Page 115 of Sunshine
“Yes!” Izzy shouts.
Someone hushes her, and all I can do is laugh. And say yes.
And there, on the floor of the Davenport kitchen, where I spent so many years of my life laughing and dancing and daydreaming that these people and this place were my home, Dylan puts a ring on my finger and makes it official.
We all do. The entire Davenport family.
thirty-five
Dylan
I sneak back intomy bedroom at sunrise the next morning, sit on the edge of my bed, and watch Poppy sleep. Her dark lashes on her lightly freckled cheeks. Her cherry lips parted with gentle breaths. Her total peace. I feel it too. This is it. This woman and my daughter are my everything.
Poppy’s bare shoulder peeks out from under the covers, and though I’m reluctant to wake her, I’m more tempted to taste her, so I drop my mouth and dust her with open-mouthed kisses. I move higher up her neck, peppering her jaw and mouth with love until she rolls onto her back and pulls me into her arms.
“Hey, you,” she says dreamily. “Good morning.”
Her back arches off the mattress, and I shift the sheet to access her collarbone and chest, lowering my mouth onto one nipple and tonguing the silver bar until she moans.
I smile against her skin. “Good morning, Sunshine.”
Her mouth tips up as she slides her fingers into my hair. “Am I really here?” she whispers. “Did last night really happen?”
“Check your finger,” I suggest as I trace the tattoo on her sternum with the tip of my tongue.
Poppy holds her left hand up in the air and twists her wrist to admire her new ring. It’s not a traditional engagement ring with a big diamond in the middle. It’s a square-cut emerald with baguette diamonds on either side. As soon as I saw it, I knew it was perfect. Bright. Bold. Colorful. Like my Poppy.
“It’s beautiful,” she sighs.
“Thank you. It was my mother’s.”
“What?” Poppy pushes me away and wriggles around until she’s upright, then flicks on the bedside lamp and holds her hand in front of her face. “This belonged to Jacqui?”
“Yep. It’s not her engagement ring or even her wedding ring, but it was one of her favorites. An anniversary gift. Here.”
I slide the ring off Poppy’s finger and show her the inscription.
“You are my greatest adventure,” Poppy reads, and then her voice grows tight. “Oh, Dylan. I can’t accept this. It’s too special. Daisy should have it. Or Charlie.”
“I already spoke to them about it. They want you to have it. Mom would have wanted you to have it. I want you to have it. You’re my fiancée, and you’re going to be my wife and the mother of my children. This ring belongs to you.”
I slide the ring back on her finger, and Poppy throws her arms around my neck. “I love you, Dylan.”
I turn my face, tucking my nose into the crook of her neck and breathing her in. How the fuck did I get so lucky?
“I love you too,” I say. “So much, which is why I’m sorry to tell you—you need to get up.”
She laughs like I’m joking, but when she draws back to check my expression, her own face falls. “I have to get up? But it’s still dark.” She lifts her phone off the nightstand to check the time. “I don’t get it. Is it Izzy? Does she need me?”
Poppy flings the covers back and jumps up, grabbing her sweats from the floor and dragging them on in a hurry.
I grin and pull her against me, and her eyes sweep down my body. “Hey. You’re already dressed. What’s going on?”
“Chord. He wants a family meeting before he drives back to San Francisco in an hour. I’ve been up for forty-five minutes already cooking breakfast. I let you sleep as long as I could, but everyone’s downstairs already.”
“Oh. Okay. Do you need me to keep Izzy busy while you guys take care of something?”
I smile again, this time with amusement that Poppy really doesn’t get it. “Ah, no. It’s a family meeting. You’re family. I woke you because we need you at the table.”
