Holiday in Your Heart by Susan Fox Read Free Book Online Page A

dummy.”
    His lips quirked. “Ha. I’m wounded.”
    She smiled. “Anyhow, Evan came back to Caribou Crossing a few years ago. He’s married, with a little boy and an adolescent stepdaughter. And he and Brooke are very close. But I’m sure that didn’t come easily for either of them.”
    When she revealed that he had grandkids, Mo blinked and looked a little stunned. But when he spoke, he didn’t mention them. “You’re saying I should talk to Brooke and Evan.”
    â€œI’m thinking out loud,” she corrected. “I’m saying that they’re both strong and they’re capable of dealing with crap from the past.”
    Mo barked out a wry laugh. “That’d be me. Crap from the past.”
    â€œI didn’t mean . . . Okay, yeah, I guess that’s true. If you asked Brooke and Evan about their relationship now, I’m positive they’d both say it was totally worth the pain, the bad memories, and the awkwardness it took to get there.”
    â€œYou think that could be the same with me?” She saw hope in his eyes, and vulnerability.
    Her tender heart throbbed, but she was also a practical woman. “Maybe. But that depends on you, Mo Kincaid. Brooke and Evan are good people. They’re my friends. If you mess up their lives, don’t make things right, and run out on them again, then . . .” She didn’t know how to finish that sentence. Setting Jake Brannon, Brooke’s husband, on Mo could never make up for any pain suffered by Brooke and Evan.
    Mo said quietly, “Then it’d be bad. Really bad.”
    She nodded. “What kind of man are you?” Sexy, and too handsome for his own good, but those things didn’t count. “You say you’ve changed, but how much have you changed? You may no longer drink a lot or get violent, but are you going to treat Brooke and Evan right? Are you going to stick around?”
    He swallowed.
    She went on. “Do you have the guts to hear what they need to say, to not argue with them, to accept the blame? To persist, even if they don’t want to accept you into their lives?” As she spoke, he nodded a couple of times, looking increasingly determined. She went on. “To prove to them that you’re a man worth knowing?” She peered into those fascinating blue-green eyes. “ Are you a man worth knowing?”
    Her question surprised him; that was evident from the way his eyes widened. His shoulders rose and then fell, and the look of determination faded. When he spoke, he sounded discouraged. “When you put it that way, I guess the best I can say for myself is that I try to tread lightly on the earth.”
    â€œWhat do you mean?”
    â€œI did a lot of harm in my youth. Now I try not to. I fix vehicles and I try not to break anything.” His mouth tightened. “Guess that’s not much to show for fifty years on this planet.”
    She watched him, not speaking.
    â€œBut,” he went on, squaring his shoulders, “it’s a hell of a lot better than the man I was in my twenties and thirties.”
    Slowly, she nodded. “That sounds . . . good.” Commendable, yes. But also sad, if that was all his life was about.

Chapter Three
    Maribeth’s gaze was assessing, making him want to squirm, but he managed to keep his shoulders squared and hold her gaze. She’d been more than fair with him, and he would answer every question she asked.
    â€œYou never remarried?” she said.
    â€œGod, no. Inflict myself on another woman? I’m not relationship material. And I’m sure not having any more kids.”
    Two or three years after he’d run from the police and left Caribou Crossing, he’d sent divorce papers to Brooke. It had seemed crazy to stay married when he figured they’d never see each other again. He hadn’t asked for visitation rights with Evan, and—asshole that he’d