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***Poppy***
Pigswereflying.Theirfat little pink bodies had to be flying around above my head because if I wasn’t mistaken Andrew Gaines was standing in front of me. The last time I’d spoken to him, I swore that pigs would fly before I spent another second in his presence, so I was sure bacon was about to rain down from the skies.
I’d thought I was having a bad day before I arrived at my Aunt Bonnie’s house for our family’s annual reunion. I’d been ghosted by yet another date, tripped over Bogie’s stuffed alligator, and backed straight into my neighbor’s trash can in my panic to leave on time. Mr. Bad Mood Banner was a retired school principal and we fought enough without him having the ammo of me denting his trash can up his sleeve. All of that was swear-at-the-sky bad day stuff. Finding my ex-boyfriend at my family reunion was rip-the-clouds-out-of-the-sky-and-curse-god bad day stuff.
I chanced a glance up at the sky overhead because I was thinking about it a lot for someone in a state of fight or fight harder. I half expected to see a pig for real. It would’ve been more welcome than Andrew Gaines.
Unfortunately, Andrew hadn’t changed. He was still the older, sexy, mildly famous carpenter I’d been willing to chase all over the west coast, burning through my late teens and early twenties for. Dark hair styled back from his face, deep brown eyes, and a smile that used to melt any sense I ever had, he was just as handsome as the last time I’d glared at him. It made me want to punch him in the throat.
“What the hell are you doing here?” I crossed my arms over my chest and glanced around. The party was happening inside the house and in the backyard, so I was alone in the front of the house with him. It was like he’d planned to ambush me.
“Good to see you too, Poppy.” He looked down at his shoes and then up at me through his lashes in a move I knew he’d practiced. “You look good.”
I narrowed my eyes until he was barely visible. “You’ve got about five seconds before I kick your ass. Why are you here?”
“I have to tell you something.” He appeared nervous and the sight of it made my stomach sink. I’d never seen him nervous.
Suddenly feeling like he was about to surprise me with a love child we’d had, I took a step back. Obviously, I would’ve remembered a love child, but whatever he had to tell me wasn’t going to be good. “What did you do?”
He frowned. “You always thought the worst of me.”
“You were always the worst for me.” I nodded back toward the road. “Leave.”
“Afraid I can’t leave, honey. I was invited.” He looked me over and blew out a deep breath. “I’m here with Kaitlyn.”
As if on cue, my pretty, uber-feminine cousin came walking out of the front door. She’d always been graceful and more beautiful than it was fair for any one woman to be. As she practically floated on a cloud to Andrew’s side, she cast a possessive look over him.
“I’m sorry. I thought I heard you say you’re here with Kaitlyn.” I watched as Kaitlyn slipped her hand into his. “That can’t be right, though, because my cousin and my ex being on a date at our family reunion would be screwed up.”
Kaitlyn’s peach-colored lips turned down. “Please don’t make a big deal out of this, Poppy. You and Andrew have been separated for years.”
“Two years, to be exact.” I could feel my pulse behind my eyes and I was pretty sure my blood pressure was at emergency levels. “And before that, we were together off and on for nearly ten years. Or did the two of you forget that?”
“You’re going to have to get over it and accept it. I’m going to be part of the family now.” Andrew took her other hand in his and lifted it to his lips, flashing a giant diamond at me as he kissed her delicate skin. “We’re getting married.”
I’d heard of a person’s life flashing before their eyes right before they died, but I’d never heard anyone talk about the life of their relationship passing through their mind before they took out their ex. That’s what was happening, though. Ten years of memories, each more damned than the last, went through my mind like an angry strobe light. Ten years of being too young, too inexperienced, too rough around the edges for a man like Andrew Gaines. Ten years of feeling like I’d never be good enough or worthy of his time and attention. Ten years of suffering through hell because he left me crumbs along the way to make me think that he’d be nicer some day.
The front door of the house opened and my older brother, Charlie, stepped out onto the porch. Eight years older than me, he was a detective—a damned good one. “Poppy? What’s the holdup?”
I imagined lashing out and karate chopping Andrew right in his neck. I wanted to uppercut him into a new dimension, where he could haunt someone else, but it seemed like Andrew was solidly my problem. “Just catching up with my ex and our cousin, Charlie. Did you hear they’re getting hitched? Isn’t that just neat?”
Charlie swore and opened the screen door to yell into the house. “Poppy’s pissed! Put away the sharp stuff!”
Kaitlyn’s smile was strained. “It’s not necessary to remind everyone of the past, Poppy.”
I cocked my hip out to the side. “Oh? Well, I’m not sure I agree. I think the past is a great learning tool, Kait. If you choose to ignore that your fiancé is the same man who once abandoned me in the middle of nowhere to avoid looking like he was dating someone, that’s your choice. I think the rest of our family gets to make their own choice, however.”
Andrew stepped closer to me, making me flinch away from him. While he’d never lifted a finger to hurt me, he’d done more than enough damage with his words and actions. He ignored my clear signs of recoil and came even closer. “Don’t make this hard on us. Kaitlyn and I are getting married in a few months. She wants you there. Just be mature about this.”
“Whoa, buddy. It’s pretty clear my sister doesn’t want you coming that close to her.” Charlie had cleared the porch and the distance between us the moment he saw me flinch. “Why don’t you back away from her?”
Andrew reached out and grabbed my shoulder, doing his best to make the gesture friendly, but I reacted without a second thought. I grabbed his wrist and yanked his hand down and to the side, using the force to spin him away from me, and then I drove his wrist into his back, effectively subduing him. Shoving him away from me, I shuddered. I wasn’t a fan of violence, but I was even less of a fan of Andrew touching me.
Kaitlyn screamed at me to stop, even though I’d already stopped seconds before. Andrew rubbed from his shoulder to his wrist, his face twisted in pain and anger. Charlie stood with his hands on his hips, frowning at me. I didn’t care. I’d tried to warn him to stay away.
Andrew, trying his best to appear the calm and rational one, held up his hands and forced a smile. I knew him, even after two years apart, though. I knew he was furious that I’d made him look stupid. “Now let’s just calm down. We can all coexist.”
