Page 29 of When You Got a Good Thing (Misfit Inn 1)

Kennedy’s long lashes fluttered closed and she turned into his touch, some of the tension melting out of her.

A door behind him opened. Kennedy looked over his shoulder and snapped ramrod straight, stepping back. Xander dropped his hand.

“Kennedy.” There was nothing overtly hostile about his father’s tone, but if he and Kennedy had been a couple of cats, they’d have been hissing at each other, hair standing on end.

“Sheriff.”

“My condolences about your mama.”

“Thank you, sir. It’s hit us all pretty hard.”

“I’m sure it has.” Buck nodded for emphasis. “A big disruption to all of you, too. Though I guess it’s time you’re all getting back to your lives, now the funeral’s past.”

What the hell? He was practically shoving her out of town. Xander knew his father didn’t like Kennedy, but he never would’ve guessed Buck would be outright rude. Especially in the wake of Joan’s death.

A muscle jumped in Kennedy’s jaw. “Maggie and Athena will be leaving this week. I’m staying to help Pru.”

“Are you now?”

“It’s what you do for family.” Kennedy all but bit the words out. Turning to Xander, she said, “I need to be getting home.” She was already backing toward the door.

Xander sure as hell didn’t blame her. “Let me make some calls. I’m sure I can round somebody up by the end of the day.”

“We appreciate it. Just come on by Mom’s whenever. We’ll owe you.”

“Sure. See you later.”

A quick jerk of her head served as a goodbye, and then she was gone. If she’d left any quicker, he’d have expected plumes of smoke in her wake.

Buck was already striding back to his office.

Temper simmering, Xander followed, shutting the door behind him. “What the hell was that?”

Behind his desk, Buck fixed him with a gimlet stare. “Son, don’t get involved with that girl again.”

Xander had had enough. “First, she’s not a girl, she’s a woman. Second, who I’m interested in is none of your goddamned business.”

“Don’t be so damned prickly. I’m just looking out for you. I’m telling you, sh

e’ll leave at the first opportunity.”

“She’s staying. She’s made a promise to her family, and she’s going to see that through.”

“Seems to me, once upon a time, she made a promise to you. We see how well she kept that.”

Even knowing her reasons, that blow still stung, as Buck had meant it to. His father didn’t know about the fight or the role Xander had played in driving Kennedy away.

“We’re not kids anymore, Dad. I’m not going to judge her now for something she did when she was just eighteen. And whatever happens with Kennedy, I’m going to support her and Pru and the rest of the Reynolds family however I can because Mom, at least, raised me better.”

He stalked out of his father’s office and went to call Logan about a truck.

Chapter Eight

“I DON’T KNOW ABOUT this.” Pru bit her lip as they all scanned Joan’s sitting room.

“With the half-bath, this room makes the most sense,” Maggie said practically. “Clients can undress or dress in there and feel a bit more private than they might anywhere else. Plus, it’s got a door and can be closed off from the rest of the house if something else were going on. It’s quiet. That was the whole reason Mom picked it.”

“But it was Mom’s space,” Pru said. “To do this, we have to move all her stuff, and that just feels...wrong. Too soon.”

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