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Poppy’s brows lowered over her big, dark eyes, and after a long moment, she looked over at me. “Looks like you were successful,” she said lightly. “I’ve never met anyone who likes to be alone as much as you.”
God, it hurt hearing her say that. Only truth could cause that kind of sharp pain under your ribs.
Poppy dropped her gaze, sucking in a fortifying breath.
After one more lingering glance into the backyard, she turned into the kitchen, running her hands over the edge of the island, and I saw the slightest tremble in her fingers when she did. Wordlessly, Poppy checked out the back of the house—a full bathroom connected to the laundry room, and another door that led to the two-stall garage.
It wasn’t until we walked upstairs and she saw the first of three bedrooms—painted an eye-bruising neon green—that she finally spoke.
“I think I need some more information now.”
Poppy leaned against the wall, a clear signal she wasn’t looking at anything else until I told her something. Anything.
“I grew up across the street,” I told her first. Her eyebrows arched gently, and I nodded to the window. “See that little red house?” Poppy didn’t answer, but her eyes skimmed the small home. “That’s where my mom and I lived. Henry lived here. He was … I spent a lot of time here on the weekends and in the summer.”
When her gaze sharpened, practically brimming with questions, I had to fight the urge to back away from this. From her. Letting her into this space felt like pulling open my skin and seeing those hidden parts of me that even her brother didn’t know.
“And…”
“And what? It’s been empty for about six months. The last family moved out before I went to Spain. Hasn’t been advertised anywhere, so it’s still empty now.” I held her gaze. “Doesn’t have to be, though.”
Poppy licked her lips. “And Henry is fine with you deciding who rents it?”
“Yup.”
“How much is it?”
I quoted her a number—high enough that it wasn’t an obvious scam but low enough that it was a really good fucking deal. Her eyebrows shot up on her forehead. “For a fully updated three-bedroom house in a great neighborhood with a huge backyard?”
Wordlessly, I stared back at her.
Poppy’s chest rose and fell on increasingly short breaths,her hand moving over the front of her belly. She did that a lot, especially when she was thinking about something.
Her eyes narrowed. “Who would I write the check out to?”
“Emerson Enterprises,” I answered honestly. “It’s Henry’s business name. You know all those car dealerships in Redmond of the same name before they sold a handful of years ago?”
Her eyebrows lifted. “That was him?”
I gave her a short nod.
There was a slight pause before Poppy covered her mouth with her hand and continued staring around the room.
“You think you’d like it here?”
After letting out a disbelieving laugh, Poppy glanced around the first bedroom. “I mean, the green has to go before anything else happens. I’m assuming you didn’t pick this color?”
I shook my head. “That would be the fourteen-year-old girl who used to live here. Her name was Bree, and her parents let her pick whatever she wanted.”
“Clearly, they loved her a lot.”
I couldn’t help but smirk. “Do you want to see the other bedrooms? The primary is across the hall.”
She held my gaze for a breathless moment, and I felt like she was trying to pry straight into my thoughts. But then she blinked and walked past me out into the hallway.
The primary bedroom was even larger than the first, painted a soft, calm blue, with big windows overlooking the backyard and the meadow. She paused at the far window and glanced down at the way the sun streamed across her body. “This would be a perfect place to read in the morning,” she said quietly.
I could see her there. Could so easily imagine the way she’d fill this space with her warm, loving energy. How she’d wake in the middle of a big bed set in the center of the room,sleepy and warm, cuddling under a blanket with her book and her coffee. And for a split second—almost viciously, heartbreakingly clear—I saw myself in bed watching her.
