Chapter 5
The next morning, April’s nerves were getting the better of her as she ordered an Uber and put in the address to the entrance of her favorite trail.
By the time she got into the car, she told herself it was too late to change her mind.
When she arrived and was greeted by a smiling Tanner, who was already stretching his hamstrings, any reservations she’d felt on the way instantly dissipated.
“Good morning,” Tanner said. “Glad your ‘maybe’ turned into a ‘yes’.”
April smiled at the man who looked just as delicious today as he had twenty-four hours ago. But April wasn’t here because of his toned abs, or his tight ass, or the way his smile turned just a little crooked when it reached his eyes.
She was here for Violet. And it was time to get some answers.
“So, what do you do?” Tanner asked, as they started their run. “For work, I mean,” he continued, easily keeping pace with her. “I don’t think I ever asked you that.”
“I’m a nanny and a homeschool teacher for a very sweet and special little girl.” There was no hiding the affection in her voice. Violet was the best and brightest light in her life.
“That sounds awesome. What’s her name?” Tanner asked.
“Violet. She’s six and I absolutely adore her. “Do you have kids?”
“No, but I do have a niece who just turned five. Maybe we can get them together for a playdate one day.”
One day. April’s heart skipped a beat at those words.
She wanted that life for her niece more than anything.
With any luck, this man wouldn’t just be setting up playdates with Violet.
He’d be saving her from an evil stepfather.
The urge to just blurt out that Violet was his daughter was suddenly so strong that it took everything she had to instead ask, “do you spend a lot of time with your niece?”
Tanner’s smile grew. “As much as I can. She’s awesome, but I’m just the fun Uncle Tanner. I honestly don’t really know if I want to have kids of my own. In my line of work, and with the crazy hours I keep, I’m worried I wouldn’t make a very good dad.”
April’s heart sank at his admission, but she quickly brushed it off. He hadn’t said he didn’t want kids, he just worried about being a good father. She could understand that. “It sounds like you love your niece very much,” she said, wanting to keep things light and positive.
“I love her more than anything in the world,” he admitted easily with that crooked smile of his that made his eyes shimmer in the morning sunlight. What April would give to have this man talk about Violet that way. And maybe one day, he would.
They ran in silence for a few minutes before April asked, “I heard about that biker guy that got murdered. Is that your big case?”
Tanner sighed. “Yeah, it’s unfortunate, but I think all of Dallas knows about it.”
“Why is it unfortunate?” She asked.
Tanner shrugged. “Sometimes the media can make it harder for us to do our jobs.”
April sensed he wanted to say more but was holding back, so she followed it up with another question. “Do you like your job?”
“I do. I get to find murderers and bring them to justice for the victims. It’s my small way of righting just a few of the wrongs in our world.” He shrugged again, like his words were so embedded in his identity that they’d become as much a part of him as his toned arms and rock-hard abs.
“That’s very noble of you.”
“I guess,” he said as they rounded a corner in the trail. “At the end of the day, it’s just a job with too many complications and even more hours. But someone has to do it.”
The heavy scent of wildflowers permeated the air, carried on a soft breeze that gently lifted April’s ponytail. “Is that why you became a homicide detective? Because someone has to do it?” April hadn’t meant to make light of his words, but Tanner’s easy smile never wavered.
“Not exactly, but that’s a story for another day.”
April didn’t want to pry, so she let the subject drop. “What about when you’re not working, what do you like to do?”
Tanner glanced at her, his blue eyes locking with hers, and it was like all the breath in her lungs momentarily escaped. “Run with you,” he said without missing a beat.
It was April’s turn to smile, another genuine smile that she knew crinkled her eyes and showed her teeth.
“Flattery will get you far, but seriously, do you have hobbies or interests outside of catching killers?” This was what she really needed to know.
She’d gone out with a firefighter back in California a few times, and he’d explained how a lot of civil servants had second jobs to make some extra money.
April didn’t see anything wrong with that, but if Tanner was using his downtime to work for Ned, he might let something slip that would give him away.
“Oof,” Tanner said with a hint of sarcasm. “Catching killers, I’ll have you know, is a full-time job. But aside from my work, I spend a lot of time on my family’s ranch, and sometimes I volunteer at Murphy’s Soup Kitchen.”
“You have a family ranch?” April asked, feigning surprise.
The two private investigators she’d hired had already told her about Off Rhodes Ranch, and all the hours he put in at the soup kitchen.
That last part only confused her more because why would a guy who does so much for his community deny his own child?
“I do.” His smile broadened as pure pride shone in his blue eyes. “Off Rhodes Ranch is one of the oldest working ranches in the Dallas area, and it’s been run by my family since it was established in the eighteen hundreds.”
“That sounds like a lot of work.”
Tanner chuckled. “It is, though admittedly, my siblings and I don’t really work it. My dad has employees who help him run it.”
“Your parents didn’t want you to follow in their footsteps?” April asked. Her mom had been a teacher for thirty-five years, and April had the sense that she would’ve crushed her mom’s hopes and dreams for her, if she hadn’t become a teacher, too.
“Nope. My parents are pretty great. They always encouraged us to find our own path, pursue our own passions and dreams. Besides, they couldn’t bring a whale onto a Texas ranch no matter how much they wanted to.”
“A whale?” April asked.
Tanner nodded and pulled out his cellphone, showing her a photo of a young woman on a boat, with black and white dorsal fins popping out of the water behind her.
“My sister, Josie, is studying marine biology in the Pacific Northwest. It’s been a dream of hers since she was eight years old, and my parents took us to SeaWorld for the twin’s birthdays. ”
“Wow! Are those Killer Whales?” April asked in awe.
“Yep. She took this selfie on her last trip out.”
“That’s incredible, and kind of terrifying.”
“It’s all she’s ever wanted to do,” Tanner said, putting his phone back in his pocket. “What about you? Did you always want to be a teacher?”
“I knew I was going to be a teacher since I was five years old. But it kind of runs in the family,” April said.
“Like girl name traditions,” Tanner supplied, his grin nearly making April melt.
She nodded, wishing they weren’t already coming to the end of their run. “I’m actually going to be at Murphy’s Soup Kitchen on Saturday, if you think you’d want to come.”
“Sure,” April said easily, coming to stand with him in the parking lot. Oddly enough, the more time she spent with this man, the more time she wanted to spend with him.
“Good,” Tanner said, his smile broad and his eyes beaming. “I think you’ll like it. I’ve gotten to know a lot of the people who come through there, and they’re all really nice. I can’t wait for you to meet them.”
“How long have you been volunteering there?” April asked.
“Since I was fifteen. Lana Murphy was a girl in my school. She was a few years behind me, but she was pretty popular, even in elementary school. Everyone loved her. She went missing one day when I was thirteen. A search party spent weeks looking for her. But it wasn’t until three years later that her body was discovered in the woods.
It was like someone had kept her and then threw her away. She’d been stabbed multiple times.”
“Oh my gosh,” April gasped. She knew he spent a lot of time at the soup kitchen, she just hadn’t known why.
Tanner nodded. “Yeah. It was awful. We never found the killer. Her family started a soup kitchen in her honor. I hated that I couldn’t do more to help back then, so I started volunteering.”
Tears threatened to spill over April’s lashes. She couldn’t imagine what that poor girl had been through. “I’m so sorry, Tanner.”
“Thanks. I still think about Lana all the time. I’ve reviewed her case file many times, but sadly, it’s just another cold case. Helping out at Murphy’s Soup Kitchen makes me feel like I’m actually doing something, if you know what I mean.”
April nodded. “I’ve heard of that place.” She had never been there, but aside from the private investigators telling her about it, a few people at work had mentioned volunteering there during the holiday season.
“Yeah, her parents really put a lot of time and effort into it.”
The long pause that followed his soft words weighed heavily on April.
She couldn’t imagine something like that happening to someone she knew, or to anyone she cared about.
Casey was killed in a car accident, but that was different.
This felt way more gruesome. “Is that why you became a homicide detective?”
Tanner lowered his gaze, but there was no missing the tender sadness in his answer. “Yeah. I told myself I could find her killer.”
Without thinking, April wrapped her arms around Tanner, embracing him in a quick but tight hug. She was just about to let go when she felt his arms going around her. They stood like that for some amount of time, whether it was seconds or minutes, April didn’t know. Nor did she care.
When they carefully pulled apart, the sorrow in his blue eyes hit her like a freight train. “What was that for?” He asked. “Not that I didn’t like it. As a matter of fact, you can feel free to hug me anytime you want.”
April smiled. “I just thought you might need a hug today.”
Tanner sighed, cocking his head to the side, that ever present crooked grin pulling at the corners of his mouth. “Tomorrow?” He asked, and April knew exactly what he meant.
“See you then.”