The Dakota Man Read Online Free PDF Page B

bit of the former beauty remained in the original woodwork, including the hardwood flooring and the wide staircase attached to one wall. A hallway ran next to the stairway to the rear of the enormous house.
    “As you can see, it wasn’t at all difficult to section off for separate living accommodations,” Karla said, motioning to the closed doors facing each other across the foyer. “This is myapartment.” She moved to the door set into the stairway wall and inserted a key in the lock. “Come on in.”
    “Oh, you do have a tower alcove,” Maggie said, eagerly following the younger woman. Once inside, she caught her breath on a soft “Oh…it’s beautiful, like stepping back in time.”
    “Yes. I love it.” Karla smiled.
    “I can see why.” Glancing around the generous-size living room, Maggie feasted her eyes on the period furniture and the curved, deeply padded window seat in the alcove.
    The Victorian motif was carried through the rest of the apartment, even the small bathroom. Karla led the way into the kitchen at the back of the house. There, everything was bright with ultramodern white appliances.
    “This room was originally the pantry and laundry room,” Karla explained, moving to the sink. “Would you like a cup of coffee or tea?”
    “I’d love a cup of coffee,” Maggie said, then qualified, “But could I see the third-floor apartment first?”
    Karla laughed. “Of course you can see it.” Turning, she led the way back into the living room. “You might want to go on ahead,” shesaid, grinning as she opened the door. “I’m a little slow lately going up the stairs.”
    Maggie’s gaze rested on Karla’s extended belly. “You don’t have to go upstairs. I can go up alone. That is, if it’s all right?”
    “Oh, sure it’s all right.” Taking a key off the case Mitch had given her, Karla handed it to Maggie. “When you get to the top of the stairs, follow the hallway to the door at the back. Oh, and by the way, there’s another enclosed staircase at the rear of the hallway, with an access door to the back parking area. I’ll start the coffee while you have a look at the place.”
    At the second-floor landing Maggie found the door to the stairway leading to the third level. It was also enclosed, much narrower, but lit by a ceiling light and by the sunlight pouring in through lacy curtains at a window at the top landing.
    Not knowing what to expect…a big old storage attic, or perhaps a large room sectioned off for servants’ quarters, Maggie mounted the stairs. A wide hallway with sloping ceilings to either side ran to an enlarged room at the front. While she had expected the sloping roofs, she hadn’t expected the storage cabinets built intothe spaces beneath—nooks and crannies—or the size of the apartment beyond.
    It was spotlessly clean, huge and wonderful and completely furnished, again with the same Victorian motif. To one side, the bedroom and bath were both sectioned off and private. To the other side one large room made up the kitchen and living area. A small round dinette table sat in the tower alcove, and a lace-curtained window overlooked the front of the house.
    A strange sense of excitement stirred inside Maggie, a feeling almost as if she had found exactly what she had spent months unknowingly searching for.
    A home…or a hideaway? Maggie didn’t know, nor did she care. It felt right, and that was enough, enough even to put up with the bedrock-hard Mitch Grainger.
    Picturing herself seated at the table, gazing out at the world while eating a meal, sipping a cup of hot chocolate on a cold night or a glass of iced tea on a hot afternoon, Maggie decided on the spot that she had to have the apartment, regardless of cost, or her new employer. With the salary figure he had quoted, she knew she could afford it, even though she had immediatelythought of finding an inexpensive place and hoarding most of her money away.
    Oh, well, she mused, slowly looking around, already