Dear Neighbor, Drop Dead by Saralee Rosenberg Read Free Book Online Page A

this was Beth.
    BODYDOC had to be a plastic surgeon. Maybe the one she saw in Dear Neighbor, Drop Dead
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    the city. Had he been headed to his house in the Hamptons and offered to look at the damage to her face from the accident?
    Mindy was so wound up, she didn’t realize she was standing in the middle of Nordstrom’s cosmetics department.
    “Care to try the latest fragrance from our signature collection?” The lady in red asked.
    “What?”
    “It’s essence of patchouli,” she whispered as if she were reveal-ing the Colonel’s secret recipe.
    “Oh . . . um . . . no thanks.”
    “You should really sample it.” She spritzed a card, waving it above her head.
    Mindy gagged. What happens when you mix Glade with Raid?
    “Why don’t you stop by the counter to try a different—”
    “Sorry . . . I can’t do this right now. I just spotted my next-door neighbor in a sports car with a man who isn’t her husband, and I am in shock.”
    “Not as much as his wife will be when she finds out,” she smirked. “I should know.”
    “I just can’t believe it—”
    “Oh, honey, it’s so common.” She leaned in as if to share a trade secret. “The fragrance industry would be dead if it weren’t for all the screwing around on the side.”
    “Really? I’m so naive. I never think these things happen except on TV.”
    “Well, don’t jump to any conclusions. Unless you saw them doing it—”
    “No. They were just talking.”
    “You know, you seem like a nice lady.” She scanned the crowd for a real customer. “Maybe you should just forget the whole thing.”
    “Are you kidding?” Mindy laughed. “This could be the opportunity of a lifetime!”
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    Saralee Rosenberg
    “Why?”
    “Because it just gave me an idea for a new book . . . Bed Beth
    & Beyond.”
    “Oh, you’re a writer?”
    “I am now.”
    Four
    “Girls! Knock it off! I can’t take all this screaming,” Beth called from her bed. “You’ve got your own rooms, your own laptops, your own cell phones. What’s left to fight about?”
    “Look what your lovely daughter did!” Jessica ran in holding a Juicy jacket. “She wore it without asking and then got something totally disgusting on it!”
    “Did not!” Emma bellowed from her room. “It’s Kim Cho’s fault. She dropped her lunch on me.”
    “Shut up you little slob . . . now it’s all gross, Mommy. I am never going to wear it!”
    “Like hell you won’t! I paid almost two hundred dollars for that outfit. Just go downstairs, give it to Marina, and tell her you need it for school tomorrow. Meanwhile, it wouldn’t hurt you to be nice to your sister. You know she has a serious ankle sprain.”
    “No she doesn’t. She was just in the den playing DDR and she was on the second level!”
    “DD what?”
    “Dance Dance Revolution! The game where you follow the 44
    Saralee Rosenberg
    arrows and dance on the mat? Daddy bought it for her after she helped him clean the garage.”
    “Emma!” Beth screamed. “Are you kidding me? Dancing on your bad ankle?”
    “I hate you, Jessie! You are the worst sister evah!”
    “It’s not fair,” Jessica whined. “The little dork always gets to wear my clothes, but if I touch one thing of hers it’s like Jessica, give it back. Wear your own stuff!”
    “Would you stop? I have a migraine and you’re making it worse. Just go tell Marina to wash that by hand, and then you’d better get going on your homework. You know, Jessica, if you expect to be the speaker at the Founder’s Day ceremony, you need those math grades up.”
    “No I don’t! I keep telling you Mr. Ryan loves me, but I don’t even care anymore because Whitney and Mallory are like sucking up to him and now they’re probably going to get picked.”
    “That’s ridiculous. Daddy helped his son get a job. I’ll call him tomorrow.”
    “No! You ruin everything when you call. My teachers all hate you.”
    “Oh, please. I happen to be very highly regarded at your school, but