by Sam Crescent
It had been one month since Poppy buried her mother. Her father hadn’t even bothered to get in touch to make sure they were okay. This was why she wasn’t interested in Hank Williams, her father, because whenever it mattered most, he was never there for her. Standing in her mother’s trailer, she felt so alone. This was the first time that she’d ever felt this way. All of her mother’s possessions were boxed up with a label for them to be donated to charity.
There was a knock on the door, and she looked up in time to see Casey Smith entering her trailer.
“Shouldn’t I answer the door before you just walk in? I could have been naked,” she said.
Tears were already spilling down her face as she tried to smile at him. He pulled her into his arms and ran his hand down her back. “This is why I just walked in, babe. You’re falling apart.”
“I knew she was going to leave. The doctors gave us two years and I got three with her, but I wasn’t ready. I thought I was, but I just couldn’t handle it. I don’t … I wasn’t ready to lose her.”
He held her tightly as she cried once again. The pain didn’t go away, and everyone said it would take time, but this was too much. She didn’t want to feel this way.
Suddenly, she pulled out of his arms and wiped the tears away from her face. She had to be strong. Her mother had asked her to be.
“I better go and take this stuff to charity,” she said.
“You don’t have to do this today,” he said.
“I do. If I don’t do this now, then I never will. I’ve kept some stuff that was important to her and to me. I know she’d be happy to see this go.” She picked up the box. Such a small box for a woman in her forties. Her mother had never been materialistic. The one thing her mother had loved was the recipe cards and books that she’d kept from her own mother, and now Poppy had them.
She’d have to perfect her mother’s chili cheese bread and the cornbread recipe. There was so much she was going to miss.
“Come on, sweetie,” Casey said. He took the box from her and she left the trailer, pausing when she caught sight of Parker and Shawn. They were standing next to their truck.
Shawn opened his arms and she walked into them, loving his warmth as he surrounded her.
“It’s going to be okay, Poppy. We’re all going to help you get through this. You’re not alone.”
She nodded. It didn’t matter what anyone said.
Parker opened the truck door and climbed in. Shawn helped her inside as Casey took the driver’s side. Shawn climbed in beside her. It was squashed, but it felt right to be there with them.
She took the box from Parker and held her mother’s life stuff in her hands. There was no easy way to deal with what had happened. The cancer in her mother’s breasts had spread, and that had numbered the years left of her life.
They had done everything they could to help her, but in the end she’d died, and now all that was left was Poppy.
None of the Smith brothers talked as they drove into town. She was thankful for their comforting warmth, which distracted her enough so that tears didn’t fall.
When they got to the parking lot of the charity shop her mother had picked, Shawn climbed out and took her hand, helping her.
She thanked him and, without looking back, took the box of her mother’s possessions inside.
Her mother had volunteered at the shop every Sunday. Throughout the week, she worked at the diner as a waitress. They’d never had a lot in life, but they had each other, and she loved that.
Entering the shop, she spotted Mrs. Bunt, who ran the shop.
“Poppy, it’s so good to see you.”
Walking up to the desk, she placed her mother’s belongings on the counter. “Hello, Mrs. Bunt. I’m sorry it took so long for me to bring this.”
“Nonsense, child. The fact you’ve even brought this now amazes me.”
Tears filled her eyes and her throat felt thick. A wave of sadness engulfed her, and she looked down at her shoes, seeing the dirt from the soggy grass around her trailer from the rain last night. When she got home she’d have to remove her shoes, as otherwise she’d be scrubbing at the carpet.
Her mother had always been a stickler for cleanliness. A trailer they may live in, but that didn’t mean they couldn’t be clean. She remembered her mother scrubbing the dirt from her face after playing with Shawn when she was a kid.
“I know she’d have wanted you to have it, and I didn’t want to keep it from you. She wouldn’t have liked that.”
“I miss your mother so very much,” Mrs. Bunt said.
“Me, too.”
Mrs. Bunt reached out, holding Poppy’s hands. “It’ll get better. You’ll see. It’ll shock you at first, and you’ll feel guilty, but one day soon you’ll be able to think of her and smile.”
Mrs. Bunt had lost her husband several years ago.
“Thank you.”
“Anytime. You are always welcome here.”
Her mother had always been a bit of an outsider, but Mrs. Bunt had accepted her when many wouldn’t have.
“Thank you,” she said again. There really wasn’t anything else to say. “Is the position still available on Sunday?”
“Yes.”
“Then I’d like to take my mother’s place if that is okay. I can clean and help keep the shop in order. I can do whatever my mother did.”
“Then I’ll see you Sunday,” Mrs. Bunt said.
She nodded, and was about to say thank you, but she kept it to herself this time.
****
Shawn waited for Poppy to leave the store. He had his arms folded and was waiting for her to return. His two brothers were the same, leaning up against the truck. They ignored the women giving them the eye.
One moment they had that look which begged them all to fuck them. Then in the next, they were judging them. He didn’t like the two-faced bitches, and never would. There was only one person he knew who had never judged him, and that was Poppy.
“Why did she have to give her mother’s stuff away?” Parker asked.
“It was her mother’s dying wish. She wanted her to see Mrs. Bunt as well,” Casey said.
“She’s going to take the Sunday job there,” Shawn said. His brothers turned toward him and he held his hands up. “Don’t look at me. I spoke to Cathy about it, and she believed it’d be good for her daughter. It would help with closure or something like that. I agree.”
Poppy had always been close to her mother, always. They were best friends as well as mother and daughter. The past three years had been tough on Poppy. Between working at the ranch with his mother and taking care of her mother, she’d been stretched thin.
“I want you to make sure my daughter has fun. Don’t let her wallow in this sadness. She’s going to be sad, and at times the pain is going to feel like it’s never ending, but there will be an end. You, Casey, and Parker, you need to make sure she remembers that she’s a woman, and what life can be like.”
Her mother had known that he was in love with Poppy. Glancing at his two brothers as they stared toward the charity shop, he knew they all had feelings for Poppy.
When they were younger, it was affection. He cared for her because she was his best friend. Then as the years went on, that love became something else. It became a yearning, something so deep, so profound that he’d struggled to handle his feelings.
Being near her and not having her had been a pleasure and a curse.
Poppy always kept him at arm’s length. In fact, she had tried to set him up on numerous dates, but he never went on any of them.
No other woman had ever appealed to him, so at twenty-one years old he was still a virgin.
His brothers were not. Before they figured out that Poppy was the girl for them, they had sown their wild oats. Of course, the moment they realized that she was their girl, no one else ever had a chance.
He didn’t know when they’d realized that Poppy belonged to them, but he’d known from a young age that she would be the girl he’d marry.
Poppy had always been all curves, a nice round ass, full tits, thighs that had a man dreaming of getting lost between them. They needed to get some food inside her.
“Thank you so much for bringing me into town,” she said.
Casey was already behind the wheel, and Parker in his place. Shawn took her hand like he had so many times before. He knew this made his brothers jealous as he could touch her in ways that didn’t freak her out.
They were going to take their time in showing Poppy that they wanted her. When they had told their parents, their dads had understood, but their mother had been nervous.
“This is not for every woman. The spite of the town, and with Poppy dealing with her mother, you’re going to have to wait. If she doesn’t want this, you’re going to have to learn to let her go.”
He, Parker, and Casey had spent weeks talking about their plan. They all loved Poppy. She was part of their lives, and soon she’d be their woman. He should have known they’d find just one woman for them. They’d grown up seeing how much their dads loved their mother.
Shawn wanted that, and he knew deep down, Poppy needed that.
“Hey, my trailer is down there,” she said pointing across him.
“We know. Our parents are expecting you, Pops,” Casey said. “She’s done a chocolate fudge cake just for you.”
“Oh,” she said.
“Let’s not forget the fried chicken,” Parker said.
This had Poppy licking her lips, and even though it was torture to watch now, one day those lips would be wrapped around his cock.
“And she’s done spicy cheese fries,” Shawn said, knowing he sealed the food deal.
Her stomach growled. “Okay, I think I could eat. I know I could eat.” She rested her head on his shoulder.
“Did you ask to volunteer?”
“You know me so well, Shawn. Being in that shop, I felt my mother, you know? I want to be near her whenever I can.”
He rested his head on top of hers. “You will be. She’s everywhere with you.”
The past three years had been torture. He’d wanted to find some magical cure, and being helpless to aid his friend had been the hardest thing he’d ever lived through.
All Poppy had wanted was for her mother to live, and he couldn’t grant her that. In time, he hoped she’d find that sparkle that he’d seen slowly wilt inside her.
She was no longer like a flower.
Glancing at his brothers, he saw they were looking at her. Her eyes were closed as she rested against him.
Shawn had no doubt that together, they could make her feel whole again. They all loved her in their own way, and he believed she had feelings for him, only she tried to hide it.
One day soon, they wouldn’t allow her to hide anything from them.
****
Parker watched as his mother hugged Poppy close. She was twenty-one years old, but all the life had been drained out of her, and he hated to see it. There was a time when there was so much sparkle and fire in her eyes. He wanted that again for her.
“It’s so good to see you,” Louise, his mother, said.
“Hey, Louise,” Poppy said.
“It’s a pleasure to have you here.”
The scents of fried chicken and chili hung heavy in the air. His mother was a damn good cook, but she had to deal with three boys and a bunch of ranch hands as well. The only way to survive here was to make sure every single guy doted on you, and they did.
As he entered the dining room, Parker’s stomach growled at the abundance of food. There would be none for leftovers either.
Louise Smith had long realized that leftovers were not ever going to be a thing in her house. Parker reached for a piece of chicken, and just then, his mother slapped his hand. “I made this dinner for Poppy. You can take after she’s decided on the first piece.”
Poppy smiled at him, and he watched as she took the smallest piece of chicken, leaving the monster breast for him. She knew that he loved chicken, especially fried. He loved her so damn much. She was a sweetheart, sexy, and so fucking funny, and all wrapped in one package. He looked forward to getting her underneath him, or between his brothers.
He just wanted to love her, and any way he could have her, he would.
His mother tutted. “That will not do, honey. You need some meat on those bones, and don’t you worry. They are going to eat like animals, so you have nothing to worry about.”
Poppy giggled as Louise loaded up her plate. There were at least three pieces of chicken, and so many chili cheese fries.
“You get started,” Louise said.
Bruce and Elijah were on either end of the table, and his mother took a seat in the center between the two. Poppy sat beside Shawn. He and Casey sat on either side of their mother.
Poppy took the first bite, and Shawn watched as her eyes closed. She did love food, but just recently, he’d barely seen her eat, and she was wasting away. He didn’t like it.
“So, what’s the plan now, Poppy?” Elijah asked.
He watched as she swallowed, and then glanced around the table. “I volunteered at Mrs. Bunt’s charity shop where Mom did. There’s not a lot at the trailer, but I guess I’m going to have to talk to Arnold the owner to see if he’d let me live there, and work out a rent deal.”
“Actually, Parker, Shawn, and I were thinking, and we wanted to ask you about something,” Casey said.
“What?” Poppy asked.
“We’ve taken on twenty more ranch hands, and Mom’s going to need the extra help. She already cooks for half of them, and as we’ve bought more land, and more cattle, our place is in serious need of a cook.”
Their parents had built them their own house several miles from their parents’ house. They still worked and lived on Smith land. Each one of them had a dream for the ranch, and their dads had allowed them to do it.
“We’d love it if you’d be willing to stay with us, cook, clean the ranch, and handle stuff around the place,” Casey said.
“We were going to put an ad in the paper, but we didn’t want just anyone answering, and we know you’re a damn good cook and you can clean,” Shawn said.
“What about the trailer?” Poppy asked.
“You can stay there, and one of us will drop you off and collect you. We’ll take you wherever you need to go,” Parker said.
He wanted her to agree. If she did, that was step one of their planned seduction complete. The next step would be getting her to stay. They already had a room they were decorating, and hoped she’d one day stay in it.
Each of them had a part to play, and before Cathy had died they had all gotten her blessing.
Of course, the final decision had to be with Poppy.
“Erm, yes, I’d love to. You know I love it here.” She turned to Louise. “You don’t mind?”
“Honey, I was the one that asked that any new ranch hands they employed, they find someone willing to feed them. I’m cooking all day long, trying to keep our lot fed.”
Poppy nodded. “Then I’d totally love the opportunity.”
“Excellent. You can start tomorrow if you’d like?” Casey asked. “I’ll pick you up, and we’ll go shopping for everything and anything you need.”
Poppy nodded, and smiled. “I’d like that.”
She picked up a piece of chicken and took a large bite. Already there was some color back in her cheeks.
It was good to see her eating.
After dinner, Shawn took her back home while he and Casey walked toward their own home.
“You think this is going to work?” Parker asked.
“I hope so. She still wears our jewelry, so I’m going to look at that as a positive,” Casey said.
Parker paused as he admired the land where their
house lay. It was five bedrooms with three bathrooms. They had built it with Poppy in mind. State of the art kitchen, a nice little garden for her to do a vegetable patch, and a place for their kids to play. They had everything planned, and he hoped one day soon he’d be standing in this spot with the sun setting, watching as their woman and kids ran around playing.
“What do we do next?” Parker asked.
“You know what we do next.” Casey turned to look at him. “We get her to fall in love with us, each one. We take our time, knowing what the end prize is. Poppy as our wife and in our bed.”
****
“Do you really need three large briskets?” Poppy asked.
Casey smirked as he placed another three. “We’re a lover of all things meat, Pop. We need our strength.”
“This is going to be expensive.”
“I told you not to worry about the money. Just get what you need and I’ll handle the cash.”
She had one trolley, which he was filling up.
“You know, for a woman, you’re not very good at shopping.”
He got her to roll her eyes, which he still found the most adorable thing. They moved through the store, and he ignored the other women who were giving him the “fuck me” look. He wasn’t interested in any other woman.
“How are you feeling today?” he asked.
“I’m doing okay. I’m going to be doing a lot of cooking and baking.” She reached down, trying to grab a large bag of flour. He moved her out of the way and did the heavy lifting. “Thank you.”
“You don’t need to worry about anything. Just tell me what you want and I’ll dump it into the trolley for you. I’ve got no problem using my manly muscles.”
They passed one of the women who’d come to the ranch and tried to get into his bed. Casey ignored her as he had no interest in anyone else.
“Melissa is totally giving you the stink eye,” Poppy said. She paused at the canned fruits and fillings. He watched as she loaded one can after another.
“Really, I didn’t notice.”
The shirt Poppy wore stretched over her chest, giving just a hint of breast. His cock thickened, and he wanted her. Rubbing the back of his head, he saw the variety of chocolate chips, and being the sweet-toothed guy that he was, emptied out the shelf.