Running From Love (5 page)

Charla nodded. “Los Angeles.”

Trevor jumped up. “I have to go now.” He locked eyes with Ryan. “Can I get my last two shifts covered? Is that okay?”

“Trevor, I can get your last two shifts covered. You don’t have to worry about that. But do you think this is the best idea?”

“I love her.”

Charla clasped her hands in her lap. “I know that, Trevor, and I think she loves you, but I’m just asking, we all
know
Poppy. Do you think if you chase her to L.A. and corner her at her sister’s house when her mother is in the hospital that she’ll react well?”

“I don’t know how the hell she’ll react. I can’t stay here … I can’t wait for her to reach out to me. She’s stubborn and afraid and …” Trevor sat back down. “What the hell am I going to do? I thought I had her convinced. If she’d waited for me and we’d gone to Hong Kong together, she’d never be able to run from our love again.”

“I think she knew that too,” Charla said. “And I think that’s exactly why she couldn’t stay.”

Trevor took a long breath to clear his head. His overwhelming impulse was to rush to the airport and go after Poppy, but here was her best friend telling him that doing what he wanted might make her run again.

“I’m going after her.” Trevor jumped to his feet. “Maybe not today, but I am going after her.”

“You know about her parents and her childhood … feeling safe is important to Poppy. She pretends it’s not by chasing around the globe, but for her to really settle down, I think she wants to know that she’s secure.”

Trevor looked toward Ryan. Ryan cocked an eyebrow. “You still going to let that deadline go by?”

Confusion slipped across Charla’s face. “Deadline?” She looked from Ryan to Trevor. “What deadline?”

“My deadline,” Trevor sighed. “I have an inheritance, but I have to return home and work in the family business to collect it.”

“And you don’t want to?”

“It’s this burger place and—”

“Ha!” Ryan said. “A burger place? You call Up Side Burger, the biggest privately held chain of burger restaurants, a ‘burger place’? Come on, Trevor, get real.” The look Trevor shot Ryan showed his irritation.

“Your family owns Up Side Burger?” Charla tilted her head to the side. “I love Up Side Burger, everyone loves Up Side Burger. They’re the best burgers on the planet.”

Yes, he’d heard all this before. Whenever someone discovered his family owned Up Side Burger, they raved about it. “My grandparents started the first restaurant and built the business. Now my mom runs it all. She wants me to come back and run the company.”

“And you don’t want to?”

“I’m a writer. My mom? She wants me to be a businessman.”

“Can’t you be both?” Charla asked.

Trevor shook his head. “I don’t know how exactly. Up Side Burger is a full-time gig. I watched my grandparents build it, and then my parents run it, and now she wants me to do the same. I don’t want it.”

“But there’s a couple billion dollars that go along with him taking the job,” Ryan said.

The muscle in Trevor’s jaw tightened. “As long as I give up the rest of my life to the company, yes, there’s a lot of money.”

“Or nothing?” Charla asked.

Trevor nodded. “Nada. Cut off.”

“That’s some choice,” Charla said.

“What choice?” Ryan held out his hand. “Are you kidding me? There is no choice. You take the gig and write in the evenings and on the weekends. It’s security for you and your family. The opportunity of a lifetime. How could you possibly turn your back on this job? Not only is it a ton of money, but you’re working for one of the most widely respected companies on the planet. Trev? Really? You’d rather be scratching out words for pennies and bartending the rest of your life?”

Charla’s eyes softened and she smiled toward Trevor. “Forgive him. He just wants everyone to be secure.”

“It’s not just that,” Trevor said. “You got to build your own life and choose what you wanted to do. I’m not immune to the security that kind of money can provide, but I’d be giving up my right to choose my life by signing on to the family business.” He glanced toward Charla. “And I think we all know the one thing that money, no matter how much you have, can’t ever buy.”

“Happiness,” Charla whispered.

Trevor nodded. Even Ryan, believing that there could be no other choice for Trevor, understood the fleeting happiness in life. His own life had been brushstroked with pain and tragedy, and all his billons hadn’t saved the woman, who at that time, had been his beloved.

“We both know what you’re talking about.” Charla clasped Ryan’s hand. “Not an easy choice. You have to make it soon?”

“A few months.” Trevor stood and stretched his arms over his head. “By my next birthday, I either take the job or lose my share.”

“So Hong Kong?”

“Was a way out,” Trevor said. “A way to make a decision without deciding. It would have been worth it to be with Poppy.”

“Wow!” Ryan said. “That’s some love affair you’ve got going. Give up billions of dollars for the Popster?”

Charla furrowed her brow at Ryan, even though a smile curled over her lips. “You wouldn’t make the same trade for me?”

“Well, of course, but thankfully no one is asking me to.” Ryan squeezed Charla’s hand.

“I’m going home. Tomorrow. Since Poppy is already in Los Angeles, I’ll give her some space.” He looked at Charla. “Will you give me her sister’s address?”

“She’ll kill me,” Charla said.

“Or thank you when she comes to her senses,” Ryan countered.

Charla scrolled through the contacts on her phone. “Okay. “I only have a landline number.”  Sent.” She glanced up at Trevor. “Didn’t come from me until she’s in a white dress and you’re kissing her in front of a gazillion friends.”

“From your lips to God’s ears.”

Charla stood and pulled Trevor into a hug. “We’ll come to L.A. soon to see you and Poppy.” She looked into Trevor’s eyes. “I know you love her, and I think deep down she knows that too. That’s what’s scaring her.”

Trevor nodded. Now he just had to convince Poppy to let go of her fears.

Ryan grabbed Trevor’s hand and slapped him on the back. “Go get the girl.”

“I plan on it.” Trevor headed toward the door. He had a flight to book, suitcases to pack, and a girl to find.

Mimi waited in arrivals, just past all the drivers in dark suits holding signs with names. A stroller stood beside her, and a four-year-old girl spun circles around her. Mimi was round and full-faced, her hair falling in wild strands from the loose bun on her head. Dark circles shadowed her eyes. “Thank God you’re here.” Mimi reached out her arms and wrapped them around Poppy. She smelled of oatmeal and milk. Her shoulders started to tremble.

“Mimi, don’t cry.” Poppy pulled back and her gaze searched her sister’s face. Her strong older sister, who’d always been so steadfast and courageous, was fraying at the edges.

“Mama, up!” cried the little girl. She jumped up and down, her brown curls bouncing around her face, and tugged at Mimi’s skirt.

“Hi, Laura! Come give me a hug.” Poppy reached out her arms toward her niece, trying to divert her attention from Mimi, who was obviously at her wits’ end and completely exhausted.

Laura’s eyes widened, and she shrank back behind her mother’s skirt. “It’s Aunt Poppy.” Mimi placed her hand on top of Laura’s curls. “You remember Aunt Poppy? She was here for your birthday, just before Hazel was born.”

Laura wore a skeptic’s gaze, but she stepped forward and examined Poppy.

“I’ve brought you a gift.” Poppy pulled a plush purple elephant from her bag and presented it to Laura. A smile spread over her niece’s face and with that, the skeptic was won over. She grabbed for the toy and crushed it to her chest.

“Love elephants!”

“I thought you might.” Poppy leaned over the stroller and peeked in at the second cherub. When last Poppy had seen her sister, Hazel had still been cocooned inside her mother and Mimi had been nearly ready to burst.

“Oh, she’s beautiful,” Poppy cooed. The baby slept, and Poppy knew better than to wake her.

“First nap today.” Mimi wiped her fingers under her eyes, her expression frazzled. “She must know I’m anxious. She hasn’t been settling well.”

“Where’s Daniel?” Poppy’s brother-in-law was usually a help.

“He left last week for Vancouver. On set for the next three months. Won’t be back at all for six weeks.”

Oh my. Poppy forced a smile. She didn’t want to give up three months of her six months off to help Mimi, but she would. How many times had Mimi taken care of her? How many years? How much of Mimi’s adolescence had she missed trying to mother Poppy? “Therese is in the hospital, Daniel is gone, and you’ve got these two itty-bittys to take care of on your own?”

Mimi’s lips pulled down, and the tears that had stopped seconds before threatened again. “I know. I’m so sorry. This is meant to be your vacation and you were on your way to Hong Kong, but I just”—she covered her lips with her fingertips—“oh my God, Poppy, I think I just might be losing my mind.”

“But you’re not.” Poppy put her arm around her big sister. “I don’t know how you do it. I’m here. Let me help.”

Mimi nodded and a half-smile curled the edges of her lips. How long had it been since Mimi had showered or eaten or done anything for herself? Too long. It felt like since before Laura was born. Poppy grasped the handles of the stroller and pushed. Laura held onto her mother’s hand as they walked out of the airport and across the street to the LAX parking garage.

Six months ago Mimi had held onto the dream of never owning a minivan and keeping her cute little zippy Mini. Not anymore. That fantasy was long gone.

“I need to go to the hospital. Can I drop you at home, put the girls to bed, and go?” Mimi pulled the door handle to open the sliding door of her minivan and started strapping the girls into the mommy-mobile. “Unless you wanted to come with me to see,” Mimi paused, and a grimace passed over her face, “Therese.”

“You can call her Mom. I know you’ve gotten closer, especially since the baby.”

Mimi shut the door and turned to Poppy. “She’s changed. Really. She … she, the remorse—”

“Will never be enough,” Poppy muttered. She attempted a half smile, but it was wan. She bit her sharp tongue. “I’ll stay with the girls and put them to bed. Just drop us and go to the hospital.”

Mimi squeezed Poppy’s arm and walked around the back of the van. Poppy opened the passenger door. Hazel’s wails greeted her from the back seat. Oh my, she longed for the street sounds of Hong Kong. She got into the front seat, pulled out her phone, and scrolled.

Her stomach tightened.

Text after text from Trevor. She couldn’t answer him. There was nothing for her to explain. She’d decided, long ago, that love and romance ended with commitment, which then led to drudgery. Her eyes slid toward Mimi, who blew an exasperated breath from her lips and glanced into the rearview mirror. The evidence both beside her and screaming behind her bore witness to the truth in her theory. Drudgery then lead to the death of love which culminated with abandonment and heartbreak. At least, that were the memories from her own childhood. 

“Hungry,” Laura whined from the back seat.

Hazel screamed.

Poppy loved her two nieces, and yes, she would help her sister, but no, this wasn’t the life she wanted. Tooling around Los Angeles in a minivan, unshowered and exhausted, with two small children wailing in the back seat? No. Absolutely not. 

Mimi took a deep breath. “I have crackers, Laura.” She turned to Poppy. “Can you reach into the bag just behind us and get out the little Tupperware container with the goldfish?”

Poppy nodded. She couldn’t do what Mimi was doing. Not for eighteen years. Putting every desire of her own on hold so that she could take care of two little people? The domestic life wasn’t for her, nor was commitment. She peeled the lid off of the Tupperware container and handed it to Laura. Mimi slowly pulled through the parking garage toward the exit gate.  Laura stuffed goldfish after goldfish into her mouth until her cheeks puffed out like a chipmunk’s.

“Thirsty,” Laura said through munched-up cracker. 

“Here’s her sippy cup.” Mimi pointed to one of the cup holders in the console between the front seats as she fed the parking ticket into the machine.

Poppy lifted the sippy cup. Beneath it oozed brown and gooey mushed banana. Her nose wrinkled. Eww. Just eww.

“Why won’t it take the ticket?” Frustration laced Mimi’s voice.

“Thirsty, thirsty, thirsty!” Laura shrieked. She sounded like an unattended inmate in an asylum.

Hazel howled.

Poppy pulled open the glove compartment, looking for something, anything she could use to wipe off the big brown banana turd hanging from the bottom of the sippy cup. Pacifiers, hair clips, a brush … but no napkins or wipes. Hrm. A petrified half-eaten cheese stick? What was the car meant to be? A compost bin on wheels?

“Thirsty!”

“Damn machine,” Mimi muttered.

Poppy’s head felt on the verge of exploding. She grabbed for her bag … nothing. No tissues, no napkins, no …

“Here.” Mimi took the cup, wiped the gloppy banana goop from the bottom onto the edge of her shirt, and passed the sippy cup back to Laura.

Poppy stifled the gag reflex in her throat. Mimi gave her a sidelong glance, obviously noticing that she was turning a slight shade of green.

“Once you give birth, you have no shame.”

The gate lifted and Mimi gunned the minivan out of the garage. Poppy leaned back in her seat. Nope. Commitment? Mommy-hood? Marriage? Definitely not for her.

The same driver who had chauffeured Mom to and from work since Dad died picked Trevor up at LAX. Instead of continuing up the 405 to the Sunset exit that would lead to his childhood home, they headed west on the 10.

Of course. Trevor relaxed into the soft leather seat of the town car. Today was a weekday. Since before Trevor graduated high school, Mom never got home before seven thirty p.m. Trevor could set his watch by Mom’s day. Up at five a.m., leave the house at seven a.m., come home by seven thirty, in bed by ten. The only modification had been when Trevor was still living at home. Then she’d picked him up at school, come home, helped him with homework, and fixed dinner, where his father had joined them. When Trevor headed to bed for the night, his parents headed back to work in their home office. There had been very little variation.