Dreaming of His Snowed In Kiss - Jessie Gussman Page 0,30

of the time.”

He eyed Garrett who had found a towel from somewhere and had stretched it over his shoulders, naked except for the wings that spread out behind him as he ran around between the living room and the hall behind his mom, bursting out into the dining room.

Thankfully, seeing his chubby little legs churning under the towel made Minnie smile. At least her lips turned up.

Before he could say anything more, the doorbell rang, followed by a firm knock on the door, followed by the door opening.

Poppy, her face lit up like Fourth of July fireworks, with a light spring in her step, holding the hand of an unfamiliar-looking little girl, strode confidently into his house, closing the door behind her.

“Good morning, everyone!” she said, the Pollyanna in her personality filling the room like helium in a balloon.

“It’s morning. I’ll give you that,” he said, realizing he was making a deliberate effort to keep from returning her smile. He was pretty sure it wasn’t the pull-ups in her hand but rather the memory of her text from last night that made his mouth want to turn up.

Sure enough, she lifted the white plastic bag, and it crinkled cheerfully. Frankly, that was the first time in his life he ever considered a bag cheerful. Figured it would be one that Poppy was holding.

“Look what I have. And if you want them, you’re going to have to smile for them.”

She gave him a superior look, which included a raised eyebrow and pressed-up lips, and then as her head turned, she froze.

“I’m sorry. I’ve spoken to you a bit, but I’m not sure we were properly introduced. You must be Minnie. I’m Poppy.”

As those words were tumbling out of her mouth, she had started toward Minnie like she was going to give her a hug when she seemed to hesitate.

Her smile dimmed slightly, and her brows seemed almost scrunched together. Something definitely bothered her.

Interesting that he could see those little signs, but he didn’t want to guess what they could mean. Definitely didn’t want to admit that maybe he had been watching Poppy more than he thought or that he was interested in her reactions.

Poppy’s gaze skittered to him before they went back to Minnie, and then her step lengthened, her posture became bold once again, and she closed the rest of the distance between Minnie and herself, wrapping her arms around Minnie.

“I got to spend some time with your children, and they are so sweet. It’s impossible not to fall in love with them.”

Her words made Minnie smile as her translucent hands came up and weakly patted Poppy’s strong back.

Lifting her hands made his T-shirt ride up Minnie’s matchstick legs. Could that have been what gave Poppy pause? Minnie in his T-shirt?

“It’s so good to see you up. It’s raining like crazy out there, and the river is really up. We’re supposed to get a lot of snow, too.” Poppy stepped back. “I thought maybe I could help with lunch, and I can definitely get these pull-ups out. Looks like Garrett can use one.”

Her words were peppy and full of vitality and energy that he just wasn’t feeling after being up with Gabriella most of the night.

“As long as Garrett’s naked, he does his business in the potty.” His words sounded defensive, probably because they were.

“So, you’ve rewritten the manual on potty training. Cool beans.” She held up the bag again. “Should I return these to the store? I understand you paid for them. If you don’t need them, maybe you’d like your money back?”

“Very funny. Don’t be hasty. Just set the bag down, back slowly away from it, and no one gets hurt.”

Like he figured, her eyes crinkled, and her face wreathed in a grin as she stepped farther away from Minnie.

“I take it that was a yes that you want me to start cooking lunch?”

“Breakfast. We haven’t gotten breakfast down yet.”

Her eyebrows shot up, and her eyes fluttered for a second or two. “It’s, like, almost 11 o’clock. You haven’t had breakfast?”

“Some of us have been busy this morning.” His eyes met hers across the room, and he thought about the text he’d sent last night. Of course, he couldn’t know what she was thinking, but he could almost imagine that text going through her head too.

He’d been tired, and she caught him in a weak moment. It was a text he normally would never have sent.

He made a mental note to not text at night when he was