Poppy could see Atticus sizing her choices up and she held her breath a little at the thought. Would he recognize there was a name she was holding back? If anyone could, it was the big brunette in front of her, but luckily he didn’t seem suspicious of it. Instead, he conceded that the two she had named should both be lucky to dance with her and that he was willing to chaperone anything further. Poppy blushed again at the thought of ‘further.’ What would it be like to chat, escorted, on a promenade through Padmore Park? Or to actually begin courting, officially, properly? Poppy hadn’t exactly thought about it before and the idea settled like a pit in her stomach. For now, she resolved to simply be as agreeable as she could to all of the gentlemen who approached her. Surly someone would find her amusing enough for a second conversation, right? Grinning then at Atticus’ next comment about being charming, Poppy nodded as he acquiesced to dance with her two new acquaintances. It had been a bit of a sour spot some months ago when she’d first brought it up but they were well past it now. In fact, Poppy hoped Atticus had actually had time to think about all she’d said that afternoon and let some of it trickle into that thick, lovable skull of his. He was always too worried about everyone else to let someone care for him/. It was high time he let Poppy, or his new wife, take some of the burden!
“Thank you,” Poppy finally replied, to all of Atticus’ comments. She knew he would always be there to look out for her, lest something go wrong. Still feeling the overwhelming emotion of gratitude this whole dance had illicited, Poppy sucked in another breath. “Thank you, too, for being the older brother I’ve always needed.”
The waltz started to round out to the end then and Poppy was glad. Any more of this and she’d be a blubbering mess in Atticus’ arms and then nobody would want to dance with her. Dropping into a curtsey as the last few strings of the melody sounded, she waited to take Atticus’ arm to be led off the dance floor.
© Fox