Free Heath's Hope (The Brothers of Beauford Bend Book 5) by Alicia Hunter Pace Page B

upstairs for you.”
    Hope did not have the mental energy to ask him why or tell him no, so she nodded and led him up the stairs.
    He set the knitting bag on the coffee table and sat down on the sofa. She smiled a little to herself. Unlike the Beaufords and so many others who’d gone through Amelia Beauford’s etiquette classes as teens, it would never have occurred to Heath to wait to be asked to sit down or to stand until she sat. Sofas were for sitting like air was for breathing. But none of that mattered. He was the kind of man who had done his best to make a dying girl happy when he was heartbroken himself.
    “Can I get you something, Heath?”
    “Not tonight. Tomorrow I’d like you to buy me some barbecue and corn light bread, because you threw away my leftovers.”
    She studied him intently. If that was a joke, it was a very bad one. If he meant it, he would be disappointed. She really could not stand to be around him anymore. Since returning to Beauford, she’d learned something besides how to knit. She would never get over loving this man, but in order to function, she had to get as far away from him as possible.
    “I brought you something.” He removed a small, flat, tissue-wrapped package from his pocket.
    She waited for him to cross the room and give it to her. When he didn’t, she went and sat beside him on the sofa.
    He handed her the package. “I made it for you because I was sorry about how I treated you Halloween night—especially when I found out your dad had gotten hurt. I didn’t know it at the time.”
    “But you didn’t give it to me. Did that mean you weren’t sorry anymore?”
    “No. I still was. But I kept getting mad all over again.” He gestured to the package. “Open it.”
    She untied the string and found inside a stained glass jack-o’-lantern about the size of her palm.
    This was huge gesture. He really was sorry he’d given away her jack-o’-lantern to hurt her. Maybe this would help bring about the closure she needed. She couldn’t be friends, but she doubted he wanted that either. Though he did want that barbecue—probably only because she had wasted good food and owed him.
    “Thank you, Heath. This means a lot. More than you know.”
    “How does he look?” Heath gestured to the jack-o’-lantern.
    “Look? It’s beautiful. Everything you make is beautiful.”
    “No. His expression.” He let her into his brandy eyes, and she knew they were both thinking how she’d always said the other jack-o’-lantern looked like he was in love.
    She looked at the droopy mouth and slanted eyes. “Sad,” she said. “He looks sad.”
    Heath nodded. “That’s what I think. I thought he would look mad, but he just kept coming out sad.” He pushed his hair off his face. “Hope, I’m not good at this. I’m never going to be. If I were good with reading people and saying the right thing, maybe I could have kept you before.”
    Fire surged through her. “Don’t you dare blame that on yourself, Heath. Besides, if you weren’t the person you are I wouldn’t—” She stopped herself just in time.
    “Love me? That’s funny. I would think that would make me harder to love.”
    Might as well admit it. Not that it mattered.
    “I often choose the hard thing,” she said. “But I do love you. Just like you are. I always have.”
    He looked deeper into her eyes all on his own and nodded.
    “Then can’t we just pack up all this other stuff and forget about it? Because, Hope, I’m tired of being sad. I want to make you another jack-o’-lantern who looks like he’s in love.”
    That was her undoing. She began to cry.
    He was shaking when he put his hand on her cheek and met her eyes. “You know how I am. If you’re upset about something, you’ll have to come right out and tell me. Even then, I probably won’t know how to make you feel better. If I say anything, it’ll be wrong. But, Hope, I swear, I’ll try my best. And I don’t even have to try to love you. That would