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In fact, this whole shitstorm could end up getting a whole lot worse if word got out that Jack had had an affair and fathered a child. That would throw Alana right into the mix of the gossip and the fresh grief.
“I need to check on my dad,” Egan muttered to Alana. “Any chance you’d go with me for that?”
Of course, she shook her head again. “I think I just need a minute or two to myself.”
That came as no surprise, but he didn’t like the idea of leaving her. Especially not leaving her alone with Melinda. The woman didn’t seem to have malicious intentions, but she could still carve out more pieces of Alana if she went on and on about how much Jack had loved his wife.
Egan stared at Melinda until she came to the right conclusion. “I’ll just be going,” she said. She opened her mouth as if about to add more, but Egan’s stare must have changed her mind about that, too, because she muttered, “Again, I’m sorry,” before she left the office, shutting the door behind her.
Egan pulled Alana even closer to him, trying to give her whatever he could to help ease the pain she had to be feeling. He expected her to break down and cry. Or curse and yell.
But that didn’t happen.
She stayed in his arms for a couple of minutes, and then she eased back to meet his gaze. There were no tears in her eyes now. Just a whole lot of sadness that cut him to the bone.
“You should go see your father,” she insisted. “I’ll be okay.”
That last part had to be a lie. Well, a lie at the moment, anyway. Alana had already been through hell and back, and while this would no doubt be a serious setback, she would weather it.
Just not today.
“Go see your father,” Alana repeated. “We can talk after you’ve got him back home.” She checked the time and did do some cursing. “Or maybe after the life celebration.”
Of course, she’d still insist on going to that. He would, too, but Egan hoped it would be short appearances for both of them.
He wasn’t going to think about how the next couple of days would play out if Melinda did tell Tilly about her having Jack’s son. For now, he was just going to get through the morning and life celebration, and then he could try to help Alana deal with all of this.
“I’ll be right back,” he assured her. Though, he wasn’t sure how he was going to manage that, but he’d work out something with Blue and his dad.
Egan looked down at her, giving her one last check to see if those tears had started. They hadn’t. So he dropped a kiss on her mouth and hurried out, hoping to quickly resolve things with his dad so he could get back to her.
He hurried away from her office and around the hall to his dad’s room, and he spotted Blue on the phone outside the door. Blue spotted him, too, and finished up the call right away.
“Dad’s on the phone with Audrey,” Blue explained. “I thought I’d give them a minute or two.” He stopped and looked at Egan. “Is everything all right?”
Obviously, Alana wasn’t the only one who looked shell-shocked from Melinda’s confession. “Tough day,” Egan settled for saying.
“Does it have anything to do with the woman who showed up at the ranch this morning?” Blue asked, and then he added. “That was Granny Effie on the phone. She saw you drive away with her, and she was worried about you. She wondered if the woman had anything to do with Tilly’s visit to the sheriff’s office.”
Egan shook his head. “What visit to the sheriff’s office?”
Blue huffed and clearly wasn’t happy about being the messenger for this. “Tilly wanted to get the sheriff to file charges against you for endangering Jack’s life. She’s apparently already written a letter to your commander, asking for the same thing. She wants you charged and court-martialed.”
“Oh, for Pete’s sake,” Egan grumbled.
A couple of weeks ago, Egan would have believed wholeheartedly that he deserved those charges. That was despite his being cleared of any wrongdoing during the official military investigation of Jack’s death. He’d never felt as if he deserved total absolution, but he was getting damn tired of Tilly coming at him like this. Didn’t the woman know that nothing she did was going to bring back her son? And that all these angry maneuvers would only end up hurting Alana by constantly bringing up the past?
“No, the visitor doesn’t have anything to do with that,” Egan said, and he decided to go with the condensed version. “That was the woman Jack had an affair with.”
“Oh,” was all Blue said for several moments while he clearly tried to process that. “And this woman...” He waved that off. “How’s Alana?”
“It’s been a tough day,” Egan repeated. “In fact, I need to ask you a favor. Will you still be able to make your flight if you take Dad home? If not, I’ll see if Jesse can do it.”
“I can take him,” Blue insisted, “and if I miss my flight, I’ll just get another one.” He paused. “Exactly how tough is it for Alana?”
Egan had a quick debate and went with the truth. “This woman who showed up says she’s the mother of Jack’s son.”
“Holy shit,” Blue said. “You believe her?”
