Syndi Powell - The Sweetheart Deal

She felt like a fool in more than one way.

A fool to assume she had the business sense to run the bakery. If anything, she learned that she still had more to find out. And she felt foolish to imagine she could face him again without feeling like a fifteen-year-old afraid of the big bully. Without remembering Kenny and what it had cost him.

Her cell phone buzzed, and she answered it through the speaker phone on her car.

“How did it go?” Kelly, of course.

“I’m not sure exactly. He needs a written business plan, and I don’t know the first thing about writing one.”

“So we’ll Google it and put one together.”

“And the application is like twenty pages long.” She sniffed. “And it’s Adam Hawkins. I don’t exactly have the best history with him.”

“A lot can change in twelve years.”

She was probably right. Megs was glad she’d made that rule about not bringing up the past. Why rehash it?

Then, why hang on to it?

Okay, her conscience had a good point. Adam seemed to have gotten past all of that, and she needed to, as well. Just bury those memories away. Let it go. Move on. And every other cliché she could think of. “Yup. It’s for the best. Time to forget and—”

Her sister chuckled. “I didn’t say forget. I mean, he was a bully who hurt a lot of people. But he seems to have changed, so that’s all over with.” There was a pause. “Right?”

It was over, all right. Because there was no way that Megs was going to let him humiliate and hurt her or anyone she loved ever again. “Right, Kel.” Her phone buzzed, and she checked the caller ID on her car’s console. “That’s Mom. I’ll be home in about ten minutes.”

She switched the call using the buttons on her steering wheel and took several deep breaths. Talking to her mother was easier now that they had established a relationship as adults, but she couldn’t forget the abandonment. “Hi, Mom. Where are you today?”

Her mom chuckled. “Megs, I’m not exactly a globe trotter. Still in Florida, though Stan is talking about moving on to Arizona where it’s drier. Better for his asthma.”

Megs frowned. “Stan? I thought you were with Michael.”

“His kids didn’t like me much, so there you are.” Her mom was suddenly silent on the other end. “Listen, sweetie, I heard about the Sweetheart. Are you going to be okay?”

How? Lake Mildred, Michigan, was a long ways from Florida, but obviously the local grapevine extended that far south. “I’ll be fine. I met with the bank manager to discuss getting a loan to rebuild the bakery.”

“Can you afford that?”

“I can’t afford not to.” Because the option of doing nothing was unthinkable. “Unless you have some money you could lend me.”

Her mom laughed, but it sounded false. “Oh, sure. Let me send you a check for twenty thousand. Will that work?” Another pause. “You know if I had anything, I’d be the first to be sure you had enough.”

Her mom had never been one she could depend on in a crisis. She’d always turned to her dad, then Grammy after he’d died. They’d been the steady, strong ones in her life. Not her mother. “Thanks anyway, Mom.” Megs turned down the street where she lived. “I’m almost home, so I’ve got to go. Have fun with Stan.”

“Oh, I will.” Then her mother was gone.

Megs ended the call by pressing a button and gripped the steering wheel. It was time to start depending on herself. Time to do something different. Be something different. She could be strong on her own. Do it all herself.

But first, she’d have to research what a written business plan required.

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