True to You in Good Hope: A Good Hope Novel Book 15 Read online

  Sarah Rose gestured wildly with her free hand, her face animated as she talked. The stranger’s face was turned toward the child, preventing Piper from getting a good look at him.

  Whoever he was, Sarah Rose was obviously taken with him. Piper ate the bite of meatloaf before lowering her fork. Sarah Rose’s exuberance made Piper smile. The child’s outgoing personality had made her a favorite of the townsfolk.

  “Let’s sit over there.” Ami pointed to a round table not far from where Piper sat. She turned to the stranger. “That work for you?”

  “It does.” His voice held the faintest hint of a Southern accent.

  Pretending to study her phone, Piper stole a glance at the man as he passed her booth. Once again, his head was turned away from her as he continued to listen to Sarah Rose chatter, but even in profile, his face appealed.

  She compared his height to Beck’s. This new guy appeared to be close to the same height, which placed him a little over six foot one. Unlike Beck’s silky black strands, this guy’s hair was wiry brown and pulled up into a man bun.

  Piper smiled. Not a look popular in Good Hope, though oddly, it suited him.

  She was still smiling when the man’s head swiveled, and their eyes met.

  Everything in Piper stilled except for her heart. That gave a leap.

  Anders Cross.

  At Ami and Beck’s wedding, his hair had been cut stylishly short, and he’d worn a suit. But she remembered him—and the feel of his hands on her body.

  From the flash of recognition in Anders’s golden eyes, he remembered her, too.

  Chapter Two

  Anders Cross couldn’t believe he’d been in Good Hope less than two hours and had already run across someone he knew and remembered fondly.

  He considered excusing himself to speak to Piper, but a waitress with orange hair as bright as her matching lipstick already stood by the table, notepad in hand.

  His niece, with a death grip on his hand, pulled him forward. Anders decided to ask about Piper once they’d ordered.

  “Why don’t you sit beside Beck?” While Ami got JT settled in a booster seat, she gestured to an open chair next to her husband.

  “I want to sit by Uncle Anders,” Sarah Rose announced loudly.

  “I had a feeling you might.” Ami smiled and pointed to another chair. “You can take that one. Your uncle will have Daddy on one side and you on the other.”

  Mollified, Sarah Rose scrambled onto the chair.

  “You’ve done a lot to the place.” After taking his assigned seat between Beck and Sarah Rose, Anders let his gaze travel around the dining area.

  He’d already admired the exterior blue awning—new since he was last here—which sported the café’s name and the trademark bright red boots.

  Though there was nothing fancy about the diner, it had a chill vibe. White paint on the walls with cobalt-blue splashes of paint obviously were meant to simulate rain. That conclusion was a no-brainer, considering the mural on a far wall of a happy girl in a red raincoat kicking up water.

  The shiny wood floor and red vinyl booths around the perimeter of the dining area added to the comfortable feel. The table where they sat had a no-nonsense top of gray Formica.

  “What do you think?” Pride filled his older brother’s eyes. “We hadn’t done much to the inside when you last saw it.”

  “No,” Anders agreed, thinking how long ago that had been. “You hadn’t.”

  The wedding of Beck to Amaryllis Bloom was the last time he’d seen the place. Beck had been so happy that day, and Anders knew Ami deserved the credit for chasing the shadows from his brother’s eyes.

  “I like the changes. You retained the flavor while adding some needed updates.” Anders let his fingers stroke the smooth gray Formica. “I’m glad to see it still has the chill vibe I remember.”

  Beck’s lips quirked upward. “Chill?”

  “Absolutely.” Anders gave a decisive nod, then picked up the menu. He shifted his gaze to Ami, who was putting JT back into the booster seat.

  “JT.” Beck’s voice had the squirming toddler quieting and turning his attention to his father. “If you don’t stay in your seat, there’ll be no dessert.”

  The boy glanced at his mother.

  Ami simply pulled a tiny dump truck and an equally small skid loader from her purse. She planted a kiss on top of his head. “You play with these until your mac and cheese comes.”

  “What’s good here?” Anders asked Ami. He jerked his head in the direction of his brother. “I know if I ask him, he’ll say everything is good.”

  “It’s true,” Beck objected.

  “Tonight’s special is meatloaf, and it’s—” Ami paused. “Do you even like meatloaf?”

  Sarah Rose raised her hand. “I do. But I want mac and cheese tonight.”

  “I like meatloaf and mac and cheese.” Even as Anders responded to Ami, he shot Sarah Rose a wink.

  “Well, this particular meatloaf happens to be my special recipe.” Ami leaned forward, her green eyes sparkling.

  How different she was, Anders thought, from Beck’s late wife. Medicine had been Lisette’s love, her passion. He couldn’t recall ever seeing Lisette in a kitchen. Her practice had been flourishing, and she and Beck had enjoyed a robust social life.

  He recalled Lisette’s keen sense of humor and the way she’d focused on the positive in every situation. She and his brother had been a good match.

  Though he wasn’t certain how long he planned to stay in Good Hope, he hoped to use the time to get to know Ami. Though she was different from Lisette in so many ways, it was obvious his brother adored her.

  Anders smiled at the waitress setting water on the table before returning his attention to his sister-in-law.

  “This isn’t just any meatloaf,” Beck told him. “It’s amazing.”

  “How is it different?” As far as Anders was concerned, meatloaf was, well, meatloaf.

  Ami smiled. “We take a baked potato out of its skin, mash it up, add butter and cover the potato with creamed corn. The bacon, onions and peppers that topped the meatloaf while it cooked are added to the corn.”

  “It looks a little strange,” Beck chimed in, “but it’s a Muddy Boots favorite. We serve it with homemade sourdough bread. Adds a nice crunch.”

  “I’m having a hard time picturing the creamed corn over the potato,” Anders admitted.

  “Piper is eating it.” Ami pointed. “She’s the dark-haired woman by the window.”

  No need to point, Anders thought. He knew just where to look. From the way Piper was focusing on her food, it appeared to be a favorite of hers as well.

  “I believe Anders met Piper at our wedding,” Beck told his wife.

  “Is that right?” he heard Ami say, but Anders’s attention remained on Piper.

  Piper had to have felt his scrutiny. He waited for her to look up. He planned to offer her a smile, maybe even lift his hand in a friendly wave. She didn’t look up. Her gaze remained focused on her food and her phone.

  The waitress’s gaze settled on Anders.

  “Helen, this is my brother Anders. He’s in town visiting.”

  “I don’t recall seeing you here before.” Helen’s gaze turned puzzled.

  Shifting uncomfortably in his seat, Anders flashed a quick smile. “I was here when these two got married.”

  A startled look crossed Helen’s face. “That was ages ago.”

  Yes, it was, Anders thought, and he had no good excuse for why he hadn’t made the time to visit more.

  The uncomfortable silence that descended over the table was broken by Beck.

  “Helen could run this place with her eyes shut.” Beck smiled at the waitress before turning to his brother. “If you have any questions about the menu, she’s the one to ask.”

  “That’s the God’s truth.” Helen’s gaze shifted from Beck to Anders. “You two don’t look much alike. I thought you were twins.”

  Anders chuckled. “Beck and Elliot
t are twins. I’m—”

  “His own man,” Beck interjected. “Ami and I are so glad he’s here.”

  “If there’s even a smidge of resemblance,” Helen continued to study Anders, “I don’t see it.”

  Her comment had Anders smiling. “I don’t see it either. I’ve always suspected my parents found me by the side of the road and took me home.”

  “Might have happened that way.” Helen’s tone turned businesslike as her gaze swept the table. “I know the kids will want mac and cheese, but what can I get the rest of you this evening?”

  “Anders. You’re our guest. You go first.”

  “Based totally on Ami’s amazing sales job, I’ll try the meatloaf.”

  The choice earned him a smile from Ami and an approving nod from Helen.

  While his sister-in-law ordered, Anders slanted another glance in Piper’s direction. She looked even more beautiful than the last time he’d seen her. He wondered if she still wore that sultry perfume. The scent had wrapped around him that evening and—

  “You remember her.” Beck’s comment, spoken in a low tone, interrupted his trip down memory lane.

  “I do. She doesn’t look much different.” The fact that Piper hadn’t acknowledged him had Anders hesitating and moderating his response. “I’m not sure she’ll remember me.”

  “Who are you talking about?” Ami asked, her eyes bright with interest.

  “Piper.” Even as he spoke, Beck pulled a thin box of crayons out of his pocket and slid them over to Sarah Rose.

  “Thanks, Daddy.”

  When JT’s gaze fell on the bright colors, he reached. “I want.”

  Sarah Rose wrapped an arm around the colors. “They’re mine. Daddy gave them to me.”

  “You can share with your brother,” Ami said calmly.

  “He’ll break them,” Sarah Rose protested.

  Anders watched in fascination as his brother and Ami handled the crisis with ease.

  Once the children were busy coloring on the paper place mats Helen had brought over, Ami focused on her husband. “What about Piper?”

  “Anders remembers her from the wedding,” Beck responded.

  “Piper is a lovely woman.” Ami’s eyes sparkled. “She’s eating alone. We could ask if she’d like to join us and—”

  Eagerly, Ami turned, then expelled a heavy sigh. “Too late. She already had her food boxed up and is headed out the door.”

  “Maybe another time,” Anders said equitably, knowing already there would be a next time.

  After all, Good Hope was a small community. It shouldn’t take long for their paths to cross again.

  He was looking forward to the reunion.

  His brother and sister-in-law kept the conversation light all through dinner. Neither asked Anders his reasons for coming to Good Hope or how long he planned to stay. However, once they got home and Ami offered to get the children ready for bed on her own so he and Beck could have some alone time, Anders saw the writing on the wall.

  “Can I get you anything to drink?” Beck directed the question to Anders, even as his gaze remained focused on Ami ascending the stairs with their children.

  Anders leaned back in his seat and forced a relaxed posture. “Nothing to drink for me. Thanks.”

  JT waved a chubby hand at his dad over Ami’s shoulder. Sarah Rose, totally focused on a story she was telling her mother, didn’t look back.

  “This was nice of Ami.”

  Beck gazed at Anders in confusion.

  “Getting the kids ready for bed on her own so we could have this time,” Anders clarified.

  Beck’s eyes grew soft. “She’s wonderful.”

  “You’ve both been extremely welcoming to someone who dropped in unannounced.”

  Beck waved a dismissive hand. “You’re family. You’d do the same for us.”

  Anders supposed he would, though during the past years he’d grown used to thinking only of himself. He slanted a glance at his brother. “I’m seeing a whole new side of you.”

  Beck dropped down on the sofa and crossed his long legs at the ankle. He cocked his head, those dark eyes assessing. “What side would that be?”

  “Devoted father.” Anders thought back to how Beck had been at the café.

  Patient, as he’d persuaded JT to put on a bib the boy didn’t want. Firm but gentle, with Sarah Rose when she wanted to run around the café after they’d eaten. “I’d seen you be a devoted husband. I knew you had that in you.”

  Beck had been a good husband to Lisette, but a busy one. They had been so immersed in their careers, it often took great effort to get the two of them together in the same room.

  In addition to a busy law practice, his brother had been involved in every civic organization known to man, and Lisette had provided volunteer medical services at several shelters in town. Anders recalled when he’d learned Lisette was pregnant joking that he was surprised they’d had time for sex.

  Anders had never voiced his next thought, but he’d also wondered how they planned to fit a baby into their already overflowing schedules.

  “Being a father…” Beck paused to clear his throat. “Well, it’s the best. Ami makes it easy. She’s a wonderful partner. And an amazing mother.” Beck’s gaze remained on Anders’s face. “It’s important to me that you know her. And I want her to have the opportunity to know you. That’s something I’ve wanted for a long time.”

  For a long moment, Anders said nothing, knowing the fault lay with him. For them to get better acquainted, he and Ami needed to spend time together.

  “I like your wife.” Anders thought he might as well get that out there. Especially since Beck knew how fond he’d been of Lisette. “She’s real, genuine.”

  “When I moved here after losing Lisette and the baby…” Beck paused to clear his throat. Even after all these years, pain flashed in his eyes. “Ami was my first friend in Good Hope. She was a friend, even when I didn’t want one.”

  “I recall someone at the reception saying how the two of you got together for coffee and rolls every morning.” Anders used covering old ground as a way to steer the conversation off his long absence.

  Beck’s gaze shifted toward the stairs, and a smile lifted his lips. “We still start each morning that way.”

  “It’s good to see you happy.”

  Beck focused those sharp gray eyes on Anders. “Are you happy?”

  Startled, Anders blinked. “I suppose I am.”

  When his brother’s eyes narrowed, Anders realized it would have been simpler to have said yes. But Beck deserved honesty. He certainly deserved better than Anders had given him.

  Beck leaned forward, resting his forearms on his thighs as he studied his brother. “First, let me say again how happy I am you’re here. Yet, I’m curious what brought you here now. I’ve been pestering you for years to visit. What changed?”

  It was a simple question, but the answer was anything but simple. Anders didn’t understand why he’d stayed away for so long. Other than he’d simply been busy living his life.

  “I’m not sure why now, other than it seemed the time.” Anders lifted a shoulder, then let it drop. “I finished up a job in the Nebraska Sandhills. I could have stayed longer. They’d have found more work for me. But my mind kept circling back to you.”

  “I’m glad.” Beck pinned Anders with his gaze. “I’d consider it a personal favor if you’d stay through the holidays. Christmas in Good Hope is something everyone should experience at least once in their lifetime.”

  “Christmas is six weeks away,” Anders reminded his brother. “I can’t impose on you that long.”

  Beck’s gray eyes bore into him. “Having you here isn’t an imposition. We have plenty of room.”

  “I’d be in the way.”

  Disappointment washed over his brother’s face at the continued excuses. “You and I haven’t seen each other in years. When the entire family was here last Christmas, you were a no-show.”

  Though Beck did a
good job of keeping all emotion from his voice, Anders knew his brother well enough to hear the hurt beneath words spoken in a soft Southern drawl.

  Anders had a good reason for missing last year’s get-together. At least, a ski trip to Jackson Hole had seemed valid at the time.

  “I’ll stay until New Year’s.” The second he spoke the words, Anders saw the light return to Beck’s eyes. “While I appreciate your hospitality, I’ll need a place of my own while I’m here. No offense to you, Ami or the kids, but I’m used to privacy.”

  Beck grinned as if Anders had gifted him with an early Christmas present. Apparently, being under the same roof didn’t matter as much as being in the same town.

  Anders kept his tone light. “How difficult do you think it’s going to be to find a place?”

  Beck rubbed his jaw. “You wouldn’t be comfortable staying at Sweet Dreams. The motel is nice, and Mavis keeps it up, but the rooms are small with no kitchens.”

  Anders waved a hand and settled back in his chair. “I’m not particular. You forget, I’ve spent a good share of the last five years in bunkhouses or with a bedroll under the stars.”

  Beck’s expression grew thoughtful. “I have a place in mind. I need to see if it’s available.”

  “Where is it?”

  “Ami’s stepbrother has an interest in an apartment on Wrigley Road. The last time I spoke with David, they’d decided to reserve the unit for visiting business associates. Or for friends and family vacationing here.”

  “I don’t want to impose—”

  “It’s empty, and David told me he didn’t have anyone scheduled to stay there until February. Now, that may have changed since we spoke on Sunday, but I doubt it. The best part is the apartment is new and fully furnished.” Beck pulled out his phone and sent a quick text. “If David or one of his partners has promised it to someone, he’ll let me know.”

  “Thanks for doing this, Beck.” Anders spread his hands. “I hope you understand that me wanting my own space has nothing to do with you or Ami or the kids.”

  “I do understand. If this avenue doesn’t pan out, we’ll find another place.” Beck placed a hand on his shoulder. “I want you happy while you’re here.”