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“But what were the tears for?”

“I don’t think I want to tell you; you’ll think that I’m pathetic.”

“I won’t. Not a chance. I’m not going to judge you; I want to understand you.”

Her eyes filled with tears again, and he made a face. “Okay, so that was the wrong thing to say. You’re going to have to tell me or I’m going to upset the both of us.”

She swiped at her eyes again. “Okay. The first time… Damn. I know how pathetic this sounds. You said that you wanted to see me happy. It just struck me that … That … That’s not something I’m used to.”

“Being happy?” he asked, not sure that he understood.

“No. Having someone who wants toseeme happy. And then saying that you want to understand me, too. It’s just not something I’m used to.”

“You should stick with me then, darlin’. You’d get used to it in a hurry.”

She stared into his eyes for a long moment, and he had to wonder what she was thinking.

“I’m not bullshitting you. I’m not…”

“I know. I’m not doubting you. I’m just… I don’t know.” She gave him a small smile. “Thank you. I know you mean it, and it feels good.”

He smiled back. “I wish you lived here.” The words were out before he even thought about them. She looked shocked, but he wasn’t going to take them back – they were true.

He was about to explain that to her but instead, turned to look when a truck pulled up beside them. Shane Remington, who owned the lodge, grinned at him and waved.

Tanner nodded at him, and when he turned back to Everly, she was climbing out of the truck.

“Hey Everly, Tanner. How are you guys?” Shane greeted them.

“Great, thanks,” said Everly.

“Doing great,” Tanner agreed. He was glad that Shane didn’t comment on them being together. He would no doubt jump to the obvious conclusion, and Tanner would hate for Everly to feel embarrassed.

“How’s Cassidy?” he asked, simply because it was the first thing he could think of that wouldn’t bring his presence here into question.

“She’s doing great. She’s up in town this morning.” He turned to Everly. “She’s at the gallery; have you had the chance to stop in there yet?”

“No. Corinne told me all about it. I had planned to stop in on my way back from Bozeman but…”

Shane gave her a sympathetic smile. “Yeah, Corinne said you didn’t think that the interview went so well.”

Everly laughed. “That’s an understatement – one of you is being very diplomatic about it. It was awful. The only consolation is that I wouldn’t have wanted to work there even if I got the job.”

“I guess that’s better than feeling like you screwed up an interview for a job you really wanted,” said Shane.

“It is.”

“And you don’t have anything else in the pipeline?”

“No. It was a one-shot deal.”

“And your dad? How did that go?”

Tanner noticed the flash of sadness in her eyes before she answered. He couldn’t help it; he stepped closer and wrapped his arm around her shoulders as she spoke. To his credit, Shane barely reacted; his gaze only flashed to Tanner for a second, and the small smile on his face would have been easy to miss if Tanner wasn’t looking for it.

Everly shot him a grateful look before turning back to Shane. “He didn’t show. And this feels weird, so I’ll just go ahead and name the elephant in the room. Yes, I was supposed to meet my dad at Chico. He didn’t show, and Tanner was a sweetheart about it and helped keep my spirits up.”

Shane grinned. “You don’t need to explain anything to me.”