A Lasting Proposal

A Lasting Proposal
C.J. Carmichael

He made her an offer she couldn't refuse–but did she ever try!Jake Hartman's heli-skiing operation in the foothills of the Canadian Rockies has been hugely successful. But because of the major outlays he now wants to make, he needs a capital infusion. A bank loan is a nonissue–Jake's not keen on debt. But a silent partner would do the trick.Widowed Maureen Shannon, eldest of the Shannon sisters, has just moved back to the sleepy town of Canmore, hoping that slow-paced living will help mend her deteriorating relationship with her twelve-year-old daughter. Jake's proposal sounds good.But then Jake makes Maureen a second offer–a lasting proposal she's much more reluctant to accept….

“What’s got you all worked up?” Jake asked

He rested a hand on her shoulder as though that was the most natural thing in the world for him to do.

“You’ve never had sisters,” Maureen replied. “So you wouldn’t understand.”

“You were talking about trust—I know that. You were wondering how Cathleen could’ve trusted Dylan so much that she always believed in him—always believed he didn’t commit that murder.”

“Yes. So?”

“Well, it’s got me thinking that’s our problem, too. I hurt you and broke your trust. Now I need to earn it back again.”

“That’s one way to look at it, “she agreed. “Or we could just count our losses and move on.”

“But how would that get us any further ahead? Maureen, no matter who you end up with, eventually, at some point, he’s going to let you down. The right person, though, will try to make up for it when he’s made a mistake.”

The right person. Was it really as simple as that? And if it was, how was a woman supposed to know when she’d found him?

Dear Reader,

As I contemplate this last book of my trilogy, I remember how daunted I felt when I began to write it. My first obstacle related to the murders of Jilly Beckett and Rose Strongman, which occurred in A Second-Chance Proposal. I’d come to realize that the person I’d thought responsible really wasn’t. My readers deserved the truth…but what was the truth?

Next, I worried about Maureen, the firstborn of the Shannon sisters. With this character I knew I’d be addressing deeply emotional issues. Her sisters had always seen her as forceful and confident, but Maureen was plagued with insecurities about her failed first marriage and the strained relationship she had with her twelve-year-old daughter, Holly. I wanted Maureen to find peace and happiness in a new relationship with a special man. But the hero I’d selected—Jake Hartman—balked at just the wrong moment. For a while I feared all was lost.

I sat in front of my computer day after day, writing paragraphs, only to delete them an hour later. Less than three weeks remained before the deadline when insight struck. Suddenly, I knew whodunit and why. And that Jake really was the right man, the lasting man, for Maureen. From that point on, writing the book became joyful and very satisfying. I hope you’ll experience those same emotions as you settle in to visit with the Shannon sisters one last time.

Sincerely,

C.J. Carmichael

P.S. I’d love to hear from you! My mailing address is 1754-246 Stewart Green, S.W., Calgary, Alberta T3H 3C8. Please send an e-mail to: cjcarmichael@shaw.ca and by all means visit me at www.cjcarmichael.com.

A Lasting Proposal

C.J. Carmichael

www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)

This trilogy is dedicated to my editors,

Beverley Sotolov and Paula Eykelhof,

with my thanks and affection.

Thanks to those who assisted me in my research, in particular, Corporal Patrick Webb of the RCMP in Calgary, Constable Barry Beales of the RCMP Canmore Detachment and Lynn Martel, a reporter with the Canmore Leader.

CONTENTS

PROLOGUE

CHAPTER ONE

CHAPTER TWO

CHAPTER THREE

CHAPTER FOUR

CHAPTER FIVE

CHAPTER SIX

CHAPTER SEVEN

CHAPTER EIGHT

CHAPTER NINE

CHAPTER TEN

CHAPTER ELEVEN

CHAPTER TWELVE

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

CHAPTER NINETEEN

PROLOGUE

Fall, 1999

IT WAS A NIGHT OF ORANGES, golds and blood, blood red. The sun had not quite set on the Thunder Bar M ranch outside Canmore, Alberta. Yet already clinging to the foothills on the eastern horizon was the harvest moon, heavy and florid. Aspens, dripping in their amber foliage, framed the old log ranch house. At the center of it all raged a bonfire. Prongs of orange flames and spears of thick, black smoke lashed out at the darkening sky.

Two groups, mostly men, stood on opposite sides of the blaze. The oilmen versus the ranchers—a centuries’ old animosity.