AllFreeNovel
Share Us
And Egan started running.
CHAPTER TEN
DESPITEEGANTAKINGoff like a bat out of hell and insisting he’d be the one to go after Alana, Remi went after both of them.
Alana already had a head start, though, a lengthy one, and she was fast, probably motivated by her own “bat out of hell” need to get away from there and not have to face them. Remi could only watch as she jumped into her car and sped away, leaving Egan cursing while he was still trying to catch up with her.
Egan didn’t give up, thank goodness. Remi saw the lieutenant colonel in him kick in, and he moved straight to a quickly improvised plan B. He went to one of the ranch trucks parked in the side driveway of the house, probably deciding on it rather than his own vehicle simply because it was closer and the keys would already be in it. The moment he started the engine, he floored the accelerator and went in pursuit while Remi stood there and wished she had a big rock to hit herself on the head.
What the devil had she just done?
There was no way Alana should have heard any part of that conversation, and it didn’t matter that Remi had thought she was either gone or still inside the house with Maybell. The barn wasn’t that far from the house. Or from where Alana had parked. So Remi should have guessed that Alana or someone else could have overheard things that shouldn’t have been overheard in the first place.
Remi muttered more than a few choice curse words, all aimed at herself, and wished she could time travel and go back a couple of minutes and not start the conversation about Jack. If Egan was hell-bent on knowing details of his best friend’s affair, Remi should have at least waited until she was certain Egan and she would have some privacy.
A barn didn’t qualify as a private venue.
Nope. And there was the added pisser that she shouldn’t have even blabbed all of that in the first place. The info should be dead and buried, just as Jack was. Because now that Egan and Alana knew, there’d be no going back and forgetting. It would only add to the grief and regret they were no doubt already feeling.
Remi took out some of her frustrations by kicking every single rock that she encountered on the walk from the barn to the house, and she cursed herself and the situation some more. By the time she made it to the back porch, though, she’d worked herself up to a seriously crap mood and knew she had to do some reining in. Fast. If Maybell, Grammy Effie, Audrey or her dad saw her fuming like this, they’d know something was wrong and would ask her about it. She didn’t want to utter one more word about Jack or Alana.
She paced across the porch a couple of times. Did some deep breathing. And ran her fingertips over the badge on her beret. The emblem or flash as it was often called was an angel embracing the globe with the motto “That others may live” emblazoned beneath it. For such a small object, it had always packed an emotional wallop for her.
Apparently, it still did.
As usual, it worked to settle her nerves and get her to focus on the here and now and what had happened five minutes earlier. Remi felt everything inside her level out, and she stepped into the kitchen. No Maybell, but Effie was there. Her grandmother smiled and immediately pulled her into a hug.
The visit wasn’t a surprise to Grammy since Remi had texted her earlier to let her know she’d just landed at the military base in San Antonio, and unless something came up in a debriefing she had to attend, she’d be home soon for a short visit. Remi had asked, though, for Effie to keep it a secret just in case there was a hitch in her travel plans.
Effie pulled back from the hug, meeting Remi’s gaze. “What’s wrong?” Effie asked, causing Remi to silently groan. “And don’t say it’s about your dad because I saw the commotion going on outside the barn. Want to tell me why Alana hurried off like that and Egan went after her?”
Remi sighed and tried to work out the best possible answer. She finally settled on a headshake. No, she didn’t want to explain thecommotion.
Her grandmother’s sigh echoed her own, but thankfully she didn’t press Remi further. She might have done that, though, if Audrey hadn’t come into the kitchen.Saved by the general, Remi thought.
But she thought wrong.
“What happened?” Audrey wanted to know while she, too, gave Remi a welcoming but distracted hug. “Are Egan and Alana all right?”
“They’ll be fine.” Remi hoped. No thanks to her.
Remi only hoped that Egan caught up with Alana and managed to talk things out with her. Or pulled off a miracle and managed to erase her memory of what she’d overheard.
Audrey studied her eyes a moment, no doubt picking up on Remi’s BS answer, but the woman didn’t call her on said BS. She smiled, stepped back and gave Remi and her uniform a long look.
“Your dad is going to be so happy to see you,” Audrey assured her.
“I’ll be happy to see him.”
Not a lie. There’d be happiness and maybe, just maybe, it’d tone down some of her worry over him once she saw him for herself. Then again, if he looked like crap, then her worries would be on target to escalate.
Remi turned to her grandmother. “Maybe you and I can do some catching up once I’ve talked to Dad.” Then, she eyed the stash of food that was still on the kitchen island. “And maybe do some eating, too.”
Her grandmother smiled and kissed her cheek. “Absolutely. Now, go to your dad. He needs you.”
Remi already had plenty of concerns about her dad, and that added a bit more to the heap. She’d never thought of him needing her, only the other way around. This role reversal sucked.
Audrey put her hand on the small of Remi’s back to get her moving toward the stairs. “How is Dad? I mean, how is he really?” Remi asked her once they were out of Effie’s earshot.
