and the heat of the man just a few inches away, Poppy felt a chill. “And you’ll have to think about if that’s something you’re willing to accept. I can’t do anything to stop it.”
If she could, she’d have done it and stayed at the Venture. Her family weren’t in the papers every week, not even every year, but Turner was right that there was always a chance of something coming up.
His expression only loosened as he tucked an arm around her to pull her closer. “I meant we’ll have to learn how to handle it no matter what. It might be a thing, you can’t run away if it happens again. You come to me and we talk it out, we figure it out. Maybe it will mean coming back here to wait it out, but we make that decision together.”
“Together,” she murmured, enjoying the texture of his skin. “We should talk about money.”
Because although it wasn’t her natural instinct to go there, it would have to be addressed.
“What about it?”
Tipping her head back, Poppy stayed close, but managed to meet his gaze. “I know it’s uncomfortable, but it is what it is. I have my trust, which I’m not suggesting we live off, but it is there. I’m happy to get a job and I wouldn’t ask you to stop working.”
The tension quaking his muscles wasn’t subtle. “But?”
“But you have some freedom now. If you want to concentrate on the Venture, you can. If you want to buy another building and start all over, that’s an option. Everything is an option.”
“I guess I didn’t imagine it changing our life much,” he said. “You have access to that and you’re free to use it, but I’d go crazy if I was just sitting at home all day.”
She laughed knowing that he was exactly right. “I want you to work; we’d both go crazy with nothing to do all day. I was thinking more along the lines of, you don’t have to worry about sending your sisters to college, we can afford that now. Freeing up some time would give you the opportunity to teach them how to drive. You could go into business with Ritch, maybe fix up a place together. Bring Noah in when he’s big enough, teach him like your father taught you. And if Emmie still wants a building when she’s older, buy her one.”
“Okay, but we’re not gonna spoil them. Just because the money’s there, doesn’t mean we should let them rely on it. They have to know the virtue of a decent day’s work.”
“I couldn’t agree more,” she said, wriggling until she was pressed up against him. “What about Faye?”
“What about her?”
“We could get her somewhere near your mom, something that needs a bit of work so you could coach Noah. I’d say you could coach Emmie too, but she’s less interested in the hammer and nails part.”
He breathed out a laugh. “You got that right.”
Emmie had really only asserted that she wanted a building because Noah said he wanted one. At their age, their sibling rivalry was in full bloom.
“We can work for our day to day expenses, for our own personal bills, but the trust will take the pressure off what you have to do to keep everyone afloat. I don’t know the details, but if things are financed, mortgages, loans, whatever, we can pay those off, get rid of the interest, and give everyone a chance to breathe out.”
“The guys won’t take charity.”
“It won’t be charity,” she said. “You were offered a chance to invest in Naughtie’s back when Naught was trying to get it off the ground. Invest now, you get to be a part of it, and he gets to lessen his burden.”
Again, Poppy didn’t know the details, but they had the opportunity to better the lives of everyone they cared about. It was exactly the kind of thing Grammie would encourage her to do.
“You’d do all that, give up your birth right to—”
“Help my family? Yes. You are my family, Turner. You, your mom, your sisters, Emmie, Noah, Ashlee and the guys… even Ritchie.”
He laughed and kissed her head. “Ours might complain.”
“Our what?” she asked, confused.
“Our kids, when they’re old enough to realize their potential inheritance was shared out with everyone before they were born.”
Poppy frowned. “I didn’t think you wanted kids. You said they’d be a strain.”
“I also said we’d knock you up after the twins were in college, but if we’re not worried about paying their