Page 31 of Tanner

TJ watched him too closely. “What?”

“Nothing.” Miles shook his head.

Orsen gave him a look that said he didn’t buy that for a second. “You sure?”

“Yeah.”

Cody was still studying him. “How’d Tanner seem with Savannah?”

Miles didn’t even have to think about that. “Solid.”

Cody nodded like that was the answer he expected.

Miles went on before he could stop himself. “Tired as hell. Spooked. Ready to fight if he thought I was pushing too far. But with her?” He paused, frowning slightly. “He knew where she was every second. Every sound she made, he reacted. Every question about her, he was ready.”

TJ said, “That tracks.”

“You all sound like you expected this.”

“We did,” Cody said. Miles looked at him and Cody shrugged. “Not the exact details. But Tanner was always protective. He wasn’t wild or apt to do stupid things. When he ran, he’d have had one goal and one only.” Cody’s gaze sharpened. “To keep her.”

The room fell silent as Miles picked up his beer and took a long drink. It didn’t help much.

TJ broke the silence. “So. Practical stuff. I can push the utilities office tomorrow morning. Get somebody out there quickly if Tanner makes the call.”

“I left him the numbers,” Miles said.

“You think he’ll use them?” TJ asked.

Miles thought about Tanner’s face every time help came near him. “Maybe. If he thinks it’s for Savannah and not something else.”

Cody got up and went to the counter. “I can put together groceries.”

Miles looked over. “He won’t take charity.”

Cody glanced back at him. “Then don’t call it charity.”

“Say it’s because half the town’s got spare food and Mrs. Hemsworth threatened bodily harm if nobody sent something over,” Orsen told him.

That got a real laugh out of TJ. “That might work.”

Santino tapped the table. “Or say it’s on loan until he’s settled. He won’t feel like he’s some charity case.”

Miles huffed out a breath. “He might hate that too.”

“Maybe,” Cody said. “But if it gets food in the house, he can hate it while Savannah eats.”

Miles leaned back in his chair and stared at the ceiling for a second. “I can take something by tomorrow.”

TJ’s head turned toward him. “You can.”

Miles lowered his gaze. TJ was watching him again with that quiet, sharp look that didn’t miss much.

Before TJ could open his mouth, Cody said, “You don’t have to fix everything tonight.”

Miles gave him a flat look. “Who said I was trying to?”

“All of this.” Cody waved a hand at him. “You’re practically vibrating.”