By Request Collection April-June 2016. Оливия Гейтс

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СКАЧАТЬ “I’m ready. Let’s go.”

      Chase gave Charity a good thirty feet of lead, letting her set the pace. The dog moved quickly, her tail wagging happily. They passed the other housing units and turned down several small alleys, until they found themselves back on the parade field.

      “Where is she taking us?” Kate asked.

      “Looks like she wants to go to the building behind the stage,” Chase replied.

      They followed Charity through the door of the dark building, and into the large room that had served as a lounge for the performers. Chase flicked his flashlight around the room, but it was empty. The dog gave a whine and strained at the leash.

      “She wants to go to that anteroom,” Chase said, pulling the dog back toward him. “Wait here while I check it out.”

      “Not on your life,” Kate muttered.

      Chase wrapped the excess leash around his fist and allowed Charity to lead them to a closed door on the far side of the room. With a warning look at Kate, he put his hand on the doorknob and pushed it open, flashing his light into the dim interior.

      Kate heard a startled shriek, and then Chase reached inside and flipped the overhead light on. “She’s here,” he said unnecessarily, stepping back so that Kate could push past him.

      Kate stared in disbelief at the sight of her sister curled up on a cot with the young man who had jumped onto the stage the day before. Both of them scrambled to cover their nudity, and Kate looked quickly away.

      “What are you doing?” she demanded.

      “Kate!” wailed Tenley. “Why can’t you ever leave me alone?”

      Kate could hear both of them getting dressed. Chase stood just outside the door with his eyes straight ahead, and it wasn’t until Tenley walked out of the room that he turned, his attention going to the young man who stood defiantly just inside the room.

      “How many sleeping pills did you put in my tea?” Kate asked.

      “I gave you four,” Tenley admitted, keeping her eyes on the ground. “Just enough to make you sleep through the night.”

      “Don’t blame Tenley,” the young soldier said quickly. “None of this is her fault. I made her do it!”

      “I hope for your own sake that’s not true,” Chase growled.

      “Be quiet, Doug,” Tenley snapped. “Let me handle this.”

      Doug. Kate refocused her attention on the young man, recognition flooding back. He was the same young soldier that Tenley had eloped with.

      “You,” she said, advancing slowly on him. “It was bad enough that you seduced my sister, but to have the nerve to—”

      “Stop it!” Tenley shouted, and stepped between Kate and the young soldier. “I love him!”

      “Love him?” Kate exclaimed in disbelief. “You hardly know him!” She directed her gaze to the man who stood behind Tenley. “It wasn’t enough that you nearly ruined her life. Now you just can’t leave her alone. How did you know she was going to be here?”

      “I’ve never stopped loving her,” he said fiercely. “I had no idea she was going to be here until I saw her up on that stage. You may have succeeded in having our marriage annulled, but you can’t stop us from being together.”

      Kate turned to Chase. “I want this man arrested.”

      Chase was looking at Kate as though he had no idea who she was. “You had their marriage annulled?”

      “We met during one of my concerts in Las Vegas,” Tenley said. “Doug had scored a backstage pass, and as soon as I met him, something clicked. I knew he was the one.”

      Kate made a scoffing noise. “How could you possibly know that after thirty minutes with him?”

      “It was an entire night, Kate!” Tenley shouted. “You were too busy talking on the phone and promoting my next tour to even know what I was doing. You didn’t even know I was gone until the next morning.” She turned to Chase. “Why don’t you ask Kate what happened after she tracked us down and had our marriage annulled?”

      “Tenley,” Kate protested, her voice weak. “Don’t.”

      Ignoring her, Tenley leaned forward until her face was mere inches from Kate’s. “The military shipped him off to Afghanistan! We were in love, Kate, and you tore us apart without a second thought. You didn’t even ask me how I felt! They shipped him off to the other side of the world, and because of your restraining order, I couldn’t even find out where he was sent.”

      “You’re little more than a child!” Kate argued. “You barely know him! And it’s impossible to fall in love that quickly. This isn’t some romantic remake of Romeo and Juliet, this is real life!”

      “I’m not a child,” Tenley asserted, drawing herself up. Stepping back, she put her arms around Doug. “I love him, and I’m going to marry him. Again.”

      Kate put a hand to her forehead. “I don’t believe this. Tenley, think about what you’re doing. Come back with me now and we can at least talk about it. I mean, what do you really know about him? You haven’t been with him long enough to know if you love him.”

      Tenley’s glance flicked between Kate and Chase. “Maybe you need more than a few days to decide if you love someone,” she said, “but not me.”

      “Tenley—”

      “I can’t do this anymore, Kate.” Tenley looked at her imploringly. “I need to make my own decisions, not have you make them for me.”

      “Please—”

      “You’re fired, Kate. I don’t want you as my publicist or my personal assistant. In fact, as soon as we get home, I’m finding my own place to live.”

      Kate stared at her, unable to comprehend what was happening. “What? No! Don’t do this, Tenley.”

      “Don’t you see?” Tenley asked, her voice softening. “I have to. I can’t let you make all my decisions for me. Not anymore. What’s right for you isn’t necessarily right for me. That’s why I have to do this, Kate.”

      Kate took a step back, stunned. She would have stumbled if not for Chase’s strong arm supporting her.

      “C’mon,” he said quietly. “I’ll walk you back.” He pinioned the young soldier with a hard look. “I want Tenley returned to her housing unit within thirty minutes, Corporal. If she’s not there, you’ll answer to me. Are we clear?”

      Doug nodded. “Yes, sir. Thank you, sir.”

      “C’mon, Kate,” Chase said, putting an arm around her shoulders and leading her out of the building. “I’ll make sure she gets back safely. Let’s get you some coffee and then we can figure this thing out.”

      She nodded and let him hug her as they walked, too stunned to argue. Surely she was still asleep and this was all just СКАЧАТЬ