Page 20 of Gravity of Love
“Yes, she is.” Frankie nodded in agreement as she introduced herself. “I’m Frankie.”
“Poppy.” She smiled as she shook her head back and forth. “Your grandma and Mr. Santino are something else. His bark is much worse than his bite, but she has him eating out of her hand.”
“Oh, are you talking about the shooting?” Tiana cut in. “How is Mr. Santino? Is he okay?”
“All I can say is, if orneriness is key to recovery, that man will be on his feet in no time.”
Frankie knew that due to HIPAA, Poppy wasn’t allowed to give them any actual updates, but that told them all they needed to know.
The door to the studio opened, and four thirty-something ladies decked out in Alo, Lululemon, and Vuori walked in chatting with one another, two had to-go cups that read “Brewed Awakenings” on them. It was her cue to leave.
“Great class. Thanks again.” Frankie picked up her mat and bag and started towards the door.
Poppy fell in stride beside her. When the two reached the lobby, Tiana stopped them.
“Hey, Poppy, I’m recruiting for a Girls’ Night tomorrow at JT’s, you should come out with us. It’s me, Frankie, and Jenna. She owns The Beauty Spot just across the street.”
Poppy glanced between the two women. Frankie could see a brief moment of hesitation before her left shoulder shrugged. “What time?”
“Eight.”
“I’ll be there.”
“Great!” Tiana beamed and then turned to prepare for her next class.
Frankie noticed the way Poppy took a deep breath and exhaled after agreeing to go, the way someone would when they were trying to soldier on through adversity. She wondered what had happened in the last week—or maybe month or the last year—to make someone like Poppy leak tears through an entire yoga class. But she didn’t ask. Instinct told her that Poppy would talk if and when she wanted.
“Hey, what are you doing right now? I’d love for you to meet my brother. His office is just down the street.” She pointed left, the direction Frankie had to walk to get back to Yaya’s.
“I actually have plans, but I’ll walk with you.”
Frankie knew those eyes, those were meet-my-brother-I-want-to-set-you-up eyes. As much as she appreciated the thought, there was no way she needed to have yet another brother in her life. She was teetering on a nervous breakdown from the two brothers she had already.
7
As the twostepped out of the studio, they were faced with a sight that caused Poppy to stop up short and Frankie to pull out her phone. A Great Dane and a Chihuahua were strolling down the middle of Main Street.
“Am Iactuallylosing my mind, or is that?—”
“Two dogs walking down the middle of the street,” Frankie completed her thought.
“Yeah.” Poppy turned her head towards Frankie.
“It’s Scooby and Scrappy, my friend Nikki and her sister Amy’s dogs. Whenever they are together, they break out and come downtown to go to Two Scoops to get pup cups,” she explained as she texted Nikki to let her know about the canine jailbreak.
“So, this is normal?” Poppy asked as she witnessed locals wave and shout greetings to the dogs by name.
“Hope Falls has a three-eccentrics-per-block minimum,” Frankie explained as she put her phone back in her bag.
“Oh, nice.” Poppy smiled as she pulled the strap of her bag up on her shoulder and they both started heading towards her brother’s new offices. “How long have you lived here?”
“Oh, I, um, I don’t, but I spent every summer and holiday here with my grandparents. I grew up in San Francisco, and then after that, New York. I’ve only been here for about a month.”
Poppy nodded. “Are you here for work? What do you do?”
Good question. What did she do? She wasted six years building Tristan’s firm. and for what?
“I’m in a transitional phase of my career. I used to be an artist, but I, um, I put that on hold.” She didn’t want to say why. How cliché was it that she’d wasted her twenties building a man’s business who respected her so little he’d uploaded videos of himself having sex with another person on their shared iCloud account. Perhaps trying to overcompensation, she shared, “I have a degree in art history from NYU, and that is what I’m going to be pursuing again.”
