Mr. Litchfield sighed and ran his hand over his face. He sat back against the bench. “When you came back to Blossom Grove, Rune, I took one look at you and couldn’t believe how you’d changed. I felt disappointed,” he admitted. I felt my chest tighten at that blow. He shook his head. “I saw the smoking, the attitude, and assumed you bore no resemblance to the boy you were before. The one that loved my daughter as much as she loved him. The boy that—I would have bet my life—would have walked through fire for my baby girl.
“But who you are now, I never would have expected you to love her in the way she deserves.” Mr. Litchfield’s voice grew husky with pain. Clearing his throat, he said, “I fought against you. When I saw how you two had connected again, I tried to warn her off. But you two have always been like magnets, drawn together by some unknown force.” He huffed a laugh. “Poppy’s mamaw said that you were both thrust together for a greater meaning. One we would never know until it presented itself. She said that great loves were always destined to be together for some great reason.” He paused, and turning to me, stated, “And now I know.”
I looked him straight in the eye. Mr. Litchfield’s firm hand landed on my shoulder. “You were meant to be together, so you could be her guiding light through all of this. You were created perfectly for her, to make this time for my girl special. To make sure her remaining days were filled with things her mama and I could never have given her.”
Pain sliced through me and I closed my eyes. When I opened them again, Mr. Litchfield dropped his hand, but made me face him still. “Rune, I was against you. But I could see how much she loved you. I just wasn’t sure you loved her back.”
“I do,” I said hoarsely. “I never stopped.”
He nodded his head. “I didn’t know until the trip to New York. I didn’t want her to go.” He inhaled and said, “But when she came back I could see that there was a new peace within her. Then she told me what you did for her. Carnegie Hall?” He shook his head. “You gave my girl her biggest dream, for no other reason than you wanted her to achieve it. To make her happy … because you loved her.”
“She gives me more,” I replied, and bowed my head. “Just by being her, she gives me that tenfold.”
“Rune, if Poppy comes out of this—”
“When,” I interrupted. “When she comes out of this.”
I lifted my head to see Mr. Litchfield looking at me. “When,” he said with a hopeful sigh. “I won’t stand in your way.” He leaned forward to rest his face on his hands. “She was never right after you left, Rune. I know you’ve struggled with not having her in your life. And I’d have to be a fool not to see that you blame your pappa for all of this. For you leaving. But sometimes life doesn’t go the way you expect. I never expected to lose my daughter before I left. But Poppy has taught me that I can’t be angry. Because, son,” he said and looked me in the face, “if Poppy isn’t angry about having a short life, how dare any of us be angry for her?”
I stared back, silently. My heart beat faster at his words. Images of Poppy twirling in the blossom grove filled my mind, her smile wide as she breathed in the scented air. I saw that same smile as I remembered her dancing in the shallow water at the beach, her hands in the air as the sun kissed her face.
Poppy was happy. Even with this diagnosis, even with all the pain and disappointment of her treatment, she was happy.
“I’m glad you returned, son. You’re making Poppy’s final days, in her words, ‘as special as special can be’.”
Mr. Litchfield got to his feet. In a move I’d only ever seen from his daughter, Poppy, he tipped his face to the setting sun and closed his eyes.
When he brought his head back down, he walked back toward the door, looking back to say, “You’re welcome here as much as you like, Rune. I think with you by her side, Poppy will come out of this. She’ll come out of this just so she can spend a few extra days with you. I saw that look in her eyes as she lay on that bed; she isn’t going anywhere just yet. You know as well as I do, if she’s determined to see something through, then she’ll damn well see it through.”
My lips lifted into a small smile. Mr. Litchfield left me alone in the garden. Reaching into my pockets, I pulled put my smokes. As I went to light the end, I stopped. As Poppy’s smile filled my head, her disapproving scrunched nose every time I smoked, I pulled the cigarette from my mouth and threw it to the ground.
“Enough,” I said aloud. “No more.”
Taking a long breath of the fresh air, I got to my feet and went back inside. As I entered the family room, Poppy’s family was sitting on one side and on the other, my mamma, pappa and Alton. As soon as my baby brother saw me, he lifted his head and waved.
Doing what Poppy would have wanted me to do, I sat down beside him. “Hei, buddy,” I said, and almost lost it when he crawled onto my lap and pushed his arms around my neck.
I felt Alton’s back shaking. When he pulled back his head, his cheeks were wet. “Is Poppymin sick?”
Clearing my throat, I nodded. His bottom lip wobbled. “But you love her,” he whispered, cracking my heart in the process. I nodded again, and he laid his head against my chest. “I don’t want Poppymin to go anywhere. She made you speak to me. She made you be best friends with me,” he sniffed. “I don’t want you to be angry again.”
I felt each of his words like a dagger to my chest. But those daggers only let in light when I thought of how Poppy had guided me to Alton. I thought of how disappointed she’d be if I ignored him now.
Holding Alton closer, I whispered, “I won’t ignore you again, buddy. I promise.”
Alton lifted his head and wiped at his eyes. When he raked his hair back, I couldn’t help but smirk. Alton smiled in reply and hugged me tighter. He didn’t let go of me until the doctor entered the room. He told us we could go in and see her two at a time.
Mr. and Mrs. Litchfield went in first, then it was my turn. I pushed through the door and froze in my tracks.
Poppy lay in a bed in the middle of the room. Machines were hooked up all around her. My heart cracked. She looked so broken lying there, so quiet.
No laughter or smiles on her face.
I walked forward and sat down on the chair beside her bed. Taking hold of her hand, I brought it to my lips and pressed down a kiss.
I couldn’t stand the silence. So I began to tell Poppy about the first time I’d kissed her. I told her about every kiss I could remember since we were eight—how they felt, how she made me feel—knowing that if she could hear me, she’d love every word of what I had to say.
Reliving every single kiss that she held so dear.
All nine hundred and two that we’d achieved so far.
And the ninety-eight we’d still collect.
When she woke up.
Because she would.
We had a vow to fulfill.
Rune
One week later
“Hey Rune.”
I looked up from the paper I was writing to see Jorie at the door to Poppy’s room. Judson, Deacon and Ruby were standing behind her in the hallway. I flicked my chin in their direction and they all walked in.
Poppy was still in her bed, still in her coma. After a few days, the doctors had said the worst of her infection had passed, and other visitors had been allowed in.