The twin swayed across to nudge her sister whose cheeks were beginning to bloom.
“It’s a rite of passage to have a crush on Ritchie,” Faye said. “You get over it.”
Turner’s brow came down.
“Mm hmm,” Charley agreed, which widened her brother’s eyes.
“Uh, what the—”
“You’re surprised your sisters swooned over Ritch?” Preston asked. “Better him than someone who’d take advantage.”
“I want to meet this Ritchie,” Grammie said.
“No, you don’t,” Poppy said, shaking her head. “He’s taking care of business for Turner right now anyway.”
“We can find someone to do that for you, we can get a team of people on it. Does Ritchie have rough hands?” Grammie leaned a little down the table to advise the twins. “Find yourself a man with rough hands, girls.”
“A man who works for a living,” Poppy said, as Turner’s hand opened on her thigh and tucked itself under the fabric of her skirt to rest on her bare skin. “Are we having dessert or waiting for everyone to come back? I’m sure the Hanovers would join us for dessert.”
They had dessert because Grammie decided she didn’t want to wait. As soon as the plates were cleared, Charley said she was going upstairs to make a phone call. Poppy didn’t want to think that she might be confiding in David, but even if she was, there was nothing anyone could do to stop her.
Noah reminded Turner that he’d promised to take him to the worksite. He didn’t try to wriggle out of it. Not her Turner. No, he’d made a deal, so he stuck to it. He even invited his mother and Faye to join him. Preston wasn’t too discreet about inviting himself along.
Emmie and Ashlee had already been dancing around Grammie telling her about some new animated movie they loved.
The twins opted to go with Grammie to help with the movie since there was no way Grammie would know how to work the TV, let alone be able to find the movie they were talking about on a streaming service.
Everyone disappeared in their various directions until Poppy found herself alone. She breathed out. Sneak down to the music room in the dark or risk being co-opted by her family and the Hanovers? The music room won hands down.
ELEVEN
By the time Poppy got back to the house, anyone who wasn’t already asleep was getting ready for bed. Moving fast to ensure no one could intercept her, Poppy went straight to her grandmother’s bedroom. Grammie was madly in love with Emmie and Ashlee, Willow and Autumn too. While Poppy got ready for bed, Grammie regaled her with tales of watching the movie with the youngsters. Marigold Granger might be in her late seventies, but no one could accuse her of being old.
Once they were tucked up in bed, it didn’t take long for Grammie to doze off. Eventually, the whole house was silent.
The distant waves were quiet too, she couldn’t hear any wildlife, just the occasional creak from the old house as it cooled down after a busy day. Switching off wasn’t so easy for Poppy. She didn’t really know what was on her mind, just that she couldn’t sleep. Sharing a bed with Grammie limited her ability to toss and turn too; she didn’t want to wake the elderly woman up.
So much was going on. She worried about Zoey, who she hadn’t seen since leaving her in her bedroom with the phone. The twins seemed to be coming around, if they ever hadn’t been around, which was something. Although Turner hadn’t been explicit, Poppy figured the reason he’d invited his eldest sister to the worksite with her son was to talk to her. Val would help that effort and Poppy doubted Preston would’ve hindered it. The Maddoxes were welcoming and Preston had been a part of their clan for a long time.
Turner would be working again the next day, he’d be working every day. As Poppy became more accustomed to the idea that they might have a future, she found herself more and more tempted to be near him. Finding excuses to go to the worksite would be easy enough, Grammie would even help that along. But Poppy didn’t want to distract him from his work. Turner was serious about his commitments. Plus there was the chance he’d be ribbed for the spoiled heiress always coming to visit him. The guys wouldn’t know anything about their relationship or about her, so it would be easy for them to jump