Dreaming of His Snowed In Kiss - Jessie Gussman Page 0,34

pull-up like that was the single most important thing she would ever do with her life.

Chapter 12

“I didn’t know you had another sister,” West said to Poppy as he stood up and held his hand out for Hazel. If Poppy were going to be working in the kitchen, he’d go on out with her and have Hazel hold the baby out there.

He didn’t question why he wanted to be where Poppy was.

Her head shook, and she lifted her shoulder without looking at him. “It was a long time ago.”

“I’m pretty sure once you have a sister, you always have a sister. I’ve got five siblings. And things happened a long time ago, but I still have five siblings.”

She managed to take a pull-up out of the bag, and in an act he thought was probably deliberate, she turned her back on him, bending over and setting Garrett down on the floor.

She held the pull-up so he could step into it.

Her head lifted. “I never even thought to ask. We do have eggs, correct?”

She had totally disregarded his question about her siblings. He supposed a nicer person would just let the subject drop.

People didn’t usually accuse him of being nice.

“So, we’re gonna pretend you don’t have a sister? Even though you just now mentioned her?”

“That’s right. I have Hazel.”

“She wasn’t the sister you were talking about.”

Poppy ignored him, pulling the pull-up on Garrett until it was snug around his waist.

“Was she?” He wasn’t going to let her ignore him.

“All right, Garrett. You ready to help?”

He let go of Hazel’s hand and put his fingers on Poppy’s arm. Her head swiveled up, and one look at her face had him taking a step back.

He’d never seen that look on her before. Nothing even close. Happiness. Light. Joy. Peace. All that was part of Poppy’s Pollyanna personality. But now her eyes were squinted, and her lips pursed, and if a heartache had an image, it was stamped on her face.

“Please don’t,” she whispered. Not angry, just...

He wasn’t even sure what the emotion was, but it was obvious that she’d been hiding something. Covering it with her happy façade.

That wasn’t being fair. Maybe she’d chosen to be happy, and he scratched her too deep.

Whatever it was he’d done, the look on her face made his heart feel the same way. Sharp pain cut through, and his stomach pulled in, making him want to hunch over and definitely making him feel ashamed. He hadn’t wanted to make her feel bad.

“Sorry.”

She’d not been expecting an apology. That was clear from the way her eyes widened. Then they closed as she seemed to struggle with herself.

He still held Gabriella in one arm, but he was tempted, more tempted than he’d ever been, to take a step and wrap his other arm around Poppy.

She looked like she needed the support.

He hardly doubted his support would be welcome.

“Don’t be. It’s not your fault. I just can’t talk about it.”

“I was pushing you on purpose. I didn’t realize how deeply your feelings ran. Sorry.” He let out a breath. “I complained for years that your smile is annoying. But it’s not, and I want it back. Please?” He hesitated, unsure whether he could tease her. He might have lost that right. He wouldn’t have even said he had it. But he realized now, part of their banter had been because they were so comfortable with each other.

This new discovery of his, that there was more to Poppy than just some unicorns and rainbows, lollipops and happiness, had changed things for him. The fact that he’d crashed through the rainbows and lollipops might have taken his rights away.

But he wasn’t going to give up. Not without trying.

“Do I need to tickle you? You look like the kind of girl who would be extremely ticklish.”

Yeah, her lips curved. “I am. And if you start to tickle me, I can’t guarantee that you’re going to get breakfast.” She looked at Garrett and then at Warren. “Although I will still feed the boys. As long as they don’t join in and gang up on me.”

“I like to tickle people,” Garrett said.

“Tickle wars are fun. Garrett and I do it all the time,” Warren said, standing so that he could see between the two of them, his eyes going back and forth, as though watching adults converse was a new experience for him.

“I’ve noted your position. And adjusted my intentions to wait until after breakfast before I begin tickling you,” West said.

“Maybe I’ll offer to