Poppy

The following week was as quiet as the weekend was eventful, which was a godsend. My mother always said a bit of drama was good for entertainment, but more than a little meant you were the drama. And she would know. Never in my life had I met another person who could cause as much drama as Sunny Harper, and I sure as hell didn't want to follow in her footsteps.

Without constant interruptions and the help of my new friends, my house came together quickly. I thought I would struggle to decorate the spaces after spending years deferring to Phil in all things regarding our home, but it was the opposite. Where he would have chosen cream or white—maybe begrudgingly allowed a pop of navy or yellow—I selected rich hues for every room. An accent wall of barberry pink in my bedroom. Mossy sage green covered the living room walls, and I swapped all the silver hardware on the furniture to bronze and gold, mixing and matching to my heart's desire.

And where too many colors would become overwhelming, I created points of interest by using different textures. Woven rugs on the scratched hardwoods. Mercury glass lamps sat on end tables, their linen shades diluting the light to a soft, cozy glow in the evenings. But my absolute favorite thing was getting to use the built-ins as bookshelves. Every single one of my favorite novels were put on display. Jane Austen sat next to blue alien smut. Eudora Welty propped up faerie porn. No man could tell me to put them away or hide them behind discreet covers.

I dragged another box of books into the living room and grinned crookedly when I saw how full it was. Some of these would have to go into the office, or maybe I could pick the prettiest of the hardcovers to use as decor on the tables and fireplace mantle. Reading had always been my escape, but I hadn't realized just how much I'd needed to escape my life with Phil until I left him... And saw how many books I'd actually purchased while we were together.

A gentle knock sounded on the front door. Before I could get off my knees, it swung open with a creaky groan and Lydia and Jenny barreled inside, both with giant sunnies perched on their noses and swimsuits under their clothes. Still getting used to this brand of friendship, I hoped the shock wasn't clear in my face as I spun around to greet them.

"Well, y'all look ready for a day in the sun," I declared, dusting my hands on my shorts and pushing a red curl out of my eyes.

Lydia lowered her sunglasses and narrowed her eyes. "The real question here is why don't you look ready for a day in the sun? You said you were coming."

I rubbed the bridge of my nose. "Yeah, I said I would go Saturday, and today is—"

"Saturday," Jenny blurted out. She put her hands on her slim hips and shook her head, making her blonde ponytail swish dramatically behind her head. "Did you forget what day it was?"

"Oh my gosh, y'all. I did. I've been so focused on getting everything done... I don't think I've left the house in days."

"A perfect reason to come with us, then. Go on." Lydia shooed me toward the bedroom. "I swear. All of I've done since I met you is tell you to go get changed."

A snort bubbled up. It was true. "Y'all, I know I said I would go, but I'm a rhythm here."

Jenny snapped her fingers. "Nope. It looks great in here. Like cottage core porn. And it's not going anywhere. Come on! We have storms in the forecast for the rest of the week, and then we'll have to wait until the water goes down."

"Fine," I said, wondering why I bothered arguing with these two. It seemed every time I was bound to give in, but ten minutes later, I stomped back into the living room. "Nope. I'm not going."

Jenny and Lydia sat on the sofa, a book from my box in their hands. Their heads pressed together, and their mouths moved as they read. It took them a moment to register I was in the room, and when they looked up, their eyes were so wide they were almost circles.

"Girl," Lydia whispered. "I have never been a reader. Don't think I've picked up a book since high school, but that's because I didn't know books like this existed. Can I borrow it, please?"

"Which one is it?"

Each of them held a cover as they raised it up. I snorted at the title and immediately knew which chapter had them so intrigued. "Sure. I don't mind."

"I call dibs first." Lydia shoved it into her beach bag.

Jenny pouted. Rolling my eyes, I dug another book from the box and handed it to her. She grasped it and ran her hands over the dark, shiny cover. When Lydia leaned over to get a better look, Jenny pressed it against her chest and stuck out her tongue.

"Let me know what you think about chapter sixteen."

"Oh, come on, now I need to know."

"We can swap when we're done," Jenny replied diplomatically. Her brows knitted together as her gaze swung to me. "Why didn't you change?"

"Because," I whined, swinging my hand toward my bedroom dramatically. "I can only find my honeymoon bathing suits, and they are absolutely not suitable for a day at the creek. They're barely suitable for anything, but Phil convinced me to get them since we were going to stay at a private resort."

A mischievous spark lit up their eyes, and before I could protest, they bolted around me and into my bedroom, shrieking with delight when they spied the four bathing suits I'd thrown on the bed in disgust. I followed them with a sinking feeling in my stomach that somehow they were going to convince me to put one of these on. Of course, I could always stay in a coverup or t-shirt.

Lydia spun a pair of dark green bottoms around her finger. It was nothing more than a string with a slip of triangular fabric to cover my lady bits. Just my front bits. The back was a thong. The top matched.

"Girl, these are—holy shit," Jenny exhaled, picking up my least favorite.

It was called the bridal suit. A completely knitted top and bottom set that allowed for access to all the important bits. When Phil first selected it, I had been a little excited, thinking he was getting creative. It had to say something that he saw it and immediately had a fantasy about screwing me in it, but then I realized it was less about a fantasy and more about efficiency.

"Absolutely, not that one."

"What about this one?"

Lydia dragged a mint colored set from the bottom and held them up. It wasn't bad. The back of the top looked like a standard sports bra, but the front cut sharply over the breasts. Where it would normally tie together in a little bow between the breasts, the fabric looped through a metal ring and tied in the back, creating the appearance of a cutout and leaving my middle completely exposed.

"It'll do, I guess." At least the bottoms were fairly standard, if a little higher cut than I liked.

"Your boobs are gonna be amazing in this," Lydia said with envy as she looked at her flat chest.

I couldn't argue with her since I knew for a fact they did look epic in this suit. That's why I picked it. I froze. That's right. I picked this suit. Suddenly, I was a lot more excited about wearing it.

"Give me ten minutes."

Jenny and Lydia talked about their favorite places in town during our short drive to a place they called the watering hole. I pasted an enthusiastic smile on my face, even as images of alligators and brown, muddy water flooded my thoughts. In Mississippi, I didn't get in water that I couldn't see through, and that meant I kept to pools because most of our ponds and rivers were brown.

Jenny turned down a gravel drive, and I held onto the door as we bounced over potholes and dodged limbs in the road. She caught my eye in the rearview mirror. "You alright back there?"

"Feels like being back home," I hollered.

But five minutes later, I climbed out of the car and gasped. This watering hole was nothing like the places I'd gone to back home. A slate gray rocky overhang jutted out over a sparkling teal pool. Water rushed over the ledge in frothy white ribbons with enough force to create a misty spray, but gentle enough, someone could stand beneath it. Pine trees grew tall around a large pool of water, their emerald limbs providing shade everywhere but directly over the water. A second, smaller pool formed to the right of the larger pool, and its aqua hue suggested it was much shallower than the other.

"Holy crap, y'all," I said, slamming my door and running to the edge. I kicked off my shoes and stepped onto a slab of gray rock, moving slowly so as not to slip on the slick surface.

"Told you!"

"Where is everyone?" I covered my eyes and looked up at the falls.

Jenny spread a blanket over the lush grass. "Technically, this is private property, but we have an in."

"Whose property?"

"Mine."

I knew that grumpy growl. I spun around in part shock and part anger, still brewing from how he treated me the last time I saw him. We locked eyes, but before I could decipher the look in his, I lost my footing. With a strangled yelp, I pitched backward, arms flailing in the air as I fell.