Free Christmas in Good Hope (A Good Hope Novel Book 1) by Cindy Kirk Page A

lived here your whole life.”
    “That’s true.” Appearing somewhat mollified, Ami thought for a moment. “Cassie took her father’s death hard. Almost harder than Anita, though that’s not fair to say. Everyone grieves in their own way.”
    Beck knew that to be true. He’d taken his share of hits for remaining dry-eyed at Lisette’s funeral.
    “Anita jumped back into the dating game barely six months after the funeral,” Ami continued. “She appears to be one of those women who has to have a man.”
    Beck shifted the heavy basket to his other hand. “What does all this have to do with her relationship with Cassie?”
    “Cassie believed her mother moving on so quickly meant she hadn’t loved her dad. Cass began acting out.” Ami exhaled a sigh. “Cassie pushed her mother away. Anita finds Cassie an embarrassment. Both women are headstrong and surprisingly similar in personality.”
    “Where does the sister fit in?”
    “Lindsay is stuck in the middle. She’s her mother’s pride and joy.”
    Beck realized they’d nearly reached the house. “What’s your history with the live-in guy? I assume he’s the intimidating man.”
    “Clint is a jerk.”
    The comment had Beck blinking. This was the first time he’d heard Ami speak badly about anyone. With the exception of Anita, of course.
    “Clint hit on me hard last summer.”
    If Beck hadn’t been focusing on her face, he might have missed the imperceptible tightening of her jaw.
    Though Ami never said she’d rejected the guy’s overtures, that fact was obvious. “How’d he take the rejection?”
    “He didn’t like hearing no.”
    Beck had more questions. Many more. But by now they’d reached the stoop. Even before Ami pressed the doorbell, several dogs began barking inside.
    He watched Ami square her shoulders and paste a smile on her face as the door cracked opened.

    Cassie was an older, worn-out version of her younger sister, Lindsay. Same honey-blond hair and gray-blue eyes. Same narrow face that was more angular than beautiful. Same whippet-thin body. Except Cassie’s body was now swollen with baby, and the eyes that once sparkled with mischief were dull and weary.
    After putting the two rottweilers in a back bedroom—where they continued to bark—Cassie’s oldest daughter returned with two mugs of coffee.
    “Thank you, Dakota.” Ami offered the girl a warm smile. “How old are you now?”
    Dakota, a pretty girl with dark hair and amber eyes, wore jeans and a hoodie. “I’m seventeen.”
    “Wow.” Though Cassie had several years on her, Ami found it mind-blowing that anyone she’d played dolls with as a child could have a seventeen-year-old daughter. Of course, most women didn’t have their first baby at fifteen.
    Clint, who’d been lurking in the doorway since they arrived, moved close and placed his hand proprietarily on Dakota’s shoulder. “Like I told Cassie, our little girl is growing up.”
    Dakota flinched but otherwise remained perfectly still. Her expression went blank.
    Something in the way Clint looked at the girl made Ami’s skin crawl. Cassie, now munching on cookies with her feet up on a frayed hassock, seemed oblivious to any tension between her daughter and her boyfriend.
    Ami cleared her throat. “That makes you a junior in high school?”
    “Yes, ma’am.” Using the question as a reason to move, Dakota stepped closer to Ami and sat on the arm of her chair.
    Beck had remained quiet since she’d performed the initial introductions, but Ami observed his brown eyes taking it all in, including the tattered furniture and the new large-screen television. She was certain his shrewd gaze hadn’t missed the worn clothing on Cassie and her daughter and Clint’s shiny leather boots.
    Ami supposed Clint had been a good-looking guy once upon a time. Though he was only in his midthirties, hard living was starting to show. His body was soft and paunchy. There were lines on his face normally not seen in a man so