of the bar,” he said. “I knew where you were. I always know where you are.”
After all the running around she’d done that week to get their surprise wedding planned, Poppy really hoped that wasn’t true. “I miss you.”
He sighed. “I know, baby. I miss you too. I tried to talk Aitken into giving me tomorrow off. He wouldn’t even hear it. I don’t know what’s going on.”
She’d instructed her Grammie and Preston not to let Turner leave until the last possible minute. The more time she could have to organize everything, the better. But that wasn’t the only reason or the most vital one. The more time he spent home at the Venture before she revealed their wedding, the higher the chance he’d discover what she’d done to his building.
“You’re a good worker,” she said. “He doesn’t want to lose you. I wouldn’t let you go either.”
“That your way of telling me I shouldn’t have let you go?”
“I left for a good reason.”
“What was it again?” he asked. “Spending all this time sleeping alone makes me forget why this is a good idea.”
“You should enjoy it while you have it. After you come home, you’ll never spend a night alone again.”
“Bring it on, baby. Bring it on… Charley still in our place?”
“Yes,” Poppy said. “There’s nowhere else for her to stay. Besides, I like having her around.”
With her sisters, Violet and Primrose, in apartment thirteen where Poppy and Charley used to live, it was necessary for Charley to live in Turner’s place.
“Sooner we get Faye into her own house, the sooner Charley can go back home.”
“I don’t know that she’ll want to,” Poppy said. “My sisters won’t stay forever… Violet will go back to the estate, probably sooner rather than later… Primrose might be reluctant…”
“Yeah, Ritchie said she’s spent the night obsessing about Pres… Don’t know how anyone could obsess over that dude, but hey, what do I know?”
“You know what it is to be infatuated with another person. Primrose hasn’t had the best luck in love. I like them together; I hope it lasts.”
“Whatever you say, baby,” he said. “You talk to Zo today?”
She frowned. “No, not since last night. What happened?”
“Casey got into it with her parents again, apparently… She told them she’s moving out.”
Poppy’s surprise raised her brows. “She did? Where to? Your mom’s? Do her parents know she and Zo are together?”
“I don’t know,” he said on a gruff, tired exhale. “Who can keep up?”
She could. Val could. The sisters could. Poppy didn’t blame him for not probing for more information. Sharing a dinner table with her parents and Grammie wasn’t an environment conducive to private conversation. He said she was better with the emotional stuff anyway.
“I’ll call her in the morning.”
“Zo plans to take Casey back to Mom’s. Don’t know that she knows that yet. The two of them are flying back with Faye and the kids tomorrow.” That she knew. The kids would need to get to their fittings before Saturday was done. “Pres is riding back with me. I told him he could fly back with the girls, but… Maybe he’s not as into Primrose as you think.”
“Maybe not.” Or maybe he was doing her a favor by maintaining contact with her groom so she could be updated on the journey. Changing the subject, Poppy brightened the smile in her voice. “As long as you’re as into me as I think, I can handle anything else.”
“Into you more than you’re into me,” he said. “I wouldn’t have left you out here alone.”
The creeping guilt was assuaged by reminding herself of why she’d left. Turner would understand soon. When she revealed the truth.
“I love you,” she said. “And I like being in the Venture. Being in your bed… Still feels like a dream sometimes.”
“It’s no dream, baby. It’s your reality.”
One she’d fantasized about. They were together and getting married. Poppy wouldn’t take their love for granted, which was exactly what she was trying to demonstrate with the secret wedding. He’d get it, she was sure. Once they’d said the words, they’d have forever together. Poppy planned to relish every second.
THIRTY-TWO
It took Poppy forever to fall asleep on the Sunday night. Talking to both Turner and Preston during their drive home, she kept tabs on where they were every step of the way. The latter was discreet in giving her updates and was doing a great job of delaying her love… to his increasing irritation.
Everything was set. Her plan was in motion. The next