Page 82 of Halloween Town

Thom, his heart racing at a thousand beats per minute, got up and walked into the hallway, Hayes on his heels. Why was Poppy here? Had she come to apologize? To ask whether she could come back? To talk?

Thom, needing some time to think, quietly walked into the main lounge. It had at least three windows that opened up onto the wide porch, and one was missing its pane of glass. He was a few steps from the window when he heard Poppy’s croon and Fel’s delighted whimper.

“Fel, you’re here! It’s so good to see you, gorgeous boy.” He knew she would be rubbing his face, then his belly. Fel had a rubbing routine he preferred, and Poppy had it down to a fine art. Thom didn’t and that was why he always got hit, depending on Fel’s mood, with a fart or a growl.

“Did you enjoy your vacation with Edie? Is your dad here? Shh, don’t tell him I’m here, okay?”

Why was she sneaking around his inn? Thom stood against the wall next to the window and looked down the wide porch, frowning at the sanding blocks and discarded pieces of sandpaper. He ran his finger along the wooden sill and felt its silky smoothness. He caught Hayes’s eye and pointed at the sill. “She’s been here?” he mouthed.

Hayes lifted his shoulder in an I-have-no-idea shrug.

Why would she come to Solstice Deep and work on his house when he wasn’t here?

“You really can’t tell him I was here, okay, Fel baby? But I promised to help him renovate this house, and this was all I could do.”

Did he give a rat’s ass about his house? He fucking did not.

“Truthfully, Fel,” Poppy’s voice broke a little and ten arrows hit his heart simultaneously. “I just needed to be here. In the place that we both love. I’ve always just needed to be here, with him.”

Then why did she leave? Thom wanted to howl the question and was about to make his presence known when her phone rang.

“Shit, it’s my mom.”

Thom met Hayes’s eyes and pulled a face. Hayes simply lifted an eyebrow, leaned a shoulder into the wall, his expression silently asking Thom why he was hiding in his own house like a coward. He didn’t know.

“Hi, Mom.”

Thom peeked out of the window to see Poppy sitting on the porch step, Fel next to her, leaning his big body into her. Her arm was draped across his back, and she’d turned her head to place her forehead on his flank. Yep, according to Fel’s Law, he was definitely surplus to requirements.

Poppy was quiet for a long time, and when she spoke, he heard the exhaustion in her voice. Glenda McMaster, a human stress-generator.

“No, Mom, I am not going back to work for Frieda,” Poppy said. “I’ve rented a cottage for three months and I will be staying in H-Town for at least that long.”

Another long silence. “Wait, so what you’re saying is that if I come home, take the job, and leave H-Town behind, we can go back to how we were? The dinners and lunches, the shopping trips?”

Thom closed his eyes, his stomach going into a free fall. He knew how much Poppy wanted to be a part of her family, and this was an offer she’d find difficult to refuse. Being a part of that unit, being a good daughter and sister, was important to her. She was going to go back.

He turned to Hayes and his friend winced. Yeah, not good. For any of them, but especially not for Poppy. They’d eat her alive.

He turned back to watch Poppy.

“And if I don’t come back?” she asked. “Can we still do lunch and go shopping?” She tipped her head back to look at the clear blue sky. “Yeah, I didn’t think so.”

Poppy pushed her fingers into her eye socket. “You know what, Mom, I’m not doing this. I’m not negotiating my worth with you anymore, with anyone anymore. I’ll be okay with or without you. I don’t need a Benji in my life, or a family that has a rigid set of rules for me to follow, who can’t love me for being me. Either love me as I am or not at all.

“I will pay my own rent, buy the clothes I want to wear, paint my pictures, and prove to myself, and you, that I can and will stand on my own two feet. I will make, and pay, my way without anyone’s help, doing what I love to do. I’m learning to be enough. Sure, it’s hard but I’ll get there. Bye, Mom, call me again when you’ve digested that.”

Poppy stood up and jammed her phone into the back pocket of her jeans. Fel whimpered as he looked up at her, and she buried her free hand in his fur. “I’ve got to go, darling. You need to go inside. Thom will be wondering where you are and I don’t want him to know that I was here, being pathetic.”

Her words ripped Thom’s soul open. How could she think that? About to rush out to her, Hayes’s hand caught his arm and yanked him to a stop. His friend shook his head and Thom braked. Right. She’d said she didn’t want to look pathetic. She’d hate it if he appeared right now.

And he needed time to take in her words, to work out what they meant. To think.

Exiting the room, he walked down the hall to the study and slipped inside. When he was behind his desk, he whistled for Felony. While Poppy was around, he didn’t have a hope in hell of Fel coming to him, but it was a good way to tell Poppy where he was if she wanted to avoid him.

And he knew she needed to. They’d talk. But not today.

He heard the soft shuffle of trainers on his wooden floor and turned to see Hayes standing in the doorway. “She’s gone,” Hayes told him. Since Fel was back inside, and looking murderous behind Hayes, he’d figured.