Dreaming of His Snowed In Kiss - Jessie Gussman Page 0,20

her, their knees almost touching.

“Pastor Race would like to put you on the church payroll.”

“Really?” Poppy’s brows had shot up. She already did a lot for the church, although it was all volunteer. She was fine with that. Honestly, she knew it probably wasn’t healthy, but she had no goals or ambitions for her life beyond just surviving it. And helping other people. That’s all she wanted.

The idea of working for the church was appealing but odd.

“That’s strange. I already do everything I can, pretty much all of my spare time is spent working at the church. I don’t need to be paid for it.”

“Well, what he’s thinking he wants you to do will require you quitting your job here.”

Her eyes widened. “I love working here. I get to see everyone in town, talk to them.” And there were no attachments. Not beyond a casual conversation, casual acquaintance. Of course, she cared about the people in her town. But it wasn’t like a family.

“I know. We both do. And I don’t want you to feel like you have to accept this offer. It’s just one that Pastor and I feel is a really good fit for you. But again, no hard feelings, no pressure.” Penny’s gaze was intense, and her hand squeezed Poppy’s, who suddenly felt cold and limp.

“What is this offer?” A new thought occurred to her. “And will I be able to do it with Hazel?”

Penny nodded. “It’s actually perfect timing. Pastor and I had been talking about this before we got the call late last night.”

An order came up, and the short order cook yelled at Kelly.

Penny waited for the bustle to die down. “We...we feel like with the way things are going with Minnie, someone from the church needs to be helping West with the children. For some reason, Minnie wants her kids with West. Even though I spent a lot of time talking to her, I still haven’t figured out exactly why. Maybe West knows.” Penny’s shoulders went up, and her face seemed to say it didn’t matter. “Regardless, West has a farm to run. And I know last year wasn’t very good for crops with the lack of rainfall. This year looks like it’s going to be excellent, at least there’s no drought. But he needs to be able to get ready and get in the field.”

Penny wasn’t saying anything that Poppy didn’t already know. So she just nodded along, waiting for whenever it would apply to her.

“We were hoping you would go and, if not stay with West, at least help him on a daily basis with the children. The church will pay for it, however long it lasts. And...” Here, she hesitated again, as though she didn’t want to say what she was about to say. “Even after Minnie passes, we’re going to need to figure something out with the children. Of course, they’ll probably be sent to foster care, unless we can discuss this with Minnie and possibly find a solution here in Mistletoe.”

That sounded sufficiently vague to not give any specifics of any solution that Penny might be thinking. But Poppy barely noticed.

They wanted her to go and practically live with West.

“I know West is our son, but he’s also a member of our church. Our church takes care of the people in it. This has very little to do with the fact that West is ours and everything to do with the fact that West belongs to our church. Does that make sense?”

Penny tilted her head and gazed at Poppy. A direct gaze but one so filled with compassion and love that Poppy could hardly stand it.

It made her long for her mother and her family and everything she’d lost years ago.

Those were feelings she didn’t want to feel. Part of the reason she was happy being a waitress at the diner and volunteering at the church was that she could distance herself from them and fight them with loads of happiness and joy.

There was nothing wrong with that.

But Hazel changed things.

Poppy couldn’t keep working as a waitress and pay for child care for Hazel. Penny was offering her a way she could keep her sister and still make money. And maybe by the time she wasn’t needed anymore—she couldn’t say when Minnie died—her mother would be in such a position that she would be able to take Hazel back.

“And just in case you’re wondering, this position would pay slightly more than your waitressing job because it would definitely