Found

SEVENTEEN

SEVENTEEN

“You knew.”

Poppy stopped next to the bed when Turner spoke and turned to see he was wearing a smile. “Yes.”

Leaning on the door he’d just closed, Turner crooked a brow. “You set that up, getting the family together in the living room before dinner.”

“Yes,” Poppy said, sitting down on the bed. Straightening her legs, she let her shoes drop from her feet as she sank back onto her elbows.

Turner boosted off the door to saunter her way. “How long did you know?”

“It wasn’t a bombshell. Charley knew, you heard what she said. I thought the whole family suspected.”

As he approached, she raised her leg and he caught her ankle, sliding his hand up her calf as he got closer to the edge of the bed.

“Never really thought about it.”

“But it doesn’t bother you,” she said. His knee rose to the edge of the bed behind her thigh. “You don’t love her any less.” He coiled her leg around his hip, descending onto the bed above her. “You have something else in common.”

“Don’t think we’ll be trading s*x stories.”

After he kissed her, the corners of her lips curled. “I can’t tell her how to please a woman and you specialize in it.”

“You remember?”

She laughed. “Yes, okay, it’s been a while, but being pleasured by the man I love is not something I’ll ever forget.”

“I don’t need to remind you then.”

“I definitely didn’t say that,” she said, grabbing his face. “I’m in the mood to drink wine and soak in the tub… why do you think I dragged you upstairs early?”

The family had listened to Zoey and accepted the news as well as Poppy expected. Charley sort of laughed as she shrugged it off with a, “well, duh” kind of attitude. The twins were stunned and didn’t say anything for a few minutes. Poppy had a feeling that was more to do with being included in what may have been deemed an “adult” conversation at any other time.

“You get the bottle,” Turner said. “I’ve got the corkscrew.”

His next kiss kept on going, tangling itself around her heart as tendrils of heat curled in her belly, arousing the need between her thighs. Being a part of Zoey’s liberation had freed some part of her as well. The Maddox family didn’t pepper the teen with questions. All Valerie wanted was her daughter’s happiness, which was something she’d told Poppy she wanted for all of her children.

Dinner had actually been a more upbeat affair than usual. The Maddox females were riding high and Grammie didn’t waste the chance to embrace their positive energy.

Poppy had already noticed a change in Zoey who was brighter and more confident in her engagement with others.

Her lover’s hand skimmed its way up her body to her breast. The possession in his touch gave her the warning that if she didn’t slow them down soon, stopping wouldn’t be easy. Somehow the moment passed her by and she didn’t do the smart thing.

The bedroom door opened, making the choice for them. They stopped kissing and both turned to see who was interrupting them.

Without so much as blinking, the baby toddled across the room toward them.

“Ash?” Turner asked, rolling off her to sit up on the edge of the bed. “What’s wrong, honey?”

The little one didn’t say anything, she just took her uncle’s hand from his knee and used all her body weight to tug on him. He got up to go with her, stooping to keep the baby’s hand. It was adorable. All Poppy could do when he cast an apologetic look back her way was smile. Family meant everything to him no matter how small they were.

Before they got to the door, Emmie came dashing inside. “Shh!” she said, running around the door and collapsing against it to push it into the frame. “We’re hiding.”

“Why are we hiding?” Turner asked.

Ashlee let him go to join her sister, holding the door closed, not that it seemed anyone was trying to come through it.

Emmie leaned down to whisper to her sister, though not with much discretion given Poppy picked out the words. “Blame Noah.”

“Blame Noah for what?” Turner asked, more stern than before. “What did you girls do?”

“Nothing,” Emmie said, straightening up and doing a shoulder wiggle like she was trying to be casual. “We didn’t do nothing.”

Sailing past hero uncle, the little one was all confident indifference. She reminded Poppy of Violet when they’d been kids.

“Are you okay?” Poppy asked, helping Emmie to climb up on the high bed. “Is anyone hurt?”

“No, no one’s hurt,” Emmie said, clambering to her feet to cup her hands around Poppy’s ear. Turner was monitoring them as he went over to pick up Ashlee. “The baby jumped on the bed and it broke.”

Inhaling, Poppy’s mouth opened in a quiet gasp of understanding. “Well, you know what…” Twisting to face Emmie, she gathered the little one into her arms to murmur. “I think you should tell Uncle Turner.”

Emmie, with her back to her uncle, seemed to forget he was there. “He’ll be mad.”

Leaning back, while still holding Emmie, Poppy frowned. “Why will he be mad? I don’t think he will be… I think if anyone can help, it’s Uncle Turner. He can fix anything.”

Grabbing her arm, joy shot through Emmie. “He can! Yes, he can!”

“Mm hmm.”

While Poppy didn’t mind being the kids’ confidante, she wasn’t the best person to help them conceal their crime. It was funny that they trusted her with the secret when the furniture actually belonged to her family. If anyone would be mad, someone would be forgiven for thinking it might be a Granger. Still, it was flattering to be a safe space for the little ones.

Spinning around, Emmie wobbled as she prepared to tell her uncle. Poppy took her waist to steady her. “Ashlee broke Noah’s bed!” Emmie announced without an ounce of shame, which was much more in keeping with the girl’s usual personality.

“How’d she do that?” Turner asked, not quite buying the blame-shift.

Emmie’s shoulders moved again. “I don’t know, maybe she was jumping up and down or something.”

Ashlee’s little arm shot out in her sister’s direction. “Emmieeee!”

It did seem more likely that the eldest girl was the one who did the breaking. Though both of them may have been jumping on it.

“It doesn’t matter who broke it,” Turner said, going to open the door. “Let’s see if we can fix it.”

He disappeared into the hall with Ashlee still in his arms. Emmie leaped off the bed to go dashing after him. Poppy went too, to support the girls and because she loved to see Turner work.

Just as she got to the bedroom door, Turner was kneeling down near the bottom corner of the bed. The mattress, still wrapped in its sheet, was propped up against the wall already. Ashlee was trying to sit in her uncle’s lap, but it didn’t disturb Turner’s focus.

“It’s the frame, but I can fix it,” he said, twisting all the way round to address her, somehow knowing she’d come too. “This a priceless antique?”

Smiling, she shook her head. The room was usually a seating area as it connected to the bedroom that Faye was using. The extra furniture was kept in storage in the basement or one of the garages, to be pulled out and used as necessary. Some of the extended family had kids, but as far as Poppy knew, they were the same beds used when she and her sisters had their school friends staying over back in the day.

Noah came running into the room. “Mommy says—” He screeched to a halt. “Oh! My bed!”

“It’s okay, Sport. I’m gonna fix it,” Turner said, picking up Ashlee in her seated position to carry her over to one of the other beds. “There are tools and supplies at the site I can borrow.”

But not return until morning when he went to work. Poppy was onto him.

He came over and dipped down to put an arm around her waist and pull her close. “Start without me, I won’t be long.”

“I can wait,” she said, sliding her hands around his neck to pull him down for a kiss.

“I will help.”

When they drew back from the kiss, little Noah was already putting on the heavy boots he’d been so proud of on the day he arrived.

“I don’t think your momma wants you out this late, Sport.”

“I will help,” Noah said again, picking up the jacket he had on the floor at his side.

“Let him help,” Poppy murmured, stroking Turner’s chest. “He wants to be just like you.”

“A soft touch?”

“Strong,” she said, still sliding her hands over him. “Capable… hot.”

“Okay,” he said, stealing another quick kiss. “Come on then, Sport. You should tell your mom, where is she?”

“With Aunt Zoey and Grama,” Noah said, marching over to take his uncle’s hand.

“I’ll stay with the girls and tell Faye where Noah is if she needs him. You won’t be long.”

Zoey would probably appreciate having some quiet time with her mom and sister. They didn’t need to interrupt that. Noah would be safe with his uncle and Poppy would stay to reassure his mom if she came looking for him.

“Be good,” Turner said, laying an exaggerated evil eye on his nieces before being led from the room by his nephew.

“Now we can watch a princess movie,” Emmie said, running across to the concealed entertainment unit. “We can pick from a zillion.”

It wouldn’t take Turner and Noah the length of a movie to retrieve what they needed from the construction site. Still, Poppy wasn’t going to dampen Emmie’s enthusiasm. The young girl had an energy about her, wild and excited, she threw all of herself into everything. A lot like her Aunt Charley.

The family’s acceptance of her was humbling and even her friend was softening when it came to allowing her into their ranks. The Maddoxes meant everything to Poppy and it was Turner’s love for her that afforded her the opportunity to be one of them.