Page 12 of A Dream for Daphne

“How about you go out and find a guy,” Poppy said, twirling her hips some. “That’s something for you to do.”

She’d heard all about this sister’s crazy antics. She’d met all the Bloom sisters when they hit her with a surprise interview back in March on her visit.

Poppy’s younger sister, Rose, was pregnant at the same time. They had a shared a nanny for Holly and Rose’s son, Colin.

Julie, the previous nanny, wasn’t keen on watching four kids and they realized they needed another. They said Daphne all but fell into their lap.

It was nice to hear that. She wasn’t sure anything good in her life came in the form of a surprise.

“Maybe I’ll think about it at some point. I need to get into a routine. I’m not big on going out alone.”

No way she was admitting that she did that less than two weeks ago.

And look what she did?!

“It’s hard,” Poppy said. “And you never know in this day and age. There are dating apps if you’re into those things.”

“Been there and done that,” she said. “No, thank you. Do you know the creeps on those things? Maybe one out of twenty is someone somewhat normal and you have to be lucky to hit it off with that one person.”

“I’ve never been a fan of them either,” Poppy said. “Guess having some history with Reese helped me.”

“I could never get her out of my mind,” Reese said, walking into the room with Tatum in his arms. “I came back for her, and boy, did she make me work at it.”

Poppy grinned and reached for her son. “You needed to work for it. You broke my heart. It’s hard to come back from that.”

Reese pulled his wife closer and gave her a big kiss on the lips, his hand on her lower back, almost Poppy’s ass.

“But I did,” Reese said. “Best day of my life when you agreed to be my wife.”

“Has anyone told you two that you’re kind of gross? In a lovely way, but still gross.”

“I tell Poppy that all the time, but my wife likes the romance of it. Keeps her happy.”

“Happy wife, happy life,” Poppy said. “Hey there, little man. You slept late.”

Tatum was wiggling around as if he was ready for his breakfast.

“I changed his diaper, but he wants food,” Reese said.

“I’ll do it,” Daphne said, reaching for the baby. “I know you’ve got to get to work, Poppy.”

“If you don’t mind,” Poppy said. “I appreciate it.”

“That is what you pay me for,” she said. “Finish getting ready and I’ll take care of Tatum. Is Holly still sleeping?”

Reese put the monitor on the table. “She is. You wore her out yesterday. I can’t tell you how much I appreciate you letting her get that energy out. It’s good for her and she’s having a blast. I just couldn’t do it while I was working.”

“No problem,” she said. “I’m glad it’s working out so well. I’ve got a day planned with Holly outside too.”

The praise felt like a warm weighted blanket on an ice-cold rainy day and she wanted to snuggle into some more of it.

But she wouldn’t let them know that she was so eager for nice words in her life.

That sounded too pathetic even to her ears.

What was more pathetic was the fact that she’d been living in this area for two months and hadn’t had one negative thing said to her or about her when back home it was multiple times a day. If not at work, then at home.

Regardless of what anyone said, you don’t always get thick skin, just a ton of bruises.

---