppy wasn’t sure what he was looking for but hoped he would find it soon.  The poor man must not be able to see much with that rain coming down.  She debated going out with him but remembered the flat tire incident and decided to stay put.  She wouldn’t be of any use as she didn’t know much about cars or engines anyway.

Several minutes later the hood was being slammed shut and Ryan was back in the cab.  The truck started smoothly.  Ryan opened his mouth to no doubt string out an apology, but Poppy stopped him.

“Don’t you dare say you’re sorry” she poked a finger in his arm “None of this is your fault and no, I’m not having a horrible time.”

Ryan shook his head in disbelief but smiled anyway. “Thank you for that, I needed to hear it.”

However, it was as though something was trying to tell them that this would not be their day.  Ryan had not even driven two feet when they just stopped.  Poppy thought the engine had died again but the truck was clearly still running. 

“You have got to be kidding me.” Ryan slumped over the steering wheel feeling defeated.  “We’re stuck in the mud.”

Again, Poppy found herself alone in the cab while Ryan was out there trying to push them out.  No not this time. 

“Ryan.”

Surprised, Ryan looked up from where he had been braced to push the truck out.  She was beautiful, even with her hair soaked and hanging over her face and shoulders.  He tried in vain to get her to go back in the truck but she planted her feet and placed her hands on her hips. 

In the end Ryan wondered how in the world he ended up behind the wheel and Poppy was out back trying to push him out.  The truck wouldn’t move and when he came out to inspect how bad the tires had dug into the mud, he couldn’t see her at first.  Panic struck.  What if she had somehow slid under the truck?  But that’s when he heard the laugh and his eyes rounded when they found her.  Her front was covered in mud, her face was streaked with it and she was laughing?

Poppy attempted to move but it was soon apparent that her feet were stuck.  Ryan came to her then and offered her his hands to help her out.  He pulled but she was not coming out then with one last ditch effort she came free and without really knowing how they were both in a heap on the ground with her laying on top of him.

She had wanted him to kiss her but the arrival of Aidan and Ellie put a stop to that moment pretty quick.  Poppy had almost forgotten Ryan had called Aidan for help before that whole fiasco. 

                                                                                                *** 

“And that’s how we ended up here.” Poppy proudly displayed her muddy torso to Ellie.

“You went on a date?”

Poppy’s eyes narrowed. “Really Els, that’s what you took from all that?”

“We had a fight about this exact thing only a few days ago.” Ellie pointed out.  “You practically ripped my head off.”  They were dangerously close to a second blow-out.

“No, we fought about Shaun and how you were parading him around like you’re some sort of pimp.” Poppy flinched a bit after it came out but she couldn’t help it.

Before Ellie could retort with something even nastier Aidan cleared his throat.

“The truck is out.”  He sounded as though he wanted to be anywhere but right where he was at-the-moment.

“Great, let’s go Poppy, we’ll take you home.” Ellie threw over her shoulder as she walked to Aidan’s truck.  When she realized Poppy wasn’t following she stopped. “Well?”

“That’s alright I already have a ride home.”  Poppy now stood beside Ryan who was looking rather uncomfortable himself.

“Don’t be ridiculous.”

“It’s a date Ellie and this isn’t how it’s going to end with you thinking you’re saving me.”  Poppy started backing away. “Don’t interfere with my love life, I’m a big girl and I can make my own decisions.”

That wasn’t entirely true considering how the state her love life was currently in, but Ellie had made her so angry.  Poppy wanted to understand where her best friend was coming from.  She had found happiness in Ireland and wanted Poppy to find it as well, however Ellie needed to trust that it would happen on her own terms. 

Furious, Ellie stomped over to Aidan’s vehicle and slammed the door shut behind her.  Aidan had been standing there watching both women with his mouth wide open. 

“I…uh…I’m going to go now.” And he shuffled off, no doubt to try and soothe Ellie’s obvious hurt feelings.

“Well, wasn’t that a great end to our night.” Poppy treaded her arm through Ryan’s. 

“I have no idea what just happened.” Ryan managed as he watched the tail lights of Aidan’s truck fade away.  He looked at the woman standing beside him, one mucky boot in hand and her socked foot soaked and coated with mud and smiled.

“That’s not necessarily a bad thing.”