Read the book: «The Sweetheart Deal»

This book is dedicated to my nieces and nephews: Sam, Jack, Page and Penny Hartman; and Shelby, Megan and Zach Skrzypczak. Thank you for making me feel like a supercool rock star every time I come over to see you. Crazy Aunt Syndi loves you all. And if I haven’t written “your” story, don’t worry. It’s coming.

Contents

Cover

Back Cover Text

Introduction

Dear Reader

Title Page

About the Author

Dedication

PROLOGUE

CHAPTER ONE

CHAPTER TWO

CHAPTER THREE

CHAPTER FOUR

CHAPTER FIVE

CHAPTER SIX

CHAPTER SEVEN

CHAPTER EIGHT

CHAPTER NINE

CHAPTER TEN

Extract

Copyright

PROLOGUE

MEGAN SWEET RAN down the sidewalk past the shops on Lincoln Street and opened the door to the Sweetheart bakery. Stepping inside, she took a deep breath and savored for a moment the scents of yeast and sugar that filled the air. Grammy stood behind the counter refilling the glass display case with cookies. She glanced up at Megs and paused in her work. “Honey, what is it? What’s wrong?”

Megs shook her head, unable to put into words the mix of emotions that flooded her heart. “Kenny, he’s...” She hung her head and closed her eyes. “Grammy, he’s dead.”

Grammy came around the counter and enveloped her in a tight hug. Megs rested her head against her grandmother’s ample chest and felt the first tears start to leak from her eyes.

“I wasn’t sure if you’d heard yet.” Grammy stroked her hair. “Are you okay?”

Megs raised her head and stared into Grammy’s hazel-brown eyes, much like her own. “How can I be? He was my best friend. And now he’s gone. What am I going to do?”

The front door opened, and two customers walked in. Grammy greeted them, then escorted Megs into the kitchen. She pulled out a stool and motioned to Megs to sit down. “I’ll help these ladies, then I’ll be right back.”

Megs hopped up on the stool and stared at her hands folded in her lap. She should have kept her mouth shut. She should have let the bully say and do what he wanted. But no, she’d had to stand up to him, and now Kenny was dead.

The swinging doors opened, and Grammy stepped into the kitchen. Megs expected her to talk, to assure her that everything would be okay. Instead, she pulled out an old recipe ledger and flipped through the pages. She finally settled on a page and pointed it out to Megs. “Here we are. This cookie helps to soothe a worried soul.” Grammy chose an apron from a shelf and tossed it at Megs. “Put it on. You’re going to make these on your own.”

Megs raised an eyebrow at this. She’d helped her grandmother make cookies before, but it had never been suggested that she bake them solo. She slipped the apron over her head, then wound the strings around her waist before tying them in front. “But I don’t know this recipe.”

“You can’t always rely on what you know.” Grammy nudged the ledger toward her. “Follow the recipe. Trust in yourself. It will guide you.”

She started to gather the ingredients: flour, sugar, butter and eggs. And the tin of dark cocoa. Megs lifted the lid and took a deep breath. Ambrosia.

As Grammy watched, she carefully measured and sifted, creamed and mixed. She referred back to the ledger when she doubted the next step, and later suppressed a smile when the dough formed into a ball exactly like it should. She glanced at her grandmother, who beamed at her. “You’re a natural, Megs. Like me.”

The next step was to let the dough firm up in the refrigerator for a half hour, so Megs put the mixing bowl in the walk-in cooler and returned to the warm kitchen. Grammy held out a mug of tea to her. “I know that Kenny’s death doesn’t make sense. Suicide never does. But he’ll always have a special place in your heart. And as long as you hold on to that, at least he can live on in your memories.”

Megs cupped her hands around the mug and let the warmth extend down her fingers toward her arms. “I’m afraid that I wasn’t a very good friend to him lately.”

Grammy wrapped her arms around her and squeezed her tight. “I doubt that. You’re the best friend any person could ask for.” She tweaked the end of her nose. “After all, you’re the best granddaughter. One of them, at least.”

When the half hour was over, Megs rolled out the dough, then used a knife to cut it into strips. She twisted them into shapes before placing them on a buttered cookie sheet, then slipped them into the oven. She leaned against the marble worktable and crossed her arms over her chest. “Will it ever stop hurting like this?”

Grammy nodded. “One day, it won’t hurt as much. But you’ll always miss him.” She gave a soft smile. “I still miss your grandfather. And your dad.”

“Me, too.”

“But the pain’s gotten easier, isn’t that right?” She put a hand on Megs’s shoulder. “It will be the same with Kenny.”

When the timer went off, Megs used a pot holder to bring out the sheet of twists and placed it on the counter. She grabbed a metal spatula to hold out one of the cookies. Grammy took it and bit into it. Megs watched as she chewed, then relaxed when she smiled.

“You did good.” Grammy finished the cookie and peered at Megs. “One day, this place will belong to you. All my recipes and the business, too. And you will learn to feed people’s souls as well as their bodies. Just like me.”

At that moment, there was nothing Megs wanted more.

CHAPTER ONE

MEGS RESTED HER hand on the old recipe ledger, missing Grammy even more today than ever before. Had it really been four months already since she had died? It didn’t seem possible.

She shook off her grief and glanced at the clock. It was a little after four in the morning, her favorite time of the day, just before her employees arrived, when the bakery she had inherited belonged to her alone. She flipped through the pages of the ledger, looking for the right recipe. She needed something special. Something that would shake the dark foreboding that sat heavily on her shoulders.

With the radio blaring, Megs sang along as she creamed the butter and sugar. A strange sound made her look up, but only for a moment. Then she was sifting the flour into the butter mixture, beating the silver cup with the side of her hand.

Though many of her customers loved their standbys, she liked to introduce new items every once in a while. Sometimes to good reviews, others to less than stellar. Hopefully, these butter cookies would inspire new beginnings just like Grammy had promised in the ledger.

Another weird groan came from above her, then a crack as if ice were breaking. She glanced at the ceiling and frowned. One fleeting thought sprang to mind: Get under the table. She hugged the ledger to her chest and scooted beneath the worktable just before the roof gave way.

* * *

COLD. SO COLD. Megs peeked from under the table and saw chunks of ice and snow amid roof shingles and splintered wood littering the floor of the kitchen. She remained where she was, however, unsure of whether there would be more falling debris. She hoped not. She hoped this didn’t mean the end of the Sweetheart.

Megs tried not to cry. Would someone hear her if she did? She called out, but it was so early. Who else was up this early? “Help!” she hollered again. “I’m under here!” Only silence followed. She thrust her hands into the pockets of her jeans, but she’d left her phone in her jacket, which was across the room. Out of reach.

Minutes passed. How long had she been under here? She wasn’t sure anymore. It felt like hours, but it couldn’t be. Didn’t matter, her back was cramping badly. Shivers raced down her spine. Staying here for much longer wasn’t an option. She tested her feet, her legs, her arms. Mentally checking if she was all right. She seemed to be. She could be grateful for that at least.

Grateful? How could she—

Was that...

The sirens of the fire trucks and police cars already. “Don’t worry,” she whispered, clutching the ledger tighter to her chest. “They’re coming. Everything will be fine now.”

Oh, how she wanted to believe those words.

* * *

ADAM HAWKINS’S PHONE rang twice before he had reached the bank. Because of the precarious conditions of the roads, he ignored it and continued on his way. He needed to get in early so he could get the sidewalks shoveled before customers arrived. He’d already called to ensure the plows had reached his parking lot, but the sidewalks were his responsibility. Welcome to small-town Northern Michigan.

As much as he hated to admit it, returning to his hometown as bank manager was pretty gratifying. The people in town hadn’t thought he’d grow up to be much more than a thug, but he’d shown them. He’d become respectable, even wore a suit and tie. A man that his father should be proud of.

Not that anyone seemed to have noticed the internal change in him. Not even his parents, who lived in the same town, but still refused to see him. They still saw the bully, though dressed in a suit. He pulled into the bank parking lot near the back, grabbed the shovel he’d stowed in the bed of his truck and walked carefully to the snow mounded on the sidewalks. Within minutes, he had a square foot of cement cleaned off and felt ready to quit and hire someone else to shovel the rest. Despite the deceptive white fluffy appearance, the snow was wet and heavy. His heart thumped loudly in his chest and his arms ached. Still, only thirty minutes remained until his employees would show, then another thirty for his first customers.

Another car belonging to his teller Eva Stone arrived at the parking lot. When she got out of her car, she looked as though she had dressed for Alaska. She was wearing a thick parka with a hood fringed with faux fur, two scarves wound around her neck and fat mittens on her hands. She approached him slowly, carrying a shovel. She leaned back to look up into his face since she only reached halfway to his shoulder. “Did you hear about the roofs collapsing downtown?”

Leave it to one of his employees to have the latest scoop. “What roofs?”

“Several businesses on Lincoln are gone.” She shook her head then started to shovel small loads of snow. “It’s too bad about the Sweetheart.”

Adam stared across the parking lot toward town. Megan, the baker, was a client of the bank’s both professionally and personally. He wondered if she was okay, then reminded himself that she seemed to want nothing to do with him since his return to Lake Mildred. When he ordered pastries for the staff meetings, her sister or another employee delivered them. The night he had stopped in to the bakery himself, she’d stayed in the kitchen for his entire visit until he’d left with his bread. And she never came by his office at the bank when she made her deposits. “Yes, too bad. What other businesses?”

“Will wasn’t sure of the extent of the damage, but it’s huge.” She pushed the snow to the edge of the curb and leaned on her shovel. “The apartments, too. Lot of people homeless this morning.”

Adam put his hand on Eva’s shoulder. “You don’t have to shovel the snow. I can take care of this.”

“You saying I can’t?”

The spark in her eyes made him wince. “No!” He cleared his throat and started over. “Once we get the snow cleared from the front door, I’d like you to get the branch ready for the day. Coffee brewed, hot water for tea. We’re sure to have a lot of visitors today.”

“I can shovel snow, too. I’m not an invalid.”

He’d seen proof of that himself. He held up a hand. “Didn’t say you were.”

“Despite what my son says...” She continued to shovel the snow, and together they cleared a path to the door. She paused as Adam unlocked the front doors. Once opened, she disappeared inside. He glanced around the parking lot, then bent his head and continued shoveling the sidewalk.

Finally finished, he shook the snow off himself, then entered the branch. He sniffed appreciatively and walked through the lobby, down the hall to the staff room. Eva turned and handed him a cup of hot coffee. “Black, two sugars.”

“You’re too good to me, Eva.”

“Someone has to take care of you bachelors.” She took a sip of her own tea, then nodded to the thermoses on the counter. “I made extra if you want to deliver them to the emergency workers downtown. I’m sure they could use a hot drink right about now. Do wonders for the bank’s image, no?”

Adam nodded. When he’d taken the branch manager position, he’d inherited a mess both financially and publicly. The previous manager had been responsible for foreclosing on many homes in the area, known for his tough stance rather than his compassion. Adam’s district manager had warned him what he was walking into. Add that to his own past problems with the residents, and Eva was right. Giving out coffee would be only the beginning of what he needed to do. “I’ll drop them off as soon as Sandy arrives. Great idea, Eva.”

She tapped her head. “Got a bunch of them locked up here.”

Later that morning, Adam bundled up and once again trekked out into the frigid landscape. He carried the two thermoses and a plastic bag full of cups, stirrers and packets of cream and sugar. When he reached the corner of Main and Lincoln, he paused. It looked as if a bomb had exploded. He moved to the barricades and motioned to one of the workers. “I brought you guys coffee.”

Keith walked over. “Thanks, man.”

“Anyone get trapped?”

“They’re getting the baker out now. She was there when the roof collapsed. And they’re still digging some of the tenants out at the apartments. In a weird way, it’s a good thing it happened so early in the morning. Less people around to get hurt.”

Adam closed his eyes at the thought of Megan trapped under snow and ice. She had to be okay.

Keith gave a grin. “I’m going to miss her double-chocolate muffins though. Those got me through many a shift.”

“How long do you think it will take to get this cleaned up?”

Keith looked back and shrugged. “Day or two. But longer to rebuild.” He accepted the thermoses and bags. “Appreciate it.”

“Courtesy of the bank.”

The man seemed to wince a little but returned to his crew with the coffee. Several turned to Adam and yelled their thanks. He nodded and turned to go back to the bank.

And then he saw her.

Megan emerged from the bakery, a blanket wrapped around her shoulders, and ambled between two emergency workers. Her sister ran to her and put her arms around her. She didn’t look as if she’d been badly injured. He hoped she wasn’t.

Before now he hadn’t noticed that the Sweetheart was smack-dab in the middle of the most damage. He thought of the bank where he’d be needed. But his feet betrayed him as he walked slowly until he stood in front of her. “I’m sorry about the Sweetheart, Megan. But I’m glad you’re all right.”

She glanced up sharply at him then shifted away. Her sister, Kelly, rolled her eyes. “I’ll bet you’re sorry. Go find someone else to harass.”

Okay, maybe he’d deserved that before, but he’d changed. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a business card. “When you’re ready to discuss rebuilding...”

Megan looked at the card held out to her, then after many long seconds, she took it and put it in the pocket of her jeans. Never saying a word.

Adam turned and almost bumped into a man. He apologized, then paused. He didn’t need to ask if the man he’d almost knocked down was Bobby Snow or not since he looked much the same. He still wore glasses, and the chubbiness of adolescence had remained. Bobby recognized him, too, as he made to leave. Adam followed him, however, weaving through the crowd of people who had come to witness the destruction. Adam called after him, “Wait, Bobby. I just want to talk to you.”

“Leave me the hell alone.”

“I want to apologize.”

The other man stopped and faced Adam. “You’re joking, right?” He turned to see if anyone else in the crowd was listening to him. “Is this guy kidding me? Because an apology won’t make up for what you did.”

“I was a jerk in high school. I’m sorry for the awful things I said and did to you.”

“Such as...” Bobby crossed his arms over his chest.

Adam pinched the bridge of his nose. “You really want a list? Fine. I’m sorry for shoving you into the girls’ restroom about once a week for three years. I’m sorry that I called you Piggy and Fatty and oinked when you walked down the hall at school.” He started counting things off on his fingers. “I apologize for stealing your lunch. For having Sarah McGillis write you a love letter as a joke. For having my team members TP your house. And your car.”

“You made Sarah write that note?” Bobby shook his head. “Of course you did. You hated me, so why not humiliate me?”

“I’m sorry.” Adam sighed. “I want to apologize and see if I can do anything to make it up to you.”

“Why?”

His other victims always asked that question, and he’d never been able to come up with the right answer. “Because I hate how I treated you when we were in high school. You didn’t deserve it, and I’m sorry.”

Bobby looked him over. “What can you possibly do to atone for making my life miserable for four years?”

Adam shifted his weight from side to side. This was always the hardest part. Because how could he make up for that? For some, it was easy to lend them a helping hand. Others let him off the hook without requiring anything. But Bobby seemed to be the type that would never forgive him no matter what. “What do you want, Bobby? How can I make this up to you?”

Bobby started to laugh, and people started to stare at them. “You really think you can do something to change the stuff that happened twelve years ago? That was the time to make amends. Not now.” He hesitated then shook his head again. “Forget it.”

He started to walk away, but Adam reached out and grabbed his arm. “Please. There’s got to be something.”

“You can’t change what happened with us, but if you really want to do something you can go talk to the kids in high school like me who have bullies like you. Better yet, you can tell the entire high school how bullying turned you into a big shot while your victims suffered humiliation beyond high school, and worse, died.”

Adam paled and dropped his hand. He was right.

Bobby waved him off. “You’re all talk, but when it comes to action, you’ve got nothing. I don’t accept your apology. Now you can live with that.”

And he spun on his heel and left Adam among the crowd, who eyed him warily. He’d done what he came to do, so Adam took his leave and tromped through the snow heading to the bank. So much rebuilding was left to do in this town.

And the easiest part would be the buildings. The attitudes and memories would take much longer.

* * *

THE PARAMEDIC REMOVED the blood pressure cuff and nodded at Megs. “Your pressure is a little elevated, but that’s understandable. There’s no need to insist you go to the hospital, but I recommend taking it easy the rest of the day.”

Megs agreed. “Not as if I can go back to work.”

Her sister, Kelly, handed her a jacket she’d brought with her since Megs’s was buried under rubble. “We should go home. There’s nothing more we can do here.”

Megs slowly walked away from the ambulance toward the crowd gathered to watch the crew pull down part of the standing back wall. She blinked away the tears that froze in the frigid wind. “You go ahead. I’m staying.”

Her sister’s boyfriend, Sam, put a hand on her shoulder. “It won’t help, Megs. Let the workers do what they have to, and I’ll go in with you tomorrow when they give us the all-clear.”

How could you go in something that no longer had a roof and four walls? Her heart was heavy. She teared up again.

Kelly and Sam watched her intently until finally she couldn’t stand it any longer. “Listen, I’m cold and I’m hungry. We could go get something to eat, but then I’m coming straight back. I can’t go home. Not yet.”

Kelly offered her a hopeful smile. “Fine. But if you’re staying, I am, too.” To Sam, she said, “I’m not going anywhere without her.”

He put his arms around her sister and kissed the top of her hat. “I know you won’t. We’ll all stay.”

He steered both sisters down the street toward Rick’s diner. They had to wait several minutes for a table to open up since it seemed everyone had the same idea: get warmth and food before heading back to the disaster on Lincoln. When they managed to claim a window booth that overlooked Main, Megs stared at the menu but didn’t really see the words. Not that she needed to see what was there to know what was listed. She’d spent many mealtimes in the diner since her mother had left them after her father died thirteen years ago. She shook away the emptiness that settled over her at the thought of Grammy. Oh, Grammy, you’d hate to see the Sweetheart today.

At least what was left of it.

She looked up to find Kelly peering at her over the top of her menu. Her sister lowered it and reached across the table to grab her hand. “Grammy would be feeling exactly what you are right now. I know it.”

Megs doubted it. Because she felt as if she was mourning Grammy all over again. First to lose her beloved grandmother and mentor, and now her business, too? If Grammy was here...

But she wasn’t.

Kelly’s blue eyes filled with tears. “If something had happened to you...” She took a big gulp and wiped at the corner of her eyes.

Megs squeezed her hand. “I know. But I’m fine.”

The waitress arrived to take their orders. Megs ordered some soup and coffee, the hotter the better to get her warmed up before returning to the frigid climes. Shirley grimaced when she asked for the bread basket. “Well, we didn’t get our bakery order this morning, so we have bread that Rick bought from the grocery store. The rolls aren’t the same as yours, but...”

Right. Because Megs hadn’t been able to bake and deliver their daily order without the bakery. The loss of the Sweetheart extended beyond her. Something to remember as she made plans to rebuild. Because she had to rebuild, right? People and businesses depended on her. “I’ll still take the bread basket, Shirley. Thanks.”

The waitress nodded and left their table to put in their orders. Sam sighed. “I’m going to miss your crullers the most, I think.”

“I can still make some for you at home.” Because that would be the only place she could use ovens until the bakery would reopen. “It will keep me busy at least while I wait.”

Sam held up his coffee cup. “We could look at this as something terrible. Or we could see this as a chance for you to fashion the Sweetheart in your own image. I can build it better than it was before.”

“What about Grammy’s house?” His offer was generous to say the least, but Sam and Kelly had been remodeling Grammy’s turn-of-the-century farmhouse for months. While the first floor was completed, they were in the middle of expanding the bathroom on the second floor. Megs shook her head. “You’re already booked.”

“The house is almost finished.” Sam glanced at Kelly, who nodded her assent. “The bakery is my first priority now.”

“We live in the house, and it would be nice to have a working bathroom.” She found that she could smile at that. “Besides, it will be days or weeks before the insurance on the bakery will kick in. I can’t rebuild without money.” She fingered the business card that she’d stashed in her jeans pocket. Adam was the last person she’d go to for a loan. She didn’t care how desperate she got, she would never go to him and beg for money.