Page 103 of Tanner

Tanner stared at the floor tiles for a second, then said, “I signed it.”

TJ answered first. “Yeah. You did good, Tanner.”

Tanner looked up, looking miserable. “I fucking signed it.”

Miles held his gaze. “Yeah.”

Tanner swallowed. His grip on Savannah tightened, then eased when she made a sleepy noise. “It feels like I’m handing her over.”

“You’re doing the right thing and you’re not alone. We’re here with you.”

Tanner looked at him for a minute. He didn’t look convinced, but he also didn’t run.

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Tanner kept his hand on Savannah all the way home, one palm on her knee where she sat strapped into her car seat, his arm stretched awkwardly across the gap whenever they stopped at lights. She had fallen asleep before they reached the edge of town, rabbit tucked under her chin, mouth slightly open. Tanner sat in the passenger seat with the folder on his lap and the appointment card jammed under his thumb.

He hadn’t said much since they left the building. TJ had gone back to the station after telling them to call if they needed anything, and Tanner had nodded without taking in half of what was said. The forms were in the folder and his name was on them. The woman had taken them away in neat stacks and written down tomorrow and Friday and court and assessment as if those words were ordinary. Maybe they were to some people, but they weren’t for him.

Miles turned onto Tanner’s street and parked outside the house. He switched off the engine but didn’t move straight away.

“You getting Savannah in?” he asked.

Tanner stared ahead then nodded. “Yeah.”

He got out, opened the back door, and unbuckled her carefully. Savannah made a soft noise and folded into him without waking properly. Tanner held her close and shut the door with his hip and walked up the path. He got inside and took her straight through to the bedroom.

Her room was warm enough. The blanket was folded at the end of the bed because he’d made it that morning before they left. He put her down carefully, eased the rabbit into her arms, and pulled the blanket over her legs. She shifted once, turned onto her side, and settled again.

Tanner stood there for a moment, looking at her, and then he walked back out into the hall and shut the bedroom door quietly behind him.

Miles was in the kitchen putting the folder on the table when Tanner came in. He’d already filled the kettle and flicked it on without asking.

“You want anything to eat?”

Tanner laughed under his breath without humor. “Seriously?”

“Yeah.”

“I signed papers saying they can come into the house tomorrow and decide if I’m good enough to keep my sister, and you’re asking if I want something to eat?”

Miles held his gaze. “Yes.”

Tanner yanked a chair back from the table hard enough that it scraped the floor. “I don’t want coffee or food. I don’t want anybody coming in here tomorrow and poking through drawers and checking if the goddamn cereal boxes are lined up right.”

Miles didn’t answer that. The kettle clicked off and he took two mugs from the cupboard anyway. That made something in Tanner snap.

“I said I don’t want a drink.”

Miles put one mug down on the counter. “Then don’t drink it.”

Tanner shoved both hands through his hair and turned away, then turned back because there was nowhere for it to go. “You keep acting like this is manageable.”

“It is.”

Tanner stared at him. “No, it isn’t.”

Miles poured hot water into one mug and then the other. “It is because it has to be.”