Everlasting Love Read Free Page B

hall.”
    â€œBecause I like this one,” Megan insisted. “It has a big enough yard for my horse pen. Plus, my rabbits will need plenty of shade. These trees will be perfect for that. Right, Roxy?”
    The teenager shrugged. “Whatever.”
    Frustrated, James stared at Megan. “Did you get up this morning determined to do everything the hard way? Or is it simply a talent of yours to be difficult?”
    She laughed softly. “I have lots of special gifts, but I’ve never been told making trouble is one of them.”
    â€œWell, let me be the first,” he said, turning the front-door key. “This lock is sticking, too. I’ll need to make a list of repairs. It’ll be a long one.”
    â€œDon’t go to any fuss. I can take care of whatever needs to be done inside. Roxy can help me dust and sweep the place out. It’ll be fine.”
    â€œI doubt that.”
    Pushing open the door on creaking hinges, hestood back so the others could peek into the interior. As he’d suspected, the cabin not only smelled musty, it was chock-full of items that had been stored for so long, their value was nil. The stacks of cardboard file boxes were bad enough. Worse, extra cots had been piled along one whole wall. From the looks of the bundles of old mattresses, they’d been home to families of field mice for some time.
    Megan made a face. Clearly ignoring her sister’s muffled squeal of protest she said, “Hmmm. This could take a bit more than dusting.”
    â€œExactly.” James started to pull the door closed. “So, what’s your second choice?”
    â€œI don’t have one. I want this cabin.”
    â€œYou must be kidding.”
    â€œNo. Not at all. Like I said, it’s perfect for my needs. Think you can have the junk out of it by Monday?”
    He rolled his eyes. This woman was not only stubborn beyond reason, she was also nuts. “Monday? Of next month, maybe. This is already Friday. There’s no way I can spare the time to do the hours of work this place will need. It’s impossible.”
    â€œNothing is impossible if you want it badly enough,” Megan argued. “And I want this cabin. If you can’t clean it out, we’ll do it ourselves.”
    â€œNo way! Not me.” Roxy retreated and scurried down the porch steps.
    All James could do was shake his head. He’d never met anyone as inflexible as Megan White. Nor anyone so determined. How did all that stubbornness fit into such a compact package? When he’d been tossed out by his parents and shipped off to military school as a young teen, he’d thought those instructors were unbelievably rigid. But they’d been softies compared to this woman.
    â€œI can’t let you do that.” He cast around for a plausible excuse, settling on “It’s against camp policy” before he realized she’d be privy to the details of actual camp policy through her mentor.
    â€œI’m starting to get the idea you don’t want us here,” Megan chided, breaking into a silly grin. “Well, you can forget about scaring us off. Roxy and I are moving in on Monday, with or without your help. Now, where do you want us to put all this junk after we drag it out the door?”
    He knew when he was licked. “Okay, okay. I’ll help you. Let me go get the old dump truck we use to haul trash. We can back it up to the porch and toss stuff into it from there so we won’t have to handle anything twice. I have a bad feeling this place is loaded with spiders, not to mention other crawly things.”
    It pleased him to note Megan’s barely perceptible shiver. She’d listened to that warning, at least. He was in favor of anything that fostered caution and slowed her momentum. Which gave him another idea.
    â€œYou could be settled in one of the regular cabins down the hill in a few hours, you know. Today.”
    When she whirled to face