Page 39 of Spotlight on Poppy

"Aren't you sweet, dear. No, why don't you and Poppy go relax."

"Are you sure? I don't mind," said Josh.

"I insist," Gran said, taking the bowl from his hands.

"Do you want to go for a walk?" Poppy asked, trying to extract him from the situation.

"Yeah, that sounds good," he said. He looked over to her with the quintessential Josh smile, friendly and reassuring. Only now it made her feel things she hadn't before. This smile made her feel protective, like she would do anything to keep that smile on his face, and she totally wanted to jump his bones... but that was neither here nor there... just new.

They walked over to the door and Josh opened it for Poppy. As they descended the porch stairs, Josh reached out and took hold of her hand. There was a giddiness there, she felt like she was in high school holding hands with the boy she had a crush on. All of this made her feel so alive.

They walked a while, past the closed store and down to where there were rows upon rows of apple trees. The sun was setting and there was an autumn nip in the air, but she didn’t feel it walking hand in hand with Josh.

"Hopefully, that wasn't too much for you,” Poppy said, breaking the peaceful silence between them.

"No, that was really nice. I didn't grow up with much family. It's nice to be around such a close one.”

"I guess. We’re close and in each other's business all the time..." Poppy said, trying to make a joke.

"It's love and it's nice,” he said with a seriousness in his voice. “It's just me and my sister normally, so I enjoyed that."

Poppy remembered her Gran talking about how things had been different for him because he didn't have much family to fall back on after his mom died. She wanted to know about that. She wanted to know about him.

"So, it's just you and your sister?" she asked, hoping he would share more.

"Yeah, it's been just the two of us for a long time."

"No extended family or anything?" He was quiet as they walked, thoughts churning behind those piercing blue eyes. She didn't want to upset him, but she did want to know him better. She squeezed his hand. "It's okay, you don't have to tell me."

"No, it's okay. I want to tell you. It’s just not something I talk about very often.” Taking a deep breath, he squeezed her hand. “But yeah, it's just me and my sister. I never knew my grandparents, and as you know, my mom died when I was twelve, and my dad left soon after that."

This was new information. Left soon after that? That didn't make any sense, who raised them?

"Your dad left?"

Josh slowly nodded his head. "Yeah, he didn't handle things well when my mom died. He tried to be there for the first year, but he was broken. Then he started drinking, he was never violent or anything, just sad. Then he started disappearing for days at a time, then weeks at a time, then one day he was just gone."

"He was gone? What do you mean?" Poppy asked. How could he have just left?

"Just that. He was gone. When I was fourteen, he left. It has just been me and my sister ever since," he said chewing on his bottom lip.

"But she was a kid too. She was in the same class as Sam. So, she would have been, what, seventeen?"

Josh nodded his head, his mouth pulled tight.

"Who took care of you?" Poppy asked, her heart starting to ache for him.

"We took care of ourselves. Lexi turned eighteen a few months after he left, and Grace Peterson helped her get custody of me and gave her a good job at the inn. I got a job at Fipps Market and finished school."

Poppy stopped and looked up at him. She saw him in a way she had never seen him before. Josh Turner was this happy-go-lucky guy with a kind word to say about everyone, always willing to go the extra mile guy. That idea of who he was did not go along with what he had just shared. He had no business being as kind and wonderful as he was with a story like that.

"I'm so sorry. I had no idea."

"No one did, besides Grace of course. I mean, I think some people suspected, which is why Mr. Fipps at the grocery store hired me and gave us a discount on food. Mena at the diner always fed us on the house. The town really looked out for us, but we never told anyone. I think most people just thought he was a drunk and not that he had totally left. So, we had to look out for each other, but really Lexi took care of me."

Poppy couldn't help herself. She wrapped her arms around his waist and hugged him. He slid his arms around her and rested his head against hers. He took a deep breath and snuggled into her.

"Thank you for sharing that, you have no business being as well adjusted as you are."

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