Dreaming of His Snowed In Kiss - Jessie Gussman Page 0,47
plowed on, and there was some tickling and wrestling happening as the boys mostly seemed to be jumping on him.
Poppy wiggled back, and he let her go, disappointed but not having any excuse to keep her.
He supposed he should have known with the way he’d been feeling toward her that holding her would be better than he’d expected.
He probably also should have known that he wouldn’t want to let her go.
But though things had surprised him, and even while the kids were bouncing on his stomach and trying to tickle his armpits, part of his attention was on Poppy as she walked out of the room.
Then he realized the baby was crying. That was probably where she was going.
He had the kids pretty wound up, and he ended up reading them a couple of stories after he put them in their beds to calm them down.
By the time he was finished, Poppy had Gabriella fed and burped and was setting her back down in her crib.
He waited outside the room, watching as Poppy laid the baby down, smoothed her hair with gentle strokes of her fingers, and then stood for a few seconds beside the crib looking at the porcelain skin, the dark eyelashes, the rosebud mouth, and the little curled body.
He could only imagine what she was thinking. Maybe wishing for a baby of her own, although he’d never heard Poppy say anything about a family.
Maybe wondering what was going on with Gabriella’s mother, feeling bad that the little one had lost both mother and father.
She turned and seemed surprised to see him standing in the doorway. Her step hesitated before her shoulders squared and her chin came up, and she walked to the door.
He stepped back to let her pass and closed the door, leaving it open a crack.
“Did you see it snowing?” he asked softly, unsure why he thought she would enjoy it but maybe just wanting to see her smile.
“No? The last time I looked out, I thought I saw a few little white things; it’s snowing for real?”
Her face brightened, just like he thought it would, and she hurried to the window.
“Come on. Grab your coat, and we can go out and stand on the porch...if you have a few minutes?” He added that last after hesitating, not wanting to seem bossy, even though he was.
She walked ahead of him down the stairs and grabbed the jacket she’d worn that morning.
Funny how time flew sometimes, and yet it seemed like forever ago that she’d arrived and he hadn’t even had breakfast finished.
He put his own coat on, then opened the door for her.
Big white flakes fluttered down, easily seen despite the darkness.
“Holy smokes! The ground is covered already! Maybe we’ll get the snow they called for.”
“They said a foot maybe.”
The snow seemed to mute sounds and just soften everything, although the river still roared in the distance.
“That sounds really angry.”
“Maybe we should have gone out the back door. It’s probably not as loud back there.”
“We can walk around.”
He started out onto the step, and under his boot, he could feel the snow, squishy and also slippery.
“Give me your hand. It’s slick.”
There was a brief hesitation, then her hand slipped into his, feeling alive like the rest of her body.
It had been a bad idea to grab her. It would be a long time before he forgot that.
They walked down the steps, the snow crunching under their feet, and around the house.
“That did make it a little quieter.”
“And it’s just as beautiful back here. We hardly ever get to see snow fall in Arkansas.”
“A couple of times a year usually. Seeing it lie on the ground like this is fun, too.”
“I remember being so excited when I was a kid to see it snow. We should probably get the boys up and let them watch.”
He loved the boys, at least he liked them a lot, but he didn’t really want to get them up right now. He was enjoying this time with Poppy. He didn’t want it to end.
“I think I’m worn out from watching kids for one day. And I didn’t even have them all afternoon. I wanted to thank you for that.”
“Not a problem.” She lifted her shoulder, and then she put her hand out, laughing as the snow landed on it and watching as the big flakes melted into a puddle of water on her palm. “Most of the time, I enjoy kids. But they are a lot of work. It’s easy to