Read Maggie's Mountain for Free Online Page B

Somehow the cabin didn’t seem as spacious with him inside. His gaze wandered over the furnishings, the open floor plan, the knick-knacks displayed on shelves and the pictures on the fireplace mantel. She wondered if he saw the changes that she’d made, the care she’d taken to transform the small cabin. No, he couldn’t possibly see or know the tender loving care she’d put into her home. He had been out here just a few times, when he’d been a child. It was doubtful he carried more than a passing memory of the cabin. He proved her wrong a moment later.
    “It looks…different.”
    He must have always been an observant person, she thought with another quiet, fortifying breath. “We knocked down the kitchen wall to add a dining room on the other side of the stairway, expanded the sewing room and made it an office, and we built a small storage shed in the back yard.”
    He didn’t reply, only ambled over to the left side of the living room and ran a hand over the uneven stones of the fireplace. “I remember you sat on the hearth the first time I came here with my father. Your mother had to keep pulling you away from the ashes.”
    Maggie couldn’t stop her lips from tilting up. “I was two, and very curious. Momma always said she had a heck of a time with me. She said I had to know everything and was far too nosey for my own good.”
    He nodded before he abruptly turned away from the mantel. His eyes landed on her again and she felt a hot shiver race along her nerves. He looked determined, almost reckless with it, and she couldn’t help but wonder what was on his mind. Maybe he had come for a confrontation. As disturbing as it sounded, the idea of arguing with Hale was thrilling and set her pulse skittering.
    “We’d like to buy your land, Maggie.”
    “Ah.” So it might be an argument, but it was going to be about her land. She went back into the kitchen, slightly annoyed, and picked up her cup. “I already told Trent I’m not selling.”
    She cradled the mug and turned around, only to find Hale on the other side of the free standing counter. Her heart did a quick somersault as she noted his rugged face was set with stark curiosity, his eyes fairly glowing with it, and she felt an unwelcome jolt of sexual attraction.
    “You haven’t heard my offer,” he told her in a strangely intimate voice.
    So this was the game he was going to play, she thought, and leaned back against the sink. The sensual tone of his words might be enough to make her knees weak, but it did nothing to diminish her resolve. Even with the sexual awareness sparking inside of her like a live wire she refused to be intimidated by him. He’d figure that out soon enough.
    “Okay, let’s hear it.”
    He started to open his mouth, then closed it. “It doesn’t matter what figure I give you, does it? You’ve already set your mind against it.”
    She lifted an eyebrow and took a sip of her coffee. The pleasure in that first swallow was lost as she stared at the man across from her. “I’ve turned down offers from other people, corporations, even, offers that were worth a lot more than what your family can give. This is my family’s land; I won’t be giving it up in my life time.”
    He stared at her for a long, intense moment. “Trent tried to warn me.”
    She watched him carefully, refusing to ask what Trent had said about her, no matter how curious she was.
    Hale crossed his arms over his chest as he studied her. “Let me ask you, Ms. Maggie Mae Cooper—”
    “Brannon,” she bit out, annoyed at his use of her maiden name.
    “Sorry, I forgot. You were married.” There was a quick flash of what might have been sympathy. “Ms. Brannon , why hold onto all the land? It has to be hard for a single woman to maintain so many acres. Wouldn’t it be easier for you if you downsize?”
    She could have slapped him. It would have been so easy to set her open palm against his arrogant cheek. But as tempting as smacking him was, it