Page 22 of A Dream for Daphne

“And to chat up a pretty girl,” Poppy said, wiggling her eyebrows.

Which meant Poppy saw the two of them talking. “Friendly conversation,” he said. No way he was going to let on the history he and Daphne had.

“I told Daphne I could try to hook you two up,” Poppy said. “I think you’d be perfect together.”

Well now, that was an interesting piece of information.

But he could tell that Daphne hadn’t known Abe Cooke Landscaping was the same Abe that she’d slept with. She didn’t even know his last name that night.

Shit, he still didn’t know hers.

“Why is that?” he asked, smiling.

“Because she’s new to the area. Friendly and outgoing even though she’s shy. She wants to get out and do things but is almost afraid to. She’s a hometown girl with good values and that is who you are too. Maybe you both have a touch of an oldsoul in you. She’s looking for the right things in a guy and you’ve been looking for the wrong things in a woman.”

He all but crossed his eyes. “Geez, Poppy. I hadn’t realized you knew so much about my life.”

He was almost appalled to have it summed up like that. Even if it was spot on. Best to make a joke out of it.

“Come on now, Abe. We go way back. You were always after the pretty mean girls who just wanted a cute guy on their arm.”

“I went after you,” he said. “You were the hottest thing in my class. I knew you were way out of my league and you sure the hell weren’t mean.”

Poppy flung her hair over her shoulder. “I’m too prissy for you and you know it. We’d never work for anything more than a good time.”

He laughed. She was always honest.

“You’re probably right. But you just said Daphne is new to the area. How can you know her so well?”

“I’m a good judge of character,” Poppy said. “So, you want me to put in a good word for you?”

“I’d like to try on my own, but I’d appreciate any help I can get,” he said.

“Leave it to me,” Poppy said, rubbing her hands together. “Starting now. Daphne left her sunglasses at the house and it was a good excuse to get some exercise in.”

He nodded his head and saluted her as he drove away.

Today worked out much better than he could have hoped for.

8

HEART OF GOLD

The microwave dinged at the same time there was a knock at the door.

Daphne hoped to hell it wasn’t Abe again.

Rather than trying to figure out her dinner, she wished she had a bottle of wine she could have opened and chugged straight from the top.

She’d never been a huge drinker, having witnessed enough of it in her house growing up.

Her rotten luck Abe not only lived locally but also knew the same people she did.

There was no avoiding him for at least a month on top of it.

Not that she was the avoidance type of person, but she’d like to wrap her head around the fact that one of the most embarrassing things in her life happened with him and now she’d have to see him as a reminder.

A reminder that she couldn’t even get him out of her mind!

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