Dreaming of His Snowed In Kiss - Jessie Gussman Page 0,16

West. He’d make fun of her for it. One of his favorite pastimes was to call her Pollyanna. Like being Pollyanna was a bad thing. He had no idea how awful it was to be the opposite of a Pollyanna.

“I think that looks like your mother and Minnie,” she said as a car pulled in behind West’s pickup between the diner and the playground along the street.

“I believe you’re right. Just in time,” West said as he looked over at the boys who were finishing up their meals.

Chapter 6

Minnie stayed in the car, but Miss Penny walked over to them, and they were just putting the Styrofoam containers back in the bags when she arrived at the picnic table.

“How’s everything going today?” she asked with the typical upbeat tone that defined her personality.

Come to think of it, Poppy was a lot like his mother. Funny that Poppy annoyed him so.

Although she hadn’t been today.

Actually, when she brought supper, she hadn’t then, either.

Maybe it was him.

Poppy glanced at him as though waiting for him to answer, but his mother was looking at her, so he grabbed one of the napkins that Poppy had set under the can of formula and started swiping his shoulder. All the throw up had pretty much already sunk in, and in his experience, he would be smelling it the rest of the day. Or at least until he changed.

Actually, he was kind of getting used to it. Gabriella was almost cute enough to make it worthwhile. Almost.

“It’s a beautiful day. And I think the kids are enjoying finally going out and playing and getting to eat outside.” Poppy looked around at the boys when she said that and jiggled Trevor in one arm while she grabbed a napkin to give to Warren to wipe his face and another one to wipe Garrett’s for him. “I think the question is how did things go with you?”

Penny’s face fell, not a lot, but enough they knew the news wasn’t good.

Penny’s eyes went to the boys, who were arguing about who ate the most French fries, before she looked between Poppy and West. “After explaining the tests she’d had done last week, the doctor recommended hospice. She has waited too long. And there’s nothing they can do.”

West’s chest felt like it seized before his heart started thumping his chest. Angry thoughts slammed like a sledgehammer on a wall, tearing down and destroying.

Even though he’d suspected as much, he didn’t want to admit it, didn’t want to face it. Didn’t want the children to not have a mother. Didn’t want to have to deal with everything that had been thrust on him.

When Penny had taken her in for the tests last week, he prayed more fervently than he had in years that everything would be okay.

He supposed it shouldn’t surprise him that God ignored that prayer, like he’d ignored so many others.

Or maybe he hadn’t ignored it. Just answered with a big resounding “no.” A no that felt mean, and unkind, and unfathomable, and most definitely not fair or right.

I thought you were a God of justice. Where’s the justice in this?

He felt selfish even thinking about himself, but he didn’t want to be saddled with four kids. He hadn’t asked for that. Of course, it shouldn’t be his first concern, but why had Minnie chosen him?

His heart bled for the children too. He spent almost two weeks with them, which felt like a lifetime in some ways and felt like he was in the twilight zone in others.

Gabriella stretched and snuggled down further into his arm.

Maybe part of his resentment was the fact that he was afraid he was falling in love with Minnie’s children.

What was he going to do? When they left, it would hurt worse than anything he’d felt since his parents died.

He hadn’t wanted to lose his heart again.

Hadn’t wanted to give anything the opportunity to break it like it had been broken before.

He’d been determined to keep himself apart, to not let anything in. And yet, these children, as imperfect as they were, as much work as they were, they were sweet souls who needed someone to take care of them, love them, and even more so now, now that he knew their mother wasn’t going to be in the picture much longer.

His mother’s concerned face seemed to search his, but he didn’t meet her eyes. He loved her, appreciated the sacrifice that she and Race had made in order to take him and his