Chapter 28
“I’m going to tell him that it’s not what I want anymore,” Poppy said, standing in front of Jack’s office building with Kiki and Opal.
Jack had called her yesterday to offer her her own television show. But she’d had enough reality television to last her a lifetime.
“You’ve still got your chicken wings on, I see,” Kiki said.
“First off, I’m not being a chicken, my heart is literally shredded. I can’t even think about taking on my own network show. Which is why I never want to do one of these things again. If I can’t control the narrative, and I can’t control who I’m working with, I’ll never know how it’s going to end.”
“Oh, sweetie, you can’t bring everything back to your childhood.”
“This isn’t about my childhood. I tried something else, and once again, I couldn’t control the narrative and look at me now.
” She pointed to her face to highlight her puffy eyes and red nose.
“I can’t go back to being that brokenhearted little girl.
I can’t do this to myself again. My heart barely made it through the first time.
I’m not sure it’s going to make it through this time.
So I’m going to go back to flipping houses. ”
“Don’t let me ruin everything you’ve worked so hard for,” Opal said, taking her hand. “I’m sorry for deceiving you.”
“I know, Auntie, you just can’t help yourself, but I love you. Even though I’m really, really mad at you right now, I still love you.”
“And I love you, which is why I don’t want you to give up on your dream.”
“My dream is to restore houses and tell people’s stories,” Poppy said.
“That was your dream,” Opal told her. “But you’re meant to tell your stories to a wider audience. Don’t let what I did stop you. Don’t let your emotions confuse you into underselling your dream.”
“Honestly, Auntie, I don’t know what my dream is anymore. I thought I’d found it, but once again I was left with a broken heart.”
“The best way for your heart to heal is to expand your dreams,” Opal said.
“Fight for what you want,” Kiki said. “Be a queen, not a princess.”
Poppy’s eyes began to burn. “I’m tired of fighting. I think it’s time to just accept the life I have and be happy with it.”
Opal took Poppy’s hand between her frail ones. “Before you make your decision, just hear them out. Go in there with an open mind and heart. I promise you that it will never steer you wrong.”
Poppy didn’t know about that. She’d gone with her heart and had it run over by a Mack truck. She wasn’t all that willing to go there again just yet. But she’d take the meeting because Jack had been so adamant that she hear him out. He’d also said he wanted to apologize in person.
She didn’t want his apology. She wanted to turn the clock back and do things differently. And that meant being true to herself and trusting her intuition. She should have told Decker the moment she suspected something was up. That was on her. But walking away?
She didn’t think she’d ever get over that.
“I’ll try,” she said and gave Opal a kiss on the cheek, then strode through the door and started the walk down the long hallway to Jack’s office.
Just to think that a few months ago she’d walked this same hallway and thought her dreams had finally come true.
And there she was now afraid to dream for fear of disappointment.
She knocked at the door.
“Come in,” a male voice said.
Poppy opened the door and her heart sank to her toes.
Because there, sitting in Jack’s chair, wearing a suit and tie and looking like the cover for GQ was Decker.
The moment she set eyes on him her heart pounded frantically, and her chest constricted.
It had only been a week, but it felt like an eternity since she’d seen him.
Looking at him, all dressed up with a nervous smile on his face, made her wish for things that weren’t good for her. Like running into his arms and telling him she loved him. But she wouldn’t do that because she’d learned her lesson. Once a walker, always a walker.
But Steve had come back, her heart whispered. They hadn’t talked since that day on the curb, but they had passed a few texts. It was going to take a long while for her to forgive him and be able to trust him. But they were taking it one baby step at a time.
“This isn’t happening.” She turned to leave.
“Don’t go,” Decker said with so much desperation in his voice that she turned back around. “I needed to call a board meeting, and this was the only way I knew how to get you here. Just hear me out.”
“You’ve got thirty seconds,” she said, looking at her watch and remembering when they’d had this same conversation just a little over a month ago.
He stood and came over to her. “I’ve got a proposal for you.”
She looked down the hallway and saw her aunt and Kiki holding hands excitedly.
“Seriously?” she said to the two busybodies.
“You promised you’d listen,” Kiki said.
“Yeah, you promised you’d hear him out!” Opal added.
“I promised I’d hear Jack out!” Poppy looked back at the office and realized that Jack wasn’t even there. There were no producers or showrunners, it was just Decker looking like a lifeline. She wanted to grab on to it and hold on tightly, but her heart wouldn’t let her.
“Two things,” he said, coming around the desk toward her. “First of all, I love you. Second, I am so fucking sorry I walked away.”
“You didn’t just walk away, you crushed me. When you talked about doing things for the people you love, I wanted to be included. I had hoped—wished—that I was included in that group. But clearly, I wasn’t.”
“When I was talking about the people I loved, you were included. In fact, I realized last night that you’re more than the love of my life, you feel like the family I lost when my dad passed and my world shattered.
” He took her hands in his and she fought the feelings of love rising to the surface.
“I’ve been so lost at sea, and then that night in the bar happened and it was like my compass pointed straight at you. ”
“Then why didn’t you stay long enough to talk things out? You know my past, know how many times I’ve lost out at love because of a misunderstanding, yet you put me through that again.”
“I know and I am so fucking sorry,” he said, and she could see the sincerity in his eyes.
“I should have stayed, and if I could go back I would have taken you aside and worked things out. I just didn’t want to do it in front of the world.
They’ve been privy to enough of my life, I wanted to keep you to myself.
So when I heard it was a ruse I felt like I’d been duped again. ”
“My aunt is the one who put our relationship in front of the world. Not me.”
“I know that, but my ego didn’t.” He rested his hands on her hips and tugged her closer. “I can never regret anything about the past two months because look, it brought you into my life. I don’t want to lose you.”
Poppy didn’t want to lose him either. She wanted to spend the rest of her life with him by her side.
“What about Vegas?”
“That was the third reason I asked Jack to call you and set up this meeting.”
“You said two reasons. I don’t know if your thirty seconds allows for one more.” He cracked the smallest of smiles, and her heart lit up. “I want to do a show with you.”
This time her heart did a somersault. “What about your brother?”
“Brian and I are working on the concept of compromise. He and Miles are going to do the building part of the show and I’ll come in for the final reveal. That puts me in Vegas for just about a week of filming once a month.”
“That’s great that you worked things out, but I don’t want to be another compromise.”
“Angel, you could never be a compromise. You are my everything. If I’m going to do this, I want to do it with you.
I want to spend the rest of my life traveling around the country, renovating houses, telling the story of the people who lived there and the history of the walls, and I want to do it with you by my side. That’s if you’ll have me.”
“What are you saying?”
“I don’t just want to be your teammate in business, I want to be your teammate in life. And if you give me a second chance, I promise to spend every day earning back your trust and showing you how much I love you.”
Decker whistled and Taters came loping in. He had a big purple bow around his neck. He sat at her feet. “I knew I’d fall for you that first day on the set, if I let myself be open to it. I just went ass-backward about doing it. Move in with me.”
And that’s when it happened. Decker undid the bow and came up holding a house key.
“What’s that?”
“A key to Stark House. It’s yours if you want it.”
Poppy’s hands flew to her mouth and those tears she’d been keeping at bay began to fall. “It’s too much. I can’t let you buy it. If we’re really partners, then I want to pay my own way.”
“How about I buy half the house, and you take a loan out for the second half?” he said, but she could tell he didn’t like it. “What’s your answer?” he asked and the uncertainty in his tone grabbed her by the heart.
“Yes,” she whispered. “Ever since I was a kid, I wondered what it would feel like to be chosen. I never imagined it would feel like this. I want to spend our days demoing and our nights making love.”
“I like the first part,” he said, pulling her close. “But I love the second part.”
He dipped his head down and kissed her like he could kiss her forever. That’s when Poppy decided it was the best board meeting of her life.