Dreaming of His Snowed In Kiss - Jessie Gussman Page 0,41
to the store for toys. And probably Gabby will need a doll. Although, I think we could make a doll too.”
“Do you have something against stores?” West laughed. The kid was awful young to be taking a stand against stores like that.
Warren tilted his head and kinda looked at West like he’d never thought of that. “It’s just a long ride. I hate long rides. They’re boring.”
“Oh.” He remembered feeling the exact same way as a little kid. Funny the things one forgot when one became an adult.
“Do you think Miss Poppy will go to the store and you can watch us here so we don’t have to go?”
West could only hope. It wasn’t like he enjoyed grocery shopping to begin with. Add in four small children, and it became a torture session. Seriously, he’d rather walk over hot coals. Barefoot and backwards.
“I don’t know.”
“When Mommy feels better, she’ll go for groceries. And you can watch us like Daddy used to.”
Oh, boy. He couldn’t even touch that. Couldn’t touch that the little boy had lost his dad, not that long ago. Obviously, he still had memories of him.
And his mommy wasn’t getting better.
“I’ll definitely watch you so you don’t have to go get groceries,” he finally said, because he couldn’t think of anything else. “How do you feel about walking through the rain?” he asked, knowing that would have elicited excitement out of him when he was that age.
Sure enough, Warren jumped up and threw his hands in the air. “Really? I really get to walk in the rain?” He looked expectantly at West.
West nodded. “You sure do. We have to get to the house somehow. That’s where supper is. And I’m not about to let a little rain get between me and my food.”
Warren nodded once, decisively putting his chin down on his chest. “Me either.”
“Then let’s go.”
West opened the barn door and allowed Warren to squeeze through before he slipped through himself, closing the door behind him.
For some reason, Poppy’s comment about needing a dog struck him as the door slid shut.
Probably Warren would really enjoy playing in the wheat with the dog around. Actually, all the kids would enjoy a dog.
What was he thinking? These weren’t his kids. They weren’t staying. He wouldn’t allow it. And he definitely wasn’t going to get a dog. It was just more work.
But the kids would really love it.
He rolled his eyes at himself as he turned, intending to start walking through the yard. But something caught his eye. Something that didn’t look quite right.
It took a couple of seconds for his brain to process, and in the meantime, he put a hand on Warren’s shoulder to keep him from stepping out from under the barn eave and into the rain.
The river was up. It roared with a ferociousness he’d never heard from it before. And from where he stood, although the daylight was fading, he could see that angry, brown water covered the bridge, flowing over the rickety boards.
On his list of things to do over the winter had been to pull up those old boards and put new ones over the steel beams.
Someone had used an old trailer chassis to make the bridge. The metal beams were probably still good.
He had intended to check it out and make sure.
Too late now. He just hoped it held. Regardless, Poppy wasn’t going anywhere today.
That thought should have filled him with dismay.
It didn’t.
He actually felt a tingle of excitement zipping through his chest and up the back of his neck.
He definitely wouldn’t mind spending the evening sparring with Pollyanna.
Warren pushed closer to his side. They stood right at the edge of the overhang, and they weren’t getting wet, but he thought maybe Warren was afraid of the roar of the river.
Typically, West loved the sound of flowing water. It was calming and peaceful, and it filled the country air without being obnoxious.
But the river had become a scary thing, roaring and tossing, muddy and fierce.
Loud. Fearsome. But fascinating too.
His eyes were drawn back to the house as the door opened, and Poppy appeared in the doorway, Trevor on her hip and Gabriella in her other arm.
Hazel and Garrett stood behind her.
In his new, enlightened state, West noted subconsciously that Garrett had clothes on.
Poppy didn’t look toward the river; her gaze was directed toward the barn, and he could tell when she saw him, because she jerked her head up, acknowledging him. Then she did a kind of come-hither motion with it, like