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service we could provide, but I do have some contacts…” Danielle let the offer hang.
    Mandy didn’t know what to say. Was Danielle suggesting she could help Mandy break the law?
    The front door opened, and a pair of boots sounded in the entryway. Mandy took a couple of steps back and crooked her head to confirm it was Caleb. Thank goodness.
    He gazed quizzically at her expression as he strode down the short hall. Then, at the living-room entrance, he halted in his tracks. “Danielle?”
    “Yes,” Danielle answered shortly as she moved in on him.
    “What on earth are you doing in Colorado?”
    “What on earth are you still doing in Colorado?”
    “I told you it was going to take a few days.”
    “That was a few days ago.”
    “ Two days ago.”
    “Do you want this to work or not?”
    Mandy scooted toward the kitchen, determined to get away from the private conversation. One thing was sure, if Caleb kept flirting with other women, his relationship with Danielle was definitely not going to work out.
    “We have to be in Sao Paulo by the sixteenth,” Danielle’s voice carried to the kitchen. “We’ve made a commitment. There’s no cancellation insurance on this kind of deal, Caleb.”
    “Have I done something to make you think I’m stupid?” Caleb asked.
    Mandy wasn’t proud of it, but her feet came to a halt the moment she was around the corner in the kitchen, intense curiosity keeping her tuned to what was happening in the living room.
    “You mean, other than moving to Colorado?” Danielle asked.
    “I haven’t moved to Colorado.”
    There was a moment of silence, and Mandy found herself straining to hear.
    “You have to come back, Caleb.”
    “I can’t leave yet.”
    “You said you were going to sell.”
    “I am going to sell.”
    Mandy was forced to bite back a protest. For years, she’d fantasized about the two brothers reconciling, and they were so close right now. Whatever hard feelings were between them, she was confident they loved each other. And they were the only family each of them had.
    “You can look at offers just as easily from Chicago,” said Danielle.
    “And who runs the ranch until then?”
    “What about that Mandy woman?”
    “She’s doing me a favor just by being here.” There was another pause. “Mandy?” Caleb called. “Where did you go?”
    “Kitchen,” she responded, quickly busying herself at the counter. “You two want coffee?”
    “You don’t need to make us coffee,” Caleb called back.
    “It’s no problem.”
    She heard him approach.
    Then his footfalls crossed the kitchen, his voice lowering as he arrived behind her. “You don’t need to make us coffee.”
    She didn’t turn around. “You and your girlfriend should sit down and—”
    “My girlfriend? ”
    “Talk this out,” Mandy finished. “But, can I say, I really hope you’ll give it some time before you sell, Caleb, because I know Reed—”
    Caleb wrapped a big hand around her upper arm and turned her to face him. “She’s not my girlfriend.”
    “Oh.” Then what was she doing here? Why were they making plans for a vacation in Brazil?
    “She’s my financial lawyer.”
    “Sure.” Whatever. It didn’t mean they weren’t romantically involved.
    He lowered his voice further. “And why did your mind immediately go to a romance?”
    “Because she’s gorgeous,” Mandy offered, counting on her finger. “Because she’s here. Because she just told you if you didn’t come back to Chicago, things weren’t going to work out between you.”
    Caleb’s voice lowered to a hiss. “And what exactly do you think I’ve been doing with you?”
    She was slow to answer, because she really wasn’t sure what the heck he’d been doing with her. “A harmless flirtation. I assumed you didn’t mean it the way—”
    “I did.”
    “I’d love some coffee,” came Danielle’s sultry voice from the kitchen doorway.
    “Coming up.” Mandy quickly turned away from Caleb.
    “She thinks you and