Page 9 of Spotlight on Poppy

"Well, Josh Turner," she said knowingly. "I expect I will be seeing ye around. Ye may call me Bridget."

"Nice to meet you, Bridget."

He gave one last look at the table he brought in and gave it a gentle nudge. “Your table seems to have a loose leg.” On closer inspection he could see the leg had been fixed, but not well. “I can get this fixed for you if you want. I think it just needs a new leg.”

“Oh, don’t trouble yerself, lad.”

“No trouble at all, consider it a welcome to town. I’ll get it in a couple days.”

“Well thank ye very much,” she said.

“It’s my pleasure ma’am. I’ll see you later.”

Bridget gave him a smile and Josh turned and left. As he walked to car, he couldn't stop thinking about the woman. He couldn't help feeling like there was more to her than meets the eye. He was definitely going to keep an eye on her, she seemed like someone who could shake things up around here.

Josh’s shouldersand arms felt heavy after spending most of the day sanding. He was ready to call it quits for the day and head home to take a nice hot shower before rehearsal. Cleaning up his tools and heading in to find his sister to say goodbye, he found her behind the front desk.

"Hey Lexi, I'm taking off. I’ll be back tomorrow to finish it up."

"That sounds good. I’ll be home probably around ten."

"Working both shifts again?" he asked.

"Yeah, with Brandy out on maternity leave we are trying to make it work."

His sister was quite possibly the hardest worker he had ever known. He worried about the toll it would take on her, she had been working full time since she was sixteen. It did pay off last year when she got the promotion to manager of the inn, but she worked hard for it. He tried to lighten her load where he could.

"Okay, I’ll bring you some dinner when I head back in town for rehearsal tonight," he said.

"How is the play going? I haven't really had a chance to ask you about it. I know that Damien St. Cloud is here for a few weeks. How’s that?" she asked.

Josh sighed and fought the eye roll. Damien St. Cloud. Where to even begin? Josh didn't like the guy, and Josh liked everybody.

"He's... something."

"You don't like him?" she asked. She smiled at him, already knowing the answer.

"I didn't say that."

"You didn't need to. I get it. He keeps asking for turn down service. He actually snapped his fingers at Aggie while she was cleaning his room. Who does that?"

"Damien St. Cloud does that," he said.

Josh was normally a happy-go-lucky sunny kind of guy, but that man was a dark cloud hanging over Josh’s head. Maybe it was him, or maybe it was because he had interrupted something that felt like an important moment between him and Poppy. He thought something was finally happening between them after all this time, and now nothing. Josh was ready for him to leave. The show went up next week and he would be gone, and that couldn't happen soon enough.

CHAPTER6

Josh

Josh pulled the theater door open. He was tired from the day, but he was excited to see Poppy. There was still a small part of him that hoped they could get back to that moment they had before Damien St. Cloud had arrived. Josh had felt the pull to her his entire life, but in that moment, that magnetic pull between them had been so palpable it took all of his self-control to not slide his hand into her long sleek hair and kiss her perfectly kissable mouth.

But that glimmer of hope was gone when he walked in and found Poppy. She was sitting down in the front row, leaning close to Damien, her hand rested on his arm and the light she gave off shining directly on Damien St. fucking Cloud. Shoving down his disappointment, he took a breath and put a smile on his face. That familiar jovial Josh smile masked his feelings as he walked down to join the rest of the cast.

His mood continued to sour through the rehearsal. Poppy was giggling and making eyes at Damien all night. Damien seemed to be bolstered by her. He didn't seem to return the interest rather than revel in it. While jealousy was the main emotion coursing through Josh's veins, he was also angry. Poppy deserved someone who would return the energy, not just absorb it.

It didn't sit well with Josh, none of it did.

When rehearsal ended, Josh found Poppy by herself for once this evening. He decided to make his move.

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