By Request Collection April-June 2016. Оливия Гейтс

Do you see? I have to do what’s right, now. Because I didn’t before.”

      He wanted to argue with her. Tell her she was taking things too far. But that wasn’t true. This―the coffee can, the savings account, her crusade to save all the animals― it’s who she was. Maybe she hadn’t been that before, but she was now. This was the woman he’d fallen in love with.

      He put his hand on the can, and she nodded, giving him permission to put it down by the side of the bed. Then he helped her crawl underneath the blankets, where he pulled her into his arms. When they were entwined, he breathed again. Felt right again.

      And he knew he would do whatever it took to protect her. To keep her just as she was.

       17

      “SO YOU DECIDED TO GO TO Dallas with him,” Shea said, looking as if she hadn’t gotten much sleep the night before. That probably had something to do with the fact that she and Jesse had arrived at six-thirty.

      Annie had slept surprisingly well in Tucker’s arms. In fact, all they had done was sleep. And although the day ahead frightened her to death, she felt all right. “He’s put himself on the line for me,” she said. “I have to give him the same courtesy.”

      “Have to?”

      Annie smiled. “You’re the slyest devil I know. No. I want to. If all the rest of this madness weren’t going on, I’m pretty sure I’d be over the moon with happiness.”

      “People say, ‘This, too, shall pass.’”

      “People can be idiots. But in this case, I hope they’re right. I don’t want to hide anymore.”

      “Of course you don’t.” Shea nodded at the suitcase on Annie’s bed. “That’s all you’re taking?”

      “That’s all I’ve got. I didn’t leave with much to begin with, then had no place to store anything that wasn’t useful.”

      “You should have said. I would have brought some things for you to wear. Maybe not my clothes, because they wouldn’t fit, but we could have come up with something.”

      “I’ll be fine.”

      “You’re right. You will be.”

      Annie closed the suitcase and turned to her friend. “I’m only able to do this because of you guys.”

      “It’s everyone, Annie. We want you to be free and clear, here because you want to be. In the meantime, I’ve got Melanie and Levi and Kathy to help out. And Will, of course. Then there’s all of them from the Sundance, and Matt’s volunteered a bunch of manpower from the Lone Wolf. So don’t fret. We’ve got it covered, no matter what.”

      “Just know that I appreciate it deeply. That I’d hug you so hard if we were huggers.”

      Shea laughed. “You are a good friend.”

      “Hey,” Tucker called up the stairs. “You need my help?”

      “Nope,” Annie called back. “Fair warning, though. If there’s no more coffee, you guys are toast.” She picked up her suitcase and looked around the room, hoping like hell she’d see it, and the people of Blackfoot Falls, again.

      DURING THE DRIVE AND ALL through the flight, they talked about school and sports and old friends and lovers. Family, too, but only about the past. Nothing about what they were facing. And they touched. A lot. After they landed in Dallas, he pointed out landmarks on the drive to his downtown condo, but she barely looked out the window, preferring to watch him.

      “I’ll give you a quick tour,” Tucker said when they arrived, putting his Stetson on a peg by the door. It was the only overt sign that a rancher lived in his gorgeous seventh-floor condo. The motif was black and white with startling splashes of color and an ebony stone floor. It was so spacious that she could completely walk around every piece of furniture.

      She lingered over the stunning view, then admired all three bedrooms and the big kitchen. It didn’t hurt that he had a whirlpool tub that could comfortably hold them both.

      Annie felt suspended between worlds. She’d never been to Texas, and already it felt foreign. The accents were strong, the humidity reminiscent of summertime on the east coast, but the air was different. Neiman Marcus was a hell of a lot bigger and ritzier than Abe’s Variety, and while she appreciated the luxury and flash of the city, it was intimidating, as well. Dallas was a long way from the Canadian border.

      Despite the lack of Western decor, Tucker belonged there. He eased her nerves with a cold beer and then made a quick call to a nearby Chinese place. She had to admit, takeout was something she’d missed a lot.

      When they were unpacked in the master suite and seated at the dining room table, the reason for her visit came to roost. Made it kind of hard to enjoy the dumplings and Peking duck.

      “I’ll call Peter, as promised,” Tucker said, “but I’m not expecting miracles. He’s barely had a chance to make it through the paperwork.”

      She nodded. “When are you going to your ranch?”

      “That depends on you. I’d like to go in the morning. It’s not going to be an easy conversation, and I don’t want to rush it.”

      “Okay, that’s fair. I’ll wait, then, to make my decision. But I have to warn you, as much as I appreciate your situation, I’m still having trouble seeing any other solution.”

      He inhaled, ready to give a speech that he clearly cut off before the first word. Several seconds passed before he began again. “You know what I know,” he said. “I’ve already made sure that the plane is being serviced and refueled. If you want to go to New York as early as tomorrow evening, that’s fine. I won’t try to persuade you any more than I already have. Except for one last thing…”

      She nodded, equally afraid that he’d change her mind and that he wouldn’t.

      Tucker put his hand on hers, and she rested her chopsticks on her plate, giving him her complete attention. “Somewhere in that mix of what you need to do,” he said, “and what you want to do, and how you think this needs to play out, please consider the undeniable fact that I’ve fallen in love with you.”

      The rug swooped out from under her. Her few sips of beer seemed to have made her drunk, and she forgot, while his eyes peered into her own, that she could breathe.

      A moment later, the earth turned as if it had never stopped. “Oh, Tucker,” her voice shaky. “That was below the belt.”

      “I know. That’s why I said it. I want you with me, Annie. Somehow. I don’t know what it can look like yet—there’s too much chaff to find the wheat—but I won’t let this end without a fight. I love you.”

      “You can’t.” She adamantly shook her head. “You don’t know me well enough.” Of course she’d already admitted to herself and Shea that she’d gone ahead and fallen for him. But that was different. She saw so clearly the kind of man Tucker was. What woman wouldn’t fall for him? He was loyal, thoughtful, smart, great looking….

      God, what was she doing here with him. No, what was he doing with her?

      “Annie?”

      “What?”

      “Stop thinking so hard.” He smiled when she sniffed. “Look, I have something else I need to come clean about,” he said, and the fear edged back inside her. “I know you better than you think I do. The files on the embezzlement and your background that I sent to Peter? They’re very comprehensive.” He looked closely at her, waited while she processed what he was saying. “That’s part of the reason I knew right away you weren’t the woman Christian described.”

      “How much exactly did that private detective