Page 68 of When You Got a Good Thing (Misfit Inn 1)

His father trailed after them, probably intent on finding something more interesting than turkey bacon.

Okay, Xander was going to have to wait at least a little while before enacting his plan. He kissed Kennedy again, then nudged her along. “Go, do your thing. I’ll catch up with you later.”

As Kennedy mingled, Xander wandered through himself, visiting with people, talking about the renovations. The tone was one of celebration. He wondered if the girls felt the difference from the last time the house was full of people.

“Xander, have you met Robert Barth?” Maggie gestured to an older guy with a receding hairline that he remembered seeing at the funeral.

“The attorney, right?”

“That’d be me. Nice to see you again, Sheriff.”

When was Xander going to get used to that?

“Robert has been helping us sort out Mom’s estate and what our options are with Ari.”

“Yeah?” They’d all been so busy with prepping the inn the last couple of months, he wasn’t sure where things stood with their youngest family member.

Ari herself popped up. “Apparently they get to go from being my sisters to my moms.”

“Looks like the next step will be formal certification as foster parents.” Maggie explained.

“There’s no question that Ari is better off staying here, so it shouldn’t be too difficult a process,” Robert said.

Xander draped an arm around the girl’s shoulders. “What do you think about that, squirt?”

She shrugged. “It’ll be a little weird I guess. But whatever. I get to stay.”

“That you do.” Maggie smiled.

Ari poked him in the ribs and whispered sotto voce, “Did you talk to Kennedy yet?”

“Not yet.” Xander made a throat slashing motion.

The girl hip checked him. “Well, hurry up. She’s in the office with Pru.”

“Yeah, yeah. I’m getting there.” Xander estimated that enough time had passed that the guests were mostly fed and had been greeted. He probably could manage to steal Kennedy away for a bit.

She and Pru were bent over the computer.

“We just got a reservation for a month,” Pru exclaimed. “One Flynn Bohannon, at the end of June.”

“Flynn!” Kennedy clapped her hands with glee. “He’s a good friend of mine from Ireland. An exceptionally talented musician. You’re gonna love him. Oh, it’ll be so good to see him.”

“I look forward to meeting him.” Xander grabbed her hand. “Pru, can I borrow Kennedy for a bit?”

Pru waved them off. “Go, go. Everything’s under control here.”

“Great.” He pulled Kennedy through the house, snaking through the crowd and out the back door.

Laughing, she hurried to keep up. “Where are we going?”

“For a little walk.”

“Now?”

“Yep, now.” Because he couldn’t wait anymore to get her away from all the people.

He headed down the trail toward their spot, only slowing once the sounds of revelry faded.

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