The worst lie of all. He'd told her he loved her and talked about their children, for God's sake.

She swallowed the rage and grief and curled her fingers into tight fists.

"I'm so sorry, baby girl. So sorry that you had to be involved in his fight against us. It kills me that someone used you because of a misunderstanding with me and your dads."

She shook her head adamantly. "It's not your fault, Dad. It's mine. I let him use me. I let him manipulate me. That's on me. Never you."

Ethan looked like he'd argue further, but she simply turned her head and stared out the window as they drew closer to town.

When they pulled up at the sheriff's department, she breathed a sigh of relief when she didn't see Seth's truck out front. He was out on a call.

She turned to her dad and then leaned across the seat to hug him. "Thank you. I'll just wait here for Seth to come back, and then I'll get my truck and go out to Lily's for a while."

"I can stay with you."

"No. You go. I'm okay."

He reluctantly nodded.

She started to get out but then she stopped and turned back. "I love you, Dad. And thanks. For everything."

He smiled. "Love you too, baby girl. I'll see you later."

She nodded and then closed the door. She waited until her dad drove back down the street before she started toward the bank. It took a little longer than she would have liked. Apparently cleaning out a savings account and converting to traveler's checks wasn't an everyday occurrence. Or at least not in Clyde.

Half an hour later, she walked out and tensed when she saw Seth's truck parked on the street in front of the sheriff's department. By now she was certain he'd know she was coming. Her mom and dads had likely been on the phone to let him know.

And she still had to see the realtor.

Hoping Seth would be patient and not come looking for her, she ducked into Clyde's only real estate office.

An hour later and after much arguing with Janice, Callie walked out of the office with an envelope tucked under her arm. She headed down the sidewalk to the sheriff's office and stepped inside where she was greeted by the receptionist who waved her on to Seth's office.

She hesitated outside the door but then knocked softly.

"It's open," Seth called.

She pushed in and Seth shot to his feet when he saw her standing in the doorway.

"Hi," she said quietly.

He hurried around and without a word, enfolded her in a bone-crushing hug. "I've been so worried."

She smiled as she pulled away. "I just came by because I wanted you to know I'm not angry with you."

He stood back, his gaze taking in her bedraggled appearance. "You look like shit."

Trust her big brother to be blunt.

"I feel like shit," she said honestly. "But I'll get over it."

He put his hand out to touch her cheek. "I'm sorry, Callie. For a lot of things."

She shook her head. "Don't be. I just wanted you to know I love you, and I know you did what you thought was best. You were trying to protect me. I don't hate you for that."

"I'm glad. I handled it badly. I was pissed. I'd just gotten my report an hour before we left to go up for lunch. I saw red. Now I wish I'd done things differently."

"The outcome would still be the same," she said softly.

"Want me to kill him?"

She shook her head sadly. "No. I want you to forget he exists. It's what I plan to do."

She started to back toward the door. "Tell Lily I love her, will you?"

Seth's brows drew together. "You can tell her yourself. Aren't you going out to see her?"

"Tell her anyway."

She walked back through the door before Seth could do or say anything else. When she got outside, she put the envelope between her teeth and dug into her purse for the tiny silver key that Max had given her when he placed the bands around her wrists.

There was still one more person she had to see before she left town.

Chapter Twenty-Seven

The knock at Max's hotel room door startled him from his dark thoughts. He bolted to his feet, his pulse racing a mile a minute as he rushed to open it.

He flung the door open to see Callie standing there staring at him with dull, dead eyes.

Her appearance shocked him. She was still wearing the same clothes as she had when they'd driven to her parents' together. Her hair was limp, half covering her face. She looked exhausted. Her eyes were rimmed with red, her lips were drawn into a pale, thin line.

She looked liked death. She looked exactly like he felt.

"Callie," he whispered past cracked lips.

Oh God, he wanted to pull her into his arms. He wanted to hold her and kiss her and tell her he'd never let anything bad ever touch her again. He wanted to say he was sorry, but the words-the damn words-were hopelessly inadequate. How could he possibly put into words what was bleeding from his heart?

She held out a large manila envelope that bulged at the bottom. Her fingers shook, making the envelope flap like a breeze blew it.

"This is for you," she said in a low voice.

"Callie, come in. Please."

He would have reached for her but she shrank back as if anticipating such a move. She looked so infinitely fragile that he was afraid to demand-or ask-anything at all.

So he curled his fingers into tight fists at his sides as he tempered the urge to haul her into his arms and never let go.

She shook her head. "I can't stay. I have to go. But I wanted-" Her voice cracked and she swallowed visibly.

She shoved the envelope toward him again, hitting him in the chest with it until he had no choice but to take it from her.

"It's yours. I can't..." Tears filled her eyes, and she lost the tightly held control that had made her face an unbreakable shield.

Her features crumpled and tears slid endlessly down her cheeks.

"I can't... It's ruined for me. I can't even bear to look at it. You've ruined that for me. It's not mine. It can never be mine because I can't even be there without thinking of you. Of what you did. It's not my safe place anymore. It will always represent hell and what I lost-what was never mine."

She took a step back and he panicked. His chest was so tight he felt like he'd explode. There was such grief. Such finality to her words and her actions.

This was her goodbye. He couldn't let her go. Never.

"Callie, please, you have to listen to me."

She shook her head in denial and turned and fled toward the parking lot. He flung the envelope aside and rushed after her, his pulse exploding at his temples.

She fled like a spooked deer. Her truck door was open, the engine was running, as if she'd anticipated just such a flight. She was inside and backing out of the parking spot before her door even closed.

He hit the side of her door with his body, his hands pressed against her window as he shouted her name over and over.

She paused only to put it in gear and she looked at him. Just once, her face so tormented, hurt so bright in her eyes that he wanted to die on the spot.

"Callie, please. Don't do this!"

She looked forward and accelerated, leaving him standing in the parking lot, shouting her name.

He stared after her, so numb, so frozen that he couldn't process what had just occurred. He couldn't let her go. Not this way.

He slapped at his pants pockets and cursed, realizing his keys were in his room. He sprinted back, determined to go after her. Make her listen. Beg her for forgiveness. Again.

When he ran through the still-open doorway, the envelope that she'd pushed into his chest lay on the floor. He stopped and stared, a sick feeling rising in his gut. What had she meant?

What had she done?

He slowly bent down to retrieve the envelope and walked over to the bed where his keys rested on the nightstand. With shaking hands, he tore open the seal and reached inside for the sheaf of papers.

It took him three attempts before he could make sense of the wording. At the bottom, her signature, barely a scrawl, made it official.

"Oh God," he whispered. "Callie, no. No."

She'd given him Callie's Meadow. All it lacked was his signature to make it legal.

On the bed, the envelope lay, the bulge still at the bottom. His heart aching, he clumsily shook out the contents and there on the sheets, gleaming in the soft light were the two bands he'd placed around her wrists.

He closed his eyes. They burned like fire. Raw and scratchy like the insides of his lids were lined with sandpaper. Tears gathered. Tears that he hadn't shed when his stepfather had died. Or when his mother had passed away so unexpectedly.

He'd been strong then. First for his mother and sister. A rock for them to lean on. He'd held them while they cried. And then when his mother had passed he'd been there for his sister.

There was no one here for him now. Callie was gone. She hated him. He'd destroyed something infinitely fragile and so very precious.

He looked down at the paper in his hand. The words blurred and then a tear fell onto her scrawled signature.

The land was his. His promise fulfilled. And he'd never felt so damn empty in his life.

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Max hadn't slept in two nights. He was surly. He was pissed. He missed Callie so damn much that he ached.

He'd resorted to prowling around town looking for her, acting like a damn stalker again. But he hadn't seen her, hadn't seen her truck. Hadn't even seen a single damn family member of hers.

Enough was enough. He was going to go up that mountain, and he didn't give a shit if he had to take on the entire Colter clan, he wasn't leaving until he talked some sense into her.

He showered, shaved and dressed just so he wouldn't look like some escapee from prison, and then he walked out to get into his car. Right now he didn't care if he got his ass kicked so hard he wound up in the hospital, just as long as he was able to pin Callie down in one place long enough to wipe that horrible look of pain and betrayal from her eyes.

God, he never wanted to see such a look on her face for the rest of his life. If she'd let him, if she'd just give him a chance, he'd make damn sure nothing-especially him-ever hurt her again.

Just as he was getting into his car, he glanced up and saw Lily Colter walk out of the sheriff's department and down the sidewalk toward the small grocery store.

His pulse ratcheted up. He slammed his door and sprinted across the street to intercept Callie's sister-in-law.

When she looked up and saw him, she took an instinctive step back. Her eyes hardened and her lips curled into a snarl. For such a small, dainty woman, she could look damn mean.

He put out a placating hand. "Lily, please. I need your help."

Her glare froze him to the nuts.

"Look, I know you think I'm the biggest asshole on earth, but I have to talk to Callie. Is she up at her parents'?"

The anger in Lily's eyes faded and the same raw grief he'd witnessed in Callie's eyes now stared back at him.