By day’s end, Xander’s patience was at an all-time low. He’d have given a great deal for one of those calls about loose livestock that would’ve taken him to the ass end of the county for hours at a time. But no. He’d been inside the Ridge proper and one call after another—from traffic stops to vandalism to welfare checks—every-damn-body in town was asking him about Kennedy. Which meant he hadn’t been able to stop thinking about her for longer than five minutes since their encounter this morning. He just wanted a beer and an uncomplicated hour watching the latest basketball game in the March Madness tournament with his best friend. Logan Maxwell was a transplant to Eden’s Ridge, so he wouldn’t have the million questions all the locals did. Thank God.
With that in mind, Xander tugged open t
