Page 51 of Heart Like a Cowboy

One that he clearly hadn’t fully processed yet, either.

Alana wanted to spell out to both Tilly and Egan that he hadn’t been able to see the future so he hadn’t known that Jack would die at that time, that place. Egan had merely wanted to see his best friend, and from there, it’d gone to hell in a handbasket. Ditto for her own argument and last words with Jack. That phone call and argument had been fueled with anger and shock, and there was no way she could have anticipated what would happen next.

When she’d ended that final phone call with Jack, the last thing that’d been on her mind was his death or that her words would be the last thing she’d ever say to him. A divorce, though, had been front and center in her mind, and in her fury, she had already started Google searches for a good divorce attorney. She’d been within minutes of calling one when the notification team had shown up at her house.

So, how much of all of this would Tilly allow her to say? How much did the woman want to hear?

Apparently, not much at all.

As if she’d gained her second wind, Tilly lifted her head from Alana’s shoulder, and she dug through the pocket of her dress to come up with a tissue. She started sopping up the tears while she also tried to blink back others.

“I want to erase anything about Jack’s last hours from my mind,” Tilly spelled out.

“I understand,” Alana murmured. And she did. She wanted to erase every word of that argument she’d had with Jack. But that wasn’t going to happen.

It wouldn’t happen for Tilly, either. The woman was never going to forget Jack’s death, or what Alana and Egan had told her. The big picture about Jack had to be a lot easier for a grieving mother if she chose not to deal with those last hours.

“I won’t say I’m sorry for slapping Egan,” Tilly went on, and there was a fresh round of fire in her still teary eyes. “Because I’m not sorry. He deserved it and much worse.”

Alana sighed. “Egan is eaten up with guilt over what happened.”

“He should be,” Tilly snarled, moving away from Alana and getting to her feet where she looked Alana straight in the eyes. “And you should be, too, for saying what you did. Jack wasn’t cheating on you, and there’s nothing you can say or do that’ll make me believe it.”

There was proof. The credit card statements and Remi’s account of seeing Jack with the other woman. But Tilly wouldn’t want to see or hear any of that. She was going to try to hang on to the image of her perfect son.

“I think you said those awful things about Jack because you’re sleeping with Egan. I’m right, aren’t I?” Tilly demanded, but she didn’t give Alana a chance to deny it. “You’re sleeping with Egan, and the two of you decided the only way to ease your guilt was to smear Jack’s good name. Well, I won’t have it. Hear me?” Tilly practically shouted. “I won’t have it.”

With that, Tilly stormed away. Or rather that was clearly the woman’s intentions, but she ran right into the dark-haired man who was making his way toward them. Not Egan.

His brother, Lieutenant Colonel Cal Donnelly.

Even if Alana hadn’t known who he was, she would have figured it out with just a glance. The Donnelly genes had won out big-time in his DNA, and he was a slightly taller, lankier version of Egan. He wasn’t in uniform but rather jeans and a T-shirt that had a picture of a fighter jet on it, but the civilian clothes didn’t stop him from looking every bit a military officer.

Alana didn’t know who looked more surprised with the encounter. Tilly or Cal. But she thought Cal might win that particular award, and that was possibly because he’d just overheard what Tilly had said.

“Sorry,” Cal muttered. “I was driving into town, saw your car and stopped. Is, uh, everything okay?”

Again, Tilly answered before Alana could manage to speak. “Are you here to stick up for your lying coward of a brother?” Tilly demanded from Cal, and everything about the woman radiated the injustice that she obviously thought was going on.

Cal looked at Alana, giving her a long once-over, before his attention eased back to Tilly. “As a general rule, Egan doesn’t need anyone to stick up for him. Nor is he a liar or a coward. But I am a little worried about Alana and you. You’re looking pale, Miss Tilly, and Alana isn’t faring much better.”

That only tightened Tilly’s face even more, and Alana moved to stop the woman in case she tried to slap Cal. Tilly didn’t, though. She snarled out something under her breath and did that storming off she’d attempted seconds earlier.

Cal looked back at Tilly. “Should I go after her?”

Alana thought of those two slaps, of the horrible things Tilly had said to Egan, and she shook her head. If anyone should go after the woman, it should be her, but Alana wasn’t in a good place for that, either. This was still the heat of the moment, and with Tilly refusing to hear the truth, it was highly likely that any attempt to help her would only escalate the situation.

“No.” Alana sighed. “I think she needs some time to cool off. And if anyone needs to be checked on, it’s Egan. I can do that,” she said at the same moment Cal said, “I’ll take care of that.”

Cal probably could. All the Donnelly siblings were close, but Egan was tighter with Cal, probably because they were so close in age.

Alana paused, wondering how much else to say and how much Cal had overheard. Even if he’d heard everything, he probably didn’t fully understand what was going on. Heck, she didn’t understand, and she knew all the dirty little details.

Cal must have figured out the reason for her hesitation so he helped her out. “From what I gather, Egan and or you told Tilly something she wasn’t ready to hear. She’s pissed off so she lashed out.”

Alana nodded. “That’s it in a nutshell.”

He nodded as well and glanced around. “I don’t know the details of what happened the night Jack died, but I know that Egan blames himself. I figure you’re blaming yourself, too. That self-blaming probably extends to anyone and everyone who had a hand in putting those people on that particular transport vehicle in that particular place.”

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