Sweet Dreams on Center Street by Sheila Roberts Read Free Book Online Page A

beaming. A caption beneath it read Success, How Sweet It Is!
    She felt sick. She laid her head on the desk and closed her
eyes.
    A moment later Gwen Stefani started singing on her cell phone.
Cecily again. Head still on the desk, she fumbled the phone to her ear. “Tell me
you’re calling because you had a vision of money falling from heaven.”
    â€œSorry, no pennies from heaven. I had a feeling you might need
to talk.”
    What she needed was a rewind button. “I blew it at the
bank.”
    â€œWhat, did you walk in and shoot the new manager?”
    â€œWorse. I gave him chocolate.”
    â€œBribes are good.”
    â€œAnd then took it away.” What the heck was wrong with her,
anyway? Was she having a psychotic break? Maybe she had multiple personalities
and didn’t know it.
    â€œOh,” her sister said weakly. She could imagine Cecily falling
into a chair in her little pink office at Perfect Matches.
    â€œI started out charming, I really did,” Samantha defended
herself. “But then he just sat there looking all smug, repeating that he
couldn’t help me—like a big dumb parrot in a three-piece suit—and…I blew it,
pure and simple.”
    A sigh drifted over the phone line. “What would Dad say if he
was here?”
    He’d say, “What were you thinking,
princess?” Or maybe he’d say, “You should have punched the guy’s face in.”
Okay, probably not that.
    â€œI don’t know,” Samantha said miserably.
    â€œHe’d say temper…”
    Oh, yeah, that. “…and good business don’t mix,” Samantha
finished with her. He’d told her that often enough, especially when she was
young and impetuous.
    And now she was so mature. Ha!
    There was a long moment of silence before Cecily asked, “Maybe
you should apologize to him?”
    â€œApologize! As in, ‘Gee, Mr. Dragon, I’m so sorry I got mad at
you for breathing fire and devouring my village’?”
    â€œHe’s trying to save the bank like you’re trying to save Sweet
Dreams.”
    Ever the mediator, Samantha thought sourly. “He’s just trying
to save his butt.”
    Her sister heaved another sigh. “Well, you’re the business
major. You know best.”
    â€œOh, that was cute.”
    â€œSorry. It’s just that, well, when it comes to business, you’re
usually more in control than this.”
    Samantha scowled. She hated it when her sister was right.
Samantha was the oldest. She was supposed to be the most mature, the one who
always knew what to do. Except when it came to Sweet Dreams, she seemed to lose
all perspective.
    â€œI wish I was up there to help you.”
    â€œI’ll be okay,” Samantha said with a sigh. “No more meltdowns,
I promise.”
    â€œCall me if you need to.”
    â€œThanks I will. Meanwhile, go make some money.”
    â€œYeah, I should go. I’ve got a match-up cocktail party to plan
and a client coming in ten minutes.”
    Finding rich men for beautiful women, throwing parties at
swanky restaurants—no wonder Cecily had opted for L.A. over Icicle Falls,
Samantha thought as she hung up. Who would want to live in a small town when she
could have the big city and beautiful people?
    Samantha, that was who. She loved her mountain town with its
picturesque setting and its friendly people, and she was proud that her family
and their company were part of the town’s history.
    She wanted them to continue to be part of its present, too. She
drummed her fingers on her desk. What options did she have other than robbing
the bank? Think, Samantha.
    After an hour of thinking she had a headache and one last
option—Waldo’s life insurance money. She wanted to go hit her mother up for a
chunk of that about as much as she wanted to stick a knife in her eye. But it
was for the good of the business and all their employees, she reminded