it was nice to hear tales from the lives of others that made hers feel a little saner.
The extra body at the dinner table brought her up short.
“Oh my God,” Primrose whispered a few feet inside the dining room. “Is that your landlord stalker from last night?”
Breathing out, Poppy accepted that Grammie wasn’t letting up. “You can call him Turner.”
How her family had missed Grammie inviting him to stay and him getting a job on their land was a mystery. Though not for long.
When they approached the dining table, everyone turned to the pair of sisters. Poppy let go of Primrose so the latter could go around to her customary seat next to Violet.
“If you’re uncomfortable, we’ll have security escort him out,” her father said. “It seems your grandmother has a bee in her bonnet about this one.”
“He can stay,” Poppy said without missing that he’d been positioned next to Grammie in her usual seat, so she’d been bumped down one.
The sun had set while she and Primrose crossed the grounds. It would be getting colder too. If they kicked Turner out, he’d struggle to find anywhere to stay in town, unless he bunked in with one of his new buddies from the worksite.
“Your grandmother dragooned him into the library after you retired last night,” her mother said as appetizers were served and wine poured.
Turner put a hand over his glass when the server, Stephanie, came his way. “No thanks.”
He didn’t notice the coy smile on the young Stephanie’s face. Poppy did. Was it because he was just so hot or did the staff enjoy him for some other reason?
“We assumed that you sent him packing when you’d finished your conversation, mother,” Clark Granger wasn’t too impressed with his mom.
“It’s fine,” Poppy said, showing her parents a smile.
Having Turner at the dinner table was a comfort actually. Poppy didn’t want to send mixed signals or confuse the situation, but she could never feel bad when he was around. The truth was, he filled her with warmth and security.
“See, it’s fine,” Marigold said to her son. “I don’t know what the problem is.”
Obviously after talking to him in the library, her Grammie had decided Turner was the real deal. That must’ve been when she hatched her plan to have him stay and get him employed.
Poppy recalled their last conversation, earlier in the day. “You didn’t sign anything today, did you?”
“No,” Turner said, checking out the flatware. Without saying anything, she picked up her fork, showing him which one he needed to use. “Guys showed me around and I looked at a couple of places. Real beautiful town you’ve got.”
“There’s no need for you to rent a residence,” Grammie said. “There’s plenty of room here. Aitken suggested you move into the house you’re building once it’s finished. You should do that. I won’t live forever, you need to get started on building the next generation with my granddaughter. I think that’s an excellent plan.”
“I don’t,” Poppy said, wishing she had the right angle to glare at her grandmother. “I think that’s a very bad plan.”
“I’m tempted to disinherit you, Tot. You’re being so difficult about all of this.”
“Disinherit away,” Poppy said, raising her wine glass.
“Then maybe you’ll think about building a life back where you met this beautiful man,” Grammie said.
Poppy put the wine glass to her lips, but the scent of the liquid stalled her. Wine, Turner… Poppy couldn’t be trusted in that setup, so put the alcohol down untouched.
“If I go back, the press will follow,” she said. “God knows what Holden will do. I won’t endanger the people I care about. They’ve been through enough already because of me.”
“We’ll protect you,” Turner said. “I’d give my life for you.”
“We don’t want it coming to that,” Grammie said. “Poppy is right that the media can be relentless. The situation is onerous.”
“It is what it is,” Poppy said. “And it’s the reason I told you to go home.” Although she looked at Turner, he didn’t look at her, he was busy peering at his plate, probably wondering where the rest of his food was. Something occurred to her. “You know, for all the times I sat at your mother’s dinner table, do you realize that you and I have never sat at a table and eaten a meal together.”
That did bring his attention around to her. “We haven’t?” Wearing a simple smile, she shook her head. “Guess we had better things to do.”
Keeping her smile simple was impossible when he insisted