Page 21

She rested her hands on his shoulders. “It’s not.”

“Promise?”

She laughed. “Promise.”

Chapter Five

Tanner sipped his coffee and stared out through the kitchen window, willing the sky to get lighter. It wouldn’t do that for a while yet – it was only six fifteen. He hadn’t slept well; he’d tossed and turned all night, thinking about Everly. He didn’t understand the effect she had on him, but he liked it. No, scratch that, he loved it. She was awesome.

He got up from the table and went to refill his mug. What he really wanted to do was head on over to the Remington place, but that was probably a bad idea. If he got there too early, he’d no doubt run into someone he knew, whether it was one of the Remington brothers or one of the wranglers. He didn’t relish the idea of having to explain what he was doing out there at the butt crack of dawn.

It occurred to him that if anyone did see him there early on a Saturday morning, they’d no doubt assume that he’d spent the night with some tourist chick. He’d only done that a handful of times. He didn’t know why, but it seemed wrong. Going up to one of the rooms at Chico with a girl was fine. He couldn’t explain the difference, even to himself, but spending the night at the Remington place like that just didn’t seem right.

“Morning. What are you doing here?”

Tanner turned to greet his brother, Ford, with a rueful smile. “I’m asking myself that same question. Here you go.”

He poured a second mug of coffee and handed it to Ford.

Ford gave him a puzzled smile. “Thanks. Are you telling me that you struck out last night? I find that hard to believe. Are you sick? That seems a more likely explanation.”

Tanner chuckled. “Neither.”

“What then? Oh…” Ford’s eyes grew wide, and he looked up at the ceiling; Tanner’s room was roughly above the kitchen. “Do you have someone up there?” he asked in a lowered tone.

Tanner laughed. “Nope. Come on, that’s the least likely scenario of all.” Even as he said it, it struck him that if Everly had been open to it, he would have brought her home with him in a heartbeat – even though he’dneverbrought a girl back here.

Ford sipped his coffee and stared at him over the rim of his mug. “What’s the deal, then? I know you don’t hook up and stay out every night you work, but when you come home instead, you usually sleep in. Is everything okay?”

“Yeah.” Ford might be considered the broodiest of the brothers – there was nothing warm or fuzzy about him – but there was no mistaking that he cared. He looked out for the rest of them. Since he and Tanner were now the only ones still living in the big house, they’d grown closer. Tanner was enjoying getting to know his older brother better, and the more time he spent with him, the more he liked him.

“Everything’s great. I … I met a girl.”

Ford took another swig of his coffee. “I don’t get it. You meet a girl pretty much every weekend. That’s usually the explanation for why you’renothere in the morning. Help me out?”

Tanner nodded slowly. “I mean … like, a real girl.”

Ford laughed out loud. “Even though you made it sound that way, I know that doesn’t mean that the girls you usually spend the night with are blowup dolls or something. You’re going to have to explain this better.”

Tanner laughed with him. “I … Her name’s Everly.”

Ford gave him a puzzled smile. “I didn’t realize that you bothered to get their names.”

Tanner made a face, but didn’t comment. “She’s … different.” While he was still struggling to figure out how to explain it, the kitchen door opened, and Ty came hurrying in.

He stopped and grinned when he saw Tanner. “You’re here, then?”

“I am.”

Ford filled a mug and handed it to Ty. “Do you want to explain what’s going on with him? I tried asking but …”

Ty laughed. “He met a girl last night, Everly. She knocked him on his ass.”

Ford swung his head around to look at Tanner. “She punched you?” he asked incredulously.

He laughed. “No. He doesn’t mean like that.”

“Although, to be honest, that would be less surprising,” said Ty.