A Lasting Proposal. C.J. Carmichael

the information and fee structures in here are all geared to the individual. Have you thought of trying to appeal to families? Or even couples looking for a different, yet romantic, getaway…? Say!” An idea hit her. A good one. “We could even offer a wedding service, a full-package deal. I’ll bet there are people who’d love to get married on a pristine mountaintop. What do you think?”

      “I don’t know.” Jake drummed his fingers on the kitchen table. “Interesting idea, I suppose, but have you considered the difficulties? Flowers, for instance. Flying flowers up the mountain would be damned expensive.”

      “Jake, it almost seems as if you’re not interested in my ideas.”

      “Well, of course I am.”

      He put a hand to his face. Was he covering a smile?

      “I just didn’t expect you to have so many of them.”

      CHAPTER FIVE

      “ISN’T THIS GREAT?” Kelly said, bringing a third coffee mug to the table. “Now that you’re back, Maureen, we’ll be able to get together all the time.”

      “It is great,” Maureen agreed. She’d refused Jake’s offer of a ride, instead choosing to walk the six blocks from the town house complex to Kelly and Mick’s home. She’d found Cathleen and Kelly in the kitchen, sitting at the table by a big bay window, watching Billy and Amanda. The five-and three-year-old were outside kicking around an old soccer ball.

      “They’re such independent kids,” Kelly said. “Very easy to take care of.”

      Of course they’d learned that independence the hard way. Their mother, an alcoholic, had eventually abandoned them. Recently she’d asked her brother-in-law, Mick, and Kelly to take permanent custody.

      “They seem much happier than they did at Christmas,” Maureen noted.

      “A lot has changed since Christmas,” Kelly said. Maureen noticed her fingering her new wedding band. Kelly and Mick had married last December. It had been an expeditious union, undertaken for the sake of the children, or at least that was how it had started out.

      “You’re really happy, too, aren’t you?” Maureen asked.

      Kelly nodded and smiled. “Mick is the most amazing man. And the kids…”

      “You should see them when they visit,” Cathleen said, watching as Billy held the ball in place so Amanda could give it a good whack. “Amanda is developing into a real tomboy. And Billy is so helpful. He always insists on cleaning out Cascade’s stall.”

      “What about Sharon? Have you heard from her lately?”

      Kelly sighed. “That’s my biggest concern these days. She hasn’t called the children in about three weeks, even though she knows we’re happy to pay for the charges. She’s living at the ski resort in Whistler, working in one of the bars. The worst lifestyle for someone with her drinking problem. Mick and I worry so much….”

      Maureen gave her a hug. “Nothing you can do about it, Kel. Sharon’s a grown woman.”

      “I know. I just think those kids deserve more from their mother. Anyway…enough doom and gloom. Tell us what you thought of the town house.”

      Maureen leaned back in her chair and fixed Cathleen with one of her best, superior, big-sister glares. “Why don’t you two level with me? It’s not real estate you want me to buy. It’s a man.”

      “It’s been over a year since Rod died,” Kelly said tentatively. “We thought it might be time.”

      “Maybe. But Jake Hartman? Honestly, just because we’re both available doesn’t make us a winning combination.”

      “Have you got something against blond, rugged good looks?” Cathleen asked. “Or maybe it’s the fact that he’s tall, obviously in excellent condition and, did I mention, running a very successful business.”

      “Oh, he’s a hunk, all right,” Maureen conceded. “And he may even be well-off. But dig a little deeper and what do you find? A man near forty whose life revolves around fun and games. Definitely not my type.”

      Kelly looked across the table at Cathleen and shrugged. “Well, what about the town house?”

      “That had possibilities,” she admitted. More than possibilities—it was practically perfect. But she still had to get her head around also being three doors down from Jake Hartman.

      Never in a million years would she admit as much to her sisters, but what really bothered her was that she did find the man attractive.

      Maureen considered herself an intelligent woman. She didn’t like to think she was the type to make the same mistake twice. But perhaps something in her genetic makeup drew her to good-looking yet immature men. How else to explain the erotic thoughts that had struck the minute she’d stepped inside Jake Hartman’s bedroom? Thankfully the man was not a mind reader, or she’d be too embarrassed to work with him.

      Her sisters, however, were proved mind readers. And the way they were smiling at each other right now confirmed that her hormonal impulses had shown.

      The best defense… “I insist that you put a stop to this matchmaking business. Jake and I are business partners, and only business partners. Besides…” She had a trump card, and now was the time to play it.

      “Holly is still so broken up about Rod’s death. I honestly don’t think she could cope if I started dating again.”

      MAUREEN PICKED HER DAUGHTER up after school that afternoon, planning to drive straight to the town house to meet the real estate agent.

      “How was the first day?” she asked.

      Holly had just flung her backpack into the rear seat. Now she did up her seat belt, bending her head so that her blond curls screened her expression.

      “Okay.” She leaned forward to change the radio station. Abruptly, the raw edgy music of the Tragically Hip replaced Glenn Gould’s performance of Bach’s D minor piano concerto. Maureen didn’t mind. Nothing on Canadian airwaves could be as bad as what Holly chose to listen to in the privacy of her bedroom.