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He didn't hold back. He also didn't pull away. "You have to bring her up, don't you, Mom?" he demanded. "Every single time you see me, you have to talk about her. Well, Madelyn's dead. She's not going to be changing anything. She's not here to be my perfect little wife. Maybe you're trying to compare Cody to her, but she's stilldead!"
"Tanner?" This time I was begging.
He finally looked over, and his eyes were green. Too green. It was because his pupils were blown, open wide in panic. I could feel it in his fingers, as if he was ready to tremble but was holding himself stiff instead - and that was all I needed.
"C'mon," I said, tugging gently. "Please?"
"Yeah," he grumbled, getting up as he gave in to the pressure of my hand.
"Excuse us," I told his parents as I grabbed my purse.
Then I led Tanner back the way we'd come. He needed some air. Some space to think. Something! I needed to get him away from his parents, because I had a feeling there was a whole lot more to the story - of his family - than he was ready to share yet.
"Where are we going?" he asked as I guided him forward.
My eyes landed on the podium where a woman waited to greet customers. "Home," I said softly, turning towards her. "Ma'am?"
"Uh, yeah?" She looked confused.
"I'm sorry, but our dinner partners are no longer, um, friendly. Can you have our meals boxed to go, add in one more of the steak, and let me pay for it?"
"Uh, yeah..." She looked around, confused. "One moment."
"Cody?" Tanner asked, moving to my side.
"They just want to poke you until you break," I told him. "Well, I'm not going to let them." So I turned to face him, reaching up to cup the side of his face. "You're going to buy dinner tonight, Tanner, then take me home. And when they call to ask what happened, you're not going to answer, ok?"
His eyes jumped across my face. "Cody?"
"Sometimes," I said, "walking away really is the right call. You're a bullfighter, Tanner. You'remybullfighter, and nothing else matters. Not Madelyn, not your parents' approval, and none of this. You'll tell me what you want, and you'll do it when you're ready, not when your mother tries to shame you into giving up. Trust me, I know exactly how that feels."
"Fuck," he breathed, stepping in to crush me in a desperate hug. "Yeah, that's exactly how it feels. Thank you. I..."
"I know," I promised, just as the waitress returned.
"Ok!" she said brightly. "I added on another steak, medium, with the same sides. You want all three of those to go?"
"Yep," I agreed.
"And should I split the check?" she asked.
I just smiled and reached for my purse. "No. And when you take the receipt, would you tell our party their son made sure the bill is covered before he left?" Then I passed her my card.
The woman met my eyes and smiled. "Yes, ma'am. I will make sure they know."
"And add on a nice tip," I told her. "Sorry about the inconvenience."
She nodded and left to do that. Tanner just stepped closer, wrapping his arms around my waist from behind so he could lean into my ear.
"And now," he breathed, "you'remyhero. I think you just made this date a lot nicer than I expected."
"Good, because the third steak is for J.D.," I teased. "Dinner in our suite?"
"Sounds perfect," he agreed.
Chapter8
I hadn't expected that.Just as things with my parents had turned sour, Cody had gotten up and hauled me out of there. She hadn't bothered telling them we were leaving. She'd simply excused us and then made it happen.
