Mach knew about Sam, but Mach wouldn’t say anything. Tanner stared vacantly at the phone. Who else knew?
Babushka.
Of course.
He ran his fingertips up along the bridge of his nose. This had Babushka written all over it.
Linx: You met Sam! Be right there.
Linx: Becca’s coming. She wants details.
Tanner: How do you know who Sam is?
Tanner glanced to Harley, who hadn’t moved from her play yard. “Uncle Linx is coming to our playdate. He’s bringing Auntie Becca.”
That got him a giant, toothless smile. He loved this kid.
His phone pinged with an incoming message.
Bax: You met Sam?
The number of people who knew about Sam continued to grow.
Tanner: Yes
Bax: Headed back.
Well, if they were all stopping by, Tanner should probably start fixing food or order something. He briefly contemplated telling the guys not to hurry, but they would be wasted words. Whatever. Fine.
He lifted Harley so they could head to the kitchen and start some grub. “You feeling some loaded potato skins or mini pizzas? Maybe a few veggies, so we can pretend to be healthy?”
She grabbed at his nose, pulling at it with her little hand.
“Good call. No veggies for the adults. But you’ve gotta grow strong.” He tickled her tummy.
She laughed and reached for his chin.
“So you gotta eat loads of those veggies,” he continued. “Until you get big like Uncle Tanner.”
Bax would be hangry since he missed dinner. Linx was always up to eat. Mach enjoyed food. And Knox didn’t care either way, but he’d appreciate when Tanner tossed in some frozen apps.
He’d barely got Harley settled in the baby seat when his phone pinged again. Then again. One after another, after another.
He didn’t have to check out the screen to know they’d started up the group thread to discuss Tanner. He tagged his phone. Took a glance. Yeah, they had.
Not bothering to read the messages, he added his own:
Tanner: Food in oven. Bring beer.
Then he tossed his phone on the counter, grabbed a couple of green beans for Harley, and cranked up the oven.
Bax and Courtney showed first. Nobody knocked because they were practically family.
“Tanner, you’ve got some splainin’ to do,” Bax called from the front door.
“Stop it,” Courtney said. Tanner would bet she elbowed her husband in the kidney. This was their way. “Be cool,” she added.
“Parents.” Tanner looked to Harley, who shoved a green bean in her mouth. “Whatcha gonna do?” He shrugged.
