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smiled at him. “I can tell you’re treating her right. She’s really happy.”
    “I hope so.” Gabe turned and hooked his hat on a rack standing beside the front door. “We didn’t plan for her to get pregnant this quick, but…” He shrugged.
    “She doesn’t seem to mind a bit.”
    Gabe scrubbed a hand through his hair, which bore the imprint of his hat. “No, she really doesn’t, and I can’t tell you how relieved I am about that. When we first got together she wasn’t sure she ever wanted kids.” He glanced over at Alex. “Looks like the two of you were headed outside.”
    “That was the plan,” Alex said.
    “Then you’d better get going. The clouds are moving in.”
    “We’ll go fast,” Tyler said. “I just want a quick overview.”
    Gabe looked puzzled. “Of what?”
    “She’s going to save my ass,” Alex said. “Some of my plans for tomorrow have fallen through, but as luck would have it, an activities director from a major cruise line just showed up and offered to help me put on this shindig.”
    “That’s the Chance luck working for you,” Gabe said.
    “But I’m not a Chance.”
    Gabe clapped him on the shoulder. “You’re part of the family, so that makes you an honorary Chance. As such, you might as well learn the family motto handed down from Grandpa Archie.”
    “Which is?”
    “Chance men are lucky when it counts.”
    Alex sent the briefest glance toward Tyler. “Thanks. I’ll keep that in mind.”
    Tyler waited until they were out the door and standing on the covered porch before she commented. “I saw that look.”
    “What look?” Alex had grabbed a gray-felt cowboy hat from the same rack Gabe had used. Holding it by the crown, he settled it on his head with practiced ease.
    “The look you gave me when Gabe told you about the family motto. Just to be clear, the motto is ‘Chance men are lucky,’ not ‘Chance men get lucky.’” But, oh, man, he’d increased his odds exponentially by adding the hat. She couldn’t say what it was about a guy in a Stetson, but wearing one sure did multiply the sexy factor.
    Alex laughed. “What made you think I had any such thoughts?”
    “Are you saying you didn’t?”
    He gazed at her for a moment before answering with a brief smile. Then he turned to study the darkening sky. A tug on the brim of his hat brought it lower over his eyes. “We need to take that tour of the ranch ASAP before the storm hits.”
    Tyler’s breath caught. The hat was a sexy addition, but when Alex took hold of the brim and pulled it down, she melted. One little innocent gesture created a soulstirring image of courage and purpose, of protecting the weak, and shoot-outs in the middle of a dusty street at high noon.
    That simple movement made Alex seem more focused and intense, even a little bit dangerous. No doubt about it, there was something compelling about a guy wearing a cowboy hat. For a gorgeous specimen like Alex, it was almost overkill.
    She took a deep breath of air that already smelled of rain. “Lead on.” She followed him down the porch steps.
    Once they moved away from the shelter of the two-story ranch house, the wind cut through the light cotton of her T-shirt.
    “The hands set up bleachers over by the largest corral.” Alex pointed to a spot where a small set of metal bleachers had been erected. “I’d planned to protect the guests with a canopy, but now I only have one, and the food and beverages should be under cover, either for shade or rain protection.”
    “Let’s check out the barn.” She started toward the large hip-roofed structure that was the biggest building on the property outside of the main house. “There should be places in there where people can get in out of the rain.”
    “At least it’s clean as a whistle. The hands have been working on it all day. They’ll go through again first thing in the morning, but they’ve put down fresh straw everywhere and set out some fresh hay bales which can be used for