Chapter 6
WALKER
A knock awakens me from a dead sleep. I blink up at the ceiling, disoriented for a second.
I’m late for morning chores. I can’t remember the last time I slept in.
Then I remember where I am and why I’m lying on the floor of Naudi’s apartment.
That explains the backache. The air mattress was a total fail.
The knock comes again. I roll over and push to my feet, anxious to get whoever is at the door to be quiet and not wake Naudi. We were up talking until late in the night… or early in the morning depending on how you look at it.
On the way to the door, I run a hand over my face and through my hair. By the light coming through the window, it can’t be much past seven. Too early for someone to be visiting.
I’m really not surprised when I open the door and find Poppy Sullivan standing there in a dress that would have been right at home in the 1950s. I’ve been in the bookstore many times, and she always looks like a blast from the past.
“Morning,” she greets me, peering past me into the apartment.
“Morning.”
“I heard what happened. I didn’t want to call last night because I didn’t want to disturb Naudi if she was sleeping. I need to know how she is before I open the stores.”
“She’s okay. Still sore. She’s still sleeping.”
“Poppy?”
We both turn. Naudi has one hand braced against the wall with the other arm wrapped around her ribs. Her hair is falling over one shoulder and she looks…rough. There simply isn’t another word for it.
“Naudi!”
Poppy moves fast, brushing past me without hesitation and going straight to her.
“Hey, hey, what are you doing out of bed?” Poppy chides, slipping an arm around her and guiding her toward the couch. Which should have been my job.
Naudi gives her a weak smile. “Good morning to you too.”
“You look terrible,” Poppy says, not unkindly, just being honest.
I guess best friends tell the truth. My sisters sure do. They never sugarcoat anything.
“I feel terrible.”
“Sit,” Poppy insists, easing her down onto the couch like she might fall apart if handled wrong.
I step back, giving them room, but stay close enough in case she needs anything. I check the time and see it’s two hours until she can have another pain pill.
I go into the kitchen, put coffee on, and start breakfast. Just simple bacon, eggs, and toast. My attention is on the food, but my ears are attuned to the conversation going on in the next room.
“I don’t know what to ask about first, your sister showing up at your shop or Walker running over you with his truck.”
“He didn’t run over me,” Naudi cuts in. “He was going very slow. I toppled in front of him and, well, it was more like I fell on his truck.”
I snort and both women turn to me. I hold up my hand. “I hit her. There was no running over.”
My eyes connect with Naudi, and we both share a smile. Poppy must pick up on it, and her head begins swiveling like she’s at a tennis match between the two of us.
“Hmmm. Why didn’t you call me? I didn’t even hear about it until late last night. The Island gossip train failed. Why didn’t you come stay with me? Or do I need to ask if there’s something going on between you two?”
Again, Naudi’s gaze finds mine, silently asking if we should tell her friend and I nod. We’re running out of time if her parents are coming in a few days.
“There is, but not like you’re thinking. In order to explain, I need to go back to the beginning. Yesterday, my sister walked into the shop.”
“The sister you haven’t seen or talked to in ten years?”
“Yes. I only have one sister. Arya.”
I scramble the eggs and put them on to fry while Naudi explains about our current situation. The eggs sizzle when they hit the pan, and I can’t hear Naudi’s words, but I catch back up when Poppy says, “So she can’t get married until you do? That’s preposterous!”
“That may be, but it’s the way of my family. She was disappointed and I hated being the one to cause her such sadness. I was walking her back to the ferry when…”
I duck into the fridge to grab some jam and butter to go with the toast and when I set it on the counter, she’s already to the hospital part.
“He actually said he was your fiancé?
As if I’d had a choice. And I didn’t say it. The nurse did. I just agreed.
“He did, and now there is a problem. My sister took hold of the fiancé part and, well, my parents are coming in at the end of the week to meet my intended.”
“What?”
“Yeah. My mom called and guess what? They are proud of me. Not for my accomplishments. Not for owning my own store with my own designs. No, they are proud of me for bagging a fiancé.”
That’s all kinds of wrong in my book. I can’t imagine a father disowning his daughter. Naudi has been alone for a long time. That doesn’t sit well with me. Not sure I’m going to get along with the man, but for Naudi’s sake, I’ll do my best.
I drain the bacon and fix three plates. The toast pops up, and I spread butter on the slices and pour three glasses of orange juice. I’m not sure how the girls like their coffee, but Naudi has some of that French Vanilla creamer crap so I fix mine black and theirs with the fake flavored milk.
I set their plates and drinks down on the small table in front of the couch.
“Wow, Naudi, he’s not only hot, but he cooks too? I’d say you picked a pretty good fiancé.”
“Poppy. Don’t embarrass him. Thank you, Walker. This looks delicious. I wish I felt like eating it.”
“You need to eat. You can’t heal on an empty stomach.” I hand her the plate so she has no excuse for not eating.
Again, I feel Poppy’s eyes boring into me. I escape back to the kitchen area and sit at the tiny table, leaving them to eat and talk.
I try not to listen in, but there’s not that much space between them and me.
“So let me see if I have this straight. You are going to be staying at Walker’s farm. Your parents are coming in next week and you two are fake engaged.”
“Yes, that sums my sins up nicely. Lying to my parents so my sister can marry the man of her dreams.”
“After the way they treated you, I’m okay with lying to them. I’ll go ahead and talk to our friends and let them in on the situation. Close circle only. No gossip. No guessing. We’ll control the narrative.”
“Oh, no. The lie is spreading. This is so wrong.”
“No more wrong than disowning your daughter. Now I don’t want you to worry about the shop. I called in Jen and she’s okay with coming in fulltime until you’re back on your feet.”
I finish eating while they talk shop. When I collect their plates, I notice both are empty. I stick them in the sink and make quick work of washing them and putting the kitchen back to rights.
After I wipe down the countertop, I grab my phone. “I’m going to step out and give you two some privacy.”
Naudi glances at me and nods. “Okay. Thanks again for breakfast.”
As I close the door, I hear them both giggle like schoolgirls. What is that about?
The morning air is cool, carrying that early stillness the island has before things really get moving. I lean against the railing and call my dad. He answers on the first ring.
“Hey, son. How is Naudi today?”
“She’s as good as you’d expect. Her friend Poppy is over. Listen, I need you to get a couple of guest rooms ready.”
“Rooms?”
“Yeah, about that. Her parents are on their way to meet the man she’s gonna marry. They want to stay with Naudi and her place isn’t very big. I offered the farm. So two rooms. One for Naudi and one for her parents.”
“And that man is you?”
“Well, they think it’s me. Like you said last night, we’re not really engaged, but we’re going to let the lie ride for now so her sister can get married.”
“That’s very big of you to go along with that. When will they be here?”
“Sometime next week. I’m hoping I can get Naudi to move in today. I had to sleep on her floor last night. The air mattress leaked.”
“I knew there was a reason we’d stored it in the barn. I’ll get the rooms ready. We’ll make it work.”
I let out a breath. “Thanks, Dad.”
“Walker?”
“Yeah?”
“You sure you know what you’re doing?”
I look back at the door. I can see through the glass to the woman inside who has somehow turned my life sideways in less than twenty-four hours.
She’s laughing at something Poppy said. I’ve never seen that easy, carefree woman before, and I want to meet her.
Stranger still, I want to get to know her.
“No,” I answer honestly. “Not really.”
He huffs out a laugh. “Good. Wouldn’t want you getting too confident now.”
The call ends a second later. I lower the phone and stand there for a moment. Then I head back inside because, ready or not, things are already moving ahead.
The truck hums low as I pull out of the alley. There is only one main road that runs the length of the island going north to south. West island is where the ferry and businesses are located. East end is the residential section. The farm is somewhere in the middle.
Being on an island, the farm isn’t on the same scale as a mainland farm. I suppose by island standards it’s considered large at only twenty acres. Only the dairy farm, our neighbors, has more acreage.
Naudi leans back carefully against the seat, one arm wrapped protectively around her ribs, the other resting in her lap. She hasn’t said much since we left. She didn’t want to come, but she agreed because she knows it’s the right thing to do.
I’d cleaned her fridge out of all the things that could spoil, and I’d helped her pack a bag which had been all kinds of funny and weird. The silly woman didn’t want me to see her underwear. She’d sneaked it into the suitcase at the last minute and slammed the lid closed.
I’ve seen women’s underwear before. I have sisters, and they were forever leaving it to dry in the bathroom. That was one of the reasons my parents had added bathrooms to the house. And I’d been fortunate to see other not-related-to-me women’s underwear over the years.
“I’m so sorry I’ve disrupted your life so much.”