He certainly couldn’t pass the word through her father, and she must have known that.
“You could have figured it out,” she snapped back. “Before I made a fool of myself.”
“You’re no fool,” he protested automatically.
He never guessed she had known about the death notification from the military. Tyler had asked to list her father’s firm on his papers as next of kin because he didn’t want to disturb his mother in prison. The man had reluctantly agreed. That’s why Mr. Brighton had known to meet Tyler’s plane when he got back from Afghanistan. He never thought anyone but the office staff had ever known or cared about the notification.
Tyler reached out to retrieve his hat from Angelina, but had completely forgotten about his left hand. So when he went to grip the hat, he couldn’t grab hold of the brim. Before he could stop it, the Stetson floated to the ground again.
“Oh.” He heard a gasp and looked up.
“Why, you’re hurt,” she whispered, her voice thick with pity. All of the color rushed back into her face.
Tyler looked down at his hand. The nerves had been damaged and the skin was still puckered red from the burn. His whole hand had a tendency to swell in the heat and look puffy. He planned to start physical therapy after he got Angelina back home.
“I’m fine,” he said because he didn’t know what else to say.
By now, the sheriff’s car had pulled up on the other side of Angelina’s convertible. As the man in the patrol car stepped closer, Tyler realized it was Sheriff Carl Wall. He looked just the same. Then Tyler noticed the sheriff held the leash of a brown dog that had a pink ribbon draped around its neck. At least that was something new. The lawman hadn’t been in charge of animal control duty before.
The canine whimpered a little in the silence. Tyler wondered if the dog sensed the tension.
If there was one person Tyler had never wanted to see again it was Sheriff Wall. The last time Tyler had set eyes on him had been a cold winter day. The sheriff had come out to the Stone ranch and helped carry his father’s murdered body out of the barn. Then he had turned right around and arrested Tyler’s mother.
“I heard rumors you were in the military,” the lawman finally said, rocking back on his heels. “Special Ops, I thought it was. Run into problems?”
“Nothing I couldn’t handle.” Tyler didn’t want sympathy from the sheriff or Angelina so he unlatched the door to his pickup and started to open it. “And I got out of the service a week ago.”
The door of Tyler’s pickup swung wide. When he had room, he stepped to the ground and reached out with his right hand to pick up his hat. He brushed the Stetson against the sides of his jeans.
Tyler couldn’t stop his left hand from trembling.
Just then the dog walked over to smell Tyler’s boots.
“Come back here, Prince,” the sheriff commanded with a tug on the animal’s leash.
The dog just raised its head and stared at the lawman.
“What kind of name is Prince for a dog like this anyway?” Tyler asked as he bent down to scratch the canine behind its ears. He was at a loss as to what to say to Angelina, but he didn’t want her to leave either. “Looks more like a mutt to me.”
“It’s a stray,” the sheriff replied with a shrug.
“Prince is my dog now,” Angelina interrupted them both as she took a step closer. “And I thought he needed a boost to his self-esteem after being on his own so I named him Prince Charming.”
“I shortened it to Prince,” the sheriff hastened to add.
“So what did Prince do to earn a ride in the county car?” Tyler asked, letting go of the dog and standing up.
“Prince ran away,” Angelina answered, her voice wavering a little. “The sheriff called me to come get him.”
Tyler had heard that little hitch in her voice before and he knew what it meant. Without thinking, he did what he always did. He turned to pat her shoulder with his right arm. Unfortunately, he wasn’t as smooth with his movements as he used to be and somehow the pat turned into a hug and, before he knew it, Angelina was sobbing against his shirt and he had his arm around her like he had the right. That’s when he forgot himself and kissed the top of her head, right where she parted her golden hair. She smelled of coconut and sunshine so he breathed deep. He looked up to see the sheriff watching.
Tyler glared at the man.
“Hey.” The lawman held up his hands in surrender. “I never come between—” He paused and thought a moment. “What are you two anyway? Boyfriend and girlfriend?”
Angelina gasped and looked up. “Certainly not.”
Her cheeks flamed.
“She was my employer,” Tyler said. “The daughter of my employer, I mean.”
“He saved my life,” Angelina added and burst into a whole new set of tears. “And now—I’ve killed him.”
She stepped away from him at that.
“What?” Tyler blinked. He knew Angelina didn’t always describe exactly what she meant. That was part of her charm. But she made a pretty bold statement for an unarmed woman who couldn’t even see clear enough through her tears to do any damage to a fly.
He looked to her for further explanation and all she did was hiccup.
“I think she means there’s an event planned in your honor for this evening,” the sheriff finally said with a grin. “I hadn’t thought I’d go, but I just might show up. Should prove interesting.”
“I was making those little quiches,” Angelina added in a soft voice. She looked up at him and her eyes shimmered. “The tiny ones, you know—and homemade, not the frozen kind. They’re lots of work. And some sausage-stuffed mushrooms, too. That’s why Prince got away. I couldn’t cook and watch him at the same time.” Her eyes brightened. “I’ve been the relief cook for the Elkton ranch for a month now. It’ll be another month until the regular cook comes back. The ranch has ovens big enough for the appetizers so I volunteered to make them there.”
“You have a job?” He was dumbfounded. Tyler had thought her father must be wrong when he told him that. With her trust fund, Angelina had enough money to live like a princess. “Why?”
“Everyone needs to contribute to the world,” she said, squaring her shoulders.
Tyler lifted his eyebrow. The Angelina he remembered had never worried about the good of the world.
“Jesus didn’t sit around doing nothing,” she added, as if he hadn’t heard her the first time.
“You mean you cook for the church parties?” Tyler asked, figuring that must be her latest passion. Maybe she made appetizers and folded napkins and offered up some kind of a prayer for a ladies tea or something. “The ranch cook has to feed the cowboys and, when they’ve been working, they eat like a pack of wild animals. You can’t be doing that job.”
She didn’t respond, but she looked like she was gathering her defenses.
“So, you’re giving me a party?” Tyler offered her an olive branch. He was rather fond of those little quiches anyway and wouldn’t mind eating a few. He supposed it didn’t matter who Angelina was cooking for. It wouldn’t last. She’d be on to something new before long.
That’s when a realization hit him. “But nobody knew I was coming.”
Not that he couldn’t appreciate a welcome-home party as much as the next guy, but he hadn’t been back in the States long enough to contact anyone but his employer. And nobody in the