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Chapter 12
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The Misfit Inn Chapter 13
XANDER DREW HER IN, stroking a hand back through her hair before laying his lips on hers. The tenderness in his touch felt like a benediction. He knew all, and he still loved her. The miracle of that had her clinging to him, as if he were a dream that would turn to smoke and disappear. Under the gentle coaxing of his mouth, she began to unwind, releasing the tension and anxiety of the past couple of days. With each, slow degree, her heart began to ache a little less.His hands slipped beneath her shirt, skimming up her spine. Her skin shivered, then heated as those calloused fingers spanned her shoulders, pulling her to him until she felt surrounded. Until she felt safe. It had been so long since she'd felt truly safe. His mouth moved across her cheek, along the shell of her ear and down the column of her throat. Her head fell back to give him better access. He took his time, trailing languorous kisses up the other side, inching up her shirt as he went. His big hands swept up her rib
The Misfit Inn Chapter 14
KENNEDY WAS A LOT less confident about her plan than she'd let Xander believe. She wasn't finished with the formalized proposal for the business. The necessary number crunching had taken a backseat to work and spending time with him. Given the time constraints, she didn't think she'd be able to pull all of it together by tomorrow morning, especially since she had to work tonight to help cover the Friday night rush. But if a picture was worth a thousand words, hopefully a fully set up room would be worth more. She sent a quick series of texts to Denver, to see if she could go in late. She had a busy day ahead of her.Figuring out how to buy paint and supplies and sneak them into the house without Pru knowing made Kennedy feel a little bit like a spy. She'd memorized Pru's whole client schedule for the day and deliberately picked one of the third floor rooms to avoid likelihood of discovery. With a hastily scrawled note left on the kitchen counter, she told Pru she was running a quick e
The Misfit Inn Chapter 15
XANDER CALLED HIS MOTHER back, somehow managing to keep his voice calm and even, despite the fact that every cell in his body was dialed to disbelief or panic. He tried to focus on what she was saying but could barely hear past the roaring in his ears. Was this what it had been like for Kennedy when Pru called about Joan? Instinctively, he reached for her, curling trembling fingers around hers. Realizing his mom had stopped talking, he forced himself to speak. "I'll meet you there." He'd gotten the location of the hospital, at least."Hurry."He hung up the phone, then just stared at the blank screen, the last words he'd spoken to his father echoing through his brain.From this day forward, you're dead to me.What had he done?"Xander?" Kennedy's soft voice was as much a reminder of support as a question.Feeling utterly lost, he lifted his head to look at her. "I... He's been rushed to the hospital in Johnson City.""Then let's go.""I..." Xander closed his eyes, at war with
The Misfit Inn Chapter 16
"ARE YOU SURE IT'S okay if I sleep here?"Kennedy was pretty sure if she didn't steer him toward a bed in the next five minutes, Xander would collapse on the nearest horizontal surface. "It's fine. Go on up to my room. I'll be up in a little bit after I give everybody the update."He stroked a thumb across her cheek. "Don't be long."She found a smile for him and nudged him toward the stairs. He trudged up, each step seeming to take twice as long as it should have. Kennedy hoped he managed to get his shoes off before he tumbled into bed.Hearing voices, she headed for the kitchen.Her sisters looked up from the table when she came into the room."Kennedy! You're back." Ari leapt up and came to hug her. Pru followed suit. "What can I get you? Coffee? Food?""Nothing. I'm loaded up on crappy hospital food and coffee. I'm about to go pass out. And just so you know, Xander is sleeping here. He's had a really rough couple of days. If anybody has a problem with that, I'll sleep in a
The Misfit Inn Chapter 17
VOLUME TWO: TIL THERE WAS YOUR"I can't believe I let you talk me into this insanity." Cayla Black bitched into her white wine spritzer. Denver knew it was the only drink the active, single mom ever ordered, and she was looking at it like she wished it were something stronger. "Are you backing out?" Kennedy Reynolds' voice held a rare note of panic. His best bartender wasn't prone to panic, and Denver paused in the noisy task of racking glassware before the dinner rush to listen in more closely. "Oh, I can do it. I didn't say I couldn't do it," Cayla insisted, as though the suggestion that she couldn't mocked her event planner pride. "You just need to be fully aware that your race to the altar is giving me wrinkles. You see this line right here?" She pointed to some nonexistent blemish on her forehead. "I got that convincing Jolene Lowrey to make her prize-winning red velvet cake for your wedding. You're just lucky she has as much fondness for Xander's extremely fine backside as y
The Misfit Inn Chapter 18
Some kind of bells chimed as Denver tugged open the door of Moonbeams and Sweet Dreams. He glanced up automatically, noting the assortment of wind chimes suspended from a grid attached to the high, tin ceiling - glass, copper, bamboo, wood, other metals. Something for everyone. He shut the door and listened to the quiet tones of drums and flutes that floated out from speakers hidden around the room. Something dreamy and Celtic that suited the tone of the shop. The space was long and narrow, with wide-plank floors he suspected were original to the building. Displays made something of a maze of wares from the front to the back. It reminded him of the lone trip he'd taken to Ikea - herding you through the entire store before you got to the back and the register. Except this was clever, cozy, and warm, rather than a coldly calculated retail corral of gleaming fixtures, filled with a herd of shoppers. Homey instead of Hell on Earth. It helped that there was nobody else here.Denver wandere
The Misfit Inn Chapter 19
"Pretend you have manners, okay? We're trying to impress these ladies."Oscar plopped his butt down on Misty's front stoop and, tongue lolling, tipped his head back to look at Denver, as if to say, See, I got this. One ear flopped over his eye, making him look a lot more like trouble than a canine gentleman. With a little prayer that the mutt remembered his training, Denver held out the gift bag. Oscar clamped the handle between his teeth and turned back to the door, his baseball bat of a tail wagging so hard, it swept the front stoop. Man, he hoped this wasn't a mistake. He'd wanted to make a good impression. His grandmama had hailed from Georgia, and, during the formative years she'd helped his father raise him, she'd impressed upon Denver proper company etiquette. It wasn't something he'd been called on much to use in his line of work, certainly wasn't something he or Dad had worried about after her passing. But Denver had heard her voice in his head, telling him he'd best not sh
The Misfit Inn Chapter 20
"Well, I guess the lunch rush is over." Norm Barber, the short-order cook at Elvira's, perched one bony hip on a stool in the corner of the tavern kitchen. Denver eyed the half-load of dishes stacked in the commercial dishwasher. "Wasn't much of a rush.""Ain't nobody wants to get out in this slop." The older man wiped down the stainless steel counters in reach of his seat. "This rain doesn't stop soon, we'll all be keepin' our eyes out for animals marching two-by-two."Indeed, the summer thunderstorm had apparently decided to camp out over this chunk of the mountains all day. Denver hoped it would blow out before time to prep for the dinner service. Oscar would go stir crazy without having a chance for a walk or a game of fetch. "Doubt it'll come to that. But why don't you go on and knock off early? Nobody's coming in this last half hour before the kitchen closes."Norm slid off the stool, already tugging at the tie of his apron. "Won't say no to that. I heard they're setting u
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