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

snow-covered meadow.
    Ami easily kept up with her friend, gliding down the slight mound—too small to be called a hill—on her cross-country skis, then coming to a stop beside Hadley at the bottom.
    After making it through a busy weekend and playing catch-up on Monday, Ami had decided to celebrate her day off from the café by enjoying last night’s additional two inches of snow.
    This had been Ami’s first chance to bring up Saturday night’s debacle with her friend. She’d barely pulled her skis on when the story began tumbling from her lips. It took longer than it should have because Hadley wanted every detail.
    “ Jumped isn’t entirely accurate.” Ami breathed in the cool, clean air and felt some of the tension in her shoulders dissolve. “I kissed him. He kissed me back.”
    “Do you think if I kissed him, he’d kiss me back?”
    Ami shot her friend a sharp glance.
    “Just kidding.” Hadley laughed. “Seriously, if word got out Beckett Cross was serving kisses, Muddy Boots would be swarming with women.”
    Ami wished now she hadn’t brought up the kiss. She didn’t have a clue what was happening between her and Beck, so how could she explain it to Hadley?
    No, that wasn’t entirely true. Ami knew she was falling for the man with the soft southern drawl and gentle eyes. What she didn’t know was how to end the free fall.
    One thing for certain, the thought of Beck kissing anyone else made her stomach churn. “I don’t believe he’s looking for a relationship.”
    “I’m not talking about a relationship.” Hadley gave her a wink and pushed off across a pristine white field edged by a coniferous forest. “I’m talking sex.”
    They continued across the field in companionable silence, the soothing sound of skis sliding across the snow only broken by the loud squawk of a raven. The strong scent of pine from the nearby forest hung heavy in the air.
    With each push of her poles, the churning in Ami’s stomach became a sharp pain. She shoved past the discomfort of imagining Beck with a faceless female and caught up with Hadley.
    “Something else about this Beck thing confuses me.” Hadley inclined her head, her expression mild. “Buying a café in a small town is hardly what you do when you want to be left alone.”
    “True,” Ami agreed.
    “What brought him here? I mean, what caused him to pick Good Hope as a place to settle?”
    “No idea.” That, Ami thought, was a big part of her hesitation to get more deeply involved with the man. She didn’t even know the most basic information about his life before he arrived in Good Hope.
    You know everything important , a tiny voice in her head whispered. You know he’s decent, kind, and honorable.
    “What does he say when you ask?”
    “I don’t ask.”
    Hadley skied to a stop beside a large spruce, then studied her friend. “Why not?”
    Ami focused on the distance, avoiding Hadley’s scrutinizing gaze. “The way I see it, if Beck wants me to know about his past, he’ll tell me.”
    “But—”
    “Just like you,” Ami continued. “I don’t pry into your background.”
    “You’re right, of course.” Hadley sighed. “I’m just curious. Have you been able to pinpoint his accent?”
    “Southern?”
    Hadley laughed. “Have you googled him?”
    Ami couldn’t help but laugh when her friend wiggled her brows. The mischievous glint in Hadley’s blue eyes reminded her of her sister Marigold, who’d always had some scheme up her sleeve.
    “I did a little searching when he first arrived.” Despite the cool air, heat slid up Ami’s neck. The truth was she felt bad about snooping into Beck’s private life. Yet the guilt hadn’t been strong enough to keep her fingers away from the keyboard. “I plugged in a few different variables and tried again last week.”
    “I searched yesterday,” Hadley admitted with a cheery smile. “What did you find?”
    “Big fat zero.”
    “I came up empty, too. We’ll probably never know what