“How can you answer when you’re running?” I ask, heading back home.

“It’s called AirPods, old man.” He laughs. “What can I do for you?” Through it all, Beau has been my best friend. He really stood by my side when Kallie left, but more importantly, he was there when my father died. More than my brother, who only came into town for two days and then ran away before the sun set after burying him.

“Do you think I should ask Jana out?” I ask, and he laughs.

“Jana,” he repeats the name, “the teacher who teaches your son?” I roll my eyes. “’Cause that sounds like a great idea. How do you think the next parent-teacher conference will go after you dump her two dates in?”

“What if I don’t dump her?’ I ask. “I mean, she’s cute.”

“Yeah, that’s always something that you want to hear from a date. You’re cute.”

“What am I supposed to say?” I ask. “And first of all, who are you to talk? When was the last time you went on a date?”

“Two weeks ago,” he says without skipping a beat. “I had a date for a charity event.”

I groan. “That’s not a date.” Shaking my head, I say, “That’s your mother playing matchmaker.”

“Same thing,” he tells me. “I don’t want to date. I have to focus on the mayor’s office, and dating isn’t up there on my list of shit to do.”

I pull up to my house, and I spot Casey there, leaning against his truck as he waits for me. “What the fuck?”

“What happened?” he asks.

“Casey is here,” I say, stopping my truck and turning it off. “I’ll call you back.”

“Don’t get yourself arrested, Jacob. I am not in office yet, so the only thing I can do is bail you out,” he says, and I disconnect the call, getting out of the truck.

“What are you doing here?” I ask, cutting through the bullshit, and he looks at me.

“It seems there is something on my property that needs to be moved,” he says, and I look at him with a confused look on my face no doubt. Why would I give a shit what is on his property, and why would I need to know? “There is a rock that seems to be in the wrong place, and I’m just letting you know that I’m having it moved.” I don’t know why it feels like he just kicked me in the stomach, but it does. “I’m guessing by the look on your face that you know what rock I’m talking about.”

I put my game face on. “Fuck if I care what you do with that rock. Toss it in the creek. Blow it up for all I care.”