Free Whiskey and Gumdrops: A Blueberry Springs Chick Lit Contemporary Romance by Jean Oram Page B

those wimpy little LED things. I don't know what the hell those guys at the parts store were thinking, selling you those. I've told you time and again, there are men who will take advantage of the fact that you're a woman—"
    "Dad," Mandy groaned. "Those taillights were custom!"
    "Custom pieces of garbage. You're lucky you have those good, reliable bulbs back in there, telling the world you're coming to a stop. I also noticed your apartment's address sign was getting rusty and your landlord and I discussed getting it replaced."
    "Jesus, Dad. I can talk to my landlord myself."
    "I know," he said in a placating tone that brought her right back to all the other times he'd made her feel as though he didn't trust her to figure stuff out.
    "I'm not fluff!" she snapped, trying to remind herself this was his way of showing he cared about her.
    "Mandy, your father is just taking care of you," broke in her stepmother.
    "Am I on speaker? Oh my God. Do you guys know how rude it is to have someone on speaker phone and not tell them!"
    "Mandy..." her father warned.
    Mandy pulled in a deep breath. "Dad, thank you for caring about me, but please ask before you fix things. Sometimes I like things the way they are."
    "You like rusty old signs?" her stepmother piped up. "If that thing had fallen on you when you were slamming that old door, you'd have lockjaw before you hit the ground with your head wound. That sign was not safe."
    "Good point, Trish," her dad chipped in. "I'll see if I can get her door changed out. She pays good rent and should have a proper door."
    "I gotta go." Mandy hung up and returned to the living room, flopping onto the couch beside her mother, who had muted the commercials.
    "Gotta love him," her mother stated tightly.
    "He's just trying to show me he cares." Mandy grabbed a handful of gumdrops and shoved them in her mouth.
    "How are things with Frankie?"
    "I'll find a way to get him on that show," she said, still chewing. "It's ridiculous he's said no."
    "Still considering opening your own place?" her mother asked with a side look that indicated she was less than impressed by the idea.
    "It's worth checking out my options, though, don't you think?"
    "Owning a business is so risky ." Her mother's lips puckered. "It's so much better to let someone else have the headaches and stress. Who wants to worry about how to pay people and the topsy-turvy economy?"
    All day, Mandy had flip-flopped between excitement and wanting to jump in, to being massively overwhelmed and terrified. She'd come to her mom's in hopes that the visit would help her reach a conclusion of some sort. If her mother thought opening her own restaurant was scary, it was likely the smartest move she could make to avoid becoming just like her. The prospect of becoming her mother was a heck of a lot scarier than figuring out how to start her own business.
    "What about going with a franchise?" Mandy asked. "They come with a market plan and a market analysis." Well, some of them. Some of them wanted her to come up with all of that.
    "A franchise?" Her mother quirked a heavily plucked eyebrow that was mostly eyeliner sketched in an arch.
    "Well, what else? A brownie stand? I don't know how to run a business." She sank lower into the couch and rested her chin on her chest. The problem was the cost of opening a franchise outlet. Add permits and legal fees to the cost of modifying Frankie's building while keeping its heritage charm and her savings would be gone before she even got close to signing on the dotted line.
    She rubbed her eyelids and sighed. She probably wasn't even eligible for a loan big enough to buy into a franchise, anyway.
    "That's right. You don't know how to run a business," her mother agreed. "You know how to be a waitress."
    "I know more than how to deliver food before it gets cold."
    "I didn't say you didn't."
    "I can learn how to run a business. I mean, look at the people in town running their own places. It's not like they went to business