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“Thanks.”

Hannah linked her arm through Everly’s as they watched the kids get closer. “You’re most welcome. Those two are so close, and they’re good for each other.”

Everly nodded. “They are, there’s no doubt about it. Ashton’s friendly with a few of the boys in their class, but I think he’s closest to Ava.”

“I know Ava feels that way,” said Hannah. “And you can laugh at me if you like, but it wouldn’t surprise me if we’re all family one day.”

“What do you mean?” Everly asked.

Grady chuckled. “Hannah’s a romantic at heart; she has it in her head that Ava and Ashton might end up together someday.”

Everly raised her eyebrows. “Wow! I… Damn, Hannah! I can’t even think about it. I mean, of course, I hope that he’ll meet a wonderful girl when he grows up – and it’d be awesome if that girl were Ava. But…” She shuddered. “I can’t think about them growing up just yet.”

Hannah laughed. “You’re right. We don’t need to think about it yet.” She checked her watch. “We do need to think about getting Miss Ava bathed and into bed, though.”

“And we need to think about getting home,” Everly raised her voice now that Ashton and Ava were within earshot.

“Do we have to?” he asked.

“We do. It’s almost bedtime.”

She exchanged a smile with Grady and Hannah while Ashton and Ava hugged.

“Come on, pixie, let’s get you ready for bed,” said Hannah.

Just as Everly and Ashton reached the car, Grady called, “Hang on a minute, Ev. I boxed you up some goodies to take home. They’re in the kitchen.”

Ashton got in the car while Everly followed Grady back inside the house. “I’ll be right there,” she told him.

~ ~ ~

Tanner rinsed his plate in the sink before putting it in the dishwasher. Now that Ty – the chef in the family – didn’t live in the big house anymore, Tanner was doing more cooking and was surprised to find that he enjoyed it. Ford was still out with the herd, and Tanner had made him a plate and left it in the fridge, ready for him to nuke in the microwave whenever he came in.

He wandered into the living room and turned on the TV. He didn’t usually watch much TV, but it was Monday night, so he planned to keep himself busy watching a game until he heard from Everly.

As if the thought of her had summoned her, his phone rang, and he grinned when he saw her name on the screen.

“Hey, darlin’! This is a nice surprise.” He frowned when she didn’t reply immediately. “Are you there? Can you hear me?”

His frown grew deeper as the silence lengthened. Well, it wasn’t total silence; he could hear her breathing. At least, he could hear someone breathing.

“Hello?”

“Are you my mom’s boyfriend?” a little voice asked.

“Is this Ashton?”

“I asked first.”

That made Tanner laugh. “You sure did, buddy.”

“So, are you?”

Tanner’s mind raced. Of course, he wanted to say that yes, he was. But for one thing, he didn’t know if Everly even thought of him that way. And for another, he didn’t know how she’d want to address it with her son. Since he couldn’t speak for her, but he wanted to be as honest as possible with the kid, he went with, “I want to be.”

“But you’re not yet?”

“Honestly? I don’t know.”