20. Poppy

TWENTY

POPPY

It's been three days since I left Jace's house. Despite the many calls from Marigold and Logan, I've refused to leave my home. I just need time to sulk and realize how my rash decisions always seem to lead me down a path I don't want to be on.

But today is a new day. It's Christmas Eve and I know Marigold needs me at the bakery. I need to suck it up and just move on. If Jace can't understand why I did what I did, he has that right. I'm not saying it was the smartest thing to do, but I learned a lesson from it and won't ever return to that point of time.

When I walk into the bakery, Logan comes running over to me. "Oh, thank god! We're swamped. Get an apron on and get your ass to work!"

I chuckle, grabbing the apron hanging on the hook and tie it around my back before stepping up to the counter. The line is long and winds out the door as everyone is grabbing their last minute desserts for Christmas Eve. We work in tandem for about twenty five minutes before we're able to grab a breather.

Hearing the bell ring, I look up to see Vienna walking over to the counter. She has a shit eating grin on her face and I can only imagine she's happy to have Jace away from me.

"Oh, Poppy! I'm so glad to see you. I need you to come with me right away!"

Her urgent words don't match the tone of her voice which is more flirty and giggly. I eye her wondering what she's up to.

"I heard you like it hot and I've got just the thing that's going to set your heart on fire once again!" Her not so cryptic sentence lets me know I've been the talk of the town. Again. So right now I have a choice to make—I can embrace the crazy that I once demonstrated, laugh it off, and show everyone I've grown. Or I can turn and run. I can leave this town and find a new one, hoping to start over once again.

But I love this town and I love my cousin. No matter what they think of me, I need to stand on my own two feet again. Marigold comes to my side and she also has the same shit eating grin.

"What are you two up to?" My eyes volley between the two of them.

Marigold unties the apron from me. "Go with Vienna. Trust me, you're going to want to see what she shows you."

I narrow my eyes at her but round the counter and follow her out the door. Getting into her jeep, I notice a little girl in the back seat.

"This is Haven, Wells' daughter. Haven, this is my friend Poppy."

"Poppy!" She giggles at my name. "I want my name to be Poppy!"

I smile at her. "I want my name to be Haven! Should we switch?" She laughs again and we begin driving down Main street. "Are you taking me to the fire department? Because I really don't think I'm welcome there anymore."

She casts me a quick glance. "No, not the fire department. But if this goes south, we may need to call them." She laughs at her own joke and my nerves begin to flutter. When we pull down the road that leads to Passion Cove, I see a bonfire on the beach.

"Is something burning?"

She parks the car, pulls down her visor pulling an envelope from it and hands it to me. "Get out. Read the letter. Then follow the flames." Her eyes are dancing with laughter and mischief and I let out a nervous laugh. "Go! Seriously!" I shake my head and climb from the jeep waving goodbye to Haven.

She pulls away quickly and I stand there debating what to do. In the end I opened the envelope, pulling out a handwritten letter.

Dear Poppy,

Let me start out by saying I'm just a twenty one year old punk who doesn't know any better.

Are you buying it?

No? Me either.

You know enough about me now to know I run on logic and step by step processes. Everything has an order and follows suit with what naturally comes next.

You were not on my bingo card. And it scared the hell out of me.

I had no idea I could fall so quickly and so hard for someone without really knowing anything about them.

But that's who you are. You are charismatic, wild and beautiful. You're sweet and make everyone around you feel good. You do good for others, you care for them and want to make sure they're happy and looked after.

How could I not fall in love?

Now that you know I'm in love with you, I need you to know how sorry I am for how I reacted to your story. Fear of what could have been took over my mind. I wasn't listening to your explanation or your side of the story and for that I'm sorry. You deserved to be heard.

Your loyalty to your cousin is something I envy and I only hope I haven't ruined what we had. Since I met you, I've been worried you'd run from me. My job is not something that will help you sleep well at night. And I've always worried if I found someone I truly wanted to be with, they wouldn't stay with me knowing I won't ever give that job up.

But I can have two loves and in fact, I do. I want nothing more than to have you stand beside me for all the days to come.

I also apologize for dropping the L word in a letter and if you give me a chance I'd love to tell you in person. I'm on the beach, by the fire.

Love,

Jace

My heart pounds heavily in my chest as I read everything I've wanted him to say to me. I see the smoke rising from the small bonfire on the beach and walk toward it. Just like he said, Jace is there waiting for me.

"You came." He breathes out a relieved breath when I approach.

"I'm going to pretend I didn't just read what I did and I want you to tell me to my face everything you're feeling right now." I shake the letter and wait.

His eyes hold mine and he shoves his hands in his pockets. "Poppy. I've got a lot to learn when it comes to you. You've shown me it's okay to take things in stride. You've shown me it's okay to dance on chairs, eat red velvet cupcakes at midnight and break out into song at any given time." I try to smother my grin but he's making me feel seen right now.

"You've shown me love can strike at any time whether you're ready or not. The plan I had for myself is not what the universe wants for me and I'm coming to terms with it. The good thing is I'm young enough to learn how to adapt."

"Is that an old joke?"

He huffs out a laugh and drops his head shaking it before stepping closer to me and reaching for my hand. "No, it's not an old joke. It's a reminder that if I don't want to lose the best thing that's ever happened to me, I need to make changes now. I need to not be so rigid in my thinking and I need to learn how to let my better half lead me in things I don't know much about."

"You know Jace, this is very out of character for you."

"Well, I had a girl that left me feeling out of control."

"You had a girl?" I ask, standing in front of him feeling every emotion as if I'm in a hurricane.

"I'm hoping I still have her, but I screwed up pretty big. And I'm hoping she can see past my straight edge ways and teach me to be a little bit more like her. "

His words wash over me and I feel his sincerity. I hold his letter up and rip it in half. Then I drop it in the fire.

"Tell me."

"I love you." He speaks without thinking, already knowing exactly what I need him to say. He steps closer pulling me into him and circling his arms around me. "I'm in love with you, Poppy James. I told you, I want good and bad times. I just hope you want those with me, too."

I melt into him. "Oh, Jace. I do. I love you, too. You've made me so happy since I came to Love Beach."

"I want to continue to make you happy. I'm so sorry, Poppy. Tell me you forgive me. Please come home with me. I need you with me every day."

"I forgive you, Jace."

He cradles my face and steals my breath with a kiss the likes of one I've never had from him before. It's urgent and manic and pours every bit of his love into me leaving me dizzy. "I don't ever want to go three days without you again."

"Same," I whisper out and he chuckles against my lips.

"You know, I was going to spell out the words ‘I'm sorry' and light them on fire, but I thought better about that."

I laugh. "Good idea. But how much is this uncontained fire on the beach driving you crazy right now?"

"Oh, god, so much!" He's been watching it nervously the whole time. "Help me put it out!"

We grab the two buckets he's got nearby and run to the lake filling them up. We splash each other, the water is cool and so is the air so we make quick work of dousing the little bonfire. Then we run over to his truck and climb in.

"Can we have our first Christmas together now?"

I sing All I Want For Christmas by Mariah Carey and he chimes in. "Does that answer your question, Mr. Sullivan?"

"It sure does, Ms. James. Let's go home."

The end.