A Cowboy's Return (The McGavin Brothers #3) Read online

  “She has it handled. Zane’s still working at the stable full time.”

  “I heard he and Mandy are getting married.”

  “Yeah, never saw that coming, but I’m happy for them. Naturally Mandy helps at the ranch sometimes. Then they hired Faith when Mom broke her leg and now Cody’s back home. He and Faith—well, that’s a long story but those two hit it off. They’re putting up a little A-frame in the trees about a half-mile from the house. It’s near enough to completion that they can actually live in it.”

  “Sounds like plenty of people to keep the operation going, then.”

  “That’s what Mom said. Ah, there we go. Should be smooth sailing the rest of the way.”

  She straightened immediately. Her face had been inches from his arm, but he’d been concentrating on doing his pilot thing so he probably hadn’t noticed.

  He hung the headphones around his neck again and looked over at her. “What do you think?”

  “About what?”

  “My armband.”

  Then he’d been aware of what she was doing, after all. Her face heated. “I needed something to focus on and I picked that. It was more interesting than anything on the instrument panel.”

  “But do you like it or not?”

  The truth popped out. “It’s awesome.”

  He smiled, the first time since they’d met in the terminal. “I think so, too. I found a talented artist who understood what I was looking for. She did a great job.”

  “She sure did. It looks recent.”

  “I got it about six months ago. So many of the guys have ink and urged me to do it, but I had to wait until I had my concept and somebody who knew what a Celtic warrior’s knot was. The mountains were going to be fairly easy and most people know what an eagle is supposed to look like.”

  “But not everyone can execute all that and combine it into a cohesive design. It’s gorgeous.” He would never know about her tattoo, let alone see it. But she’d also found a talented artist and she loved the result.

  “My dad had a leather cuff with a Celtic warrior’s knot pattern on it. I asked about it years later and found out my Mom had buried it with him. I thought of having one made and then decided this was better.”

  “I think so, too.” They’d been so close their senior year—making love, sharing secrets, but she’d never heard about the leather cuff. “With a tattoo you can work in so many other elements, like the mountains and the eagle.”

  “This eagle was super important.” He glanced down and rubbed his finger over the image. “I was born in Eagles Nest. Then Zane got into raptor rehabilitation so that was another layer of significance. As if that wasn’t enough, I’ve been flying F-15 Eagles practically my entire career.”

  An involuntary shudder caught her by surprise. The Celtic warrior’s knot hadn’t freaked her out, maybe because it was an ancient symbol. And she loved eagles. But thinking of him in the cockpit of a jet fighter chilled her blood. He was here and alive, but she’d had way too many nightmares in which he was shipped home in a box.

  “That sure was a conversation stopper.” He sighed. “Sorry. I know how much you hate…hang on. Hm.” He focused on the instrument panel.

  “What?” She leaned toward the instrument panel as if she could figure out which of those confusing dials had captured his attention.

  “Tell you in a sec.” He’d put on the headset again.

  “Ryker, what is it?”

  He glanced at her. “I don’t want you to panic. I can handle this.”

  “Handle what?” Her stomach churned and she grabbed the barf bag just in case.

  “Looks like we’re gonna lose an engine.”

  She threw up into the bag.

  Chapter Two

  Ryker hated like hell to upset her, but she wasn’t an idiot. When the right engine stopped working and he had to put all his energy into flying the plane, she’d know they had problems, especially if she looked out the window and noticed the propeller wasn’t turning.

  She’d stopped retching so he lifted his butt off the seat, pulled a bandanna from his back pocket and handed it to her.

  “Thanks.”

  “Welcome.”

  “It’s comforting that you still carry a bandanna.”

  “It’s a cowboy thing.”

  “Will it fall off?”

  “What?” He kept his attention on the fuel pressure as the right engine sounded a death rattle. He’d moved into the familiar state of hypervigilance that had been his salvation during all those hours of aerial combat.

  “The engine.” She gulped. “You said we’d lose it.”

  “It’ll just quit. The fuel pump’s gone out. Fortunately, it’s the engine on the starboard side, which is less critical.”

  “That’s the one near me, isn’t it? I hear it struggling.”

  “Don’t worry. We can make it on one engine.”

  “Won’t we fly in a circle?”

  Despite the tense situation, he smiled at her conclusion. It was perfectly logical if not aeronautically correct. “Not if I can help it.” She needed something to do, though. “Still got your safe travel crystal?”

  “In my pocket.”

  “Well, get it out.”

  “Excellent idea.” Her voice sounded stronger, more ready to face this challenge.

  “And grab my hat. It’s behind my seat.”

  She leaned over. “Got it. Are you going to wear it?”

  “Won’t work with my headset. I was thinking you could put it on.”

  “Why?”

  “It’s my lucky hat.”

  “All right, then.”

  “Thanks.” From the corner of his eye he watched her take down her ponytail so she could put on the hat. Yeah, that had been the right move. She was breathing normally again.

  She looked over at him. “We’ll be fine.”

  “Absolutely.” He felt the engine go. “Okay, April. Get that crystal working. Next stop, Kalispell.”

  He blocked out everything except the task at hand. He sweet-talked that Beechcraft into cooperating and she responded like the valiant aircraft she was. By the time he was in radio contact with Glacier International, his t-shirt was soaked through. He apprised the tower of their situation, said a little prayer and activated the emergency hydraulics. The landing gear and the flaps came down on schedule. Hallelujah. Forty-three minutes and twenty-two seconds on one engine. He’d prefer not to do that again.

  The landing was far from perfect, but he sighed with relief as he taxied past the emergency vehicles parked beside the runway. Wouldn’t need ‘em.

  The ground crew directed him to his tie-down. Switching off that hard-working port engine, he removed his headset and turned to April. “We did it.”

  “You did it.” She looked a little pale and shaky, but basically okay.

  “Team effort. You had that crystal.”

  “And you. I had you.” There was a bit of hero worship in her expression.

  In any other context, they would have bonded over this experience. But years of pain couldn’t be wiped out just because he’d brought the plane in for a safe landing. “You need to get to your sister.”

  Her eyes widened as if she’d just remembered why she was sitting in his plane. “Leigh. I need to call and see what’s happening. My phone…”

  “Is probably in your backpack.”

  “It is.”

  “Let’s go. You can make your call once we’re in the terminal.” He climbed out and spoke briefly with the ground crew before grabbing her backpack and escorting her into Glacier Jet’s facility. He’d been here a couple of times and had been impressed with how well the staff treated everyone, from the high rollers flying private jets to guys like him with a thirty-year-old Beechcraft.

  The maintenance crew could fix his plane, but the terminal was busier than he’d ever seen it. The Northwest Montana Fair and Rodeo had been a big deal when he was a teenager. Logically it had grown since then. He’d likely be stuck here for a few hours, if not longer.

  He glanced at April. “While you make your call, I’ll ask how soon they can replace my fuel pump.”

  “It’s already past five. I can’t believe you’ll get out of here tonight.”

  “We’ll see. I’ll be back.”

  “Want your hat?”

  “Keep it for now.”

  “Okay.” She plopped into a chair. “I’ll be right here.”

  It didn’t take him long to find out that the maintenance crew had its hands full. With luck, they could check out his plane in the morning but they couldn’t guarantee he’d be able to fly out tomorrow. He returned to the spot where he’d left April.

  She was on her feet, pacing as she talked on the phone. His hat looked damned cute on her. He should get it back. He couldn’t afford to be charmed.

  She glanced at him as she continued to talk. “I’ll get there as soon as I can. Right. I’ll let him know that.” She disconnected the call. “What did they say?”

  “That they couldn’t get to it until morning.”

  “With all the activity around here, that makes sense.”

  “You said you’d booked a rental. If you’d be willing to drop me at a hotel on your way, I can—“

  “You’ll be lucky if any hotel or motel has a vacant broom closet. I figured you’d be stuck here overnight and Mom invited you to stay at their house.”

  “Uh, no, that’s okay.” He glanced around the terminal to evaluate potential sleeping space. A row of three armless chairs might work. “I’ll just hang out here.”

  “That’s a terrible idea.”

  “Seriously, I don’t want to put your folks to any trouble.” Or get any more enmeshed in your life.

  “It’s no trouble. They have two extra bedroom
s now that Leigh and I have moved out. If you try to wedge yourself on those chairs, you’ll be crippled by morning.”

  “Not necessarily.”

  She sighed. “Yes, you will. Besides, Mom is grateful that you brought me up here and wants to offer you a place to sleep.”

  “But—“

  “It’s the sensible solution, Ryker. Come with me and stay with my folks. Please.”

  She was right about the chairs and his reluctance was beginning to sound like paranoia, cowardice or both. Her parents had always been nice to him. He hadn’t seen them since the breakup, but they’d invited him to stay and refusing would border on rudeness. “All right. Thank you.”

  “You’re welcome.” She took off his hat. “Here you go, cowboy.”

  That simple phrase hit him in the gut. She used to call him cowboy all the time when they were going together. Then, because fate could be cruel, his squadron had decided to nickname him Cowboy.

  They’d been determined about it. He was from Montana and could ride and rope, so the nickname made sense to them. But every damned time they’d called him that he’d thought of April.

  She headed for the rental car counter and he followed. She probably had no idea she’d landed a body blow and she wouldn’t find out, either. He put on his hat and tugged down the brim. He could tolerate anything for a few hours. Tomorrow morning they’d fix his Beechcraft and send him on his way.

  Twenty minutes later he wedged himself into the passenger seat of the tiniest car he’d ever had the misfortune to ride in. His hat brushed the headliner so he took it off. Even with the seat all the way back his legs were crunched.

  “It’s all they had.” April gave him a look of sympathy as she put her hair back into a ponytail. “I know you’re squished.”

  “It’s only temporary.”

  “Thank goodness.” She put the car in gear. “You’re okay with going straight to Leigh’s house, right?”

  “Sure, but shouldn’t we go to the hospital if she’s already in labor?”

  “She isn’t at the hospital.” She pulled out into traffic.

  “Why not?”

  “She’s having her baby at home, with a midwife.”

  “She is?”

  “You sound shocked.”

  “I just…it never occurred to me. I thought we’d be going to the hospital.” Where he’d sit in the waiting room, call his mom to let her know he wouldn’t be home tonight, and read whatever magazines they had lying around until the baby was born. He wouldn’t have had to participate in any of it.

  “Leigh and John always planned on a home birth unless complications developed. Mom said everything’s proceeding as it should.”

  “So she’ll have the baby…where? In their bedroom?” The idea made his stomach churn.

  “I’m pretty sure that’s the plan, although she could set up anywhere in the house because she’s using a birthing stool.”

  “I have no idea what that is.” And he didn’t care to learn. If it turned out that Leigh was having that baby in the living room he’d tough it out in this sardine can of a vehicle rather than go into the house.

  “There are several different designs, but a stool allows a woman to give birth in a squatting position instead of lying on a bed. It’s an old technique that’s coming back into favor.”

  He let out a breath. “I see.”

  “My dad and John are registered nurses so they’ll be monitoring the situation. They—oh, Ryker, poor guy. You should see your face.”

  “What about my face?”

  “Clearly you’re put off by this whole thing.”

  “It doesn’t seem quite safe. But then, I have no experience with babies, let alone having them on stools and such. When my mom brought Cody home from the hospital I thought she’d gone to the baby store and picked him off a shelf. I still cling to that image.”

  “Hey, I apologize. I’m so happy about this birth and so used to being around people in nursing that I forget not everybody is comfortable talking about the process.”

  “Not my favorite topic.”

  “I also might have been guilty of thinking that you’d be different, now. I mean, you’ve been through a lot…”

  “Believe it or not, I never got over being squeamish. Good thing I was a pilot. Didn’t have to deal with it as much.”

  “Then I can see why you wouldn’t want to be anywhere near this event.”

  “I’d rather not.” Only a few people knew that he had a queasy stomach. April was one of them. And the sight of blood was his kryptonite. Somehow he’d managed to play high school football and serve in the Air Force with only a couple of incidents. Blood made him faint. She’d never seen him do it, but his brothers said it was like a giant redwood crashing to the ground.

  “Tell you what. Leigh and John have a front porch, so you don’t have to come in. That will remove the risk that you’d accidentally see something that would bother you. You can sit out there until it’s all over. From what my mom was saying it won’t be long.”

  “Then I’ll take that option.” He relaxed. “Do they know if they’re having a boy or a girl?”

  “No. They wanted to wait.”

  At last something he could agree with. “I like that idea.”

  “I know.”

  “How do you…” It came to him the minute he started to ask the question. They’d talked about it. They’d discussed how many children was a good number and had settled on two. They’d agreed it would be more fun if they didn’t know the baby’s sex in advance. They’d laughed about the likelihood that he’d faint in the delivery room and had decided he couldn’t be there.

  They’d been sitting at the soda fountain in the Pills and Pop drugstore having hot fudge sundaes. Her hair had been longer, almost to her waist. She’d been wearing the light blue sweatshirt he’d given her with the ENHS Golden Eagles logo on the front.

  “We’re here.”

  He refocused on his surroundings—the driveway of a one-story house with dark brown shingles and white trim. And a front porch.

  She glanced over at him. “That drugstore discussion was a long time ago.”

  “Yes.” But it seemed like yesterday.

  “I need to go in.” She opened her door. “The porch chairs are comfy. I’ll let you know when the coast is clear.”

  “I don’t have to come in at all, you know. I can wait until you’re ready to leave.”

  “You don’t want to see the baby later?”

  How could he say no to that? “You’re right. Sure. I’d love to see the baby.”

  “Don’t worry. I’ll make sure there’s no blood on her.”

  “I thought they didn’t know what they were having.”

  “They don’t and neither do I, for sure. It’s just my auntie’s intuition that they’ll have a girl.” She got out and pulled her backpack from the miniscule rear seat. “See you soon.”

  She dashed up the front steps, her ponytail swinging. She was excited about Leigh’s baby. She’d been excited talking about the babies they’d planned to have, too. She’d seemed eager to be a mom at eighteen and yet she didn’t have kids yet. Or a husband. Maybe she’d changed her mind, but whether she had or not was none of his business.

  Once she was inside the house with the door closed, he extricated himself from the itty-bitty car and put on his hat. Then he walked around the grassy yard and stretched to work out some of the kinks. His shoulder ached, which was normal after a flight, especially one involving broken fuel pumps and costly repair bills.

  The bullet he’d taken three months ago had done a number on his shoulder on its way through. The doctors had predicted he wouldn’t be pain-free for a while, at least a year and maybe longer. He hadn’t planned to tell his family about the incident but then Cody had punched him playfully in the shoulder one evening and he’d flinched. Now his brothers all knew about it but his mom hadn’t been around for either the punch or the reveal. They’d all agreed that news of his injury could wait.

  Speaking of his mom, he should call her. Pulling out his phone, he continued to walk around the yard while he waited for her to answer. When she did, he heard eighties music and laughter in the background. “Hey, Mom! Party time?”

  “It’s Whine and Cheese Club night. Deidre’s showing us some new belly dance moves.”

  He smiled. “Sorry I’m not there to see that.” Those five women always had a blast. Three were his mom’s high school friends and the fourth was Aunt Jo, Mandy’s mom. Aunt Jo wasn’t really his aunt but he’d known her most of his life and she’d be officially related once Mandy and Zane got married next month. “Tell everybody hi for me.”