Page 3 of The Risks of Reuniting

She grabs a book from behind the counter and hustles back to me. The tinkling of bells draws my attention to the baubles hanging from the scarf she's tied around her waist as a belt. I'd give anything to be as free as Poppy, but wishing doesn't make things happen.

She holds up the book and I bark out a laugh as I immediately recognize it. "Poppy . . ."

"You'll need something to read. Didn't you say that with the layovers and driving it's like a twelve hour travel day for you?"

It's actually longer, but I don't correct her as I eye the well-known cover of our cousin Dani's romantasy book,Of Curses and Pomegranates. Dani's book went viral in the craziest possible way, and nobody supports Dani like Poppy. I don't think anyone leaves her store without a copy… although I doubt there are many readers left who don't already own it. It's that popular. Dani is practically a household name, and yet I once froze her bra at a cousin sleepover. It's a strange new world.

"I already own it, and I've read it," I tell Poppy.

Poppy hugs it to her chest. "'Reading is essential to those who hope to rise above the ordinary.'" She sighs. "That's a quote I heard."

I grin. "I like it."

"You really read it already?"

I playfully roll my eyes. "Pops… come on. It's Dani's book."

"But you don't read."

"For the millionth time, audiobooks are books. Yes, I don'toftenread, but that doesn't mean I never do. Besides, I think it's practically required reading if you're part of the Hayes extended family. And, that male narrator was …" I make a chef's kiss motion with my hand. "I may give it a re-listen."

Poppy taps a finger against the book cover. "So if you listened, do you have a physical copy?"

"Yes."

She opens the front cover and points to Dani's signature, and I can imagine Poppy showing up to Dani's house weekly with a stack of books to be signed. "Signed?"

I chuckle. "Obviously."

"Lucy has probably read it twice already," she muses, referencing another cousin, as she closes the book.

"Lucy lives in books," I agree, smiling at the image of our favorite book worm.

"I'm trying to get Grandma Sue to buy a copy for everyone for Christmas." Poppy presses on. "I know Avery owns the publishing company that published it, and Sadie is the one who edited it, but do you reallythink they've actually read it? They're probably buried in piles of books and haven't gotten around to Dani's."

I scoff and put a hand on her shoulder in an attempt to bring her back to reality. "Sadie is an amazing editor, but even she can't edit a book without reading it. Not to mention that there's no way Avery would publish hersister'sbook and not know it inside and out."

Poppy smiles and blinks, back on earth. "I just want us to fully support each other."

And that's Poppy's superpower – bringing all six of us girl cousins into the same circle. Sometimes I wonder if Lucy, Avery, Sadie, Dani and I would have stayed so interconnected without Poppy wrapping us all in arms full of incense-scented affection. She might be the youngest of us, but she's our anchor. Honestly, the fact that the flower child is the link, is sort of the most beautiful irony in my life.

I bite the corner of my lip. "Pops, we all have copies. We've all read it. We all talked about it in the group text, and over dinner, and again in more texts."

"It's not every day your cousin writes a book that breaks the internet because it's so popular."

I nod. "True. Dani is a superstar."

At this Poppy sniffs delicately and wrinkles up her nose. "I don't think she likes being famous. She's a Virgo, and they can be a little shy."

"I'll take your word for that."

"Don't you agree?"

I shrug. "I've never thought of Dani as shy."

"Well, Lo-Lo that's because you're part of Dani's inner circle where she's most comfortable."

A boarding call sounds over the speaker and I look down the hallway to my gate with a hard swallow. The first leg of this adventure is about tobegin. Ten months ago my world cracked a little, leaving me wounded on the inside while I projected something entirely different on the outside. No one but my pillow understood how devastated I'd been.

---