Finding Home in Good Hope (A Good Hope Novel Book 16) by Cindy Kirk

Author:Cindy Kirk [Kirk, Cindy]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Waverly House
Published: 2021-02-11T00:00:00+00:00

After the dishes were cleared, Ethan found an old wooden TV tray and set it up in front of the fireplace.

Gianna confiscated two straight-backed chairs from the kitchen.

Once the checkerboard sat on the tray, Ethan held up a box of chips. “Red or black?”

“Red.” Gianna didn’t hesitate. “It’s my favorite color.”

“It’s my favorite color on you.” He handed her the red chips, then set up his side of the board with the black. “Eliza always acted like playing checkers was beneath her, but whenever I asked her to play, she always—well, usually—agreed.”

Gianna smiled. “She wanted to make her little brother happy.”

“Naw.” Ethan chuckled. “She’s competitive and knew she’d wipe the floor with me.”

“Did she?” Gianna asked. “Win?”

“Usually.” Ethan’s gaze grew distant, as if he was looking back. “She never pushed my face in it, but she loved pointing out any flaws in my strategy.”

“Did you have a strategy?”

Ethan chuckled and shook his head. “Not back then.”

“Having a sibling must have been fun.” Try as she might, Gianna couldn’t keep the wistful note from her voice.

“Eliza and I have always had each other’s backs. We’re a united front.”

“I wish I had someone like that.” Gianna expelled a breath. “I never knew if I was pushing my mother too hard, or if I should push her more.”

“You were in a tough spot.”

“It was…frustrating. She’s an intelligent woman. It took me a long time to figure out why she was so scared to make the simplest decisions.”

Ethan cocked his head.

“She was fearful—terrified, really—of making the wrong decision.” Gianna paused. “For years, she walked on egg shells around my dad, worried that she’d do something to displease him and he’d blow up.”

“The fear remained even after he split.”

Though the comment was more statement than question, Gianna nodded. “We were living in Santa Fe, and there was this free counseling center not far from our apartment. I finally convinced her to go. That’s when I started to see changes.”

“How old were you at the time?”

“Fourteen.” Gianna’s teeth caught her lower lip. It was a bad habit she thought she’d broken. She immediately released her lip. “We were on welfare and barely surviving. I couldn’t get a job, so I cut hair for extra money.”

“At fourteen?”

“No formal training, but I seemed to have a knack. I didn’t charge much. But the extra cash helped.” Gianna blew out a breath. “Life was hard. She was supposed to be the caregiver, not me.”

“I’m surprised you were able to convince her to get help.”

“I told her I’d leave if she didn’t see a counselor.” Gianna hadn’t wanted to give the ultimatum, but nothing else had worked.

“Would you have left?”

“I don’t know.” Lifting one shoulder, Gianna let it drop. “Thankfully, she agreed. With one caveat.”

Instead of pressing for more, Ethan waited.

“She said she’d go only if I went with her.” Gianna’s dark eyes met his. “I agreed. Seeing a counselor ended up being a good thing for me, too.”

“The therapy helped both of you.”

Gianna glanced down at her hands for

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.