Page 23 of A Dream for Daphne

She walked to the front door and opened it to see Poppy standing off the porch with the stroller on the sidewalk.

“Hi,” she said. “Out for a walk?”

“You left your sunglasses at the house. I used it as an excuse to get some exercise in and try to calm the kids down.”

“I want to play,” Holly said, wiggling around to get out.

“We aren’t staying,” Poppy said. “Just dropping Daphne’s glasses off and going home.”

“Can I run home?” Holly asked.

“You might tire her out real well if you let her,” Daphne said, laughing.

“And then worry she’ll trip and I’ll have a screaming kid all night while I clean up blood. Or more likely while Reese does it. Then I’ll have Mom guilt.”

“Good point,” she said. “Holly does tend to run more than walk, which is why I keep her on the grass.” She reached out her hand for the sunglasses.

“I see you were talking to Abe.”

So much for hopingthathadn’t been witnessed.

“He was checking a few things out on the property,” she said. “We ran into each other as I was walking home.”

“I’m sure I know what he was checking out,” Poppy said, doing a little hip action again.

She felt the color fill her face as if a sponge was soaking up a can of red paint.

“Did he tell you that?” she asked.

“No,” Poppy said, laughing. “But I told you I wanted to introduce the two of you. I think you’d get along great. He’s such a nice guy. Heart of gold and a hard worker. Hard to find both of those things nowadays. Just has those good old values many of us didn’t have growing up.”

“You’re selling him hard,” she said, smirking. “What did he say to you about me?”

The color was seeping out of her face, but she was hoping it wasn’t to the point she’d look like a ghost that Abe might haveconfessed to her boss that she’d slept with a stranger a few weeks ago.

They might be appalled and worry she’d be bringing guys on the property and partying when she wasn’t working.

It hadn’t been a conversation they’d had, but she wouldn’t do that.

She’d never jeopardize her job for anything.

“Nothing,” Poppy said. “I just told him I’d mentioned him to you and that I thought you’d be perfect together.”

Which wasn’t going to help her case any.

Not that she had a problem with getting to know Abe.

If she could get past the fact that she’d slept with him without them even knowing last names.

She just worried that it was always going to be hanging over her head when he thought of her.

If she learned one thing in life, it was that you can’t outrun your past actions.

She’d seen it with her parents.

With her brother.

For good or bad, you had to own up to things.

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