Chances Are by Barbara Bretton Read Free Book Online

they want her brother,” cousin Fran offered. “If he’s that good, he’ll raise the show’s profile.”
    “Weren’t you listening?” Toni said to her daughter. “She’s dating the producer. That’s the reason.”
    Poor Crystal dropped her pen in surprise, then disappeared under the table to retrieve it. Make a run for it, Maddy thought. At least somebody had to get out of there alive.
    “Better have your eyes checked, honey.” It was Lucy’s turn to join in. “When Olivia’s around, those boys aren’t thinking about history. They’re thinking cleavage.”
    “If you’re such good friends,” Toni said to Rose, “then you can tell us what she’s planning to do with the McClanahan cottage.”
    “I’d love to,” Rose said. “She’s opening a tea shop.”
    “What a great idea!” Maddy and Denise said simultaneously, then laughed.
    “A tea shop?” Toni tried to scowl, but her most recent cosmetic surgery weakened the effect. “What do we need a tea shop for? You can buy tea bags at Super Fresh.”
    “Not that kind of tea shop,” Claire said. “She’s planning to serve a full English tea every afternoon.”
    Rose quickly covered her obvious surprise that Claire was in the loop right along with her. “That’s right. The shop will be called Cuppa, and she hopes to open it this summer.”
    “Who wants hot tea in the summer?” Maddy’s cousin Pat asked. “She’d do better with an ice cream stand.”
    “I think it’s a great idea,” Maddy said. “Upscale, trendy but traditional. I think she’s going to clean up.”
    “So do I,” Rose agreed.
    At least they were on the same side of one battle today.
    “Just so long as it’s not another salon,” Gina observed. “More power to her.”
    “Which one is the McClanahan place?” Crystal asked as she reclaimed her seat. “Is it that old barn near the lake or—”
    “It’s the one on the corner of Shore Road and Paradise Point Drive,” Claire said.
    “With the red lacquer front door and the trellis of roses?”
    “That’s it.”
    “The place looks like a Hallmark card,” Toni said. “It’s sweet enough to make my teeth ache.”
    “Assuming you had any teeth of your own left to ache,” Gina murmured, and Maddy kicked her under the table.
    “So that’s why all those workmen have been going in and out,” Maddy’s cousin Denise remarked. “Joe put in a bid for the plumbing, but it went to the Bielewski brothers.”
    “Those robbers.” Connie dabbed butter on her slice of Italian bread. “You should see what they charged me to replace a hose on my washing machine.”
    You could hear Denise’s jaw hit the floor clear on the other side of the table. “You called Bielewski instead of Joe, Aunt Connie? How could you do something like that!”
    “Joe didn’t wipe his feet last time he came by,” Connie said with great indignation. “I had to follow him around with a spray bottle of Resolve.”
    “We’re family.”
    “You’re getting divorced.”
    “It’s not final yet. The least you could have done was called.”
    “I didn’t see you calling when they came to your house to film the kids getting ready for the dance recital. You called everyone else in the family except my grandchildren.”
    “Maybe if your grandkids had any talent, I—”
    “Hey!” Franny called out from across the table. “My kids have more talent in their little fingers than your kids—”
    Her family was off and running, insults flying across the table like rice at a wedding. Poor Kelly’s eyes were popping, and Claire looked a tad too amused for Maddy’s taste. After all, there were more than a few skeletons in the O’Malley closet, too. The only difference was, Maddy’s skeletons were there at Bernino’s having lunch with them.
    She turned toward Rose, who nodded, then tapped her knife against her water glass.
    “As charming as this discussion is,” Rose said, “maybe we should table it for another time. I’m all for providing Mr.