Page 3 of Poppy's Place

When my curiosity was piqued, I was like a dog with a bone, and I needed to investigate further. It wasn’t the greatest building ever, but the proximity to my coffee shop, my office, and to the stadium project made it particularly appealing.

And when something appealed to me, I couldn’t just walk away.

Chapter 3

Poppy

“Why is this so heavy?” I took a deep breath and pushed all my weight behind the giant bookshelf that was not at all centered. It was one of the last big pieces that needed to be moved before I could start unboxing all the toys my friends and I brought into the playroom from our homes.

Of course, we all kept some things at our homes, but the playroom was designed to store all the Little stuff we didn’t need to keep at home. The things we only pulled out when we were with friends or someone playing Daddy for the day.

Kylie was the only one of the Little Lovelies who had a Daddy. Daddy Troy. But according to her, he wasn’t exactly the right kind of Daddy for her. She really liked him, but I had a feeling it wasn’t going to last long.

But for now, if Troy came with her, he could either play with us in the main playroom or sit in the viewing room where most of the caretakers would probably stay…when we had some.

Five days ago, I closed escrow and got the keys to the building. Since then, I’d been working nonstop to get the playroom ready.I even took vacation days from my actual job as a marketing coordinator so I could paint the walls and lay foam tiles on the floor to make the playroom perfect.

Not to mention all the shopping I had to do and getting a new refrigerator brought in and meeting with the internet company and security system installers. All in all, it was a busy week, but I wanted to have the best playroom for the Little Lovelies when we met at Poppy’s Place for the first time.

Tomorrow.

“Move your bottom, girl. Books aren’t going to fill these shelves on their own!” I took a step back and looked at the bookshelf with my hands on my hips. It wasn’t 100% centered, but Troy could move it those last few inches. It was close enough that I could set up everything around it without going crazy because it was slightly cockeyed.

I’d just started organizing our books by colored spine on the second to the bottom shelf when the alarm on my watch went off. “Seven o’clock already?” I turned to the bundle of stuffed animals that were arranged on a beanbag in one corner and asked for their input. “How did it get so late? And why didn’t you tell me it was so dark in here?” I finally noticed that the sun had set and there was a dim haze in the room.

I pushed myself up to my feet from where I’d been sitting cross-legged on the floor and stretched before I went around the room and flicked on each light. Between the overhead lights and all the lamps I’d placed, it was really bright. But that was good. I needed the space to be really bright for my decorating purposes.

When my snoozed alarm went off, I pulled up a food delivery app and ordered my usual sandwich and salad from the deli downthe street. The responsible thing to do would be to take a break and walk my behind down the street to pick it up and get some fresh air, but the Little part of me didn't want to be out in the dark alone. Besides, I really had a lot of work to do, so I placed my order online and turned off my alarm so I could get back to work.

Between my collections and all the books that were donated from the nine other members of the Little Lovelies club that my friends and I started a few years ago, I filled up almost all the shelves on the big bookshelf. The very bottom shelf and the upper shelf were empty, but I was really happy with how everything looked all lined up. I was so excited, I didn’t even startle when the doorbell rang. Instead, I glanced at the screen at the front of the room and saw the delivery person dropping off my dinner.

“Yay! Sandwich time.” As soon as I got up to grab my food from the front stoop, my tummy growled, and I realized I hadn’t eaten since breakfast. I had an alarm set for lunchtime too, but when I turned it off and started to place my food order, I got distracted and never went back to it.

Now, I was really hungry.

I went through the reception area and pulled open the front door without peeking out the window to look outside. The note I left on my order was always to just ring the bell and leave the food outside, so I didn’t expect to find a man standing there with my bag and milkshake in his hand. “Oh, hi.” I reached for my food. “Thank you, but you could’ve just left it.”

He grinned. “The delivery guy did leave it. I’m your neighbor, Carter Jones.”

It took a moment for my brain to catch up and realize what he meant.

“Oh! Nice to meet you.” I reached for my food again, not sure what he was waiting for. “Thank you for…coming to introduce yourself?”

He chuckled and handed me my dinner. “I own the coffee shop across the street and have been curious about what you’re planning to put in here. Are you opening up another preschool?”

I bit my lip and could feel my cheeks heating up at that question. I couldn’t tell him the truth, but I didn’t like to lie. And I really had no idea what I would say even if I wanted to make up a lie. “Sorta.”

The man who I finally sneaked a good look at was very tall and very attractive, especially when he smirked. “Sort of? What does that mean?”

Well, shit. I had no idea what to say to him. “Well, it’s sort of like a daycare but, um, private. I mean, we aren’t accepting new clients if you have kids…”

“No kids.” He shook his head. “I’m single.”

“Oh, me too. I mean, um, it’s basically…a private playspace.” My skin was burning from both embarrassment and the way it felt to have his big brown eyes skimming over every bit of it. Even though I was wearing a hoodie and leggings and had very little exposed skin, I could almost feel his gaze caressing me. It was enough to make me dizzy. “Um, thanks again for coming by.” I backed up slowly, inching the door closed as I kept my gaze locked on his.

He held up his hand to stop the door before it was fully closed. “Wait, I don’t think I caught your name, beautiful.”

My eyes went wide at the endearment. Was he one of those guys who called everybody beautiful or… “I’m Poppy, and this is…” I took a deep breath and said it out loud to a stranger for the very first time. “Poppy‘s Place.”

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