3. Poppy

THREE

POPPY

"Look at you, my Hollywood cousin. I can't believe you partnered with a shop in Los Angeles!"

"I'm hardly Hollywood, this small town is more my speed. But when Logan mentioned his old boss was looking to join forces, I couldn't resist seeing the Cakeology name in lights!" She slashes her hand through the air.

"Girl, I told you I'd make you shine," Logan responds to Marigold before bolting toward me with his arms wide. "I'm so happy you're here!"

Logan and I met via text while my cousin was having issues in her shop earlier this year. Marigold spoke of her co-worker and hearing his silly stories made me love him before I even met him. But when he called me after her shop burned down, I knew I needed to be here. It felt a little easier moving to a new town when I already had a friend, and of course, my cousin.

"You saw me yesterday, Logan."

"That was yesterday. Todays a bright new day and I'm still happy to see you." He pulls away and heads back to the counter where he was rolling out cookie dough. "Tomorrow may be a different story but for now you're safe." He grins and winks at me .

"Quit yapping and keep working!" Marigold teases Logan before turning her attention back to me. "I'm actually meeting a woman who lives in LA to design her wedding cake. Izzy will be here visiting family around Thanksgiving time and she's coming in to do some taste testing."

"Oh! That's so exciting! Just don't get too big and leave us little people here in Love Beach."

"I wouldn't dream of it." Marigold blows a kiss to us both.

"Speaking of, are you going to tell us why you're here in little ol' Love Beach yet?" Logan inquires.

"Can't I just want to be in the same town as my favorite cousin and her bestie?" I lean against the counter and cross my arms.

" Only cousin?—"

" Only bestie." Logan looks pointedly at Marigold.

"Semantics."

"Pop. Tell me, did something happen?" Marigold asks with concern. I don't want to tell her the real reason. The last thing I want to do is embarrass her in her new town with her new firefighter fiancé.

How ironic.

"No one in that town understands me," I say dismissively.

"Who cares what they think?"

"You know how it is, that's exactly why you left."

"I left because my ex was spreading his batter all over town." She rolls her eyes and Logan makes a gagging noise.

"I handled that for you." And it's why I had to leave, I think to myself . I sing out, "Feeling hot, hot, hot!" and do a little two step dance.

"I know you did, and thank you for that. It actually worked out pretty well." She flashes her ring.

"Anyway, I'm liking it here so far. Change of scenery, change of pace … change of men." I say those last three words seductively and waggle my brows.

"I see you've been hanging around the station a bit. Anyone of interest?" She hip checks me.

"Sully is pretty cute," I admit.

"I knew you'd go for him! Don't ruin him, he's just a baby," she warns me.

"Funny, your man said the same thing. But don't worry I'll teach him everything he needs to know." I blow on my knuckles and make a motion of shining my shirt.

"I don't know if you'll be the teacher. I bet he's the quiet type in public but behind the scenes he's something else," Logan muses.

"Well, my goal is to find out!"

"Poppy!" Marigold chastises me but with a smile so I know she's only messing around.

"What's a little age gap between friends?"

"Are you even friends?" Marigold quips.

"I'm trying. He seems to try to avoid me whenever I enter the station."

"Then you just need to up your game girl," Logan says.

He's right. I need to make it a point to let him know I'm interested without scaring him off, but also without changing who I am.