Page 64 of A Forever Home at Honey Bee Croft

I reeled back, stunned that anyone would say that about her or that she’d believe it. ‘Whoever they were, they couldn’t have been more wrong. I find you fascinating.’

‘You probably won’t if you get to know me.’

She lifted her head, and my throat tightened as I noticed the tears glistening in her eyes. She’d been deeply hurt by the people who’d told her that and it was clear to me thatI’m not very interestingwas her version of me repeatedly being friend zoned. No wonder she was so nervous. No wonder she’d wanted to escape.

‘Let me be the judge of that,’ I said, gently. ‘We don’t have to talk about your family if you don’t feel comfortable with that. Let’s start simple. Favourite TV programme.’

She smiled. ‘That’s easy.Darrington Detects. Serious fangirl moment earlier when I met Cole Crawford. I still can’t believe that happened. What about you?’

‘Oh, I fangirl over him all the time too. That’s one sexy vicar.’

Poppy laughed at that – a proper belly laugh – and I felt her melancholy lifting.

‘I had another fangirl moment the first time I met Amber’s sister, Sophie,’ I told her. ‘Fizz used to obsessively watchMercury’s Risingand Barney and I would take the mickey out of it but it was secretly our guilty pleasure. Never dreamed my best mate would end up marrying Mercury Addison’s big sister.’

‘I lovedMercury’s Risingtoo. Wasn’t Sophie’s boyfriend in that too?’

‘Devon? Yes. They were together for several years but Sophie had a horrific experience on a reality TV show when she was eighteen and they split up. Then last year, they were cast in a period drama together, realised they were still deeply in love and they’ve been inseparable ever since.’

‘Aw, that’s so sweet. The whole family seem lovely.’

‘They are. Barney’s parents and sister have always been like a second family to me and now Amber’s clan have adopted me too. So, another question. If you weren’t an accountant, what would you like to be?’

‘A full-time beekeeper. I already look after twenty hives and it would be a dream to expand it and make it into a proper business…’

I listened, fascinated, as she told me how she’d got into beekeeping and how her plans for skincare products hadn’t progressed when her mum received a terminal illness diagnosis. With my assurance that I was genuinely interested in hearing more, she told me about her mum’s demise, the double-whammy of her dad being diagnosed with Alzheimer’s shortly afterwards and how the break at Whisperwood Farmhouse had been an attempt to stave off burnout.

She asked me about my relationship with Tilly, why she’d called off the engagement and about the sort of relationship we had now, and she told me about Phil and how wanting very different things out of life had ended their marriage but not their friendship. It sounded as though his family meant the same to her as Barney’s meant to me and I was glad for her that she had such caring people around her.

Poppy was so easy to talk to and I felt like I could tell her anything. We bounced from topic to topic but, despite talking a lot about her parents, she didn’t expand on her originalstatement about them, and I didn’t push. She’d open up on that one when she was ready. Whoever the two men were who’d told her she wasn’t interesting couldn’t have been further from the truth. She had to be the most fascinating woman I’d ever met and I was hanging off every word, eager to learn more.

Noticing her empty glass sometime later, I went to top it up but, amazingly, we’d managed to finish the bottle.

‘Would you like anything else to drink?’ I asked.

‘I don’t think I can manage any more wine but I’d love a Baileys on ice.’

‘Back in a few minutes.’

‘Joel!’ she called as I set off. ‘I’m glad I didn’t escape. This has been great. You’re such a lovely man.’

I smiled and thanked her but, as I made my way to the bar, my stomach sank.Such a lovely man.I’d heard that comment so many times – the classic precursor to a request just to be friends. I did this every time – had a conversation with a woman in which I asked questions, listened, showed understanding and empathy and shared my own experiences where appropriate and where did it get me? Right in the middle of the friend zone.

In the bar, I spotted Amber across the room talking to her mum and smiled to myself, imagining Amber waving the manifesting book in front of my face and sayingDid the negative thoughts get you the job? No! So, are they going to get you the girl? Of course not!Ithad felt different talking to Poppy, as though there’d been a deeper, stronger connection between us. I’d certainly opened up way more than I usually did, and I felt like she had too.It’s going well and it’s going to continue to go well.

I fancied a Baileys too but, when I returned from the bar with the two glasses, Poppy had gone. Of course she had! My shoulders slumped, my earlier positivity slinking away down the corridor. I placed the drinks down on the table, sank onto thesofa with a sigh and slumped forward with my head in my hands. Another one bites the dust. What should I have done instead? Moved straight in for a kiss without conversation? Taken her back to my room and tried to seduce her? It wasn’t me. I couldn’t show such a lack of respect so if that meant I was going to stay single, so be it. At least my integrity would remain intact.

‘Are you okay, Joel?’

My head shot up and there was Poppy standing over me, looking concerned.

‘I thought you’d gone.’

‘I’d just nipped to the loo. Why would I leave?’

‘Because you said I was lovely and that’s usually followed by a request just to be friends, and I assumed that’s what you meant and you’d maybe decided it would be easier to slope off rather than have that awkward conversation.’ The minute I’d blurted that out, I felt stupid. I’d massively overreacted and, while I hadn’t put her off earlier, I might well have done now.

Poppy sat down beside me. ‘Why do you see being friends as such a bad thing?’

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