lightness of teasing in Casey’s voice. “No, you were not.”
“So you’re together now? Are you going to get married?”
“All of that is up in the air. The first thing we have to do is get you here so you can be with the family.” Her family, if she wanted it to be. That’s what Turner had said to her and now she was thinking it about another. “We can have a car pick you up and you can come on the jet. Another car will pick you up and bring you straight here.”
“That’s what Zoey said happened with her, but I just don’t think my parents will go for it. They’re hardly talking to me at all.”
“There’s a man here who runs all of the family’s private business. I can have him call your parents, talk to them, reassure them that you’ll be safe.”
There was a pause.
“Zoey’s family don’t know about us. My parents don’t even know that she’s the one I…”
Love? Poppy liked to think that was the way Casey was going to end the sentence. Not so long ago, Poppy had been the one scared to admit the truth aloud. It was a difficult burden to bear and not one she’d wish on anyone let alone on someone so young and sweet.
“I’d say this is a pretty good setup for telling the Maddoxes the truth. But that’s something for you to decide, I won’t make decisions about your relationship for you. No one should make those decisions except you and Zoey.” Her heart only broke more when she heard a whisper of anguish in the way the teen sniffed. “You know Turner came all the way out here determined that he’d fight for us. It didn’t even occur to me that he’d come here. That he’d go to the trouble of tracking me down and traveling so far… He got here and he told me how he felt, it was all so much, just so much shock and emotion, I didn’t know what to do. But he stayed and gave me time. Even being in the same house, I still had the space to get perspective.”
“I love Zoey,” Casey whispered. “I know that for sure.”
“I told you when we met that you weren’t alone. Neither of you are. If you don’t want to be together, if that’s your decision, I’ll respect that and I won’t bother you again… But if you’re not sure or you want time to figure it out, this is an ideal place. I’ll make sure that you have your privacy.”
“Won’t they think it’s weird? Why should I be there? They don’t even know about Zoey.”
“They know you’re her friend.” Poppy inhaled. “Look, if you want to tell them the truth, tell them. If you don’t, all they have to know is you’re here to spend time with your friend in a difficult spell. That’s it.”
“Zoey said you didn’t tell Turner.”
“I didn’t. I will if you want me to, but I still think it would be better to hear it from his sister.” She smiled, making sure the gesture flavored her voice. “Casey, Turner won’t care. I mean he won’t be mad or oust his sister. If any of them tried to act that way, I’d kick all of them out. Now you know Turner and I are together, that should give you more faith that I know what I’m talking about. I wouldn’t love a man who’d be malicious or vicious to his family or the people they care about. You will be safe here.”
“I trust you.”
“Good,” she said. “Do you want to talk to your parents? I can give you Tiller’s number or have him call them?”
“I’ll talk to my mom while my dad isn’t here,” Casey said. “Can you text his number to me?”
“Absolutely. Trust me, he’s amazing at this kind of thing. Whenever we were kids, he could talk us into or out of anything. He’s been making things happen for us since we were babies.”
“Sounds like a great guy.”
“He has his moments. I’ll make sure he’s looped in. If you need him to make the call, just text me.”
“Thank you, Poppy.”
“You’re family, Casey. We look out for each other.”
They hung up and Poppy sent the text. Although there would probably be a time delay between sending it and Tiller getting a call, she went downstairs to his office and knocked on the door straight away.
“Yes!”
Opening the door, she didn’t go all the way in, just popped her head around the