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“Tell me about it,” Poppy said. “First off, is he cute?”
“Very,” she said.
The chiseled jaw he hadn’t had back then. A day's growth of beard or so. Like he decided daily if he wanted to shave or just trim it. As if life was just an adventure each morning to pull something out of a hat.
He had to be close to a foot taller than her now and a hundred pounds more. A lot of it muscle.
Talk about a transformation someone could make.
“How do you know him?”
“We went to middle school together. He had a crush on me, but I just thought of him as a friend back then.”
“You said you didn’t recognize him. So he got better with age?”
Poppy was rubbing her hands together and almost vibrating in place.
She laughed. “Oh boy, did he. I haven’t thought of a man like that in a year. Haven’t wanted to. And then, surprise, there he is on my doorstep. I said I was single in a roundabout way. He did the same.”
“Woohoo,” Poppy said. “You go, girl.”
“I’m not sure. We are different people now. I don’t know anything about him. He moved before our freshman year of high school. I’m not sure how he ended up here. I think I remember his father was a professor. It popped into my head because one of our last conversations was about an English test and we both hated to read.”
“Just because our parents like something or are good at it doesn’t mean we have to do it,” Poppy said.
“I know. Anyway, I’m not sure how he ended up here, but he had a shirt on that said Bradford Electrical so he must own the business.”
“Ask him to dinner and find out,” Poppy said. “You know, good old times to catch up and chat.”
She smiled. “I’m not sure it was good old times. I was with some friends that didn’t say nice things about him and he overheard.”
“Ahhh,” Poppy said. “That’s too bad. But it didn’t seem as if it bothered him yesterday, did it?”
“No,” she admitted. “I’d apologized back then and then again yesterday. He brushed it off. Even said how much he appreciated that I had back then.”
“Good for you,” Poppy said. “That is a hard age for any teen.”
“Tell me about it,” she said. “I’ve got to email him the information he asked for and I’ll think about dinner.”
“Don’t think,” Poppy said. “Just do it. Lily isn’t here to slap my hand. Make the move.”
“I hear you,” Rose yelled. “I’m here. Don’t push people.”
“I can’t get away from my sisters slapping my hand,” Poppy yelled to her baby sister across the hall. “Maybe sometimes they want my help. Not everyone is cold like you.”
Sage laughed. “Rose isn’t cold.”
“You don’t need to suck up to her,” Poppy said. “I’ll always be in your corner.”
“I’m not sucking up,” she said, laughing. She really did love it here. Who would have thought a bunch of women could work together and not hate each other? “It’s the truth.”
Poppy waved her closer and leaned in and said quietly, “Listen to me. Just do it. Worst case it’s dinner and gets you out of cooking. Best case, you get another date out of it.”
“I’ll think about it,” she said.
“You’re smiling brighter than I’ve ever seen. If you don’t believe me, go look in the mirror. That should be your answer.”
Sage didn’t need to look in the mirror because she felt the smile on her face.
