His heart, already thumping from the shock of being yanked out of his sleep, ratcheted up to a worrying state.
Poppy.
Apprehension settled heavy in his stomach. If she was calling at this time of night it couldn’t be for any good reason.
He peered at the screen. Not a phone call, a video call. Well, that ruled out her being in prison, at least. He was pretty sure they still only allowed voice calls.
He glanced at the time. Just gone three. Which made it the afternoon, maybe, if she was still in New Zealand. Though knowing Poppy, she could have tired of the place and moved on to South America, where no doubt she’d be in a jungle hugging a tree in protest of it and its foliage-filled friends being cut down.
He swiped across and watched the internet decide whether it was going to connect him to her or not. A creased forehead and impatient stare gave him his answer.
‘Ben? You there? Ben? Can you hear me?’
Ben clicked the sound down and reminded himself to mute his phone before he went to sleep from now on. ‘I hear you, Poppy.’ He stifled a yawn. ‘Where are you? Are you okay? Are you in trouble? Do you need bail money?’
‘Of course I’m okay.’ Poppy rolled her eyes. ‘I’m not a teenager, Ben. You don’t have to keep me from getting into trouble anymore. Not that you could’ve if you wanted to. And bail money? Really? I’ve never been in that kind of trouble. God, dramatic much?’
‘Fair enough. Sorry, Pops, but when I get a call in the middle of the night I fear the worst.’ Ben folded his pillow in half and elbowed his way into a half-sitting position.
‘Fine. Whatever. And turn on your light. It’s weird talking to the black hole of Ben.’
‘Sorry. Forgot you couldn’t see me.’ Ben switched the phone to his other hand, then leaned over and flicked on the bedside lamp. Its golden glow illuminated the small space around him.
‘Geez, Ben, what’ve you been doing?’ Poppy’s hand covered her eyes, her fingers splitting apart to peek through at him. ‘Do you even work these days? Or do you spend all your waking hours at the gym?’
‘Huh?’ Ben peered at the square on the phone to see what Poppy was seeing. ‘Oh, God, sorry, Pops.’ He pulled the sheet up to his armpits. ‘There, all decent.’
Poppy’s hand fell down, a wide grin lifting her cheekbones high as strands of her black hair blew in front of her face. ‘Ugh, blimmin’ wind. It’s so cold I’m amazed my lips haven’t frozen together. I’ll be glad to come home to a bit of warmth.’
Ben straightened up in bed. Had he heard what he thought he’d heard? ‘Come home? What are you on about?’
‘Well, I’ve been travelling for over a decade now. It’s time I returned. I mean, look at this place. It’s freezing. My plane ticket’s all booked.’ She switched the phone’s camera around and moved it slowly, showing him a snow-covered mountain range that sloped down to a tumultuous grey-green sea, its waves crashing onto a beach smothered in time-smoothed stones.
‘It’s beautiful,’ Ben observed. ‘And it gets freezing here too, remember?’
The camera switched back to Poppy. ‘Yeah, but here is not home, and it’s time.’
‘And why are you telling me this, Poppy?’ Ben yawned, not bothering to hide his tiredness. He had a busy day at the office ahead of him tying up loose ends, and he had to make sure his finances were in order for when he viewed the shop he hoped to lease in three days’ time. ‘More importantly, can you make it quick? It’s beyond the middle of the night and I’ve got to get some sleep if I’m going to function like a human being tomorrow.’
‘Fine, fine, Mr Busy Pants.’ Poppy grinned. ‘I just need you to do me a favour and pick me up from Heathrow. I’ll send you through the details.’ She flapped a hand in his direction. ‘Now go back to sleep. Get some rest. I’ll see you soon.’ She blew a kiss and wiggled her fingers in goodbye, before signing off, leaving Ben staring at a Poppy-less screen.
Poppy Taylor was coming home.
An email alert popped up on his screen. He opened it and scanned the contents.
Not only was Poppy Taylor coming home, she was having him pick her up on the day he was meeting with his potential landlord. He worked out the time it would take to drive from Heathrow to Muswell Hill. He could do it. Just. Assuming traffic wasn’t awful.
You could just say no…
He untucked his pillow and settled back into bed. As if no was an option. No was never an option where Poppy was concerned. Even after all these years.
‘Excuse me.’ Poppy dodged and ducked her way through the throng of people squealing, hugging and, sometimes, crying into each other’s arms as family, friends and lovers arrived from their various destinations. Every few seconds she went on tiptoe to search the crowd waiting at arrivals for a familiar face. Not just a familiar face, a friendly one. ‘Where is he?’ she wondered aloud, as she hefted her bulging backpack a little higher to stop the waist belt further cutting into her hips.
‘Poppy?’
She spun round and found herself gazing into warm brown eyes. The very same pair that had greeted her when she’d poked her head through the hedge that had bordered their properties when they were four years old.
‘Ben.’ She wrapped her arms around him and pulled him into a hug. The muscles she’d briefly viewed during their video call were no figment of her imagination. Ben was toned. ‘Now tell me…’ She pulled back and squeezed his biceps. ‘Where did these come from?’
Ben shrugged, a faint glow rising on his cheeks. ‘I swim at the gym every morning. Then do weights if I feel like it.’
‘All that on top of being a fancy pants lawyer?’ Poppy threaded her arm through Ben’s and let him lead her through the crowds. ‘Do you ever sleep?’
‘I do. When I’m not being woken in the middle of the night.’ He nudged her with his elbow. ‘Now can we up the pace? I’ve got a business meeting I have to get to.’
‘All work and no play makes Ben a—’
‘Makes Ben a late boy. And I can’t be. I’m opening a business. Well, I’m planning to. But I need to secure the premises first, and I think I’ve found the perfect spot.’
Poppy quickened her step as Ben pulled her through the busy airport, ducking out of the way of the dawdling travellers. ‘Business? What kind of business? And how do you plan on running a business when you’ve a day job and apparently one hot bod to maintain?’
Ben’s cheeks lost their blush as he propelled her to the carpark and towards a sleek, black Audi. ‘This is me.’ He opened the door for her, then strode to his side of the car and got in. ‘And I won’t be doing both jobs. I’m leaving law.’
‘You say that like it’s the end of the world.’ Poppy ran her hands over the seat’s buttery leather. Ben was leaving a job that had bought him this to set up a shop? And it sounded as though the thought of it was making him sick. Or perhaps it was the risk? Taking risks wasn’t Ben’s way. He’d always been the solid, dependable one. The one who made his parents proud… Ah. The green tinge to his skin suddenly made sense. Ben’s father was a lawyer. Ben had done as expected and followed his father into law. Leaving it couldn’t have been easy on Ben. And she’d