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the company and pay the bills, boy. I’m going home to your mother.”
    That first year Tannon had worked night and day learning the trucking business. He’d made mistakes and more than once had to drive a load himself because a driver didn’t like taking orders from a kid. He’d learned to be fair and hard. He’d learned to be the boss. He’d learned to stand alone.
    Somewhere in the chaos of those first few months, he’dfinished out the second-floor loft and moved in. He told the staff it was just a spare room to use when he worked late, but Tannon never spent a night in his parents’ home once it was finished, and he doubted either of his parents had missed him.
    When his dad died, Tannon hired round-the-clock care for his mother. He stopped by every day to check on her. Sometimes she didn’t feel like talking to him. Sometimes she wanted all his attention. Whatever he gave or did was never enough. He couldn’t seem to measure up to his father in the undying devotion department, and Paulette wasn’t used to settling.
    As he flipped on a lamp tonight, the warm colors of his place greeted him. Emily had decorated in the same earthy browns and dark greens. His might be mostly comfortable overstuffed leather and hers with too many frills and clutter, but they’d used the same palette. Where his place was clean lines and cold in the way of a high-end hotel room, hers was homey. It made him want to settle in at her place and never leave.
    She had no idea how closely he’d kept up with her over the years after her parents died. When she’d graduated from Texas Tech, he’d been there. He’d driven to Lubbock and watched her walk the stage in the United Spirit Arena. When families flooded the gym floor after graduation, he’d stood in the stands and watched her standing alone with her diploma in her hand. He’d wanted to go to her, but an ocean of people and memories stood between them, then and now.
    A FTER POURING A DRINK , T ANNON WALKED ACROSS THE hardwood floor that echoed around his open loft. He might be only thirty-two years old, but tonight he felt like a hundred. He’d asked Emily to talk to his mother because he hoped to calm Paulette down, but once they were at the nursing home, he knew he’d wanted the favor more for his sake. Tannon needed normal in his life, if only for an hour.
    He lit the fireplace and relaxed back in his favorite chair. For a while tonight, he’d almost had normal. He would have been happy with just being with Emily at the nursing home, driving there, driving back to her place. Only she’d given him far more. She’d invited him in for dinner, having no idea what a rare gift she’d handed him.
    Emily Tomlinson was the last person in Harmony he’d expected to be kind to him. When he’d first taken over the business, he’d learned to be rigid if he wanted to survive. From the drivers to the stockyard owners, the men he worked with would have spotted weakness and eaten him alive. The few people who did offer friendship eventually went away when he rarely returned their calls. He told himself he liked the way he lived. It left him not having to answer to anyone. It left him time to work. It left him alone.
    The ringing of the phone ended the silence of his night.
    “Parker,” Tannon answered as he always did whether at work or home. His trucks were on the road twenty-four hours, seven days a week and every driver knew to call in if there was a problem.
    “Mr. Parker, I’m calling with a message from your mother’s doctor. He just made night rounds and wanted to thank you for whatever you did tonight. Paulette is resting calmly. She even agreed to eat her dinner. We’ve guarded hope for improvement.”
    “I’m glad,” Tannon answered, thinking his mood was improving also, but no one cared about him.
    No one ever had.
    “Well,” the nurse said, “I’ll call you if there is any change.”
    When he put the phone down, he flipped off the overhead lights and looked out