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“You will. I want to say goodnight before I go to bed.”

Everly nodded. “Okay, go up and get ready. Give me a shout when you’re in bed, and I’ll bring Tanner up.”

Ashton grinned at her as he slid down from the stool. Then, he leaned right in close to the phone where it sat on the counter, and said, “I won’t be long. Don’t forget – don’t hang up before I’m done.”

Everly had to swallow as she watched her son turn and run up the stairs. She’d been concerned about how he might feel about Tanner – more specifically, about her relationship with him. Hewasn’t used to her dating anyone – he never had been, because she didn’t date.

“Did he go upstairs?” Tanner asked in a low voice.

She took the phone off speaker and held it up to her ear. “He did. I … I hope you’re okay with this. I don’t know what to say.”

The sound of his chuckle reassured her. “I’m more than okay with it. In fact, I was about to say those exact same words to you. I didn’t know how you’d feel about him calling me earlier – I didn’t even know if he’d tell you about it.”

“He told me. He was proud of himself, too.”

“As he should be.”

That made her smile. “You made his day with what you said – about wanting to talk to you man-to-man.”

“It was the truth.”

“Yeah, I suppose it was. He’s growing up faster than I give him credit for.”

“Maybe so, but you’re his mama; he’ll always be your little boy.”

“Aww. Aren’t you the smart one?”

“I don’t know about that; I can just tell that the two of you are close.”

“We are.”

“Is there any chance he can overhear you right now?”

She went to the bottom of the stairs, and relaxed when she heard him brushing his teeth. “No. He’s getting ready for bed.”

“Okay, what I didn’t want to ask while he was listening is…”

She laughed when he went quiet. “Go on, put me out of my misery. If nothing else, you need to ask quickly before he comes back.”

“You know how he talked about wanting to come up here?”

Her heart started to pound. Of course, she’d love to go back to Montana to visit – to take Ashton, and to see Tanner, and everything else but… “We can’t…”

“I know. What I was going to ask is, how would you feel if I came down there to see you guys?”

“I’d love it. I feel like I should probably take more time to consider the question, but I already know how I feel. I’d love it if you could come, and I think Ashton would, too. We’ll just have to figure out when we can make it happen.”

Tanner chuckled. “Already on it.”

“You are? When are you thinking?”

“How does tomorrow sound?”

“What?!”

“You heard me. If you want me to, I can be there by this time tomorrow.”

“Wow! I…”