Page 129 of A Dream for Daphne

“Not to most people. I had a one-night stand. With Abe. Before I knew who he was.”

Poppy reared back fast, her jaw dropped. “Nooooo. You did?”

“You think horribly of me, don’t you?” she asked. Just great. She shouldn’t have admitted this to her boss.

“God, no,” Poppy said, grinning. “I’m so proud to know you can cut loose like that. I mean, you ended up with Abe anyway. I need to know this. It’s part of why you’re sad. Tell me.”

“I’ve come this far,” she said. “No reason to stop now.”

“That’s right,” Poppy said, almost bouncing in excitement for the information. “Tell me the rest.”

She explained to Poppy how she ended up in the casino. The flirting on both their parts. Then when she left in the middle of the night.

How she’d heard his name but didn’t know who he was, he did the same, then he saw her here.

“See how crazy that is? And it took a lot of work on his part for me to get past my embarrassment over it all.”

“It’s fate,” Poppy said. “I don’t care what you say. It is. But I still don’t understand where the sadness is coming from. People fight and then they make up. Making up is part of the fun.”

“He told me the other time he ran into Ella was right before we met in the casino. Then he mentioned that every time he saw her, it reminded him of what a failure he was. I put it together he went there to get her out of his mind and that I could have been used for that.”

“Oh honey, what did he say when you told him that?”

“He said no. It wasn’t like that. He was lonely like I was and it just happened,” she said. She moved over to tickle Tatum again. She needed a baby smile to help her along.

“Do you believe that?” Poppy asked.

“I do. I mean I believe he was there because he was lonely. I was too. I hadn’t planned on sleeping with anyone. He said he didn’t either. It just happened. But I feel like it only happened with him because he was thinking of her. Like this woman is going to be what I think of in our relationship now. Or what he thinks of. How do you get past that?”

“First by not thinking it,” Poppy said. “Which is easier said than done. My mind would go where yours is too. But I’m going to play devil’s advocate here. He wouldn’t have been there that night if he wasn’t thinking of her. It’s not that he was thinking ofher because he wanted her back. Right? He didn’t say that, did he? I get the impression it’s the last thing he wants.”

“No, I don’t think he does. I never thought it really. I kind of think it was her loss.”

“That’s right. And your gain. So going on that assumption, you should be thanking her. If he hadn’t run into her and she hadn’t smirked at him to rub his face in it, he wouldn’t have felt the need to go out and be around people that night. He wouldn’t have sat next to you and you wouldn’t have started to flirt. You should thank her for being a bitch and turning Abe away from her.”

“I should, but it’s not that easy. I just hated myself for doing that. I accepted it because he made it seem as if he felt the same way I did that night. He made it better, but then it all seemed to get wiped out by that fact last night.”

“Don’t assume that,” Poppy said. “Learn from mistakes I’ve made in my life and in my relationship. Don’t assume anything. Talk to him about it. Deep down Abe is a great guy. But even great guys make mistakes. Let him own up to it and fix it if he has to.”

“I guess,” she said. “I’m just really hurt.”

“And you have every right to be. But so does he in his own right.”

“That’s good advice,” she said. “Thank you. I feel so much better.”

“I’m glad,” Poppy said. “I’m going to head in now, but I’ll be home early. Tell Abe to come to dinner and talk it out. You both need to.”

“I will,” she said.

And hours later when he showed up, she noticed that he’d gone home and showered first. She had lasagna on the stovetop resting. Though the weather was still nice enough to be outside, Abe wasn’t working as long or as late.

“Hi,” he said. “I wasn’t sure when I’d hear from you again.”

“I’m not someone to be mad or even be mad long.”

“I think you need to be,” he said. “I messed up. One thing I’ve learned in life is that you have to get it all out or it just keeps coming back. I don’t want that to happen.”

“Like with Ella?” she asked.

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