Page 27 of Last Second Chance

Instead, there were mixed signals all around.

More than my confusion about where we stood, I was concerned about her. When I arrived at the wedding rehearsal that evening, the first thing I did was approach Ben, but he hadn’t heard from her all day either.

Now, we were both worried.

There was a lot of activity at the wedding rehearsal, with everyone pitching in to help decorate before we ran through the ceremony. I looked around for Poppy, but I wasn’t surprised when I didn’t see her anywhere. If she was avoiding me, which was the only assumption I could make, then she wasn’t likely to show up here.

Michael’s sister, Summer, was playing her violin during the ceremony, and Faith asked that I help her set a stool and music stand off to the side.

“Where do you want it?” I asked Summer as I carried a stool over to where she was standing beside the rows of folding chairs that were being set up. “We want to find a flat piece of ground.”

“How about right here?” she asked, pointing to a stretch of grass nearby.

I set the stool down and made sure it was level. “Hop on and we’ll make sure it’s steady for tomorrow.”

Summer did as I said while I stood back and gave her room. It looked like a good spot. Then, Summer looked over at me for a long moment with something close to pity on her face. I frowned.

“What’s wrong?” I asked.

“Nothing.” She shook her head. “I just...never mind.”

She started to hop off the stool, but I moved closer, blocking her way. I wasn’t sure why, but her tone of voice made me suspect that whatever she was holding back had something to do with a certain stubborn blonde we both knew.

“Wait a minute...do you know something about Poppy? Something I should know?”

Summer hesitated for a long moment. “I really shouldn’t—”

“Just tell me where she is,” I interrupted.

“She’s fine. Don’t worry about that. But...she doesn’t want to see you right now.”

“What does that mean? I don’t understand what’s wrong.”

I hated this desperate feeling inside of me. I was always chasing after her. When was it going to stop? Why couldn’t I officially get the girl?

“She needs time to figure things out,” Summer said, still being vague. “I’m sorry, I can’t say more than that.”

“Hey, Summer,” Michael said, approaching us with a music stand in his arms. “Can you help Faith? She’s trying to hang paper lanterns from the trees.”

“I’m on it,” Summer replied, getting off the stool and hurrying away.

I couldn’t help thinking that she was so eager to go because she wanted to avoid answering more of my questions. I wished that I’d gotten more information out of her, but at least I didn’t have to worry about something happening to Poppy. She wasn’t missing, she was just laying low.

Or rather, she was avoiding me.

I let out a sigh and turned to find Michael lingering near me. He must have caught the end of my conversation with Summer and wanted to weigh in. It seemed that my love life had become a source of interest for everyone.

“Are you sure you want to keep doing this?” he asked me when I noticed him there. “Do you really want to keep chasing after this woman?”

“What?” Shock flickered through me. Poppy wasn’t just any woman. She was Ben’s sister.

“Don’t get me wrong, I love Poppy like a sister, but aren’t you tired of all this yet? I don’t know. I’m not a negative person, but I’m starting to wonder if you were right all along when you told me and Ben that it was pointless to try to get you guys back together.”

I was shaking my head before he even finished speaking. “No, I was wrong. This week has shown me that I can’t ever give up on her. She’s the only woman I’ve ever wanted. I mean, I tried to move on, to let her find happiness with someone else, but none of the women I met can even compare to her. Poppy is the one, and I’ll never give up on her.”

“Okay,” Michael said, clapping me on the shoulder and nodding. “If you’re sure, then I’m confident you’ll get the girl.”

As he walked off to keep decorating, I watched him go, wishing that I felt the same way. If I was going to call Poppy mine again, I’d have to find her first.