A Cowboy for the CEO

Chapter 14: Let Me Hear You Scream

Within five minutes of entering the fairgrounds, Ali was standing in front of a merchant booth with a straw cowboy hat on her head and Hank pulling out his credit card.

"I can't let you pay for this," she protested.

"Consider it a souvenir from the not-too-great, but completely adequate, state fair of Colorado." He handed the payment to the salesgirl.

"I'm the one who owes you for bringing me along," she said, trying to give back the hat.

"Fine." He relented. "I'll have Liz add it to your bill. She's charging you so much for the program, you won't even notice."

Shaking her head at his stubbornness, Ali bit her lip before she could reveal that he was actually sticking her company with the expense. No matter. In fact, it served Foxhall right.

After finishing the transaction, they started in the livestock barns, which—to Ali's surprise—were a huge hit with the kids. Apart from the wide selection—who knew there were over a dozen breeds of sheep in the region—there was also the unexpected entertainment factor.

Pig races and miniature-horse shows delighted the crowd, but Ali's favorite was definitely the dog rally obedience course. The skill and composure displayed by animals and handlers alike were admirable, and in spite of the fact that she was seeing the sport for the first time, she found herself cheering at each success and groaning with each fail like a lifelong fan.

The afternoon heat turned out to be brutal, and after guzzling water nonstop, the kids needed a bathroom break before entering the midway. By the time they eventually found the toilets, Sarah and Colin got sidetracked by the concession stand next door. Losing the argument that pizza on a stick was just a regular slice attached to a wooden skewer, Hank was stuck placing an order while Ali kept her eyes on the bathroom entrance.

"How about a fried pickle? You get the crunch of the batter and the sourness of the dill pickle in one bite," he said in an attempt to get her to try something more exotic than raspberry lemonade.

"Oh, really?" She questioned the over-descriptive sell. "Have you had it?"

"No, I'm just reading it off the poster." He laughed, pointing at the sign in the background.

Ali politely declined and sipped her drink, glancing toward the bathrooms, but the kids were taking their sweet time. Hank had his back to her as he leaned forward on the counter and watched the attendant prepare the food. It was the perfect time to ask the question that had been on her mind since she'd met the children that morning.

"Colin mentioned his dad earlier," she began, hoping Hank would get the hint and fill her in without too much prodding.

"Uh-huh." He didn't take his eyes off the vendor making the pizza on a stick.

Ali plowed on. "Is he still around?"

"Jason?" He turned toward her. "Yes, but why the sudden interest in the McGhee family?"

"It's more curiosity than interest, I suppose," she said with a shrug, not wanting to state the obvious that they're part of his family, too. "But I don't want to pry . . .."

Hank stared at her for a moment before clearing his throat. "He's stationed at the Air Force base up in Alaska. We see him a week every quarter," he said.

"That must be rough," she said, now understanding why he wasn't really talked about while imagining the toll of separation on Liz and the kids. "Being away from his family for so long, I mean."

"You go where they send you."

"Of course." Ali hedged. "And I guess it could be worse."

He pushed up his hat's brim with one finger. "What do you mean?" he asked.

Ali had to fight off the distraction of fully seeing his expressive eyes emerge from the shadows. So fucking hot. Glancing at her shoes to regain her train of thought, she continued. "At least he's not overseas or in a war zone."

"No, he's stuck training the guys who get to have all the fun," Hank snapped before turning back to the vendor.

She stepped to his side and touched his arm. "You're not serious, are you?" she asked, shocked at how someone could consider not being in danger a bad thing.

"Why is that so hard to believe?" He took two skewers of baked bread from the vendor. "A guy doesn't commit years of his life to becoming one of the best damned fighter pilots in the force just to be sidelined."

Puzzled by how personally he was taking the conversation— then again, he was talking about his brother-in-law—and not wanting to escalate it any further, Ali attempted to finish with something less contentious. "But you said he's teaching others, right? That's important, too."

Hank didn't get a chance to respond before the kids ran up and demanded their food. It only took Sarah one bite of the sauce-and-cheese-covered treat to admit her uncle was right and it really wasn't that great, and she handed it off to Ali in exchange for the lemonade.

Ali wasn't hungry, but she nibbled at the crust while Hank attempted to win his niece a stuffed teddy bear, first at the ring toss and then—after joking the game was rigged—at the shooting gallery. He was more successful at the latter, hitting all three targets and winning a garishly purple stuffed toy for the ecstatic kid.

"Let's go in there," Sarah pleaded when they found the Haunted House ride. The building was two stories tall and had all the expected trappings of a spooky mansion, including painted-on windows with ghostly apparitions and bloodcurdling screams coming from cheap speakers.

Seeing the short line, Hank gave in to the request. When the next train rolled up and the passengers got out, he sat in the first car with Sarah close beside him. Ali slipped into the seat behind them with Colin, and after the rest of the cars filled up, they set off with a jolt. Passing through a set of double doors, they entered the darkness and began turning through the black-light-lit attraction. Canned sound effects accompanied cheesy displays featuring the standard fare of PG-rated horror, including foam tombstones and animatronic zombies, but Ali was more interested in the cowboy up front.

The hair at the nape of his neck was neatly trimmed as it tapered off from the rest of the stylish cut. Ali imagined its soft prickle and was tempted to run her fingers up against the grain. The bench seats in the car were fairly tightly packed, and in the close quarters, she swore she could even smell his musky aftershave as the fog machines blasted an opaque mist around them. The blinking strobe lights reflected off his profile as he moved his head from side to side while pointing out the various attractions to his niece, covering him in a purple glow.

When a fluorescent skeleton popped out from a fake wall, Sarah shrieked, "I'm scared!" The little girl crouched down to make herself smaller as the prop shook and cackled.

"It's just plastic," Hank said, attempting to ease her fears, but Sarah shook her head.

"I don't like this," she cried. "I want to get out."

"Baby," Colin teased his sister, making her squirm even more.

Ali leaned forward and tapped the girl on the shoulder. "Here. Hold my hand," she offered. When Sarah reached back and gripped her fingers, she continued. "Now just close your eyes and think of what ride you want to go on after this one. Okay?"

Sarah nodded while Hank mouthed a silent thank-you. For the rest of the ride, the girl was quiet and calm, safely huddled into her uncle's side, and Ali found herself a little bit envious.