Free Small-Town Hearts by Ruth Logan Herne Page B

sure, but she was totally certain shewanted to know what the note said sooner rather than later. “Hannah. Please?”
    â€œWell, since you said please…” Hannah unfolded the note, added a ridiculous note of urgency to her voice and read, “Meg, your mother invited me to watch the Yankees game tonight. I’m supposed to bring you along. Since you’ve been avoiding me for forty-eight hours, I wanted to give you a heads-up before tonight to prepare any useless arguments you might throw my way. Feel free to wear appropriate Yankees fan apparel. Danny.”
    Meg went straight to the crux of the matter. “My mother invited him? Is that what that note says? Honestly?”
    Hannah didn’t try to hide her grin. “It does.”
    â€œOn purpose?”
    â€œSo it would seem.”
    â€œI am so giving her a piece of my mind,” Meg sputtered, striving to keep her attention on the boiling mixture while plotting and planning what to do with an interfering mother who should have known better. “What was she thinking?”
    â€œBeing nice?” Hannah suggested.
    â€œNo doubt that’s what she’d want us to think.” Meg scowled, tested the candy mix and frowned more deeply because it wasn’t quite right yet and she needed both hands to throttle her mother.
    â€œAnd isn’t your mother working today?”
    Hannah was right. The dental office in Wellsville was trying to accommodate people’s crazy schedules and had started opening on Saturdays a few weeks back. Her mother alternated Saturdays with the other hygienist, and today was her day to work.
    â€œYou can yell at her later, though,” Hannah added, teasing. “Because why on Earth would you want to spend Saturday night with a cute guy, eating hot dogs and watching baseball on a big-screen TV?”
    â€œCute guy?” Alyssa Michaels walked in the back door,breathed deep and sighed in delight at the combined scents of cookies and candy. “Meg’s giving the guy next door a chance? Tell me more.”
    Hannah hooked a thumb toward the van outside. “I would, but we’ve got a booth at the strawberry festival, and I promised I’d deliver the cookies to the girls staffing it.”
    Meg studied the drizzle of caramel, nodded satisfaction, switched the burner off and moved the big, cast-aluminum pot to the table behind her. “Are you sure you’re okay doing the ice cream stand with Crystal tonight? After dropping this stuff off and working at the library?”
    â€œPositive.” Hannah’s matter-of-fact voice said it wasn’t a big deal, but Meg knew it made for a long day. “The library is only open for six hours, and it’s the last Saturday until after Labor Day, so it’s fine, Meg. And the extra money I make here over the summer makes a big difference in my finances.”
    â€œAnd having Hannah help Crystal tonight means you’re free to watch baseball with the cute guy,” Alyssa added.
    â€œExcept that I planned on getting ahead for tomorrow.” Megan poured caramel into the molds carefully. The intoxicating mix of dark sugar and milk chocolate delighted her senses while her mind thought of her mother’s possible motives for extending an invitation to Danny. Karen Russo knew better. She’d witnessed Meg’s heartbreak, her embarrassment. Both times. What was she thinking?
    Determined, Meg turned her attention back to the task at hand. The work she did now made up for the lack of business midwinter, and as busy as summer was for a store owner and festival vendor, Meg would have plenty of time to rest come January, February and March. Those three months could make or break a business in this climate, and while Meg might be a little soft in matters of the heart, she was tough in the ways of the business world. Covering her bottom line meant work now, play later.
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    â€œYou ready, Megs? It’s six-fifteen. Game