Free Holiday in Your Heart by Susan Fox Page A

they were both great with money management and financial planning. Sadly, they died when I was nineteen. I’m an only child and I inherited everything.”
    She sighed and glanced at the family photo on the mantel. “Of course, I’d rather have them still alive, living in this house, with me coming over for Sunday dinner every week.” Her tone was utterly sincere.
    â€œI can tell they were good people.”
    â€œOh? How?”
    â€œBecause of you. I mean, because you’re a good person.” Unlike him, who’d never been very nice. Nor had his parents, who’d cared more about appearances than about his or his sister’s happiness.
    â€œThat’s a sweet thing to say, Mo.”
    He shrugged.
    â€œSo, tell me,” she said. “You saw Brooke.”
    â€œHank loaned me the truck and I drove out to her place.” He closed his eyes, remembering. “It was weird, walking through the gate in the white picket fence and up the walk to the front door of that immaculate little house in the country. Wondering what to expect. How she’d look. How she’d act. But it was a man who opened the door. Her husband, Jake.” Humor twitched his mouth. “In his RCMP uniform.”
    â€œOh, my. Was he on duty, or just being unsubtle?”
    â€œThe latter.” He opened his eyes and grinned. “Can’t say I blame the guy. He was looking out for his wife. I respect that. Anyhow, we introduced ourselves, he did some glaring and said he wasn’t so sure this was a good idea, but it was what Brooke wanted. I pretty much kept quiet. Then he said he’d leave us alone, but he’d be in the back of the house with their little girl.” It was still hard to believe that Brooke, who’d had Evan when she was in high school, had given birth to a second child when she was forty-three.
    â€œAnd then you saw Brooke. Doesn’t she look fantastic?”
    â€œOh, man. Yeah, she sure does. She was one pretty girl, and now she’s a really lovely woman.”
    * * *
    Brooke Brannon was a lovely woman. It was crazy for Maribeth to feel a pang of jealousy when Mo commented on it. Holding on to her half-full mug with one hand, she uncurled her legs from underneath her and shifted to curl them up the other way.
    Mo’s gaze didn’t follow her movement. He had picked up his mug and was staring into it, like he saw something in there other than a marshmallow melting on top of hot chocolate. “One thing I could see,” he said slowly, “was that even though she was tense about seeing me again, she was happy. I mean she’s happy with her life.” He glanced up, at Maribeth. “That’s the first time I’ve seen her like that.” A sense of wonder gave a softness to his rough-edged voice.
    â€œSeriously?”
    He nodded. “When we first started to date, she was, you know, excited. Happy in that keyed-up kind of way. She was dating this older guy, making her girlfriends jealous.”
    Maribeth held back a grin. Mo would always be the kind of guy who drew female attention.
    â€œThen she got pregnant and we got married. And again, she was excited, like suddenly she was a grown-up. But then she had the baby, and he was”—he shook his head—“I guess Evan wasn’t what she expected. She’d played with dolls not all that many years before. But a real baby, one who cried all the time and pooped just after you changed his diaper, well, that wasn’t so much fun.”
    â€œAnd she was so young. Barely more than a child herself.”
    â€œAnd I was no help. I was pissed off about suddenly being tied down, and I pretty much ignored the fact that I was a husband and father. I had too high an opinion of myself, but when it came to acting like an adult, taking on responsibility, I couldn’t cut it. I hung out with my old friends, cheated on Brooke, avoided looking after Evan.” He shrugged.