Dreaming of His Snowed In Kiss - Jessie Gussman Page 0,31
tired and felt defeated and discouraged.
Still, as much as he regretted it, he didn’t feel judgment, and he didn’t feel like she was going to make fun of him. If anything, he felt compassion in her gaze, and commiseration. Maybe she was light and he was dark, but there was something in her that drew him. And he was thinking that maybe she didn’t hate him quite as much as he thought she had.
His heart stirred, and something warm and sweet seemed to coat the inside of his ribs.
He pulled his gaze away, trying to focus on all the things that needed to be done and not on the woman who’d just burst into his house and brightened it by her very presence.
He was never going to get his crops in the ground or his equipment serviced, and speaking of, he hadn’t even ordered seed.
He bit back the irritation as Garrett, still naked, still holding the towel like wings, ran by again.
He didn’t want to lose his farm, and he needed to get his work done, but these kids had wormed their way into his heart in just a small amount of time. It was scary, honestly, but his heart also felt beautifully full.
His eyes slid to Poppy, then to the little girl that still clutched her hand, a serious look on her face.
“Who’s that?” He nodded at the little girl.
“I’m sorry. This is my sister, Hazel. I brought her back with me yesterday after visiting my mom. She’s going to be with me for a while, and I was hoping that she would have fun playing with Garrett and Warren and Trevor.”
“I don’t want to play,” the little girl whispered.
West’s eyes narrowed. A child that didn’t want to play? He hadn’t been around many children, but he couldn’t remember his siblings and him ever not wanting to play. That was pretty much the goal of their childhood. To play.
“You don’t have to, sweetheart,” Poppy said easily. “They haven’t had any breakfast, so you can come out and help me make it.”
“Is that a baby?” the little girl said, looking at Gabriella whom West had put over his shoulder. He patted her back carefully.
“It is,” he said, not waiting for Poppy to answer. “Do you like babies?”
Hazel’s head went up and down.
“Want to come over here so you can see her?” He lifted his gaze to Minnie, who had tears in her eyes.
“She’s so precious. I was worried about Gabriella with three older brothers and no sisters.” She blinked, as though trying to keep her tears from running down her cheeks. Her face turned to Poppy. “Thank you so much for bringing her.”
As though just talking had exhausted her, she seemed to lean forward a little bit, and Poppy hurried over and put her arm around her shoulders.
“Would you like to sit down?” Poppy asked gently.
“I need to get ready to go. Penny is picking me up to take me to my appointment this afternoon,” Minnie said, but she swayed, like she was going to fall.
“I’ll help you.” Poppy threw a look over her shoulder at West, who had knelt down and waited for Hazel, who had stopped a good three or four feet away from him, afraid to close the distance.
Her eyes were bright though, as she looked at Gabriella, and her little body leaned forward while one hand came up, almost like she was going to reach out to touch.
West and Poppy shared a look before Poppy turned.
He had sisters, sure, but he’d been more concerned about teasing them than figuring them out. He had no idea what was in her eyes, gratitude maybe. Concern, definitely. And maybe a little fear.
He wondered about that last.
But he also thought...he thought there might have been, not pride exactly, but some kind of emotion that was directed at him. A positive emotion.
He most definitely had never considered Poppy as anyone of interest to him. But he couldn’t deny the feeling like he was being pulled toward her had gotten stronger.
Chapter 11
“You can come closer.” He tried to make his voice carefully kind as he directed his words to Hazel.
It wasn’t a natural sound for him. He’d never been around kids, except for Minnie’s for the last two weeks, and they were boys.
Except for Gabriella of course, who hadn’t needed him to talk to her, just to feed her and change her and hold her in the night while she cried.
Hazel was a completely different story.
He would almost say he loved the