Page 17 of Poppy Kisses
I gave Auggie a ham sandwich and set the plate with the other two between me and Mom. When she’d first been adjusting to the life of a single working mom, we’d had a lot of sandwiches. I’d never touch bologna again, but I still liked ham on toasted sourdough. It’d been her Friday night meal. A little reward, with chips, after getting through a week of work, school, and practices.
“I know I’ve said it’s not good to lie, Auggie, but I’m going to have to ask you to do a little bit of it.”
Auggie nodded and picked up his sandwich. His eyes were glassy. I’d kept the light off over the table. I had opened the blinds as wide as possible instead. Poppy’s words ran through my head. He must’ve had a hard brain day at school.
Mom didn’t touch the food. The bag of nacho Doritos was open next to her elbow. She only ate them with us, but she hadn’t touched those either.
She tucked a strand of graying blonde hair behind her ear. “What’s going on?”
“You remember Poppy?” I asked.
Confusion formed a line between her brows. “Poppy Duke? Yes, of course.”
“My tutor?” Auggie asked.
“Yep. Remember I said we’re old friends? Well, we both need a little help with something, and in order for me to help her, I need to, uh, marry her.”
Mom’s jaw fell open.
“You’re marrying the tutor?” Auggie asked and took a bite of his sandwich.
Auggie was chill, but I’d have to ease Mom’s shock. “In order for her to inherit the Perez house, yes.”
Incredulity filled Mom’s expression. “The Perez house? Marriage?” She slumped in her chair. “I didn’t realize you and Poppy kept in touch.”
“We didn’t. We haven’t. She subbed for Auggie’s normal tutor, and afterward, we got to talking.” I didn’t tell Mom I tracked her down because my business was suffering over my typos and the way I talked. She’d feel responsible because some asshole told her she wasn’t reading to me enough. “I could do some work in the house and use it in my promo materials and on my website. Even new people moving to town admire that house.”
“She needs to be married?” Mom gave her head a shake.
“A stipulation of the trust her grandma left behind. So we marry for a year, she’ll live here, but as a guest, and when her parents and her aunt Linda are around, we’ll pretend to be a happily married couple until they sign off on us.”
Mom folded her arms. “I always liked Weston and Magnolia. Linda too. I don’t like lying to them.”
“I know.” There was no way around that part. I liked Poppy, but neither of us wanted a relationship. So there was no chance of this being real. I had to build a stable future for me and my son, just like Poppy had to do the same for her.
Auggie grabbed a handful of chips and crunched through them. “Okay. Does she get the room upstairs?”
There were two open rooms. The smaller of them was across from Auggie’s room upstairs. The bigger one was across from mine. “I think she’d like the bigger one. Upstairs can be her working office until I’m done with her place.”
“I can’t…” Mom snapped her mouth shut. “A marriage of convenience?”
“That’s all it’ll be.” It’d have to be. I wasn’t putting myself out there again. “But we’d have to pretend it’s for real to everyone outside our circle.”
Mom’s gaze darted to Auggie. How could I expect a ten-year-old to play along with something so important?
It was worth the gamble.
My phone vibrated. I glanced at it and did a double take. Poppy’s name was on the screen. “Excuse me.”
I ducked into the laundry room that was also the entry from the garage, a mudroom, coat closet, and catchall for Auggie’s sports equipment.
“Hey,” I answered, hating the way I anticipated her voice on the other end. I wasn’t going to be that guy again.
“They’re coming to Coal Haven.” Her panicked reply carried over the phone. “They’re coming to meet you.”
“Who? Your parents?”
“Yes,” she hissed. “They said Aunt Linda could meet us and talk logistics.”
