Dreaming of His Snowed In Kiss - Jessie Gussman Page 0,7
smile was just a fake covering.
It wasn’t. Maybe it had been at first, but the joy of the Lord truly was her strength.
It wasn’t something that happened without a conscious effort on her part, though. Because it was much easier to give in to the darkness.
How to explain that to Minnie?
“Are you feeling okay?” she asked instead, not wanting to explain her past and not wanting to talk about West at all.
“I’m dying,” Minnie said matter-of-factly, although her voice was still reedy and thin.
“I’m sorry.” What else was there to say?
“Not your fault. Everyone does it at some point.”
“Aren’t you scared?” Poppy couldn’t help the words that came out.
Fear was part of the motivation she’d had for grabbing joy with both hands and wrapping it around her like a cloak.
“Not for me. At first, yes. Definitely. But now, I can’t wait to get to heaven. I hurt all the time. It’s getting worse. Except...” Her head turned toward the crib, and her hand clutched, feebly, at Poppy’s. “Until I think of my children. And then, the pain in my body is nothing. Not compared to the pain that’s in my heart.”
Poppy could understand that a little, because of what she’d been through. Although she hadn’t left her children. On the contrary, her siblings had been taken from her. A difference, sure, but a parting nonetheless.
Her mother had lost her children.
And Poppy had lost her mother, even though she was still here.
“You don’t have to stay. I’m awake. If Gabriella cries, I can get her.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes. Usually, the afternoon is my best time. I’ll be fine. Where’s West?”
“He went outside with Warren.”
Minnie’s head moved in a semblance of a nod on her pillow. “I should have put Warren in school. He’s old enough.” Her chin trembled. “This is hard enough for him, and he was having a hard time adjusting. I didn’t want to add the school adjustment on top of everything.”
“Sometimes, that gives a schedule and stability,” Poppy said, although she didn’t disagree with Minnie’s decision.
“If it weren’t all new, I would agree. But kindergarten is a big adjustment anyway. It would have been too much with the move and everything.”
“No one knows a child like their mother.”
Rather than comforting, her words seemed to make Minnie melt even more into the mattress. Poppy could have kicked herself. She was just reminding Minnie that she wasn’t going to be there to raise her children.
“I’m sorry. That was inconsiderate.”
“No. It’s not your fault. You don’t have to trip over yourself to try not to offend me. People get offended way too easily.”
“I’ll try to be more careful.”
“Does that mean you’re coming back?”
“Probably. Do you want me to stop in and see you?”
“Please. Just a short visit. Anything else wears me out.”
“I’ll be back,” Poppy said softly as she squeezed Minnie’s hand one last time and backed away. She was curious as to how Minnie had such a young baby and yet was obviously dying. She was also curious about her connection to West. Although she shouldn’t be. And even more curious about the baby’s father and what would happen to the children if Minnie was indeed, as she said, dying.
“I look forward to seeing you,” Minnie said softly as her hand slipped out of Poppy’s and fell back to the bed.
Chapter 4
“Garrett has to pee,” Warren said with the wisdom of an older brother as they walked into Mistletoe’s diner after dropping Minnie off at her doctor’s appointment.
Penny had offered to go in with her. So West had an hour or so to kill with the kids.
Since they’d run out of the house without eating, he figured he’d better feed them. Although it probably would have been better to take them to the park. The entire winter, they’d had milder than usual temperatures, and today was following that trend.
Still, the kids needed to eat, and there were no fast-food restaurants in Mistletoe.
“We’ll go straight to the bathrooms,” West said, knowing from experience when Garrett had to pee, it was an immediate thing. There wasn’t too much of a window between the warning and when the actual event began
Christmas bells jingled above his head, and despite the fact it was almost Valentine’s Day, Christmas music played over the speakers. Christmas music played year-round at Mistletoe Diner. The Christmas trees in the corner that never came down were decorated with hearts. The town of Mistletoe didn’t know there was any season other than Christmas.
With the baby carrier in one hand, he held Trevor