Page 54 of Spotlight on Poppy

"It's a surprise. Patience, princess," he said as he dropped a kiss on her lips.

Mitch Alsup opened the front door. He was a Mystic Falls local and was also the only realtor in town.

"Hello Josh. Poppy, what a pleasant surprise." He reached out and gave Josh a firm handshake. "I'm glad you could meet with me on such short notice. I know you’ve been looking for a place, and this one was at the top of your list, and in a delightful turn of events it is going on the market."

"You're kidding," Josh said.

Poppy looked up at Josh, his eyes were big. Was he really thinking about buying the Whitney House? Excitement bubbled inside of her.

"No, but I think we are going to need to move fast. If you want, I got permission to look around so we can have an offer ready to go as soon as the listing is live."

"Yeah, I think that sounds great."

"Ok, well I’ll let you two have a look around, it definitely is a bit of a fixer upper, but it has great bones."

Mitch walked out onto the porch leaving them alone in the big house. She looked around taking it all in. The air was stale, and the carpet and paint were dingy, but it could be a remarkable place. In front of them was a grand staircase to one side, a living room with a huge fireplace and a big bay window, and on the other side a formal dining room. Behind that was a kitchen with appliances from the eighties but there was lots of light and the space was delightful. Poppy could picture herself in here with updated appliances, some marble countertops baking Christmas cookies with a small brood of children.Where on earth did that thought come from?

They walked up the stairs and at the top of the stairs were three smaller bedrooms and then a full bathroom, the last door upstairs was the huge master with a wall full of windows, the natural light was pouring in, and the room had almost a glow to it. Poppy looked at the master bathroom, it seemed to be the most up to date room in the house with a giant soaker tub and a glass stall shower. This place was even more amazing than she thought it would be.

She stopped in the bedroom and looked out the window. It overlooked an amazing backyard. It was all overgrown, but she could see where the flower gardens had been, a little stone path to the cutest little shed in the back and once again an image flooded Poppy's mind.

She looked down in that yard and pictured herself here in this room sitting in a rocking chair rocking a little babe in her arms while she looked out the window at Josh who was pushing this beautiful little girl on the swing, her dark hair flowing with each push, her gorgeous blue eyes, that looked just like Josh's, dancing with laughter. She was experiencing this as if it were real. She could feel it. The peace and tranquility of the moment held her frozen in place. It felt so real.

She had asked for magic, and here it was. She was overwhelmed. Taking a deep breath, she tried to push away the tears that were pooling in her eyes. Josh slipped behind her and wrapped his arms around her. Poppy quickly wiped the renegade tear that had found its way down her cheek and leaned into his embrace.

"This place is really something," she said.

"Yeah, it is."

They just sat there for a moment enjoying each other and looking into the backyard. Poppy turned in his arms, that stayed wrapped around her holding her close to him.

"You’re thinking about buying this place?" she asked.

"Yeah, I’ve been saving up for a place like this for a long time, and if I'm honest, I was saving up for this place, but I never dreamed it would be available after sitting empty for so long."

"It's amazing," Poppy said as she turned to take the space in again.

"Yeah, I'm gonna go find Mitch and talk about the details, you keep looking around." Josh pulled her in, gave her a quick kiss, and left.

Poppy looked around. She couldn’t quite put a name on what she was feeling. In a very real way, she could feel a future in this house. She could feel a future with Josh. She could see the faces of those children in her vision and feel the joy. Yet, she was feeling conflicted. She had lived her whole life trying to get out of this small town. Trying and failing, but trying to get somewhere else, anywhere else and make a name for herself. Yet here she was still living at home. Her life was on pause and she could never figure out why. It was almost like her life was waiting for her to accept this to begin, but something about that didn't sit right with Poppy.

Here she was sitting at this fork in the road. She looked down one and saw a simple life but a happy life. But on the other side was an adventure and making something of herself for herself. That was the appeal of someone like Damien St. Cloud. Yes, she knew now he was a jerk, but he represented something that Poppy had planned on her entire life. Everyone knew Poppy was just biding her time until she left. She had just decided after the whole debacle with Damien that she was going to take steps to break out on her own, but something still kept her rooted here. Maybe it was time to stop fighting it.

There was a small voice in the back of her mind coming into focus. Her best friend had lived in the city most of her life. Hannah would have helped her, but she never left. She likes to say it was out of family obligation. The business and the death of her grandfather had brought her back and anchored her here, but maybe it was something else. Something she wasn’t aware of until this moment.

What should she do? It was all starting to sink in. The magic was telling her, she could feel herself falling in love with Josh, she could see an amazing life here, but so much of her identity was tied up in leaving this town and doing something bigger. Would she be letting herself down if she didn't explore that, and if she did would she ever forgive herself for losing Josh and what this life had to offer her?

She shook the feeling and turned to find Josh, maybe this existential crisis she was on the brink of was completely unwarranted. She and Josh had been dating for a few weeks, given things were going at a rapid pace, as things tend to do when you start dating someone who you have known for your entire life, but maybe Josh wasn't quite at the same place as she was. Maybe.

She walked down as Mitch and Josh were shaking hands again. "I think that's a solid offer. I’ll get the paperwork ready, and we’ll be sure to get it in the minute the listing goes live."

"Thank you, this place is incredible," Josh said.

"It really is, you two will be very happy here,” Mitch said with a smile to Poppy. She smiled back and descended the last couple of steps.

Mitch held the front door open as Poppy and Josh left. He took her hand as they quietly walked away from the house and made their way to Josh’s SUV a few blocks away. Her mind was going a million miles an hour in her head. When they got there, Josh opened the door for Poppy, and she got in. She buckled herself in as he got in himself, her mind still reeling.

"So, what did you think?" he turned to ask her.

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