“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, Tucker met Jesse’s gaze, surprised at the ease between them. It felt as if time had accelerated since he’d arrived in Montana. “You know what’s odd? Annie’s become really important to me. I hate that my brother’s involved in this, and God knows it’s going to hurt like hell to tell my mother, but I need to make sure nothing happens to Annie.” Exhaling, he shoved a hand through his hair. “I don’t mean to sound like an uncaring bastard. My mother’s been depressed since my father died, and of course I’ll continue to be there for her… .”
“But you keep circling back to Annie?”
“Yeah. As if we’d been together for years, not days. Listen.” He looked at the cabin, then back at Jesse. “This is going to sound nuts, and I swear there isn’t anything to make me believe she’s in danger here, but if anything should happen while I’m gone—”
“I’ll take care of it,” Jesse said. “Don’t worry.”
“It could mean getting her out of here. Maybe all the way out. I mean, north.”
“I understand. And I’ve got it covered. But nothing’s going to happen. Do me a favor and focus on driving, huh? She needs you back here.”
Tucker stuck out his hand and they shook. “Thank you. For everything.”
“I’ll see you later.”
Tucker got in the SUV and took off. Carefully. It would defeat the purpose if he got himself killed in a traffic accident. Didn’t mean he’d stopped thinking about Annie. Or his mother. With Annie it was about protection, with Irene it was concern. When he thought of his brother, there was only uncertainty. Why leave the seed money? Why not take everything? Unless he got into some trouble he couldn’t get out of. He might have stolen the money as a Hail Mary pass. Which would mean he didn’t go into the partnership with the intention of making Annie the fall guy.
The end result was the same, but it made it easier for Tucker to swallow. Christian was still Tucker’s brother even though they’d been barely more than strangers for so much of their lives.
The drive passed more quickly than he’d assumed it would, and then he was on the phone, cursing under his breath because Kalispell was too small a town to have a courier at the ready. Something he would’ve anticipated if he wasn’t so distracted by worry. He’d started to panic when he finally found someone who’d do it for triple pay. But it was still going to take longer than he’d like.
For a few moments he thought about flying it out himself, but that meant leaving Annie behind and he couldn’t do that. Better to bargain with her to extend the deadline she’d imposed on him.
As he went through his files, he made a couple more calls. He’d already put a lot of the videos on a flash drive, so he completed the set, then went down to the hotel’s business center. It was closed, but the manager opened it for him, and by the time he’d copied his case file, the courier had arrived.
George was doing the same
