Page 6 of Poppy Kisses (Return to Coal Haven #3)

She tucked a stray curl behind her ear. “Yes.” Tension infused her body. “So, about the help. Do you want to do some research first? I can set you up with those programs on your phone and computer.” She ducked her head. “There’s tutoring.”

“Tutoring?” Alarm piped through my veins. If yesterday morning hadn’t been so humiliating, I’d have laughed it off and figured out something else. Maybe I could sit beside Auggie and go through his lessons where no one else could see me, not even Debbie.

“We have adult tracks.” She screwed up her face. “Debbie does, I mean. I haven’t taken on any clients officially. I have to find a place to work out of first.”

“Got any in mind?” I needed her help to keep my brain from sabotaging me, but I wanted to know more about her. Poppy Duke was right in front of me after two decades, and I didn’t want it to end.

“One.” She rolled her eyes, then shook her head. “It won’t work though. I have to start looking.”

“What place?”

She went still, her gaze searching mine. What was she looking for? I waited under her warm perusal, hoping she’d judge me up to her standards. A spark of bitterness flared deep in my chest. I was tired of waiting for a girl to find me worthy.

Just as I tore my gaze away, she cleared her throat. “My grandma Annie passed away and left a trust behind. Me and my siblings each get a property. This house was Alder’s.”

“Each of you?” I thought for a moment. “Isn’t Lily in town? In your grandma’s old place? Violet?”

I’d seen Lily around, but she’d been busy with her kids. She might not even recognize me. She was the youngest Duke and had been a few years behind me in school. Violet had also gotten married to a guy who’d been several years older than us.

Poppy nodded. “I get the old Perez home on the edge of town.”

The Perez couple had retired as snowbirds decades ago, but their old farmhouse had been one of the first in Coal Haven. “Nice.”

Her lips thinned. “It would be. Linda used to live there, and my grandparents bought it. But several years ago, Grandma Annie changed her will and trust. She put all the property in a trust with these bizarre rules. I have to be married.”

“And you’re not?” I had assumed not since I’d only seen just her, but I caught myself leaning forward. She wasn’t wearing a ring.

“Nope. Never got married,” she said flatly.

Never? She and I were almost thirty-five. No one had captivated her enough, or had she dated losers?

I glanced at the cabinets. A thread of suspicion fluttered in my brain. Didn’t Lily get married a couple of years ago? Then Violet? Alder had called Daisy his wife when I’d installed the cabinets. Was the timing fortuitous? Or more than a coincidence?

“Wait—is that why Alder— That’s not— He didn’t—” I snapped my teeth together.

Poppy’s eyes were wide. “No.” Her voice pitched up. “He’s always wanted Daisy back.” She bit her bottom lip. Why’d she seem suddenly hesitant to talk about it?

“It’s not my business.”

Poppy blew out a breath. Her shoulders hunched. “They’re all in love,” she said as if she’d heard all my questions loud and clear. “Lily and Eliot are so in love. Violet and Evander. Alder and Daisy. The trust just sped things up. Or created it in the first place,” she finished with a mutter.

I mulled over her information. I’d seen them all around town. Not a lot. But they’d been in love. The looks between each couple, the shared smiles, the body language. It’d all showed me what my marriage had lacked. “And you?”

She held her palms up and gave me an empty smile. “No husband, no house. And in four years, any unclaimed property gets sold. Aunt Linda gets the money.”

Maybe Linda needed the money, but it seemed like a waste of an inheritance. “It’s in her best interest if you stay single?”

“She says she doesn’t care, but she does have to believe the marriage is real and sign off on it after a year. Dad too.”

“Your boyfriend isn’t interested?”

She wrinkled her nose. “I’m not seeing anyone.”

Her tone was so disgusted I laughed. At least she didn’t bust me for probing for information. “Okay, no guys. What about a girlfriend?”

“I’m not into girls, but if Debbie wasn’t already married, I would one hundred percent ask her to marry me for a year to get that place.” A gust of breath left her. “It’s beautiful. I could put the office upstairs and look out the big window. That property is so breathtaking.”

My mind spun, but I was pleased that boyfriends weren’t off the table. For no reason. My gaze dipped to how well her athletic shirt clung to the swells of her breasts. Damn, she had nice tits.

What were we talking about? Oh, right. “You need a husband to get the house of your dreams?”

She nodded, and her gaze strayed to the window like she was imagining working in the home that could be hers if she had a wedding ring.

“It probably needs some work. Linda’s been renting it, and the current tenants are out at the end of May.

She said the place could use some updating, and I don’t have the time or the funds. ”

She needed a husband and a contractor. I needed a proofreader and a project that could really get my name out there. The Perez house was a gem in Coal Haven. If I could tie my name to those renovations…

No. That was crazy.

Or it was the leap I needed to finally secure the job that would give me the stability and flexibility I needed to be a single dad to my son. “I have an idea.”