Page 16 of Heart Like a Cowboy

“Who the heck chooses the color red for a uniform hat?” he came out and asked. “Isn’t it like painting a bullseye on your head?”

“It’s the same people who choose flimsy lightweight flight caps that can blow off and get sucked into the engine of a fighter jet,” she quickly countered.

Satisfied that he’d given as good as he’d got, Egan smiled again. “Are you Stateside?”

“Can’t say.” She grinned. “Well, I could, but then I’d have to kill you.” Her grin faded as fast as it’d come. Considering their present circumstances, the old joke had fallen hard and flat. “How’s Dad?”

Egan didn’t want to put any more worry in her eyes, but she’d see right through any attempts for him to pretty up the truth. “Weak. He looks as if he’s aged a decade since the heart attack. He looks old,” Egan added in a mutter. “But don’t go on a guilt trip. He totally understands why you can’t be here.”

She sighed and stared at him with blue eyes that were a genetic copy of his own. It was about the only genetics they had in common. Unlike him and their brothers, Remi hadn’t gotten the black hair but rather dark auburn, and she favored their mom and Effie while the brothers took after their dad.

“Is he officially out of the woods?” Remi pressed.

Again, Egan didn’t pull any punches. “To be determined, but it appears he’s making some progress. He’s got a long way to go, Remi. A long way.”

“Thanks for not lying. Cal said pretty much the same thing. Blue is Blue and living in a fantasy that this is a temporary glitch. I’m hoping for the temporary but bracing for the long haul. I’m just sorry I can’t be there. Is Dad asking for me?”

“He’s asked about you,” Egan said, emphasizing the difference. “He knows you’re on the job.”

“And Audrey?” she added a moment later.

“No sign of her yet.”

Remi didn’t offer up an opinion on that. “Well, let Dad know that I’ll get home as soon as I can.” Off screen, he heard someone mutter that it was time to go, and he saw the immediate shift in her expression from concerned daughter to Captain Donnelly, Combat Rescue Officer.

“Stay safe,” Egan and she said at the same time. It had become their usual way to sign off ever since Remi had been commissioned in the Air Force.

Egan ended the call, put away his phone and picked up his coffee. His plan was to finish his breakfast with the horses, do an hour or two of paperwork and then head to the hospital to visit his dad and bring him those photo albums. There was an immediate hitch in that plan, though, when he saw the car pull into the driveway. Or rather when he saw the driver after she parked and stepped out.

Alana.

He felt a whole bunch of that leveling out bite the dust, and he cursed his reaction. He couldn’t keep doing this, not when Dr. Abrams had asked Alana if she’d be willing to come to the ranch daily to work with his dad. She’d agreed, but Egan hadn’t expected that “daily” to start even before his dad was out of the hospital.

Alana started for the house, but then she spotted him and walked his way. Not good. And this wasn’t about leveling and such. Nope. This was about the fit of that pink dress she was wearing. It wasn’t particularly short or clingy, but the morning breeze was doing a darn good job of molding it against her body. All those curves.

He didn’t want to think of Alana that way. Didn’t want to be reminded she had curves. And great legs.

Or have any thoughts about her blasted nipple size.

No, he didn’t want any of that so Egan had worked up what he was sure was a scowl by the time she reached him.

“I know,” she said right off the bat. “It’s awkward with me being here, and I’m sorry if just seeing me brings back anything bad for you.”

It was the right thing to say. And the wrong thing. Because in that instant before, she hadn’t caused him to think of anything from the past. Not Jack, not his guilt. Nope. He’d been trying to tamp down the blasted heat he felt when he saw an attractive woman coming his way. A woman he’d be stupid to think of as anything but his best friend’s widow and his dad’s dietitian.

“It’s okay,” he managed, though it was a whopper so big he was surprised his jeans hadn’t spontaneously caught on fire. “You’re just doing your job. And doing my dad a favor by making house calls.”

That caused the tension in his face to ease up a bit. Only a bit, though. But when she met his gaze, everything amped up. Everything, including the stupid urges inside him to notice anything and everything about her body.

“Dad’s not here, though,” he went on, forcing himself to speak. “He’s still in the hospital.”

She nodded. “I’m going over recipes and a shopping list with Maybell and your grandmother. I called Maybell last night, and they thought this would be a good time for me to come out.”

Egan wondered if that was because the early hour fit better with Maybell’s schedule or if there was some matchmaking going on since both Maybell and his grandmother knew he’d be around at this hour. But he immediately rethought that. No matchmaking. Maybell and Grammy Effie would be focused on his dad’s needs, and there was no way the two women would think it was a good idea for Alana and him to get together.

Would they?

He was working up another scowl at that possibility when Alana spoke, drawing his attention back to her. Not that his attention had strayed too far.

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