Page 116 of Sunshine
“You need me?”
I chuckle and kiss her. “Yes. We need you.”
She holds on tight to my hand as we descend the stairs and join my siblings at the dining table. It’s loaded with food—pancakes and eggs and bacon and fruit and coffee—and everyone’s already helped themselves to plates. I hand one to Poppy as we arrive, and she takes it with a hesitant smile.
“Come sit here,” Daisy says to Poppy, patting the empty seat beside her.
Poppy slides onto it, and while the two of them admire Poppy’s ring again and debate whether it’s sensible to have whipped cream and syrup and cereal on one plate, I take the chair on Poppy’s other side with an overwhelming sense of calm. It takes me a minute to realize I’m just so freaking happy. I’m relaxed. And I’m content.
“Good,” Chord says. “We’re all here. Let’s start. I want to get back before Violet wakes up.”
“What’s this about?” Charlie says.
“I’m proposing to Violet,” he announces. “And—”
“Oh, my God!” Daisy drums her feet under the table. “When? How? When?”
Chord tries not to bite, but his lips twitch. “In a few months. I’ve got to plan a few things first, and I need to run something past you. I want to do something big for Violet, but it’ll affect Silver Leaf.”
“Okay.” Charlie sounds wary. “What do you need?”
“I want to build her a design studio on the property. A second location outside of the one she runs in San Francisco. My hope is that one day when I retire from hockey and we move back here permanently, she can work here or in the city. Whatever she likes.”
“Chord—” Charlie says, but our brother steamrolls over her.
“I’ve thought about it, Charlie, and it would be great for business. We want to broaden our appeal to the bridal market, right? The restaurant. The accommodations. The event spaces. Let’s add a world-famous bridal couture designer to the Silver Leaf brand. It’ll be a huge draw. Massive.”
“I vote yes,” Finn says around a mouthful of breakfast. “No brainer to me.”
“I vote yes too,” Daisy says. “I love it.”
“I vote yes,” Charlie says, and when Chord blinks with surprise, Charlie rolls her eyes. “It’s smart. It’s different. It’s coming out of your own pocket, right?”
Chord grunts. “Right.”
“Poppy?” Charlie asks. “What’s your vote?”
“Me?” Poppy darts an uncertain look my way, and I grin.
“Go ahead,” I tell her.
“Um, I vote yes?”
At my approving nod, she smiles and spears a strawberry with her fork, and I give her a wink.
“Dylan?” Chord says. “It needs to be unanimous.”
I think it’s a fantastic idea. Violet is the best thing to happen to my brother, and he’d be crazy not to give her the world when it’s within his power to do so. So, I’ve got no intention of standingin Chord’s way, but the love of my life is sitting right here with a ring on her finger and big dreams in her heart, and I’m not going to miss this opportunity to make them a reality.
“I’ll vote yes,” I say, “if…”
Everyone around the table stares at me like I’ve grown an extra head and Chord scowls. “If what?”
“If we also vote to speed up our plans to build a day spa on the property with the intention of giving it to Poppy.”
Poppy drops her fork. “Wait. What?”
“It’s in the business plan,” I say, more to Charlie and Chord than Poppy. She’ll argue against it if I let her, and I’m not going to give her the chance. “Poppy is going to be my wife. We’re going to make Silver Leaf our home. She deserves to have a piece of what we work so hard to build together. Something to call her own. Just like all of us and just like Violet.”
