Page 53 of Tanner

“It means your face has gone all tight again.”

“Maybe this is just my face.” Tanner glared at him.

“It’s not.”

Orsen’s mouth twitched, then he grinned. “It is.”

Tanner looked away before either of them could say more and reached into his pocket for his phone. The screen lit against his palm. He meant to check the time, but he saw the notification sitting there at the top from Little Oaks Preschool.

Hi Tanner. When you get a chance, could you bring in the guardianship documents for Savannah’s file? Thank you.

For a second everything around him went dull and distant. Cody was still saying something. A bottle clinked against the table. Tanner saw all of it without taking any of it in. His thumb hovered over the screen, then he locked the phone and shoved it back into his pocket before either of them could ask.

The knot that had loosened over the past hour pulled tight again, and he glanced at Cody and Orsen and saw them watching him.

Cody watched him for a second. “You alright?”

Tanner nodded. “Yeah.”

Cody held his gaze for a second, clearly not buying it, but he let it go. Orsen looked at him a second longer than Cody did, then glanced away too. Tanner appreciated that more than he wanted to.

He forced himself to look back toward the yard. Savannah stirred and pressed her face harder into his chest. Tanner rubbed a hand up her back and kept his voice even when he said, “What time is it?”

Cody checked his phone. “Almost eight.”

Tanner nodded. “I should get her home soon.”

“You can still stay a bit,” Cody said. “No one’s kicking you out.”

Tanner gave a short huff. “Good to know.”

“I’m serious.”

“I know.” He did know. That was part of the problem too. They meant it. Cody, TJ, even Orsen. They weren’t crowding him. They weren’t waiting for him to screw up. They were just there, making space for him to stay or go. Tanner didn’t know what to do with that. He’d been so used to running and avoiding questions that being allowed to sit and stay almost seemed foreign to him.

A shadow fell across the patch of grass in front of him before he heard the footsteps stop. Tanner looked up. Miles stood a few feet away with a beer in one hand and the other tucked into the pocket of his jeans. He didn’t look at Cody first, or Orsen, or anybody else. Just Tanner.

“Can I steal him for a minute?” Miles asked.

Cody’s grin came back so fast Tanner almost swore at him. “Depends,” Cody said. “You bringing him back?”

Miles didn’t rise to it, which meant he did a better job than Tanner would have in his place. “Probably.”

Orsen looked between them once, then pushed to his feet. “Come on,” he said to Cody. “TJ needs help.”

Cody didn’t move straight away. Tanner gave him a look sharp enough to make the point for him. Cody raised both hands. “I’m going.”

“You’re annoying.”

“I can be when it’s important.”

He got up and wandered off with Orsen, both of them leaving far more slowly than necessary. Tanner watched them go, then looked back at Miles. “You could’ve just said whatever you wanted to say in front of them.”

Miles glanced at Savannah. “I didn’t want an audience.”

Shifting Savannah carefully, Tanner stood, taking a second to get his balance with her weight against him. Miles waited without stepping in or reaching out, which Tanner noticed and appreciated.

They moved a little farther along the fence line where the noise from the others blurred into the background. Far enough that Cody wouldn’t hear unless he came closer.