Wrapped Up In A Weeping Willow

by Tonya Kappes

  “I don’t belong here.” Poppy had prepared for this moment all night long. “It’s no different than you changing your mind about Troy.”

  “Are you kidding me? Now you’re acting like Harper Ellington, not Poppy Bailey.” Elizabeth’s words rang true in Poppy’s ears. No matter how much they hurt, Poppy knew they were true.

  “Elizabeth, please.” Poppy didn’t want this to be any harder than it already was. “Let me get through this day.”

  “Fine. But I’m not happy he’s here.” Elizabeth’s face was frozen in disbelief. “And your parents won’t be either. What about Brett? You are going to do this to him again? And Sadie?” She turned and nearly knocked Rob down at the bedroom door.

  “I’m glad you finally came to your senses.” Rob walked up to Poppy and ran his hand down her arm, sending frightening goose bumps all over her. “Are those happy goose bumps?”

  “You know why I’m coming back.” Poppy stepped back and let the bite in her words hit him harder than she ever could with her own fist.

  “Yes. It was sad how your grandfather escaped and then died right in front of you.” He took a step back and looked around the room. He knew exactly how to play the guilt game with her, especially when it came to her family. “Damn shame you got your senses back, because this would’ve been prime condo real estate right here.” He put his hands up in front of him like a football goal and peered through them out the window and to the lake.

  Poppy’s throat felt like it was closing on her when she heard voices downstairs. Brett’s voice. Her jaw tensed.

  “Honey, we have company.” Rob walked toward the bedroom door and ran his hand down the wallpaper. “First thing we are going to do to our new summer house is rip out this old wallpaper.”

  “Summer home?” Poppy glared at him. He would make her come back here to add to her hell. Gloat in his win.

  “It’s seems you’ve reconnected with your past, so I might as well make you suffer here year after year, looking at your ex-lover and his orphaned child.” Rob smiled, as if he knew what had taken place in this very bedroom the night before. “Darling, I know you. And you don’t wear undies like that for me.” He pointed to the floor, where Brett had thrown the panties after he’d slid them off over her hips and before he’d made love to her.

  Poppy leaned her head up against the doorjamb of the bedroom and listened to Rob play with Brett like a cat would a helpless little mouse. Every step Rob took down the stairs held a word. Each word shot Poppy in the heart like a gun.

  “Thank you for taking good care of my wife while we were apart. We won’t be needing you to look after her any longer. We hope you come back to our home this afternoon for the repast in celebration of the life of her precious grandfather.” Rob’s arrogance was loud and clear.

  “The Coach,” Brett’s voice boomed.

  “I’m sorry?” Rob sarcastically asked Brett.

  “He was the Coach or her papaw.” Brett’s voice held anger. Poppy tried to figure out if it was directed toward her or Rob or the entire situation.

  “Whatever. She’s mine.” Rob loved having her as a possession. “Your services are no longer needed.”

  Poppy peeked around the wall and down the steps to see Brett one last time. The only thing she saw was Brett putting his hand along the table next to the steps and slide the locket into his palm.

  “Let’s go, Sadie.” Brett’s words stabbed Poppy. She’d had no idea Sadie was with him. Of course Rob didn’t have the decency to be civil in front of a little girl.

  When Poppy heard the screen door slam, she ran back into the bedroom and over to the window. Brett had the cat bed and the kittens dumped into the box in one arm and Sadie hanging on to his other hand.

  Sadie looked back and her eyes flew up to the bedroom window. When she saw Poppy looking back at her, she dropped her father’s hand and curled her small fingers into a tiny wave.

  Poppy took one small step back and sat on the edge of the bed.

  Softly, she began to sing, “‘One day at a time, sweet Jesus. That’s all I’m asking of you.’”

  Chapter Thirty-Four

  “Please, no questions today, Daddy.” Poppy stood in the funeral home family viewing room, preparing her mama and daddy for what she was about to tell them. “I’m going back to Rob. We are going to work out our differences.”

  “To hell you are.” Her father rarely cursed, but when he did, he meant it.

  “Sir.” Rob stepped into the funeral parlor. “I know Harper and I have had our differences lately.”

  “Poppy. Poppy Bailey is her God-given name and if you can’t give me the respect to call her Poppy, you won’t ever give me respect.” Ted Bailey walked up the aisle of the funeral parlor and pulled his fist back, giving Rob the old one, two, three punch.

  “Daddy!” Poppy ran to Rob’s side. His lip was bleeding all over his two-hundred-dollar shirt.

  “Don’t help that no-good liar.” Aunt Pris walked in with Scooter dressed in his police uniform next to her. “Go on, Scooter, cuff him.”

  “Yeah! I’m going to press charges. I don’t care if he is your father, Haaarper.” Rob leaned toward Ted Bailey and strung out her stage name.

  “Not him, you son of a bitch.” Aunt Pris pointed to Scooter and then back to Rob. “You, you lying piece of shit.”

  Scooter grabbed the cuffs off his belt and knelt down beside the bleeding asshole and read him his rights. “Mr. Ellington, you are under arrest for arson, which is a federal crime to a historic site, even if it is your own family’s.”

  “What are you talking about, Barney Fife?” Rob jerked, trying to free his arms. “Harper, I don’t care if this is your grandfather’s memorial; get back to the farm and get your shit. We are leaving this Podunk town!” he screamed, his perfectly gelled hair now falling in front of his forehead. “Or I’ll turn that piece of shit farm into lots of condos.”

  “I don’t think so.” Aunt Pris pulled papers from her briefcase. “Here is the agreement that won’t be final until tomorrow, but the Coach died, making the agreement null and void because Poppy Bailey is the sole heir to his estate. The agreement was made while the Coach’s daughter was in charge of his affairs.” She ripped the agreement in half and threw it up in the air, letting it float around him. “And I also have this.” She pulled at more papers.

  Poppy and her parents stood with their mouths wide open.

  “This is the arson report. I have evidence that you paid the chief under the table to fudge where the fire really did start. Who, by the way, is also in jail now for falsifying documents. I had taken it upon myself to get our chief of police down there to look at the house before you conveniently had bulldozers on standby to knock it down so the evidence didn’t point to you.” She threw the papers his way. “Poppy, the house didn’t catch fire upstairs from any sage stick. Asshole here took the candle from the kitchen and placed it under the drapes in the family room, sending the entire room up in flames.”

  “Rob.” Poppy looked down at him. “You manipulated me one last time. I was going to go back to you only because you knew I couldn’t let you turn the farm into condos with your fake Unbridled Corporation.”

  “How did you know about that?” he asked when Scooter pulled him up to standing, his hands cuffed behind his back.

  “I did my own investigation. And it doesn’t matter how.” Poppy took another step closer to him.

  “Oh, and he has a little nest egg that wasn’t included in the prenuptial agreement, which means you are entitled to at least half.” Aunt Pris turned back to him. “Or all of it, if he decides to take a plea deal.”

  “I don’t want his money. I want him to rot in jail like he was going to do to me.” Poppy raised her hand and in one swift movement slapped Rob Ellington across the face and out of her life for good.

  Rob hung his head. It was the first time Poppy saw any sort of pain on his face. Scooter grabbed Rob’s elbow and shuffled him out of the funeral parlor. It wasn’t until
she heard the sound of the police siren that Poppy let herself take a deep breath and let out a sigh of relief.

  “Come on, let’s get it together,” Aunt Pris encouraged Poppy to let the day’s happenings go.

  “Shugga, wouldn’t you feel better with a little lipstick on?” Elizabeth walked in with Lily Jane by her side. She pulled out a tube of lipstick that Poppy would’ve never worn. Hot pink. “The Coach would love it.”

  “He would, wouldn’t he?” Poppy rolled down the lipstick tube and glided it across her lips.

  The moments before with Rob were fading into a memory. Only her parents, Pris, Scooter, and her girlfriends knew what had taken place. She looked up at the podium, where a framed photo of the Coach sat, and smiled.

  He didn’t want to be made over when he died; he’d simply wanted a memorial at which everyone told stories, and he wanted to be cremated.

  “I love you,” Poppy whispered and ran her hand over the Coach’s picture sitting on the table in the front of the room.

  When she turned around, there was standing room only and it was time for her to take her spot. Slowly, she walked up. She was proud to be the one who was named in his will to start the service.

  “Hello,” She made sure she took the time to speak clearly and look everyone in the eye. “I’m Poppy Bailey, and everyone here knows my relationship to the Coach. He didn’t want to make any to-do or la-di-das about his death. He only wanted to be remembered for the good times he had with all of you. Today we are going to let you, his friends, tell us your fondest stories.”

  Chester Castle was the first to raise his hand.

  “Come on up, Chester.” Poppy about died right there when she saw that Chester Castle was wearing a real suit. Guaranteed Bunny Brewster had threatened him.

  “I’ll never forget the time the Coach called me up and asked me to go to the grand opening of the car dealership. They were having a raffle drawing for a 1959 Cadillac.”

  As Chester told the infamous story, tears of joy ran down Poppy’s face. These were stories that would live on through time. Stories that she’d one day tell her own family.

  One after the other, people walked up to the podium. All the stories solidified just how dear the Coach had been to the community.

  When Poppy was sure everyone in the room had told a story, she stood up to invite the crowd back to the farm for some of Louetta’s good cooking.

  “I’ve got something to say,” a voice called from the back.

  Standing in the doorway was Brett and Sadie. She was tucked behind her daddy’s leg with her arms cradled around him. Her head peeked out from behind. When she saw Poppy, she let go and ran up the aisle to her with open arms.

  Poppy and Sadie embraced. Poppy took Sadie by the hand and sat down in a chair in the front, placing Sadie on her lap.

  Brett quietly walked up and put a piece of paper down on the podium.

  “Most of y’all remember I dated Poppy Bailey all through high school. Our senior year I wanted to get her something special and I went down to the jewelry store. The Coach was in there, also looking for something special for her graduation. I had my eye on a locket. I always knew Poppy had an itch to leave Hudson Hollow, and I wanted to give her something to remember me by.” He swallowed and unfolded the piece of paper. His voice cracked. “The locket was too much money for me to spend. The next day, the Coach called me to come over. I thought he needed some yard work done, but he didn’t; he left this note and a box on the front steps of the porch.” He cleared his throat. “‘Brett, I know my Poppy seed means a lot to you. She does me too. But you know and I know she has an itch that needs scratching. I want you to give this locket to her from you. I found a picture and stuck it in there. Trust me when I say that our Poppy seed will be back and I want her wearing our locket around her neck. No matter. Now go on, boy, and find her . . . well, you know where she is.’”

  Brett looked up at Poppy. She had no idea this had taken place between Brett and the Coach. Now she knew exactly what the words No Matter, which were engraved on the locket, meant.

  Sadie looked up at Poppy and lifted her hand, swiping the tears off Poppy’s chin. “You are crying like Daddy.” Sadie smiled.

  “I found her under the weeping willow tree and I gave her the locket.” He opened the box and took out the locket. He walked over and clasped it around Poppy’s neck. “On behalf of the Coach and me, we want to welcome you home.”

  Poppy stood up and buried her head in Brett’s neck, sobbing. Brett picked up Sadie and cradled both his girls to him.

  Chapter Thirty-Five

  The wedding ceremony between Poppy, Brett, and Sadie was simple. They had opted for a lakefront ceremony at the farm a few days after her divorce papers from Rob Ellington were final. Poppy was so proud to add Barrett to her name.

  All the charges against Poppy had been dropped and added to Rob’s case. Poppy had decided not to press charges against Rob as long as he gave back all the money he had taken from her over the years, which he did.

  “Sadie! Get in here!” Brett yelled from the kitchen screen door after Sadie had stormed out of the house and run across the backyard.

  “What’s wrong?” Poppy walked up behind her husband and wrapped her arms around his waist. She glanced around his arm and watched Sadie’s ponytail disappear between the weeping willow branches.

  “I told her that we couldn’t keep all these cats. She’s incensed.” Brett turned around and looked down at Poppy. “Don’t give me that look,” he warned her.

  “What?” Poppy pouted even more. “You really think you have a leg to stand on with two girls in the house?” She squeezed her arms tighter around him. “Two girls who have you wrapped around their fingers?”

  “And don’t forget I also have a weeping willow that has you two wrapped up in it.” He bent down and kissed Poppy. Raising his lips, he gazed into her eyes. “Fine. You go tell her we can keep them.”

  “I love you.” Poppy gave him a quick kiss and bolted out the screen door.

  She parted the branches of the weeping willow and found Sadie sitting exactly the way she had sat when she was Sadie’s age: legs crossed, elbows planted on her legs, and her chin cradled in her hands.

  “Mommy.” Sadie’s big eyes looked up at Poppy. It melted Poppy’s heart every time Sadie called her that. “Daddy won’t let me keep the kittens.”

  “Well,” Poppy sat next to Sadie and brushed the tear off the little girl’s cheek, “I think we can persuade him in the morning with a big pancake breakfast.”

  “Really?” The little girl’s voice escalated and she jumped into Poppy’s lap.

  “Yeah, really.” Poppy winked. “Now, let’s go get a bath and get you in bed.” She hugged Sadie close to her and looked around the inside of the tree. Poppy’s eyes welled with tears.

  “What’s wrong, Mommy?” Sadie looked up at Poppy.

  “You know I have a lot of fond memories sitting under this tree from when I was your age.” She swallowed, the tears receding. “Now I’m going to give this wonderful tree to you. So when you are happy, sad, lonely, or just need time alone, you can come here and let these branches curl around you. I promise you will find all the answers to life’s problems right here.” Poppy patted the ground next to them.

  Sadie smiled. She jumped up.

  “I’m going to go tell the kittens the good news.” Sadie darted between the branches, leaving Poppy there alone.

  Poppy closed her eyes and inhaled deeply. The Coach’s words breezed through the branches: “Life's simpler when you plow around the stumps. It's simpler still when you realize that there are stumps that need to be plowed around.”

  Her old, new life in Hudson Hollow was simple. And she was grateful for scratching her itch so many years ago. It had given her a grateful heart and the ability to know what unconditional love really meant.

  When she made it back into the house, Brett and Sadie had already gone to bed. She went from room to room, turning off the lights, stoppi
ng briefly to give a moment of thanks. She was grateful Brett and Sadie wanted to make the farm their home. It was something that would have tickled the Coach to death.

  When she got to her old bedroom, she stood quietly, watching Sadie sleep. One of the kittens was tucked in the bed with her. She imagined the love she felt for the little girl was how the Coach had felt when he looked in on her when she was that age.

  She blew the sleeping girl a kiss and walked into the Coach’s old bedroom, which was now her and Brett’s. He lay so peacefully in their bed. He was an angel; she was sure of it. She slipped under the covers and listened to him breathe.

  She had her heart’s desire right next to her. She reached over and rubbed Brett’s back before she leaned over and ran her hand down the Coach’s urn and flipped off the light.

  About the Author

  Tonya has written over 40 novels and 4 novellas, all of which have graced numerous bestseller lists including USA Today. Best known for stories charged with emotion and humor, and filled with flawed characters, her novels have garnered reader praise and glowing critical reviews. She lives with her husband, two very spoiled schnauzers and grew up in the small southern Kentucky town of Nicholasville. Now that her four boys are grown boys, Tonya writes fulltime.

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