When 17-year-old Rune returns to Blossom Grove, he’s desperate to know why Poppy—the girl he loved and who promised to wait—suddenly stopped talking to him. Her silence broke his heart. But when he finally learns the truth, Rune realizes the pain he’s felt is nothing compared to what’s coming next. What secret could hurt more than goodbye?
I stopped dead and turned back to him. “She’s all I’m thinking of. You have no idea what it’s like for us, so how about you stay the hell out of my business. James Litchfield too.” “She’s his daughter!” my pappa argued, his voice sterner than before. “Yeah,” I argued back, “and she’s the love…
The server approached, carrying our crawfish, and placed the buckets on the paper-covered table. Rune reluctantly released my hand, and we started ripping into the mountain of seafood. I closed my eyes when I tasted the meaty flesh on my tongue, a burst of lemon hitting my throat. I groaned at how good it was.…
“Ma’am, sir?” I looked over Rune’s shoulder to see the server holding our check. “We’re closing up,” he explained. “You okay?” I asked Rune, signaling to the server that we were coming. Rune nodded, his heavy brows pushing his face back into his familiar scowl. I imitated how he looked by scrunching my face. Rune,…
A gust of wind blew in from the water as we walked toward the entrance. Rune stopped. Silently, he took my coat from my hand and unclasped our linked fingers. Shaking the coat, he held it out for me to put on. I went to protest, but a dark look passed over Rune’s face and…
“About what?” I asked, moving my free hand to trace a couple of new scars on Rune’s knuckles. I wondered where they were from. I heard his breathing hitch. “About how beautiful you are,” he replied. He was watching my finger as he said it. When my finger stopped he looked up. I stared at…
Only music had the ability to steal my breath, and give life to the song’s story so flawlessly. So profoundly. I opened my eyes and found Rune’s face had lost all anger. His blue eyes were watching me, as much as they could. His hands were tighter on the wheel, but there was something else…
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…
“Hey, Daddy,” I replied. The door still blocked Rune, but I could see his blurred dark figure through the stained-glass panel. I could smell his fresh scent drifting in on the cool breeze that filtered through the house. My heart raced in anticipation. Daddy pointed at Rune. “Rune here seems to think he’s taking you…
Poppy sighed and turned away once more. “What an opportunity wasted,” she said, waving her arm toward the sky. “I’ve never been out of the US, never seen a sunrise anywhere else, and there you were, in Norway, and you never rose early to watch the new day roll in.” “Once you’ve seen one sunrise,…
“Because I love life.” She shrugged. “I always have.” I felt like I was seeing a new side to Poppy. Or maybe I was being reminded of the girl I always knew she’d grow up to be. Poppy gestured to the sky. “I’m the girl who wakes up early to watch the sunrise. I’m the…