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“I see him, running around, that goofy ass smile on his face, and I let myself feel happy again when I think of him.” Poppy knew exactly what smile Blake talked about, and the happiness that thought brought.
      “But even though those thoughts bring me a sense of comfort the pain, dread, and regret follow.” He lifted his head and looked at her. “You can’t change the past, and you can’t control the future. You have to embrace your life, or the sorrows of the world you carry on your shoulders will drag you down to the pit of despair.”
    Poppy forced herself to look away from Blake and the words he said. She hated that he spoke the truth, hated that he was so damn smart. “When did you become so smart?” She wasn’t really talking to him in particular, but he took her hand in his regardless, and she clasped it.
    “It’s not about being smart, Poppy girl. It’s about knowing which battles you want to fight. Life is way too short.” He tightened his hand and smiled. “I know, without a doubt, that Jon wouldn’t want you to keep all of this inside of you. It’s eating you up, Poppy, and you need to let it go. You can’t do it for anyone else but yourself.” His big, warm hand landed right over her heart, and her breath stalled. “You have to accept death in order to understand life.”
    ****
    Blake felt the steady beat of Poppy’s heart right below his palm. Her eyes held unshed tears, and she blinked rapidly. He could tell she did so to keep them at bay. Her mouth opened and closed several times, but she didn’t say anything.
    “What is it?” Over the years he had found out so much about her. Their conversations hadn’t always been about Jon’s death, but the majority of the time they were. Poppy didn’t know how to deal with what she felt, and how not having Jon around changed her life. When she wasn’t telling him about the turmoil they felt, Poppy gave him little pieces of herself in her words.
    He had loved her because she was the girl Jon loved, because she was his little brother’s wife, but after speaking with her and feeling their connection grow, he loved Poppy Ellis, the individual that she was. How could he not when she had been so important to the one person that he cared about the most?
    Blake remembered the very first time Jon told him he loved Poppy Mathews, and that he would marry her at seven years old. That had been the start of a great romance, one that poems should have been written about. It was the love Jon had for Poppy that made Blake believe in soul-mates and love at first sight.
    “I didn’t tell you everything, Blake.” Her softly spoken voice drew him out of his thoughts.
    “What do you mean?” He still held her hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze. Their relationship was one of open honesty. He would never hold anything back from her, and she knew he was always here to listen. Jon’s death had brought them together in a way that survivors clung to one another. At least that was how Blake felt.
    Poppy turned her whole body toward him. The tension that surrounded her was thick, but he didn’t rush her. Obviously a serious subject matter had just arose, and she deserved his understanding and undivided attention.
    “That night, before the accident, Jon and I were fighting.” She closed her eyes, and her face took on a look of pain. “It was so damn stupid. He went to lunch with a female co-worker, and I blew it way out of proportion.”
    “Poppy—” She shook her head, and he stopped what he was about to say.
    “Please, let me say this.” The blue of her eyes seemed more intense with her unshed tears. “I wanted to tell him that I…” He heard her swallow. “I was pregnant, and because of my stubbornness and not letting the stupidity of the fight go, I never got to tell him.” Her hand went to her stomach, and Blake felt his throat close with emotion.
    He didn’t know this, and as far as he knew no one else in the family did. Everyone knew she had