By Request Collection April-June 2016. Оливия Гейтс

She stared back without so much as blinking. “I’m not lying. I’m not hiding a thing. Not anymore. Not ever again.”

      She continued to study him, but gave him no feedback. The past couple of years had probably taught her how to do that. To push everything down. Trouble was, he’d seen the true Annie, the joy of her, the passion.

      Her gaze dropped, as did her shoulders. “I suppose I have to trust someone,” she said.

      Tucker wanted to kiss her as badly as he’d ever wanted anything. For now, though, he made do with a simple, “Thank you.”

       16

      LESS THAN AN HOUR LATER, Annie explained the situation to Jesse and Shea as Tucker brewed a second pot of coffee. Before they’d arrived, he’d made sandwiches and ensured Annie ate by silently pushing food in front of her until she did something about it.

      Despite the seriousness of the conversation and her own disquiet, she couldn’t help but find his actions thoughtful and sweet. Each kind or protective thing he did or said kept tipping her more toward his side. The lie rankled—of course it did—but it wasn’t easy to keep throwing stones from her own glass house.

      “I’ll be just outside,” he said. “I need to make a couple of calls.”

      “More secrets?” The words were out before she could think, but she was still hurting and she wasn’t sorry she said them.

      “No, Annie.” He touched her shoulder, gave it a squeeze. She felt it all the way to her toes. His pull on her was stronger than she knew how to handle. It scared her as much as it comforted. “Want me to call from right here?”

      She shook her head sadly. She’d agreed to trust him.

      When he closed the door, she turned to her friends. Real friends. “I’m sorry.”

      “For what?” Jesse asked.

      “Involving you. If what Tucker believes is true, someone could come looking for me.”

      He smiled at her with that slow McAllister grin. “They’d have to get past a whole lot of cowboys first.”

      Was it foolish that her heart seemed to swell in her chest? Probably.

      “You should listen to Tucker,” Shea said. “Let his attorney advise you.”

      “I don’t want to be in his debt. I’ll have no way of repaying him.”

      “You think he’d want you to worry about that?”

      The way Shea looked at her made Annie pause. When her friend was being truly herself, she hid very little. The question she asked wasn’t nearly as telling as the surprise in her expression. “He’s not Prince Charming, Shea. We barely know each other. Whether he worries about it or not, I pay my debts.”

      Shea turned to Jesse, then back to Annie. “If his lawyer didn’t have New York connections, I would have suggested mine. I still might. And I wouldn’t take a penny from you.”

      Annie didn’t know what to do with herself. Friends weren’t this overwhelmingly wonderful. Not in her experience. Even before all of this, she’d had girlfriends. She missed her roommate from college, and Annie had been the maid of honor at her high school BFF’s wedding. This was in a different league. “Thank you,” she said. “But I don’t get it. None of you seem to realize that I’m in this terrible situation because I was too focused on getting ahead. Why are you being so nice?”

      “Your actions,” Jesse said. “Everything you’ve done since you came to Blackfoot Falls has been admirable. We’re not just hicks with rose-colored Stetsons.” He smiled, even made her lips tilt up a little. “You made some mistakes, but you’ve sacrificed enough, Annie. Let us help you. Let Tucker help you. He’s a decent man.”

      “You barely know him.”

      Another one of those sly grins stole over Jesse’s face. “But I know people who know him. Who’ve done business with him. I checked him out every way but Sunday before you got to Kalispell. That wasn’t just about you, either. Safe Haven means a lot to Shea. To this community.”

      With that little nugget, Annie was officially dumbfounded. She appreciated everything being offered to her, but she wasn’t about to let their generosity make up her mind for her.

      Shea and Jesse assured her they didn’t mind taking care of the sanctuary until things got straightened around. They’d even promised to line up more help, swearing that everyone who knew her would lend a hand.

      As for what she was going to do about lawyers and district attorneys and Tucker…She had no idea. What she wanted to do was crawl into bed and pull the covers up over her head. The problem was, she wanted Tucker to be in the bed with her.

      The man himself chose that moment to come back into the cabin. “I spoke to Peter, my attorney. I’ll email him what I can, but the quicker I can courier the rest of my files to him, the better. I won’t be long. Maybe four hours total.” He looked at Shea, then Jesse. “You guys okay with that?”

      “No problem,” Jesse said. “I’ll call the Sundance so nobody worries.”

      “Great.” Tucker pulled his car keys out, and Annie had about enough.

      She stood, her body thrumming with electricity. “Wait a minute. Just…wait. Quit making decisions for me, all of you. I’m not a damsel in distress. I need time to think. So just quit it. I need to do my evening rounds, and I’m late for that already.”

      “Maybe I could do your rounds with you?” Shea asked after a very awkward silence.

      Annie’s self-righteous anger withered, replaced by weary confusion. “Sorry. It’s just…It’s a lot to take in, and the last time I made a rash decision I hurt a lot of people.”

      Shea nodded. “So we’ll talk. As long as you want.”

      “I’ve got you covered outside,” Jesse said.

      Tucker moved closer to her, but he didn’t touch. “And I’ve got to leave. Please, just hang tight. We’ll work things out, I promise.”

      Annie thought of not saying anything, letting Tucker believe what he wanted, but she couldn’t. “I’ll give it twenty-four hours. You know my priorities, and if we don’t have more information by then, I’m going to the D.A.”

      He opened his mouth, but Annie’s raised hand stopped him. “I know you mean well. But this is my mess.” She closed the distance between them and put her hand on his chest. “Turning myself in would solve a lot of problems. You know that.”

      “If Christian is at the bottom of this—”

      “Then the authorities will take care of it. But I can’t sit back and watch you twist yourself in knots to save my hide.”

      “Twenty-four hours?”

      She nodded.

      His pursed lips told her he didn’t like it. She could tell by his jaw the moment he decided not to argue with her. When he leaned down to kiss her, the touch of his lips was as wonderful as it was puzzling. The chaos she’d created kept on growing, spreading over people she cared too much about. When Tucker pulled back it was clear he didn’t want to leave. But he let her go, then held the door for Jesse.

      Annie slowly turned, meaning to get another cup of coffee. Meaning to have a heart-to-heart with Shea. What she did instead was sit down on the nearest chair and fall apart.

      TUCKER HATED LEAVING, BUT AT least Annie wouldn’t be alone. He knew nothing was going to happen to her tonight, but that didn’t lessen his worry.

      “I’m sorry about your brother,” Jesse said, stopping near the Land Rover.

      Nodding,