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“I know him.”

“You do?”

“Yeah, I served with him in the Navy.”

Ashton tightened his arms around Tanner’s neck, almost choking him. “You did? You were a Navy SEAL? That’s so freaking cool!”

“Not just me, Uncle Ty, who you met earlier, and Uncle Kolby, who you’ll meet later, we all served together with Xander.”

“Whoa!”

“And Uncle Cash? He was a SEAL, too.” He still wasn’t sure if Ashton had forgiven Cash for joking around about stealing Everly. He was hoping that he might rebuild that bridge somehow.

“But not with you guys, right? He’s old.”

Tanner had to laugh. “Right.”

“Did you know that my grandpa was a Navy SEAL, too?”

“I did.” They were going to get around to the subject of his grandpa – Zeke – sooner or later, Tanner didn’t want to trip himself up by telling lies or half-truths.

When they reached the barn, Tanner squatted down so that Ashton could climb off his back. He looked so serious that Tanner had to ask, “What’s up, bud?”

Ashton shrugged. “My grandpa lives around here somewhere. I want to meet him.”

Tanner felt bad. “I’m sure you will.” What he didn’t want to say was that Ashton might get to meet him in just an hour or two. Everly had stayed up at the house so that she could talk to Zeke without him overhearing.

“What time do we have to go home?”

Tanner got to his feet and rested his hand on the kid’s shoulder. “Too soon for my liking, but we’ll get you back here for another visit just as soon as we can make it happen.”

Ashton heaved out a big sigh. “I hope so. But if I never get to come back, I’ll always remember this weekend.”

Tanner squeezed his eyes shut. The kid’s words felt like an arrow to his heart. “You’ll be back, kiddo. One way or another, you’re coming back.” It took everything he had not to add,for good. If Tanner got his way, that was what would happen.

~ ~ ~

Everly stood out on the front porch, watching the driveway nervously. Her talk on the phone with her dad had gone well. Between Cash’s reassurances, and her son’s desperate desire to meet his grandpa, she’d decided to ask if he wanted to come and join everyone for lunch.

Not that it was her place to invite him to their family lunch. She was grateful that Cash had informed her that he wanted to invite him – if she was okay with it.

She kept telling herself that she just needed to relax and go with the flow, but it felt like there was much more riding onthis than just a one-off visit between grandson and grandpa. Of course, there was so much more than that; she was making it about Ashton, but the father-daughter encounter was a big deal, too.

When the big black truck turned in off the highway, her mind went back to the day – not so very long ago – when she’d seen him climb out of that truck. At the time, she thought that he’d blown things between her and Tanner – even though she’d been about to end it herself. Now, she couldn’t help but think that he’d actually done them a big favor.

The truck parked next to the fence in front of the house. Most of the family was already here, and they’d all parked around the back. She was glad that she and her dad would have some privacy for their first few minutes.

He got out and came toward her, looking hesitant. As much as she wanted to remain detached, even a little aloof, if she could manage it, her resolve disappeared when he smiled.

“Hi, Everly, love.”

“Hi, Dad.”

They stood facing each other, several feet apart, the distance between them seeming to gape as wide as it had her whole life. He was here, he was smiling, but he didn’t know what to do to reach her, any more than she knew how to reach out to him.

“Cash told me that I should explain why I didn’t show up when I was supposed to meet you at Chico.”

That took her by surprise. “Okay.”