Page 31 of Poppy Kisses (Return to Coal Haven #3)

Chapter Eighteen

Poppy

“How’s this?” I concentrated on making an airplane out of the paper napkin holder at the restaurant.

The din of the restaurant surrounded us, but my world was focused on the booth holding me, Jensen, and Auggie. Sun kissed our skin, and mine felt tight and like I needed to blast the dust off my body. Next time, we’d remember the sunscreen, and maybe I’d shower before we went out to eat.

“Hmm.” Jensen’s deep rumble came across the table and right into my belly. “I think mine’s going to fly farther than yours?”

“Oh, you’re on.” I held my tiny plane in the air. “This is going to fly so good the US Army is going to call and ask what my secret is.”

He tipped his head back, and his Adam’s apple jumped up and down with his laughter. “Sure, four-ten. You’ll be on speed dial.”

“What about this?” Auggie brandished his attempt and damn. It was really good.

“I don’t know if I want to compete against you.” I set my plane down. “The general will be phoning you.”

The way he beamed melted my heart. He put his plane by mine after marking them with the crayons left at the table. Auggie didn’t color, but he drew ten different tic-tac-toe boards around the unadorned picture. He scooted the red crayon toward me.

I grinned. We started to play.

“I can’t wait for soccer,” he said, drawing a line through his win.

Dang, he was good. “Next week.” Nerves crushed against my ribs, and I lifted my gaze to Jensen.

He gave me an encouraging smile and eased some of the pressure.

“Aspen said she’d procure all the balls and practice pinnies.

” I was growing more excited than I wanted to be.

I loved working with kids. One-on-one tutoring fit me well, and so did running them around the pitch.

I would coach all day, every day. Aspen was rooking me into helping her run the club and not just coach, and that made my stomach churn.

I didn’t need to be involved in planning games or, worse, tournaments.

“Who?” Auggie asked.

“Miss Whitfield,” Jensen said. “Though you might call her Coach Aspen this summer.”

Auggie’s wide gaze landed on me. “Will you be Coach Poppy?”

Hearing Coach Poppy was like getting wrapped in an old, familiar blanket. I hadn’t heard that for years. “I answer to anything as long as it’s respectful.”

“I like Coach Poppy, but I get to call you just Poppy.”

My heart dripped into a puddle at my feet. “I’ll always be just Poppy for you.”

His grin took over his face, and he started another game of tic-tac-toe.

Thank you, Jensen mouthed. His expression warmed, and a smile played over his lips. He gave Auggie a half hug and got ignored.

I lifted a shoulder. Auggie would always be a special kid to me.

Just like I’d never forget his dad, the man who swung me in his arms to run on the beach.

* * *

I was on one end of the couch. Jensen was on the other, and we were watching a show while Auggie took a shower.

By the time we had left the restaurant, it was raining.

A steady patter hit the house, and as much as I loved to be outside, this cozy evening sunk into my bones.

I was more relaxed than if I had gone to a spa.

Beach time. Dining out. And now I was reclining with a hot guy in a nice house.

Auggie sounded like a baby elephant trampling down the stairs. Jensen winced at the way his son’s hands whispered along the wall.

He went straight for the fridge. “Can I have a snack?”

“Yeah, but nothing big before bedtime,” Jensen said. He’d kicked his feet out.

I still had to shower, but Jensen had sat on the couch, and I hadn’t wanted to leave him. I also hoped that he’d hop into the shower with me again after Auggie was asleep.

Auggie grabbed a banana and went to the table. Jensen’s phone rang. He tugged it out of his pocket without taking his gaze off the TV.

“Who is it?” Auggie asked.

Jensen frowned. “Your mom.”

A chill worked its way over my skin. Hassie?

“Mom!” Auggie jumped off the chair.

“Hello?” Jensen answered, his brows drawn together.

I shrank into the corner of the couch even more.

Auggie bounced in front of Jensen as he went through a greeting, his tone cautious. Was it hard to talk to her? I wanted to throw up my chicken and pasta.

“Here he is.” Before Jensen was done, Auggie snatched the phone out of his hand.

“Hi, Mom.” He skipped back to the table.

Jensen’s mouth was tight and his stony gaze was on the TV.

“Guess what we did today?” Auggie asked his mom.

Jensen popped his head up, alarm flaring in his eyes. I wanted to be one of those cats that could disappear into the cushions.

“Went to the lake with Poppy,” Auggie proudly announced. “You remember her? She said she knows you.”

I wanted to groan. Something about that line made me sound needy or something. Like a fangirl who wanted to take over Hassie’s life.

Auggie kicked his legs on the chair. “She’s staying here. Her and Dad are getting married.”

“Shit,” Jensen said under his breath.

It’d been a month, and he hadn’t said anything? He had mentioned she hadn’t called, but he also hadn’t reached out to inform her of something this significant. Had he avoided telling her?

“Yep. They’re getting married,” Auggie announced proudly. Jensen dropped his head and squeezed his eyes shut. “But it’s not real.”

A snort slipped out of me, and I pressed my hand to my mouth. Jensen cracked an eye open and looked at me.

Sorry, I mouthed.

An amused grimace twisted his lips.

“Dad,” Auggie said, “Mom wants to talk to you.”

His expression went blank, and he glanced away.

Our brief moment of connection was gone.

As he stood, I was taken over by the urge to run, to go for a long drive, or even check into the motel in town.

I was the interloper, and my presence was going to cause tension.

I also didn’t want to be around when he appeased Hassie.

Old feelings tumbled back. Would he tell her that we were sleeping together?

That I was better at soccer than her and that was it?

I couldn’t go outside while it was dark and raining, but I had to leave.

“I’ll give you some space,” I whispered and scurried to my room before I could see if he was relieved or not.

I sat on the edge of my bed, thumping the backs of my legs against the mattress. Jensen’s deep voice rumbled through the walls, but I couldn’t make out any words. Panic clogged my throat just thinking that I might.

That’s a pretty dress. I bet Hassie would be prettier in it.

He’d been an impulsive eleven-year-old when he’d said that, but my brain was replaying it like it was yesterday. Hassie had been prettier in a dress back then and she probably still was.

I pulled up Clover’s number and hit send.

She answered on the tail end of a giggle. “Hey. Everything okay?”

No. “Why wouldn’t it be?”

“Because it’s a Sunday night, and I just saw you.”

I called Clover for a reason. I could let my anxiety chew through my stomach or talk to her. “Hassie called, and Auggie told her that Jensen and I are getting married.”

“He hadn’t told her yet?”

“No, she hasn’t called since I’ve been here. But he also didn’t call her.”

Clothing rustled, and she murmured something to someone, probably that arrogant prick who’d likely end up as my brother-in-law. “So, you’ve been there a month and this is the first time she’s talked to him? She hasn’t talked to her kid for a month?”

“I dunno. It’s been longer than that, I think?”

“Geez, seriously? So is she pissed?”

“She asked to talk to Jensen right away, but Auggie also told her it wasn’t real.” I probed my forehead. The throb of a headache was starting. Would a pretend marriage be better or worse to Hassie? I was living with her ex and her son.

“What’d he say to her?”

“I don’t know. I’m hiding in my bedroom.”

She made a strangled sound. “You aren’t eavesdropping? Poppy, I thought I taught you better.”

I chuckled, grateful for her levity. “I can’t risk hearing him tell her how much we’re fake.”

“He wouldn’t do that, would he?”

“For Rodeo Barbie?”

“You’re hot too.”

Jensen’s voice resonated into the room, talking rapidly. I lay back and stared at the ceiling. “I’m not a badass like her.”

“Poppy, this isn’t like you.” My usually teasing sister, who couldn’t seem to take life seriously, turned frank. “What’s really going on?”

I let out a sigh. “Remember what he used to be like with her? He adored her. She was the center of his world, and he made sure everyone knew it.” I didn’t reiterate some of the comparisons Jensen had made when we were kids.

Clover knew them. She might not remember, but she’d been the one to tell me it wasn’t okay.

“Does he still do that?” she asked. “I’ll drive there and kick his ass.”

“You’re not going back to that place,” Elijah complained on the other end.

I rolled my eyes. I wouldn’t want Clover to make another trip, but now I wanted to tell her that yes, I did need her and to ditch that prick and come back.

“No, baby, not tonight,” she said in a simpering tone. So not like her. “Has he?” she practically barked into the phone.

I got no simpering from her. “No, but I haven’t seen or heard them together.”

“What does he say about her?”

I chewed my bottom lip. I couldn’t spill all of Jensen’s private life. “Not a lot. He’s made some comments that maybe she wasn’t around a lot, and he seemed really disappointed with how everything turned out. He doesn’t rage about his shitty ex or anything, and he wouldn’t around Auggie anyway.”

“Okay, so you panicked and ran, but he could be telling her all about the fake wedding and to keep her trap shut and that he changed his mind and you look prettier in a dress.”

Another small laugh burst out of me. “Theoretically, he could be.”

“Then think about those theoretics until you know for sure. And if he talks shit about you, we’ll both kick his ass. But, Poppy?”

I didn’t know if I’d like what she had to say. “Yeah?”

“The way that man looks at you isn’t how a guy stares at the second-best-looking girl he’s seen.”

* * *

Jensen