Free House Calls: Callaghan Brothers, Book 3 by Abbie Zanders Page A

it better myself.  Dumas wined and dined her for months until she finally said yes.  Shortly afterward, she caught him doing the nasty with his personal assistant, overheard him bragging about how slick he was in seducing her, how once they were married, the land would become part of the Dumas Industries assets.  Apparently he wasn’t too complimentary in the process, either.”
    No wonder Maggie was skeptical of his intentions.  That must have been what Sherri had been alluding to.  It certainly explained a lot.  Michael had a sudden, fierce urge to make Spencer Dumas pay for making Maggie doubt herself.
    “Maggie broke off the engagement and quit on the spot, leaving Dumas to explain to daddy how he fucked up royally.  Apparently the company had been depending heavily on acquiring her land.  Immediately after she showed Dumas her backside on the way out, the shit hit the fan.  Several partner companies backed out of a few key projects and DI stock took a decent hit.”
    “That had to hurt.”
    Ian laughed.  “Yeah, a little.  Spencer’s been trying to cozy back up to her, saying he’s seen the error of his ways, he’s a changed man, blah, blah, blah, but she’s having no part of it.  Actually threatened to slap a restraining order on him if he didn’t leave her in peace.”
    Michael’s chest swelled with pride while a possessive fury burned simultaneously in his blood.  He barely kept his lip from curling back in a snarl.  There was no way in hell Spencer Dumas – or any other man for that matter – would be cozying up to Maggie again. 
    The unfamiliar surge gave him pause.  He had met Maggie less than twenty-four hours earlier, and knew next to nothing about her.  Michael was neither impulsive nor prone to such strong, visceral emotions. 
    “So what is she doing now?” he asked, trying to inject some note of rationality into his voice.
    Ian swiveled back to the computer, his fingers a blur.  “Looks like she picks up some consulting jobs on the side.  She’s building up a good reputation, but that takes time, especially if you don’t have a lot of connections.  Ten to one Dumas isn’t stoked about singing her praises, and I doubt she’d use him as a reference anyway.  If her last tax return is accurate, she’s barely making ends meet.  The property’s hers, but the taxes alone on that much acreage are substantial.” 
    “How much are we talking about?”
    Ian’s fingers danced over the keys. “Two hundred acres at least, all prime agricultural land on the south-facing side of the mountain,” he reported.  “Maggie’s family has been acquiring the land quietly in parcels over the better part of the last century.” 
    Ian paused, looking thoughtful.  “Hey – I know that place.  Mom used to take us there when we were little to pick our own apples and shit.  Had the biggest goddamned pumpkins for Halloween carving, too.”
    Michael remembered that, too.  “Older couple?  We used to go on hayrides there every fall.”
    “Yeah!  Man, that property has got to be worth a fortune.  Southern exposure, overlooks the lake.  No wonder Dumas wants it.”
    Well, at least now Michael understood why Maggie had agreed to dance – she needed the money.  It was the one thing that he just couldn’t reconcile.
    “Thanks, man,” he said, pushing the last few cookies toward Ian.
    Michael looked up to find his brother watching him intently.  Ian whistled softly.  “So it’s like that, huh?”
    “Like what?”
    Ian grinned.  “Right.  The denial stage.  I remember it well.”
    ––––––––
    T he snow started falling somewhere around noon.  Michael was already showered and dressed, hanging downstairs in the bar room with Jake and Ian.  The crowd was small, consisting mostly of a few of the locals, grabbing a few and talking about the impending storm.  What was originally supposed to only be a few inches from a quickly moving clipper was now forecast as an