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Everly: Thanks.

Tanner: Thank YOU! Talk to you later.

It was only as he slid his phone back into his pocket that he realized Zeke was still there – still watching him.

“I’m guessing by the smile on your face that was her.”

“It was.”

Zeke nodded. “Like I said, I shouldn’t have waded in the way I did. I won’t get in the way, if you’re what she wants. But…”

The look he gave Tanner sent a shiver down his spine.

“I won’t let you hurt them – either of them.”

Tanner nodded solemnly. “I give you my word. If she gives me the chance, I’ll be good to her – and to Ashton.”

“You’d better. She deserves the world, that girl.”

As Tanner watched Zeke turn and walk out of the barn, he silently promised that if she let him, he’d give her the world – and Ashton, too.

Chapter Sixteen

Everly leaned in the bathroom doorway, watching Ashton brush his teeth. When he was finished, he came to her and wrapped his arms around her waist.

“Can I read for a little while before I turn my light off?”

She ruffled his hair. “Ten minutes.”

“Half an hour?”

“Fifteen minutes, at the most.”

He grinned. “Thanks, Mom.”

She followed him to his room, and once he was in bed, she perched on the edge of it.

“Did you have fun in Montana?”

“I did.”

“But we’re not moving there?”

“No. Like I told you, I didn’t get the job.”

“That sucks.”

“Ashton.”

He shrugged. “It’s not abadbad word. And it’s true.”

“I thought you wanted to stay here.”

“I wanted to go to Montana. I just didn’t want to leave Grandma and Uncle Joe – it would have made them sad. But now, they’re not here anymore.”

She ran her hand over his head. “What would you think about us going to Hawaii to be closer to them?”

He wrinkled his nose. “I dunno.”