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Tanner was all ears. Dropping his work gloves, Kellan sat on the bale of hay beside him. “Oh, yeah?”
“Her name’s Arien.” With a brief nod, he clicked his tongue. “Pretty little thing. Seventeen. Blonde like her mama.”
“You’ve met her?” Kellan asked.
“A couple times.” His father reached into his back pocket to pull out his wallet. “And I got a picture of her too.”
Blue background. Obviously a school photo. Expressive eyes. Lush lips. A dimple in her chin. Arien wasn’t just pretty, she was beautiful.
His brother took the picture from their father’s fingers. “How’d you get that?”
“I asked Jennifer if I could have it.” A hand on each of them, Matthew got down on his haunches. “So you both could see her.”
Kellan slipped the photo into his pocket. “And is this woman…this Jennifer is gonna pick up and leave Denver for you?”
“She will.”
“What makes you so sure?”
Their father smirked. “I put a baby in her belly.”
“You love her?” Tanner needed to know. It wouldn’t turn out well, if he didn’t.
“Yes, son, I do.”
Taking another deep breath, Tanner rubbed the kink from his neck and closed up the U-Haul. As soon as everyone got their asses out of the apartment, they could go home. He went back inside. “Y’all coming or what?”
Sprawled on the sofa, twiddling his thumbs, Kellan shrugged.
“The girls will be down in a minute.” Dad lowered his voice. “Now, remember what I told you. Arien’s not exactly tickled to be leaving the only home she’s ever known. She’s strong-willed, independent like her mother, because she’s had to be.”
The notion didn’t intimidate him. Quite the opposite, in fact. Tanner found it an attractive quality. Every woman in his family was spirited and strong. Grams. Aunt Kim. Emily.
“Until yesterday, the only family they ever had was each other. So we need to show them how a man loves and cares for his own. Understood?”
Kellan cleared his throat. Jennifer and Arien were coming down the stairs.
She carried one of those plastic laundry baskets. It was filled to the rim, the old pillow she’d cuddled with last night lying on top. A backpack dangled from the crook of her arm. Relieving her of the items, Tanner took them out to the U-Haul, placing them on the passenger-side floorboard. She’d be riding with him and Kellan.
His brother came up beside him. They watched Dad give Jennifer a hand into the dually. Kissing her cheek, Matthew buckled her in and closed the door.
“I’ll take the first leg,” Kellan offered, plucking the keys from his fingers.
Arien moved in closer, placing her hand in Tanner’s. He gave it a squeeze. “All set?”
She looked ready to cry. Biting her lip, she nodded.
“C’mon, my girly.” He gave her a boost up into the front seat of the truck and she moved toward the middle. Sliding in beside her, he curled his arm around her shoulders. “We got you now. It’s gonna be okay.”
In an effort to hide her tears, she turned her head, burying her face in his hoodie. Arien didn’t make a sound, but he could tell she was crying. Her hand on his chest lightly trembled.
Tanner glanced to his brother with a single nod.
Kellan turned the key in the ignition.
And with his fingers combing her silky-soft hair, they drove north out of the city.
Her body curled into his, the way she fit beneath his arm, felt so good. He liked that she turned to him for comfort. Tanner could only imagine what Arien must be feeling. It would tear him up to have to leave Brookside, but then everything and everyone he loved was there. Denver was just a place. They were hers now, and with time, she would see that.
