A Thousand Boy Kisses(47)

I was going to do my damnedest to make her happy.

I’d win her back.

I’d win her back as the Rune I was now.

There was no choice.

This was us.

This was our new adventure.

One that would make her feel alive.





Poppy



“You’re going on a date?” Savannah asked, as she and Ida lay on my bed. They watched my reflection in my mirror. Watched as I looped my infinity earrings through my ears. Watched as I applied a final layer of mascara.

“Yeah, a date,” I replied.

Ida and Savannah glanced at each other with wide eyes. Ida turned back to look at me. “With Rune? Rune Kristiansen?”

This time, I turned to face them. The shock on their faces was unsettling. “Yes, with Rune. Why are y’all so surprised?”

Savannah sat up, hands braced on the mattress. “Because the Rune Kristiansen that everyone’s been talking about wouldn’t go on dates. The Rune who smokes and drinks at the field. The one that doesn’t speak? the one that scowls instead of smiles. The bad boy that returned a different person from Norway. That Rune.”

I stared at Savannah and picked out the concern on her face. My stomach rolled, listening to what people had obviously been saying about Rune.

“Yeah, but all the girls like him,” Ida butted in, flashing me a smile. “People were jealous of you when you were with him before he left. They’re gonna freakin’ die now!”

As those words slipped from her lips, I saw Ida slowly lose her smile. She glanced down, then looked back up. “Does he know?”

Savannah was now wearing the same sad look. So sad that I had to turn away. I couldn’t bear that expression on their faces.

“Poppy?” said Savannah.

“He knows.”

“How did he take it?” Ida inquired tentatively.

I smiled through the flash of pain in my heart. I faced my sisters, the two of them watching me as though I could disappear from their eyes any second. I shrugged. “Not well.”

Savannah’s eyes began to glisten. “I’m sorry, Pops.”

“I shouldn’t have cut him off,” I stated. “It’s why he’s so angry all the time. It’s why he’s so standoffish. I hurt him, deeply. When I told him, it seemed to destroy him, but then he asked me on a date. My Rune, finally taking me on a date, after all these years.”

Ida quickly wiped her cheek. “Do Mama and Daddy know?”

I grimaced, then shook my head. Savannah and Ida looked at each other, then at me, and in seconds we were all laughing.

Ida rolled on her back, holding her stomach. “Oh my Lord, Pops! Daddy’s gonna flip! All he’s talked about since the Kristiansens got back is how much Rune has changed for the worse, how he’s disrespectful because he smokes and shouts at his pappa.” Flipping around, she sat up. “He ain’t gonna let you go.”

My laughter stopped. I knew my mama and daddy were concerned about Rune’s attitude, but I hadn’t known how badly they judged him.

“Is he coming to our door?” Savannah asked.

I shook my head, although I was unsure what he would do.

Suddenly the doorbell rang.

We all looked at one another, wide-eyed. I frowned. “This can’t be Rune,” I exclaimed in surprise. He always came to my window. He was never formal; it just wasn’t us. Certainly it wasn’t him.

Savannah read the clock on my nightstand. “It’s six o’clock. Ain’t that the time he was coming?”

With one final look in the mirror, I grabbed my jacket and rushed through my bedroom door, my sisters hard on my heels. As I rounded the hallway, I saw my daddy open the door, his face dropping when he saw whoever was there.

I skidded to a halt.

Savannah and Ida stopped beside me. Ida grabbed my hand when we heard a familiar voice say, “Mr. Litchfield.”

At the sound of his voice, my heart stuttered mid-beat. I watched as my daddy drew back his head in confusion. “Rune?” he asked. “What are you doing here?”

My daddy was being his usual polite self, but I could hear a wariness in his tone. I could hear a slight edge of worry, maybe even a deeper concern.

“I’m here for Poppy,” Rune told my daddy. My daddy’s hand tightened on the doorknob.

“For Poppy?” he clarified. I peeked around the wall, hoping to catch a glimpse of Rune. Ida squeezed my arm.

I looked at my sister. “OMG!” she mouthed dramatically.

I shook my head while silently laughing at her. She refocused her attention on my daddy, but I stared at her excited face for a fraction longer. It was moments like this, the carefree moments where we were just three sisters gossiping about dates, that struck me the hardest. Feeling a pair of eyes watching me, I turned my head toward Savannah.

Without words, she told me she understood.

Savannah’s hand pressed on my shoulder, as I heard Rune explain, “I’m taking her out, sir.” He paused. “On a date.”

My daddy’s face blanched, and I pushed forward. As I moved toward the door to rescue Rune, Ida whispered in my ear, “Poppy, you’re my new hero. Look at Daddy’s face!”

I rolled my eyes and laughed. Savannah grabbed Ida and pulled her back, out of sight. But they’d still be watching. They wouldn’t miss this for the world.