The woman opened the door to a yellow house and walked outside. Although her arms were crossed over her chest, not an ounce of anger was in her expression; instead, a mix of sadness and fear lingered in her gaze. 

She made her way over to the wooden fence in front of the manicured lawn. A mix of flowers grew in the beds in front of the fence, but the poppies were most prominent among its fellow azaleas, Queen Anne’s lace, and hydrangeas. 

When the front door creaked open, she shut her eyes and leaned against the fence, her fingers digging into her arms. A man came around the fence to stand beside her. His hands were stuffed inside the pockets of his olive-colored uniform, his gaze focused on her. 

“Julie.” His voice, though deep, was gentle. “What are you doing?” 

“Aren’t the poppies beautiful?” She turned away from him and looked down at the flowers. 

He didn’t stop looking at her. “They are.” 

“I’ve decided to write to my sister and have her come stay with us.” 

“That’d be nice.” 

“She’s lovely company. I suppose you haven’t seen her since the wedding.” 

“That was only a year ago.” 

“People can change within a year, Frederick,” said Julie. 

“Yes, they can.” He moved to lean against the fence beside her, then pointed at the sky. An orangey-yellow color streaked across the horizon with pinkish-looking clouds scattered here and there. “Isn’t the sunset gorgeous?” 

“It is.”

“I want to talk to you about—” 

“Well, I don’t want to talk about it. It’s too lovely out to talk.” 

Frederick shuffled his feet. “How does a stroll sound?” 

She studied him, then pushed herself off of the fence. “I’ll go wake Samuel from his nap.”  

A few minutes later, she emerged with a curly-headed, chubby baby sucking on his thumb. “I’m ready,” she said. 

The trio began walking down the long dirt road, rolling hills before them. The long grass swayed with the gentle breeze blowing through it. They remained silent for most of the walk, except for the baby’s babbling and cooing. 

They stopped at a fallen tree trunk and sat down. The breeze ruffled Julie’s dress and hair, and she put the baby on the ground. 

“When will your sister come?” said Frederick as he watched Samuel. 

“I’m sure she’ll come as soon as I ask her.” 

“Will she stay for a long time?” 

She glanced at him, eyes resting on his name in bronze on his breast pocket. “It depends.” 

“You know, Eddie came back already. I heard Nora say she barely had time to even miss him.” 

“Nora and Eddie don’t get along, though. She told me she wished he hadn’t come back so soon.” 

“A lot of men come back earlier than they think they will.” 

“Freddie, I don’t want to sound cruel, but most of those men come back because they got injured or maimed.” 

“Maybe I’ll get injured, then.”

“Don’t say that.” Julie reached out to grab his hand. “Don’t say things like that.” 

He held her hand and didn’t say anything more. The sun shone on his skin, bronzed from many hours outside. His gaze moved towards the baby crawling in the grass, ripping up purple flowers and waving them in his chunky fists. 

Julie finally broke the silence. “Did you talk to Harry?”

He shook his head. 

“Maybe you should, before you—” 

“I don’t have a choice, Jules.” Frederick tightened his grip on her hand. “If I did, you know I wouldn’t leave you and Samuel.” 

She nodded, extracted her hand from his, and looked up at the sky. Dark, rumbling clouds had travelled over their perfect blue sky. “We’d better go back. I believe it’s going to rain.”  Slowly, she stood, grabbed the baby, and made her way back to the dirt road. Frederick ran to catch up to her—she walked rather fast—and they made their way back to the house. 

When they reached the house, they stopped at the fence again. The yellowness of the house seemed out of place amidst the darkening sky. 

“Poppies are lovely, aren’t they?” Julie mused again, admiring her full flowerbeds. 

Frederick studied her, then reached out to take baby Samuel from her arms. “They are.” 

She bent down and picked a single red poppy, smiling at it, and then transferred that smile to focus on the man in the olive-green uniform beside her. She tucked the poppy carefully in his left breast pocket, its cheerful head still reaching towards the sun. 

He smiled at her, she looped her arm through his, and the trio made their way into the house just as the heavens opened up and tempestuous rains wiped Julie’s beautiful flower garden bare.