Smashwords version Sweet Surrender Read Online Free

the hell with it. So a man had flirted with her for the fun
of it, without wanting anything more from her.  It hurt, but she’d been
hurt before, and she always picked herself up and dusted herself off.  Her
mother had provided her the perfect example when she was growing up – all she
had to do was think about what her mother would do, and then do the exact
opposite. Poppy had been five when her mother remarried.  Her mother, a
wealthy, full-figured young widow, had fallen hard for the handsome con artist
who wooed her after her husband’s untimely death. She’d spent a small fortune
setting him up in business, and steadfastly ignored his constant cheating, for
years. And she’d been so blindsided when he finally ran off with his
skinny secretary that she’d never recovered. Instead she’d starved herself thin
to the point where she had to be hospitalized for anorexia, and made a fool of
herself begging her errant ex-husband to come home, and let the family business
collapse, and viciously lashed out at her younger daughter, Penelope, attacking
her for the sins of her father. Her life was consumed with bitterness and resentment and longing
for a man who’d never love her again.   Poppy was never going to let
that happen to her. She had work to do. She had responsibilities. She had made her
sister a promise, and until she figured out a way to get someone else to
replace her and manage this bakery for the rest of the summer, she was going to
do this right. She settled down at the desk and began digging through the
teetering piles of paperwork on the desk, searching for the list of suppliers
and delivery.  
     
    Papers
were jumbled together with no rhyme or reason, some of them lying on the
floor.  Lists of suppliers, and invoices, were jammed willy nilly into the desk
drawers.  She couldn’t even open one of the desk drawers more than half way; it
was stuck shut, and no matter how hard she yanked on it she couldn’t get it
open.
    She was going to have to spend the next couple of days organizing
Penelope’s office and balancing her books, which was no surprise.
 Penelope was a creative whirlwind who swirled through a room and left
chaos in her wake; Poppy was her cleaning lady, running behind her and picking
everything up and putting it back where it belonged. The mental image depressed her. Outside the room, she heard Viola’s voice raised in anger. “Wire
you money? For what? It’s not my fault you got fired. You do not need more
guitar strings, for god’s sake,  I lent you money for that last week.
 Of course you can still play the gig. Are you telling me you have no
guitar strings at all? Where did the money go?  Oh, fine, I’ll –“ Poppy leaped up and ran over to the door and stuck her head out.
“Hey! He’s manipulating you again!  Do NOT give that little dickwad any
more money!” “Gotta go,” Viola said hastily to her cell phone, and then shut it
with a snap. “Great balls of fire, Poppy, did you just cuss? I didn’t think you
had it in you.” “He brings it out in me. Your boyfriend is a jerk, and he can earn
his own damn money. There, I swore twice, that’s how much he pisses me off.
That’s three times!  I guarantee you he’s not going to miss his gig. And I
guarantee you he’s lying about the guitar strings. Has he ever paid you back
any of the money that you lent him?” “I’d rather not discuss it. You’re right. The wallet is now
closed,” Viola said gloomily, then immediately brightened. “Hey, when he dumps
me for not giving him any more money, I’m working in a bakery, so I can
literally drown myself in frosting! They have a cooking pot in the back that’s
big enough – I saw it.” “That is a very interesting way to look on the bright side.
 Woops, customers are coming, I gotta hide. I mean do some filing.” Poppy quickly ducked back into the office and shut the door,
shaking her head.  Viola was already convinced that Nigel, her guitar
player