Page 60 of Sunshine
She glances at me with a quizzical frown.
“You told me that you and Daisy are trying to—what was it? Toughen up before you put yourselves out there again. Kind of implies something happened that was, I don’t know…messy?”
Poppy drops her eyes to the ground in front of her feet and releases my hand so she can cross her arms over her chest. “It wasn’t a man, if that’s what you’re asking. I’ve never even been in a serious relationship.”
Her confession makes me stumble. “Never?”
“Nope. Never met a guy who felt like a safe space. You know?”
“Yeah.” I shove my hands in my pocket, not sure if I should feel hopeful or heartbroken that even though Poppy has never been in love, she’s still chasing her happily ever after. “So, what brought you back here if not a broken heart?”
Poppy glances out at the horizon as we walk. “Who said it wasn’t a broken heart?”
“Oh. I just assumed—”
“It was my dad.”
“Your dad?”
“Yep.” Poppy lifts her shoulders and drops them again. “It’s a long story, but the bottom line is thathebroke my heart, and that’s why I’m here. I needed a safe place to clean up some of the mess he made, and nobody’s ever felt safer to me than…”
Her steps slow until we’re both at a standstill, and she’s gazing up at me.
I swallow deeply. “Daisy?” I suggest.
“Yeah,” she agrees in a whisper. “Daisy.”
I fantasize for a moment that I’m her safe place and the man she’s been searching for all these years. I pretend that she’s the future I’ve been avoiding for almost as long.
This last month with Poppy as Izzy’s nanny has been the brightest in a long time. I’m ashamed to admit that because Izzy has been my guiding light since the minute she was born, but somewhere along the way, I let the rest of my life grow dull, and I can’t live like that. Izzy’s the center of my world, but she can’t be my only happiness. That’s too big a responsibility for anyone, let alone my little girl.
Would it be just as wrong to think of Poppy as my own ray of sunshine? Because that’s what this feels like. Being with her energizes me, and I don’t want to give her up, but nobody can bottle the sun. I need to set my expectations now instead of hoping Poppy will change who she is for me. I made that mistake once, and I won’t make it again.
“Uh, hey,” Finn says as he rounds a curve in the path ahead. He’s walking toward us with Izzy on his hip and a puzzled look on his face as he glances at me and Poppy. When his questioning look turns mildly entertained, I jump back to put some distance between us, but I feel like an asshole when I do it.
I know I’m an asshole when Poppy does the same with two backward steps for my one.
Finn smirks as if to say he isn’t fooled, and I blow out a breath. Fuck. He knows. But any worry or guilt I feel instantly evaporates when I notice Izzy’s hands covering her mouth, then the blood trickling over her fingers, and I rush to take my daughter from my brother’s arms.
“What happened?” I ask. “Are you hurt? Did you fall?”
Izzy drops her arms and thrusts out her hand to Poppy beside me, revealing more blood dripping down her chin, a ghoulish grin on her pink-cheeked face, and a tiny white tooth wedged between her fingers.
“It fell out!” There’s a whistle to her words that wasn’t there before as Izzy waves her bloody fingers under my nose. With a silent sigh of relief, I rear back and squint at the tiny white shrapnel of bone between her fingers, then grin at her gap-toothed smile. “I was wobbling it, and Uncle Finn told me to yank it, and I did, and it fell out.”
“Uncle Finn told you toyankit?”
I glare at my brother, who shrugs like it’s no big deal, but there’s a glint of amusement in his brown eyes. “She didn’t have to do it.”
I throw him an exasperated scowl, then set Izzy on her feet. “Congratulations, Little Bee,” I say, surprised by an unexpected wave of emotion. How can it be that my baby girl has reached that stage of life when she’s losing teeth?
“Let me see that,” Poppy says, and when Izzy transfers the tooth to her palm to give us all a better look, Poppy responds with an impressed gasp. “That’s the prettiest tooth I ever saw! Premium quality. All the extra brushing before bed gave it a real good shine, don’t you think?”
Izzy nods proudly. “Yep. It’s got to be worth ten dollars.”
Poppy snorts. “At least! Maybe even twelve. And remember what I told you about the tooth fairy?”
“She’s all about quality,” Izzy replies. “The first tooth sets the price for the rest, and each one is worth more than the last.”
