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She had to laugh. “You’re joking, right? You’re just saying that to make me feel better, aren’t you?”

He laughed with her. “When are you finally going to stop thinking that I’m feeding you lines, darlin’? I’m dead serious – you can ask any of my family.”

“Aww. I can’t imagine that. But wait, you said that you were the captain of the football team.”

“Yeah, I had a major growth spurt in my sophomore year. I caught up to everyone else and grew taller than some of my old tormentors. But I was only the quarterback; I was never going to make it as a lineman or anything.”

“Onlythe quarterback, he says.”

“You know what I mean. But this isn’t supposed to be about me – it’s supposed to be about Ashton. If kids give him any trouble, you can tell him that you know someone who was just like him and grew big enough to get his revenge in the end.”

She laughed. “I’m not sure I want to bring revenge into this – I don’t think that’s a great path for him to go down. But I bet you have some good stories.”

He chuckled. “Yeah, but I won’t share them with him until he’s older.”

His words brought her back down to earth with a bump. Were they really talking about Tanner still being around when Ashton was older?

“Sorry, darlin’. I’m not trying to get ahead of myself. I just like the idea of being able to help him out – I can relate. But go on, tell me more about him. What’s he into?”

“If you’d asked me last week, I would have said astronauts and space travel. But he chose a different book to read tonight.”

“What’s his latest thing, then?”

She smiled. “If you can believe it, cowboys.”

She could hear the smile in Tanner’s voice when he spoke again. “How about that? You know, if he wants to talk to a real cowboy instead of just reading books…”

She had to laugh. “Okay. I know. And maybe…”

“I’m not trying to be pushy, Ev, honest. But it could be a reason for you to introduce us, if you want to.”

She nodded slowly. She understood what he meant, but right now she was still catching up with the fact that this wasn’t goodbye.

“Too much?” he asked.

“No, just too soon.”

“Sorry.”

“Don’t be. I love that you’re trying. But …” She covered her mouth with her hand when a big yawn came out of nowhere.

“Yeah. You’re tired. I should let you go. You’ve had a long day.”

“I have.” Now that she’d started yawning, she couldn’t seem to stop.

“Can I call you again tomorrow night?”

“Okay.”

“Just let me know when the little guy’s in bed, and I’ll give you a ring.” He chuckled. “Unless you want to earn some cool-mompoints with him by telling him he can talk to your cowboy friend on the phone.”

“Maybe.”

“Seriously. If you want to do that just text me anytime, and I’ll get somewhere quiet where I can talk to him.”

“Thanks, Tanner.”

His voice was lower when he spoke again. “It’d be my pleasure.” When she yawned again, he laughed. “Okay, I can take the hint. Goodnight, darlin’. And thanks, Everly. Thanks for giving us another chance.”