Page 108 of Tanner

Tanner folded his arms. “Nothing’s easy enough lately.”

Orsen looked up at him from where he was crouched. “No, but this is.”

Miles leaned against the porch post while Orsen worked. He watched Tanner more than the gate. Tanner stayed close, not hovering exactly, but present. That was new too. A week earlier he would have kept his distance and treated the whole thing as something being done to him. Today he fetched a screwdriver when Orsen asked, held the gate steady when told, and took the old hinge screws without being prompted so they didn’t get lost in the grass.

Inside, Cody had moved on from groceries to cooking. Bacon was in the pan, and the smell had reached the yard before Miles and the others came back in. Savannah was at the table now with a yogurt open and a spoon clutched in her fist. Cody had found a way to make toast while also talking to her about whether dinosaurs could beat police cars in a race.

“Depends on the dinosaur,” Cody said.

“T. Rex.”

“Too short in the arms. Bad steering.”

Savannah frowned at him. “No arms for driving.”

“That too,” Cody admitted.

Tanner stopped in the doorway and watched for a minute before he moved again. It was brief, but Miles caught it. Tanner’s face had gone softer without him noticing.

Cody glanced over his shoulder. “You standing there judging me or helping?”

“Could go either way,” Tanner said.

“Then make yourself useful and find plates.”

Tanner did and that mattered more than the bacon. More than the gate. More than the food lined up on the counter. He just did it. No protest or pride getting in the way, and no need to prove he could carry everything alone when he clearly didn’t need to anymore.

They were halfway through eating when there was another knock at the front door. Tanner stiffened straight away.

Miles put his mug down. “I’ve got it.”

Mrs. Hemsworth stood on the doorstep in a navy coat buttoned all the way up despite the mild weather. Her handbag hung from one elbow, and she held herself with the same upright, no-wasted-movement posture she always had. She looked past Miles into the hall.

“I won’t stay,” she said. “I just came to drop this off.”

She held out an envelope and Miles took it. “What is it?”

“A letter.” Her mouth flattened slightly. “I assumed that part was obvious.”

Behind him, Cody made a choking sound into his coffee that might have been a laugh, which Miles decided to ignore.

“For tomorrow?” he asked.

“Yes.” She shifted her gaze past him. “Is Tanner in?”

Miles stepped back. “Yeah.”

Tanner appeared in the hall a second later, wiping his hands on a dish towel. He stopped when he saw her. “Mrs. Hemsworth.”

“I heard there was a meeting tomorrow.”

He glanced at Miles, then back at her. “How’d you hear that?”

“Robinson isn’t large enough for secrets.” She held his eyes. “And TJ told me there might be use in a written statement.”

Tanner stilled. “You did one?”

“Yes.”