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He shimmied the wire gently until he was pretty sure he found the corner of whatever it was and tugged up, listening to the muted sound of the wire sliding the item up against the back wall as he raised it up. Finally a dirty, mottled, brownish-grey corner of paper peeked out above the counter line and Nils reached forward with his absurdly beefy fingers to try to grasp it. No dice.
    “Maggie,” he interrupted, drawing her attention away from the couple. “Come grab this, would you?”
    “Whaddya find?” She leaned over his arm and he tried not to groan when her small breasts brushed up against his coat sleeve. His body tightened and he fought the urge to move his arm up, into her chest, silently cursing that he had to be so attracted to her.
    “Just pull it out,” he growled.
    She looked up at him and grinned, saucy. “Why, Nils!”
    “I’m going to lose it,” he muttered, not sure if he was referring to his tentative grip on the hangar as his hands sweated, or his less tentative grip on his desire as she rubbed her breasts into his arm again, leaning forward to grab the dirty paper with her fingertips.
    “Growly bear,” she said softly, pulling back the envelope and flirting with him from under mostly downcast eyes.
    He straightened, pulling the hanger out of the crack and thrusting it at her. “You’re welcome,” he added sarcastically. “So, what is it? I guess it’s not the electric company or your water bill since both are working…then again, with your haphazard organization system over there, it could be—”
    He gestured to the pile of envelopes then turned back to her, surprised by the fraught expression on her face. Maggie stared at the filthy, crumpled envelope in silence, her eyes widening. She sucked in a breath, turning it over quickly and ripping it open.
    She turned away from Nils as she unfolded the letter, but he heard her murmur, “No. Oh, no. Oh, God.”
    Without thinking, he reached out and put a hand on her waist to pull her closer to him, as though he could protect her from whatever was in that letter. His adrenaline rushed like crazy as his body tensed up and felt jittery at the same time. “Maggie, what’s happened? What’s wrong? Tell me.”
    She took a deep breath and clenched her jaw once before looking up at him with a flood of tears brightening her eyes.
    “My visa expired over six months ago. I’m here illegally.”
    ***
     
    The wrinkled paper trembled in her shaking hands.
    How could she have missed this letter? How on God’s green earth had it happened? Maggie might not have the most comprehensive filing system in the universe, but for Lord’s sake, she should have had a handle on when her visa was expiring! Her heart pounded mercilessly in her chest as the skimmed the letter again, vaguely aware of Nils’s warm hand encircling her wrist. She wished she could lean into him, turn into him and put her head on his shoulder, but she couldn’t do that. Well, she could, but she shouldn’t. It would mean something different to her than it did to him. In his eyes, they were friends. Just friends.
    With that thought in mind, she took a step back from him and tried to catch her breath as words and sentences popped out at her.
    …inform you that your non-immigrant visa will expire within 60 days…failure to reapply may result in criminal prosecution…may be subject to a three-year ban upon reapplication for a United States visa…unauthorized residency by any foreign national may result…the Department of Homeland Security…
    The letter fluttered from her hands and the room started spinning around her. My God, she was going to be deported. Or arrested. Or both. Either way, her life in Gardiner, in Montana, in the United States, appeared to be over. She turned away from Nils to face the back wall and braced her hands on the messy countertop. She lowered her head as humiliating tears streamed down her face.
    What a mess. What a goddamned mess.
    “Maggie. Maggie May,”