“No, you’re a fucking incredible mama. What else?”
She shrugs. “I don’t know, Tanner. What do you think I’m good at?”
I shake my head, waiting.
“Helping Daddy on the ranch. I don’t know.”
“Yeah, you do. You keep that ranch going without your mama. You keep your daddy together. You give Colton the freedom to do what he needs to do for himself away from Sunshine Ranch. What else?”
“Nothing. I – I’m good with animals. The horses and Bear.”
“Yeah, you are. What else?”
“School, I suppose.”
“You’re crushing it. What do you love?”
“I don’t know. All those things.”
I nod, smiling as I see her growing in confidence a tiny bit with each answer. “What’s your superpower?”
“I don’t havea superpower and I didn’t ask that question.”
“No, this one is my question. I want to know the answer.”
“Tanner, there’s really nothing remarkable about me, I’m afraid.”
“I disagree but what do youwishyour superpower was?”
She takes a big breath and exhales. “Bringing people back. Making people want to stay.” Her eyes are filling again. “Why are you asking this?” she whispers.
“Because you don’t see yourself the way other people do, Annie. The wayIsee you. And it kills me. None of us can bring people back or force people to want to stay. But d’you know what you can do, what youdo,and what I think your superpower is?”
She swallows deeply, two pools of sincerity matching my gaze. “Making the people who can stay and who choose to stay infinitely better by having you in their lives. I’ve never known anyone be able to light up a room like you do, Annie. You have each guy at training hanging on your every word.”
“That’s the pecan pie.”
I laugh at her sass but it’s short-lived. “No, it’s you. Nelson, your daddy, Colton, Sas, Betty andme,we all adore you because you’re a goddamn ray of sunshine wherever you go. My sister spent one night in your company and she hasn’t stopped raving about you since.”
“Well unless she starts buying magazines because they have my face on, I’d say I’m still the bigger stan of the two of us.”
She smiles gently, timidly.
“But do you know if I could give you one gift, what it would be, Annie?” She wraps a lock of hair around her finger and shrugs. “Self-belief. Confidence in the fact you can and will crush everything you decide to take on in life because you’re so fucking strong. If you fail at something, it will only make you fiercer because that’s the woman you are. You get knocked down and you fucking rise back up. I love that about you.”
“Would you like anything else, sir?” a waiter asks, appearing at the table, stealing my attention.
“The check, please,” I tell him, looking back to Annie as I take out my wallet and drop a card to the table.
As I do, another card falls onto the table. Recognizing the hotel room key card from Dallas that I kept because it reminded me of Annie and what happened between us, I reach out to pick it up. But Annie beats me to it.
“I must have forgotten to give it back,” I say, taking it from her. I don’t even know why I’m trying to hide the way I feel anymore. Us not having a relationship has nothing to do with me not feeling enough for her. I feeleverythingfor her.
It’s so much other stuff that’s standing in the way.
“Tanner?”
“Yeah.”
