Anna smiled at him with such fond indulgence that he knew she didn’t mind if he wore fifteen floors out. He scooped an apple out of the bowl on the table as he made another circuit through the house. “Exercise.” He grinned at her over the apple.
“Pooh! You exercise by running all over the county. Seems to me more like restlessness. Did something happen on that surrey ride you want to talk about?”
“Nothing that I can’t forget if I try.”
Anna wiped her hands on a towel and reached up to cup her tall son’s face. “I want you to be happy.”
“I am, Mom. I have everything I need.”
“Except somebody to love.”
He roared with laughter. “If the Donovan clan were any bigger, I’d have to live two lifetimes in order to get around to loving them all.”
“I’m not talking about kinfolk; I’m talking about somebody special.” She turned back to her cooking. “It’s not my way to meddle, but I don’t think you ever got over that Lassiter girl. Land sakes! How you two used to carry on, talking about how Claude would be best man at the wedding, counting the children you’d have. You even said you’d name the first girl after me. I always thought that would be so nice.”
He leaned over and pecked her on the cheek. “I find bachelorhood to my liking. You’ll just have to settle for adorable me.”
She laughed. “You Donovan men. Cocky as the day is long.” She dropped the last of the dumplings into the pot. When she turned around, Tanner had started out the door. “Now where are you going? Supper will be ready in a minute.”
“Outside. Theo’s hellions need some supervision.”
“Supervision, my eye. You’ll be right in the middle of their games, having more fun than they do.”
Tanner winked at his mother. “Don’t tell. I’m trying to change my image.”
“What image?”
“Will-o’-the-wisp.”
He left Anna shaking her head. She’d never understand, he thought. Even he didn’t understand. What did it matter after all these years that Amanda had found Claude’s steadiness more appealing than his will-o’-the-wispness? What in the hell was a will-o’-the-wisp, anyway? He needed to put that woman out of his mind.
He turned his attention to his nephews. “Hey, Raymond, Kenneth—let’s play some ball.”
Theo’s sons galloped toward him on gangly teenage legs, whooping for joy.
“Hey, Uncle Tanner. Show us that play you made in the Super Bowl.”
“Yeah, man. I want to see if you’ve still got the stuff.”
Tanner ruffled their hair. “I’ll show you the stuff.”
The backyard game held his attention for thirty minutes, thirty blessed minutes during which Amanda didn’t invade his mind. Then Kenneth missed a pass. The ball rolled under a holly bush, startling a cardinal into flight. Suddenly Tanner thought of Amanda. It might have been the setting sun shining on the red bird’s wing, reminding him of her hair; or it might have been a flash of memory, a rare white Christmas long ago when he and Amanda had seen a flock of cardinals in the snow. Whatever the reason, he knew that he had to see her. Now.
Promising his nephews another game later in the week, he excused himself and went back into the house. It smelled of Anna’s chicken and dumplings and spiced pumpkin pie. Tanner knew exactly what to do.
“Hey, Mom. Do you still have that big picnic basket?” He strode around the kitchen, pulling open every cabinet door.
“Land sakes! What are you up to now?”
“I’m going on a rescue mission. Do you have plenty of food, enough for me to share with a friend?”
“You know good and well that I always cook enough to feed everybody in Greenville. Would this friend happen to be the same one you took out in the surrey this morning?”
“Now, Mom. Get that gleam out of your eye. It’s not what you’re thinking.”
“How do you know what I’m thinking?”
He laughed. “Weren’t you the one talking about somebody special and wishing for a namesake? I don’t want you to be disappointed. This is not that kind of mission.”
“Hmm.” Anna found the picnic basket and began to stuff it with food. “I hope she has a hearty appetite. I do so like a girl with a hearty appetite.”
Tanner placed the basket in the backseat of his Corvette and backed it out the driveway. As he pointed the car toward Amanda’s house he pressed the button to let his windows down. The evening air was crisp and invigorating. It smelled of the river and pine trees and rich Delta earth. Strings of colored lights and bright tinsel decorating the neighborhood houses lit his way.