Tanner
In spite of her protestations, Tanner showed up at their house Monday, Wednesday, and today to watch the kids and ensure Izzy went to every yoga class. He made a promise and he sure as hell was going to keep it. Especially now.
When she walked back in the house this afternoon, practically glowing from the exercise, he’d practiced more self-control than ever before in his life to keep his hands to himself. He scoffed at himself. Why the hell hadn’t he done that forty-two days ago when he was in that damn bar?
And Belle…his chest tightened at the memory. She’d smiled at him. A real one this time, not just pretending for the kids. She’d asked if he wanted to stay for lunch.
For the first time all week, he’d seen the tiniest glimmer of hope and he was gonna run with it. He was even more determined that he would make the final date in his plan perfect. Make it everything she deserved. Make it mean enough she’d be willing to give him another chance.
And that glimmer made walking away without touching her and kissing her even more difficult.
But controlling himself around Belle had been easier than trying to put together everything he needed for their final date. Especially when his brothers were involved. He put his hands on his hips and pinned Dean with an irritated scowl.
“I don’t have time to screw around with you. This has to be ready by tomorrow night and it has to be perfect. So stop being a total asshole and get over here.”
Dean snorted but obediently held the heavy wooden beam for his brother so they could secure it in place. "News flash, big brother, if you would’ve just kept your hands to yourself, this wouldn’t be happening.”
Tanner really was getting tired of hearing every single moment of every single day what a screw up he was. “Yeah, yeah. I got that memo. From you, from Mom and Dad, from Wyatt, Connor. Hell, I’m pretty sure the postman left a threatening note in my mailbox.”
With a final turn of the wrench, both men let go and Dean held his hands up, palms forward. “Anything is possible. You know for damn sure if you don’t make this work, Izzy’ll have a line of men waiting to take your place and do a better job of it.”
Tanner clenched and unclenched his fist several times, breathing heavily. “Shut. Your. Mouth.”
Dammit all, his brother was right. And he hated that his brother was right. Belle was strong, smart, and sexy as hell. He’d be a shell of a man without her, but Belle? Shit. She’d move on to someone who would treat her a lot better than him.
No. Tanner shook his head resolutely. That wasn’t an option. She wasn’t going to be with someone better; he was simply going to be someone better. And he’d remind her of all the things he’d done right before screwing up their marriage in such an epic fashion.
“How exactly are you planning on getting this down there?” Dean’s question pulled him out of his dark thoughts. “The bed of your truck isn’t big enough to carry this.”
Tanner rolled his eyes. “Thank you for that brilliant deduction, Sherlock. Wyatt has a friend who is letting me borrow his trailer. So tomorrow morning we are going to load it all up and my three idiot brothers are going to help me set this all up.”
“Calling us idiots may not be the best way to enlist our help.”
He dropped the next beam on the ground and looked at his brother helplessly. “Fine. You need a reason to help? Here’s a reason: you love Izzy. All of you love Izzy. She is just as much a part of this family as I am. And, yeah, I screwed up. I made a horrible, stupid decision and it may very well cost me the best thing in my life. But if I am going to have a chance in hell of saving this marriage, I need help from all of you.”
Not usually at a loss for words or a sarcastic retort, Dean simply stared at his brother for several long minutes. “Those are pretty good reasons.”
Three much more peaceful hours later, all four brothers carefully loaded all of the supplies Tanner would need into the trailer Wyatt delivered. Swinging the arm into place and locking it to ensure nothing would fall out, Tanner smacked his hand twice against the side.
Connor swiped a hand across his sweaty brow and stood beside Tanner as they watched the sun dip below the mountain behind his parents’ house. “This is your last chance, isn’t it?”
Tanner only nodded in response.
Connor clapped him on the back. “Okay then.” His grip on Tanner’s shoulder tightened slightly. “You know, it’s okay to make mistakes sometimes.”
He quickly held his hands up when Tanner whipped his head around to stare at him with a mixture of shock and irritation. “Listen, I’m not saying that was okay. That was stupid and you’re an idiot for doing that. But everything else, brother, you just lost your focus for a while. And you’re fixing it. Just…don’t be so hard on yourself, okay?”
Dean joined them, clearing his throat and rolling eyes dramatically. “Are we all finished here? Unlike the rest of you losers, I’ve got a date.”
Wyatt climbed in the front seat of his truck and slammed the door. “Did you finally decide to ask Jill out?”
“Hell, no! She’s not my girlfriend.”
Connor chuckled beside him. “I think you may want to tell her that, Deano.”
He threw glares to each of his brothers, only making them laugh more. “Oh, whatever. Jilly-bean knows she’s my best friend and that is all she’ll ever be. You guys are just a bunch of morons.”
Dean stormed into the house, grumbling about stopping to buy flowers on the way to his date. Tanner’s ears perked up. It hurt like hell leaving Belle this afternoon, but he was trying his damndest to respect her need for space.
A slow smile slid into place. “Thanks.” He threw a hand up to Wyatt and Connor before turning and jogging to his truck on the other end of the driveway. “See you guys later.”
Okay, so she didn’t want him staying there right now, but dropping off a bouquet of her favorite flowers and wishing her goodnight certainly couldn’t hurt, right?
***
The sounds of four tiny feet greeted Tanner as soon as he walked through the front door. The three-year-old twins were still light enough that he could carry them both at once.
“Daddy’s home!” Ava planted a kiss on his cheek and wrapped her arms around his neck.
“Daddy’s home!” Noah echoed just as loudly and laid his head down on Tanner’s shoulder.
Belle folded her arms in front of her and gave him a wry smile when he walked into the kitchen. “So, I feel like Daddy might be home, but it wasn’t really clear to me.”
With a kiss on each forehead, he lowered them to the floor. Once they’d scampered off he wrapped his arms around Belle and drew her close. “Dinner smells good.” He buried his nose in her neck. “Mmm, but you smell better.”
Her hands crept around his neck and into his hair. “How is it that I quit my job and spend all day, every day with them, but you get to be the conquering hero when you come home? Very, very unfair.”
Tanner pulled his head back and tried to effect the most pained expression he could but failed miserably. “Are you saying I’m not your hero?”
Belle rolled her eyes and patted his chest with one hand. “Let’s not feed your already super-sized ego.”
This was the best part of coming home. Hugs and kisses from the twins that continued to surpass every expert’s opinion of their abilities after such an early and traumatic entrance into the world. Mouth-watering food and an even more delicious wife.
Tanner would never take a moment of this for granted as long as he lived. He knew all too well how valuable this was.
He’d never told her just how close he’d come to losing her when the twins were born. She didn’t need to hear the details. She didn’t need to know that his father had run to bring him back. She didn’t need to know he still woke up with nightmares of the sight of the doctor with blood on her operating gown asking him if he consented to a hysterectomy. And she sure as hell didn’t need to know what it felt like to hear the alarms on the monitors going off in the operating room.
He banished the dark thoughts to the back of his mind and kissed the tip of her nose, finally releasing her. “Want me to do anything?”
Belle had opened the oven but paused, arms halfway inside to pull the roasting pan out. She looked over at him, and he realized she caught him checking out her ass. Who could blame him? That woman made everything look good, especially the jeans that were hugging every curve.
She just laughed and shook her head. “If you feel so inclined, you can set the table.”
Six o’clock was far too early to put the kids to bed, right? He cleared his throat and shook his head a little. “Sure thing, sweetheart.”
Once the plates were in place, he reached into the cabinet for the glasses. “There was something I wanted to tell you…”
Belle looked up from slicing the roast beef with a frown. “Should I be scared?”
“Dad’s retiring.” He made the announcement quickly, hoping it would be like ripping off a band-aid. “Well, semi-retiring. He’s still going to come in to the office sometimes, just not every day. He wants to golf and travel and,” he shrugged, “I guess he trusts me.”
She dropped the utensils on the counter and stood in front of him, wrapping her arms around his waist. “Of course he trusts you and your super-duper MBA, baby. You’ve been working so hard and handled everything for him. How could he not trust you?”
She stood on her tiptoes and planted a kiss on his cheek with a small laugh. “Congratulations, baby. And I really like the beard. I think you need to keep it this time.”
This time Tanner rolled his eyes, but he took advantage of the embrace to slide his hands in the back pockets of her jeans. “Are you ever going to stop picking on my degree?”
She tapped her chin thoughtfully. “Um, nope.”
He kissed her deeper. “You know, this may mean I have to make a couple of business trips. Not a lot. There’s no way in hell I’ll be gone long.”
Belle grinned. “I know, baby. I trust you. And you’re still gonna make sure you’ll have Friday mornings free to watch the kids so I can hang out with Caroline, right?”
“Of course, sweetheart. I mean, your weekly date with Caroline is important, but not nearly as important as the book series the kids and I are working on.” He winked at her. “And we really need you out of the house for that because I freaking rock at doing all the voices, and if you’re around, I’ll get distracted.”
She tilted her head back and laughed. Tanner wasn’t sure if it was the melodic sound or her long chocolate hair tickling his forearms, but a shiver ran down his spine. “Are you sure we’ve got to do the whole dinner and parenting thing tonight?”
“Yes. Yes, we do. But…” She dragged the single word out and laughed again, this time a throaty, sexy sound, and proceeded to whisper everything they would do as soon as the twins went to sleep. The combination of her promises and her soft, warm breath against his ear wiped his mind clean of everything including his name and made his mouth go dry.