Page 12 of Coveted Justice

“Jared gave me one a long time ago. If anything needed done to the cabin, he couldn’t do much about it in Seattle. He asked me to keep an eye on it. I drive up here a couple times a year and make sure the place hasn’t been broken into and is clean.”

Maddie almost smacked her own forehead.

“This is where you go when you’re on one of your thinking drives? How did I not know this?”

Every now and then, Tanner would go on a drive around Montana. He said he did it to clear his head and have a little time to just think. She’d never questioned it, understanding that he needed to get away even if it was only for a day.

“Because you’re a wonderful, loving, and understanding wife who didn’t feel the need to pepper me with questions when I expressed a desire to simply get lost in nature.”

“You make me sound like a pushover.”

“I make you sound like the wonderful wife that you are. I’ve always been grateful that you’ve given me the space when I’ve needed to go off and do some thinking. This was just a convenient destination. Before Jared asked me to keep an eye on the cabin, I’d drive somewhere else.”

Tanner hopped out of the vehicle and unlocked the door, reaching in to turn on the porch light. Maddie climbed out and between the two of them they had all of their things in the cabin with only a few trips back and forth.

“You thought of everything,” Maddie said, beginning to unpack a brown paper bag of food. There was also a cooler for the items that needed to be kept cold on the drive up. “Steaks, potatoes, snacks, and drinks. You’re a sneaky man. I didn’t even see you packing up our kitchen.”

“I wanted to surprise you.”

“You managed it.”

It only took a few minutes to stow away the food and their few belongings. Soon they were standing in the middle of the living room with nothing left to do. It was the middle of the night and there was no television or Wi-Fi. If she’d known where they were going, she would have packed a book. She had the latest bestseller sitting on her nightstand, and she didn’t get nearly enough time to finish it.

“Do you want to go to bed?” Tanner asked. “We can stay up if you’re not tired.”

She could see the fatigue that he was trying hard not to show. He’d been “on” all night for the dinner attendees and he would be exhausted, wanting time to recharge his batteries.

Her body was tired, but her mind was still going a mile a minute. Sleep wouldn’t come easily but she didn’t want to keep her husband from getting his rest. When they left here, he was going to need every bit of it.

“Let’s go to bed,” she replied. “It’s already almost morning. We can sleep in if we need to.”

They probably wouldn’t but they could. When Amanda was a child, she’d been an early bird. It didn’t matter when the adults went to sleep, their daughter would be up with the chickens the next morning. Maddie had clear memories of explaining how the time changed and setting clocks back an hour, but Amanda hadn’t been convinced. They’d spent the winter getting up in the dark.

It was sort of funny because Amanda loved to sleep in now. Last summer, she’d barely been up before noon unless she was scheduled to work. Maddie had been tempted to go into her daughter’s room at dawn, jump on the bed, and then demand cinnamon toast.

Of course, she hadn’t actually done it. But she’d been sorely tempted.

Maddie and Tanner slid between the cool sheets, his body cuddling close to hers. She always felt so warm and protected when he was the big spoon. He fell asleep almost instantly, his even breathing the only sound in the bedroom.

To her surprise, her own eyelids grew heavy and she drifted off to sleep despite her muddled thoughts. With any luck, tomorrow would be a better day.

Maddie was too keyed up to sleep. She had far too much going on in her head to be able to rest for more than an hour or two. Tanner was sleeping peacefully next to her, so she quietly slipped out of the bed and headed out to the living room, a blanket wrapped around her. When they’d unpacked the food, she’d seen a few packets of hot chocolate mix. She’d make herself a cup and try to relax.

It didn’t take long to heat the milk and stir in the chocolate. The only thing missing was some marshmallows, but it would be fine. Sitting on the couch, she placed the blanket over her legs and sipped at the cocoa.

The fact was she was angry, and when she was like this - which wasn’t very often - she couldn’t get to sleep. Her mind was simply too active, not giving her even a brief respite.

“I woke up and you weren’t in bed.”

She turned to see Tanner standing in the doorway to the bedroom, a confused look on his face. His hair was sticking up slightly in the back and his eyes were sleepy. He looked absolutely adorable, although he might not thank her for thinking it.

“I couldn’t sleep but I didn’t want to wake you up.”

He came to sit next to her on the couch, pulling the end of the blanket over him so they were snuggled together.

“You’re still thinking about your dad.”

“Yes.”

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