“Down!” Rosie exclaimed.
Leah watched him set Junie down and lift Rosie off the counter with his massive tattooed arms. He patted their heads with his enormous inked hands.
“My Boo!” Rosie toddled over to the other counter.
Tank grabbed their lovies and handed them to her girls, causing Leah’s heart to squeeze. “How about you give your mama a good-morning kiss? Then you can have your pancakes with the chocolate milk I brought.”
The girls ran to Leah, pulling her from her stupor, and she hugged them both. Tank put two plates on the bar, and the blueberry Mickey Mouse pancakes brought tears to Leah’s eyes. She stuffed them down deep as the girls climbed onto their chairs.
Leah cut their pancakes and said, “What do you say to Tank?”
“Thank you!” Rosie exclaimed, while Junie said it quietly.
“I couldn’t have done it without your help.” He winked at the girls, then handed Leah a plate of pancakes.
“I’m sorry I fell asleep,” she said softly, taking the plate. “You didn’t have to stick around or do any of this.”
“I got you coffee, but it’s probably cold by now,” he said without responding to what she’d said. “I can microwave it for you.”
“It’s okay. I don’t drink coffee, but I appreciate the thought. I’ll pay you back for breakfast.”
“How about you sit down and eat something instead?” He nodded to the bar.
“I’m not hungry. Do you want them?”
He turned and picked up a plate with a huge stack of pancakes on it. “I’ll replace the box. The girls insisted we make some for me, too.”
“He eats like a pig,” Junie said.
“Junie, that’s not nice,” Leah said.
“He said it.” Junie looked at Tank with a serious expression.
He was leaning against the counter, his long legs practically stretching all the way across the floor to the bar as he stabbed his fork through a stack of six or seven pancakes. He gave Junie one curt nod, which seemed to be his go-to response, and devoured a big bite, snorting like a pig, causing an outburst of giggles.
Leah put her plate on the counter, and Tank set his down beside it.
He turned his back to the girls, hulking over Leah’s shoulder. “You need to eat something.” His tone was gruff but quiet.
“I can’t.”
“I get it. Your stomach feels like it’s inside out, and every time you aren’t focused on the girls, you see River and you want to crawl under a rock.”
It was like he’d looked inside her and knew exactly what she felt.
“I’ve been there, Lee.”
Even with his gruff tone, Lee sounded intimate and tender, and that made her want to bury her face in his chest and disappear.
“But from what I’ve seen, your littlest has enough energy for sixteen people. You’re going to need some fuel. Do you want something else? I saw some yogurt in the fridge.”
She shook her head, staring at the counter.
“Danish? Doughnut?”
“No, thank you.”
“I can go out and get something. What do you like to eat? Pizza? Sandwiches?”
“I’m fine, really. I’ve taken care of myself for a long time. I’m not going to starve, and I’m sure you have better things to do than babysit us.” She felt the heat of his stare boring into her for so long, it felt like he really could see inside her. When she finally met his gaze, her breath caught at the emotions looking back at her. He still exuded that suffocating sensation, but it no longer scared her, because now she felt it as her own, too. She felt gutted, like she might never breathe right again, and Ginger’s voice came back to her. I lost my youngest, my daughter, Ashley, when she was in college. Tank had lost his sister—he really did understand.
“Nothing is more important than being here for you and the girls.”
Nobody had been there for them like he was, and she wasn’t sure how to respond, so she went with the truth. “I appreciate that.” More than you could know. She didn’t want to sound ungrateful, but she needed to talk to the girls about River before they started asking questions, and she didn’t want an audience. “But you should probably finish your pancakes and go. I just…I need some space.”
He held her gaze, worry swimming in his dark eyes. “You sure about that?”
She nodded, even though she wasn’t really sure.
He finished the stack of pancakes in three bites, and then without a word, he washed his plate and the other dishes, despite her telling him not to. He dried his hands on his jeans and looked at the girls with the warmest expression. Leah melted a little inside. Nobody other than her and River had ever looked at them like that.
He put his palms on the counter in front of the girls, leaning in, and spoke in that gruff and tender tone. “Rosie, you are a master blueberry eater. Twitch, thanks for helping me learn how to make mouse pancakes.”
Twitch?
Junie’s lips twitched, but they didn’t quite make it into a smile.
“You leavin’?” Rosie asked.
He nodded, and Rosie shook her head, whining, “No go!”
A wave of regret moved over his face as he went around the counter, and Rosie’s arms shot up. He scooped her up, and she threw her little arms around his neck.
“No go!” she pleaded again.
“Rosie, Tank has things to do.” Leah didn’t have the energy for extra tears.
Tank hugged her little girl tighter. “I’ll see you soon, kiddo.” He whispered something in Rosie’s ear, and she grinned as he set her on her chair. Junie looked sullenly up at him, and he kissed the top of her head; then he whispered to her, and her lips twitched into a smile. “Your mama’s gonna walk me out. You girls stay here, okay?”
They nodded, and Leah followed him out to the porch. “What did you say to them?”
“I said if they need me, all they have to do was look out that window.”
“Tank, you can’t tell them things like that. They’re kids. They’ll believe you, and throw a fit when you’re not there.”
“I never make promises I don’t intend to keep,” he said firmly. “Listen to me, Leah. There’s a bag inside by the door. It has your purse in it and a few toys that were in your car. Your purse was soaked. I didn’t go through it but thought you might want it. There were two blankets that looked like they were handmade. I washed them, but I didn’t want to put them in the dryer. They’re hanging on a line at my place.”
It was all she could do to keep from crying. He’d already done so much, and he’d gotten their memory blankets, which she’d thought were gone forever.
Tank kept his eyes trained on her. “I need to ask you something. Rosie showed me pictures of her grandfather. I assume that’s your father, since you look just like him. She said he’s watchin’ you from above. Has he passed on?”
She nodded.
“What about your mother?”
“I never knew her, and River’s mother took off when he was just a baby.”
His jaw clenched. “The girls’ father?”
She shook her head, unable to even think about explaining that right then.