Danger on Her Doorstep

Danger on Her Doorstep
Rachelle McCalla

Her father's death didn't seem suspicious.Yet Maggie Arnold can't deny that there's something odd about the old Victorian house he was working on when he died. The house that Maggie has now inherited. All she wants is to finish the renovations, sell the house and leave Holyoake, Iowabut that's easier said than done.The only handyman in town who steps up to help her is Gideon Bromley - a man no one in Holyoake wants to trust. And just beyond every corner hides the person determined to keep them both away from the housefor good.

“Why was there a team investigating my father’s death?”

So she’d put two and two together already, had she? She obviously hadn’t missed anything, though he wished he could go back in time and replay his first phone call to her. If he’d had it to do over again, he’d have told her from the beginning that there was some possibility her father had been murdered.

Because if anything, it was worse having to tell her now.

“We suspected he may have been murdered.” He watched her carefully as she absorbed the news. No screams, no crying, not even a gasp.

“And the fact that somebody broke into the house?”

“It’s hard to say at this point,” Gideon tempered his response, “but there’s a very good chance the two are related.”

RACHELLE MCCALLA

is a mild-mannered housewife, and the toughest she ever has to get is when she’s trying to keep her four kids quiet in church. Though she often gets in over her head, as her characters do, and has to find a way out, her adventures have more to do with sorting out the carpool and providing food for the potluck. She’s never been arrested, gotten in a fistfight or been shot at. And she’d like to keep it that way! For recipes, fun background notes on the places and characters in this book and more information on forthcoming titles, visit www.rachellemccalla.com.

Danger on Her Doorstep

Rachelle McCalla

Unless the Lord builds the house, its builders labor in vain.

—Psalm 127:1

To Henry, Eleanor, Genevieve and Knox.

You inspire me every day.

Acknowledgments

A super big thank-you to my amazing editor Emily Rodmell, without whose keen insights and editorial prowess this book wouldn’t be nearly so good, if it even existed at all.

Never-ending thanks to my husband, Ray McCalla, for picking up the kids and folding the laundry and all the other bazillion ways you take up the slack so I can write. I love you.

Tremendous thanks to Deputy Charles McCalla of the Page County Sheriff’s Department, and my father, retired Police Sergeant Brian Richter, for all your keen answers to even my most bizarre questions. You make me look like I know what I’m talking about.

Huge, huge, huge thanks to all the booksellers and newspaper editors and the wonderful staff at KTCH radio who’ve helped to spread the word about my books.

Terrific thanks to my readers. You honor me by choosing to read my stories.

And most of all, eternal thanks to my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, who paid it all already. You make everything possible.

Contents

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

LETTER TO READER

QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION

ONE

Maggie Arnold felt uneasy about being alone in the old house on Shady Oak Lane, and it wasn’t just because her father died here. The rambling old building was full of sheet-draped furniture which hunkered in the shadows.

But it was now or never. She had to push her fears aside and get the project started if she ever wanted to leave this house behind her. She pulled out her phone.

In her haste, Maggie had the call ringing through before she realized she hadn’t asked for the name of the handyman whose number her Realtor had given her.

A deep voice answered her call. “Hello?” He sounded strong. Capable. Could she tell that much from one word?

“I’m calling for the handyman,” Maggie started, embarrassed that she didn’t know his name. “Susan Isakson gave me this number.”

“I’ll be sure to thank her for the referral. What’s the project?” So he was cordial, too.

Maggie’s heart gave a little flip, which she told herself was silly. There was no reason for her to get too excited at the sound of a strong man’s voice. She just hoped this guy would be able to help her with the house she’d inherited when her father had died a little over two weeks ago. Otherwise she didn’t know where else to turn. “Do you know the old Victorian on Shady Oak Lane?”

The man let out an almost silent groan.