Johnny
While Poppy slept the next morning, I did something that maybe she wouldn’t like…but I knew I couldn’t talk her into letting me take the blame.
So I called Sophie Bloom.
I woke at the crack of dawn, left Poppy in bed looking like a goddamn angel, and slipped out to get dressed. Broke my routine—didn’t make breakfast yet, didn’t work out. It made my brain itch, but I needed to do this more than I needed to feel comfortable.
The phone rang as I stepped out into the snow, which was already melting. I could hear the lake moving through the woods…birds singing in the trees.
She picked up on the second ring.
“Johnny.”
I exhaled a long breath. I’d expected formality, maybe a little anger…but she sounded more—expectant, like she knew I would call.
“Hi Sophie,” I said. “Appreciate you picking up.”
“Of course I was going to pick up,” she said. “You’re my client.”
I leaned against the porch railing and looked out at the snow. It was still coming down, mostly shaking out of the trees as squirrels ran from branch to branch. “Then you know why I’m calling.”
“I have a sense,” she said. “But I’d like to hear it in your words.”
“Where should I start?”
“From the very beginning.”
Okay…
I cleared my throat.
“Remember my first appointment?” I asked.
She seemed surprised by that, but she played along. “Two years ago,” she said. “You were nervous.”
“Yup. I got there an hour early.”
“Mmhm.”
“I was—hadn’t been in a relationship for close to six years, and none of those had been good.
Been in a lot of therapy. I had Elle and Kim and the boys but…
well, damn near nobody else.” I paused. “Then—this girl at the front desk was pretty, of course I noticed, but there was more. She figured I was nervous, told me we could go sit in the kitchen instead if that felt more personable. Ended up sitting back there and having some tea she concocted from scratch with a bunch of herbs off the shelf and it was like…I could have sworn it was a love potion. I was smitten. Knew it was inappropriate, she was way too young and I was literally at that office to get matched up with somebody else, but she’d already made a place for herself and she wasn’t going anywhere. ”
I sighed.
“Guess she does that with everyone, huh? Because she’s kind.”
Sophie laughed under her breath. “Nope…just you.”
I stopped.
"What?"
"She's never done that with a client before," Sophie said. "I noticed it that day and I filed it away." A pause. "I should have paid more attention to what I was filing."
I didn't know what to do with that, so I just stood there in the snow for a second.
“It just got worse,” I finally continued.
“Every appointment—when you gave me new prospects, I was always picturing her without realizing it. I got to looking forward to the appointments themselves, getting there early because I wanted to talk to her. Hoped we could go back to that kitchen and have tea again, but she always stayed perfectly professional after that first time.”
“Because she was starting to have feelings for you, too.”
“She was?”
“I don’t think this has ever not been mutual.” Sophie sighed.
"Sophie," I said. "I need you to know that I never pushed her. The moment she showed up at that coffee shop I could have shut it down. I didn't. That's on me."
"Johnny." Her voice was gentle. "You're both adults. You're not actually my client in any traditional sense—you're a man who came to me wanting a family and I spent two years not finding you one." A beat. "Turns out I had already found you one. I just wasn't looking in the right place.”
I exhaled.
"Is she okay?" Sophie asked. "Poppy."
"She's good," I said.
She sounded a little concerned with her next question—or, inference, I guess. “She’s with you right now.”
“Sleeping,” I said. “I didn’t tell her I was reaching out to you.”
“Still in Chicago?”
“No, we’re at my place in Michigan. Came up here right after work on Tuesday.”
“You’ve never taken anyone I found for you up to the distillery.”
“Well, she’s different.”
She paused—long enough that I could hear a voice in the doorway, a quick exchange, then Sophie typing.
“I’m taking a look at your profile,” she murmured.
“Family…stability. Long-term partnership. You were very clear about what you wanted.” The keyboard again.
“Jasper gave me access to Poppy’s as well and…
god, I was an idiot not to see it. At the very least I should have been transparent with you both about what I was seeing, but I thought—obviously I haven’t had to deal with this before. ”
"It's not your fault," I said. "You had rules for a reason."
"I did," she said. "I do. But…rules are supposed to serve people, not the other way around.
" She sounded like she was talking to herself as much as to me.
"I built this agency because I believe people deserve to find each other.
And I had two people in my building for two years who—" She stopped. "Anyway."
I let her think and form her next thought. I was sure she was still working it out.
"Fast doesn't scare me," she said, getting back to herself. "I've been doing this long enough to know that some people just know. The ones who've done the work—they don't need a year to figure it out." A pause. "You've done the work, Johnny."
"So has she," I said.
"I know," Sophie said. "That's why I hired her." Another pause. "Jasper was at my door at six this morning."
I laughed. "Of course he was."
"He told me everything. Took full responsibility. You're the second person trying to fall on a sword for her before she's even awake."
"She's going to be furious," I said.
"Absolutely," Sophie agreed. "With both of you.
" I could hear the smile in it. "Tell her to come see me Monday.
We'll figure out what this looks like going forward.
There are some things we'll need to address…
conflict of interest, her role while you're still technically a client—but I'm not going to lose her over this. "
I exhaled slowly.
"Thank you, Sophie."
"Take care of her," she said simply.
"That's the plan," I said. "For the rest of my life, if she'll have me."
A moment. Sophie processing all of it, when it all felt perfectly ordinary to me, like the only thing in the world that had ever made sense.
"She'll have you," Sophie said. "I ran the numbers."