Circle of Family

“You told me you don’t like to be in one place too long,” Marianne said. Ridge noticed that she was watching him intently. “You miss things that way." “Such as?” He shrugged. “Friends. Dogs. Having a place to come back to at the end of the day that doesn’t charge you when you walk in the door.” He could tell she hadn’t expected that. “You like Harland, then?” “Very much.” There was plenty to like about the close-knit community on and around the farm.Because Ridge didn’t know how to say that without spooking her, he settled on something less personal. “Little things mean a lot when you don’t have them.” She eyed him with something resembling respect, which he took as a good sign. Marianne was by far the most mistrustful woman he’d ever met.He still wasn’t sure why he was trying so hard to get through to her, and he had to wonder if his genetic stubbornness was steering him down a rocky, dead-end road.