Found (Lost & Found #2) - Scarlett Finn Page 0,108
doesn’t want to marry me like this,” she said, throwing up her arms. “Look at me, this is ridiculous.”
The fresh bouquet in her hand sent out a stream of its floral scent. The marquee was gleaming, the chairs dressed, everyone was in new, tailored clothes, and there was Poppy, the bride, wearing the same paint-splattered, torn dress the groom had seen her in a bunch of times.
“It means something to both of you. He’ll get it.”
“He won’t get it if he never gets here,” Poppy said, thrusting her flowers at Grammie. “Hold these, I’m going to get my phone.”
She didn’t wait for a response before rushing through the door to the stairwell that would take her all the way down to the first floor. Poppy only got down one flight. As she rounded to the next, she was faced with two men at the bottom, seemingly ready to ascend the way she’d planned to descend.
“Uh…” Ritchie said, looking from the guy at his side to her and back again.
There was no reason for her to be anywhere near the roof or on any of the upper floors of the Venture. They weren’t renovated or habitable. Poppy was considering using the excuse of snooping when Turner began to come up the stairs.
“Ritchie tell you about this nesting issue on the roof,” he asked, wearing a smirk.
Turner’s friend was ascending one step behind him. The faces Ritchie was making made it hard to focus on her love, but Poppy was drawn in by his smile.
“Why are you smiling like that?” she asked.
“I like that dress.”
“Oh,” Poppy said, glancing down. “Right. Yes, I know you do.”
He stopped on the step beneath her and still managed to be taller than her. “Grammie bring it with her?”
Grammie? Wait. He shouldn’t know that Grammie was even there. Unless… She figured out the smirk.
Poppy sighed. “You know.”
Turner slapped a hand onto Ritchie’s back giving him a push. “We’ll meet you up there.”
“Okay then,” Ritchie said without asking any more questions.
Neither of them said anything until they heard the door to the roof swing shut above them.
“How long have you known?” she asked.
“Since around the time I caught you all conspiring in my mom’s room at the estate.”
“What?” she said, sagging in disappointment. “That was forever ago.”
He laughed and put his arms around her. “Babe, between my sisters and yours, Grammie and my mom, there was no way this was going to stay a secret.”
“Who told you?”
“No one had to tell me,” he said, tucking her hair back behind her ears. “I can read all of you, remember? Discretion isn’t a Maddox strong suit.”
Slapping a hand onto the bannister, Poppy exhaled. “Well, I guess there’s no point now.”
“No point? Babe, you went to all this trouble… You saying you don’t want to marry me now?”
“Of course I want to marry you, I just wanted it to be a surprise.”
“I don’t know the details… and I love you more for all the effort.”
“I wanted to take something off your plate. I thought I could do this, it would be done and—” Recalling the previous morning, her narrow eyes flicked to his. “You didn’t want to get the marriage license.” His smile grew, which earned him a light shoulder punch. “You were playing with me? That was mean!”
“I couldn’t agree too quickly,” he said. “That would ruin the surprise.”
“The surprise that you knew all along. Hmm, yeah.”
“Candy-Cane,” he said, nuzzling her neck when she turned her head away. “I want to get married to you, right now, like this.”
“I don’t know if I want to marry a man I’ll never be able to surprise.”
“That you said yes was a surprise. Didn’t think I’d be that lucky.”
“I love you,” she said, running her fingers into his hair to guide his mouth nearer to hers. “I was so excited to marry you that I planned the whole thing in a week… If this is too fast, if you’re not sure—”
“I’m sure,” he said, kissing her quick. “I love you. Let’s do this.”
Taking her hand, he guided her back up the stairs to where their families were waiting.
In every second of her life, Poppy had been losing herself, playing at being someone she wasn’t. Until meeting Turner, she hadn’t appreciated just how full and happy her life could be. She’d found him working in a place he loved, alone and missing a piece: her.
For the rest of her life, Poppy vowed to do whatever it took to ensure neither of them were ever