Found

EIGHT

EIGHT

The next day Poppy came to realize that avoiding Turner was so much easier when he was working. Having him on the guest house construction project wasn’t such a bad thing. Except that she kept daydreaming about him sweating in the sun, wearing the tool belt… shirtless. Not that she could speak to the veracity of that last part.

Preston was in meetings with lawyers and PR people who were all arguing about the best way to handle Holden without upsetting him too much.

Poppy hadn’t eaten and dinner was still a couple of hours away. Scampering down the stairs, she was thinking about a snack… maybe something sweet. The sound of the main door to the gallery opening didn’t even register.

The rush of movement and the little voices definitely did.

“It is like a castle!”

Running down the rest of the stairs, Poppy swung around the corner only to stop dead at the sight that awaited.

Emmie twirled round and round in the gallery, Ashlee was chasing after Noah who was running around trying to get hold of a runaway bouncy ball. The kids weren’t alone.

Not only was their mom by the foyer, but their grandmother was too and their aunts… all of them.

“Poppy!” Val said when she spotted her.

The woman started toward her, but it took Poppy a second to actually get with it and go over to join her. The two embraced.

“Valerie,” Poppy said, recovering from the shock. “This is amazing. What are you doing here?”

“Aunt Poppy! Aunt Poppy!”

More than one little person was tugging her dress. She let go of Val to hunker down. The three kids crowded around her.

“You do live in a castle,” Noah said.

Emmie pushed her hair back behind her ears. “Can you make Uncle Turner a prince?”

She took the little one’s hand as Ashlee climbed into her arms. “He’s a prince to us, that’s what matters, isn’t it, honey?”

“Val!”

That was Preston’s call and it came from the opposite end of the gallery. Poppy stood up with Ashlee still clinging to her. Preston came over to hug Val. Everyone else seemed to be hanging by the door.

“Emmie, Noah, come stand with Mommy,” Faye called.

The two little ones did start back toward their mom, though Emmie objected. “Mommy, we want to play in the castle.”

“It’s not a castle, honey, this is where Poppy grew up.”

Just Poppy, no aunt. One look at the tight grouping of the sisters and their grim expressions betrayed the pitch of the mountain in front of her. Climbing it would be no easy feat.

“Hi,” Poppy said, stepping in the direction of the group.

None of their expressions changed. Faye was direct in her glare, just as Poppy would expect from the eldest sister. Charley was looking around, not impressed or unimpressed, pretty inscrutable, which was actually impressive for her. Charley usually wore her heart on her sleeve.

That her friend, or once friend, wouldn’t even look at her stung. Poppy didn’t know how to fix what she’d done. It seemed so wrong now, while at the time it had seemed smart.

“Everyone,” Tiller said, coming from the direction of the library where Preston had appeared from. Two women arrived at the stairwell end of the gallery at the same time. “This is Mrs. Caswell, she’s our housekeeper.” Tiller raised an arm toward the women at the opposite end of the space. “Stephanie is the woman at her side. They’ll see to all of your needs. Poppy, a moment?”

Poppy wasn’t sure that she wanted to walk away from the Maddox g**g without saying more. Preston was with them. He worked with Val to coax the girls closer to the housekeeper. Having done so much for her, Tiller didn’t deserve to be ignored, so she went to join him.

He slipped a hand onto the back of her shoulder to guide her away from the gallery toward the drawing room. “We’re going to invite Holden to dinner.”

Shocked, Poppy stopped to look at him. “Tonight?”

“No,” he said, wearing a smile. “Not tonight. Later in the week. We’re ironing out the details. It will be our last attempt to resolve this before we move on to legal action.”

“Okay,” she said, glancing back the way they’d come. “Do we want him to meet the whole family?”

“That will be decided,” Tiller said. “The Maddox family were brought here at Mr. Whitlock’s behest.” He frowned. “He said you were in agreement that this was the safest place for them.”

Poppy nodded. “Mm hmm. Thank you.”

It was safer for them there at the house, on the Adler Estate, away from the press. No question about that.

“Would you like someone to retrieve Mr. Maddox?”

“No,” she said, shaking her head. “I want to talk to Preston first and Turner won’t appreciate special treatment. His shift ends whenever it ends.”

Inhaling, Tiller’s smile flattened in a happy, yet incredulous way. “He’s not quite the type your parents envisioned for you.”

“He’s exactly the type Grammie envisioned for me.”

He laughed. “I can’t refute that. Mr. Granger would’ve enjoyed putting him through his paces.”

Her brow twitched. “My father?”

“No, his,” Tiller said. “Mr. Granger Senior enjoyed testing the young men who came around to the estate.”

“Grandpa? I didn’t know you knew him.”

He nodded. “I was a child when I first came to work on the estate… He enjoyed setting tasks for the youngsters, testing their capabilities.”

“What was it like?” she asked. “Losing him.”

His ease became something much more solemn. “It wouldn’t be an overstatement to say the place was never the same… There was a… magic about the estate when he and your grandmother were together. They carried it with them. A happiness and security that had nothing to do with money.” He rested a gentle hand on her cheek. “These halls are lighting up for the first time in forty-five years.” His eyes narrowed. “Don’t ignore the magic, Poppy. Don’t take it for granted.”

As far as she knew, Tiller hadn’t seen her with Turner, but she couldn’t misinterpret his meaning. “Which room is Mrs. Maddox in?”

“The Betton Room,” he said, his hand leaving her face. “We put her eldest daughter in the suite next door, set up beds for the children in the suite’s salon.”

She smiled. “You think of everything.”

“That’s my job, Miss Poppy,” he said, taking a step back. “Please go and greet your guests.”

With a single nod, she retreated to run up the spiral staircase beside them to do as he said. The sound of the kids and Maddox sisters vibrated down the second floor hallway. As she went along to the opposite end, a buzz hummed all around. The Maddox women were in their rooms, she didn’t see them, yet just having them near enlivened her.

Mrs. Caswell and Stephanie were talking at the top of the main stairs. Stephanie dashed past her, along the hallway just as Poppy stopped to lay a hand on Mrs. Caswell’s arm.

“You put the twins in the apricot and mauve rooms?” she asked because those rooms were identical in every way except their colors.

“Yes. Mrs. Maddox is in the Betton Room. Her eldest daughter is in the suite next door, just here.” Poppy nodded. “Mr. Whitlock is in the northwest bedroom, so we put her other two daughters in the rooms opposite.”

“Mr. Whitlock was using the Nook as his office space, wasn’t he?”

Mrs. Caswell nodded. “Yes, but he—”

“The Nook is too small for Zoey or Charley.” The Nook was usually used as an extension of the bedroom next to it, making the room a suite. As a bedroom, it wasn’t significant on its own. “Give Zoey the full suite and put Charley in my room.”

The housekeeper was taken aback. “Your room? But Miss Poppy—”

“I’ll stay with Grammie, it will be fine.”

She offered a smile then carried on down the hallway, smiling at the exuberant sounds of the kids as she went past their room. Bolstering her courage, Poppy was pleased to see Val’s door was open. At least she didn’t have to stand there waiting for a knock to be answered. Peeking around the door, she saw Val at the window, probably admiring the view.

“You can see the sea from the other side of the house,” Poppy said, attracting the woman’s attention. “From Preston’s room, the twins and Charley’s rooms too, if you’re interested.”

“Poppy,” Val said, smiling as she came over to hug her again. “You have a beautiful home.”

“It’s my grandmother’s, but thank you.”

Val let her go to close the door and draw her deeper into the room. “Thank you for inviting us here.”

“It was all Preston,” she said as they sat together in the window. “But you’re welcome. All of you. Anytime.”

“And…” Val said, folding their hands together. “What stupid thing did my son do?”

Poppy didn’t follow. “Stupid thing? He did nothing… He’s working on a house build just down the hill. I can go and get him if you—”

“I meant with you,” Val said, sliding a little closer. “He said things didn’t go to plan.” Which was on Poppy and she wasn’t ignorant of that. “He came here because he decided he couldn’t live without you. He loves you, Poppy.”

“I know,” she said, taking her hands from Val’s to run both through her hair. “I know that and I appreciate it.”

“Appreciate it? You don’t feel the same way?”

“It’s not as simple as that.”

She didn’t even realize how exasperated she was until Val’s finger curled around her chin to bring her focus back. “It is. There is nothing else, Poppy. No matter how difficult it might be, no matter how complicated the situation, love is simple.”

Breathing in and out, Poppy’s chest tightened. Somehow her shallow breathing linked to the corners of her eyes that warmed before the telltale pricks of moisture began to form. “Of course I love him,” she whispered. “I’ve been falling in love with him since the night he told me not to offer strange men alcohol in my bedroom.” Val’s smile didn’t make her feel any better. “But I can’t do it to him. I can’t put that burden onto him.”

“Burden?”

“I can’t tell him the truth. I can’t love him and lay on him all that I want from a relationship, from him, because he’ll kill himself trying to provide it. I can’t do it.” Poppy shook her head. “I know he loves me. And hearing him say it… I dreamed night after night that I’d be so lucky to hear those words from his mouth. But isn’t love—true, honest, complete love—isn’t it selfless? I love him so much that all I can think about is his welfare. I want him to be happy, Val. Oh so completely happy. What he needs isn’t this. It isn’t me. He needs a woman without all this bullshit. We live a thousand miles apart. My family are going through their own internal battles at the moment and that’s before we even get on to infuriating Holden Abernathy.”

“Turner would use more colorful language for him.”

She attempted a laugh, but it was pathetic. “Your daughters despise me, with good reason.” As Val frowned, Poppy swallowed hard. “I didn’t tell Charley any of it. None. Faye gave me a chance, something she doesn’t do with everyone, and I blew it. I let Zoey down, the twins… I can’t put him in that position. The position where he might have to stand between them and me. He can’t fight a battle on that many fronts.”

“I don’t think anyone despises you,” Val said, pushing Poppy’s hair away from her shoulder. “Everyone was shocked. None of us knew Turner had gone, he was ignoring his phone and we were worried. I suspected that he might be coming here, which he confirmed when he eventually called me from a gas station. His sisters kept calling and calling him. I took the twins and Zoey’s phones away, but that didn’t stop Faye or Charlotte. He didn’t answer. I guess because he knew all they’d do was question him. Before he got here, when he was driving, he couldn’t answer anyway. When he stopped for gas and called me, he said I should text if there were emergencies. After he got here…”

After. Well, Poppy had stomped on his declaration, he’d conversed with Grammie and then got himself a job. It was difficult to remember that he’d been on Adler ground for less than seventy-two hours.

“I’m sorry,” Poppy whispered, her gaze dropping to her hands on her lap.

“I only got a brief call from him late Friday night. Said he was staying. I could tell by his tone that something wasn’t right. All he’d say was that things hadn’t gone to plan. I know he called Faye yesterday, asked to speak to the kids, but he wouldn’t tell her anything. Next I heard was from Preston to say he was here and I should round up the girls.” Silence stretched between them for a few seconds before Val reached over to take Poppy’s hands from her lap. “The girls don’t hate you, Poppy. I promise you that. They’re confused. They have a million questions. I know because they’ve been firing them at me.”

“Emmie asked if we were getting married,” Poppy murmured. “Yesterday, on the call. I heard them talking to Turner. I went in and… Emmie asked if we were getting married.”

Pride flavored Val’s brief laugh. “That girl has never been shy… I think they’ve put some of the pieces together themselves. Maybe it’s assumption. It’s not my place to tell them their brother’s business. If I spread it all over the place, he won’t trust me with it in future, will he?”

That curled Poppy’s lips just a fraction. “We have a similar philosophy with my father’s chief valet. Tiller, the man who was downstairs introducing you to Mrs. Caswell.”

“You have a wonderful life here, Poppy,” Val said, squeezing her hands. “No one would blame you for wanting to keep it. I adore my son, but I’m realistic enough to know, he can’t provide a house like this for you.”

“I don’t care about the house. Grammie would sign it over to us if I did, but I don’t.”

“Then what is it you want that you think will be too much for him?”

Pushing her shoulders back, she shook her head. “It doesn’t matter, I—”

“Please, Poppy. You have to tell someone… I promise to keep your secrets too.”

Poppy wanted to believe her. Her usual confidante was Grammie. Except she couldn’t talk to Grammie about the life she wished for. Grammie didn’t know Turner, didn’t understand what true responsibility he dealt with every minute.

“I don’t want to live here,” Poppy admitted, gathering her courage. “I want to live in the Venture.”

Val enjoyed the tame confession. “I know he can provide that.”

Pulling them closer, Poppy’s heart rate ascended. “I want him to have everything, Val. I want to help him, to earn and contribute so maybe he doesn’t have to sweat every minute. I want to be his partner, to share his responsibilities. I can’t do anything in the building, with the renovations. I don’t know anything about that and every time I tried to help, I always screwed it up.”

“He enjoys that work,” Val said. “And he would have no problem sharing with you. All you want is to lighten his load. I don’t know why you’d think that he wouldn’t accept that.”

“Because he worries enough,” Poppy said, her shoulders sagging. “I wouldn’t lessen that load. With all the drama I bring, his load would increase. How is he going to deal with my family issues as well as his own? And this Holden mess? Even if we get over that, the press could decide we’re interesting at any time, for anything. Turner would hate to have his life plastered all over the newsstands. He’d despise it.”

“Not as much as he’d despise being without you. He loves you. He knows life can be complicated sometimes. We don’t love someone because of those struggles, we love in spite of them. Do you think life was always easy for me and Ed? Damn, we fell asleep wrapped in each other those first few years not because it was romantic, but because it was freezing. The house was a mess. We had barely any furniture. No floors, no roof, it was a chaos, Poppy. Was it always moonlight and roses? No! Definitely not. We fought like any couple. Sometimes I wanted to wring his neck. Everything was complicated. We had no money, no social life. We worked every second, and then, goddamn, I got pregnant. And, of course, I blamed him for that.” The smirk on Val’s face betrayed it wasn’t a major grievance. “But he promised me we’d make it work. I didn’t know how we’d raise a baby on a construction site… After Turner was born, Ed used to say he’d come along to provide extra free labor.” They both laughed. “We only had one boy and Ed had him fitted for his first tool belt before he could even stand upright.”

Poppy could believe it. A lot of people might not consider that tale romantic, but it did offer her some hope. “I want to have kids,” she murmured like it was a terrible secret. “Maybe not right away, but… eventually.”

Wearing a frown, Val tilted her head. “Do you think Turner doesn’t want children? I’ll admit we’ve never explicitly talked about it, but he’s great with Faye’s. He adores his nieces and nephew.” She leaned closer. “Has he told you that he doesn’t want children?”

“Not in so many words, but…” Chewing her lip, Poppy thought about what he’d said when he thought she might be pregnant. “It’s too much. He doesn’t need more people depending on him.”

Val sat up straight. “Because his sisters already expect too much.”

Mortified, Poppy gasped. “No, please, I didn’t mean that to sound so offensive, just…”

“I know they expect a lot. You know how I feel about that. Yes, he has supported us since we lost Ed. Turner has gone above and beyond what any other man would, but do you know what that means?” Poppy was almost afraid to ask. “We are closer than most families. There’s nothing we wouldn’t do for each other. He’s been the head of our family for a decade and a half, which means he knows exactly what he’s getting into by bringing you into the fold. Turner will be an incredible father. I don’t think I have to tell you that.”

She exhaled. “You don’t. I couldn’t imagine there’s a bigger jackpot than him, on so many fronts.”

“So maybe this isn’t about him,” Val said, exuding nothing but kindness. “Maybe it’s about you… and about what you think you deserve. Turner would go to the end of the Earth for you, yes, I won’t deny that. But you’re talking to a woman who married a man who was just as dedicated. They can make us feel… inferior isn’t quite the right word. But there were times I found myself wondering what I did to deserve Ed. Even still. To this day. Just because he’s not with me doesn’t mean that goes away. I love Ed as much now as I did the day we lost him. Nothing will change that. And he gave me an incredible family that reminds me of our love every day.

“I don’t know a lot about your family. I’ve tried not to read anything in the press, I prefer to reach my own conclusions. But I trust my son. I trusted him enough to know the very first time we met that you were worthy of him. He believes it, so I believe it.” Val shifted to put an arm around her. “Trust him and know his heart is completely yours. Maddox men don’t know how to disappoint their wives, not when it comes to anything that matters.”

The door burst open and Emmie came shuffling in wearing heels that were far too big for her. The view put a smile on Poppy’s face, it took her a second to actually notice what else Emmie was wearing.

“Grama!” Emmie screeched, shaking her head. “Look what Grammie gave me.”

Diamonds. A lot of them. On her ears, a tiara on her head, the necklace would give Emmie muscle aches it was such a burden.

“Oh my goodness,” Val said, leaping to her feet. “Emmie, honey, you have to give those back.”

“No,” Poppy said, standing next to Val as Emmie showed them the ring she was struggling to keep on her hand, probably because the weight of the bracelet she wore hindered her. “If Grammie said she could have them, then she can have them.”

“Are they… real?” Val asked, a couple of shades paler.

Putting an arm around her, Poppy just shrugged. “Everything in Grammie’s suite is… There are real pink diamonds on those shoes too.”

Gasping, Emmie shuffled backwards, probably because it was easier than turning around. “Aunt Willow! Come see my diamond shoes!”

“My God,” Val breathed out, raising a hand to her chest. “We can’t accept anything like that.”

“People are what matters,” Poppy said. “Grammie doesn’t care about things. She knows she can’t take them with her.”

“But that’s your inheritance.”

“Then Emmie’s welcome to it. As long as she shares with her sister.”

“And her cousins?” Val asked, turning toward her, linking their hands. “Think about what I said. Turner needs you. If you are what will make him happy then the whole family do too.”

“Poppy!” Grammie chirped from somewhere in the hallway.

“I’ll leave you to settle in,” Poppy said, accepting Val’s kiss on her cheek. “I’ll go and make sure Grammie isn’t signing the house over to Emmie.” It was nice that Val had relaxed enough to laugh. “That would certainly make my mom’s day.”

Anyone who hadn’t known the Maddox’s were coming wouldn’t be ignorant for long. Already Emmie was declaring her presence. Poppy loved it as much as Grammie would. The house needed some life and the little people would definitely provide that gift. It was more than the worth of any diamonds or jewels.