He winked, then stood upright.
"I'm not gonna make any more thinly veiled threats. They would do no good anyway. What I will say is that Tanner deserves someone to care for him long-term. He deserves to be happy, and he deserves someone who will put their foot down and say, 'Hey, no more cases. We need to go on vacation' or something.”
I chuckled. "Yeah, I'm not sure what kind of vacation we would take, but he definitely needs to cut down his workload. No one could manage that much. But I don't know if he would be up for it."
Atticus rubbed his jaw. "Sean might have mentioned some things that the two of them discussed today. I won't share what was brought to me in confidence, but I’ll remind you that Tanner's been here on Market Days and he stayed late. You've seen him."
"Yeah," I said, nodding my head. He’d been adorable every time he showed up. It was addictive to watch him.
Atticus interrupted my thoughts as he said, "Well, he has always stuck to hanging out with the littles, but I think it has more to do with the fact that he is a little himself." He held up a hand. "Again, this is only me speculating. Don't be surprised if Tanner is actually looking for what you have to offer. It could be exactly what you both need."
His next words were interrupted by a loud crash from upstairs and a wail.
My eyes went wide as I took off to find out what had happened. It sounded like Tanner was hurt, like something was wrong. I could hear Atticus running behind me.
When we reached the bedroom, I threw open the door and stepped inside. Tanner was buried under the blanket, a mound of a human. The lump shook violently from his loud sobbing.
It broke my heart.
Atticus put a hand to my shoulder. "Go to him. Text or call if you need me, but I think—I think it's time."
With that final bit of support, he stepped back.
I rushed forward and pulled the edge of the blanket back. Tanner jolted, looking up at me with red, swollen eyes.
"What happened?" I asked gently.
He sniffed and whimpered but shook his head. Whatever it was, he didn't even want to give voice to it.
Knowing that words wouldn't help right now, I shifted behind him on the bed. He moved away for a moment, uncertain. Then when I held my arms open, he rushed forward, burying his face in my chest.
I wrapped my arms around him and held him as he cried. There was no need to speak or share words. Nothing that I could say would make it better, especially when I didn't know what was going on. The details would help me help him, but again, all I needed to do was comfort him. That would be enough.
We sat there for a long time. I'm not sure how long, just that time passed in a blur of his shaking breaths and my steady heartbeat.
Eventually, he pulled away and looked up at me. He wiped his eyes and shifted back like he finally realized what was going on. I let him go only because I didn't want him to feel uncomfortable.
Tanner reached under the pillow behind me and pulled out his phone. "I got a call from my client, the one from yesterday," he said, his voice hoarse.
"Okay," I said gently.
“He called because he wanted to set up the visitation with his wife—his ex-wife," Tanner corrected himself. "But when he reached out to her by phone, he found out his number was blocked. He tried to reach out to her new boyfriend, whose number he had, and it said the line was disconnected. So…so now he has no way to get in touch with the woman currently holding his children hostage."
"Wow. That's heartbreaking."
Tanner sniffed as more tears flooded his eyes. "Yeah, it is. And it's my fault."
Unable to stop myself, I reached down and cupped his face. My thumb swiped away the tears that fell as I held him steady. "None of this is your fault, bud. You did the best you could. The other team didn't play fair. They manipulated the situation, and without the kids speaking up for themselves, you were already fighting an uphill battle. It's an unfortunate reality that they favor the women in courts. Sometimes it's necessary, yes, but in your situation…"
I allowed my voice to trail off because there wasn't anything I could say. Tanner and I both knew how fucked up it was. There was no doubt about it.
I wanted to make it right for him though. Wanted to give him relief from this devastating news.
"Shouldn't there be something in place?" I asked. "Something that ensures the court has a connection between the momandthe dad?"
Tanner sat up straighter, his eyes widening. "Yes, yes there is. Why didn't I think of that?" He smacked himself in the head.
I moved one of my hands up to stroke the space he hit as I frowned. "Hey now, no hitting yourself. Everything is fine. We figured it out together."
