Chapter 7
Chapter Seven
PRESLEY
“Why are they always out of the good kind?” Poppy whines.
I shake my head. “I don’t know, baby. Are you sure you don’t want the yellow box?”
Her nose turns up in disgust. “It’s too cheesy.”
“Then we can’t have mac and cheese for dinner tonight.”
“Why can’t Mr. Moore get me the blue kind?”
I smile down at her. “Even for his favorite customer, I don’t think he can.”
“Can we have pizza then?”
“No. We can’t have pizza. How about I make chicken and corn for us?”
I get the same look. Disgust. “I don’t like corn. It’s too crunchy.”
“Grilled cheese?”
Another shake of her head. “You burned it last time.”
“That was one time,” I scoff. “You like grilled cheese.”
“Do we have ketchup in case you burn it?”
“Yes. We have ketchup.”
“Fine. But can I have chips with it too?”
“Sure. Let’s get more bread.”
Steering the cart, we leave the pasta aisle and head to the bread and come to a dead stop.
Kade.
Shit. There he is, standing at the end of the aisle. Unassuming in a white T-shirt, jeans, and a pair of cowboy boots. I know Pinecrest is a small town, but why do I keep running into him?
He spots us, and before he can turn and run, Poppy pipes up. “Can I go say hi to him, Mom?”
What am I supposed to say to her? He’s a stranger? She can’t talk to him because I don’t know what to say to him?
I give a small nod and she goes running up to him.
“Hi, Kade.”
He kneels down to her level. “Hi, Poppy. What are you up to?”
“Shopping with Mom.”
“Oh, yeah? Getting anything good?”
“They don’t have the macaroni I like.”
“That’s too bad.”
“Mom is going to make us grilled cheese.”
“Do you like it with ketchup?” he asks. “I like it with ketchup, but people think that’s gross.”
“I love it with ketchup!” Poppy beams at him. “Especially when Mom burns it.”
“Hey! I burned it once.”
“It was yucky,” Poppy whispers out of the corner of her mouth.
Kade’s eyes flit between the two of us, like he’s studying us.
“Ketchup always helps,” he finally says, steeling his face before standing. He nods in my direction. “Presley.”
“Kade.”
My voice is soft, still not sure how to interact with him.
“Enjoy your night.” He tips his head before walking down the aisle and leaving.
“He’s nice,” Poppy says, grabbing a corner of the cart and pulling it after her.
“Yeah.”
It’s still weird seeing her interact with Kade.
Her father.
Now that he’s in town, he deserves to know. Needs to know. He left town and I had no way of getting ahold of him. Even his mom and sister shut me out. When Poppy came along, everyone thought she was Paul’s, and I went with it. No sense in saying anything when Kade was gone and never coming back.
The man can barely stand to look at me, so how in the world am I going to tell him that Poppy is his?
Pulling out my phone, I text the girls.
Presley
Any chance you guys are free to come over tonight for dinner and wine?
Joey
I am. My parents have Max for a sleepover
Rylee
Me too
Georgia
Same
Georgia
Everything okay?
I need to talk about Kade
Joey
I’ve been waiting for this
We bumped into him at the store
Rylee
How awkward was that?
I’ll tell you over grilled cheese
Joey
I’ll bring the wine
Georgia
I have a feeling we might need vodka for this
Yeah…
Rylee
We’ll meet you at your place
“Your aunts are going to come over for dinner tonight,” I tell Poppy.
“But it’s a school night,” she says matter-of-factly.
“It’s okay. Moms are allowed to have people over on school nights.” I wink at her.
Grabbing our favorite cookies, I load up on the rest of the essentials for the week. Nothing fancy since Poppy is so picky, but by the time we check out and head home, the girls are already there.
“Hey, Pop,” Rylee calls out.
Poppy goes running to her, her bag with the bread bumping against her leg. “Hi, Aunt Rylee.”
She gets scooped up into a big hug as I follow them up the stairs.
“You doing okay?” Georgia asks.
“Not really.”
I haven’t been okay for a while now. Since I walked out on my husband. Since my dad died.
And the worst of it? Seeing Kade come back and look at me like I’m a stranger.
It’s a knife to the heart.
Digging out my keys, I unlock the door to our tiny apartment and shoulder it open. A far cry from the house I shared with Paul, but it’s mine.
Paintings of Poppy’s paper the drab, beige walls. An old couch I picked up on sale takes up most of the living room, and a kitchen table sits right behind it. The kitchen is small with old appliances, with a cut out window that lets me watch Poppy while cooking.
Now, it’s Joey and Poppy emptying the groceries as Rylee pushes me into a chair.
“What’s for dinner?” Joey asks Poppy as the two of them start to unpack the groceries.
“Grilled cheese.”
“Want me to help?” she asks. “I’m really good at grilled cheese.”
“Yes.” Poppy grins at her before giggling. “Mom burns it.”
“Stop calling me out, Poppy!” I say, injecting a lightness to my voice that I don’t feel.
“I’ll pour us some wine,” Rylee says.
“Make mine a big glass,” I say, shaking my head. “I still can’t believe he inherited the ranch.”
After hearing the news from Georgia and Joey, my jaw dropped. I shouldn’t have been surprised. Verne loved Kade. He was always there for him, helping out after school and during the summer while he was home on break from college.
Rylee brings the bottle and four glasses to the table, pouring me a healthy serving. I don’t waste a second and drink down a gulp.
“People seem to like him,” Georgia says.
“He’s a likable guy,” I reply. “We all liked him.”
“Yeah, some of us even loved him,” Rylee whispers.
“Who are you talking about?” Poppy asks, head bobbing above the counter.
“No one you know,” I say.
She shrugs a shoulder and goes back to helping Joey.
“How am I supposed to tell Kade that he’s…well, you know?”
I mouth her dad when Poppy isn’t looking.
“In your defense,” Joey starts, “he left and never came back.”
“But now that he’s back, how do I even start that conversation?”
These girls are the only ones that know Poppy is Kade’s. Well, them and Paul. But to Paul’s credit, he took care of Poppy like she was his. For the most part.
“Do you think he knows?” Georgia asks.
“How would he?” I ask. “She looks just like me.”
“Here’s your sandwich.” Poppy brings a plate with a sandwich, cut diagonally down the middle, with a blob of ketchup next to it.
“Thanks, baby.” I kiss her head as she goes back into the kitchen. “You’re a good chef.”
“Aunt Joey knows what she’s doing.”
Being a single mom, if she didn’t cook, she’d spend all her money on eating out. Not what you want to do with a three-year-old at home. At least Max is less picky than Poppy.
“Maybe you can come out to the ranch one day and talk to him,” Georgia suggests, pulling my attention back to the matter at hand.
“Might be kind of hard when he’s said one word to me since coming back.”
“Want me to handcuff him to his desk?” Georgia laughs. “That’ll get him to listen.”
I roll my eyes, taking another sip of wine. “Not exactly how I plan on that conversation going.”
“But it would mean you get to talk to him,” Rylee says. “He can’t run out on you if he’s locked up.”
“Mom, can I watch a movie during dinner?” Poppy asks.
“Sure.”
So much for limiting TV time today.
But my thoughts are too scrambled to worry about it as she settles into her spot on the couch and fires up the screen for her favorite.
I dig into my own dinner. Damn, Joey really does make a good grilled cheese.
The background noise of the movie lets us have our own conversation. I voice my biggest worry.
“What if Kade hates me and he takes it out on Poppy?”
“Do you really think he would do that?” Joey asks, tying her dark hair up before tearing a bite off her sandwich.
I shrug a shoulder. “I don’t know. Kade isn’t the same person as he was.”
I know nothing about his life. All I know is he took over the ranch and that’s it. Hell, he knows nothing about my life. Well, except for the fact that I have Poppy and work at the diner.
“Kade wouldn’t do that. If he has any ounce of love for you—at any point in his life—he wouldn’t hurt you by hurting Poppy,” Georgia says.
I blow out a breath. “Maybe the next time I see him, I can talk to him and see if we can set a time to have another talk.”
“A talk to talk,” Joey snickers. “Easy.”
Easy.
I hope it’ll be easy. Because nothing about Kade these last few days has been easy, from seeing him to talking with him at the store. I didn’t realize that when he left, I built a wall up around my heart to keep him out.
Will I be able to keep him out? Better yet, will I be able to keep my heart intact?
I survived Kade leaving once. I don’t know if I can do it again.