Page 61 of The Cowboy's Unlikely Love

It was a generous offer, one she appreciated, but she needed to feel like she was capable of providing for herself and her son.

“At least give it some more thought. You’d save yourself a bunch on rent, and we don’t intend to sell the place for a while at least.”

“Thanks, Mom. I’ll think about it.”

“Okay. Give me a hand taking my bags out to the car, would you?”

Everly frowned. “You’re taking your car?”

Her mom shrugged. “I know, it’s going to cost me a fortune in long-term parking, but you have to remember that I’m scrambling here. Up until yesterday afternoon, I didn’t know when I’d be leaving, but I certainly didn’t think that it would be yet.”

Everly frowned.

“It’s just one of those things, Everly. It’ll be fine. And don’t look like that – there’s no way that you can take me. You need to be here.”

“I know there’s no way I can take you, I’m just thinking that it’d be cheaper if we could get you some kind of a ride.”

“Probably. But I don’t have the time to mess around. I need to go.”

Everly helped her take her bags out and load them in the car. Her mom kissed her cheek. “I’ll let you know when I land. Give our little man a big hug for me.”

“I will. Safe travels.”

Her mom got in the car and put the window down. “Oh, and I forgot to tell you, I ran into Grady in the grocery store. Ava’s invited Ashton over to some little party she’s having after school on Thursday. And Grady said to tell you that he and Hannah are happy to watch Ashton while you’re working if you need them to.”

Everly smiled. “Aww, I love those two, they’re awesome.”

“They are. You have some lovely friends.”

Everly leaned in through the window to kiss her mom’s cheek one last time. “Be safe. Let me know when you’re at the airport, and when you land.”

Her mom chuckled. “I will. Love you.”

“Love you too, Mom.”

Everly got her own bag from her car and went back inside the house and flopped down on the sofa. She was going to have to figure out something more permanent for Ashton while she was working. Grady was a sweetheart – he used to live in a townhouse just a few doors down from her, and they used to help each other out with childcare when his niece, Ava, first came to live with him.

He worked in a restaurant in town, and for a while, they’d tried to juggle their shifts so that when he was working in the evening, Ava stayed with her and Ashton, and when Everly was working, Ashton stayed with them. Another friend, Mel, watched both kids when Everly and Grady’s shifts clashed.

Things had changed after Mel’s dad had a heart attack, and Grady met Hannah and moved in with her. Everly’s mom hadstepped up to help her. But Ashton and Ava were still good friends, and still got together outside of school every now and then.

Everly reached for her phone. She should give Grady a call to make arrangements for Thursday. It wasn’t the most pressing thing that she needed to do, but it felt easier than anything else.

When the plane had landed, and she turned her phone back on, her heart had beat wildly while she waited to see if any messages had come in while she was in the air. She’d had a voicemail from her dad last night, while she was at the hotel in Bozeman. She hadn’t called him back. She hadn’t heard anything from Tanner – and that didn’t surprise her. She was still disappointed that she had no messages at all when her phone came back on.

She was surprised to see a whole bunch of new notifications now. A rush of warmth filled her chest when she saw that three of them were from Tanner. She opened her texts with shaking hands.

Tanner: Hey. I don’t know if you’ll want to hear from me after the way I acted yesterday. I just wanted to say that I’m sorry. I’d love to talk to you if you want to. If nothing else, would you shoot me a text to let me know that you made it home safe?

Tanner: I understand that you’re mad at me – I don’t blame you. I was just shocked. I get it now. Ford explained. You tried to tell me a few times – I know that now. Are you home yet?

Tanner: Not trying to be a pain in the ass here, but I’m getting worried. If you really don’t want to talk to me, would you let Corinne know that you’re home safe, and I can check in with her?

Everly frowned as she checked the timestamps. All three messages seemed to have come in at the same time – half an hour ago, while she was still on the road. She had to wonder when he’d sent them.

While she tried to compose herself and figure out what she wanted to say to him, she checked her other messages.

Shayna: Are you okay? Hope you made it home safe. I’m here for you if you want to talk. I don’t know what happened, but I’m sure you had your reasons for not mentioning your son. Hugs. oxo

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