Page 23 of This Time I'm Keeping You
Ignoring these words, Nick rapped on the front door with his knuckles.No one answered, so he lifted his fist and hammered on the wood.
“Will you chill out!”Em hissed from beside him.“She’ll take one look at your face and have a relapse.”
“I’m coming!”Poppy yelled.He heard a chain sliding, and then a key turning in the lock.The door opened, and there she stood.
“Nick?Why are you here?”
Seeing her was easing the knot of tension in his stomach.Poppy was in front of him and okay.
The faded cutoffs exposed lovely legs, and an old T-shirt was falling off a slender shoulder.Her hair was wet and unbrushed.She looked way too good, except for the pale cheeks and brace, of course.Dropping his eyes to regroup, he noted her bare feet and soft pink toenails.
“I’m here to see you,” he said with a forced smiled.He refused to be amused as she scowled at him.
“Why?”The scowl grew fiercer.
“And there was me thinking we’d turned a corner in our friendship yesterday.”
She didn’t answer him, instead looking over his shoulder at his sister, who he’d forgotten to introduce.
“You’re obviously related because no other woman would have him,” she said, much to the delight of Em, who laughed loudly.
“Emma, this is Poppy Sylvester, belligerent writer and general pain in my ass.”
“Hey, Poppy,” Emma said, nudging him in the ribs so he’d step aside.“Nick brought these for you.”
What is it about some women and flowers?Nick wondered as Poppy’s face softened when she took them and immediately inhaled their scent.Still, if they worked, why fight it?
“Let me in, and I’ll tell you why I’m here,” he said, moving into her space.
She took a step back.“I don’t want visitors.I want to sleep all day, eat chocolate, and watch TV.”
“Too bad.”He placed a hand on her stomach and nudged her back another step.“Although the chocolate sounds good.”
Having had manners hammered into him endlessly by his father, Nick then waved Em to go first.Even though she was a sister, she still qualified as female, and if he didn’t, she’d make him pay.
“Why the hell did you leave the hospital before I got there, Poppy?”
Nick and Em followed Poppy through the house to the kitchen, where she put the flowers on the bench before opening a cupboard above the sink and collecting a vase.
“Nice kitchen.”
And it was, Nick thought, agreeing with his sister.The walls were a simple white, and it wasn’t overloaded with stuff like some houses he’d visited.Compact, but it had a comfortable feel.
“You did enough for me yesterday.I didn’t think you would come back for round two.”
“Nick has a hero complex,” his sister said.
“I heard that.He’s changed since college is my guess,” Poppy added.
“Oh, definitely.Even I couldn’t stand him back then,” Em said.
“You finished?”He glared at her.“You’re meant to be on my side, you know.”
“I didn’t say I don’t love you.”Em poked out her tongue.“Can I use your bathroom, Poppy?”
“Second on the left, down the hall.”
Nick watched his sister leave the room, and then approached Poppy.
