Hearths of Fire by Kennedy Layne Page A

were longer than necessary.
     As for his features, he had a very average face with a lanky build. “Welcome back
     to Hearth.”
    “Mr. Ashe,” Neal said in greeting as he pulled his hand away from Charlotte to greet
     the leader. She was glad when he immediately put it back in place. “I’d like you to
     meet Charlotte Whitefall, Mandy’s older sister.”
    “I must say, Charlotte—if I may call you that—you’ve raised a wonderful woman. We
     can’t say enough good things about Mandy.” Charlotte reluctantly shook the man’s hand
     and did her best not to grimace. “I can only imagine how hard it was for you to lose
     your parents at such a young age.”
    “I managed to keep her from harm so far,” Charlotte replied, trying her best to lift
     the sides of her mouth. She couldn’t pinpoint why Robert Ashe made her so uncomfortable.
     “I had the day off today, so Neal and I thought we would make the most of it by dropping
     by so I had a chance to meet you. Garreth and Mandy have gotten rather close over
     the last two months.”
    “Yes, they have. It’s wonderful to know they found each other so early in life, isn’t
     it?” Robert’s gaze was focused on something behind Neal and Charlotte, so they both
     turned to see who was behind them. Patricia Ashe was walking toward them with her
     hair up on some sort of clip. She’d gone gray early, although it was mixed in with
     a mousy brown color. Charlotte wasn’t sure why she was expecting a black dress of
     some sort, but the woman was wearing pretty much the same outfit as her husband—a
     black sweater overtop a black dress shirt and black jeans. It was downright creepy.
     How could Mandy not see it? Charlotte should be grateful that her sister was still
     wearing normal clothes. It was then that a vision of her sister wearing a black turtleneck
     this morning came to the forefront. “And here is my lovely wife. Patricia, please
     meet Charlotte Whitefall. You’ve already met Neal Bauer.”
    “Yes, I remember,” Patricia stated, a false smile pasted on her thin lips. Charlotte
     could see immediately that this woman didn’t like Neal. Whether it was from their
     previous run-in or she just didn’t like Alpha men was up for debate. Patricia’s dark
     brown eyes zeroed in on Charlotte. She wasn’t sure why, but it felt as if she was
     being looked over with the intention of being bought. “Charlotte, it’s such a pleasure
     to meet you. Robert and I were just talking about Mandy and how perfect she and our
     son are together. A higher power is certainly watching over them.”
    Charlotte wasn’t quite sure what to say to that, so she kept quiet while shaking the
     older woman’s cold hand. Something caught Charlotte’s eye as she looked to their right
     to see Garreth entering the large barn. He had to have seen them, yet he’d chosen
     to not come over. She had no doubt that he was calling Mandy right now. Hadn’t her
     sister mentioned they were going to the festival early before Garreth had to run a
     booth?
    “We were hoping to sit down with you,” Neal said, bringing everyone’s attention back
     around. “I’m sure you can understand that since Mandy and Garreth have gotten so close,
     that Charlotte would want to know more about what you do here…what you stand for.”
    “Please, come inside for some refreshments.” Robert waited to walk back to the house
     until his wife was by his side. Together the couple led the way up the porch steps
     and into a house that had sparse furnishings. Charlotte could easily see the beauty
     of such an old farmhouse and yet it now appeared to be only a shell of what used to
     be. “Have a seat and we’ll be right with you.”
    Just like that, Robert and Patricia exited the living room…if one could call it that.
     The only pieces of furniture were two foldout chairs and a couch. It gave off the
     appearance that the chairs were used to indicate a higher authority and just for shits
     and