Chapter Ten
Poppy gasped when she saw Neil’s golden eyes in the dark hallway as he peeked into their room. Had Sophie woken him up? Or had her singing been too loud?
It was late. She should have thought about that, but then his blank expression changed, and he smiled at her, which took her completely by surprise.
What surprised her even more was the fact that Neil suddenly looked so very handsome, the way he smiled directly at her.
Heat seeped into her cheeks. If she wasn’t mistaken, this was the first time that he actually smiled at her.
There was a certain softness to him she hadn’t seen before.
She was mostly used to his harsh temper and quick rage.
Poppy’s breath caught in her throat as Neil pulled his hat off his head, combing through his brown curls, then stepped closer to the door and slowly opened it.
“May I?” he asked hesitantly. His voice sounded husky, and Poppy imagined that it was from all the yelling that day. Delegating orders to a whole horde of men couldn’t be easy.
“Sure,” she said as she pulled the blanket higher up to her chin. Sophie stirred next to her, wiping her eyes as she sat up completely, openly staring at Neil, who quietly stepped into the room.
“Is Sophie all right?” he asked, which surprised Poppy yet again. She nodded. Sophie sniffled softly.
“She had a bad dream,” Poppy said quietly. Neil seemed to think for a moment.
“Would you like me to tell you a story?” he asked, but Poppy saw that he was talking to Sophie directly. “So you can go back to sleep?”
Sophie looked back over her shoulder at Poppy, then she nodded at Neil with a shy smile and made herself comfortable, hugging her doll tightly.
Neil smiled openly at her little sister, and Poppy was once again struck by how handsome his face was when he smiled.
His eyes shimmered like molten gold when he seemed so uninhibited, and his face softened as the corners of his eyes crinkled a little.
She swallowed hard, trying to process what was happening here.
Neil looked around, then he pulled the single chair in their room away from the small table closer to the edge of the bed.
Poppy appreciated him keeping a bit of distance between them.
Even though he was officially her husband, they hadn’t yet had any kind of physical contact—besides the rushed kiss at their wedding, which still gave Poppy weird tingles in her stomach.
She couldn’t even imagine what it’d be like if they were actually close and he’d tried to really kiss her. Poppy released a shaky breath, trying to suppress the sudden nervousness that creeped into her bones.
“There once was a young boy,” Neil began, looking directly at Sophie, who stared at him curiously. “He was a little older than you are now, and he had a younger sister. They and their parents lived on a small farm not far from here.”
Neil briefly looked up at Poppy, who followed the story with the same interest Sophie did. She nodded for him to continue, and he smiled softly.
“The family were farmers. They had a lot of crops growing, and from a very young age, the boy worked in the fields a lot with his father. They also had a few animals, like cows and pigs and chickens, but the boy had one favorite one. He had a small donkey named Longear.”
Sophie’s eyes grew wide for a moment, and then she smiled at Neil.
Her little sister loved animal stories. By the looks of it, Sophie had already forgotten about her bad dream, because her chin rested casually in the palm of both of her hands as she listened, although her eyes were droopy.
She was clearly tired. It was close to midnight, after all.
“Longear was the boy’s best friend, and they did everything together. The donkey helped him with his chores, carrying all the corn and cabbages and hay and straw for the other animals. They even liked to go swimming together in a nearby river. Their lives were blissful and happy.”
Poppy saw the way Neil’s face lit up for a moment. He paused, smiling to himself, but then his gaze turned sad. Sophie yawned loudly as she curled up in her spot.
“One day, the boy’s mother got sick. There was an illness that swept through the whole region, and many people got it.” Sophie hugged her doll tightly, but she seemed to drift off to sleep already. Poppy wondered where Neil was going with this story.
“After a few months, the boy and his sister lost both parents to the illness, and the boy had to take care of his younger sister. He was only a boy, just fourteen years old, but suddenly he had to work the farm all by himself. First, they had to sell the cows to survive. Then the pigs and chickens. And in the end, the boy even had to sell his best friend, the donkey. It was hard. Very hard.”
Poppy watched with growing concern how Neil’s face turned more and more devastated. She realized that he wasn’t just telling a bedtime story—he was telling his story.
She couldn’t be sure if he was aware that Sophie had fallen asleep, and at the same time, she wanted to hear the rest of it herself.
This was the very first time that Neil actually spoke to her openly and honestly, although she could smell a whiff of alcohol on his breath, which would explain his suddenly changed attitude.
“There were times when the boy didn’t know if they would survive the winter or if they’d starve to death,” Neil continued quietly.
Then he sighed a deep sigh. “But regardless of all the hardships they had to endure, they pushed through. After a few years, the boy noticed how several farmers changed their professions and turned to horse breeding. That gave the boy an idea. He worked hard and saved as much money as he could while still keeping him and his sister alive. And one day, he bought his first horse.”
Neil’s gaze lingered on Sophie’s sleeping face, and he smiled softly. Then his eyes shot up to Poppy, who had been listening intently for the entire time.
“The boy became one of the most successful horse breeders in the region,” Neil said. “The end,” he added with a shy smile.
Poppy thought that was funny and smiled back at him for a second.
Neil’s golden eyes held her gaze for a little while longer, but then the quiet in the room and the fact that she felt somewhat alone with him in that moment got to her.
His gaze got so intense that she had to avert her eyes. Her cheeks blushed profusely.
“I think I should go now,” he said quietly. He jumped up from his chair, and before she could react, he had already left the room, gently closing the door behind him.
***
When Poppy served up lunch the next day, the overall mood among the men seemed to have improved a lot.
She had been too busy all morning to go out to the paddock and see about the sick horses, but from what she gathered from the multiple conversations, most of the horses were standing, and their health was slowly improving.
She felt a deep sense of relief when she heard that, but what really made her happy were the smiles and compliments she had received from Neil so far.
At first, Poppy was almost certain he was just messing with her, that he was being sarcastic at her breakfast being good.
But then he kept praising her for her hard work, which threw her for a loop.
His positive attitude carried into lunch, and when all the men had left, Neil actually walked back into the kitchen to get something from the storage room, thanking her for the food she had prepared.
Poppy stared at the doorway Neil had walked through, her mouth agape, and she wasn’t sure what to reply to him. As soon as he walked back out holding a handful of carrots and pieces of hardened, stale bread, his face broke out into a smile.
“Is everything all right?” he asked, stopping right there in front of her.
Poppy looked up at him in confusion, but when he raised a single eyebrow, she knew she had to say something.
“I wanted to thank you,” she quickly said. “Uh, for the story from last night. That was very kind of you.”
Neil nodded, but his smile seemed a little embarrassed. “I had a couple of drinks with Paul,” he admitted. “I’m not sure if that story was suitable for a six-year-old girl,” he added. Poppy just shrugged.
“Sophie only heard the good part,” she said reassuringly. “She’s asked me a lot about Longear this morning.” Both shared a shy smile.
“I am glad you told me,” Poppy added quietly, and Neil nodded again.
“I haven’t really been very nice to you,” he suddenly said, which surprised Poppy. “I wasn’t fair to you or Sophie, and I would like to make up for that.”
Poppy was too shocked to answer.
“In fact, once the horses recover from the sickness,” he said with an apologetic expression, “I would like to take you and Sophie into town to get you some new clothes. Ones that fit.” Poppy gasped at that, and she had to blink twice.
“You don’t have to—” she began, but Neil shook his head vehemently.
“I do. You’re my wife,” he stated matter-of-factly. “I should treat you as such. You and Sophie are both my responsibility now, and I’ve noticed that you didn’t take very many clothes to come here.”
Poppy blushed again as she averted her gaze, embarrassed. She had hoped that he wouldn’t notice until she had the time to sew some new dresses, but they had all been so busy, Poppy hadn’t had a single second to herself, let alone to sew a dress.
“I want to take you to the store so you can get what you need,” Neil said, and it sounded sincere. When Poppy looked back up and into his eyes, there wasn’t an ounce of dishonesty in his gaze.
“I don’t really know what you women buy,” he admitted, “so I want you to choose for yourself, everything you need, and whatever you want for yourself and Sophie.”
Poppy was so overwhelmed, the gesture touched her so deeply that her eyes filled with tears. She quickly turned to the side to blink them away before she tried to swallow the sudden lump in her throat. This side of Neil was so unexpected. It made her nervous, but in a good way.
“You don’t have to do that,” she said very quietly, but Neil just shook his head again. Then he smiled at her with the warmest smile.
“I do,” he said. “I want to.”