Pamela Rhodes was a fit woman who’d always taken care of herself and hadn’t aged a day since turning forty-five nearly a decade ago. Despite the stress of helping to run a working ranch, and dealing with everything Faith had gone through a few years ago, Pamela never wavered in her strength, or in her ability to shower her children with endless amounts of love. “I made tea,” she said with a gentle smile. Her eyes always lit up when she was in the presence of family, but especially with her children. She was by no means a push over, but there was never a doubt in Tanner’s mind that his mother loved all four of them beyond words. “Are you hungry? I bought all the fixings for a great sandwich today. I can make you one if you want.”
“No, I’m good, thanks.” Tanner had gotten enough to eat at Blake and Skyla’s, and he didn’t plan on staying long.
“Come sit with me for a few minutes,” she offered, patting the chair next to her. “I know it’s late, but I feel like I haven’t seen you in months.”
It had only been a few days, but Tanner smiled, feeling all the stress of the day finally rolling off his shoulders. He never had to tell her when he had a rough day. Somehow, she just always knew.
Tanner peaked into the large laundry room off the kitchen, catching a glimpse of Aster, the family’s dog, who was nestled in her makeshift bed of blankets, nursing six puppies who were just a few weeks old. He smiled at her and Aster glanced up at him,her gaze soft with recognition. He didn’t want to bother the new mom, so he went and sat at the kitchen table across from Pam. “Aster is looking good.”
“She’s a very good mama,” Pam said. “Always there for her babies. Speaking of which,” she reached her hand out to Tanner, and he placed his hand in hers, “you haven’t been home in almost two days, and your eyes have more sadness than exhaustion in them. Do you want to talk about it?”
“My friends and I went over to Blake and Skyla’s tonight. It was… tough.”
He watched as Pamela’s features darkened. The clouds of pain that had once filled her eyes when Tanner was a kid suddenly returned, and he almost wished he hadn’t said anything. “I’m so sorry,” she said softly. “For them. And for you. Sometimes being there for someone after something like that is harder than most people realize.” Her words were wrought with a hint of the pain she knew all too well. “I lost a few friends back then because they just didn’t know how to be around me. How to be sad with me when they were so happy in their lives. I didn’t judge them though. I understood.”
“I’ll never leave my friends,” Tanner said. “No matter what happens. We deal with things together.”
Pamela nodded, a small approving smile pulling at the corners of her mouth. “I’ll make waffles in the morning. You need to eat to keep up your strength. Don’t leave without breakfast.”
Tanner smiled. She was always taking care of him, of everyone, really. Luckily, she’d married a man who always took care ofher. His dad was a true alpha, in the sense that he took care of his family, took responsibility for his actions, and never made excuses. He wasn’t always the easiest person to get along with, and he hardly ever swayed on anything once his mind wasmade up. But he loved them with the kind of fierceness that made Tanner feel safe and wanted his whole life.
“Thanks, Mom,” Tanner said, giving her another hug. He finished his tea and headed to the door. “And thanks again for waiting up for me.”
“That’s what mothers do,” she said, offering him a reassuring smile. “See you in the morning.”
“Good night.”
As Tanner made the short drive to his newly built white farmhouse, with a wraparound porch that he still hadn’t gotten around to painting, his thoughts drifted back to the woman he’d met a few days ago at Madigan’s.April. She had the most beautiful green eyes he’d ever seen, and the sweetest smile and smelled like sugar cookies, his favorite childhood treat. He still smiled when he thought abouttheir conversation. He’d never really thought about what he’d name his kids, but Tanner had always wanted a big family. He loved growing up with three siblings, and it made him sad to think about how it almost didn’t happen.
His mom had lost a baby a year before Faith was born, which was how his sister had gotten her name. And then she lost another baby two years after that. Sometime later, his parents decided to adopt, and that was how the twins, Jaxon and Josie, had joined their family. They were both away at college now, Jaxon studying criminal justice, and Josie going for her masters in marine biology. Tanner missed seeing them around the ranch, but he also thought it was good for them to get out and see the world. He’d always known who he was and where he belonged, but many late-night conversations with Jaxon and Josie left him feeling like they might not be as confident in who they were.
An incoming text message buzzed his cellphone to life as he parked in his driveway. He glanced at the screen, smiling at how thinking about the twins had made one of them think of him.
Josie: I saw a pod of killer whales today in Puget Sound. You wouldn’t believe how amazing they are.
Tanner loved that his sister was living out her dreams. He quickly typed back a reply.
Tanner: Send me pics and video! I’d love to see.
Moments later, a new message from Josie appeared, complete with photos of dorsal fins, and a short video. Tanner studied the photos, impressed by how close she’d managed to get to the large mammals, then watched the video before typing his reply.
Tanner: I’m so dang proud of you Jo! This is incredible!
He collected his things and made his way into the house. The intensity and sadness of the last few days weighed heavily on Tanner, but talking to his mom and hearing from Josie had definitely helped. As he dropped his wallet and keys into the bowl on the small table next to the closet where he left his boots, he checked his phone to see if Josie had responded. She hadn’t, but he noticed a missed text message from an unknown number. He opened it and a smile tugged at the corners of his mouth as he read it.
Unknown number: Hi, it’s April. We met the other night at Madigan’s Bar and Grill. It’s probably too late to message you, but I’ve been debating whether or not to reach out to you, and I’m done being a chicken. I was going to wait until tomorrowsince it’s kind of late, but then I just thought - what the heck, I’m done waiting.
Chapter 3
April’s Uber pulled into the parking lot of Katy Trail at 6:45 in the morning. There were two men and a few women stretching and warming up before their workouts. All of them had obviously come alone and didn’t know each other. She glanced down at her phone again before getting out of the car, hoping to see a reply message from Tanner, but so far, he’d left her on read. She’d barely slept last night, tossing and turning, wondering what he’d say, if he would even answer.Why wouldn’t he!It was still ridiculously early, and he hadn’t even seen the message until nearly midnight. But every minute that went by without a response, was another seed of doubt planted in her mind.
Maybe he’d changed his mind. Maybe she was forgettable. Or maybe he’d just gotten home and gone to bed, and wasn’t up yet. She shook her head at the craziness of her ongoing thoughts and forced herself to focus on her upcoming run. She did a few basic stretches and made her way to the start of the trail. She loved this time of day when everything was new and fresh. The birds were singing, white puffy clouds were slowly moving across an otherwise crisp blue sky, and the air felt clean and perfect. She inhaled deeply, centering herself for her run. She’d only been to this trail a few times, preferring to alternate between the different trails in the area. It made her runs more interesting,and kept her from getting bored. She hadn’t been to Katy Trail in over a week, and she’d already noticed a few differences.
Some of the wildflowers were now in full bloom, and a few small branches were scattered along the edge of the trail, likely blown down by the storm from the other day.
Just as she was about to start her fast-paced walk that would quickly turn into a jog, she heard someone call from behind.
“April?”
