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Yep, there was buzz all right, and Alana had even heard that many believed Tilly had had Egan’s picture taken off the newspaper web page because she was irate over Alana and him hooking up. Tilly was certainly irate, and it was possible some of it was because of the hooking up, but Alana knew the bulk of it was because Tilly had had her illusions about Jack shattered.
Welcome to the club.
Alana had had her illusions about him shattered, too, when he’d confessed to the affair. She was trying not to dwell on that, though. Trying not to dwell on Jack, either, and that’s where the hooking up with Egan was helping.
Or rather the partial hooking.
Technically, they hadn’t actually had sex, not the full-blown variety, anyway, and Alana figured that was intentional on Egan’s part in case she was having to deal with any guilt since they had hooked up. She wasn’t. Well, not much, anyway. But she was dealing with a whole lot of confusion.
The day before, she’d sent Egan the photo of the condoms she’d bought. Not a purchase she’d made in town but rather at the mini mart out by the interstate. Egan had responded with a thumbs-up and then had added that he was on his way to drop off Cal at the airport. About an hour later, he’d followed up with a further explanation about being tied up at the base for a while and that he would call her later.
He’d tried that call, but she’d had to cut it short since she’d been with his dad for their daily appointment. It hadn’t felt right to make sex plans with Egan with Derek right there in the room. So Alana had asked Egan if they could “talk” later that night. That had earned her another thumbs-up, but when night had come around, Egan had had to cancel because of an injured horse.
Egan hadn’t committed to another time for them to get together, and Alana had decided not to push. He was obviously going through a lot right now. He didn’t need anyone or anything else pressuring him. Especially her since it was possible he was going through his own battle with guilt and the past.
Unfortunately, this fling limbo was making Alana want him even more. And, apparently, it was making her antsy and rebellious, too, because she added some cake mix to the cart. She reasoned that she’d probably never get around to actually making the cake before it expired, but the box would be in her pantry if she got the overwhelming urge to indulge in something other than Egan.
Alana heard the sound of rapidly approaching squeaky wheels of a grocery cart, and she glanced back, expecting to see someone trying to get a better look at her rebellious items, but the person right on her heels was Aunt Loralee, who fell in step right alongside Alana.
“I think you caused Marilu to faint in aisle three,” her aunt muttered, glancing into Alana’s shopping cart. “Eating your sorrows?”
“Indulging myself,” Alana amended and purposely added the nearest bag of chips to her stash. It was sour cream and onion, a flavor combo she detested, so the bag would likely meet a slow death on the shelf with the cake mix.
“Indulging because of Egan or Tilly?” Loralee pressed.
It was a loaded question, especially since Alana hadn’t spilled anything to her aunt about her park encounter with Tilly. And Alana especially hadn’t spilled anything about Egan giving her an orgasm. That just wasn’t something you could work into a conversation with a mother figure.
“It feels empowering to buy these things,” Alana said, dodging the subject of both Tilly and Egan. “It’s my version of an adrenaline rush. Sort of like a mini toned-down experience that Egan gets when he flies fighter jets. Sort of,” she tacked on to that in a mutter.
Loralee made a sound that was barely audible but still managed to sound like a full-volume disapproval. “I just got off the phone with Tilly,” her aunt said, still keeping her voice low. “She’s very upset because the artist she’d commissioned to do Jack’s memorial broke both his arms in a car accident. He can’t finish the painting.”
Alana went through a quick-fire round of emotions. She felt sorry for the artist, but maybe this meant—
“Tilly’s not canceling the life celebration,” Loralee said, dashing Alana’s hopes that the event might be called off. “In fact, this is a case akin to jumping out of the frying pan and into the fire.”
Alana had to shake her head. “What does that mean?”
“It means that Tilly contacted the only other artist she knew. Or rather an artist I knew.”
And it hit Alana then. Frying pan, fire. Yep. “Colleen’s lover, Anton Ewing, is finishing the painting.”
“Bingo. It’s really a huge favor since he’ll have to work lots of hours to finish it up. Then, of course, Tilly will want him at the unveiling so she can publicly thank him for filling in.”
“Of course,” Alana repeated like profanity.
Now Egan would not only have to face the ex who’d walked out on him, but he’d also have to see the man she’d walked out with. Alana had no idea just how much that would bother Egan. She suspected, though, the answer to that was “a lot.”
“I don’t think Egan knows about the artist substitute,” Loralee went on. “I can call him if you like so he doesn’t have to hear it through gossip.”
“No,” Alana couldn’t say fast enough. Best not to encourage interaction between Egan and her aunt. “I’ll tell him.”
Of course, Loralee frowned at that, probably because she suspected there might be more than just mere conversation going on between Egan and her niece.
Loralee kept up the frown and the whispered voice when she continued. “Well, you might not be able to tell Egan in person once his leave runs out,” she went on. “I heard from Maybell that Egan will be commuting from the base to the ranch. It means he’ll be on the road back and forth a lot.”
This was the first Alana was hearing about a commute, and it made her wonder why she hadn’t heard it from Egan. That only added to her antsy uncertainty, causing her to toss in a can of bean dip and another of queso. Clearly, she was going to have to figure out a less caloric way of handling this relationship stuff.
Heck, what she had with Egan might not even qualify as a relationship.
