better than you do. I know his family. They need him.”
“It’s your job as his partner in life to do what’s best for him, not anyone else, him… at least until you have children of your own.”
The more they talked, the more frustrated Poppy became. Even the clean sea air and the glorious sunshine couldn’t dampen her dismay.
“We’re not going to have children, we can’t have children.”
Grammie stopped to turn her around so they faced each other. “Is something wrong? Did you go to a doctor?”
“I don’t mean like that,” Poppy said. “I mean, he has enough obligation in his life, enough mouths to feed… producing more would be irresponsible.”
“You’re not going to convince me money is a problem,” Grammie said, stroking her hair. “Tot, I’d sign everything over to you in a heartbeat.”
“That’s not what he’d want… that’s not what I want. Turner’s children shouldn’t be raised like this, like we were. He’d be the kind of father to get down in the muck with his babies. Teaching them how to build things, how to put things together. You should see how he is with his nephew, Noah. It would melt your heart.”
Grammie’s smile warmed as it formed. “Listening to you talk of them does that.” Putting an arm around her waist, Grammie started walking again. “You have the means to build any life you want. You shouldn’t take this opportunity for granted. He’s here, for you.”
“But he shouldn’t be here, he doesn’t belong here.”
“And you can’t go home with him because of Holden’s ridiculous games. Phooey… I wonder how Turner feels about Holden.”
“Don’t pull on that thread, please,” Poppy said. “Turner already made it clear that he’d get between me and Holden if he showed up.”
“You talked to him about that?”
“I talked to him about everything.”
“Except how you felt,” Grammie said, squeezing her. “I think both of you tried to protect yourselves, maybe tried to wish it away, but both of you should know better. Real love doesn’t care if it’s inconvenient, it strengthens with every second that passes. You can’t ignore it or fight it.”
“Maybe not, but we can act in spite of it. Trust me, if this was an ideal world, we’d be able to do everything we want without worrying about the consequences. But real life isn’t like that.”
They descended some shallow stairs and passed part of the walled garden.
“Going out there into the real world was supposed to show you what freedom was like. It wasn’t supposed to teach you that rules and constraints were better. What happened to you, Tater-Tot? You were never cynical.”
Shaking her head, Poppy watched their step. “This isn’t pessimism…” She took a breath. “Grandpa lasted about ten years here before he died. If you could do it over again, knowing he’d live longer with his freedom, wouldn’t you do it?”
“Will didn’t die because of where we lived.” Grammie paused. “Though I’d say, in retrospect, we were happier before we came back here.”
“Exactly!” Poppy exclaimed, jumping on the admission. “Because this wasn’t the kind of life Grandpa wanted. He loved you and knew that he couldn’t give you and Dad this kind of opulent life, but in his heart, he was never a drawing room and twenty-one hundred acres kind of guy.”
“You’re pushing Turner away so he doesn’t have to attend one of your mother’s absurd parties?”
“No,” she said on a sigh.
Because the Maddox family needed their leader and it wasn’t in Turner to abandon his blood.
“Aitken!”
Grammie’s exclamation startled Poppy into looking around. She wasn’t wholly surprised that her grandmother had steered them towards the construction site.
The basic structure of the guest house was in place. The roof wasn’t done and there weren’t any windows, doors, or even stairs from what Poppy could see. The site was stacked with different materials and equipment.
Grammie adjusted their trajectory to meet the man she’d called out to. As he approached, a smile curled his lips; there was something shrewd about his somewhat weather-beaten appearance.
“Come to check on us, Mari?”
Her Grammie was informal with everyone on the estate and even accepted a kiss on the cheek from the taller, well-built man.
“I’ve come to check how your new man is fitting in, Aitken,” Marigold said. “Did I find you a good one?”
Opening her mouth in a silent exhale, Poppy did side-eye her grandmother, but she didn’t notice.
“He’s a gem. Works harder than most of the guys on site. With him around, we might get out early.”