by Tonya Kappes
Pris scribbled all over the front of the folder as Poppy told the tale she had heard over the past few days.
“I do take some responsibility for the lack of contact with my folks.” It was hard for Poppy to admit because it was so much easier to put all the blame on Rob. “The fact remains that I could’ve tried harder. Called more. Come to visit. It wasn’t like Rob was keeping me hostage.”
“Honey, your parents might not like the whole sex thing, but they are so proud of you. Rob used them against you. You trusted him. It happens. I know it’s a cliché women use all the time, but he does seem to have controlled you without you even knowing it.” Pris tapped the folder. “Master manipulators can take a mold, say you, and cut away the outer parts and more outer parts until the mold is exactly what the manipulator wants. Only he got caught with his pants down.”
“Pants off,” Poppy corrected her.
“In Kentucky, judges do not take cheaters into consideration. We need an angle other than you went crazy and burned down the house out of vengeance to bring to the table and have a shot at this. If he was slowly tipping you to the breaking point and he’d stop at nothing to save his reputation…” Pris stopped when the waitress dropped off the tomato and grilled cheese sandwiches. She put her hand up to the waitress. “Can I get a to-go box?”
The waitress hurried off to get the box.
“We are leaving?” Poppy questioned, a little confused.
“I am.” Pris’s eyes narrowed. “I have an idea that I need to check on.” She pushed her chair back and stood up. “Don’t worry about this right now. I’m going to get in contact with his lawyer and set up a hearing to get the warrant cleared so you can stay here and not go back there. But the quicker we get this done the better.”
“But what about the owners of the farm?” Poppy knew she only had a couple of days before her parents were to sign the papers.
“One problem at a time.” Pris gathered the files and grabbed the briefcase in one hand while juggling the to-go box in the other. Abruptly, she stopped. Her arms stiffened to keep the items from juggling out of her arms. “Which is more important? The divorce, so you can move on with your life? Or the sale of the farm, even though you have no money to buy it back?”
“I just want to know who bought the farm and what they plan to do with it.” Poppy shrugged. “The divorce will drag on no matter what you do. I have a feeling Rob is going to throw so many punches when you contact his lawyer. I’ve seen him in action. He never loses.”
“I’ll see what I can uncover about the sale.” She sighed. “And Rob has never gone up against me.” Pris winked. “I’ll be in touch.”
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Poppy felt better after she and Pris talked. Nothing was set in stone, but there was a game plan. She ran through Walmart to grab the items she was going to need for the home-cooked dinner and picked out some cupcakes for dessert. She wanted to make a pecan pie, but what little girls really liked pecan pie? It took years for Poppy to try it, and then she was a teenager.
She grabbed some more kibble and a cat bed for the stray before she headed to the checkout.
“You’ve got to be kidding.” She groaned when she walked up and saw that there were only two cashiers for the ten lanes. Even the self-checkouts had lines five people deep, and she didn’t dare go in the self-check with her basket full of groceries in fear of someone yelling at her.
While she waited patiently behind the woman in front of her, she scanned down the candy rack and reached for a Hershey Bar. She pulled her hand back when she saw the cover of a tabloid magazine with a picture of Benji on the cover and her picture in a bubble overlay.
The caption read: She left me with no money, no severance, and no job!
She grabbed the magazine and threw it in the cart.
She refused to let herself read it until she was good and comfortable, with a stiff drink in hand. It wasn’t uncommon in her line of work for an assistant to turn on the employer. It happened all the time with the nannies of famous people.
The more Poppy thought about how good to Benji she had been, the more she remembered all the times she was featured in articles or television interviews with him always by her side. He had gotten just as much face time as she had over the past five years since her popularity had grown.
She had just enough time to get home and throw the groceries in the pantry and fill the cat bowl up with kibble before she had to drive over to Elizabeth’s parents’ house to take a look at her wedding gifts. She had decided to wear a pair of jeans and a gray T-shirt with a gray and striped scarf tied around her neck and a pair of gray flats.
“Tonight you are going to have a little girl to play with you.” Poppy pulled the tag off the cat bed and put it next to the fireplace, where the mama was still in the box Brett had given her after she had given birth. It was in the same bag as the tabloid magazine, which she threw on the couch.
Poppy patted on the bed for the mama cat to come over and check out the bed. The cat stood up, dropping the kittens, which were feeding from her, and cautiously walked over to the bed. She sniffed it and looked up at Poppy, who held out her hand and let her sniff her fingertips before she let Poppy rub her head. It was the first time the cat had let Poppy touch her.
“See.” Poppy continued to gently rub the top of the cat’s head. “We need each other.”
The mama cat jerked away and Poppy stepped back. One by one, the mama cat picked up each kitten by the scruff and moved them from the box to the bed.
“You are a good mama.” Poppy wondered if Brett still had someone to take them. She knew she wouldn’t be able to feed them and herself, though it pained her to know she was going to have to give them up.
On her way out the door, she picked up the magazine off the couch and quickly thumbed to the article where Benji had nothing but evil things to say about her. She pulled the flip phone from her jeans pocket and quickly dialed the last-known number she had for Benji. She let the screen door slam behind her and stood on the porch, looking out at the lake.
When the phone stopped ringing, she didn’t give him time even to answer before she laid into him.
“You no good son of a bitch!” All the anger she had pent up about Rob and how he had manipulated her poured out of her body. “How could you say such awful things about me?”
“Harper?” Benji’s voice broke.
“Don’t Harper me.” Her words seethed out of her mouth. “I’m sick and tired of being a doormat for everyone, and that includes you!”
“Now wait a minute; you left me no choice. You didn’t tell me where you were; I had no salary,” he tried to explain.
“You always joked about calling one of those magazines, but I never thought you’d sell out like you did.” Poppy knew how much Benji loved the life she had given him. He flew for free, traveled all over the country for free, and never paid a dime for anything. His mid-six-figure salary had afforded him all the luxuries in life. “I gave you everything. I hope your fifteen minutes of fame was good, because you will no longer be riding my coattails. ”
“You also left me!” Benji seemed to be getting his balls.
“I didn’t leave you! I left Harper Ellington.” The words rang out in her head. Joy bubbled up inside of her as the realization of how much being in Hudson Hollow had transformed her, given her her dignity back. Her voice. Not the voices of others telling her what was best for her and her future. “Those things aren’t important to me. Harper Ellington is someone I no longer wish to be.”
She suddenly realized it had been a mistake calling Benji. She sucked in a deep breath and let the early evening wind blow across the lake, across the yard, and into her soul. “Good-bye, Benji. Forever.”
She didn’t bother letting him say another word to her. He was part of the Harper Ellington life, and that life was no longer what she wanted or who she was. All she cared about were the people around her. The people she’d left behind and who had opened their arms when she need
ed them, with no questions about why she’d left. Nor did they hold any grudges.
She put the top down on the Mustang and turned the radio to HH FM, where Bunny Brewster was spinning the tunes. She cranked the radio up and sang along, letting the wind blow through her and taking the past ten years along with it.
Elizabeth’s mom and dad’s house was a brick ranch. Poppy had snuck out many late nights from Elizabeth’s window. There was an electrical junction box below her window that had made a good step on the way out and in during their teenage sneaking-out days.
Poppy would never forget the bottom-pit feeling she’d had when she and Elizabeth had climbed back in the window at five a.m. after attending a field party their parents had specifically told them they couldn’t go to. Their fits of giggles and the idea they had gotten away with sneaking out had quickly come to an end when they found Mr. Parker sitting on Elizabeth’s bed waiting from them.
“I knew something was going on when I noticed the electrical box was coming away from the house more and more on the weekends.”
Poppy figured him to be a very observant man. After that, Poppy was not able to look him in the eye. He’d given them such a talking to that she and Elizabeth never even talked about sneaking out of her house again.
“There you are.” Elizabeth rushed out of the house and grabbed Poppy by the hand, pulling her to the side. “I can’t do this.” Elizabeth shook her head. “I can’t do this.”
“Do what?” Poppy asked.
“This!” Elizabeth held up her finger with her engagement ring on it. She drew her hand back to her side and stepped back and forth in front of Poppy. “I can’t get married to Troy. I just can’t,” she cried out. “I feel stuck.” She pulled her hands up around her neck. “I’m chocking!”
“Are you sure it’s not just jitters? I mean, I’ve heard it’s a real thing.” Poppy wasn’t sure what to say. She obviously was no expert in the area of marriage.
“All this talk about china and the china cabinet and how I can use it when I host the family for Christmas.” Elizabeth shook her head. “My mother never uses her china. When it comes time to host Christmas, she pulls out the paper plates so everyone can throw them away. And she complains about how long people stay. I don’t want that life. I want to keep my life now.”
“Calm down.” Poppy heard a car door slam and she popped her head around the corner. “Shit. Troy is here.”
“Shit,” Elizabeth spat and pressed her body up against the brick house. “Tell him I’m gone.”
“I’m not telling him anything,” Poppy declared.
“I can’t do this. I can’t.” Elizabeth looked at Poppy. Her eyes dipped down. “Troy deserves so much better than me. I look at those gifts in there…” Her voice trailed off. “I look at the Crock-Pot and know I should think about cooking some comfort food in it on a chilly fall night, and how it would be ready for when we get home from work, but I don’t. I think about having to clean it. I think about how my mama’s Crock-Pot looks with that weird, gross white ring that no matter how much she scrubs it, it never comes clean. What is that anyway?”
Poppy did her best just to listen and not give any advice.
“Then the sheets.” Elizabeth shook her head back and forth. “How often do I have to clean the sheets? His mama gave me a five-gallon bucket of Tide. Said she’s happy to be giving up his laundry to me.” She threw her hands in the air. “I’m a working woman. When am I going to have time to do his laundry and mine? I do laundry at the Hair Depot all day long. I don’t want to come home and do laundry. I want to come home and prop my aching feet up on my couch and veg out in front of the TV watching reality shows. Is that too much to ask for?”
Poppy shrugged and tilted her head with a thin, lined smile on her face.
“Poppy.” Elizabeth reached out and grabbed her hands. “I help people all day long. I give myself to them all day long. When I saw you a few days ago at the Walmart with that ragged old hair of yours, I knew you needed healing hands to touch your hurt. It wasn’t about your hair; it was about me touching you, letting you know I care about you.”
Poppy let Elizabeth’s words sink in. It hit her. Elizabeth was right. After Poppy had left the Hair Depot, and even though they had cut her hair off, she had felt better after Elizabeth had fixed her up.
“That is what I do. It’s not about the hair. I make people feel better about themselves when they leave. When I get home from work, the last thing I want to do is take care of someone other than me. I don’t have anything left to give by the end of the day.” Elizabeth swallowed. “Troy is a good man. He deserves the wife he wants. He wants a woman who will can vegetables from the garden, keep the house clean at all times, burn those little wax burners around the house so it smells so good. He wants to have the family over every Sunday after church for supper when I just want to drive to Sally’s Beauty and look at the latest hair conditioners. He deserves a woman to take care of him and that’s not me.”
“Elizabeth.” Poppy reached out and took her friend by the hands. She squeezed them. “I completely understand what you are saying. And no matter what your decision is, I will fully support you. If you walk in there right now and tell him, or walk in there and ignore your feelings, I’ll support you.”
Elizabeth pulled her hands out of Poppy’s grip. “I’ll be right back. You stay here.”
Poppy did what Elizabeth had told her and slid down the brick and propped up her back against the house. Her phone rang and she pulled it out of her pocket. Fear knotted inside her when she recognized the number. It was Rob.
“Hello.” Poppy had decided to answer the phone. Maybe he’d come to some decency.
“Where the hell are you? You know what, never mind; just get back home so we can carry on our lives.”
“Why don’t you ask Melanie? If she’s so damn psychic, wouldn’t she know?” Poppy reminded herself to keep calm. Not go off on him and give him more ammunition to use against her. “How did you get my number?”
“Honestly, do you think Benji isn’t taking my money to keep me informed if you contact him? Honey, he is not loyal to anyone but Benjamin Franklin.” Rob’s voice held no apologetic tone. He wasn’t a bit sorry for what he’d done.
“Damn him,” Poppy cursed Benji under her breath.
“If you don’t come home, I swear I will make sure you spend the best years of your life in prison,” Rob threatened. “Now, be a good girl and come home. I’ll drop all the charges, rebuild the house, make nice with the media so you can continue your career, and keep your bank account fully funded.”
“Living with you would be like living in a prison. You can take your money and stick it where the sun don’t shine,” Poppy shot back.
“Oh, Poppy. I wish you hadn’t said that,” he replied in a condescending voice. “You will regret ever going up against an Ellington.”
“Go to hell.” Poppy flipped the phone shut. She jumped up when she heard a car door and looked around the corner of the house. “Psst, Lily Jane,” Poppy said in a loud whisper and flagged her friend over.
“What are you doing?” Lily asked, her brows furrowed.
“Elizabeth is having second thoughts about Troy.” Poppy didn’t have time to give her the full lowdown in case Elizabeth came back out.
“You mean cold feet?” Lily asked.
“Much worse. I mean, the other night when she showed up at the farm, she was having second thoughts then. When Troy showed up in the morning, she acted as if nothing was wrong.” Poppy would’ve said something to Elizabeth, but she too had chalked it up to cold feet.
“That isn’t the first time she’s said something.” Lily shuffled her toe in the grass and looked down.
“What?” Poppy could tell Lily was hiding something.
“I guess I was wrong.” Lily bit the inside of her cheek. “I encouraged Elizabeth that it was only cold feet a few months ago. After she came to me a handful of times, I thought I’d talked her off the ledge. Evidently, I jus
t talked her out of coming to me for help.”
“Well, I didn’t tell her anything. She told me to stay put, so I’m guessing she’s in there with her mama, his mama, and him.” A couple of car doors slammed and both of them looked around the corner.
“Shh.” Lily put her hand up to her mouth as Troy’s mama came out of the house and greeted a couple more woman who were there to look at the gifts.
Troy’s mama shook her head and brought a tissue up to her face as the women patted her on the back.
“Troy!” Elizabeth’s voice echoed into the front yard after a running Troy. “I’m sorry!”
He didn’t bother turning around. He jumped in his truck. The diesel knocked when he turned the ignition over and black plumes of smoke puffed out in angry clouds as the tires peeled out.
“Let my boy go! You’ve already caused enough problems,” Mrs. Simpson spat angrily at Elizabeth.
Poppy and Lily walked out from behind the side of the house.
“You!” Mrs. Simpson pointed at Poppy. “Troy told me Elizabeth had snuck out and went to see you! Did you cause this mess with your big-city thinking?” She stalked closer to Poppy, shaking her finger.
“No, ma’am.” Poppy was at a loss for words. “You can’t possibly think I had anything to do with this?”
“After what I read about you in the supermarket line, I don’t know what to think about you. Your poor mama and daddy.” Elizabeth came up next to Mrs. Simpson and put her hand on her arm. Mrs. Simpson jerked her arm away. “Don’t you touch me.”
“Poppy had nothing to do with this.” Elizabeth tried to calm the woman down. “Ask Lily Jane. I went to her several times to let her know I was having second thoughts and she told me I was having cold feet. I thought I was, but it kept happening, over and over.”