Page 57 of Tanner

“He isn’t doing anything wrong.”

“You know that. I know that. Tanner probably won’t believe either of us though.” TJ held his gaze. “Make it practical. Here’s the gap. Here’s what it could affect. Here’s who can help you sort it out.”

It was the right approach, and he already knew it. He just didn’t like how careful it had to be. One wrong word and Tanner would hear a potential threat where Miles was offering support.

“He’s not going to trust easy,” TJ told him.

“No.”

“Especially not with this.”

“No.”

TJ gave him a long look, then pushed to his feet. “Then be honest.”

Miles snorted. “That your advice?”

“It is. You don’t have to fix it in one conversation. You just have to make sure he knows you’re not trying to take anything from him and that we’re here to help.”

Miles nodded, and a couple of minutes later, left TJ’s office and went back to his desk. He knew what Tanner would hear if this went badly. He knew what men in uniform had probably meant in Tanner’s life before now. He also knew the window was closing, whether Tanner wanted it to or not.

That was part of the problem. This wasn’t only about Savannah and paperwork anymore. Miles wanted Tanner, but more than that, he liked him. Enough that the thought of handling this badly didn’t sit right with him. And he wasn’t only thinking about Tanner anymore. Savannah had worked her way into it too.

An hour later, Miles was in the break room staring at his sandwich when Cody came in through the back door from the lot. He took one look at Miles and went to the fridge. “That serious?”

Miles didn’t bother asking what he meant. “Just some things I need to sort out.”

Cody pulled out a bottle of water and shut the fridge with his hip. “Want to talk about it?” Cody looked at him. "About him?"

“Are you here to make this worse?” Miles leaned back in his chair and watched Cody.

“Probably.” Cody twisted the cap off the bottle. “Go on.”

Miles gave him the short version and Cody listened without interrupting, nodding occasionally. When Miles finished, Cody leaned against the counter and drank some water. “He’ll hear that there's a problem before he hears that you’re there to help.”

“I know.”

“You say one thing wrong and he’ll spend the night figuring out which route out of town gives him the best head start.”

Miles looked at him. “That bad?”

Cody held his gaze. "Worse."

“I think Tanner’s been making decisions with one goal in mind for years.” Cody lowered the bottle. “How to keep her safe and stop anyone from splitting them up. Once a person lives that way long enough, it’s hard to change.”

Miles had already figured as much, but hearing Cody say it added more weight. Cody knew what survival did to a person. He’d survived his own.

“He agreed to dinner,” Miles said.

Cody’s mouth twitched. “That shocked you?”

“A little.”

“You’re not blind. He’s not either.”

Miles ignored that. “I was thinking of bringing it up then.”

Cody studied him for a second. “You planning on going to dinner and mentioning it?”