Feeling Fallish

 

Poppy loved spending the afternoon with Jory at the pumpkin patch. It was great to show him around and he really listened. She wanted to burst into laughter with him, but she suspected he would know how giddy she actually was. 

And even after a hayride, snacks and games, and a craft or two, he took her out to eat to a really nice place she didn't even know about. It was truly her best date ever and then he asked her back to his place.

"But I shouldn't," he shrugged as if that would be totally wrong. "It's not appropriate."  She only laughed. She wasn't that old fashioned but when she saw that he was at the Wayward Pines motel where you could stay a night or a year.... maybe he was right.

Still, she wanted to see his room. See if it was livable. He promised it was temporary. Maybe by spring, he would buy a house. 

"It's just me," he shrugged as if it were no big deal to have a hot plate and an electric kettle for dining. There were a mini-fridge and a microwave too. 

Poppy didn't think it was right, however. She was about to ask him to move in with her and Alfie.

"Don't you dare," Jory smiled back and said he'd been in worse conditions. He'd lived a month or more on the road in campgrounds. He'd been a migrant worker. "I have my own bed," he smiled. "Well, sort of."

Poppy did her best to understand. She guessed she knew why he came to the diner so much. It was nearby.

"Does your sister know?" She asked.

Jory hugged himself. He said she didn't need to know. "What about your parents?" Poppy hoped they knew.

"What about them?" He told her then he hadn't talked to them in years. He didn't want a thing from them. "I am not who they wanted me to be."

Poppy felt she was swept up in sadness. She'd never met anyone like Jory. She felt so happy around him, yet wondered if he was being unreasonable. These were emotions she didn't know could be side by side, but she knew she wanted to be there for Jory.