The Savvy Sistahs by Brenda Jackson Read Free Book Online Page A

her the moment she opened the door. She hugged him tight, thinking she would never tire of holding him in her arms, although he was no longer a baby.
    At two years old, Craig Osborne was as rambunctious as any child his age should be. He always amazed her with his unfailing abundance of energy.
    “Were you a good boy today?”
    “Yes, Mommy, I was good,” he said quickly, his hazel eyes shining brightly.
    Carla lifted a brow. Usually when he was that quick to respond that meant that he hadn’t been good at all. “And where is Mrs. Boston?”
    “She’s picking up my toys.”
    Carla frowned. “I thought I told you that you’re responsible for picking up your own toys, Craig. And how did the potty training go today?” she asked, when she noticed he was wearing a diaper. She’d heard that boys were harder to potty train than girls but felt that when
    it came to that task, Craig was deliberately downright lazy. People often commented on how well he was able to put together sentences for a two-year-old, but for some reason he couldn’t put together the words to let her and Mrs. Boston know when it was time for him to go potty.
    “All right, Craig, I want you to go help Mrs. Boston gather up your toys,” she said, putting him down. Taking his hand, she allowed him to lead her to the family room.
    Barbara Boston was down on her hands and knees gathering up building blocks and toy trucks. The older woman, who had once been her parents’ neighbor, used to babysit Carla when she was a child and still got around pretty good for her age of sixty-eight. She was wonderful with Craig just like she’d always been wonderful with Carla; she had given her more time and attention than her own mother had.
    “Mrs. Boston, I thought we agreed that Craig has to pick up his own toys. He has to learn to follow rules.”
    The older woman glanced up and smiled. “Yes, but he’s just a baby, Carla. Besides, I don’t mind doing it. However, I promise to start making him pick up after himself after he gets the potty training down.”
    Carla shook her head. At this rate potty training would take forever. She glanced at her watch. She would spend time with her son before getting dressed for the Savvy Sistahs Mean Business meeting. Tonight they had a guest speaker, a woman who had started her own publishing company a few years ago.
    Carla watched as her son got down on the floor to help Mrs. Boston. For the second time that day she thought of Jesse, and decided that no matter how she felt about him, she would always appreciate him giving her Craig.

Chapter 3
Amber
    A mber always thought that no other town could compare to Nashville, but after living in Orlando for a little over two years, she’d discovered she was wrong. There was something pleasing that could be said about the central Florida town that she now considered home. At a time in her life when she had needed to make a change and leave her problems behind, Orlando, with its friendliness and charm, had been just the place.
    As she went about restocking the shelves in her bookstore, she couldn’t help but remember the day her mother and sisters had approached her about coming to Florida to check on Aunt Rachel’s house. Aunt Rachel, their mother’s only sister, who’d never been married or had any children, had died three years before and had willed her home to her four nieces. Since neither Amber nor any of her sisters had been interested in relocating to Florida, they had rented the house out and split the proceeds between them each month. But their most recent renter had been the tenant from hell, who thought it was his right to pay his rent whenever he felt like it. After trying to work with the man for over six months, giving him as many chances as possible to catch up on the late rent payments, they’d had no choice but to take drastic steps and have him evicted.
    Amber had flown to Orlando to handle the legal matters and had discovered the beautiful home was badly in