Page 101 of Poppy Kisses
“What are you fussing with that for?” Clover was in front of me, a frown line bisecting her forehead. She wore a pale-green summer dress. All my sisters were in their dresses, each having picked out the same style but in the colors they preferred. Violet and Lily both had chosen a lilac shade, and Daisy had a light yellow. They were like a bouquet of wildflowers in my future office.
I scowled. “There was a line going right down my forehead.”
Lily’s hair was pinned off her face, and she had a leg crossed under her skirt, her heel bobbing. “She was thinking about tonight and getting the house to herself with her man.”
I let out an indignant gasp. “How did you know?”
Daisy smirked and exchanged a knowing glance with Lily.
Violet chortled. “We’ve each had the same thoughts on our wedding night.”
“Well, not mine,” Lily said. “Iwondered, then I found out soon enough. But the excitement to have him and the house to ourselves never fades.”
Lily and Eliot were married by the same justice as I would be today, but it’d been an office ceremony. Then they’d gone their separate ways. Their one-year anniversary celebration was different. They’d been the picture of wedded bliss, and I was certain they had snuck off at least once while we’d all been there.
“Did you…” I brushed my hands down my shorts. I hadn’t changed into my dress yet, thankfully, so I couldn’t get sweaty handprints on it.
Lily tilted her head, waiting for me to finish.
The thoughts swirling in my head were chaotic. Wishful. Fanciful. Should I even be thinking of this? It didn’t matter. I was. “Did you feel like your first anniversary was the real start?”
Her teasing smile faded. “Are you wishing this was the real start?”
So much. “What if it’s just a little real?”
Both Lily and Violet leaned forward in their chairs.
“You and Jensen?” Violet prompted.
“It felt inevitable. We couldn’t help ourselves.”
“Aw.” Violet’s blue eyes shimmered. “That’s so sweet.”
I pressed a hand against my belly. “I’m really excited, but if you look at it, we only just started dating. Will this whole year be a wait-and-see thing? Will we be afraid that we’re not doing enough to get Aunt Linda and Dad to sign off on us?”
“You don’t have to do anything,” Clover said, fussing with my hair. She pinned the rogue curl in place. “We can see that you two like each other.”
“But it’s only like.” I huffed out a breath. There, I said it. “I think I’m in love with the man I’m going to marry, but he hasn’t said it.”
“Have you?” Lily asked.
I shook my head. I might be a hypocrite, but I wanted to hear it first.
The four of them stared at me.
Understanding filled Daisy’s eyes. “It’s hard to put yourself out there when you’ve been hurt before. I almost ruined things between me and Alder because I didn’t trust myself to open up.”
“I’ve only dated duds.” I didn’t realize how dudly they were until Jensen.
“I’m not talking about you,” Daisy said gently and went to stand by the window.
Oh. I worried the inside of my cheek. “I’m rushing him.”
“You’re getting married today.” Clover gave my shoulder a squeeze. “It’s hard not to feel like today should signify more than the start of the clock.”
Violet crossed to the window. “And Hassie’s here.”
She was here because of the wedding. Because of me. “We’re not rekindling our friendship anytime soon.”
