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I swallow hard over the giant lump in my throat, unable to speak or make eye contact.
“Does everyone know about this but me?” Her voice wobbles, and I can practically feel the hurt radiating off her skin at the possibility of being left out.
“No. No one else knows. Just me and Juliet. And Mom. She knew.” Another wave of sadness rolls over me. Mom was always the best person to turn to when you needed to talk something out. And she knew her children. She was the one who came to me, pried the news out of me like the lid off a swollen pickle jar.
“Oh. Of course Mom knew. She always knew.” Poppy trails off, lost in her own memories of our mom.
Sometimes I feel her in this house, catch a hint of her perfume in the air, the echo of her tinkly laugh off the walls, and I swear she’s still here with me. Standing right behind me, watching over my shoulder and guiding me to do the right thing, say the right thing.
“I miss her so much.” Poppy sighs, her voice soft and filled with regret. At the things we’ll never get to say to her, the time we’ll never have together.
“Me too, Pops.” I lick my dry lips, pat my sister’s arm, so much smaller and more delicate than mine.
Poppy’s such a strong force, such a big personality, that I sometimes forget how tiny she is.
“I take it you still love her then? Juliet?” She spins on the stool to look at me, locking her aquamarine gaze on mine.
Something unlocks in my chest, some of the tightness, the anxiety clearing, replaced with lightness.
“Yeah, I do.”
My sister scrunches her lips together, frown lines creasing her brow as she digests this info. She laces her fingers together, then loosens them, then laces them again.
Finally, she straightens up her shoulders and smooths her hair down.
“As long as she’s good to you, that’s all that matters. If she does anything to hurt you, though, she’s going to answer to me.”
Juliet and Poppy going head-to-head would be a good matchup. Juliet’s tough, but you should never underestimate Poppy, especially when family’s involved.
I chuckle, my lips tipping up. “I’ll be sure to give her fair warning.”
Poppy leans over and hugs me, throwing her arms around my shoulders. Caught off guard, I stiffen, then relax as she wraps me in her embrace. Like a freaking ray of sunshine, warming me all the way up.
“You’re a good guy, King. Like I said, she’s lucky to have you.”
Poppy pulls away, jumping down from the stool.
“How was Lacey? That’s why I came over in the first place.”
The mention of our half sister throws me off-kilter, and I scramble to get my bearings.
“She was fine. Good. She’s probably making a visit this summer.”
“Really?” Poppy scrunches up her nose.
“Yeah. She wants to meet all of you.”
“What was she like?”
“We only chatted for a bit. But she seemed nice.”
“Don’t you find it strange that she wants to meet us?”
“Not really. Look at all those people doing the at-home DNA kits and shit. Same type of thing.”
Poppy shrugs. “I guess. What’d she look like? Tall? Blonde?”
“No and no. She’s taller than you, but not tall. And her hair’s brown.”
