Poppy's Passions by Stephanie Beck

for a minute?"
    "Will it make you settle more?” Her smile was full of motherly comfort.
    "Well, I can't think of him driving off a cliff,” she replied, rubbing the goose bumps from her arms at the thought.
    "Okay. I'll get him on my way out. Buzz, if you need me before I get back. Ask for Susie,” she said, after one final check. “The other girls...well, just ask for Susie."
    She managed a laugh and knew she was under the best of care. Susie was a good nurse, and Poppy felt safe knowing she was looking after her and the babies. The ulcer made sense. She'd been craving milk products since her pregnancy. The same cravings had led to flair ups during college.
    She'd been under immense family pressure in those years. Her grades were scrutinized and always found lacking. Every other Sunday before family brunch she would collapse into a crying, screaming panic attack until she'd finally seen a therapist. Therapy helped for a while, but when her father found out he was livid and refused to pay the medical co-pay. He suggested she talk with the religious studies professor at his college if she needed advice and counseling. She'd never gone.
    Between the ulcers and panic attacks, she somehow managed to get through college without spending days at the hospital, and within weeks of finishing school and getting her own place, she'd been fine. The issues with Steven started after, which is probably why she hadn't thought of the ulcers until the nurse mentioned it.
    She'd had her stomach issues under control until she started chugging milk, eating cheese, sneaking ice cream, and all but soaking in stress and indecision. She closed her eyes and tried to relax. Susie had no reason to lie about her thoughts on the Paraby family, or their feelings for her. The cramps eased. She knew the added fluid was moving the lactase from her system, and in a few hours she'd be back to normal. Some of the desperate hopelessness she'd been bombarded with was easing, and she felt like she could breathe without shards of pain jabbing her heart.
    The sound of footsteps followed the closing door. She opened her eyes briefly but closed them against the room's brightness before she saw who entered. The footsteps stopped abruptly and a muted curse filled the room, assuring her it was Trevor. Knowing it was him and not an aide or the nurse made her face the discomfort and open her eyes.
    He looked like he'd aged ten years in the hours since she'd seen him. She couldn't mistake the regret and shame in his expression and found she didn't like seeing him so full of self-loathing, so she mustered up a smile. She'd been afraid of Cody's face in the truck on the way to the ER. Really, she'd been afraid she would see the same thing Trevor showed earlier—a complete lack of caring, which terrified her because she cared so much about all of them.
    He hurt her feelings, and she couldn't forget that, but she could see remorse in the lines of his face. Turning away from him for making a mistake wasn't fair. He wasn't her father, none of them were, and they were offering her a home. It wasn't perfect, but no family was. They made mistakes, but she refused to be like her sisters and father. In her new family there would be forgiveness when it was asked for. Hormones made her a little crazy, but he deserved better than what she'd been shown in the past. They both did.
    "Baby.” His voice cracked like he was holding back tears.
    "Hi, Trev. I'm okay,” she promised.
    He took a step forward only to stop himself short. “You're hurt.” His cheeks were as pale as hers felt. “I hurt you at the house. I realized what I said five minutes later, and I ordered flowers. A lot of them because I was such a bastard, but you were already gone. I never want you to feel like you can't come to me with anything. You were leaving. Hell, I'll go before I want you to leave the ranch. If you need space from me, we can do that. I can do business in LA, and we'll try again when you feel